Roxy Jacenko starts new business with friend Jessica Ingham

She was the first to admit her PR business took a big hit due to the coronavirus pandemic but that hasn’t stopped entrepreneur Roxy Jacenko from starting a new business enterprise with long-time friend, chicken heiress Jessica Ingham. Jacenko, who founded Sweaty Betty 22 years ago, says that once the federal government’s JobKeeper initiative ends in September, many firms will be forced to close. “A lot of people are saying it is business as usual. It’s not. I don’t agree with that,” Jacenko said. “PR in Australia has taken a hit. There is a lot of uncertainty. Sweaty Betty was 80 per cent down within three days of the coronavirus taking hold. “People are concerned. They are getting rid of any unnecessary expenditure and one of those things is anything to do with PR and marketing. JobKeeper has created a false sense of security.” Given her dire assessment, it might surprise some that Jacenko is about to launch a new business, having used the recent downtime to develop a new venture alongside long-time friend and Ingham’s Chicken heiress Jessica Ingham. The entrepreneurial pair have created a “celebration and eventing” brand called XRJCelebrations, with their first product being a candle centrepiece. “I’m fortunate that business has started to pick up again but I always had a game plan if something like this happened because I know nothing lasts forever,” Jacenko said. “I’ve never been someone who (thinks) ‘business is flying, I don’t need to worry’. I’ve always been thinking if one thing slows down, what can I do next. I’ve always had four to five things on the go.” The duo, who are lifelong friends, have created one centrepiece design together and the plan is to expand. “Jess and I love doing centrepieces and table setting for family and friends so we thought, let’s do something different,” Jacenko said. “This is the first of lots of different things we have in the works.” The centrepieces are all made in Australia, with the timber sourced from a Marrickville supplier and the candles coming from Melbourne. “I was always creative at school. I was never smart. In art I got 100 per cent, in maths I got 0,” Jacenko quips. “This has been a fun project for me and it’s been nice to do something with someone else.”