Rebecca (00:00.598)
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Champagne Lounge Podcast. Today I'm joined with a fellow Mudgee local, Ali Broinsky. Welcome Ali, welcome to the show.
Ali (00:11.735)
Thank you.
Rebecca (00:13.562)
I'm excited to have you on this show because you were one of the first female business owners I met when I moved to town back in 2022. And I think I'm right in saying you've been a female business owner in town for quite a while.
Ali (00:27.083)
Yes, I have seven or eight years, but I've lived in and around Mudgee since 1994. So I think I'm almost local.
Rebecca (00:37.763)
I've got a long way to go to being a local. And so what brought you to Mudgeein? What started your business journey?
Ali (00:45.659)
So essentially I've lived in rural and regional New South Wales since 1994, so it's that rising 30 years. And I worked in health and in pharmacy for a very long time. And that led me into going into people's homes and helping them sort out their medications, which essentially is sort them out in that sphere. So that then led me to form a business which was around helping people get organized.
And that then led to helping get their interiors and their houses organized, which has then morphed into cloth and feather, the business that I have now, which is essentially making people's homes beautiful through fabrics.
Rebecca (01:27.458)
I love that. And so going back to the beginning of your business journey and helping people navigate, I guess, the organization inside their homes, was that a relatively new thing when you were starting that up? Because I think it's probably become a bit of a craze in the Netflix era now, but how did people bring that, how did you get your first clients going, you know what, I'm gonna come into your home and help you organize everything?
Ali (01:50.899)
So it was a little bit on the back of Mari Kondo and some research was showing that American people were embracing this. Professional organizers were a thing. So a lot of research, a lot of back-end homework and then they thought, right, well I need to put this into practice. You can't just keep doing it at home. So I was in Marji and I launched the business name which was perfectly sorted.
And I put a post up saying, I need three guinea pigs who would be more than happy for me to come in, organize one room in their house for nothing, as long as we could use some before and after photos and some testimonials, et cetera. And that was where it started and the rest is history.
Rebecca (02:39.618)
Amazing. I love, we were talking, um, a few episodes that I've done recording this week has definitely been around what people do and don't do for free from a creative space and starting a business space. So I love that you picked three and were really clear on how you were going to use the photos and what they were going to get in return. So it was kind of a really clear delineation of, of what was happening. So you've, you grew perfectly sorted, um, over what I'm going to try and do my math now, 10, 10 years.
Ali (03:09.083)
Not quite that long, so it would have been, it's about five, yeah.
Rebecca (03:09.394)
Oh, longer. Yeah.
Yeah. And how did that morph? Because when I came and found you, you still had Perfect Disordered. You've recently sold that business and started Cloth and Feathers. So how did it morph into starting as a home organizing service, for want of a better explanation, into what you grew it into? Can you explain what you grew it into and how that really benefited the area and grew as the times grew?
Ali (03:39.075)
So essentially there were a couple of different categories of clients in home organizing. There were those who just needed help because they were overwhelmed. Often there were a lot of common traits, young children, young family, someone working, or you had older people who just collected stuff over time and they just couldn't get organized. Then there was the genre of client who was getting ready to sell their house. So they needed to get...
tidied up, organised and ready to sell. And then that morphed into helping them stage their homes, which then became more and more staff and a warehouse of essentially staging furniture. Lots and lots of moving parts, lots of vans, lots of forklifts, lots of logistics, lots of people, lots of houses, lots of real estate agents, and just essentially a lot going on. It was wonderful.
Rebecca (04:32.961)
Yeah.
Ali (04:33.975)
But I then had an epiphany, I suppose earlier this year in that I'm rising 55. I didn't want to be doing it at that pace for the next 10 years. So time was right to find the next person to take it on its journey. And I was fortunate to have a gorgeous girl, Ashley, that had been working with me purchase the business and she's moved it to Dubbo. So it's lovely to see that continue to grow and blossom.
Rebecca (04:57.966)
Amazing.
Rebecca (05:01.454)
Yes, yes, to see it pass the baton on and for it to continue going and helping, helping others, I think is pretty, pretty phenomenal feat, right? Because I think a lot of people, I've been on the same, a similar journey in sense of, I'm kind of kind of done with what I'm doing now. How do I pass this on to the next and then do my next thing? And I think it's, how long did that piece come for? You said it was an epiphany of, I don't want to do it, but was there an inkling in, in sort of the back of your brain for a while going,
I'm not feeling the love anymore, but I don't quite know how to get myself out of it because it's really successful. And what was that sort of inner dialogue like?
Ali (05:39.363)
I think I was tired. I think I was just exhausted, probably more emotionally than physically. And then two things happened. One of my girlfriends in June basically had a cerebral aneurysm. She had retired six months earlier and I suddenly thought, I don't want that to happen. She's
obviously in a lot of rehab and on her way back to full health, fingers crossed. However, it was a little bit of a aha moment. Maybe it's time that I started to make some change. I then consulted with a local guy who works in business growth and advice. And I chatted to him and the point that I burst into tears and said, I just don't think I can do it anymore.
was the point that he said, radio, let's make a plan. And as soon as you've got a plan, you feel much better.
