Prevention Australia – June – July 2017

A desire to bring together her passions of travel, photography

and fashion inspired Natalie’s clothing business

My business: Our signature product is a beautiful
cashmere blend scarf. The scarves are quite sizeable
and serve as a versatile accessory that you can take on a
plane, wrap around your shoulders in a temple or use as
a sarong. They feature images that I’ve taken on various
travels and tell interesting narratives – they are never
really your obvious image of a destination. We have
introduced other scarf designs and fabric blends, and
more recently, resort wear (birdandknoll.com).

How it came about: I started out working in banking
before a career change to photography. It was on a trip
to Hawaii at the end of 2012 that I thought ‘How can
I bring my passions of travel, photography and fashion
together?’ Scarves seemed like a simple way to translate
that passion, so I pitched it to my business partner
Macayla, who loved the idea. We went through a
process of choosing the fabric blend and the packaging
we wanted, and had product in hand by February 2014.

Biggest triumphs: Our partnership with Qantas was
a big turning point. I had a serendipitous meeting
with a Qantas executive and was wearing a scarf and
they loved it, and things snowballed from there. Our
first project was working with Australian model Jessica
Hart, who nominated Melbourne as her ‘feels like
home’ destination and we produced a scarf around that.
Last year we ran an Instagram competition with the
Qantas audience, and we have something similar rolling
out this year. We also have an amazing project in the
works with a US-based brand – watch this space!

Overcoming near disaster: At one stage, we were

advised by a consultant to move our distribution from

Australia to China. It went pear-shaped – products

were going out late and without the proper collateral.

It was a bit terrifying but we got through it by

communicating with our stockists to let them know

we were doing our best to rectify things.

Juggling mum duties: My girls are aged 10 and

12 and they are very respectful of the fact that their

mum works from home, because they know I’m

passionate about what I do. I’m as available as I can

be to them, but they know there are times they need

to wait their turn. I do work some weekends, but

I’m making a concerted efort not to do too much

so I can be present with the family.

Staying on my A-game: I’m a list person. I make lists

on my iPhone and assign a day to when I’ll be taking care

of each item. It allows me to prioritise and have greater

control over my day. It sounds silly, but having a neat

home helps, too. It creates more space in my head for

things and makes me feel better prepared for the day.

“My girls are very respectful of the

fact that their mum works from

home, because they know I’m

passionate about what I do”

Natalie Knoll, 44,

co-owner of Bird & Knoll

My self-care strategy: I’m a massive fan of hot baths and cups of tea; there are

few things that can’t be solved if those are involved! I also walk frequently and go to a

regular Xtend Barre class. Preparing dinner is my downtime: we subscribe to Hello Fresh,

so when I head to the kitchen from my home oce around 5.30pm to prepare a healthy

and delicious meal, that’s my time to relax.

JUNE/JULY 2017 PREVENTION 75

INSPIRING WOMEN