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We were recently featured on Shepherdess. Read the interview as told to Sionainn Mentor-King below.
Sarena: I’m from the Dannevirke-Norsewood area. I turned up at Norsewood School in standard one, or whatever that is now, too many years ago to remember.
Michelle: We were already there. My brother is the only boy in the family.
Sarena: That’s my husband. So we’ve known each other – as sisters or in some way or another – since then.
Michelle: Norsewear has been around for a long time. It was started in Wellington by Ola Rian, the acting Consul General of Norway. He came here for Norway Day, and moved the company to Norsewood. I’ve been at Norsewear for thirty-two years. I started off in the sock department, pressing socks, packing socks. And then I moved all around the factory dyeing socks and hats and sewing, overlocking and packing hats, gloves and scarves. When I was pregnant with my first child, I worked in the office part-time doing filing, and that’s how I got myself into administration. Now, I do the accounts.
Sarena: I worked at Norsewear, way back in 1993, in the hat department, then the sewing department, sewing all of the leather patches on the elbows and shoulders of the jerseys, and then I went off hairdressing for nearly thirty years. After the Covid outbreaks, circumstances changed, and I ended up back here, working in the sock department. Now, I’m site supervisor. We employ about twenty people at the moment.
Michelle: I have a sister that works here – another sister – and a cousin. And my niece.
Sarena: There are probably not many of our family members that haven’t worked here, or had something to do with the company in some way. We’ve had several other staff members whose kids have also worked here. So it’s very family oriented.
Michelle: I think with us all being connected in some way – we are either literally blood related or community related – we’re able to have that really lovely banter, where you can give each other heaps and laugh about our mistakes, or about good things.
Sarena: But at the end of the day, we are all like family.
Michelle: When I started, there was like a hundred people here. Then ‘Norsewear’ the name got sold and most people got made redundant. We carried on with seven people, and just climbed from there. In 2023 Tim Deane bought the company and purchased the Norsewear name back – it was a big thing for our little village knowing that the Norsewear name came back to town.
Sarena: If we’re light on the floor, Michelle’s been able to help out down in the washing and dying area, or out in the finishing area, or the warehouse area. We all just work as a team and fill in the gaps where needed.
Michelle: Our first knitting machines – they’re called the BRs – made the Farm Fleck socks back in the day, and are still making Farm Fleck socks today. We have a variety of machines to suit all the needs of the merino and strong-wool socks we make – ranging from work socks to dress socks, bed socks, and babies’ and kids’ socks. Each machine is different.
Sarena: We have high-speed machines with classic linking on them – so, no sewing on the toes seams of our woollen socks, which improves comfort. They have capability for knitting thirteen different colours.
Michelle: In the past, when we purchased a new machine, we sent our head technicians over to Italy to learn how to operate and set the machines up. But now when a new machine is brought in, we get an Italian technician on-site for a period of time for training. Our head technicians will train all the other knitting staff through our onsite training programme. As new staff arrive, they get trained on the machines, and we try to set aside one day a week for specific training.
Sarena: Norsewear supports a lot of our clubs and hubs around the community and surrounding districts with sponsorship. We’re very supportive of the local Norsewood Fire Brigade, allowing myself and one of the other workers – Amy – to attend call outs, and leave poor Michelle holding the fort for us. We have been donating socks for over thirty-five years to the local golf club for their Sunday golf sessions. Anytime there’s a fundraiser to do with the school, daycare or any events, Norsewear has always been right behind everybody.
Michelle: What I love about my job is you’re not really doing something twice. There’s always variety.
Sarena: This is probably the first time ever that Norsewear’s actually had a whole group of females on the leadership team. So Tim, the owner, is up against five of us. He’s got a leadership team underneath him which is all full of females.
Michelle: And we are both in it.
Read the story on Shepherdess.