Behind the Board: Part 2

By Jennifer Ellis Murray

Founder of The Board Barcelona

After we got married, The Board Barcelona went off-grid for a little while while we focused on our professional careers and taking care of our new puppy. 

Although The Board wasn’t very present online, I continued to enjoy creating Boards for friends and family behind the scenes. I had marked the Instagram page as “closed”, but still received messages asking if we would one day officially open a business. 

At this point, abandoning The Board Barcelona just felt wrong. There was so much potential for the business! Ross and I agreed it was “now or never”, so we decided to go “all-in.” 

We registered the company, created a menu, designed a new logo and soon after hosted our launch party at Salut Wine Studio. 

Shortly after, we had the amazing opportunity to participate in the store opening of La Comet on La Rambla Catalunya. I couldn’t believe that a company like La Comet wanted to work with us. A huge thank you and big hug to Carol and Bea from La Comet! Thanks for believing in us. 

After La Comet, inquiries began pouring in. We were beyond grateful to work with other companies such as Sézane, La Ceramicaría, and Ehlea. 

Despite the growing interest, all of this was happening part-time while we juggled our day jobs. I continued working as a primary school teacher, spending early mornings, evenings, and weekends on The Board Barcelona. Ross built the website and helped in every way he could during his free time. We were essentially building the plane while flying it.  

The biggest, craziest moment was catering for Mailchimp at La Fira. One day they emailed asking if we could create Grazing Cups and serve Cava for over 300 people at the ShopTalk event. We said YES, of course, then had to figure out how to pull it off! In the end, we made it happen, and it was a huge success. We were so, so proud. 

After a year of juggling two jobs and many sleepless nights, we faced another decision: We had dipped our toes in the water with The Board, but now it was time to dive in.  

Stay tuned for part 3!