Sisters keep business going while on lockdown... 14,000km apart
Firm being run from Sydney and Colombia
THEY may be 14,000km apart, with 15 hours of a time difference, but Danielle and Rebecca Winckworth are not letting long distance and lockdown stop them running their family’s interiors business.
Former model Danielle has just come out of the surf after an evening swim on Sydney’s Coogee beach when her soprano sister Rebecca is starting her day on their business, White & Green, in Medellin, Colombia.
Rebecca, a lead soloist with the Irish choral ensemble Anúna, should have been coming home to Wicklow next month, but now it looks like it could be September before there are flights back to Ireland.
Rebecca sings Irish classics like ‘Danny Boy’ to her neighbours from her balcony at night.
It’s a little different to a few years ago, when she once sang for Bill Gates, Chris Martin, Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz at a small concert in Bono’s house.
Meantime, back in Wicklow, the third leg of the family business wheel, the girls’ mother, interior designer Sari Winckworth, is looking after order fulfilment for White & Green, the luxury
Fairtrade and organic cotton bedlinen and homewares company.
Danielle and Rebecca combined their talents and love of luxury and ethical ethos to start the homewares company with their mum in May 2016.
Like many Irish parents whose offspring are abroad during lockdown, they communicate on WhatsApp video calls.
Sari says: “I am really proud of my girls living their lives in new and exciting places.”
And if things go to plan, and travel restrictions are lifted, they might all succeed in making it home for Christmas, when they can celebrate with their other sister, Andrea.
Rebecca admits she was a bit lonely in Colombia but says the green valleys remind her of Wicklow, and home.
“I often phone customers to help with their orders too and it’s always fun asking ‘how is the weather in Dublin today?’” said Rebecca, who has a Masters in International Development from the London School of Economics.
In their division of duties, she looks after the communications and marketing from Colombia and in the evenings she sings in many online concerts – adapting to the new way of performing music.
Danielle looks after their production operations which works well as she is on a similar time-zone to India, where their factories are based.
She completed her task to launch White & Green Australia this weekend, so there were ‘virtual bubbles’ in Sydney, Medellin and Wicklow for the Winckworth ladies.
“The time-zones are hard,” Rebecca admits.
“When Danielle is asleep, I am awake, and vice versa, so we really have to trust that the other person is doing their job well as it’s impossible to have a meeting with each other at a civilised hour.”
Covers
Danielle had a very successful career as an international model, gracing the covers of countless glossy fashion magazines and walking at New York and London fashion weeks.
Moving to Sydney a year ago, Danielle says: “It was always a dream to emigrate here and experience the beautiful Australian lifestyle surrounded by beautiful beaches, wildlife, sunshine and the laidback Aussie humour.
“Australians are very passionate about ethical consumption and the organic market is actually more mature down there than it is in Ireland.”