**EPISODE SPONSOR: Rural Women’s Day**

There’s this persistent notion that starting up a retail store in the main street of town is just too hard. From the high rents, cost of living crisis, to the relatively low foot traffic in country towns, finding a physical space to sell things, the ‘ye olde way’ can seem impossible.

But in this episode, we meet three business owners who have found success by leaning into the community side of their business. Economically, this might not make a lot of sense at first. How do you put a price on community? Well, in the country, it’s worth something.

The Botanic House in Nagambie, VIC and Workshop 26 in Kimba, SA have transformed their local streetscapes, created a community space with good coffee and atmosphere, as well as a retail store to sell their wares.

This episode features:

· Krystie Holley – Founder and owner of The Botanic House in Nagambie, VIC

· Heather Baldock – Co-Founder of Workshop 26 and owner of High Street Vintage

· Danna Kassebaum – Owner of Zozo and Ace

So if you dream of opening up a store in your town, you will learn A LOT from this episode!

Thank you to our episode sponsor: Rural Women’s Day. Book to attend an event near you in October 2024.

Would you like to sponsor an episode of Ducks on the Pond? Contact us here.

This is a Rural Podcasting Co. production. Would you like to create your own podcast? We can help! Find out how.

Send us a text

** Episode Sponsor: Cheeky Mac Productions - do the 1000 Rural Women Survey!

We’re full of good ideas here in the country. So how do you access the funds and the people to make it happen?

It’s important for community projects and local businesses to come from the bottom up. It’s the people on the ground who know what’s actually needed and how to best deliver it. But so many grants and programs are top-down.

In this episode we hear from two women who are making big ideas happen, using grassroots methods.

Hear from:

Angie Armstrong - Owner of Callubri Station, a commercial farm and agritourism business in Buddabadah, NSW.

Natalie Egleton– CEO of Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), based in Maldon, VIC.

Angie Armstrong shares her journey of setting up an agritourism business in central West NSW, including the challenges of getting tourists to travel further than Dubbo. She explains how she tapped into tourism bodies to find support and her approach to remaining innovative in business.

Natalie Egleton explains how FRRR supports community-led initiatives and the types of projects the philanthropic organisation funds.

We hope this episode will help you to get your next big idea off the ground!

Thank you to Cheeky Mac Productions for sponsoring this episode. Make sure you help them out by doing the 1000 Rural Women Survey!

Would you like to sponsor an episode of Ducks on the Pond? Contact us here.

This is a Rural Podcasting Co. production. Would you like to create your own podcast? We can help!

Send us a text

**Sponsored by the Victorian Women’s Trust - Check out Rural Women Online, free digital skills platform.

There’s this idea that if you want to make it in film, you need to move to the city. But is that really true?

In this episode, we meet Jospehine Croft. She’s a film producer and actor, based in Melbourne, but is part of a movement that’s making film more accessible to women. This includes job sharing on film sets, shorter hours and looking after the mental health of film crews.

Josephine, who runs Tenacious Stories, also talks about opportunities for rural women who want to work in film. In fact, part of her most recent production, “The Returned” has been filmed in Wannon, near Hamilton in western Victoria.

She also discusses the challenges facing the Australian film industry, and remembers what it was like being a young actor in the 1990s and early 2000s (this includes her role as an angsty teenager in Neighbours who burnt down Lou Carpenter’s bus!)

**Thank you to the Victorian Women’s Trust for sponsoring this episode. They are running free digital workshops in Yackandandah 11 - 14 September. Head to Rural Women Online to register!

Would you like to sponsor an episode of Ducks on the Pond? Let us know!

This is a Rural Podcasting Co. production.

Send us a text