Opening up a business bag

Jane’s business bag is a shiny, pink trolley!

Coach Jane Minton of Wednesday Teatime explains how she moves easily between home, office and countries, thanks to her trusty business bag, the shiny, pink trolley:

I work with women to help them create and maintain change in their lives and I work from quite a few different places. My ‘office’ is at home on the kitchen table in either Bristol or in Languedoc-Roussillon, in southern France.

When I need to escape the kitchen table or the kitchen is overrun with cats/dogs, I go to various places with free wifi access like my local library, café/deli or co-working space (there’s a very active Languedoc Jelly group). When I see clients face-to-face I use a lovely room in part of a Georgian terrace in central Bristol; but I work quite a lot on Skype.

My ‘business bag’ is a rather shiny and bright pink trolley shopper that I bought in a French hypermarket a couple of years ago. It will hold quite a bit of stuff if necessary and being able to wheel it about rather than carrying it on my shoulder is great as I tend to be on foot or on public transport when I’m in Bristol.

Also, because both my homes are very small it’s useful to just pack up the office into the trolley and put it in a corner somewhere until I need it again!

So, what’s in the Shiny Pink Trolley business bag?

(Click on the photo above to view full-size).
• My trusty laptop (a Macbook Pro that’s about 4 years old but still has good battery life and plenty of storage on the hard drive).
• Smartphone and charger (you can’t see the smartphone as I’m using it to take the picture!)
• My ‘Wednesday Teatime’ notebook and pen. I personalised the cover of this Ryland Peters ‘Mum’s Notes’ as I’m a big fan of kitsch vintage things. I loved the notebook because it has old advertising illustrations from the 50s all through it, as well as on the cover.
• Box of teabags (various) for when I’m using my rented therapy practice room in Bristol.
• Tissues (just in case).
• Keys! I love this blingy ‘coccinella’ keyring that was given to me by some Italian friends when we moved from Italy a year ago, and it reminds me of the wonderful 8 years I spent there.
• Clipboard and small filing folder (the sort with multiple pockets inside), which I use to keep any notes or worksheets that I’m using with clients.
• Pack of business cards (because you never know when you might need one).
• An NLP (neuro linguistic programming) book. I usually have a text book of some sort with me in case I have some spare time to dip in to it. It’s part of my commitment to my own learning and change process.

Find out more about Jane and her intriguing business name at wednesdayteatime.co.uk.

Enjoyed this? Check out more home workers opening their business bag in the What’s in Your Bag? series.