08 December 2024

Fully Woolly

Rakahinonga. Entrpreneur.

Writer: Felicity Connell
photographer : Francine Boer

Through their business, Wilson & Dorset, Amanda Dorset and Ben Wilson are starting a quiet revolution to bring wool back into our homes, one sheepskin at a time. With a commitment to nature and to community, Amanda embraces the idea of perfectly imperfect to achieve their ambitions in business and in life.

Amanda, 54, has a radical idea for your lounge room. She wants you to think about using it to, well, lounge. “Most New Zealand homes have a very traditional setup – a couch, a couple of armchairs and a big fat coffee table in the middle. But if you have sheepskin on the floor and a shaggy beanbag or two, then you’ve got so much flexibility about how you use your living space. You can lounge and really relax.”

Top Image. “Now our warehouse assistants are just part of the team,” says Amanda. “We’d love to be an inspiration for
other businesses to look at hiring people with additional needs.”
Above. “In the fifties in New Zealand, eighty-five per cent of homes had a wool carpet, now it’s under ten per cent. It’s like actually we’ve got to get people back into understanding that wool is the superior fibre. You can treat this stuff as rough as you like. You can party on it, live on it, eat and drink on it, and it just keeps on coming back.”

Top Image. “Now our warehouse assistants are just part of the team,” says Amanda. “We’d love to be an inspiration for other businesses to look at hiring people with additional needs.” Above. “In the fifties in New Zealand, eighty-five per cent of homes had a wool carpet, now it’s under ten per cent. It’s like actually we’ve got to get people back into understanding that wool is the superior fibre. You can treat this stuff as rough as you like. You can party on it, live on it, eat and drink on it, and it just keeps on coming back.”

 

 

Wilson & Dorset, the company that had its genes is in Amanda’s first date with her now-husband, Ben, 54, creates gloriously tactile sheepskin homewares – everything from their signature shaggy beanbags through to plush pram liners and stylish laptop cases. Ben’s family has a long history of working with sheepskin. “Ben joined his father, Robert Wilson’s, business marketing and exporting sheepskin,” Amanda explains. “Ben had a bit of an epiphany in a Japanese department store. He saw one of their sheepskins next to a synthetic product and realised you could hardly tell the difference. He thought, ‘What if we did less to that skin and let its beautiful, natural characteristics shine. Could we make sheepskin cool by celebrating its perfect imperfections?’ It’s almost a re-education project for New Zealanders because we all used to wear wool and have it in our homes – Ben’s family had wall-to-wall wool shag pile carpet!”

Above. “All our products are hard-
wearing and long-lasting,” says Amanda. “But the very cool thing is at end of their useful life you can dig a hole and bury your sheepskin or shaggy bag and it will biodegrade over a couple of months, which is so cool.”
Above. “All our products are hard- wearing and long-lasting,” says Amanda. “But the very cool thing is at end of their useful life you can dig a hole and bury your sheepskin or shaggy bag and it will biodegrade over a couple of months, which is so cool.”

Above.  The team works out of a warehouse in Wānaka.“We’ve got a small team,” says Amanda. “There are times where it’s just roll your sleeves up and get stuck in. Everyone genuinely loves our products – they live with them, too. So then it’s not about selling, it’s just about sharing your experience.”

With a large corner site in Wānaka, the Wilson & Dorset retail store offers an immersive experience. “It’s very simple. It’s literally sheepskin on every single surface. Currently we’re featuring a giant shaggy beanbag called the Momoa, after Jason Momoa. It’s so interesting watching families come in. The kids may be a bit frantic and energetic when they arrive, but they climb onto the bag and chill out. Meanwhile their parents are sinking also into a shaggy bag, and they just exhale. There’s not a lot of talking initially. It’s very calming,” she laughs. “Living in Wānaka, we’re nestled among the mountains and rivers. We’re connected to the environment. I think visitors want to hold on to the feeling and take the connection home with them.”

“We all have our own
challenges, but you don’t want to be defined by them. I’ve developed
quite a thick skin and usually just box on when people try and
pigeonhole Louis, but sometimes it fires me up. When people say, ‘Oh,
Louis is that Down syndrome boy,’ I gently say, ‘No, he is not. He’s
Louis Wilson. He’s got a job at Wilson & Dorset. He loves DJing, he
loves dancing and he has Down syndrome.’ There’s a whole lot about
him as an individual. He is not Down syndrome.”
“We all have our own challenges, but you don’t want to be defined by them. I’ve developed quite a thick skin and usually just box on when people try and pigeonhole Louis, but sometimes it fires me up. When people say, ‘Oh, Louis is that Down syndrome boy,’ I gently say, ‘No, he is not. He’s Louis Wilson. He’s got a job at Wilson & Dorset. He loves DJing, he loves dancing and he has Down syndrome.’ There’s a whole lot about him as an individual. He is not Down syndrome.”

