This is a pretty big deep dive into one of my favourite topics: podcasting in rural Australia.  Kirsten Diprose and I have the same vocation. We make podcasts from rural Australia, focused on stories from rural Australia.  The difference is that Kirsten was originally a city girl - who now lives on a sheep, cattle, cropping and even dairy farm with her husband and two boys - so she's not used to the nuances of rural life in the same way that I am.  It's this curiosity that's sparked a whole new business for Kirsten: the Rural Podcasting Co and also a PHD looking deep into rural journalism, podcasting and conversations in our communities.  To add - she's actually living her best life at the moment travelling around Australia in a caravan ...... and so naturally that's where we started our chat. Company is produced in partnership with Rabobank Australia.

Today's guest has always been a self confessed nerd - who had brains and the will to study but never really knew what she wanted to do.  Zoe Lamont's life has been full of twists and turns - there is absolutely no clear trajectory in this story.  But her life, her career has been FULL - and full of some huge mould breaking businesses and achievements.  Now Zoe lives with her husband and two children on a farm between Wagga Wagga and Junee.  Her main venture right now is Farm Door. Which I actually had no idea about......the reason I've always wanted to speak with Zoe about her start up superannuation business, Verve Super, which was a superannuation company with a holistic approach full focused on women and female investments. Company is a podcast produced in partnership with Rabobank Australia.

Sometimes I think we are all guilty of posting about our businesses to social media and hoping for the best..... Today guest Emma Williams, saw an opportunity in that... After years of working in communications. marketing and branding - she had a hunch that she could help ag businesses market themselves in a way that brought about proper growth. She started Acre Agency just under two years ago and has worked with more than 50 clients and recently grown her team to five. Emma describes herself as a generalist - she and her business know the basics of many things - and so when it comes to telling the story of a business - she thinks she's got her finger on the pulse as to what will work and why. There is no cookie cutting here.  And she know's her stuff; here she is. Company is a Manson Podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia.

This girl, woman, firecracker is Em Armstrong and let me tell you she's a REAL vibe. She lives on a property between Carathool and Goolgowi and her business Saltbush Stretch is based in a gorgeous studio on the main street of Hay.  I've had the pleasure of working with Em over the last year to devise and develop her podcast Saltbush Babes. It brings all of the urban funky energy to a podcast that's funny focused on the stories of rural chicks who take part in her pilates classes both in person and online.  This is the story of small business in the bush. It's not easy for anyone- and sometimes there needs to be some unconventional thinking in order to make finances and cash flow work.  Company is produced in partnership with Rabobank Australia.

This podcast is all about highlighting and celebrating the brilliant women of rural and regional Australia and all the wonderful things they are achieving.  In more recent time we've chose to focus more closely on the in's and out's of some female run rural businesses and today is no exception.  Our guest Sahra Tohow Dixon owns garden workwear brand Le Sac with her mother-in-law Trish Dixon.  It's a new brand that's quickly gained a lot of attention and marketshare in the bush.  And I think this is due in part to the combined skills its owners.  Sahra's family originated from Somalia. Her father was possibly one of the first Somalian immigrants to Australia in the 1970's. As a child growing up in Queensland ,Sahra loved Netball and Fashion and didn't much like school - she ended up working in fashion, PR and marketing in various roles in London and Australia before she met her husband Hamish.  Now's she's a part time farmer, part time many other (creative) things ...... as you will learn here today. You can find le sac @le_sac__ - https://www.instagram.com/le_sac__/ Or online at shoplesac.com Company is a Manson Podcasting Production in partnership with Rabobank Australia. Get more involved with our crew and everything we love by signing up to our free fortnightly newsletter at companyonsundays.substack.com -  And if you choose to pay for a subscription, its 10 bucks a week, you will receive email missives twice a week.