Rebecca (06:37.162)
Yeah, yeah. You really do. And it's really quite, it's quite sad almost that we've got to get to a breaking point of, I can't continue this anymore before it gets to a point when we make any changes, right? Like it's that talking it through and sharing that out. And, but you, you did you sell as part of the process, you've obviously taken elements of perfectly sorted. Am I right in explaining that?
the fabrics and the styling side of things. Did you keep that element of the business or did you just sort of recreate it in the new one?
Ali (07:07.651)
Absolutely. So, yeah, essentially it's anything to do with textiles, anything that's soft. So curtains, upholstery, bedding, cushions, yeah, all those sorts of beautiful things. So the property staging itself has gone and that then incorporated.
Rebecca (07:13.974)
Yeah.
Rebecca (07:23.466)
All those things. Yeah.
Ali (07:29.855)
Obviously all the stock and the processes and the procedures that we developed over time. And obviously then the relationships that we'd formed all formed part of the sale of that business. Yet I've retained two of the beautiful staff that I had and moved into a smaller premises. And it's just a different pace. And it's lovely.
Rebecca (07:39.342)
course.
Rebecca (07:50.366)
Yeah, it's lovely to see that because you've almost divided the business to sell parts of it, to allow you to continue on the piece that you really love doing, right? And give it a whole new lease of life. So we've got your store in town. It's beautiful. It's divine. I could spend a lot of time in there. When I got my house painted and ready, I keep telling Ali, I'll be in to buy a lot of curtains for the home that I'm in at the moment. Ali, in terms of anyone listening now who's like, OK, well,
Ali (08:00.3)
Yes.
Rebecca (08:20.318)
I love the fact that we've got the business journey here. I've taken away nuggets of, I should be thinking and talking to myself as I'm going along as to what I'm enjoying in business and what I'm not enjoying in business. And that's great from a business learning side, but from your expertise in terms of the styling and getting things right, I'm a big believer that being in a really great environment, I'm sure you'll agree, actually really steps you into a really great energetical space to make things happen in business and personal life. So...
From a home styling perspective, what are things that people should be looking for or feeling when they're in their home or in their office that will ensure that they're in a really good, calm, collected, energetic space?
Ali (09:02.399)
So I think it needs to reflect people's personal values and views. You know there's nothing worse than going into an office and it's sparse and it's dull, it feels clinical, you can't be creative in that space and humans are not designed to be in a space like that.
Fine, if you're a surgeon and you're in the operating theatre, mind you, a lot of those surgeons might have music going in the background. You know, it's impossible to be in that fully clinical environment and be the best that we can. So I'm a great believer in the things around you need to make you feel comfortable, inspired.
Rebecca (09:32.823)
Yeah, oh.
Ali (09:45.659)
You know, my office is not a perfect organized space. I sometimes wish it was, but I am a slightly creative person and an ideas person. So I've always got things open everywhere, but I do make sure at the end of the day that I pack it all up and I put it away. So when I come in the mornings, I feel organized, not overwhelmed. Color plays an amazing role in where we work. Plants, smells.
We've always had both in our old office and our current office, a little machine that sends out essential oils every 35 seconds or something. So it smells amazing. And so we all know that sense of smell triggers memory and it makes us feel good or feel bad or all of those things in between. So again, that's really important. So it's the whole environment. And we often do...
office makeovers for that exact reason. People want their offices to be somewhere that people love being, because we're all there eight to 10 hours a day. And that makes for productive activities from bosses, employees, everybody. And if it's a retail spot, when people walk in, they feel comfortable and they love being there. And that's really important.
Rebecca (11:06.038)
It's so important and in terms of, everything's specific to the individual, we all learn and operate in slightly different ways. From your experience, is there any one or two things that are kind of constant in a space for everyone or not really, it really does vary?
Ali (11:24.131)
I think it does vary a lot with the rapid increase of people working from home. Obviously, you've got to have a space that is dedicated to work. I think that is the one key. So whether that is an office in a commercial workplace or that's a space at home, it might only be a teeny tiny little bit of desk, but you've got to have that one.
spot that you go to that you know is a work spot. It's a bit like children and homework. If you change the spot that they do their work all the time, they're never going to get on with it. Whereas if you've got this repetition, I just remember reading a Virginia Woolf book, there you go, year 12, HSC, three unit English, called A Broom of One's Own. And it was all about the fact that
Women need a spot that is theirs if they're going to work and they're going to be creative. So there you go, this is a reading tip. It's Virginia Woolf.
Rebecca (12:20.59)
Oh, I love that. I'm gonna put that book in the show notes too, because I definitely, I really longed a long time ago for a little bit of a laptop lifestyle of moving around and taking it with me everywhere. And I really quite like my home comforts of the office. I like the colors that I've done and the space. And I like you put things away nice and tidy. So I think that that's probably a takeaway, right? Is putting it away so it feels like a beautiful space when you walk in the next morning. I think that's a.
