We go inside peony house, the once abonded yoga studio in Tallebudgera Valley, QLD that is now the head office for luxury sustainable swimwear brand peony and its team. We spoke with lawyer turner swimwear designer and peony founder Rebecca Morton on her career highlight, what inspires her, her must have desk items and that one thing she is disorganised with. 

Top 3 ways you organise your life? 

 Systems, lists and auto-reminders.

How do you keep your studio, peony house, organised? 

With a lot of help from my team and the occasional spring clean when things get on top of us. We also use Asana which is incredible for project management!

When it comes to stationary, lined or plain pages?

 Lined.

What’s your must have desk essentials?

Water bottle, lip balm and my An Organised Life Daily Planner. I prefer to manage my calendar and day-to-day tasks digitally but I use my planner as more of a journal of random thoughts or notes that I jot down mid-conversation and then add to my digital list.

One thing you are disorganised with? 

My personal life! It often gets pushed to the back of my mind and I rely on friends or family to remind me of when events are happening because I don’t ever check Facebook!

What inspires your products/brand?

Inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere. A sense of nostalgia is often a common theme in our collections. Our design team is constantly trawling through vintage stores; inspiration comes in the form of forgotten beach towels, swimsuits of yesteryear and embroidered-anythings. We are forever collecting fabric swatches, trims and print references to add to our mood board, this helps to visualise all ideas in one place. Through this process, a colour palette is revealed and concepts are refined. In terms of the brand direction, we are inspired by our community and the connections we make along the way.

What is one career highlight to date?

Receiving our first order from NET-A-PORTER was a career highlight I will never forget, and more recently, reading articles in Forbes and the AFR which highlighted peony and it’s sustainability efforts were major pinch me moments.

What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learnt from your business growth? 

To trust in my judgements and instincts. I have also learned the importance of maximising every single opportunity, but tempering that with the wisdom that you cannot do everything, all at once.

How are you incorporating sustainability into peony house?

In every way that we can, as quickly as we can. We care about all the little things and also have some huge goals for the future. For example, all packaging within our supply chain is compostable and biodegradable but we are currently looking to take this further so it extends to essential items like our hygiene stickers and even the miniature bags that hold our removeable straps. On a macro level, we are working to become a completely sustainably produced and carbon neutral business. In order to achieve this, we are undergoing quantification which will measure our carbon footprint as a business and highlight how and where we can improve. We are all looking forward to going through this process and sharing our progress with our community.

What are your goals for the next 12 months?

To continue to nurture and build the brand that I love and to try to find that elusive work-life balance in the lead up to baby number 1!

Want to see more of Peony Swimwear?

Visit Peony Swimwear HERE

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