About Susan Rivett
Susan gained her degree in Interior Design at Glasgow Art School, Scotland and then worked in London for 25+ years in the high-end residential interior design market.
She was involved in some amazing projects during those years in London travelling extensively throughout Europe, Middle East and USA working for private high-net worth clients.
She decided to move to New Zealand with her kiwi husband of 22 years and teenage children, Nancy & Ted, looking for a quieter and better quality of life, arriving in Auckland on 1st April 2016.
Her plans took a bit of a setback when less than 18 months later she found a lump on her left breast and was quickly diagnosed with breast cancer. A mastectomy was necessary and took place on 12th December 2017.
It was during the initial period of recovery that Susan was gifted a cushion and she found it to be a huge comfort during her rehabilitation and further preventative cancer treatment. Susan’s elderly aunt, living in Scotland, was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2017, also requiring a mastectomy so Susan got to work and sent a cushion to her. When Susan’s aunt phoned to comment on how she had had the best sleep after receiving the cushion, since her operation, Susan felt she had to do something to help other people faced with the same dilemma.
Susan is working with James Dunlop Textiles, a large family-owned textile company here in New Zealand and is constantly surrounded by beautiful fabrics. She also loved designing scatter cushions using passementerie in her past life and thought that making heart shaped mastectomy cushions would give her a small outlet to get back to the industry that she loves whilst giving something back to her new city and home country.
Overcoming adversity
makes way for a way better story
How the Cushions are made
Susan’s initial goal was to make these cushions available to women in Auckland. Who has got time on their hands to help, she thought? This lead to a light-bulb moment and a discussion with the team at the South Auckland Corrections Unit to see if offending women could help. They responded with a resounding yes! With a sewing room available and keen volunteers on hand we got in to action with production.
James Dunlop Textiles, where Susan works, were very supportive providing fabric from deleted ranges and old samples that are no longer required. Susan purchases foam and labels locally and Booby Cushions is growing rapidly. Not only are we supplying cushions to people in Auckland, we are sending them throughout New Zealand. We are also very excited to hear that several of our cushions have gone to Australia.
Another positive aspect to the business is the confidence building of the women at Corrections. This retraining and upskilling in areas like teamwork, communication and project management whilst giving back to the community is a real benefit and win win situation.
Breast cancer touches many of our lives including prisoners and prison officers who know someone or who are themselves breast cancer survivors and want to help others.
It is a wonderfully positive story seeing women, who have been disadvantaged and working through their own issues, supporting other women through a traumatic time in their lives.