Really good thing. I take that one step further and tidy all my dog toys away at the end of the day and fluff my cushions when I get off the couch. It's one of those things. Um, so, so Ali, you're part of, you've built these businesses, you're building another thriving business now in a slightly different way, but you're doing all of this, um, as you said, from, from Mudgee, from a regional town, how have you found doing, doing life and doing business in a regional location?
Ali (12:55.031)
Good!
Ali (13:15.115)
Oh, I think it's the ultimate mix. And for the things that we do, we can do a lot from afar and remotely. So I think that was one of the silver linings, if you can say it, of COVID is showing that, when we had a lot of projects during that time, people wanting to beautify their beach houses or if they lived in the city, make their farmhouse look.
cozy and comfy and get all those jobs done like people did. And we found that we could work remotely. So there's no downside to being in the bush. Sometimes freight is a little bit dearer and sometimes the lead times are a little bit dearer by a couple of days. It's really not much as a trade-off. So I think.
We've also become, and I think Maggi is probably breaking new ground. It's a pretty sophisticated town as far as rural and regional areas go. There's not much that we can't have. We can have sushi for lunch, you can go and find a glamorous dress to wear to dinner, and you can essentially get a great cup of coffee. So we are really fortunate that we've got most of the things that we'll need.
Rebecca (14:29.294)
I agree with that. The ability for me to buy Camilla dresses in town and have a good cup of coffee and a fabulous glass of wine takes all of my boxes.
Ali (14:37.423)
Yes, there you go. And the thing is, you can walk down the street and you'll always bump into somebody you know.
Rebecca (14:44.138)
Yes, yes. And so do you think that being able in a smaller town and having the ability to walk down the street and that community vibe has really helped you in growing your business?
Ali (14:54.683)
Oh, I think so. I think so. And I've always tried to be a really approachable person. So I don't want someone to think, oh, I can't go and talk to her. It's really important that as a business owner, you're really grounded and really connected with
your tribe, essentially. And I know that the demographic of people who come into our store are usually women, and they're usually between 30 and 60, and we know what they like. So those sorts of people want to be engaged and spoken to, and quite happy to just discuss the weather or what happened at the weekend, or have you been there for lunch? It's all part of the process of forming a connection.
because we know that those, well, here, they're my clients and they're my go-tos and they're the ones that I want to make a type of a friendship with in order to have ongoing business relationships.
Rebecca (15:49.514)
I think that's so important, those conversations external to business over time can lead to long-term business client, can't they really? Yeah, taking an interest in them.
Ali (15:59.083)
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. It also evokes trust in the client because they can really see you for what you are. And we, you know, here we offer an end to end service. The person that measures and quotes and provides your design advice is the person that is also up a ladder.
screwing curtain tracks into the walls. So it's like you need to be able to do all the jobs so that you can engage the trust of your clients as well.
Rebecca (16:30.414)
completely and I guess in your industry as well, it's not renovating and decorating and doing the interiors from a materials perspective, isn't something that you do every quarter or every year, it's every so many years. So it's those relationships to the next property and the friend that's moving along the way and the colleague that's potentially moving that needs a recommendation. So it all just starts to stack up, doesn't it? And all you need to do is take an interest and have a conversation.
Ali (16:55.937)
Exactly, exactly.
Rebecca (16:58.27)
Yeah. Now, Ali, I like to finish up all episodes with a question to my guests. I do one of two and today I'm choosing to ask you how you celebrate your business successes. And I asked this question because as business owners, particularly female business owners, we constantly strive to the next and the next and the next. And we never actually stop and acknowledge all the cool stuff that we've done. So what was the last thing that you achieved that you're really proud of? And how did you celebrate?
Ali (17:27.755)
Well, I think the most recent one was on Friday. So what, five sleeps ago, four sleeps ago, we sold the building that had house perfectly sorted. So that was a big achievement. And the time that we'd owned that, we'd done a lot of renovations and we were really fortunate to make a profit. You know, that's essentially. So I had a really, really delicious gin and tonic when I got home.
Rebecca (17:40.822)
milestone.
Ali (17:55.435)
with my husband and my grownup son who's just finished university. So there you go. So that was one way. And that was followed by pizza next door with some friends. We've got a lovely cafe next door that occasionally does a Friday night, pizza, bring your own glass of wine. And there were eight of us and we really celebrated there with friends and I really...
Rebecca (17:55.48)
Beautiful.
Ali (18:22.499)
casual last minute type of occasion, but it was certainly a celebration. So I suppose to answer your question more simply, friends and family and food, there you are.
Rebecca (18:27.886)
Amazing and
Rebecca (18:33.215)
Friends, family and food. And you know what? That's the most beautiful way of expressing it because celebrations doesn't have to be an expensive exercise. It can just be impromptu, good friends, good company and importantly good wine, I think. As part of that process. Yeah. So Ali's shop is located on Perry street in Mudgee. I'll be linking the address and her Instagram of Cloth and Feather.
Ali (18:46.847)
Yes, yes, we were very fortunate, yeah.
Rebecca (19:00.614)
on the show notes below. Ali, I've loved having you on the show today. It's been a blast and thank you for being one of my, you know, OG friends of Maggi.
Ali (19:09.643)
Well, thank you. Thank you for having me and inviting me. I really appreciate it.
