Queensland-based social impact workwear brand TradeMutt is already two months into trailing a four-day work week, with founders Ed Ross and Daniel Allen deeming the response to the six-month trial as “incredible.”
TradeMutt is an Australian workwear brand by tradies for tradies that makes funky eye-catching workwear designed to start conversations about mental health among the blue-collar community, helping make an invisible issue impossible to ignore.
Co-founders Dan and Ed met on a building site back in 2014 when they started working for a new builder on the same day and eventually started exploring different business ideas. Then towards the end of 2015, Dan received the tragic news that one of his best mates had taken his own life.
Ed said at the time both he and Dan found a gap in the workwear market.
“We were looking at different business ideas and saw that there was probably a big opportunity in the workwear game and no one had really done anything,” he said.
“And then as we’re sort of investigating that, we had Dan tragically lose his mate to suicide at the end of 2015 and that was sort of us being exposed to the mental health conversation, and of course, suicide.
“It was something that we hadn’t been affected by previously. The more we looked into it, we realised that there was just such a lack of understanding and education in the mental health space for tradies and blue-collar workers.
“We sort of went down that path and then learned about social enterprise and we thought we can use funky workwear to help start conversations about mental health and as we say, make it impossible to ignore.”
Today TradeMutt is five years old, has a team of 12 full-time staff members and a few casuals, and is worn by tradies on nearly every building and construction site across the country.
Ed said they decided to convert TradeMutt’s work week into a four-day week to promote a healthy work-life balance across the tradie and broader blue-collar sector.
“Everyone talks about mental health and company culture, but very few people lead by example. We want to be leaders in our field in helping tradies and other blue-collar workers to improve their mental health. Quality of life plays a big part. If we don’t put our wellbeing first then we will not be able to achieve long-term social change,” he said.
“Dan and I as business owners are five years into our business journey now and we want to sort of start enjoying our lives outside of work a little bit more as well. We thought, well, why don’t we build the business around how we sort of want to live our lives and then spend some more time with family and friends.
“So we looked into this four-day work week, as an initiative to implement into the business and give everyone the same benefit that we want for our lives. We’re two months into the six-month trial and the response has been incredible.
“We’re still exceeding our sales targets and our customer support delivery experiences are still up to scratch. I’d find it hard for us not to make this something that’s a forever thing for us and our business.”
Ed said TradeMutt will continue to expand its reach and touch more people out there, making sure that mental health conversation is very normal and accepted on job sites.
Support Numbers:
TIACS — 0488 846 988: One-off and/or short-term voice and text mental health support service
LIFELINE — 13 11 14: 24-hour counselling and crisis support
MENSLINE AUSTRALIA — 1300 78 99 78: 24-hour counselling service for men with relationship or family concerns
BEYOND BLUE — 1300 224 636: 24 hour counselling service
SUICIDE CALL BACK SERVICE — 1300 659 467: 24-hour counselling service for anyone affected by suicide
KIDS HELP LINE — 1800 55 1800: 24-hour counselling service for young people aged up to 25 years old
