Toilets and training

The return of Clare’s blog posts after a few weeks away, letting you know about the day-to-day life of the team at October Books. This week Clare talks about the variety of tasks that you may get called upon to do in the role.

For me, this week started with a Monday morning in the shop. A great way to start the week, with the spicy aromas from VegOut café making their way into the shop space, a great crowd of people coming in to share food and conversation as well as some good sales. The not so great part of the day was the casual remark from one of the regulars as they left the café ‘the toilet seems to be blocked Clare’. No long gloves available and a café  full of customers filling their bellies and bladders with food and drink I took the chance that the bags that are provided with Dope magazine (we are distributors) don’t have holes in them, and I had a rummage round the U-bend. Problem solved really quickly thank goodness, with just an excess of toilet paper to deal with. You never know what the day will bring at October Books.

These practical hands-on tasks are one part of the role. For me another part of working at October books is keeping up to date with new thinking in democracy, governance and economics themes, sometimes through the books we sell and also through newsletters and podcasts. Part of this is the Think Like a Forest training, the online and in person course that October Books are part funding. The programme is all about us being a regenerative organisation, one that unites:

• regenerative leadership with

• team culture and wellbeing;

• healthy organisational growth and resilience;

• collaborative networks and

• planet-focused abundance and regeneration.

The team and committee have completed a quiz which helps us to identify our organisational mindset… we have a mix of responses, from reactive, through creative and doing good with some of the team results showing we are already on the regenerative path. Lots yet to learn and I will keep you updated with progress after the course starts proper next week.