Redundancy leads to reinvention as duvet diva
Faced with redundancy at 50, Kerry Jackson wondered if she would ever work again, so she started her own business.
Four years on, M.M Linen is a multimillion-dollar company selling its distinctive brand of bedding, furnishings and homewares to more than 300 stores in six countries.
But Jackson, a finalist in the business enterprise section of the 2018 Women of Influence Awards, readily admits she went through some dark times after restructuring spelled the end of her job as a senior buyer with Ezibuy.
Her determination to remain in Christchurch meant her employment prospects were bleak.
‘‘All the specialist senior buyers’ roles are in Auckland, so I felt like that could have been the end of my career, but I was actually raring to go.’’
The turning point came when she contacted one of her suppliers with an idea for a business and Hong Kong-based Henry Rawson, who manufactures linen in China, invited her to ‘‘pop over’’ for a chat.
‘‘That was a big moment for me, to book a flight to Hong Kong at the last moment, and have faith and confidence that it was going to work.’’
Rawson backed her financially and having just signed a deal with Bed, Bath and Beyond in the US, things are ticking over very nicely for Jackson, with turnover doubling last year.
Being accepted by major UK homeware company Next was another coup.
Jackson made a deliberate decision not to sell through the M.M Linen website in direct competition with the retailers she supplies because she likes supporting ‘‘bricks and mortar’’ businesses.
‘‘There’s some wonderful Ma and Pa stores, lovely country stores which have been passed on through generations, and they’re struggling to keep competitive with online companies, so I like to support them.
‘‘My product is very visual, and it’s so much nicer for people to talk to someone about it because it’s a big spend … you can so easily make a mistake buying online.’’
M.M Linen also operates as a carbon-neutral company, and Jackson said that was increasingly important to both consumers and retailers who appreciated the company’s efforts to replace plastic packaging with fabric bags where possible.
‘‘It costs a lot more, especially with the high-grade fabric we use and we have not passed that on to the consumer because we believe sustainability is so important.’’
Jackson experienced an ageism shock when a manager commented to her that ‘‘wear-out time for buyers is around 45.’’
As the founder and creative director of M.M Linen, she can sidestep those attitudes and have control over her future.
‘‘It will give me an opportunity to work shorter hours as I get older, but still work, which is huge.
‘‘Next year I’m going to a fourday week, and I’m building a team around me so I can wind down.
‘‘I just love that I can make my own decisions and create my own direction.’’