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Introducing Jenny Fearnley
Jenny Fearnley, director and designer at Peachey Interiors Ltd
Jenny is originally from the UK. After finishing further education, followed by a quick holiday to New Zealand, Jenny discovered a love for Wellington. Fast forward 16 years, Jenny’s still here with a family of 6. Her partner Daimon, two children, a dog and her Interior Design business, Peachey Interiors.
What was your vision when you first started your venture?
Primarily, to get back into Interior Design while organising work around family life. I just didn't want to be an unreliable employee always asking for time off during school holidays. This way my kids are always going to come first.
Secondly, to learn how to work as a team. I feel that I work better on my own. (A polite way of saying I don’t share my toys very well). Collaboration with others is important, but the dynamics are a little different when running my own company. I feel empowered to say what I think. It is my vision we’re trying to achieve. That’s not intended to sound egotistical.
Peachey Interiors started in 2018. Being in Wellington’s Interiors industry previously meant that I still had many contacts. Wellington’s Architecture and Design community are pretty close-knit. Plus my partner, Daimon, is also an architect. So we announced that I was open for business and a mutual friend introduced me to my first client.
It was an awesome project with great people. I had to put on my big girl pants and jump straight in. I didn't have the infrastructure behind my business yet. No accounting or drafting software. But, I got a builder on board and off we went.
From that project came new clients. It's been word of mouth since then and I’m so busy now.
I hate turning clients away, but I’m booked up three months in advance. That’s too long for a client to wait. Once they make contact, they’re excited to start. I want to carry that momentum through into the project.
I'm at the point of hiring staff. Even if I'm just getting help with admin and supply. That way I can concentrate on design.
I am a bit of a control freak. It’ll be hard for me to relinquish some control and trust somebody. This business is one of my babies. I’m proud of it. A new team member is daunting. They won’t have the same passion that I do. I can’t expect that. But I’d like them to have a similar attention to detail. That’s so crucial.
How did you deal with early setbacks?
Dealing with setbacks is just a daily thing. I am a solutions kind of person. I'll put my head down and push on through.
There are always setbacks. Whether it's daily, such as supply issues and how to deal with that. Then there are larger setbacks, such as getting bowel cancer a year and a half ago. With that discovery, everything screeched to a halt.
I'm so lucky. All my clients were so understanding. Projects can take years to come to fruition. Over that time I get to know my clients and they become friends. So when something personal happened to me, everybody was on my team immediately. Very supportive.
My focus completely shifted from work to getting well and looking after my little people.
I must have been back at work for six weeks after finishing chemo, and then we went into lockdown. I was fired up to conquer the world. But I used much enthusiasm for those six weeks without the energy reserves. Lockdown was a blessing. I had to stop again and just take time out to recover. This gave me the energy to be with my kids. That was awesome.
Was there a time that you wanted to give up?
I'd been unwell for a while and knew something was off. I was ready for the diagnosis, but having it confirmed was a real blow.
I had a day to feel sorry for myself and have a bit of a cry. The next day I thought ‘I'm going to deal with this!”. Wellington hospital has an amazing surgical team.
I didn’t want to leave my partner with a business to untangle. My clients all said they’d wait for me to recover. I didn’t know what they were waiting for. Initially, I thought I might die. I was just trying to find another designer to take on the projects. I never wanted to give up.
As my understanding of my diagnosis evolved, so did my plans for the future. Receiving news like this, giving up, doesn't come into it. I just take it one step at a time.
I totally changed my lifestyle. I'd been dabbling with a plant-based diet on and off for years. I’d had digestive issues. I tried gluten-free, FODMAP, dairy-free, combinations of those things, which left very little to eat.
After chemo I delved deeper into eating healthily, starting my plant-based journey in earnest. It was hard during chemo. I just wanted to vomit continuously. I’d eat whatever I craved, just to get energy. But after that finished I ate plant-based all the way. I’m not fanatical. I’ll have a drop of milk in a cup of tea occasionally. The essence of it is to crowd out the rubbish with plants and I feel better. It works for me.
Were there any traps that you fell into?
Saying “yes, I can do that” and not wanting to disappoint people while then running myself ragged. It’s a constant journey of
learning how much time a project will take.
My first big project was a perfect storm. The clients were highly motivated. They'd just bought an awesome house needing a lot of work. They hired me in June and wanted to have the first stage of the project finished by Christmas. That's a pretty tall order of planning, council regulations and building. We worked backwards from the deadline, enlisting a builder early.
It nearly killed a lot of people to meet that deadline. The end result wasn't worth it. With the rush, the quality and workmanship weren't as good as they should have been. The builder was put under a lot of pressure, underestimating the project complexity and not allowing for enough time.
So don’t try to meet unrealistic targets. It's better, to be honest and disappoint. Once a project is finished and without the quality of the work, the client is left with that forever.