I've been wanting to interview Gordi for years because she's such a good example of the women I want to highlight. She grew up on a sheep and hay farm near Canowindra in central west NSW and studied Medicine at University. But as a self proclaimed microphone hog who spend many hours singing in church as a child - she's always loved singing and has been writing songs since the age of 13. Now she's doing her work on the world stage.She's about to release her third Album 'Like Plasticine' and has song alongside some of the biggest names in the industry Missy Higgins, Bon Iver, The Tallest Man on Earth and David Grey (later this year). Gordi also identifies as Queer - which has been the source of much pain, reflection and resignation. But as you will hear, it's her songwriting that's allow her to come to terms with this and life in general - and it's provided her with experiences beyond her wildest dreams of a child growing up on a humble farm. You can pre-order her new album Like Plasticine now at gordimusic.com - and listen to all her previous works on Spotify. Company is a Manson Podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia. Stay in the loop with our world and all the things I am loving right now by signing up to my weekly newsletter Company on Sundays at companyonsundays.substack.com

Stephanie Trethewey is the Founder and CEO of Motherland a non-for -profit organisation on a mission to reduce isolation for Mum's living in rural Australia. I'm always a-gog at the pace in which Motherland has grown, from the outside looking in it seems they are always celebrating new and exciting big wins. But in the last 12 months - life outside of Motherland - has changed dramatically for Steph and her family. They've sold half the farm. Moved houses. She's scaled back the stress - and upped the happiness. So if you think you already know the story of Motherland and Steph Trethewey I suggest you keep listening because this one is not what you're expecting. Company is a Manson Podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia.

Today, for our last episode for Season 1, 2025 I down with Georgie Poole; someone I've always wanted to get to know better. I feel like our career paths have been running parallel for years. Like me, Georgie is a Mum to three children, she lives in a regional community and works remotely for Rabobank. We are both storytellers - who love where we live - and want nothing more than the awesome people and partnerships that exist there to be shown off to a wider audience. She's actually referred to as an in-house journalist with Rabobank which I couldn't love more. This is her story ....

For as long as I can remember I have been obsessed with magazines - seriously - from the age of about 8,9 or 10 - I used to save all my pennies to buy hoards of magazines, it started as Australian geographic and then morphed into Girlfriend and Dolly, then Cosmopolitan, the Harpers Bazaar and Country Style and Vogue and now Graziher and Galah and UK Homes and Garden - and on the weekends i always buy the SMH for the Good Weekend and the Spectrum. So to sit down with two women who have edited two of my favourite publications to talk about the world of magazine writing and story selection - is pure indulgence. Katrina Strickland is the former editor of the Good Weekend Magazine and Annabelle Hickson is the editor of Galah. The reason we came together was to to speak about Galah's Regional Photography Prize of which Katrina is a judge - and which is cued up to feature in Good Weekend magazine this weekend. Keep a look out. But wow - this conversation is so much than that. It paddles from conversation to masterclass to part counselling session and back again - it's a long episode and I dont take that lightly I know your time is [resciosu but I really struggled to cut it down. For you - I hope you're able to sense the intensity of commitment to getting stories from your lives into the mainstream. Company is a Manson Podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia.

Bronnie Taylor used to be a Politician. In the NSW Parliament. In Cabinet as a Minister for Mental Health, Regional Health and Women. She's not a politician any more. But still holds the same vivacious energy to celebrate, elevate and advocate. Particularly for regional women and regional health services. This is a Manson Podcasting podcast in partnership with Rabobank Australia.

