Miriam sat down with Mundy Walsh to discuss what it's like to be a creative woman in business. The interview as featured on Mundy Walsh's Substack.
The Creative Women interview series chats to women in creative fields, and explores what is at the root of their artistic drive. Creative thinking is fundamental for a fulfilled life, and so understanding and cultivating it through shared experiences, challenges and achievements helps us all thrive.
Cushendale is a sixth generation woollen mill, crafting quality textiles from wool since 1778 in the luscious Irish countryside. Today, Philip and his daughter Miriam continue this incredible story. They design and weave throws, blankets and scarves inspired by and for our environment. Cushendale textiles are made slower and are crafted with bespoke colours to create lifelong pieces for a more sustainable world. To experience Cushendale is to be connected to centuries of knowledge, deep-rooted passion and warmth.
How did you get started and what continues to inspire you about your craft?
Working in the mill has been a journey for me. My parents live a few yards from the mill so growing up, the mill was part and parcel of our lives whether that was spending time in the mill itself or helping my gran make buttons for hats at the living room table. As I got older I always kept a strong tie to the mill spending my holidays throughout school and college working in the mill. I studied a few courses in college, initially as a full-time student and later in evenings while I worked, doing courses in hotel management, business and accountancy. My first post college job was in Diageo which, while a huge global company, gave me a great understanding of all the facets of a business, the importance of people and relationships and the importance of being proud of what you do.
After years working in the corporate world I continued to gravitate towards the family business and ultimately made the full move to work beside my father. My education and work experience has helped me to navigate the business side of things while my love for our craft, my upbringing at the mill and working side by side with my parents and our loyal team is helping me hone my creative skills. As a small maker owner I think one of the biggest challenges is balancing the business aspect as well as making, both need time and attention in order to flourish. Thankfully with a great team and my father and mother on hand as the “retired supervisors” I’m able to give time to both and not become burnt out in the meantime!
What is your process from ideation to finished product?
For me creativity is an ongoing and evolving process. I see and observe colour and textures all day at the mill and sometimes it is the accidental placement of different cones side by side or an accidental weave pattern that inspires a colour way or new design. Like in life, I feel that if a design is forced it appears as such and are not a natural fit. It’s always really important aswell to get the teams input, they too see and know our colours and yarns in-depthly so I really value their ideas and input.
How do you maintain resilience during difficult periods and what tools/practices do you return to help you overcome obstacles?
Probably one of the most challenging periods for us, and other makers, was Covid. It was a complex period; orders and demand completely dried up, we had a team of loyal employees and a responsibility to support them and all in the context of Covid sickness and restrictions. The fortunate silver lining for us during this period was that we had been planning a reenergising of the business through our branding, storytelling and a revamp of our mill shop. For me during challenging times like this I get energised and focused, while we had been thinking of these projects, in the face of such immediate crisis it became the focus and helped us get through the challenging time. It became a time of reawakening for us. The whole team was able to get behind it and we were able to work with some great people along the way too. It was a time of reflection and rebuilding on our core strengths. Coming out of Covid I feel we evolved to have a stronger identity of who we are and with it a reenergised customer and approach to our business. As a maker one can literally have your head down making all the time but it is so important to take time to look up and out and ensure you’re pointing in the right direction.
Imposter Syndrome can be a hurdle sometimes creatively, has this ever affected you?
At the start of every year while refreshed it is a bit of a restart and I always have a bit of anticipation for the year ahead and if sales will continue to come in. We make and sell textiles that are intended to be loved for a lifetime both in their design and their warmth and functionality so if we’re doing the right job they’re not to be replaced! We’re constantly hoping new people discover us or that people who have previously bought from us will come back to buy more for gifting.
Earlier this year Cushendale took to the stage at La Biennale di Venezia with a huge sculpture made of wool. Could you tell us how this came about, how you designed it, and what this achievement meant to you?
Being involved in Ireland’s national pavilion, In Search of Hy-brasil, at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023 was a huge honour. The installation was designed and led by a team of architects with input from various makers and crafts people. The Island exhibition was an immersive experience using local materials that highlighted the traditional heritage; sea sacks woven from discarded fishers’ rope, large slabs of limestone from offshore islands and an abstraction of Sceilg Mhichíl made from Galway sheep’s wool from our mill. When initially approached about this project we thought perhaps 10 or 20 kilos of wool would be required; it turned out to be 800 kilos! All gathered from our partner farmers, prepared at our mill and then shipped to the prestigious Venice Architecture Biennale. We are often asked to get involved in projects some larger and some smaller, we are always open to these and love to get involved. Its’s a way of working and learning with others, a way of being involved and making a broader positive social impact. As a small artisan mill, and the last mill working with traceable Irish fleece, we feel enriched and privileged to have a direct connection with the land so to be able to share this with others is an important part of what we do. In the same way that the food we eat comes from the land so too do our natural fibres which keep us warm, this is part of the human culture and being custodians of part of that Irish culture is very special to us and one which we take seriously, nurturing and sharing it with people to enrich their lives and keep that tradition living on and thriving.
What is some good advice that you return to?
I feel very lucky to have grown up in a family business and to be able to continue that today and hopefully pass that on in the future. Through my parents and my grandmother who lived with us and also worked in the business a strong work ethic and humility to continuously learn was always instilled, that hard work and persistence would always see you through.
One of my grandmothers sayings was, “Do the right thing because it’s the right thing.”, this has always stuck with me. Often we can be distracted by what others are doing or by what other people think. In today’s busy world that is even more present, to know yourself and stay true to yourself can sometimes be difficult or be the more challenging route to take but if we are true to our core values and what we believe in it will always see us through.
Read this interview and her Creative Women interview series on Mundy Walsh's Substack.
