Dunkeld VIC - Our 50th Rural Women's Day Celebration

Lineup

• More details about Kirsten Diprose | MC

  Kirsten Diprose | MC

  Kirsten Diprose is a communications and podcast business specialist who lives on a sheep and cropping property near Caramut, in south-west Victoria. Kirsten founded the Rural Podcasting Co, a podcast coaching and agency service, specifically for people in rural areas. She has experience in media and marketing, previously working for Deakin University and agrifood venture capital firm, Tenacious Ventures. Kirsten also founded and co-hosts a podcast specifically for rural women, called ‘Ducks on the Pond.’ And her new podcast is Town Criers, to tell the big stories of the small towns of Australia. Prior to this, Kirsten worked as a TV and radio journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in both regional and metropolitan newsrooms. You can still hear her as a fill-in radio presenter on ABC Radio Melbourne’s The Conversation Hour. Kirsten is also the Deputy Chair of South West TAFE, and a PhD candidate in journalism at Deakin University, studying podcasting and local news sustainability.

• More details about Georgie Beaton | Guest Speaker

  Georgie Beaton | Guest Speaker

  Georgie grew up on the land, and no matter how far her ambitions took her, it never really left her, the farm was always home, always the place she returned to. After a year of veterinary science taught her she was far more interested in people than patients, she followed her instincts to Melbourne and into the world of digital marketing, working her way through the ranks of a fast growing media agency and building a career she was genuinely proud of. Marrying a farmer and coming home to the west of Victoria was never an accident, it was the life she'd quietly wanted since she was a little girl, watching her own mum raise kids in the country and thinking: one day, that will be me. Back on the land with her husband Jack, she founded Good Monday Marketing, a regional marketing consultancy serving clients across agriculture, retail and beyond. Then her godmother did the flowers at her wedding, and everything changed. One stem led to an obsession - workshops attended, books devoured, late nights down rabbit holes, and what started as a single row of dahlias is now ten rows, a flower farm, and a tuber & seed business taking shape. These days her two little girls trail behind her through the bloom rows, picking petals off stems yet to be delivered to the florist, living exactly the country childhood Georgie always dreamed of giving them. Now she is taking everything she has built - the marketing career, the regional business experience, the grower's instinct, and turning it toward the people who need it most: Australian flower growers, farmers and producers who are doing extraordinary things but don't yet have the marketing skills today's landscape demands. That next chapter is just beginning. Her talk is about what it looks like to come full circle, and what you find when you stop looking outward and start looking at the paddock you're already standing in.

• More details about Georgia Lillie | Guest Speaker

  Georgia Lillie | Guest Speaker

  “Georgia is a mum of two boys, and a cattle farmer near Camperdown. After losing her husband to cancer in 2019, Georgia wrote a children’s book to help her own boys and other families find a safe space to navigate their grief. She has sold over 600 copies, and donated over $20,000 to cancer research from the sales. She has since written two more children’s books, “The Blue Horse”, and “Forrest’s Funny Tummy”. Georgia loves life, she loves writing about it, and she loves talking about it.”

• More details about Louise Murrihy | Guest Speaker

  Louise Murrihy | Guest Speaker

  Louise Murrihy was born and bred on the land, growing up working alongside her family on their dairy farm in Purnim, South West Victoria, and believes this upbringing became the foundation that carried her through some of her toughest days. Earlier this year, she featured in the Say Their Nameepisode of the Ducks on the Pond podcast and is here this Rural Women's Day to advocate for how we can better support someone through baby loss. Throughout her healing journey, Louise discovered that music, something deeply rooted in her rural childhood singing at church, became both a cathartic and alchemising outlet. Drawing on her farming upbringing, the loss of her son, and the quiet resilience of getting up and getting on with it, she began writing her own original country songs. Teaming up with Fanny Lumsden, Louise will perform songs that tell her story, inspired by the silver linings found on the land, baby loss and hope.

• More details about Vicki Scott | Guest Speaker

  Vicki Scott | Guest Speaker

• More details about Liv Coutts | Pemberley of Malmsbury

  Liv Coutts | Pemberley of Malmsbury

  Liv Coutts is from 'Pemberley of Malmsbury' in the picturesque Macedon Rangers, Victoria. Liv is an award winning floral designer, luxury AirBnB host, mother of two and lives on the land with her husband Tim. Liv has this creative talent and a generosity to share the beauty of flowers with all; even if you say you aren't creative. She has been passionate about the story flowers tell and as a Gold Medalist at the International Flower and Garden Show, we are extremely fortunate to have Liv visit us and share her knowledge and passion for creating whimsical floral art using what you can also find in your very own backyard.

• More details about Breearna Freeland | Inspired Yoga & Pilates

  Breearna Freeland | Inspired Yoga & Pilates

  Yoga & Pilates Instructor - coming into her 8th year of teaching & running her own small business. I used to work in the corporate world in Melbourne, then I met my husband & made the move to a small country town Terang. Two kids later, I decided to study Yoga, I was missing my practice & my mental health was declining. I was soon teaching & loving the slower pace!! wanted to help other people feel like they were enough, more than enough, that no matter where your fitness lies you're always welcome, that it's ok to stop for a moment & just breathe. I can't wait to take you through a Pilates session with some fun tunes & speak about self care with you all!

• More details about FANNY LUMSDEN

  FANNY LUMSDEN