Amanda, Ben, their son, Louis, 16, and their daughter, Bess, 14, use their own products every day. “We barbecue and we sit around the outdoor fire right through the winter. It’s our favourite thing to do with family and friends. We grab the sheepskins off the couch and throw them on a bench seat. Or if we’re having a picnic under the trees, we drag our shaggy bags outside. Our digital marketing lead, Andrea, came and hung out with us for a few days. She said it’s so rare to meet founders of a business where it’s not an idea that they’ve just come up with in a boardroom, but it’s just actually how they’re living their lives. It’s not a made-up thing. It’s genuinely how we roll.”

While they all love their lifestyle, living in a smaller, remote area comes with its challenges, too. Louis was born with Down syndrome, and getting support for him and the family was challenging. “When you have a child with a disability and live in a small rural town, there is a strong pull to move to a city where there are more support services,” says Amanda. “Ben’s a country boy, and whenever I made noises about having to move to Christchurch, the conversation would stop. But you wonder how on earth you’re going to make it work. It was just so hard because you are trying to change systems and structures that are so embedded, on top of dealing with your everyday reality. I remember thinking, ‘So I’m supposed to change the world, because, yeah, I’ve really got the time and energy to do that!’ I knew there had to be a smarter way. There were other parents in the community who were experiencing similar issues, so we came together and in 2016 formed a family collective called Mint.”

"My mum gave me a really great piece of advice early on. She said, ‘Just make sure you don’t make all your decisions about Louis. Think about what will make you and Ben happy first and foremost, because if you’re in your happy place, then the rest will follow.’”

Mint is a charitable trust supporting individuals in the Upper Clutha area who have intellectual disabilities and their families. Its kaupapa is about inclusion, developing life skills, fostering independence and self-determination. Having fun is up there too, with a regular dance class one of the trust’s first activities. “We transitioned to a registered charity because we had big dreams, and we knew we needed money and resources to make those big dreams happen,” says Amanda. “We formed a board, somehow wooed some exceptional independent trustees and hired some amazing kickass women, including Charlotte Jackson, to run the organisation. Charlotte had been our main carer and support person for Louis, and now she is general manager at Mint. We’ve also had incredible support from our community. But just coming together didn’t all of a sudden magic-up results. It’s been really hard work. And to be honest, for so long it was almost too much. But Mint definitely has its own magic and momentum now. I hope w eare almost at the stage where the wider community won’t let us fail. People in the street stop me and tell me Wānaka is a better place with Mint in it. We are self-funded, so this can be another thing to interrupt my sleep. We organise grassroots funding ourselves. We simply are not sustainable without the generosity of our local community.”

Amanda’s daughter, Bess, has joined Louis working for
Wilson & Dorset. “Bess has helped out in the warehouse during
busy periods and this school holidays she’s going to be working
in the store for the first time,” Amanda says. “She’ll be in her
happy place because she’s not selling, she’ll just be sharing her
experience of what we do at home.”
Amanda’s daughter, Bess, has joined Louis working for Wilson & Dorset. “Bess has helped out in the warehouse during busy periods and this school holidays she’s going to be working in the store for the first time,” Amanda says. “She’ll be in her happy place because she’s not selling, she’ll just be sharing her experience of what we do at home.”

Two years ago, Mint partnered with Wilson & Dorset to employ people to help fill their stone sets – a stack of large floor cushions – along with their standard cushions and footstool range with wool fill. Louis, along with four others who are supported by Mint, was hired as a warehouse assistant. They come in once a week, and more often during busy periods. “It wasn’t a charity move, it was driven by a business need first and foremost. Through our involvement with Mint, we knew we had the opportunity to hire people who have additional needs but who also had a lot of capability and so much desire to have a job and make a contribution to society. Some of our existing staff were worried they were going to have to do a lot of handholding. And if they’d never actually engaged with someone with an intellectual disability before, they were nervous that they might say the wrong thing. It was process of trust and discovery for both sides and everyone has grown into it really nicely,” Amanda says.

The wool fill that Louis and the rest of the team use comes from Wisewool, another family business passionate about finding innovative uses for strong wool. “Two years ago, Harry Urquhart-Hay, co-founder of Wisewool, called me. After introducing himself, he took a big breath and I could tell he was winding up to do the big sales pitch. Before he could get started, I said, ‘Harry, I’m going to stop you there – just yes. We need to make this happen, like yesterday.’ We’d been looking for ages for a natural alternative to replace the synthetic fill we’d been using for this range, and now we’ve got strong wool on the inside and strong wool on the outside. Going fully woolly is so exciting, as it’s another way to support the farmers and growers, and it’s much better for the planet. We’re three quarters of the way there. We’re moving to a plant-based eco-bean fill for our shaggy bags, but we’re still hopeful that someone will invent a light, wool-based fill for the bags.” That invention could be closer than Amanda thinks. Alongside Wisewool, her business is a Campaign for Wool supporter, meaning it’s affiliated with the New Zealand arm of the global charity fostering consumer awareness of strong wool, promoting innovation and improving wool education at all levels – from early childhood to tertiary. “Aligning our sheepskin brand with the global Campaign for Wool is so important because it underscores our commitment to sustainable practices and animal welfare,” says Amanda. “By promoting the natural benefits of strong wool, we not only celebrate our heritage but also contribute to a worldwide movement that values ethical sourcing and taking care of our planet.”

