Women-Owned Business Series: Suze from Pattern Brands

Welcome back to our Women-Owned Business Series! We’re happy to co-founder Suze from Pattern Brands, a family of purposeful brands dedicated to help building a home. Read on about her journey to acquire brands that emphasize sustainable growth over short-term gain.

First, tell us about your business and anything special we should know about it or you.

I’m the co-founder of Pattern Brands, a family of purposeful brands providing the essentials to make, shape, and grow a home—the foundation of daily life. We are focused on completing thoughtful acquisitions of sustainable DTC-first businesses and scaling them in an omni-channel manner. There’s currently six brands in the family today, with products ranging from kitchen tools and accessories, to bathroom towels, apothecary items, and more.

In founding Pattern Brands, we set out to learn from the challenges of DTC brands that came before us and build a new model. Our thesis behind our one-team model was to be able to provide businesses the specialist resources they require at every stage of their lifecycle, and allow for building durable brand value and sustainable growth.

Why do you feel a connection to your work?

The concept of what makes a house feel like a ‘home’ has always been something that I’ve been incredibly passionate about; as a child I would save up my pocket money to splurge on Architectural Digest and Elle Decor! Fast forward to today, and I’m so thankful to be building Pattern, it’s truly a pinch me moment to get to spend every day focusing on creating design-forward goods for my – and others – home(s)!

As a business owner, community is everything. In what ways do you serve your community and how has your community served you?

I personally love supporting other entrepreneurs within the community, especially other female founders. The past few years have been such a journey, but I feel that the connection to the startup community here in New York has only become stronger. We’re incredibly grateful to have a wonderful photo-studio located in Williamsburg, that is in the same building as a number of other early-stage companies. I’ve always appreciated the close-knit, collaborative nature that start-ups here in NY have, whether it’s sharing office or studio space, providing advice and guidance on helping one another shorten the learning curve, or any number of things that pop up — it’s something that surprised me when I moved to NY from Australia just over a decade ago.

What advice would you give to young women who want to start a small business?

Prepare yourself for a journey – it’s going to have some of the toughest moments, but also some of the most rewarding. Bring tenacity, a sense of humility and a sense of curiosity and ability to problem solve with you throughout each step. And, ask for help and support – push yourself out of your comfort zone! I’ve never once questioned if I could figure it out – I’ve known I can – but I’ve also never been afraid to ask questions and seek out help. I’ve googled things, I’ve read countless books, I’ve cold Linkedin people to ask for advice, I’ve asked folks to be my mentor.

What women inspire you and why?

There’s so many women that inspire me; my team, other female founders, my family, but there is one I want to give a special shout out to, my first-boss, Jane. She ran a communications agency in Australia, and gave me my first foot in the door. She is the true epitome of women helping women, and showed a belief in me that I didn’t yet have in myself. Sometimes you just need someone on the outside to reflect a mirror up to you, so that you can see yourself in their eyes. I’ll be forever thankful for her teaching me how to do this.

What do you think are the most significant challenges for women business owners or women in leadership positions?

At times, perception – both of how we view ourselves, but also the preconceived notions others may have of us. I try and use this to fuel my determination to succeed, but also in my determination to help others – I believe each and every person needs to uplift one another, and open a seat at the table — one way I like to do this is advising other start-up founders, providing hands-on support alongside access to resources I’ve developed over the years and my network.

Learn more about Pattern Brands here – they’re also still seeking to expand their portfolio!