Jacky McLaren, founder of Borneo Bags, has been on a mission to improve the lives of the nomadic indigenous Penan people of Borneo by selling their hand-crafted bags.
Jacky McLaren, founder of Borneo Bags, has been on a mission to improve the lives of the nomadic indigenous Penan people of Borneo by selling their hand-crafted bags.
Jacky McLaren, founder of Borneo Bags, talks to Tom Raynel about her connection to the nomadic Penan people, and how helping others drives her ambition rather than profit.
What is Borneo Bags?
Borneo Bags is a social enterprise where all the profits are returned to the weavers who make thebags. We have been working with these weavers for 20 years, so we really focus on high quality, and we aim to make sure our customers are always 100% satisfied.
I want this to be a partnership between me and the weavers, but also between me and the retailers or the purchaser, whereby everybody is just thrilled with the outcome.
I think it’s totally unique, and it’s not something I ever planned. As soon as my children were at university, I got the opportunity to do what I wanted, and that was to teach overseas. Brunei and Borneo were the first places that weren’t in the middle of a war which I hoped had a decent job available, so that’s where I went.
In my first year there, I won a fundraiser at the school to trek into the interior of Borneo. That’s when I came across a semi-nomadic tribe. As we were trekking, it was impossible not to see the effect of deforestation on this tribe and the jungle. Being cut down was one thing, but once palm oil goes in, there’s absolutely no way any of the jungle can regenerate.
I’d been a solo mother and we knew what it was like to be on the bones of our bottom. Anybody who ever helped us, I appreciated it so much. So to see these people who were so humble and beautiful, gentle and skilled, starving through lack of anybody offering them a helping hand, that was the trigger.
Jacky McLaren formed a strong connection with the nomadic Penan people while in Borneo, devastated by how deforestation had affected their way of life.
How are the bags made?
We changed from ratan, which was the natural fibre they were originally weaving in. That grows as an understory plant in the jungle, but once the jungle is removed, it can’t grow anymore. We got them weaving in this recycled pallet strapping, so they had to learn the technique again.
We buy the materials they need and just write it off. The weavers then go into the nearest town and get rolls of different coloured pallet strapping. I will then say, “These are the colours we want and these are the sizes we want.” They will generally have a friend who can make it, and everything is passed down by word of mouth, nothing is written down, and then we go from there.
Something like the koru is one of their traditional patterns. As with many nations, there are real links, and with Indonesia and that island chain coming down through Australia and New Zealand, many of the traditional patterns from the jungle are very similar to the Māori ones. We do traditional designs, but we also do contemporary designs to try to cater for a wide range of consumers out there.
Once they have been made, the weaver attaches a label with their name on to the bag so I know who’s woven it when it arrives.
Jacky McLaren doesn't take any salary from her social enterprise, instead choosing to give back to those who craft her bags by hand in Borneo.
Why is it important for your supply chain to be sustainable?
I resonate with that poor person at the end of this supply chain. They are so often the farmer or the woman at the sewing machine who’s trying to raise a family, or she’s pregnant and she’s going to lose her job. She’s the one with the skills, and she’s the one that creates the product.
Somewhere between that and then it hitting the likes of Saint Laurent or whatever, the price has been hijacked out of control, and yet she gets a barely subsistence wage, and that infuriates me.
I think the person with the skills, be it a farmer or whoever, should be the one who gets the profits. They’re the ones who are taking the risk of putting themselves on the line. They’re producing the product. Without it, none of us can do our jobs, so they’re the people who need nurturing.
I think the difference is you nurture who is supplying the goods you’re selling. And if you don’t, then you don’t deserve to be selling their products. That’s the way I look at it.
What would be your advice to other budding entrepreneurs?
I never thought of the consequences of setting up a business, I just followed my heart honestly and thought, “Well, I knew I could do something, and something was better than nothing.” I would say you need to think: If it really grows in the way you want it to, how will you manage that growth seriously, and do you have an exit strategy?
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business and retail.
