Wildish (Bearmade Ltd)

Wildish (previously BearMade) is an exploration into a different way of doing business. We want to prove that it is possible to run a business that does something genuinely meaningful and makes amazing products that don't cost the Earth. The story of Wildish is heavily tied to my (Oscar) relationship with Nell. Had we not had a chance encounter in a Hampshire coffee shop back in 2018, then wildish likely would not exist. During that first encounter, I somehow managed to convince Nell to come fly fishing with me. At the time I was working as a fly fishing guide in Hampshire and Nell had just moved to the UK from Australia. She wasn't working at the time, but was, and still is a Veterinarian. So a couple of days after our chance meeting, we met on the river. In those first few hours we spent together, Nell mentioned that she had previously tried to take up fly fishing but had found the amount of kit and flies she supposedly needed so overwhelming and confusing, that she had given up before she even started. I approached Nell with the idea of making a small bag that would just take the bare essentials. Fortunately, she thought this was a great idea. We designed a small "Bear Minimal" (our first name) bag and made a terrible prototype. Fortunately, we soon found Amy, a master bag maker. She made the bag much better. After weeks of searching and calling lots of different places with little success, we found Amy. She was, and still is, amazing. Without her, it would have been impossible to move forward with making bags. She allowed us to order tiny quantities of bags and helped us understand more about designing bags and sourcing materials. Between then and now, a lot has changed. Nell and I are now married and live in the Yorkshire Dales. Our team has grown, with Liv and Tor helping us grow the Wildish Club and a second maker, Rowan who is based in Glasgow. We also decided that we wanted the business to be a platform for us to talk openly about mental wellbeing and the highs and lows of starting a business. We both suffer from mental health difficulties and have found that being immersed in nature has greatly benefited us.

Quoted from wildishstore.com, in Wildish (Bearmade Ltd)'s own words. We have not edited it and we do not vouch for it.