By now you must know that I’m a kikki.K addict. The brand just speaks to me.
The products are gorgeous and I love how inspiring they are. I do use some digital planning systems – it seems almost impossible to escape Microsoft Outlook, but I’ve always been drawn to paper. Particularly for planning, I need to sit and gather my thoughts and then write it out. I think the “writing it out” part helps to cement that in my brain, it really helps me to focus and then remember.
But back to kikki.K – in addition to the gorgeous and inspirational products, the stores themselves are styled in a way that speaks to me. I love the base of white, with the pops of colour. That’s the aesthetic that I aspire to and I think my own home has aspects of that aesthetic.
So I’m always drawn to spending more time in-store. When they began running workshops, I jumped at the chance to go to one. I’ve done the Planner Workshop (twice), a Christmas Workshop, a Mindfulness Workshop and the new Dream.Do.Enjoy.Share Workshop. And I really loved all of them.
The Planner Workshops are fantastic. I went to my first one when I was quite new to planning, and I went to my second one last year, when I already owned (and used) 4 planners and a bullet journal LOL.
But still, I found it useful. It helps you to brainstorm the best ways to use your planner, to work out what you want to track and therefore what sections to set up. It also gives you some insight into their Habits and Goals Workshops by giving you some tools to help you prioritise your tasks – which tasks are the ones you absolutely have, which ones will make your life easier, which ones can wait.
The Christmas Workshop was lots of fun. I still go home to see my family at Christmas and the planning is all done by my Mum (I know right, so lucky!) so the planning part of the workshop was not so relevant to me. Although I can see how awesome it would be for people who have to plan the whole event out.
I really enjoyed the Mindfulness Workshop as well. It’s not something I would have considered attending a few years ago, but as I get older, and as my work makes me more stressed (well, my old work did), I came to relish those moments of Mindfulness. The workshop gave me ideas for practicing Mindfulness, to help me to prioritise myself when I needed to.
What I love about the workshop (apart from the free goodies that you get to take home, and the Lindt chocolates that they give you) is that they give you the tools to continue practicing what you learn. While you’re in a group and everyone has different ideas and needs, they still help you to brainstorm your own needs and apply what you’ve learnt to your own life.
Finally, the Dream.Do.Enjoy.Share. workshop – this was my absolute favourite. Longer than the others, and the newest, it was such a great evening. The content was amazing and thought-provoking and powerful, and even quite emotional for some of us. Aside from that though, it was a perfect intersection of women attending. They were fun, interactive, empowered, unafraid women. It was an absolutely inspiring night. Some of us have kept in touch and we meet up every couple of months.
So, a little about the workshops in general. You pay a fee, but the gift that you receive on the night is usually worth more than the fee. Plus you get a discount off everything purchased on the night, as well as $10 off your next workshop. The instructor introduces herself and the course, and then invites us to introduce ourselves and say something about why we are there and what we hope to achieve from the workshop. She then takes us through the material – either through the planner, or through the workbooks that are provided as the gift. Everyone is given ample opportunity to participate and interact and I find that the people who attend seem to be quite open and honest and genuine people.
If you’re considering a workshop, I would say – if you can spare the $40, do it, it’s a great experience. At worst, you’ll have a night out with like-minded individuals and take home some gorgeous stationery. Almost certainly, you’ll have an inspiring and amazing evening. You may even meet people who you continue to interact with, long after the workshop.
If you want to see more, visit my planning instagram: @desleyjane_plans
