Five Questions With Love Mae

Love mae designs

Celebrating our 10 year anniversary has prompted a lot of nostalgia here at FK. Take earth caretakers Love Mae for example. We’ve seen such amazing growth since this local business’ first Finders Keepers stall, and reflecting on their journey has puffed us right up with pride! 

Five years since our last catch up, we interview Peta, a woman who, along with whole lot of determination and a great smile, is smashing her business goals and inspiring conscious consumption among the young and old. Be sure to catch Love Mae at our Brisbane market, who will be making the journey from Byron Bay this weekend! 

Remember when we interviewed you here? Tell us how you’ve evolved as a label since your first Finders Keepers stall?

Oh my goodness, that was such an amazing flashback to 2011.. wow! So much has evolved since then. For starters we are no longer in the foothills of Mount Warning in a beautiful old pottery building. I do miss that place… but I do also love our new modern warehouse in Byron Bay. Life seems easier not dealing with the outside toilet and the crazy little rooms for storage and the country post office… we do however still deal with snakes! 😉

As for the products I feel like we have come a long way in production and design. We’ve also grown globally with distributors all around the world including Europe, China and Taiwan among other places. Oh and we’ve got a flagship shop attached to the warehouse. It’s been such a journey of all sorts… both ups and downs.

Bamboo 5 pc Set, Australiana – designed by Love Mae

What has been some highlights for Love Mae since then?
Moving to Byron has been a big highlight, it was the best thing for growth and maturity of the business. Having a real warehouse really opened the door for us to all sorts of new things. It also paved the way for new positions and the people we now work with are helping take us to the next level. It’s exciting the opportunities that are presenting themselves.

How much time a week do you dedicate to your label and what does a typical day working involve for you?
I like the idea of working 4 days a week during school hours, but that doesn’t always happen. Especially at the moment as we go into our busy season, I find myself working until 5 of an afternoon and sometimes even at night. A typical day for me is divine, I’ve really manage to carve it out perfectly and I make sure that I don’t become complacent with it.

I’ll start the day with a walk to the beach with Chica (our dog) and help my girls get ready for school and then I drive to our warehouse … and thats when the day has no routine. Honestly, I sometimes wonder what I do myself. I wear so many hats and the day dictates which one I wear. Today I’m pretending I’m IT and trying to fix our system that is down. I’m also head of production at the moment as we do all the last minute decisions on our new products. Other days its designs or media or sales or distribution. Certainly never a dull moment! The variation is what keeps me alive and interested in Love Mae.

Bamboo Tumblers, Arrow and Feathers – designed by Love Mae

Bamboo 4pc Set, Unicorn Supper – designed by Love mae

What would be one piece of advice you would give a first time seller at The Finders Keepers?
Have enough stock! Honestly The Finders Keepers markets never stop buzzing the whole time they are open so be prepared. I also think stand design is really important. Think how your customer will feel at your stand. They need to be able to browse without feeling like they are trapped. With so many amazing products to look at you don’t want them finding an excuse to skip your stand.

What goals do you have for your business over the next five years?

I’ve got some of the biggest goals I’ve ever had locked in mentally and I’m so keen to achieve them. I’m all about new products at the moment. A few things that I’ve thought of for a while and now finally have the courage to do. I’m hoping that they help achieve a financial jump so that we can have more staff. The work culture here is so fantastic and it will be great to have a couple more of us so we aren’t so stretched.

Hopefully I could take a hat or two off so I can concentrate on just certain aspects of the business. I work with more 1-2 year goals at the moment and keep them tight and achievable. Another goal I have is to work more organised with time frames. We always seem to be doing everything at the last minute and I’m scared that I won’t be able to shift it as we’ve worked this way for 9 years now. You’d think we would have sorted it out by now! 😉

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Love Mae collection

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