Making it work (with your sister, your husband and your brother-in-law!)
They say never to work with children or animals, but no one said anything about working with your sister or your husband…
We often refer to our lockers as a family, and as a business founded by two sisters, it's no surprise that we like to keep it tight-knit! Even so, when we first started this little locker lover club, we never would have dreamed that one day our husbands would be working by our sides too. We get asked quite a lot about how we make it work, and whether we butt heads (of course, but only sometimes!) Although working with a partner isn't for everyone, for us, it's been an absolute joy.
It's actually an idea that took us a little while to come around to. "As a female founder, I wasn't always quite sure how to feel about inviting our husbands to sit alongside us," Becca admits. "We worked really hard to build Mustard from scratch, were we just admitting we needed the men to do the hard stuff?" The short answer is no – but the long answer will really warm your heart.
no toes, no egos
"When we first dreamt up Mustard, it was only ever pictured as big enough for two," says Becca. "It was a cute little business that was able to pay Jess and I a wage. Jono and Marc were of course there from the beginning, giving us their support and input along the way, but it certainly wasn't part of the plan for us to all work together."
Today, Becca's husband Jono and Jess' husband Marc are both an integral part of the Mustard magic. So how did we get here? "I've learnt that being able to share the responsibility has given Jess and I more freedom to lean into what we're best at, and given Jono and Marc the chance to shine in their own corners of the business," Becca says. "There's plenty of room for us all. I don't need to take all the credit to be proud of something, I want good people around me and it just so happens, I think Jono and Marc are two of the best! That's why we fell in love with them after all!"
"We like to say 'no toes, no egos' and I think that's a pretty fundamental principle for me." – Becca
lessons in love
Jess has always loved Marc's kindness, but in working together she's been able to see the ripple effect of that kindness outside their relationship, too. "He is my go-to guy," she says, "and he is Mustard's go-to guy too. I love that he supports our whole team in all sorts of challenges. If you need help with something technical, ask Marc. If you need help moving a locker, ask Marc. If you need support in staying calm and finding a solution, Marc will be there."
Despite any hesitations they may have had, Jess says the most surprising thing about working together is just the fact that it works! "We really do work really well together," Jess says. "We work to each other's strengths, and we are aware of our weaknesses. That's part of the beauty of it – we get to fill the gaps for each other."
doing things differently
Speaking of differences, Becca says "Jono and I are basically opposite." But that's not a problem. In fact, it might just be the best thing about their working partnership! "Jono is a deep thinker that likes to process information," Becca explains. "He likes to research it like he's getting a masters degree and prefers his data in a black and grey spreadsheet in one size font. I think fast and out loud, follow my intuition and have an extremely strong desire for every document to be colourful, well designed and on brand."
"Our strengths lean in completely polar directions and the way we approach things is vastly different, but I've learnt that the reason it works is that on a deep level, we have the same values. We may take quite different paths but we end up more or less at the same place. We both care enormously about the health of the business and want the best for it long-term. We both believe in being good, kind humans and want to have an impact that we feel proud of. We both value freedom on one hand and working bloody hard on the other!"
the sum of our parts
Mixing love and work might sound complicated, but according to Becca and Jess, at Mustard it's anything but. There's the practical side of things – Jess says she loves that "Mustard has entwined our lives together in so many ways and I am grateful for our trips together every year. We get to spend a month working, hanging out and being a family." But it runs deeper than that, too. "When those days are a little tougher or things feel overwhelming, I have three people that really care about me and totally understand the feeling. They often pick me up or take over some of the responsibility. That goes for all of us. We are so lucky to have each other."
Becca completely agrees. "Working with people you love and trust is a very solid foundation for a team. Knowing that the three people who I share my work life with also genuinely want the best for my whole life is a beautiful thing."
"We have a saying that when we're all aligned, we're 'on page 7.' I love the feeling of doing hard, challenging things with people who are just as invested as I am. We're all on page 7, and we're all in it together."
