Today's guest is the epitome of no-fuss go-getterism! Kate Hufton is the former co-owner of The Sir George pub and restaurant (and now accomodation) in Jugiong, NSW. A Sunday walk with her mother, landscape designer, Liz Prater, Six years ago, after Kate's engagement party, she and her mother took a walk around the ground of the derelict pub at Jugiong, flippantly throwing around the dreamy idea of one-day making it their own renovation project. With no real intent the conversation was let go - but when the pub come up for sale, they ended up as the owners. A rural road trip ensued after a google search of the 'best beer gardens in NSW' - and as a result the pair learnt there was a real demand for big, bold and beautiful beer gardens and set about creating their own under the mantra, 'build it and they will come'. The end product was a world class pub unlike any other in rural Australia, that put the small village of Jugiong on the map and kick started many other small businesses and on-farm accomodation venues in the area. The Sir George was sold in late 2021 and Kate now works in a local sheep stud. 

Company

Kate Hufton, former co-owner The Sir George, Jugiong

Breaking into normal transmission today to bring you my Pitch for the Buy From The Bush x PayPalAu Big Break Competition.Thank you for listening! Skye xx

Company x BFTB big break Pitch

Kate Greenwood has always had an itch.An itch to make and create. But as is often the case, it took a while for her to take her urge to make things seriously.From her home near Molong in Central New South Wales, Kate cuts, rolls and bakes, fabulously colourful earrings and accessories, under her label Greenwood Designs which now boasts more than 14,000 followers on Instagram – and can be found in almost any groovy and fun shop in any country town!You can find Kate here on Instagram. Thank you to Lindner Quality Socks our generous sponsor for this Series. 

A bad boss and an oven inspired Kate Greenwood's business Greenwood Designs

Kristy McGregor was born on a 1 acre block in Camden now on the outskirts of Sydney. She's the lady behind New Zealand's, Shepherdess the rural womens brand including a magazine, events, live social media get-togethers and more. If this isn't enough to pique your interest, let me tell you that although Kristy now lives in NZ, a huge part of her heart in Australia's outback. She helped pioneer the awesome, Channel Country Ladies Lunch as well as studying social work at CSU in Wagga Wagga. There's a whole lot going on - but once you know her story it all makes sense. You can find Shepherdess at shepherdess.co.nz or @shepherdess.nz on Instagram. Thank you to our Sponsor for this series Lindner Quality Socks in Crookwell, NSW. 

Australian born Kristy McGregor on starting rural mag, Shepherdess in NZ

Today’s guest, Denise McClelland Yates from Grenfell in central west New South Wales, rings true precisely the sort of women I want to tap into: ambitious women living in rural Australia. Denise has never let the fact that she lives in a small – yet strong – rural community hold her back. She’s worked so many careers - and after this chat –and most things she turns her hand to she becomes a master at! She's also a perfectionist, and a fellow Virgo. Denise's latest business is as a holistic health coach for integrative nutrition. Her business Lorien Well encompasses all facets of health, physical, mental, hormonal, sexual, relationships - the whole bit! I hope you love this chat as much as I did. Thank you to our Winter Series sponsor Linder Quality Socks. 

A new kind of healthy with integrative nutrition coach Denise McClelland-Yates

Today’s guest is someone you want to put on your online shopping list. Even if you don’t put anything in the cart, the wonders that Lucinda Newton works with her hands are just beautiful.Her brand is Luone, a handcrafted jewellery business with pieces that are timeless and 100% stunning.Lou says she always been obsessed with jewellery. Since childhood, she’s eyed off the jewellery of every woman that’s crossed her path. Although she didn’t initially choose this vocation, all her tendencies pulled her towards where she is now, from a childhood growing up on a farm at Bellata to her own open and airy studio shop front in Port Fairy in Victoria.Thank you to Lindner Quality Socks the sponsor for this season of the podcast. 

Lucinda Newton has been eyeing off jewellery since she was a child

The Bread Tag Project started when Shani Nottingham's boys were hungry and devouring tonnes of bread a week and leaving the bread tags all over the kitchen. Shani's creative mind naturally took over - and she decided this was going to be her point of difference as an artist. That was almost four years ago and now The Bread Tag project has become a huge beast, fuelled by bread tags send to Shani, in Cowra in central west NSW from all over the world and not just envelopes full, huge bags and boxes full. Today you will learn of what's become of Shani's idea - which is a ever evolving project with 7 main aims. If you know of anyone who would be interested please forward this podcast to them and listen in for Shani's best contact details so you can take part too. 

Shani Nottingham's Bread Tag Project is something we should all know about

This is a story about taking a rundown building in the main street of a country town – and being bold with it to create a beautiful space that people will travel hours to experience.I can think of many country towns that have spaces like this – all they need is someone creative to take hold – and I can also think of many women living in rural towns with the style, nous and grit to do this.Elise Croker wanted to create an accommodation option in Crookwell, NSW that made you feel like you were in London, with old books, artwork and pieces made with love. But she also wanted the space to have a boho feel and be fun and exciting at the same time. The result is her beautiful BnB, Mister Munro in the main street of Crookwell. It's clever and creative and cosy and I love it.If you’re thinking about taking the plunge with an old house or building in your town or on your farm then I hope this story can be an inspiration to you.Thank you to Lindner Quality Socks the sponsor for this Series of Company. Incidentally, Lindner is just across the road from Mister Munro in Crookwell. Get yourselves some cosy socks, walk across the road, pour a red wine and read a book or watch a movie while settling into Elise's Mister Munro. 

