Meet Megan Morgan From Silhouette Furniture

From China to South Africa, Megan Morgan shares a passion for the furniture industry that runs in her bloodline. Silhouette Furniture is a family-run business and Megan is proud to live out the legacy in manufacturing furniture locally. We chatted to Megan about how to company came about and their latest projects…

Tell us about your background?

I started my career off in Shanghai, China in 2008, working for a South African furniture importer as part of their expat team that took care of developments and operations. I then got the opportunity to join Richloom Fabrics (NY based fabric company) in their office in Shanghai as part of their contract team. Here I learned about every aspect of the manufacturing processes in addition to key accounts sales and management – I stayed there for 4 and a half years before getting a great opportunity at Coricraft as their furniture buyer. Next, I moved back to South Africa and worked at Coricraft in both Cape Town and Johannesburg.

At the beginning of 2020 – I made the decision to take the leap and resign from my furniture buyer job and join the family business – Silhouette Furniture.

Due to my experience and strengths, we opened up another company called House of Morgan to complement our existing product offering from Silhouette. This has assisted us to offer our hospitality customers a complete product solution.

Tell us about the history of the company and your ultimate focus?

My Dad, Anthony, took over the business in 2003 after resigning as a director at Wetherlys. In the early days, Silhouette mainly supplied Wetherlys as their predominant supplier of outdoor furniture. We then moved on to becoming a preferred supplier to the hospitality industry. We manufacture all of our own furniture in our facility in Ballito, KZN and supply around the country and into Africa.

My focus is business growth and development. We have been fortunate enough to have worked with some amazing companies through the years but as business changes, so do the needs of customers. It is my focus to ensure that we are known by as many customers as possible to ensure that we are the first ones they think of when needing furniture.

What personally inspires you in your working life?

To continue to build the business my Dad has built and to give our family the life we all deserve.

What are some considerations when designing products?

As much as aesthetics are the main focus for me when designing a product, I look at whether the product will be efficient and easy to manufacture. Often dreams don’t become a reality when they hit the production floor.

What is your favourite current product?

I really love our new Jackson Range.

Any exciting projects or collaborations you are involved in?

We have been awarded the sole distribution rights to world-class surface chargers made by a French company – Ipan Ipan. We are working on some great projects with these. The chargers have opened up a whole new product category and grouping of customers we usually wouldn’t work with. Very rewarding to stand behind such a professional, high-end product that is unique to our market.

The perfect place in your home to indulge?

I absolutely love my veranda – I have a lovely champagne table that sits in the centre. Perfect positioning to take in the view over the ocean. It is my absolute best place to be since moving back to Durban from years in Johannesburg.

I know very few of us are travelling right now but if you could where would you go?

Indonesia for sure – I miss the culture and talent of the artisans. A visit to Bali would go down well!

What’s your personal motto?

Always be kind!

A place you visited to unwind in Africa?

Clifftop Safari in Welgevolden Game Reserve.

For more visit Silhouette Furniture and take a look at their amazing offerings online.