making mustard / The Mustard Story

Today I woke up (and Jess went to bed) to this article going live on The Design Files. If you don't know, it is 'Australia's Top Design Blog' so it's kind of a BIG deal.   The truth is, I also felt a moment of panic, the imposter syndrome kick in, the 'what if I'm found out' moment. It may or may not surprise you to know that I have screwed a lot of things up with Mustard already, there are things I'd already like to go back and redo. It may or may not surprise you that every day I...

Ok, so we aren't exactly Pros by any means (this was our first trade show after all!) but here's some things we learnt from doing Life Instyle:   1. Be human. (Most important!) You can't help it, you are human, don't try to hide it. Sometimes we jumbled our words, forgot things, dropped business cards on the floor. It's ok. You know the best thing? The person you are talking to is a human too.  2. Be prepared. Think about the questions you might be asked and prepare a memory bank of answers, practice and get familiar with them. Even better offer a...

One night I said to my husband, “I just need to go to China.”  He is fairly well adapted to my spontaneous nature and knows that I am not someone who will ask for permission and wasn’t born with a very large supply of patience. I had been emailing and skyping with my potential supplier in China for a few months and establishing what the parameters of possibility were. Could I have lockers any size or shape? Could I choose the design of the key? How are they packaged and can I customise that? How on earth do you get...

It may sound strange to say that my first business was not about making money. Yes, I wanted some shiny coins in my pocket and yes I sure did have bills to pay but I also rarely checked my bank account or chased up payments that hadn’t been made. The money would flow in and, of course, flow out of my business account. It worked. There was nearly always money in the kitty for what I needed but the truth is, it just wasn’t what turned me on. In Australia wages are sensibly high and award wages mean that I would...