Case Study
Pink Jinn — Where Two Worlds Meet
The Story Behind Pink Jinn
Some businesses are born from opportunity. Others are born from a feeling, a persistent, quiet certainty that the world is missing something and that you might be the one to fill the gap.
For Laura Cretney, that feeling started on the Isle of Man. A tiny island of 85,000 people in the middle of the Irish Sea, caught between Ireland and England, a place with a fierce sense of identity but little exposure to the world beyond its shores.
When Laura went to university in the UK and began studying Arabic, everything changed. Her teachers, from Palestine, Egypt, and Yemen, opened a door she didn't know existed. She fell in love with the language, the culture, and eventually, the region itself. Twelve years ago, she moved to Oman and never quite left.
"I had the most wonderful experience. The people are the kindest, most welcoming people you will ever meet. It turned everything I thought I understood about the Middle East completely on its head."
But every time Laura returned home, she found herself answering the same questions. Is it safe? What's it like for a woman there? The same stereotypes, the same misconceptions, the same narrow lens through which her community had always seen the region.
That's when Pink Jinn was born.
Our Work with Pink Jinn
Results & Milestones
Services & Solutions
✔ Brand Strategy
✔ Brand Audit
✔ Content Strategy
✔ Marketing Consultation
Successes
✔ Refreshed Brand Positioning
✔ Renewed Strategic Clarity
✔ Content Strategy in Motion
✔ Community Re-engagement
Building bridges starts with knowing why they matter.
A Platform Built on Empathy
Pink Jinn started as a blog, a space where Laura wrote honestly about her experiences living in the region. The people she was meeting. The entrepreneurs who are building extraordinary things. The culture, the heritage, the stories that never made it into the headlines.
Over time, it grew into a network of writers from across the region and beyond, people who had lived there, loved it, and wanted to share it truthfully. People whose stories challenged perceptions rather than reinforced them.
"There really wasn't very much content in English that wasn't either hyper-politicised or surface-level travel writing. Nothing that went deeper, shaped by the people whose stories were being told."
The name itself carries meaning. Jinn — a nod to the superstitions of the Isle of Man and the mysticism of the region. Pink — playful, feminine, a little mysterious.
"People are never quite sure what it means or where it came from. I like that. It has a bit of mystery to it."
Rebuilding from the Roots with O&H
What she needed wasn't someone to create content for her. Pink Jinn's connection to its community was too personal, too rooted in Laura's own voice and experience, to outsource. What she needed was clarity, someone to ask the hard questions and help her answer them honestly.
"I wanted almost like an advisory role. Someone who could help us build the capability ourselves so we could keep doing it."
Together, we went back to the roots. We asked the questions that had maybe never been asked out loud: What is Pink Jinn? What does it stand for? What is it here to do, now, in this landscape, with this audience?
A Brand Audit That Cleared the Path
We started with an honest audit of Pink Jinn's existing presence, platforms, content, tone, and positioning. What still felt right. What no longer fit. What needed to evolve. This gave Laura a clear picture of where she was and a concrete foundation to build from.
Repositioning for Where She's Going
We worked together to develop copy and brand language that honoured where Pink Jinn had come from while pointing clearly toward where it was headed. A marketplace rooted in impact. A platform that centres the creators. A bridge that goes deeper than travel content.
A Strategy She Could Own
Rather than handing Laura a plan she couldn't maintain, we built a content and engagement strategy that worked with her strengths, her voice, her community, and her decade of relationships across the region. A strategy she could deliver herself with confidence.
When Laura came to Olives & Heather, she wasn't looking for a team to take over. She was looking for a partner who could help her find her way back to herself.
"I came across Olives & Heather on LinkedIn. I'd been following your work for a while. I posted asking for recommendations on design and branding, and you said, 'We're here.' And I realised I didn't know you also did branding. I thought it was more content and strategy."
Grounding, Reaffirming, Inspiring
When we asked Laura to describe the experience of working with Olives & Heather, she paused.
"Grounding," she said. "That's the word. It helped me reconnect with why I'm doing this and what we want to build. Reaffirming. Inspiring. It got me very excited for what's coming and reassured me that there's a place for what we're doing and that the right people surround us to do it together."
A Bridge That Keeps Building
Pink Jinn is now entering a new chapter. The marketplace is in development. The content is live again. The community is re-engaging. And Laura, after over a decade of building, questioning, and rebuilding, is clearer than ever about what she's doing and why.
The world still needs platforms that connect people across divides. That challenges the stereotypes. That tells the stories that don't make it into the headlines.
In a time when the online space is becoming more polarised, when the region is more visible than it ever has been but often through the narrowest of lenses, Pink Jinn's work feels more necessary than it ever has.
"There's still such a need for platforms that connect people across those divides. Even for me, in my own community, that's the wall that needed to be broken down."
And as Laura keeps building that bridge, Olives & Heather will always be cheering her on.
Work With Us
At Olives & Heather, we help organisations with heart and purpose amplify their impact. If you're ready to share your story and shape perceptions, we'd love to help.