Creative collaboration

They had a bright idea, bucketloads of energy and enthusiasm and a shared passion for homewares. Between them, they had experience in law, naturopathy, yoga, communications and commerce. So when Victorian sisters Kate Heppell and Hayley Pannekoecke teamed up with their bestie, Alex McCabe, to launch homewares company Kip&Co, their attitude was: what could possibly go wrong?

“Like many women of our age, we were constantly coming up with bold ideas for businesses we could run while raising young families,” Alex recalls. “We didn’t let mere details such as the fact that we didn’t have any training in textiles or even a business plan deter us. However, unlike many others with great