Are you looking for a girls getaway - that's truely a girls getaway. As in no phone service, beautiful surroundings, the chance to fully recharge and properly catch up with your nearest and dearest. Rove Numby - run by Lou Crawford at Reid's Flat near Cowra and Boorowa in the NSW southern tablelands - is all that an more Cocktail Bars are replaced with a wood fire in a ramshackle old stone homestead, there hiking in place of shopping and glamping tents replace overprices hotels. What's more Rove Numby is part of a commercial modern day farm operation and Lou thinks this is part of its draw - the people who come there also get the chance to have a full, open and relaxed conversation about the details of farming that get glossed over in TV shows or newspaper articles. This is a Manson Podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia. You can find Rove Numby here online or @rovenumby on Instagram. Keep in the loop with our conversation via our weekly newsletter companyonsundays.substack.com

Edwina Sharrock OAM is an extreme extrovert - its true she's done the tests - and rather than trying to quieten her spirit she's run with it - and achieved a LOOOOTT. Edwina grew up in Tamworth, went away and returned. Now she lives with her husband, two children and fave child-dog Daryl on five acres in a house her husband build just outside of town. This story is not really about Edwina's life but about her growth as an incredible business woman in rural Australia. Her business Birth Beat - started as a birthing course for locals in her living room and segued into a recognised and respected anti-natal course utilised by most of the large hospitals in Sydney and big corporate employers such as SalesForce. There was a little run for her money on Shark Tank also thrown in there and now the business has been sold to Device Technologies, an Australian based Med -Tech company. She the Deputy Chair of the Hunter New England Central Coast Primary Health Network and the Co-Chair of the Telstra Regional Council. She was the National winner of the Commonwealth Bank 21-day Challenge Innovation Award, a Google Regional Online Hero, Nominated for Hesta Nurse/Midwife of the Year, winner of NSW Telstra small business award, Oceana alumni of the Cartier Women's Initiative and listed in the AFR 100 women influence. So I guess you can imagine that the last 18 months since selling Birth Beat have been a challenging transition - but she's back in the fold - and here to share her learnings. This is a Manson Podcasting Production in partnership with Rabobank Australia.

Today's guest is well known to rural Australian's and every media outlet in the country, If you see an innovative rural story written up in the Australian or a regional woman in Country Style or someone cool on the Today show - chances are Georgie Robertson has had a hand in getting the story there. Georgie is the Regional PR Co which will now become the Regional PR and Co - because this years she's scaling up. I often sit and wonder how she does all she does, her work championing the best and most innovative and impactful businesses outside of the cities seems endless and her own impact is not to be underestimated. This chat is about just that - how she manages it all - but let's start at the most exciting part and that is - what will be new for her in 2025. This is a Manson Podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia - join our weekly conversation via the Company on Sunday newsletter at companyonsundays.substack.com

Hello and welcome back to Company for 2025 - it feel like about 3 years since I was last talking with you. We've got an exciting year of stories lined up for you in 2025 as well as some live events in the works as well. Make sure you subscribe or follow the podcast to keep abreast of these things. To start off the year - our podcast is sounding a bit different today - as we have not one but two guests - and for the first time ever we have a male interviewee on the airwaves. So grab your husbands - and get them on board too because I know they will love both the male and the female in this chat. Today we hear from Olympic Gold Medallist, commentator, professional speaker and farmer, Giaan Rooney and her fifth generation cattle farmer husband Sam Levett who also runs the livestock buying and selling platform: The Herd Online. These guys led a *hectic* life that juggles farming, children, an innovative agricultural platform, TV gigs and just for good measure a huge house renovation too. Giaan Rooney knew nothing about farming or agriculture for most of her life until she met Sam - and now she could hold her own amongst most of the farming greats - she's an excellent advocate for our industry - We talked for literally hours to record this podcast, that's just the nature of their story so without further ado - let's hear it . This is a Manson Podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia. You can find a BONUS encore of Giaans' story by becoming a paid subscriber to our newsletter Company on Sundays. Sign up here - looking forward to seeing you there!