My client has an eye for detail and was unhappy with this project’s finish. There are mistakes that he just can’t unsee, irritating him every time he passes.
A previous boss used to say that a project can only ever have two of the following three points:-
On-time
On budget
On quality
You can't have all of those. You HAVE to pick TWO.
I prefer to let things take longer, be patient and get the best quality. If you're stuck for time, ultimately it's going to cost. That has been proven true time and again.
But, three years later we’re embarking on stage two of the project. We’ve critiqued stage one, learned a lot and completely rethought the next stage. It’s all down to planning. Have a vision, but remember to be flexible enough to roll with the punches.
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What inspires and motivates you?
I just have this innate desire to play around with houses. When I was young, I was obsessed with drawing floor plans, making them with Lego. Even before I knew what a floor plan was. I don't know how many times I rearranged my bedroom to come up with interesting layouts. All with the same pieces of furniture. Drove my parents to distraction. But it's just in me.
What motivates me is the different pressures on a project to meet the client's desires. What do they want? What can they afford? What suits the house? Then there’s my vision and goals. Then ultimately you put them all together and there’s the little nugget in the middle that ticks all the boxes.
It’s always different for every job. That's what’s so exciting, discovering what makes people tick.
I'm fascinated by people dynamics. Learning what draws them together and the way that they live. Most people think that they know what they want. But often, I have to tease out what they actually do want.
I love seeing the excitement for those people when they realise what their home’s going to look like once finished.
Can you describe a breakthrough that you're particularly proud of?
Learning to trust my voice and views. Especially over the last eight months, not doubting myself. It's a great feeling.
My business is still in its infancy. I have visions for where I want it to go and having the confidence to back myself is empowering.
With more projects under my belt, I now know when to back myself and when to take advice from the sage people around me. I'm really lucky to have helped architects with their projects. They're useful people to have in my community to call on for advice.
I now have a different perspective on retirement which is interesting. Work doesn't feel like work anymore. I’m learning how to switch off though. I don't feel like I'm on a treadmill, but I do act like it sometimes. Once the kids have gone to bed, I'm often at my desk and it's 9:30 pm before I know it.
I can't imagine working in a different industry. I do have hobbies that are different. But there's no desire to change my career. I just want to get great at what I'm doing.
I'm my own worst critic. Particularly at 3:30 am. That's a real positive for me also. I’m not just telling myself how awesome I am. I’m normally thinking about how I can improve for the next project. Not in a mean way. With my recent health issues, I’m learning to be kinder to myself. But not letting myself off the hook either. I have to be objective about what I’m doing and search for that improvement.
What do you see as being your biggest lesson?
Not over-committing and promising to achieve a crazy deadline. There can be many unforeseen events. Clients don’t want to hear that you can't meet a deadline. If there's another designer who can do it, then power to them.
I want to give my clients the best result. If that means waiting longer to get the right result, then that's the way to go every single time.
I don't want to be the one to let my clients down and I don't need that pressure. Toxic levels of stress, it’s what made me sick.
Has your vision always been clear and how has it evolved?
I am a visual person. I constantly have pictures in my head of what my business will look like. The vision started with me working from home and spending time with my kids. Being fulfilled by my work while parenting and financially contributing to my family. Also, having space for my thoughts and mind.
Now my vision is to get a studio space in Mirimar. A shop frontage, but a “by appointment” place for clients meetings and supplier material drop-offs. Mainly, I want to separate work from home.
In the future, I'd love to have my own range of furniture.
I do want Peachey Interiors to grow, taking on more projects. Possibly expanding to three or four people. Hiring staff will free up my time to foster creativity and seek inspiration.
I don’t want to lose sight of my family orientated lifestyle. It’s the reason for starting my business in the first place. To be just off for the school holidays. In those times, I'm not available to do work other than by phone or email. I'll keep projects rolling, but this time is just for my kids.
I’m not into growth and measurement. I have a vision for where I want to be. But, it's path can be zigzagged. Believing there’s a straight line from A to B will set you up for failure. That’s just reality. As long as I have an end goal in mind, I’ll find my way in time.
Yes, I am my own boss, but I do work for somebody… my clients.
What would you do differently if you had to start again from scratch?
I wouldn’t do anything different. That sounds boring, but I can’t see it happening another way. I visualised what I wanted to achieve, and that’s how it had to be, spending more time with my kids. I met with some resistance, but that just made me focus more on the end goal.
CONNECT WITH JENNY
If you have enjoyed this article and want to start a conversation with Jenny, you can reach out on:
Website: peachinteriors.co.nz
Instagram: @peacheyinteriors
Please don’t forget to tell Jenny that I sent you.
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Interview and photography by Wellington Headshot Photographer, Tim Morrison (all rights reserved)