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Photography: Danielle Trovato Photography<br />
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What sparked you to create your business?<br />
I saw similar businesses in the US and Canada<br />
and for many years dreamed about starting<br />
my own as I saw a gap in the market here in<br />
Australia. Timing was everything so after 11<br />
years at the ad agency, I left to give Habitots<br />
my full-time attention.<br />
I also wanted a better balance with my family<br />
life, the flexibility that running my own business<br />
gives me and the power to make the decisions<br />
and live by them. It’s not easier work, but it’s<br />
certainly more passionate and fulfilling.<br />
Can you tell us where you source your<br />
gorgeous homewares from and how do you<br />
select the right item for your store?<br />
I search high and low for brands that you can’t<br />
find everywhere. I search the internet, spend<br />
many hours on Instagram, trawl through lists<br />
of exhibitors at trade shows in the US and<br />
Europe. I love finding brands that are not in<br />
Australia yet, small designers trying to make it<br />
happen or perhaps are on my doorstep here in<br />
Melbourne and I’d never heard of them.<br />
I know instantly when I see a product that it<br />
will fit the Habitots branding. I love colourful,<br />
unique products that could work in kids rooms,<br />
in your living room or kitchen. We have an inner<br />
child in us all and that’s why I think my general<br />
homewares do well – they tap into the playful<br />
spirit that we all have and want to translate into<br />
our homes.<br />
What do you love the most about having<br />
your own store?<br />
I love talking to customers about what Habitots<br />
is all about, telling the stories of the brands<br />
we have and helping them find that perfect<br />
gift or product they’ve been looking for. I love<br />
the energy I get when I’m in store. I can be<br />
exhausted after a sleepless night with the kids<br />
but as soon as I get in-store, I find an energy<br />
from the passion I have for what we’re doing<br />
and it keeps me going all day.<br />
Who are some of your favourite designers?<br />
I do love everything we stock but I suppose I<br />
have a soft spot for some of the brands – many<br />
of them I use in my own home. Fabgoose<br />
blankets are just divine and you have to feel<br />
them to believe them. Valentina from Fabgoose<br />
is making such conscious decisions in the way<br />
that she manufacturers them that they are
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