“Living rooms are the heart of a home. We eat, drink, laugh, cry, fight, love and party – it’s wonderfully messy and perfectly imperfect. And sheepskin can support that real living. So I’m okay with imperfection, because that’s where the beauty lies.”

 “The last sixteen years have taught me the importance of accepting help and to feel okay about relying on others,”
says Amanda. “What we achieve as a family, as a business and with Mint would not possible without the help of my extraordinary
mother-in-law, Prue Wilson, my family in Christchurch, Charlotte and mates. Our support network runs wide and deep.”
“The last sixteen years have taught me the importance of accepting help and to feel okay about relying on others,” says Amanda. “What we achieve as a family, as a business and with Mint would not possible without the help of my extraordinary mother-in-law, Prue Wilson, my family in Christchurch, Charlotte and mates. Our support network runs wide and deep.”

Amanda admits that it isn’t easy, with multiple roles and demands on her time. “Sometimes it feels chaotic. I’ve had to work on hard on finding moments of tranquillity. I’ve had to make some quite big decisions to try and find those moments because life is very full and we are striving to do a lot – not only with our business, but trying to carve a life out for our kids.” One of those decisions was to hire a CEO for Wilson & Dorset. “We brought Lisa Thompson on board a couple of years ago. She’s a friend and someone I trust implicitly after working together for years at Icebreaker. We’re ambitious. We think New Zealand sheepskin is the best in the world. We want to get out there internationally and I knew I didn’t have the capacity to do it alone. I was hitting the wall a lot, and I knew if I went down it wasn’t going to be in the best interest of myself or the family. Lisa is just an epic human being. We are a great foils for each other – we work hard and have fun. She’s helped us build a great team of talented people. The elusive work/life balance actually seems possible now.”

“That’s the amazing thing with sheepskin. It’s naturally antimicrobial and it doesn’t hold odour. You just shake out and air it in the
sun. It may fade, but who cares? It’s perfectly imperfect.”
“That’s the amazing thing with sheepskin. It’s naturally antimicrobial and it doesn’t hold odour. You just shake out and air it in the sun. It may fade, but who cares? It’s perfectly imperfect.”

Spending time with mates, saunas and walking local tracks are some ways that Amanda resets. As well as getting out in nature, she sometimes gets into it too. “Cold water plunges have become a big thing for me. I don’t put myself under pressure to do it every day, because then it becomes another thing I have to do. If I don’t make it that day, that’s okay.” Perfectly imperfect is one of their mantras. “Interior design can preach an unobtainable lifestyle. Real living does not look like the glossy magazines. We don’t want to add to the pile of shame and guilt that people feel when comparing their homes to stuff they see online. Living rooms are the heart of a home. We eat, drink, laugh, cry, fight, love and party – it’s wonderfully messy and perfectly imperfect. And sheepskin can support that real living. So I’m okay with imperfection, because that’s where the beauty lies.”

Letting go of the ideal of perfection is something Amanda is keen to emphasise. “Often for me, it’s just listening to the quietest voice, which is saying, ‘This is right, keep going.’ But it can be quite easy not to hear that. But I think, ‘Just believe in yourself and keep going, even when it seems like you’re not making any ground.’ Also, everyone makes out that they know what they’re doing, but I don’t think anyone does. Seriously, they really don’t. There are just some people who are better at making out like they’ve got it altogether, but we’re all just doing it one little step at a time.”

Glossary. Kaupapa, topic, theme, purpose.

This story is the third in a series on wool supported by Campaign for Wool NZ. To learn more about how Campaign for Wool champions wool growers, manufacturers and retailers, visit nzwool.co.nz.

Related Stories

Reflections on The Muster

Letter from the Editor, Ngahuru Autumn 2024 Edition.

Read More
Man and woman sit at table outside their house on the farm eating pancakes.

Finding their Farm
Charlotte Plummer

Moving is never easy, least of all when you’re headed across the ocean to make a home in a new country. Meet Charlotte Plummer, balancing her veterinary career with farming

Read More
The Old Way Sweet Scrolls

The Old Way Sweet Scrolls Recipe

Super easy, soft and delicious, these sweet scrolls can be rolled up with whatever flavour combinations you fancy!

Read More

Here for the Long Run

Disheartened by a declining wool industry, Meredith Carpenter decided to take matters into her own hands, turning their Romney lambswool into products wholly made in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Read More

Do you have a story to tell?

We'd love to hear it.