S1 Ep10: Sophie Hurley, Honest Wolf
Spotting an opportunity to offer a sustainable alternative to single use plastic bags, Sophie and Sam Hurley developed their wool shopper, made from wool grown on their Hunterville property, Papanui Station.
Now, they have opened their flagship Honest Wolf store, in Hunterville, and are providing employment opportunities for locals, as well as retaining a close connection to their product and customers.
The couple hit on the idea while on their honeymoon back in 2018. The name Honest Wolf is a nod to their products, made from honest materials, and the way they care for their sheep, and the wolf aspect refers to their desire to be a leader in the pack in the wool industry.
Their hope is that others will follow their example and think outside the square about using wool in new ways.
“The wool prices were declining, and at the same time plastic bags were being phased out, we saw an alternative option to fill that gap using wool our wool off the farm in a new way and try to get a better return for the wool. We decided to create reusable shopping bags. That’s where the idea started, and we have built a luggage and accessory business from there.”
From the wool shopper, the Honest Wolf range grew and now includes their popular wool caps, a weekender bag, tote bags, a backpack, wallets and a laptop sleeve.
Sophie grew up on a farm in Mid-Canterbury, attending boarding school in Christchurch and going on to study marketing at Otago University. Many of her summers went spent in the shearing shed helping her dad and learning about wool.
She met husband Sam while living and working Auckland (he was working on a farm in Gisborne), they travelled overseas together, and then moved home to Papanui as the third generation of the Hurley family to live and farm there. Sophie admits it was quite the transition moving to Hunterville and into the hills, and the remote location has its challenges, not least how would she find her place and create a business that allowed her to have a connection to the farm too.
“Studying what I had and having had a few great jobs in Auckland and London it was quite a shock coming back and going, what do I do with this experience now? Living where I live you have to drive a long way to try and continue your career.”
For four years Sophie drove to Feilding and back for work, one hour and 15 minutes each way. Sophie knew she wanted a change. “I knew, this is not really how I want to live my life. I felt like a was semi flatting on the farm, coming in and out staying the night and leaving again first thing in the morning. I had the time to think on those drives, what can I do about it?”
The couple brainstormed what they could do that would bring Sophie back to the farm, including tourism. They hit on the idea of the reusable shopper, and decided to run with it.
“I never wanted to practically farm, but I did want to be part of the business, so you have that connection. The isolation was quite hard at the beginning because I didn’t have the connection to the farm, although I loved living here.”
They wanted to utilise wool in a new way, and offer a more sustainable alternative to products already on the market.
“In New Zealand so many people have great ideas but they don’t know where to start. I think that’s quite a barrier in New Zealand, people have awesome ideas but because most of our manufacturing is overseas now, how do you build that contact with a person who could become your manufacturer?”
Sophie and Sam had no idea where to start, but figured a good place was with the physical product, the wool. They asked themselves who knew the most about wool – their wool buyer. It all went from there, and they eventually found an agent in India, where their products are manufactured.
One day they would love to bring the manufacturing back to New Zealand but, for now, the capability to create the material they need for their products isn’t here. In the meantime, they have created a viable business that works around their farm and two young children – exactly as they imagined it.
Show notes
Honest Wolf website: www.honestwolf.co.nz
Instagram: @honest.wolf
Facebook: @honestwolfwool