Elise Croker will inspire you to start your own rural BnB

In the main street of the southern NSW town of Crookwell you'll find a small building stocked with rows and rows of colourful socks, some are thick and fluffy, others are thin and refined. Out the back green machines plug away, to make the heritage socks, sewing, shaping and creating some of the most beautiful feet warmers in the country.The Linder Family of Lindner Quality Socks has been making socks for 10 generations and today you'll hear their incredible story which includes moving a young family from Germany to Goulburn, Australia without any English speaking skills, starting up a factory in Crookwell, sourcing wool from local farmers, venturing into tourism and spending a lifetime trying to create the perfect sock. Thank you to Andrew, Linda and Gisela Lindner for sharing their time and their story with me today.Thank you to Lindner Socks who are the Series Sponsor for Company.You can follow them @lindnersocks on Instagram.

Lindner Socks are keeping your feet warm this winter.

Today I’ve decided to bring you a little bonus episode for two reasons. I think today’s guest is a pretty cool chick and someone you need to know and I thought it was a good chance to tell you about the Women Behind Wool initiative that myself and my very good friend Penny Ashby are running right now. For the next six weeks of so – we want you follow our @womenbehindwool on Instagram – and then take a look, and a listen – at the short films and podcasts telling you the stories of some of the most impressive women behind the Australian wool industry.As we are in the initial stages of building this community – we need all the help we can get – as well as following us on instagram, the community will reach further and grow faster is you can take 2 minutes to subscribe to our podcast. Rate it and then tap out a small review. Thank you.For today's podcast, I want to meet Atty Mitchell, she was one of the Women to first take the stage for our Women Behind Wool project. Atty is a catwalk model, in fact- she used the face of Louis Vuitton but she’s also a farm girl – who loves nothing more than being in the sheep yards with a drenching gun in hand. To me, her story is just fascinating and goes to show that anyone can become anything and that farm life really is the best!If you want to hear more from Atty and her mother Caroline and her grandmother Tink you can watch their film and/or podcast below. Short Film - Watch Here Podcast - Listen Here

BONUS: Atty Mitchell and Women Behind Wool

As you know this Series of Company has been brought to you with support from Amanda at the The Grampians Goods Co and this interview was her idea and I’m so glad she alerted me to these two women. Former journalist Kirsten Diprose and founder of Rural Women’s Day Jackie Elliot sound they are - in their own rights - busy women beyond belief, with heads that bubble with ideas that later somehow see the light of day!Their latest venture a new podcast. It’s called Ducks on the Pond and it will feature discussions with women all Australian around hand picked themes that important to women living in the country.You all know how I love a new podcast so it was with great excitement that I wanted to learn more about Jackie and Kirsten, what this is all about and how they came to be working together.

Ducks On The Pond a new podcast from rural Victoria

My guest today is the co-owner of The Grenfell Collective.A beautiful co-working space in Grenfell in central west New South Wales.Dr Belinda Mahwinney and her partner Ant Dixon took on this venture – to solve a personal problem, Belinda wanted a space where she could work in town, and they both wanted to create a modern, stylish environment to number one: hold client meetings but also to inspire the other sole workers in the small town.

Dr Belinda Mahwinney: a champion of co-working in a small regional towns

The crazy lovely artist Zoe Young is my guest today. As a child – Zoe and her family moved around with the seasons – this meant a circuit of 3 primary schools, one in Sydney, one at Crackenback near the Snowy Mountains and one in the NSW Southern Highlands. All came with their separate cultures, surroundings and group of friends and colourful community characters.As a result the spectrum of childhood influences for Zoe is hugely diverse – and can be seen in her growth as a professional artist.I really loved this chat as we get lost on tangents with Zoe educating me about what it’s like to be a professional artist – she’s also quiet hilarious – for example she was certain she would make a living as a supermodel like Naomi Campbell when she grew up and she used to ‘lose’ her ski school group wandering the streets of Prague while training to be a pro racing skiier.

Artist Zoe Young's childhood was a melting pot of different Australian cultures

Victoria McGrane of the Scenic Route is a daydreamer with a big imagination and she's at her best when she's surrounded by nature, so it makes perfect sense that she runs her textile business The Scenic Route from the road in 'Daisy' her converted 1990 Toyota Coaster. 

Victoria McGrane runs her textile business from a bus

Today’s guest is total sunshine and I cannot believe the size of the empire she has built from regional Australia. Kristy Withers is the founder of Incy Interiors, a multi-million dollar designer kids furniture business based Orange. Kristy grew up as one of four children on a sheep farm in Oberon. She took the skills gained from working St George Bank and in marketing and advertising for EBay before the days of online and took the plunge into sourcing, designing and manufacturing her own kids beds without any experience in the field.This year Incy Interiors is celebrating it’s 10th Birthday and there are some seriously exciting collaborations happening this year to coincide with this.It's not surprising really as Kristy is another one of those human energiser bunnies who're now popping up all over regional Australia. We chat about Sundays at home, growing up in a big family, her stylish Mum, how she built her business, collaborations and dreams for the future. This Series of Company is produced in partnership another awesome rural business, The Grampians Goods Co. Just enter the code MANSON10 at the checkout for a 10% discount for a limited time. 

Kristy Withers built her multi-million dollar business, Incy Interiors from regional Australia

A podcast, produced in rural Australia, bringing together ambitious women from the bush, the city and all over the world. As a former ABC Rural journalist, Company host Skye Manson loves to shine the spotlight on rural people doing amazing things. Each series will include a hand picked mix of stories from well known and inspirational women in our cities, international friends and colleagues and of course - country women who're killing it in business.

hubhopper

Company

hubhopper