Laura Jennekens had it all: a home-based career she enjoyed, a family she adored and a healthy (low fat/high energy) lifestyle. Little did she know that being diagnosed with breast cancer would lead her to discover that she could also make a difference in other’s lives.
Taking a step back
It all came together with a gorgeous slipcover made out of painters’ drop sheets.
When she received her diagnosis, Jennekens was able to see it as anything but a death sentence. And as one of eight children, she considered herself a survivor. “I thought, I’m gonna take some time off and do some things that I want to do,” she says. She had worked as a television producer before and had been out of the industry for some time, and had most recently been self-employed as a home decorator. “It was a nice little business, nothing too crazy because I had two kids and I really wanted to be home for them, but I fell off the face of the map for a year. Did I really want to go back to that and start it up again?”
Her heart said no; she craved for something more interesting and different to do after her treatments. But first, she was going to properly chill out. The once too-busy-to-pee-10K-a-day runner and mother of two was going to step back and take it easy.
A stitch in down time
So she took sewing lessons. It was something she always wanted to do. And that’s where she met Vicky Gerke, a skilled seamstress who showed her the ropes, so to speak. They hit it off immediately; they weren’t at all alike but complemented each other. At the end of the lessons, Jennekens ended up with a beautiful slipcover and the realization that she absolutely hated sewing. “I never wanted to pick up another piece of fabric again, I’d rather get Vicki to do it,” she says with a laugh.
And then she had the spark of an idea. A frugal, grand venture kind of idea.
Being from a family of eight kids, Jennekens was a born recycler. “My dad was a props master in the movie business and he taught us how to...I dunno...pick through trash, bin dive...recycle,” she says. Her family was pursuing green living decades before it became fashionable.
But what if she combined fashion with recycling? What if she and Gerke could find people and organizations willing to donate their unwanted fabric and they turned that fabric into one-of-a-kind handbags and tote bags and accessories? It would allow both women to be creative, be home for their respective children and explore their creativity. Gerke went home to think about it and “next thing you know, she landed on my doorstep with the most beautiful bag and I knew at that moment, when she came to the door, that we were in business,” says Jennekens.
Her son even came up with a clever saying that describes the theory behind Echoes in the Attic: One lady’s trash is another lady’s purse.
At first the two women simply talked about the types of bags they would create and how to promote them—Jennekens applied her skills in advertising, marketing and photography while Gerke’s experience in retail and merchandising rounded out the basic requirements for their business. Now all they needed was rescued-from-their-trip-to-the-landfill fabric and the “unfortunistas” who needed these fabulous handbags.
It’s through companies like Ethan Allen that Echoes in the Attics receives a wealth of off-cuts of fabric. And the recycling doesn’t stop there: once the ladies are done with the fabric, those off-cuts are donated to a local artist. There’s not an inch of waste.
You’ve got—a catalogue!
The ladies started promoting their business online—by email. Jennekens would send their digital catalogue to store owners and retailers who fit a certain criteria: eco-friendly and already carried products by companies that she and Gerke liked. “I would trail other manufacturers that I liked and follow where they were [in stores],” admits Jennekens.
By having their products sold at retailers that they admired, the women felt that gave their products an edge over those sold at mass-market retailers. After all, each bag is an original. Without a full-blown ecommerce site or, at the beginning, a website at all, they started to receive orders from retailers who believed in the products they made.
Starting out, Echoes in the Attic had little capital but stacks of donated and rescued fabric, Gerke’s sewing skills and Jennekens desire to spread the word about their company. She admits that things grew almost too large for them to handle at one point last spring, when they were concerned about being able to fill all their orders. The solution came by hiring another woman in their community who was looking for work that allowed her to stay home. And that one woman led to a team of standby stay-at-home sewers. Now the company helps many women earn an income, whether those sewing the handbags or others who create jewellery and other accessories which Echoes in the Attic represents.
Spreading the word
One thing that really helped promote their products was when Grass Roots (a Toronto store) took some Echoes in the Attic bags to the Green Living Show last year. The ladies didn’t do a thing—except sell the bags to Grass Roots in the first place—and word about their company was spreading. The big break for them came in the fall of 2006 when they made the Becca Bag, which was a for-charity bag that landed on the Canadian Living Christmas Wish List.
Today, Echoes in the Attic products are in 35 stores across Canada. And Jennekens couldn’t be more excited. “This came from something so horrible, into something that has empowered me, has made so many people happy. What it’s all about is women helping women.”
When asked if she’d do anything differently, Jennekens responds with a firm no. “When, in a woman’s life does she slow down long enough to have a friend bring her tea and sit and have a visit? I never had such a sense of appreciation for my friends and for life and the simplest things, and I thought: why did I never slow down and do this?” She, like so many women, spent most of her life on a pivot, changing from one activity to the next without stopping for breath, let alone a break.
And that’s where Jennekens feels we need to focus our attention: “We’re all supposed to be doing kinder things to ourselves, to our planet and to each other—and struggling with and surviving cancer has made me realize it.”
From October 25-28, you can check out the Echoes in the Attic at Booth 216 at the Home and Country Show at Exhibition Place in Toronto. For more information, visit www.echoesintheattic.com.
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