As they grow their room requirements change; it may morph from a nursery with a cosy cot to the cool kid room, making way for the very first “big kid” bed. Amazing mum Kristy Withers has made the challenge of finding the perfect furniture for tiny tots so much easier with her one stop online shop Incy Interiors. Kristy chatted with Central West Mums to share a little about her family and daily routine.
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
“I have just turned 40 and I am the mum to two beautiful children – Oscar (12) and Polly (8). I am also the wife to my lovely husband Simon.”
How long have you lived in the Central West?
“I have lived in the Central West for most of my life. I grew up on a sheep farm just outside of Oberon, went to school and university in Bathurst. I did spend 12 years in Sydney before returning back to the Central West eight years ago. We now live on 100 acres just outside of Orange.”
What’s your go to family outing in the area?
“We have recently got another puppy, so our absolute favourite thing to do on a Sunday is to take our two puppies for a walk around Lake Canobolas. It is so beautiful and is far enough to burn off energy for the kids + puppies, but not too far that they become whingey and over it. We always stop at the café afterwards.”
What is your favourite kid-friendly coffee spot?
“We are so spoilt for choice in Orange. During the week when I am at work, I mix it up between Mad Hatters, Good Eddy and Nimrods. On the weekend its Groundstone or Lake Canobolas.”
What inspired you to start Incy Interiors?
“I started working on Incy in August 2010, after a long and exhaustive search for Oscar’s first big boy bed. I was working at eBay at the time and I was travelling all over the world seeing all of these amazing products which weren’t available in Australia so I decided (after much encouragement from my husband) to take the plunge and do it myself. That was 10 years ago now and we have evolved so much.”
What has excited you the most while on this journey as the Founder and Director of your own business?
“Ten years in and the thing that still excites me the most is hearing stories from customers about how much they love the products and seeing their pics from the rooms they have created.”
What has been one of the hardest lessons you have learnt since running the business and why?
“Probably my biggest learning is to not sweat the small stuff. In the beginning I wanted everything to be perfect all of the time. It’s the same philosophy I have adopted with parenting and that is to pick your battles – battle on the things that matter!”
What is your best piece of advice or tip to others starting a small business?
“I get asked this often. My biggest tip especially in the early stages of setting up a business is to decide if you have a business or a hobby. If it’s a hobby then just have fun with it, but if it is a business you need to figure out a way to make the business profitable from the very beginning.”
Do you have a morning ritual that sets you up for the day?
“Coffee! I’m an all or nothing person. I’m either clean eating/exercising all hours of the day or I am eating Nutella for breakfast I have never been able to master balance so depending on where I am on the scale really depends on my morning ritual but the one constant is coffee.”
Describe a typical day in the Central West for you?
“My husband’s alarm goes off at 5.30am so we are all generally up by 6am. I try to squeeze in a walk/run/exercise before 7am. This certainly didn’t happen very often over winter but now the weather is warming up I am much more excited to get out and exercise. It is then the frantic early morning rush – breakfast, school bags, getting everyone dressed etc. I drop the kids off at the bus stop in Lucknow at 7.50am and I am at work at The Hive in Orange by 8am. I am pretty much at The Hive Monday to Friday 8am – 4pm if I am not at our head office in Sydney. Whilst at work my day varies between Zoom calls, e-mails, budgeting, designing, anything really. I leave the office at 4pm to make sure I am at the bus stop by 4.15pm. I am trying really hard to finish work at 4pm and not bring it home but that doesn’t always work. The kids are ALWAYS starving when they get off the bus so it’s a matter of feeding them, doing homework, getting things ready for the next day and taking the dogs for a walk. We try to eat around 6ish and have everything done by 8pm so we get a chance to wind down.”
How do you manage the juggle of running a successful business and looking after your family’s needs?
“Some days are great, others are a disaster. I certainly haven’t figured out the perfect balance yet, but I have come to accept that that is ok. Some days Incy needs me more and other days the kids need me so I just try to focus on what is important each day. I do find that splitting my time between home and work does really help. From 8am – 4pm Monday to Friday I am 100% Incy and outside of those hours are family time. Of course it doesn’t always work but that is my general rule.”
Where do you love to escape to when wanting some R & R?
“I love travelling and generally (outside of Covid) we go away every school holidays. My husband and I work really hard during the school term so that we can take a week or two each school holidays to spend quality time with the kids. It is something we all look forward to and hopefully something the kids will remember forever. Given travelling isn’t really an option right now I have to get my R & R in other ways so it’s a bath, a glass of wine and a good book right now.”
Is there an area of the Central West you haven’t explored and would like to?
“I have never really spent much time in Parkes/Forbes so I am really keen to get out there and do some exploring. Paigan (our Marketing Manager) is from Forbes and she recently wrote a blog on the area and there are so many cool things to do out there I can’t wait to book a weekend away.”
What is your definition of success in life?
“This is a really lame answer, but it is health and happiness. I am old enough now to know life is too short to be concerned about anything else. As long as my family and friends are happy and healthy then I think I’m winning at life.”
Check out Incy Interiors here:
Insta: @incyinteriors
Facebook: Incy Interiors
Website: www.incyinteriors.com.au
