A traditional career can be satisfying to some but boring to others. Vicky-Lee Wedderburn, CEO of Rustique Signs, found greater joy in being a creative than an accountant.

“I was uncertain if I should do it, but I just followed the passion. I feel like I’m okay; I’m good at accounting and I like doing it, but there was this joy that I felt. I was very excited to work on Rustique, even late at night, so I just made the leap and followed the passion,” Wedderburn said while sharing her story with the Jamaica Observer.

Rustique Signs, as the name suggests, are handmade home décor and gifts made entirely from wood or wood-like material to give a rustic and natural aesthetic for the home, office, or a special event such as a wedding.

After Wedderburn and her husband took on the project of decorating their home, her creative side was revealed. With no training in carpentry or designing, the skills needed to create an item organically manifested, and with a little more interest and dedication Wedderburn slowly taught herself how to improve on the skills she already had, and looked forward to supplying the market with her designs.

“I find that when it comes to gifting for most people, what is available in the market is gift baskets so I saw the need for something that is different. Rustique Signs allows customers to gift others based on people’s personalities,” she shared.

Passion project to Valentine’s Day debut

In early 2019 Rustique Signs made its debut just ahead of Valentine’s Day, a peak season for gift-giving. The first sign she created for sale was geared towards lovers and designed with the words, “We decided for forever.” The sign was heavily marketed before more supplies arrived. Orders came in, and customers made their downpayments well in advance.

“When the things finally reached us, which was about six days out from Valentine’s Day, every single piece that we created was spoiled,” Wedderburn recounted.

As she was still learning the new machinery, she had to try alternative ways until she found what worked. After spending the next 24 sleepless hours trying to correct the issue she discovered what technique worked best and, luckily, was able to meet her orders — albeit belatedly for some — and she has stuck with the technique ever since.

From there the business grew.

Finding a home

But as more orders rolled in, the noise from operating a wood-engaving business at her home, along with the dust nuisance, were posing a challenge for residents and so it was time for Rustique Signs to move from a cottage industry operation to its own location.

Finding a spot that was suitable for the nature of the business was challenging. After countless searches through the newspapers, Rustique Signs found its location on 4 Paraiso Avenue in Kingston in 2020.

“It was the only place that had a spot around the back where there was nobody else and the noise would not affect anybody else, and it had a space at the front where we could have our showroom and other workings,” Wedderburn said.

She admits the location is expensive, but it was the best option for the nature of the business.

Within its first year of having an official storefront the business has seen an over 50 per cent increase in profits. As it continues to grow, so too have the designs and products. Its clientele has also evolved from those requesting single, personalised, done-to-order gifts to people needing wedding event décor that can also be used to decorate the home after the event, as well as corporate gifting. The designs are derived through personal requests from customers, and each time Rustique Signs takes on the challenge of learning how to customise the signs, the company’s catalogue of designs grows.

Its top sellers are its key hangers and photos on wood. While profits from corporate giftings are climbing, customer referrals is still the major driver of its profit.

“During the months of November, December, and Christmastime we see corporate gifting being the major thing for us; we would love for that to be throughout the year. Our regular customers account for about 70 per cent [of our profits,] and corporate accounts for 30 per cent. In Christmastime it is about 50/50 [per cent],” she revealed to Sunday Finance.

Growing pains

Since expanding the business, challenges similar to that of other manufacturers have been encountered such as a shortage of skilled workers, in this case carpenters, and delays with exporting.

“We tried a certain place first; they were asking for a fumigation certificate and some other things that we didn’t expect and didn’t know about,” Wedderburn told the Sunday Finance.

Fumigation is a process that treats lumber to prevent pesticides from living in the wood. Rustique is currently in dialogue with a pest company to do their checks to get their certificate. The last effort at exporting was to Trinidad, which resulted in a three-week wait for the customer who eventually requested a refund within two weeks of waiting. Wedderburn explained that exporting is a costly venture as people overseas are accustomed to same-day and next-day delivery. “I’m looking into the channels. Currently I don’t have a distributor; so if I don’t have a distributor, the cost for shipping will have to be on the customer — and in some cases an item might be $4500 but then the shipping cost is $5800,” she explained. Rustique does have intentions to attempt exporting again but is now preparing itself to supply more of the local market by improving its equipment so as to increase its capacity first.

The journey of Rustique Signs has been exciting for Wedderburn, and she is proud of how far it has come. Despite the challenges of the pandemic she has weathered the obstacles, and although challenges still exist, going ahead with the business is a choice she has no regrets about.

“It makes me feel good that I have challenged myself and that I have found something that I did not know existed in me. I’ve been this boring accountant all my life [so] I did not expect that I would find such joy in creating. I’m a maker of things, thanks to Rustique,”said Wedderburn proudly.