Meet the clever sisters behind Mustard Made
Tell us about you both and how Mustard was born.
We’re two sisters, Becca (I live in Newcastle) and Jess (who lives in London.)
The idea for Mustard came about in 2016 when Jess came out to Australia to visit me and my newborn son, Ellis. We had spoken for years about starting a business together, but it was one of those long-term dreams that had always been something we wanted to do ‘someday.’
I had collected a few old lockers over the years, picked up from antique shops and flea markets. I thought they were so beautiful, but they weren’t very practical. We could see the potential to reimagine them, honouring their retro style while giving them a functional glow-up. On one long walk along the beach, we talked about what a business might look like, and the rest is Mustard history!
How do you manage working together from the other side of the world?
We like to joke that Mustard is just an excuse for us to hang out more, and there’s definitely a kernel of truth in that! Our work together means we never go more than about 6 months without seeing each other in person – global pandemics permitting – and that is such a privilege.
But the truth is, in a lot of ways our distance is what makes our working relationship so good. We’re on completely different time zones so it’s really important that we have our own clearly defined roles (which we do!) That means we each stay in our own lane, take ownership of our own responsibilities and trust each other to make decisions without waiting for the other one to sign off on them. It works really well for us. We also have a great system with apps like Trello to keep our work organised, we upload everything to the cloud so we always have access to the most up to date versions of everything, and we FaceTime a lot!
How often do you get together and just be sisters?!
This is an absolute priority for us. Being on opposite sides of the world does mean we can’t see each other as often as we’d like, but we try to always have our next trip booked into the calendar. It’s so nice to have something to look forward to. We also regularly call each other for ‘sister time’ where we don’t talk work at all.
Which is your favourite locker and colour in the range?
For me it’s The Skinny in Olive. The Skinny is such a classic, old school style and I love its vintage look and feel. I still have the beaten-up old locker that inspired Mustard at home, it’s covered in peeling paint but it’s a beautiful Olive green and the colour will always be my favourite. It’s rich and earthy yet grounding.
Tell us about your newest locker; The Standard.
We are so excited to be launching a new locker style, it’s our first product release in about 18 months so it’s a big deal! The Standard was initially inspired by a TV cabinet, although like everything in the Mustard family it is super versatile. The Standard is long and lean, so she’s perfect as a media hub or a hallway console. She looks beautiful in a dining room or at the foot of the bed, and she’s the perfect height for kids to use as toy storage. We have had lots of people planning to get one to store their shoes in, which is such a great idea! I can’t wait to see The Standard out in the world.
