Small Business: Turning grief into art with handcrafted urn business Vaso

Bridgit Sissons, founder of Vaso, was inspired to start the business after she couldn't find an urn that was befitting of her mum, who died a couple of years ago.

Bridgit Sissons, founder of Vaso, talks to Tom Raynel about how her mother’s death inspired the business, and the lessons she’s learned since entering the industry. Each Monday, we interview a small business owner, which is now a regular feature of NZME’s editorial campaign On The Up, showcasing uplifting stories of success, inspiration and possibilities.

What is Vaso?

Vaso is a little boutique cremation urn business based here in Aotearoa. We work with really talented local artists to design and make beautiful handcrafted ceramic cremation urns for both people and pets.

The whole idea behind it is for each vessel to be a work of art and a way for people to really honour and celebrate their loved ones and for them to be on display, not hidden away in a box in the bottom of a cupboard or in the garage, which is what we hear a lot.

I really want Vaso to help bring the conversation about death and remembrance to the forefront and to stop it being quite so hidden away and not talked about.

What inspired you to start the business?

It was my mum. She was this incredible, very spirited woman and she died a couple of years ago. She was one of those people that really challenged us to think about the world a bit differently and to ask questions, no matter how annoying they were.

When she died we wanted to cremate her, and I wanted to put her in something really beautiful and sculptural. I just couldn’t find anything anywhere that would do her justice. Everywhere I looked, both here and overseas, all the funeral homes seemed to offer a really similar range of what I thought weren’t particularly attractive urns to remember our loved ones by.

I went looking in galleries for ceramicists and I came upon Craig Spencer’s work in a gallery in Auckland and I just loved it. After she died I decided I would quit my job and do something else, something creative and more artistic. I started talking to Craig again and we both got really excited about this idea of making really beautiful cremation urns, and it seemed like there was a real gap in the market.

Vaso creates a range of handcrafted cremation urns designed by artists, including ceramicist Craig Spencer.

Do you plan to work with different artists on other urns?

I think there’s a couple of things we’re going to do. We’re going to launch a more affordable collection in the next few months so that we can bring that handcrafted aesthetic to the wider funeral market, and be much more present, hopefully, in funeral homes. Then we’re also looking at a partnership with a small company to distribute into Europe, which should be amazing.

I think we’re also going to focus quite heavily on the pet market, which is a lot more affordable for people, but also massive globally.

In a longer term play in my ideal world, I’d really love to have physical Vaso galleries around the world where people can go and actually choose their own urn before they die. I guess that leads into that whole idea around using art and sculpture to keep the memory of people alive with us.

Is the business self-funded, and is this your first?

Yes and yes. We formed the company and launched in February this year, and it’s been performing really well. I think I was quite naive, having never started a business, about how quickly it would ramp up. I thought in my head that we’d just be inundated with orders from day one, which is totally naive.

But we’ve had such a positive response from both the industry and just from individuals. I had a lot of orders from around New Zealand and Australia, but also interesting orders from Canada, the US, the Czech Republic and the EU.

Vaso creates a range of handcrafted cremation urns designed by artists, including ceramicist Craig Spencer.

What’s the industry like, and is cremation becoming more popular?

Everybody that I’ve come across in the funeral industry, they’re genuinely beautiful people who care deeply for people. A big part of their role is shepherding people through a time of immense grief and loss.

We’re moving both as a society, but also globally, more and more down the cremation route. I think the number in New Zealand is about 72% of people are now cremated, and globally that’s becoming the norm. But that doesn’t mean that everybody who is cremated ends up in an urn. Lots of people scatter their loved ones’ ashes at their favourite places or in the ocean, or wherever it might be. People are also choosing other options like jewellery and so forth.

What would be your advice to a budding entrepreneur wanting to start a business?

You’re never too old to start something new. We get scared about change and being judged, and we get scared about doing what we’re supposed to do. My real advice is if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, it’s okay to say I don’t like this, I don’t want to do this anymore and to start your own thing. It’s scary, but also quite liberating.

Do you have a small business story you want to share? Send your pitches to tom.raynel@nzme.co.nz.

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.