Sharing positive stories of rural businesses and communities.
Becoming a business owner doesn’t happen overnight, and often it can result from a collision between a hobby, accumulated skills, and destiny. How refreshing it was to recently learn more about Sarah Mostyn’s carefully staged journey with Windella Farm, a boutique dairy goat product business based in northern Victoria.
Read MoreIn a modern world and particularly during the current COVID restrictions, there is much more interest in where our food comes from, how it was produced, and appreciation of it being grown in our own regions. Could this be the ideal time to promote the opportunities in our rural towns and industries to all Australians?
Read MoreAs consumers we have recently witnessed scenes of empty supermarket shelves never seen before in our lifetime. A spotlight has been shone on local manufacturers and suppliers in every rural and regional community creating a new level of loyalty and appreciation.
Read MoreCould a life changing event when eight-year-old Janine McLean’s farming father passed away have subconsciously set her on a path decades later to specialise in succession planning? Whatever her reasons, Janine loves living and working in regional Victoria and is a strong advocate for family run businesses to better plan for their future.
Read MoreManaging Director of Wine in a Glass (WIAG), Michelle Anderson-Sims, is the first to admit that starting a business from an idea is a long, hard learning process. ‘I had lots of failures along the way but learnt from them all. Some lessons you pay a higher price to learn than others,’ she says. This successful company has made its mark on the Australian wine and entertainment industries and is rapidly expanding throughout the world.
Read MoreWho said manufacturing is dead in Australia? While it can be challenging in a global marketplace and extended dry seasons, Grizzly Engineering is living proof that long term success is possible. Their ground-breaking technology is made in Swan Hill from start to finish and they survived the 2002-2010 drought years with a bold initiative.
Read MoreToni Barton of Lamb Bacon fame is fresh back from exploring new export market opportunities in Dubai. What she thought would be a simple name change has turned into a full rebranding with a suite of new products destined for the Middle East. She is also discovering how complex and costly preparing for export can be when it comes to a highly regulated food industry. But the biggest surprise of all was the celebrity status thrust upon her just for being an Australian lamb producer.
Read MoreWhat was a Kelpie’s prized lamb dinner turned into a winning product for Nulla Vale lamb farmer Toni Barton. This enterprising creator of Lamb Bacon displays all the attributes of a typical entrepreneur. Some would say she is driven. Ideas are explored, problems solved, and opportunities taken. At the core of it all is Toni’s deliberate life-choice, to trade in an international marketing career for that of a hands-on farmer producing good quality meat.
Read MoreUsually it is the children that are encouraged to take on the family business, but in the case of Sunshine Iris Nursery near Lockhart in New South Wales, it was the opposite. What started as a logical step into the business world for agronomist trained Elissa Strong became problematic when she went back to study in 2017 leaving her mother Mandy to pick pack and post.
Read MoreWhether it is fair or not, sheep are often referred to in derogatory terms when it comes to their intelligence; usually when they break away from the mob and make the lives of their handlers a misery. Charlie Webb, decided to delve into the psychology of sheep so that his life as a farmer, and his woolly charges, is made much easier. The result is Back Up Charlie.
Read MoreLooking back at how Bundarra Berkshires evolved Lauren Mathers defines it as ‘madness’ given that she has given birth to three children in the midst of becoming a free-range farmer and exemplifying the paddock to plate dream. Displaying the attributes of a true entrepreneur, it all started when she saw a problem that could be turned into an opportunity. And history keeps repeating itself.
Read MoreWe’ve all heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, however the Cohuna-Leitchville district in northern Victoria has taken it a step further. They are nurturing and encouraging young entrepreneurs!
Read More
