The Apprentice... has come to Somerset

Hello, my name is Hannah and, along with Shannon, we make up team apprentice here at Jonny’s Sister. When most people envisage an apprentice they think of someone working in a large corporate company, constantly on coffee duty. Then after 6 months they are finally promoted to using the photocopier. However things are a little different here. There are 4 of us, so Shannon and I make up 50% of the workforce, although that doesn't count the dogs and the chickens. 

Shannon (left) & myself (right)

before cocktail sampling in London

Shannon (left) & myself (right)

before cocktail sampling in London

There are so many advantages of working in a small company, one of them being John makes the coffee! However, on a serious note because it is a small company we get to work in all areas of the business. From customer service, to stock control and PR to feeding the chickens we are constantly being exposed and gaining experience in all aspects of running a business.  We are encouraged to work to our strengths rather than continually trying to improve our weaker areas (although some jobs just have to be done!). This is great as it means we end up working not only in areas that we really like but, as a result, areas that we are strong in. Shannon and I are like a jigsaw, her strengths are my weaknesses, and my strengths are her weaknesses. We’ve only found this out by working in all the various areas.  This is great as it means that by the time we have finished our apprenticeship we will have a good idea of which line of business we want to work in.  Some people go to University and do courses that they have little or no knowledge of and then 3 years later and in their first job, realise that it is not for them.  We won’t be in this situation as we get exposed to EVERYTHING, and have already realised that some areas (like accounting) are just not for us! 

I've been a member of the team at Jonny’s Sister since April 2012, and an apprentice since June 2012. Already I have done 4 retail shows including the Spirit of Christmas. We’ve just had our busiest Christmas ever and although it was soooo stressful, it was great fun at the same time and we both learnt so much from it. Then in January we went up to London for 2 days to attend a trade show to get an idea of the trends for 2013 as well as checking out the trends on some new cocktails!

See ya soon!

Hannah x