Home is …
Oh, this is a deceivingly tough question. My family is in Brisbane. I grew up there and “Brisvegas” will always hold a special place in my heart. Now, my husband Joel and I live in Brixton, London. Joel is from a big family who are all here in the UK, so we feel very much at home here too. Our studio is also in Brixton, so I feel very settled in the neighbourhood.
How I start my day …
With coffee. Friends of ours own the local coffee shop so I feel like I get to catch up with them every morning on route to the park. We live right by Brockwell Park so I have no excuse not to start my day with a route around it. Growing up in Queensland, I felt like we didn’t really have seasons, so living here I am always surprised and delighted by how much the park changes during the year.
My work space looks like …
A great big mess or the floor. I really don’t like being in front of a computer, so I tend to work with paper, pen, magazines, clippings and post-it notes. We are lucky enough to have a little room that is a “home office”, so the chaos is contained in there at the moment. We’re also about to move the studio to a new space, so I’m currently designing the work space for our team, which is really fun.
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On work/life balance …
I have a hard time with the concept of a concrete work/life balance. For us, at least, it’s just “life”. We’re more focused on knowing when the other one needs a break or doesn’t want to talk about business at home. Our holidays can sometimes turn into pyjama research trips and our research trips sometimes turn into holidays. I want to talk about Desmond & Dempsey (D&D) all the time and I couldn’t imagine having a partner who wasn’t as equally excited about what I do. We’ve had so many great experiences because we work together.
On ambition …
I think I have always been ambitious. My parents are the most driven, hardworking people on the planet. I have had a job since I was in year nine, but when I finished school, I found it really hard to know what to do next. I failed my first semester of university, took two gap years and then finally went back and did a business and communications degree. I think I surprised everyone when I found myself doing political communications and crisis management; I fell in love with the power of storytelling more than anything else.
Now, the romance I have with storytelling and the grafting genes of my parents have really played into the growth of D&D. Did I think I would ever be in selling luxury PJs though? No, absolutely not.
On collaboration …
Collaborations come in all shapes and sizes. We have one big collaboration project a year. Last year was with H&M, the year before that it was with a bakery and this year it was with a Neo-Japonism artist, Rie Takeda.
I treasure the quieter collaborations just as much. These can be as simple as working with a designer and copywriter to deliver the perfect email. Or seeing the print team working with the production team to make sure the final product is just right.
In truth, I have found “managing” a real challenge. I didn’t have the communicative tools initially and didn’t understand that being a leader is a full-time job. I have recently started being coached and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to learn how best to collaborate.
A question that I always ask someone new who is starting in our team is “how do you feel valued?” and “how do you like feedback?” It seems really obvious, but unless you ask you don’t know the answer and communication is the most important part of working in a team environment. I once even had an astrologer come into the team and help answer that for everyone. It was meant to be a bit of fun, but was undeniably valuable in the end.
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On success …
Success at work is when a customer reaches out to tell us just what their D&Ds mean to them. I have been blown away by what a pair of fancy pyjamas can do when someone’s at their most vulnerable. Our vision for D&D is to make life a celebration at home. You know, make ordinary moments extraordinary. Kind of like what butter does to toast.
Our mission is anchored in being proud of what we do. It sounds simple but we make a product we are really proud of, we have a team we are exceptionally proud to be a part of, we create communications that we actually enjoy reading and sell in places that we believe in. It’s hard to not compromise for growth but we are really proud of the route we find ourselves on.
My first boss in London told me not to count your flags too quickly. We finish school — flag. We get into university — flag. We find our gang of friends — flag. We get out first job — flag. We move out of home, meet “the one”, get the big promotion, buy our first home — flag, flag, flag, flag. We have kids and buy a bigger home. Then what happens? Bigger holidays? More kids? More homes? His hypothesis is that this is when a mid-life crisis can happen. He was always kindly pushing me to slow down, enjoy the pleasures of everyday. I am impatient, but more and more I am trying to find the pleasures in everyday life.
On travelling …
Travelling shapes just about everything I do. I met Joel in Canada. I did my last year of university in Madrid. I moved to London and started D&D. Our holidays turned into the collections of the business. All the “aha” moments I’ve had have been on a plane.
Travelling with D&D is magic. It gives me an excuse and reason to meet with creatives who actually live there or turns an adventure into a creative project. I have a long list of where I want to go when we are allowed to travel again: Egypt, Rome, I would go back to Mexico over and over again. Actually, I would move there. Mallorca feels like a home to me. It’s the place we go to relax.
What I do to blow off steam …
Drink, put on a record, dance around terribly and redecorate!
My night time ritual …
I am an Olympic sleeper and it doesn’t take much, but if I have had “one of those days”, this is my foolproof ritual: bath with a Susanne Kaufmann bath oil. I don’t do anything in the bath, just sit. Then I get straight into bed with a chamomile tea, unload all my thoughts onto paper and read.
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For more, visit desmondanddempsey.com or @desmondanddempsey on Instagram.