Skye Ward's journey as a mother, daughter, granddaughter and professional have taken many weaves and turns, especially in the last few years. After a series of personally challenging events; trouble holding pregnancies, an industrial waste development proposal over the hill from her family home and then managing COVID lockdowns with a two week old baby and two older children - all of a sudden and seemingly with no notice, Skye hit a brick wall... she was really pushed to the edge And it spurred on some big 'make you feel sick' kind of life decisions. The biggest decision for the Ward family it was to sell the family farm, which had been in her mothers family for generations. The reason I wanted to have Skye on this podcast not primarily because she has been through a lot but also because I think she has so much to offer in the way she articulates what she's learnt from these times. And I think, well I hope her reflections on this most challenging of times - might be a balm to you too, as you navigate life's inevitable twists and turns.

This is a little bit of a having your cake and eating it too kinda story. Today's guest is an impressive example of a women who's managed to run a world-class business in the city while remaining strongly involved in the evolution of her family farm. Ali Lord is the CEO of Headbox Australia, an innovative digital events company that she runs by going between her family farm in remote north QLD and head office in Sydney. I've been wanting to speak with Ali since I heard her parents Artie and Casey Lord speak about succession planning at the Rabobank Tent at Beef Week. Really, really impressive stuff. And Ali, our guest today- their daughter - is the proof in the pudding. CEO of her own company (which has not a lot to do with ag) and a silent partner, family stakeholder of the farm with a fiance who's a manager there. This interview has a bit of everything - it's defs got a girl boss vibe and there's talk about succession planning, productvity hacks, travel tips, podcast recommendations, how to run a good business, childhood influences, gardening and even Elon Musk. This is a Manson Podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia.

One of the worlds biggest supermodels, arguably the world biggest supermodel, Gigi Hadid has commissioned an art work from a young artist who lives in Trangie in Central West NSW Lottie Rae works from a shipping container at hoe home in Trangie where she live with her husband and two boys. Last year she ditched her coffee shop and homewares shop in town to become a full time artist- and thank god she did otherwise we would not have this story to tell. This is a Manson Podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia.

We're all scouring the socials, the internet and the shops for 'gifts' right now - pressie giving season is here! When I think about rural and regional businesses that make great presents - Whitney Spicer immediately comes to mind. She an artist, who now also makes 'products' - scarves, tea towels, hats, shirts - from her small farm farm at Manildra near Orange in NSW where she lives with her husband and three young boys. She's been clever in growing her brand awareness through collaborations. And is now looking forward to making wholesaling another pillar of her business. If you're interested in collaborations, branded products and the world of wholesaling this is a great chat to get your ears around Find Whitney and her products @whitneyspicer on Instagram or get shopping at whitneyspicer.com This is a Manson podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia. We have heaps more interesting stories like this at mansonpodcasting.com And if you want to invest in one of our 'products' you can become a paid subscriber to our newsletter for $99 a year or $8 month - sign up on the website.

For the last six and a half years Millwoods shoes owned by Jane Robertson has exponentially grown. From just one type of shoe in 2019 to 37 different styles and colours of shoes 5 years later. Business has grown 20% year on year at least and her shoes have been stocked in hundreds of stores all over Australia and New Zealand. This conversation is a raw account of what a beast retail business can become when you're experiencing high growth. Jane says all this 'getting bigger' might look great from the outside but it’s been so hard - waaaaay harder than she imagined and than many of you would be aware. And so, she talks you through the in's and out's she's tried to keep up - financially: there's never much profit and banks don't want to lend you money and then there's the personal toll: which nearly sent Jane over the edge on 2024. But we do start on a great note - talking about her fave part of the business, the shed, 50 metres from her house which has been totally converted to become her own Millwood Warehouse on her farm at Coolamon, a little town in NSW’s Riverina.

Emily Quigley is the founder of Peggy & Twig a luxury jewellery brand that lives in Trangie in central west New South Wales but was a feature on the runway at Paris Fashion Week this year. What the hell?! How did this happen? And what's happened to this small bush brand as a result? This whole story is so not what you think. The journey has been strategic, and hot and sweaty and intense. It's a masterclass in ways to cleverly capitalise on 'opportunities' or periods of quick growth. This is a Manson Podcasting podcast produced in partnership with Rabobank Australia.