“Sometimes playful, sometimes dark, Meadowlark creations are always beautiful with an edge”

Claire and Greg Fromont are one of New Zealand’s classic young husband and wife duos brought together through a shared passion and unique talent for jewellery and design. After successfully having created their own brands in Graphic Design and Jewellery Design, Claire and Greg decided to combine their skills in 2006 to launch the jewellery line they had always dreamed of, Meadowlark.

Claire, a self educated designer, sold her successful street wear label Urchin in 2004 so that she could launch fully into her passion for graphic design. She runs her own studio Claire Hammon: Designaholic  in addition to Meadowlark. Greg on the other hand is a trained visual artist and expert craftsman who is growing his personal brand Greg Fromont Jeweller, and also creates and constructs custom eye catching pieces for clients like Huffer and Shapeshifter.

Earlier this year Meadowlark won an award for the ‘Best Accessory Brand’ at the 2010 Fashion Exposed in Sydney. You could say it is this crafty infusion of creativity and talent that give Claire and Greg their unique edge in the current market. After hearing about Meadowlark’s recent success, and having popped online to view their exquisite range of custom made jewellery, I decided it was time we talked to Claire and Greg.

 What projects are you currently working on?

 Claire: At the moment we are about to release a little project of international collaborations as well as manufacturing a new range for delivery in August AND making the prototypes for another new collection we will be selling in September among other stuff.

 What’s the best part about having a husband/wife as a business partner?

 Claire: I think the best part is the security, you know that you are both working for the same future together. In other partnerships there can be a lot of tension because each person is looking out for themselves and can be going at different paces so in some ways I think most partnerships are going to fail.

 Greg: I love it. I think we’re lucky to be able to work as a team on something together. I think we’ve developed such a strong bond because of it.

 And the pitfalls to watch out for?

 Claire: I think keeping some separation from business and relationship is key. It is easy to slip into an all business situation so you need to make extra effort to nurture your relationship.

 Greg: Yeah on the flip side we can be in each other’s pocket a little too much sometimes. It’s good to get ‘alone’ time, as well as ‘not business’ time outside of the house.

 Do you think that being able to feed off one another’s business skills and experience is vital to your overall business success?

 Claire: Yeah I think it is, we started the business together because we have different strengths that work well together. Neither of us would be able to do as good a job if we had to swap places or were without each other.

 Greg: Two heads is so much better than one. I think we’re so lucky to be able to work with each other and complement each other so well.

 Are there children planned for the future and if so how would this effect your business obligations and financial duties as a young business couple?

 Claire: There might be children in the future? We are not sure how this would effect our business, at this stage we work from home so if we added kids into the mix I don’t think a lot would change but I would back off the business for a little while so it may slow things down temporarily but I don’t think it would have a huge effect overall.

 Greg: Yeah as Claire mentioned in the previous question, I wouldn’t be able to do as good a job with the business without Claire, so I think we would have to try and put some kind of coping strategy in place should children come along…

 Do you think you are better to specialise or to have a variety of skills in today’s economy?

 Claire: Hmm this is tricky, I think in business in general you need to have a variety of skills for sure but if you are lacking in one area then it is definitely worth employing someone in that area so you don’t fall short.

 Greg: A variety of skills is good, although trying to do everything is pretty impossible. A good team around you who each specialise in one or two things would be ideal.

 What is your view on having ‘ a few fingers in different pies’ when it comes to business?

 Claire: I think for me I have the capacity to do a lot of things at one time, I get bored easily but out of the many things I do 2 are most important to me and one thing is the end goal. I’m really just enjoying myself and trying to be fulfilled creatively but in the end I am mostly interested in just one of our businesses.

 Greg: I prefer to have total focus on one thing, although I’m divided between two different businesses’ which is ok as long as they both get enough attention.

For more information visit Meadowlark.co.nz