From Teacher to Full Time Maker 

In 2016 Taylor, then working as a teacher, started handmaking polymer clay lanyards for herself and other teachers. Soon the interest grew, and even more teachers wanted to buy these lanyards from Taylor. She then started making earrings, keychains, necklaces — you name it! After leaving her teaching role in 2018, she shifted her focus to her laser cut acrylic earring range, which absolutely blew up in a matter of weeks. The rest is history! Since then, Pip + Pepper have added about 800 earring styles to their website, built a strong social media following and have developed an amazing community of customers both locally at markets as well as online. 

A Buzz of Activity at Pip and Pepper HQ

Taylor, along with her fiancé Brett, handmake all of the products from their home in Perth's northern suburbs (Pip and Pepper HQ as we like to call it). They run two industrial laser cutters almost full time - which means they are now producing their products from start to finish. Each piece is laser cut, painted and prepped, glued, assembled and packaged from the spare bedroom at Pip and Pepper HQ. 

How to Accidentally Build-a-Business

Pip and Pepper is a full-time operation! And it’s quite an entertaining story of how it came about. Taylor accidentally slipped into full-time making during her transition period when moving to Perth. She had quit her job in Adelaide at the end of one school year and started working more on the business in the school holidays, while she waited to apply for jobs in Perth for the next school year. What she didn’t expect was for Pip and Pepper to get as crazy busy as it did within a matter of weeks! By the time the school year started, she didn’t need to find a teaching role because she had built herself a whole new business from the ground up. Taylor truly believes it’s because she was lucky enough to have been in the right place at the right time and because she had few financial commitments, heaps of support from her partner, family and friends. However, here at Perth Makers Market we believe that whilst that is very true (a good support network is always important), her amazing products also really speak for themselves. 

Facing Challenges and Thinking Outside the Box

When it comes to challenges faced by small businesses, a lot of small business owners would presumably say that Covid has been their biggest challenge. For Pip and Pepper, while Covid has had a massive impact on their business, the biggest challenge that Taylor has faced has been overcoming her own self-doubt and insecurities. During downtimes and challenges (of which there have been plenty), Taylor had to put her imposter syndrome aside and power through any issues that came up, one-by-one, to come out the other side. Thinking outside the box and trying to solve problems that she never would have expected to come up is not her greatest strength, but it is something that she has had to learn to do, to keep Pip and Pepper afloat. 

Onwards and Upwards

Pip and Pepper is getting bigger and bigger every year! Last year they expanded from one spare bedroom at Pip and Pepper HQ to two, then three, and then taking over the shed. Taylor and Brett are hoping to keep that momentum up and expand into a new space in the near future, as well as pop up in new locations!

What do Pip and Pepper love about Perth Makers Market?

“We absolutely love the atmosphere that comes with PMM. Every event is so much fun with new vendors, entertainment etc. and we enjoy it as a day out, not just 'work'. The staff and organisers are professional and know exactly how the event will run before they even show up on the day, making it smooth sailing every time. We have always felt so welcomed into the PMM family.”

PMM Exclusive

At every Perth Makers Market, Pip and Pepper offer a special flat rate discounted price on all of their dangles, so they would like to offer a small discount to their loyal online shoppers too! Use the code PERTHMAKERS15 to get 15% off your order at the checkout (valid until June 30 2022).

Make sure to visit the Pip and Pepper stall to check out their products in person at the upcoming Perth Makers Market at Goolugatup Heathcote on  Sunday 17th April !