After the sudden closure of one successful business, entrepreneur Jemima Key wasn’t going to let that hurdle stop her from achieving her dreams to run a business that helps the planet. In less than 24 hours, this determined female founder created Old Bags and is taking the eco-friendly, socially-conscious business world by storm, writes PR specialist Annette Densham.
Founder of Old Bags, Jemima Key reckons she’d give herself a talking to if she ran into her younger self now. Bold, brash and totally bossy, young Jemima dove into the events world, driven by ego and a love for telling people what to do.
While it was an absolute blast with lots of benefits, she realised it was a hard way to make a living. As she was lugging cartons of beer and slabs of meat for a beer and BBQ festival, it dawned on her she was just a poorly paid removalist, with a drinking problem and a bad temper.
“When I realised this, I said farewell to the events space and ventured into the world of suits and four walls,” Jemima says.
The world she entered was not what she expected.
“Close your eyes and imagine Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street, screaming into a microphone, ramping up the sales guys. I was selling education programs and every time we made a sale, we had to ring the office bell,” Jemima recalls.
Eye-rolling at the dramatic antics of this tribute to ’80s high sales rooms, Jemima learned a lot about marketing and eCommerce. Enough to get her mind ticking about having her own business.
“I loved nerding out on podcasts on internet marketing. Facebook was a new thing, and I used it to give eCommerce a good hard go. I spent lots of time digging and discovering how to make online sales work,” she says.
“A little dog gave me the idea of selling dog treats. I created a thriving eCommerce business and also found a way to help meat producers minimise their impact on the planet, using their waste products for the dog treats.”
Using her distinctive storytelling and marketing skills, her dog treat business took off. But there always has to be one party pooper, who took umbrage at her processes. Instead of fighting, Jemima wrapped up the dog treat business.
Onwards and upwards
There is something about the entrepreneurial brain that cannot be silenced, even in the face of adversity. Within 24 hours, Jemima hatched her next idea to help the planet and earn a buck.
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Old Bags is her hat tip to upcycling; taking single-use plastic feed bags and old ratchet straps to make these unique and statement storage and carry bags.
As the founder of Old Bags, Jemima is making an industry out of repurposing, while helping marginalised women along the way.
“I’ve teamed up with the social enterprise SisterWorks to make Old Bags. It is such a feel good product, creating something out of rubbish people throw away,” Jemima said. “I am now looking at other products that I can upcycle to reduce waste and create interesting and fun products.”
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