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INTERVIEWS GRACE QUAST PHOTOGRAPHY ALEESHA PHILLIPS
While Emma, 27, spends about 70 per cent of her time in the city for her day job at agtech company, AgriDigital, she retreats to country New South Wales whenever she can. “Fortunately, my time is split between Sydney and Tamworth. I have the flexibility to follow my passions while also achieving career goals. I do my best to not take that for granted,” she explains.
Sandra, who grew up on Melton Park, her family’s cattle property at Tamworth, always made sure her four children were connected to their rural roots as they grew up. And in 2016, after 30 years living in Sydney, the now 57-year-old decided to return to Tamworth, dividing her days between renovating a Federation house in town and being out on the farm with Winston, her Jack Russell, never too far behind her.
Emma: I loved my school holidays when Mum would take us back to Melton Park. I’ve always been incredibly close to my grandfather, Eric Crowe; he’s a father figure to me. Pop lives at Melton Park, the same farm where he was raised. He is now in his mid-80s and still has so much to offer.
Pop is the man who can’t walk down the main street of town without stopping and talking to every second person. He’s the man everyone tries to sit beside at a bull sale. He’s the man no one can say a bad word about. I admire Pop’s integrity and work ethic: he is always busy, constantly in motion but never too busy to share his passion for cattle. As one of the most successful people I know, he’s also incredibly humble. These are all qualities he has passed down to Mum.
She has always been such a doer. There has never been a farm job or family activity she hasn’t had a hand in. If mum wasn’t in the cattle yards she was in the garden, and if she wasn’t in the garden she was on the school run or cooking our favourite meals. I feel extremely grateful to be her daughter. Mum’s rural approach was ingrained into every aspect of our lives growing up.
This is our first commercial project together, and I hope it won’t be our last. I’ve pulled her into many things in the past, be that personal or professional. She’s well-versed in my grand ideas and shows up to help execute them.
I have always thought we would work on something together — although I’m not sure she would say the same about me. I’ve always known she would be an incredible business owner, she has so much to offer, and she probably needed my hand to take the first step. I definitely needed hers.
Mum never ever lets me give up. Every time we hit a dead end, she is the lighthouse guiding us through. I’ve called her many times when I’ve felt fairly defeated, and by the end of the conversation I’m as motivated or committed as ever. That is something I admire in Mum; her softer skills. She has incredible emotional intelligence, is a natural leader and is a great team player. These are the things that set her apart and that make her an incredible business partner.
It sounds clichéd, but the serenity of the farm is hard to beat. The landscape, sounds and smells. My favourite spot would have to be the verandah, where we have made so many memories and shared so many stories. It’s fresh-baked goods at morning tea time and cheeseboards with a gin and tonic in the evening.
Sandra: We were living on Sydney’s northern beaches when the kids were young. There wasn’t a school holiday that passed when we didn’t go back to the farm to continue where we’d left off on the last lot of holidays.
Emma was very capable from a young age. She had a sense of responsibility and a strong work ethic. She loved to be her grandfather’s right-hand girl on the farm: this is always where she has been happiest. Emma was a good student and knew early on that she wanted to do a degree in agricultural economics at the University of Sydney. After graduation, she worked in various industries, where her branding skills were developed. An entrepreneurial endeavour was always on the horizon for Emma.
We both love cooking and follow foodie Instagram influencers from America. They were always celebrating premium jerky and biltong as a go-to high-protein snack. But when we searched for similar products here in Australia, we were disappointed with the texture and quality. So, after calling on a couple of mentors, we realised it was possible to achieve a premium product, and the rest is history.
Emma is the driving force behind Impact Meat. She has a savvy business sense balanced with marketing and brand experience. Starting online was where Emma was most comfortable. If she doesn’t know something, she learns. She gets things done and has built an incredible network of contacts for mutual support.
Emma’s integrity never wanes. Her commitment to doing the hard yards and tackling the big jobs gets Impact Meat where it needs to be. That’s often in the early hours of the morning, late into the evening, or across the weekend.
There is nothing I enjoy more than sharing a meal with family and friends, and if that is on our farm, even better. At the moment, our focus there is on regenerative projects and tending to our cattle. We’re constantly looking to improve the landscape, whether that’s planting trees, fencing off riparian zones, or attracting native wildlife.
I feel like it’s now my time to be back in the country. It’s where my heart has always been. And having Emma home with me means I have the constant comfort of a friend.
Impact Meat is a premium dry beef snack range. For information and stockists, visit their website.
To hear more extraordinary stories about women living in rural and regional Australia, listen to our podcast Life on the Land on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms.
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