It’s hard to imagine a time when creating your own website was a big deal, but when Bronwyn Pooleย launched her business Touch Interiors in 2000 and shortly followed that up with a design services online shop, her suppliers thought she was cuckoo!
“When I launched my website I dreamt big, as you do, and bought the ‘dot comโ and โdot com dot auโ. Inspired by the altruistic notion that interior design should be accessible to everyone, I started offering package solutions on my site, eventually adding a small shopping cart for single purchases. There was no such thing as online shopping back then so it was a big deal! But it has now become a significant part of my business.”
Creating liveable fine art spaces that feel as good as they look, Touch Interiors doesn’t adhere to any one style, rather theyย feed off theirย clients’ natural aesthetic rhythm and that of their space. Working acrossย residential and commercial projects, they have a design and decoration portfolio exceeding 500 properties. So as you can imagineย it’s a challenge to pick a favourite! “Probably my greatest business achievement wasย a 105-room serviced apartment complex in Western Australia in 2009. I won the tender over five very large Australian procurement companies who were much more experienced at the time. I also played cupid on this project, when a close friend who assisted me eventually married the white goods supplier, can you believe?!”
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The Broadwater Mariners 105-room resort in Western Australia completed in 2009
[contextly_sidebar id=”sjQIBG30kBmkPGSkzL8BwqGBcLspmcgI”]A well-known firm in Australia, in 2014 Bronwyn took a huge leap of faith moving to Los Angeles for her husband’s work as a film editor.ย Deciding to continue running Touch Interiors remotely,ย she alsoย set up a US-based office, which has admittedly been aย steep learning curve. “The two countries’ industries differ more than I could have anticipated. In LA the interior design procurement, as expected, has endless options for all budgets, which has been a welcome change. However, as far as business conduct goes, nothing comes close to Australian authenticity. Here it is an interesting game, playing against ‘smiling assassins’ as my husbandย calls them. Put it this way, you never sit a bad interview!”
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Bronwyn’s home in Sydney’s Neutral Bay
With the business going from strength to strength, thanks to herย right-hand woman Rhiannon Matthews leading the charge in Australia, Bronwyn has even managed to findย time to focus on her second business, Complete Pad,ย anย online interiors community where you can shop for individual items for your home and connect with a pro to help you out. “My aim is to make it fun and easy forย the typical homemaker to find professional help and unique homewares through our trusted platform along with interior inspiration theyย can genuinely apply. I call itย a blog (with a twist),ย featuring multiple forum channels, a custom upholstery collection and a new collection designed by the professionalsย called Unique Pad (you can become a featuredย proย here).”
As the mastermind of two established businesses, a foreigner in a new city andย a mother of three, it’s a wonder how she does it all. But for Bronwyn it’s all aboutย mindfulness, boundaries, acknowledging herย IT addiction and avoiding that ever-enduring mother’s guilt! “My mumย always toldย us to look after ourselves first. It’s certainly saved me the mother’s guilt I may have suffered otherwise. I’m really thankful for her advice. It has made me a mostly patient personย with a good sense ofย priorities who knows what decisions to make, sacrifices to endure or investments to give.”
Photography by Matt Craig
