Alice Rivers Cripps is the Founder and Managing Director of Posh Totty Designs, the go-to company for personalised handmade jewellery and gifts. The business began fourteen years ago when Alice ended up in Mexico with only $60 in her pocket, a yoga mat for a bed and the stars for a ceiling... four bikes, eleven jobs she couldn’t keep, some jelly wrestling, lots of tequila, one night sleeping in a hyper baric chamber in a dive shop window and a mild lobster addiction... Alice found her vocation working for some local Mayan jewellers.

Once back in Blighty, Alice relocated to Brighton and in 2004 Posh Totty Designs was born! Twelve years on (one husband and two little boys in tow), Alice and her growing team of 40+ are now firmly on the map as the personalised jewellery and gifts brand of choice. Now operating from a 3,000 sq ft studio space and state of the art jewellery workshop, last year Posh Totty Designs scored three awards including ' The Creative Industries Award' and the best one by far 'Business of the Year 2015’ at the Brighton and Hove Business Awards.

With three Brighton stores and poshtottydesigns.com all going strong, 2016 finds Alice taking Posh Totty Designs to the big smoke, where she will open the doors to her first London boutique later this year. Watch this space!

My Favourite Website... The Pool - A fantastic website full of intelligent, witty articles that really resonate. It’s also great that each feature tells you how long it will take to read – a must for squeezing some informative reading into my day when I get a spare three minutes.

My Favourite App... Pinterest - I love it, I’d go so far as to say I’m addicted! Where else could I work out what healthy food to eat for dinner, browse for interiors products for my new kitchen and look at all my favourite jewellery. It’s an amazing creative space you can really immerse yourself in.

My Favourite Blog... style-memos - A gorgeous blog, Alexis has a really fantastic eye for beautiful things. She’s also based in Brighton, like Posh Totty Designs. I love the fact she features shots of art and her family, as well as fashion.

My Internet/Tech Hero... Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger - The men who gave us Instagram. Where would we be without them, their app and the super flattering filters that make everyone/thing look so much better?

My Most Recent Buy Online... A watch from Daniel Wellington - I treated myself to this on my last birthday. I’d had my eye on it for ages, simple design that makes a real statement.

Book I've Just Downloaded... Humanize: How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World by Jamie Notter & Maddie Grant - This book is all about how to humanise your company and get back to what you are doing it all for. It’s really helped me to remember to live in the moment and love every minute about the journey as my brand and company grows.

My Favourite Tweeter... Lauren Laverne - She has the best taste in music, posts intelligent, empowering content and has a nice line in witty one liners. What more could you want from Twitter?

My Favourite Instagrammer... Selfish Mother - Another Brighton based enterprise doing amazing things. It’s a blogzine, an e-shop and so much more, their Instagram feed sums it up quite nicely. It’s very different and also raises money for the charity Women for Women, such a great cause.

My Pet Hate About Life Online... Hashtags - And their overuse, especially #blessed, when used for really inane, meaningless things – aargh! I also worry I’m spending too much time glued to my screen and find it hard to switch off. I use the Screentime App to close things down or I can lose hours!

Social Media Allowed Me to Meet... Our customers. I started this business because I loved the stories behind each personalisation and social media allows customers to share what happens to each piece after they receive them. There’s nothing sweeter than a mum posting a picture of her baby playing with her personalised necklace or a recently engaged couple tweeting a snap of them and their 10 Things I Love About You box.

My Stand Out Online Memory... When celebrities have worn our products on social media I’ve had to pinch myself. We’ve had everyone from Fearne Cotton to Lauren Laverne, Michelle Keegan and Binky from Made in Chelsea wearing our designs and mentioning the brand. It gives you a real high and has brought our products to a whole new audience.

Most Worthwhile Newsletter Subscribed To... Bill’s restaurants just staged an amazing promotion for the whole of January that all the PTD office were addicted to. Every day at midday you had to follow a link to win everything from a glass of beer, to a meal for two. A brilliant marketing initiative. There will be an office outing to the Brighton Bill’s to redeem our chocolate brownie milkshakes very soon!

iPhone or Android – Android. I love my iPad, but my Samsung Galaxy takes amazing photos. Plus, I don’t like the way that Apple’s products don’t integrate with other brands, I like a bit of variety in my life.


3 February 2016