Meet Nicola Clarke | April 25, 2023
Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nicola Clarke. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Nicola, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
I think from practicing gratitude. There’s so much to be grateful for and every time I hear my thoughts going down a negative path, I try to think of all the green flags in my life. Community is really important to me and something I’m truly grateful for. Moving to New York City recently, made me realize how important it is to have a sense of community. Whether it’s being kind to strangers or helping a neighbor, everyone has the ability to create their form of community and support one another. Whenever I feel alone, I think about all the people in my life who have really been there for me and I feel genuinely grateful and optimistic.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m an Art Director and Designer from Johannesburg, South Africa. Industry-wise, my background is mostly in the advertising world – with a decade of design, advertising and branding experience, I started out as a Junior Art Director at Ogilvy & Mather in 2013. After many years at Ogilvy, I moved across continents to the U.S. to work with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in San Francisco.
After being forced into lockdown at the start of the pandemic and losing my design job, I started illustrating as a creative escape. I began where a lot of artists start, with pet portraits. After totally exhausting cats and dogs, I moved on to images that inspired me more – all things feminine. I‘ve always been enchanted with the female body probably due to growing up surrounded by three sisters in South Africa.
I was drawn to the illustrative quality of design from a young age and, early on, I fell in love with the iconic Hermès scarves. At one point I thought I wanted to design a series for Hermès – that was my initial goal. After finally finding my illustration style, I thought, “Why don’t I just make my own brand?” Both my parents started their own businesses, as well as my older sister, so it felt natural for me to follow in their entrepreneurial footsteps.
At its core, the inspiration for starting Cocobaby came from celebrating female empowerment, diversity, playfulness and imperfection. The scarves allowed me to turn female-focused art into apparel. I wanted to celebrate femininity through the power of creativity and storytelling. Female empowerment is deeply-seated in growing up with lots of sisters and two very strong mothers. The scarves allow me to make people’s lives more playful, exciting and colorful.
I launched Cocobaby in Aspen, and within the first couple of months I sold out of my first round of inventory. It’s been full steam ahead ever since. Currently, Cocobaby is sold in local boutiques in Aspen; Kemo Sabe, Pitkin County Dry Goods and Wyld Blue.
Cocobaby has partnered up with Kemo Sabe to create custom silk Twilly’s for their western cowboy hats, and are now being sold all over the country; Vail, Aspen, Park City, Utah, and Jackson, Wyoming. Most recently, Cocobaby and BRIKA partnered up with Mercedes Benz for a specially curated brand experience pop-up in Toronto, keeping customers engaged while showing off their gorgeous cars.
Look out for “The New York Collection”, inspired by fierce, feminine personalities in New York City, available online at www.cocobaby.love or on Instagram: cocobaby.love
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Starting with one thing at a time.
We all have to start somewhere. My biggest challenge when starting out was wanting to do a million different things at once. A friend at the time said to me, “Start with one thing” – so I chose silk. Amazon started out selling books online, and now they sell everything. Focus on one thing at a time.
2. Taking advice with a pinch of salt.
Once you start a business, everyone has a piece of advice for you and how you should be doing things. I have learnt to take suggestions with a pinch of salt, appreciating that everyone just wants to help. People throw all sorts of advice at you and it’s hard to take it all in and constantly think “What you should be doing”. My advice? Whenever you want to give someone advice, ask first if or how they would like to receive it.
3. Trusting the timing of the universe and enjoying the whole process.
I can’t stress this enough, the universe has your back. Without sounding too woke, I believe everything happens for a reason and you have to learn to trust the timing of the universe, let go and just enjoy the process. I’ve looked back on so many moments in my life where I felt stressed about something not working out, and I’ve realized that it couldn’t have played out more perfectly in terms of timing. The sooner as you surrender to the timing of the universe, the sooner you’ll feel it’ll all working out.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I love collaborating with like-minded artists and small brands. Being an artist myself, I know how hard it is to get your art out there, so I think we should empower each other where we can. I’ve learnt that two minds are definitely better than one. Since all things feminine inspire me, I like choosing artists who have a similar aesthetic and core values. Some of Cocobaby’s core values are: Honesty, imperfection, love, playfulness, authenticity and connection. Email info@cocobaby.love for collaborations.
