Phoebe Bell is actively keeping her global bohemian homewares brand small: Here’s why

When Phoebe Bell reflects on the challenges she encountered when establishing her homewares and accessories brand Sage and Clare seven years ago, she uses the words “crazy” and “ludicrous”.

It seemed like a “crazy idea” when her partner Chris Monahan suggested she start her own homewares business during a Christmas holiday in India, she tells SmartCompany. In fact, it still does. 

Taking a leap of faith and quitting her job as a stylist at Country Road to do exactly that at the age of 24 now seems “ludicrous”, says the Melbourne business owner. 

But at the time, Bell says she thought heading off to India to visit city after city, looking for suppliers who could bring her ideas to life, was “normal”. 

Bell admits she took an “unconventional” path to building her business, and she had only a “very basic business plan” and “very small, very conservative targets” to begin with. 

But thanks to organic growth, following “a lot of intuition and gut instincts about where to go with the business”, and surrounding herself with the right people, Bell is now leading a multimillion-dollar business that employs 11 people and has products stocked in about 150 retailers across the country. 

That business, Sage and...