Tell me about you/your family…
We are two mothers to five girls based in Berkshire. We have exceptionally busy day jobs [Catherine works in the financial sector as a risk manager and Emma runs her own business consultancy] and long-suffering husbands who did nothing more than raise their eyebrows when we first mentioned our ideas for mecolife to them. We don’t seem to know when to stop! [Emma’s second daughter is only two months old and Catherine is embarking on a house extension project!] 

Why did you choose to live in the local area? What's so good about it?
We both need to be near London as that's where our industries are based, so the trainline into the city is a big draw for us and we can't wait for Crossrail to make it even quicker! But it's the unique culture and opportunities this part of the world offers us and our families that we love the most; from the quirky festivals and events, to the River Thames and the wonderful countryside that surrounds us. We feel connected to the pace of city life but far enough away to embrace the vibrant local communities this area fosters.

Tell me about your new business/bags…
We create products designed for life. Hopefully the brand we have created, which is focused on making a difference to the way we live our lives and challenging the status quo is flexible enough for us to create new ideas within it. 
   The mecolife tote bag is just the first in a range of products that help people live smarter in our time-pressured world. While on a skiing trip in Germany with our families, we were watching our kids on the slopes. Emma put her handbag down
to take a photo and only realised five minutes later that the snow had caused a watermark on her bag… it was a vintage Mulberry. We got talking and decided to come up with a bag that would go from the office to the slopes to the beach and beyond. Little did we know where it would take us. 
   We [Catherine] had great contacts in China from working in Hong Kong – where all the silicone the UK uses in consumer products is manufactured – and we found out very quickly there’s no capacity to make silicone moulded products anywhere in Europe. Using our contacts and limited digital design skills, we started to create
our first product – the mecolife tote bag – in February 2016, and spent the rest of the year ensuring we established a manufacturing process with the right partner suppliers who were able to understand and exceed our high-quality requirements, without compromise; taking delivery of our first bags in January of this year. 
   It has been critical to get support and valuable feedback from potential customers about our bags at our local area events, like craft shows and village fetes. We’re
also really active on social media and find that both Twitter and Facebook work to help spread awareness about us, but our favourite is Instagram, where our bags showcase really well and we have met lots of likeminded vegan, ethical and
live-smarter businesses.

Have you always been interested in doing this? What's your background?
Catherine: I a background in engineering and a career in the city as a risk manager.  Emma: I have worked in global advertising for brands including Ministry of Sound, Disney, L’Oreal and Calvin Klein, and now I run my own business consultancy. 

  For both of us, it was no longer possible to give the 110% that was expected of us time-wise to our careers once we had families. Both the financial sector and global advertising are pretty incompatible with the idea of flexible working and we both took a step back to re-evaluate where else we could direct our passions while devoting the time we wanted to family life.  
Emma: Catherine’s eye for detail means she is perfectly placed within the financial sector: it’s her job to spot issues before they even arise. 

Catherine: Emma has always worked in marketing, with a fondness for music, film and fashion brands, but has always harboured the desire to actually create product herself rather than promoting other people’s.

How did you meet?
Our daughters go to the same school and on chatting at the school gates we quickly realised a shared passion for technology, innovation and sustainability through clever design. We knew then we wanted to work together; it was coming up with the right idea that took a little more time.

Who is your idol? Where do you get your inspiration and motivation?
We’re both very driven by things that inspire us and are lucky enough to be able to work in areas that we love. That’s where work stops being a job and becomes fun, so of course that’s very inspiring. We love finding out about people making a difference to the way we live our lives; particularly start-ups that are disruptive or challenge the status quo. Also women who help us change our behaviour for the better: they're the real idols of our society. 

Catherine: If we name names, my choices represent women from technology and engineering: Kathryn Parsons, Wendy Tan White, Ada Lovelace and Mustafa Suleyman.

Emma: Mine revolve around arts and equality: Vivienne Westwood, Maya Angelou, Annie Nightingale and Marie Stopes.

 

What are your goals for the future?

To see our mecolife products featured on the shelves of John Lewis! And to enjoy the enriching and challenging experience of building a brand as much as possible along the way.

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Facts about the mecolife tote:

Engineered from silicone, it's the real ‘bag for life’. Available in a range of vibrant colours, at an affordable price, the tote can compete with current fashion trends
as well as the toughest toddlers and muddiest mutts. Even when splashed with smoothies or plastered in pen, a gentle wipe will bring it back to life and because
it’s waterproof, it can deal with the most temperamental of climates. 100% vegan and cruelty free, the sand-based silicone totes are recyclable and because polyurethane, rather than PVC, has been used to make the handles,
they really are an environmentally sound choice.  

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Visit www.meco.life 

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