BEHIND THE BIZ :: Carmel Sloane of Carmel Interiors
We love chatting with someone who likes to shake things up a bit and step outside of what people ‘expect’ them to do.
And we’re ALWAYS up for supporting a business that provides opportunities for young people and women.
So, we were super keen to meet up with Carmel Sloane of Carmel Interiors.
This is one business owner that is absolutely committed to the work she does, the opportunities she provides all while she flexes her creative and entrepreneurial muscle working on innovative ideas and products.
“I want to transform the way everyone – our team, clients, the industry – thinks about painting and decorating,” Carmel says.
She’s certainly on her way to doing that!
Here’s our chat.
1 :: You’ve got such an interesting background. Talk us through how you came to start Carmel Interiors.
I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school but knew I wanted to be hands-on with something.
I actually did painting for work experience in Year 10 and the first trade I did was in sign writing and ticket writing back when it was all done by hand.
I’ve always been artistic and creative and even though I ended up working in the mining and construction industry for a number of years, I still dabbled in art.
When I’d finished up with mining and construction, I looked around and an opening for a painter and decorator came up, so I thought I’d try that again.
It was a good match with my experience, my skills and fed into my creativity.
2 :: How long has Carmel Interiors been in business?
It’s been over 20 years now. When I started the business, I already had a good name in the industry and some great relationships with builders and you know what? Business growth happens when you do the right thing.
Our focus on quality workmanship, building strong relationships with other trades, and trust with clients meant our business became very busy very quickly.
3 :: You talk about clients like they’re family.
We pretty much are one big family. Our team, our clients and the builders we work with. That’s what makes what we do all worth it.
We also grew through word of mouth in the Southern Highlands, and that’s because of that family feel and the time we take to get to know everyone we work with.
We’ve been to weddings of clients, we’ve seen clients pass and been there for the family because we’ve built such strong connections with them.
4 :: And it literally is a family business, too!
Ah yes. My son, Jordan works in the business. He started working for me during school holidays and while he was at university, and now he’s stepped into the business full time as my right-hand foreman.
Many clients and trades we work with like having that consistency. They know if I’m not there that Jordy is on the job and is right across what needs to be done and keeps the quality high.
Once again, it comes down to trust which is first and foremost when you’re doing business anywhere, but especially in the Highlands. That word of mouth is so important here.
We know if we do high quality work, we’ll be booked again by the clients or by builders. That quality is what we pride ourselves on.
5 :: Now, you’re also an advocate for females in the industry and employee female tradies.
There’s so many more females in the building and construction industry now, which is great but there still isn’t a large amount of female business owners.
I’m proud of being a female running a successful business in a traditionally male-dominated area and want to give women opportunities to move forward and become successful in this industry too.
Yes, we employ female painters and provide them with a safe and respectful working environment that allows them to really learn and grow.
The industry is changing but sadly there are still some people and companies who haven’t moved along with that.
We absolutely do not align ourselves with businesses that act in that manner.
We work in respectful circles, with companies and clients who judge people by the quality of their work not what they look like.
6 :: We’re also interested to hear more about the colour consultancy side of the business. Tell us more about that.
When you’ve been in business for over twenty years, you make a lot of mistakes! I’ve learnt so much from those mistakes.
It’s given me the knowledge I have today not only around colour but also around managing clients and helping them step out of their comfort zone a little when they’re choosing what they’re going to do.
It doesn’t matter if we’re working on a commercial or residential job, the space needs to reflect your personality and create an atmosphere. The right colour or wallpaper or a bespoke art piece painted onto the wall can absolutely do that.
We are definitely not a cookie cutter, one size fits all sort of company that turns up, paints and leaves and that’s it. We work with our clients to create a space that is truly a reflection of their lives and personalities.
I often get photos sent to me from clients sitting in their newly transformed space with a champagne in their hand and the message will be about how much they love the space.
7 :: You’ve worked on some fantastic, local projects and won a number of awards.
Yes, we recently worked on the refurbishment of the Surveyor General Inn at Berrima – that was a great project to be involved in. And we’ve freshened up Gumnut Patisserie in Mittagong.
As for the awards, we go in those for our staff and our clients. Our clients definitely get as excited as we do when we win them. And it’s validation for our staff of what a great job they’re doing.
We’ve won numerous awards in the past few years which we’re very proud of.
8 :: And you’re working on something quite innovative now too, aren’t you?
Yes, we’re currently working on our second app. It’s called Pixtd and it’s in the social media events space. It’s been a few years in the making and is nearing release which is very exciting!
We also have a painting app we developed called iPaintMySpace, where you can virtually paint the walls in your home.
We’ve recently repurposed that into software and are in talks with some large brands about moving that all forward into a very exciting partnership.
It will transform the way people think about, plan and use colour and wall finishes.
Watch this space…..!
It all sounds VERY exciting – thanks Carmel!
Carmel Interiors is a team of award-winning painters and decorators who bring a bespoke and personal approach to all their projects. They’ve worked in the Southern Highlands for over twenty years and have built trusted relationships with clients and industry thanks to their high-quality workmanship, service, commitment and attention to detail.
If you’re doing a new build, reno or just thinking about freshening up your home, office, interiors or exteriors, get in touch with the team via the Carmel Interiors website or call Carmel on 0410 651 013.
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