White & Green
Rebecca Winckworth, co-founder with White & Green
Why did you guys decide to set up the company?
Sari has been an interior designer for many years. She specialised in creating luxury bedrooms and was sourcing all of the bedding for her clients around Europe. She found it very difficult to find consistently good quality bed linen that didn't cost a huge amount of money. She found that many designer labels would contract out production and therefore, that designer names and prices did not guarantee quality.
I had just finished a Masters degree at the London School of Economics where I specialised in sustainability. When Sari had the idea to create a high quality, affordable, and ethical bed linen company, I jumped at the opportunity to create products that allowed consumers to improve the lives of producers in another part of the world.
Unfortunately, the cotton industry is one of the most dangerous industries to work in, involving huge amounts of child labour and slavery. It is also highly polluting and is responsible for 25% of global pesticide use. That is why Sari and I were adamant that everything would be certified organic, i.e. no toxic chemicals or pesticides, as well as fairtrade, which means ethical labour practices across the entire supply chain.
Danielle was working as a high-fashion model at the time and was becoming increasingly passionate about the design part of the industry. She came on board
White & Green is a family business which specialises in fairtrade, high quality bedsheets, towels and accessories. Established by Rebecca, her mum Sari and sister Danielle, the company has gone from strength to strength in recent years.
on the product design and management side of the company and White & Green was born!
Did you have complete faith in yourself from the beginning?
To be honest, looking back, I think we were so naive when we started this business. We did not really know the amazing journey that we were embarking on and White & Green just grew organically. We decided amongst ourselves to not sweat the little things and to just enjoy the learning experience every step of the way.
What have you learned most over the past few years?
We have greatly enjoyed working for ourselves. Running your own business grants you so much freedom to travel, to meet other amazing people who are creating thing, and to learn a huge amount about all areas of business. We have learnt everything from how to farm sustainably, to how to run a textiles factory, to human resources of a small business, to marketing and even some minor website development skills .... you name it, we have studied it and tried it ourselves!
We have also learnt so much from being entrepreneurs. As an entrepreneur, you are constantly taking risks, challenging yourself and taking the road less travelled, which is often nervewracking and frightening, but it is also incredibly rewarding seeing something you have built from scratch take flight.
White & Green also represents the revolution towards more conscious living and we are really proud to have been at the forefront of this movement. When people buy White & Green, they are joining us in something greater than the sum of our parts. We have been advocating organic and fairtrade for several years now and it feels great to see these conversations finally blossoming in Ireland.
If you could go back and do anything differently what would it be?
We wouldn't change anything at all. I know it is a cliché but every mistake made is a lesson learnt. If anything I would say I wish we had been even more brave from the beginning, because we little did we know back then how successful and popular our lovely White & Green would become today!
What advice would you have for somebody looking to step into the interiors business?
In the interiors industry today, there are two very important business components. These are: quality and brand. Firstly, you must become an expert in what you are selling. Sari spent years researching bed linen and we spent a year visiting different factories and farms around the world until we found our perfect partners.
“I would say I wish we had been even more brave from the beginning, because little did we know then how successful we'd become today”
We could have simply found a third party supplier online and put our brand name on the products like many other companies do, but we insisted on quality and expertise. We know this business inside out and how to partner with the best raw materials and craftspeople - from cotton seed through to final product. In any business, you must be an expert and consistently produce a quality service or product.
Secondly, in today's online world, it is all about branding. We have spent years building a trustworthy brand and building our online and media presence. Customers today want to browse online, they want social proof through reviews and online followings and they want to see the real people behind the business. We have focused on this since the beginning of White & Green, in building a brand that people can trust and become a part of.
What do you love most about the brand?
We love being part of a movement that represents kindness and connection. We know our farmers, we know our factory workers and we want our customers to know that by supporting us, they are impacting the lives of producers in developing countries. Building a company that represents more than simply a product is a very special feeling and we are really proud of this.
We are also huge travel fans and we have loved being out in rural India on cotton farms and in our factories, places where ordinary holidays would never have taken us. This has allowed us to immerse ourselves in the Indian culture and it feels like our second home now.
We have also enjoyed meeting other entrepreneurs who are solving big problems and driving big change. We understand how important it is to surround yourself with inspiring people, after all, you are the average of the people you surround yourself.
Lastly, running White & Green has allowed us to learn a huge amount about all areas of running a business, about family, and about life!
How is it working with family?
White & Green would not exist without family. It is run by us as a family and it represents a family, which includes all of our customers and our producers too. Working together can be tough at times because there is no going home and switching off from work - your life starts to revolve around the company. Then again, having the support of family when things are difficult is invaluable. No one understands you better than family and families stick by each other through thick and thin.
What are your plans for the future?
We are currently expanding across the UK and gearing up for our Australia. We are also continuously expanding our range as demand for organic and ethically-made homewares grows. We would hope to build the company up over the next few years and sell to a bigger parent company who can help White & Green reach the international retail success that it deserves to enjoy.
What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
Our Mum doesn't see any barriers to what you can achieve in life. If we ever ask her for advice on whether we should do something or whether we can do something, she will always reply "Why not?" and this positivity and drive is what has continuously inspired us to be bold and be brave. We are currently seeing the world and having life-changing experiences whilst running White & Green remotely from Peru, Dublin, and Sydney, and this is because Mum told us "Why not?"!