VIDEO: Sheet Society’s Hayley Worley talks e-commerce growth and what’s next

“The decision to start my own business was an easy one, and that’s probably due to my personality type,” Hayley Worley, the founder and CEO of omnichannel bedding brand Sheet Society, told Inside Retail in a recent video interview.

“I’m really one to jump off and be like, how did I get here? How am I going to get down? I’ve really enjoyed it. We’re in our 8th year of trade now, and it’s been beautiful to see the brand resonate with so many consumers.”

Worley launched Sheet Society in 2017 after getting the idea to bring her fashion skills to bedding, a category that she felt had long been overlooked. After nurturing the startup for a few years, demand skyrocketed during Covid, and the business expanded on all fronts. 

Sheet Society now has over 30 team members, two bricks-and-mortar stores and an ever-increasing product range, and so far, Worley has achieved this growth without any external investment. 

In the past, Worley said, the process of raising capital was challenging for female founders, with investors having “unrealistic” growth expectations. But now the way businesses are assessed by potential investors has “totally changed”. 

“It used to be multiples of revenue, and now it’s more of a focus on profitability and more organic longer term growth,” she said. This, she believes, bodes well for female founders, who generally are “less bullish” in their forecasts.

With only 4 per cent of the $3.5 billion in total startup funding in Australia going to startups founded by women last year, there’s still significant room for improvement on this front. 

Bessie Hassan, director of corporate affairs for Airwallex in ANZ, said that the retail industry needs to give more female founders a chance to thrive by supporting them and connecting them with key people in their networks, such as VCs and mentors. 

“Surrounding yourself with that support within your network but also externally is really important,” Hassan said, pointing to Airwallex’s partnership with She-com, a community that supports female e-commerce founders.  

‘What do I do? There’s no maternity leave plan’

Another challenge that some female founders face is balancing their business with having children. 

For Worley, the decision to start a family raised a lot of questions: “I was like, what do I do? There’s no HR department, there’s no maternity leave plan. How am I going to advertise for a role that’s a maternity cover for a startup founder?”  

In the end, Worley’s husband, Andy, stepped in to run the business, and when she returned, she realised that taking a break from day-to-day operations can have a lot of benefits. “I’ve got a really positive view of the impact maternity leave can have on a business. I’ve seen it time and time again even with my team members,” she said. 

“It has really created so much opportunity for others in the business to step up, or step to the side, or to get new people in to bring fresh new ideas. So it’s less of a hindrance than I thought it would be, both personally taking maternity leave, and also running a business where the majority of staff are women.” 

Hassan agreed, noting that attitudes around maternity leave in the corporate world are changing, though there is still more to do.

“I think setting yourself up with role models within your own workplace is a great start because many people have been there before and they’re going to encourage you,” she said.

What’s next?

Focusing on what’s within her control has been key to Worley’s success in growing Sheet Society, and there’s a lot more to come. 

The brand recently launched a body pillow that was wildly popular and it’s continuing to expand into adjacent categories. 

“[We’re] really growing up to be more than just a bed sheet brand. The age of e-commerce when we grew up was ‘you do one thing and you do it well’, and now we’re trying to do lots of things and do all of them well,” she said. 

New stores are also on the cards. 

While retailers are facing a challenging business environment going into peak season, Worley said it’s important to remember that economic cycles are just that – cycles.

“Having a business means you do need to weather the storm, but also make hay while the sun’s shining,” she said.

“For us, we’re really lucky that we do offer a really beautiful quality product, so we find when money is tight, our customers are more likely to invest in something that’s [made with] natural fibres [and] built to last.

“We’re also able to benefit from the fact that there’s still a lot of market share out there. Although overall spending is down, the people that are still spending, we can still find them and introduce them to the brand.”

This article is part of Inside Retail’s #IRWD365 campaign to shine a spotlight on inspiring women in Australia’s retail industry and drive tangible change towards gender equality.

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