Alyce Tran and Brooke Bickmore launched In The Roundhouse with a mission of becoming the ‘go-to tabletop accessories brand in the world’.

‘We really want to allow everybody to have that experience of setting a cool table and having their friends go “Oh, this looks nice!”’ Alyce shares in the latest episode of our podcast TDF Talks.

It’s a simple thing, but Alyce says a set of nice plates and cutlery has the power to spark joy in even the most mundane, everyday tasks. The same way getting a sweet treat and a takeaway coffee for a coffee — or in Alyce’s case, a matcha — might be the highlight of someone’s workday.

Perhaps this is the secret sauce behind In The Roundhouse’s success. Because when customers turned their attention to their homes and started buying more homewares than ever before during the pandemic, this small start-up quickly became one-to-watch.

How the business began

After building The Daily Edited into a multi-million-dollar brand, Alyce knew it was important for any business to have a distinct point of difference to others in the market. When Brooke approached Alyce with her with plans to start a homewares brand, she wasn’t initially convinced, but was eventually sold on the idea when she started noticing there was a gap for ‘reasonably priced’ tableware that appealed to stylists and young people alike.

It was from here that the two friends joined forces to launch In The Roundhouse. And they’ve since found success by staying strictly in the tableware niche — having secured major stockists like David Jones, and Saks Fifth Avenue in the US!

The inspiration behind the playful designs

Despite not having a formal design background, Alyce works closely with her team to create In The Roundhouse’s collections, drawing inspiration from travel, interior design books, French bistros, and everything in between.

‘Say I go to a new restaurant, I see the menu, I see a detail on a tablecloth or something. I’ll talk to my designer about it and then she’ll do an iteration of designs based on what I’ve said or what I’ve collected and texted her and then we start building it from there,’ Alyce says.

Her advice for entrepreneurs

Alyce’s experience working long hours in the corporate world and entrepreneurial spirit has played a big role in growing In The Roundhouse. And it’s still just her side hustle!

Her advice for creatives looking to launch their own business is to embrace the imperfections and mishaps. ‘If something comes up, we just pivot,’ she adds.

‘Don’t look at what others are doing around you. Just get going. I think people get overwhelmed by the amount of material on small business ownership and stuff out there.’

‘But getting something out there, testing it on friends and family, getting their feedback, get it going. So that’s sort of that start phase. And not to overthink it too much, I think once you start going down that path, you always going to second guess yourself, no matter how great it is. And make sure your product has a strong point of difference.’

Listen to the full episode below, or find TDF Talks on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.