Read all about me!

Bespoke Acquiring & Styling was born out of a love of shopping and creating distinctly beautiful spaces through décor, framing, retro glassware, napery, kitsch vintage crockery and soft furnishings.  

 I had been caught out many a time admiring the craftsmanship of beautiful, gold gilded, ornate frames in art galleries; shopping for textiles using my hands to feel the material and caressing it to ascertain whether it was the right piece of the puzzle for my latest project; gushing over crockery while mentally pairing it with linens and excitedly jibbering about which table and occasion it would be perfect for.  

 My friends and family have encouraged my play and passion. Despite them half-jokingly and half-seriously putting a ban on my buying, commissioning or shopping for any more soft furnishings, it was my pleasure, to set and coordinate Christmas tables, tables for birthday parties, dinner parties, drinks or any social occasion really.  

I was spectacularly good at shopping, spending other people’s money and ferreting out a bargain or special piece for whoever my shopping accomplice was any particular day.  

The funny thing is, I never really thought I could do it for a grownup job, this was fun.  Could I do fun for real life and get paid for it?  Teenage Emma would never have believed so.

While I always appreciated and adored unique treasures, sumptuous fabrics, linens and personalised framing, my first passion was media.  It was all I wanted to do since I was a little girl.

Being my driven, perfectionist, type-A self, I diligently worked my way through high school and uni, tunnel-visioned on the prize – a job in media.  I haggled for marks and vocally contributed to class discussions with gusto.  

I was a girl with a plan, ambition and a love for the media.  After finishing my degree, I continued to study my craft in newsrooms, studios, live broadcasts and free-to-air Promo Departments as a lowly Production Assistant and general Dog’s Body.  I worked in various scheduling and programming roles for a global kids’ brand over two channels and launched a kids’ tv channel before landing my dream job in Television Acquisitions.  

All my Christmases had come at once, I was meeting incredible people, working for an honourable, impressive and earnest brand; watching and assessing television content to buy; meeting with producers and distributors; negotiating deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars with ease – I had to pinch myself every day, I was doing my dream job, the best job in the world and I was getting paid for it!  

 I was in my element; I was talking to people, meeting people, hustling and negotiating the best price on every deal and having so much fun doing it.

I lived and breathed my job; it was my world.  My friends were in the business.  

The industry comings and goings, promotions and mergers fueled many a catch up, night out, debrief, telephone call, text conversation and casual chat.  

No two days were ever the same, my world was exciting, my cup was full.  I was passionate, committed and excited about working for such an institution. Equally I was as passionate and committed to becoming known as an ambitious, successful and respected woman in the Australian media landscape.  My female peers and I were going to be the ones who smashed through the glass ceiling whether we had babies or not, a family or not, were married or not – we were going to shake up the establishment and conquer the world…. And then I returned to work after having my third child.

My workplace was not impervious to the challenges facing the media industry. The usual discussions around budgets, cost cutting strategies, possible restructures, changes to reporting lines and redundancies swirled around the office as they always had. This time it felt different.

 Sadly on this occasion, I received the tap on the shoulder and had to try to come to terms with the fact that I was being made redundant.

To say I was gutted was an understatement.  My world, my career aspirations, my confidence was gone.  Like so many in the same situation, I felt like I’d failed and that my experience, expertise, passion and knowledge weren’t enough. Did this mean that I wasn’t enough?

After the sting of rejection and shock became a little easier to swallow, I did some soul searching. Oh how I searched!  

I thought about what I loved, what made my heart smile, what made my heart soar, what filled my cup and where was I happiest?  

 I looked around my home and saw the custom cushions I had had made with materials I’d scoured, sourced and picked out; I saw the beautiful, unique conversation-starting artworks featured on my walls, each frame purposefully chosen with accompanying mattes and individual features; I saw my collection of exquisite vintage glassware, in almost every colour of the rainbow, beaming down at me from the shelves in my kitchen and dining room – and I smiled.  

 In every room of my house, there was me, my husband, our home, our personalities, our memories.  This was my calm, my sanctuary, my home.  It felt like us.  It felt like me.  

 I had lost my job.  I had lost my identity that was so entrenched in my job, but I still had me, I still had my personality, my passion and my authenticity; from that time I promised myself that I would rise again like a phoenix from the ashes with sparkle and lipstick.  

Maybe I could combine my love of meeting people, shopping, hunting for treasures and creating bespoke spaces.   Maybe I could create spaces for people who were time poor, who had lost inspiration, who were unsure and style shy about what they liked, who were scared to be themselves and own what they loved.

Maybe I could show them that styling is accessible for everyone not just the rich and famous or for people with exclusive homes, McMansions, multi-million dollar rebuilds and estates.  Maybe I could show them that home styling is accessible for everyone – not just for selling property but for living in it too.

Yes – I could work with people, listen to people and help them curate and create a bespoke space which fits their needs and reflects their own style and personality.  

I would help them to create their own space with Heart, Soul & a Story… and so the seed that would become Bespoke Acquiring & Styling was planted.  

It turns out that yes – you can do fun for real life.