One of the big changes you will see with Valentte products in 2019 is the phasing out of labels on our product and replacing them with a screen print directly onto the glass. I’m excited about the change, and sure it will increase the quality and feel of our products.

The new screen-printed glass is going to have a softer, more calming feel with less use of our signature purple, which will be kept for outer packaging and branding rather than on the products themselves.

This change led us to choose a new colour for our printing. We found the perfect colour. But the big problem was how on earth to identify what colour it was. I took the sample to Gary, our packaging printer thinking he would be able to read the answer from a chart. He has years of experience and I expected him to know.

He looked at my sample and said: “that’s white”. I had thought it was grey, so that was progress. But what white, I asked. I don’t know he replied. He then told me to go to B&Q and look at paint samples. They will give you the best match.

Ten minutes later I left B&Q with a three-inch square piece of white card. I had found the perfect match for our new colour.

Asking for advice is a vital part of getting things done and making progress towards your goals. You shouldn’t expect to know how to do everything that is required.

I learnt a valuable lesson today.

I expected Gary with his years of experience to know what the colour was. But his experience gave him not the colour but the knowledge of “how to find the colour” — a much more valuable insight.

Knowing what question to ask to elicit the answer you need is the real value of experience.

Are you facing a challenging situation in your life? I leave you with the beautiful words of Meg Cabot

“Sometimes in life, you fall down holes you can’t climb out of by yourself. That’s what friends and family are for – to help. They can’t help, however, unless you let them know you’re down there.”