Shoutout Colorado, July 27, 2021
Meet Nicola Clarke | Founder & Artist
We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicola Clarke and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Nicola, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
After being forced into lockdown at the start of the pandemic and losing my design job in San Francisco, I started illustrating as a creative escape. I began where a lot of artists start, with pet portraits. After totally exhausting cats and dogs, I moved on to images that inspired me more – all things feminine. I‘ve always been enchanted with the female body probably due to growing up surrounded by three sisters in South Africa.
I was drawn to the illustrative quality of design from a young age and, early on, I fell in love with the iconic Hermès scarves. At one point I thought I wanted to design a series for Hermès – that was my initial goal. After finally finding my illustration style, I thought, “Why don’t I just make my own scarves?” Both my parents started their own businesses, as well as my older sister, so it felt natural for me to follow in their entrepreneurial footsteps.
At its core, the inspiration for starting Cocobaby came from celebrating female empowerment, diversity, playfulness and imperfection. The scarves allowed me to turn female-focused art into apparel. I wanted to celebrate femininity through the power of creativity and storytelling. Female empowerment is deeply-seated in growing up with lots of sisters and two very strong mothers. The scarves allow me to make people’s lives more playful, exciting and colorful.
I launched Cocobaby in Aspen, and within the first couple of months I sold out of my first round of inventory. It’s been full steam ahead ever since. Currently, Cocobaby is sold in local boutiques in Aspen; Kemo Sabe, Pitkin County Dry Goods and The Art of The Cozy.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started my career in South Africa as an Art Director in the challenging and often harsh advertising industry, Ogilvy & Mather. After that I moved to San Francisco and worked as a designer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This is where I learned to take deadlines seriously and push the boundaries in creating conceptual, creative work. After working on many influential brands, I started longing to create my own brand. I learned everything I needed to during hours walking in the Embarcadero, listening to the “How I Built This” podcast.
My biggest challenge when starting out was wanting to do a million different things. A friend at the time said to me, “Start with one thing” – so I chose silk. The next challenge was my initial investment in inventory. I took a massive risk on a huge order of silk scarves from a vendor in Singapore, having no idea how the graphics would translate onto silk. Luckily the scarves came out perfectly and I thanked the universe profusely! (I’m still thanking the universe).
The challenge now is to scale the brand and possibly diversify the product line.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For the best time ever? Go straight to Aspen, you (probably) won’t regret it!
I love and appreciate food and in my family, everything revolves around meal times. Where to eat: Bear Den for their eggs with benefits, French Alpine Bistro for their escargot and gnocchi, Ellina for their artichoke heart bruschetta, Local for their oat milk lattes, Aspen Tap for craft beer and pizza, Campo di Fiori for their espresso martinis and The French Pastry Cafe (Aspen Business Centre) for their almond croissants.
Catch a live show at Red Rocks, (if you can’t get to Red Rocks, The Belly Up will do), hike American Lake, cycle to the Maroon Bells (with an ebike, obviously) and paddle board on the Roaring Fork River. Aspen is one of the few places that is extremely dog friendly, so if you own a pooch, take it to Wagner Park aka “The Dog Park” at 5 o’clock for doggie social hour. Be prepared to be social because you’ll undoubtedly meet some interesting people!
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d love to dedicate this Shoutout to Cocobaby’s Photographer, Alexis Ahrling. Alexis has supported Cocobaby right from the start and has completely influenced the brand’s aesthetic. Alexis is one of the most talented and memorable creatives I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Since the beginning we’ve shared a common vision for a female-focused mentoring group. We’re now in the process of creating a women-supporting-women, entrepreneurial community.
https://shoutoutcolorado.com/meet-nicola-clarke-founder-artist/
“With female focus, Aspen designer launches “cocobaby” with her own designs.”
— Erica Robbie, Aspen Daily News, Staff Writer
May 25, 2021
“By March, the 30-year-old Aspenite had nearly sold out of her hand-illustrated scarves.”
— Erica Robbie, Aspen Daily News, Staff Writer
“It’s like a designer’s dream being able to produce something that you can physically see, and you physically illustrated, which is really cool,” Clarke said Monday. She noted the tangible nature is also special “because everything is so digital these days.”
Since launching cocobaby earlier this year, Clarke has not only restocked her inventory but also continued creating new designs, which can be purchased online as well as in local shops this summer.”
“It’s been really amazing; the community in Aspen has been so helpful … Everyone just wants to help out and support this [female-driven] community,” Clarke said.