Listed: Meet seven innovative businesswomen from the Adelaide Hills
A “reformed burnt-out” lawyer, a vet changing the way pets end their lives and a booming candlestick maker – we look at what drives these Adelaide Hills entrepreneurs.
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The Adelaide Hills is home to many dedicated businesswomen leaving a mark on their chosen industries.
From lawyers to artists and from veterinarians to candle makers, Hills women are making moves in the business world.
The Advertiser has already profiled inspiring women from the Adelaide’s north, south, the Murraylands and the South-East and these are the stories behind seven of the Adelaide Hills’ most innovative women in business.
Do you know a local business leader we’ve missed? Email dylan.hogarth@news.com.au
ELLA WALKER
Ella Walker’s explosion in the business world saw her turn a maternity-leave side project into a thriving national brand.
The mum thought she would try candlemaking for fun but was soon hand-pouring dozens of candles a week in her home laundry.
Seven years later, that passion project has developed into the Etikette fragrance brand manufacturing more than 120,000 products annually that are stocked in more than 500 stores across Australia.
Ms Walker said her passion for candlemaking came from love of storytelling through scents and the way smell invoked a sense of nostalgia.
“I like the idea that scents and fragrances can transport you back to a time and place in an instant,” she said.
“Personally I was someone who moved around and travelled a lot as a younger person and totally related to feelings of nostalgia and homesickness so I liked the idea you could connect back to a place through scents.”
The brand started with a small collection of scents named after South Australian locations but quickly evolved into a national collection.
As the business grew Ms Walker partnered up with her sister Georgia Walker and they soon had a purpose-built candlemaking studio in Bridgewater – the only facility of its type in SA.
The candlemaker said she was proud of what her brand had achieved in the area of female-led manufacturing.
“Etikette has carved out a really interesting place for women in manufacturing – it’s female-led manufacturing, it’s and independently-owned female-operated business,” she said.
“Nestled in the heart of the wine region of the Adelaide Hills, it’s so nice to be doing something different but also so powerfully about South Australia much like the wines … I feel like we are well-positioned among incredible products that are so inspired by South Australia.”
FIONA SHILTON
This Adelaide Hills lawyer is set on changing the conversation around death by writing wills that “don’t punish those left behind” and “creating estate plans people can live by”.
Fiona Shilton’s successful Nairne business – My Estate Lawyer – is based on the premise of compassion.
“The legal industry is placing itself in the dispute resolution space … you walk in to see a lawyer to fix a problem and it’s rare for people to be wanting to seek out advice before you step out on to the playing field,” Ms Shilton said.
“Death is a life cycle event and will happen to everybody but I’m placing myself with the living and providing a service telling people that there are a whole heap of avoidable problems and I’m going to help you avoid them.”
Ms Shilton’s step to launching her own business came about in 2020 when she was left disillusioned with the legal industry but ready to inject some of her philosophies into the profession.
The self-described “reformed burnt-out corporate and family lawyer” has found pride in doing things her way.
It’s earned her the 2022 Emerging SA Woman Award and when accepting the award she spoke about how the venture was born out of learning from mistakes.
“(It was a mistake) spending over a decade of my life thinking that I was cut out for dispute-focused law and believing that empathy, care, and vulnerability weren’t welcome in lawyering; I was wrong,” she said.
She takes that compassionate approach into every business decision she makes. However, for Ms Shilton, success is relative.
“I see success as freedom that carries independence,” she said.
“But I’m giving myself permission to show up and I’m allowing myself to be successful.”
SHEREE EDWARDS
A love of nature led this passionate champion for the environment to create a business where she could engaged with her passions full time.
Sheree Edwards is an environment consultant and is often engaged as an ecologist, botanist, a project manager, a native vegetation specialist and an engagement facilitator.
She describes herself as a “crazy plant nerd” and her knowledge of native vegetation has been built on the back of 20 years of working with native vegetation in SA.
The mother describes herself as an explorer at heart and a conservationist and she has a proud association with Landcare SA, serving as chairperson and a committee member.
Ms Edwards spent more than 12 years working for the Department of Environment Water and National Resources before branching out as a sole-trader.
For about five years, she grew her own business as an environmental consultant offering a range of services to government, land managers and business.
Last year, a business partnership led her to launch Terra Gana, one of the state’s emerging collaborations in the environmental and community consulting industry.
“We deliver high-quality, tailor-made solutions to manage, monitor and transform our natural landscapes,” she said.
“We seek to build collective knowledge with communities and clients to make that happen.
“We are all-terrain; from the boardroom to the paddock and the outback … our consultants are equipped and experienced in remote travel and work across the country.”
Ms Edwards’ achievements saw her recognised as a finalist in SA Woman Australia’s Rise Award category last year.
NINA COULTHARD
With 20 years’ experience in the industry, veterinarian Nina Coulthard branched out to launch a business offering a special service.
Her venture, Calm Crossings, provides at-home pet euthanasia across the Hills and surrounding areas, allowing owners a chance to farewell pets in a familiar and peaceful environment, surrounded by their loved ones.
Dr Coulthard said helping release pets from pain in a peaceful and dignified manner was an owner’s “last great act of love for them”.
“Natural death is often not peaceful and painless, it’s often drawn out and horrible,” she said.
“For pet owners who are faced with pets with terminal illness or very elderly pets that we’ve reached the end of their palliative care measures, to have the option to let the pet pass peacefully before they lose all their dignity is a nice thing to do.”
Dr Coulthard said it was often a difficult decision for owners.
“I spend a fair bit of time talking to people about when the right time is and a lot of the time it’s from a pet point of view – as a vet that is my number-one priority – but also from a personal point of view,” she said.
“It’s horrendous having to deal with it, but like birth, death is a pretty natural part of life and if we can make it as bearable as possible, that’s the aim.”
Dr Coulthard – who also manages an Australia-wide team of vets offering telephone advice – said she was moved to start her business after recognising a need for such a service in the Hills.
“There are no euthanasia services in the Hills, unless your regular vet is able to offer that service but that is getting harder and harder for clinics … we have a national vet shortage and more pets than ever before,” she said.
RACHAEL DONNELLY
Rachael Donnelly is the hairdresser for those who don’t like going to the hairdresser.
Her mobile business is designed for those who don’t have time or prefer not to visit a salon.
Ms Donnelly said her work was all about being adaptable to people’s lifestyles and individual needs.
“I love going to people’s homes, it’s way more chilled, it’s much more of a natural environment, people are more relaxed and it’s a better experience for the client,” she said.
“Some people don’t like going to the salon, some people have anxiety about it, some people don’t have time.”
The single mum said she had worked in salons all her life, but taking her work into client’s homes had a more personal feel.
“You get to know people better, you get to build amazing relationships,” she said.
Originally from the UK, Ms Donnelly said she first started working as a mobile barber in England in around 2009.
It was a campervan trip across Australia in 2012 that made her pick SA to settle in.
When she moved Down Under at the end of 2014 she was quick to resume her work as a mobile barber.
“I loved Adelaide, I went to most of the states but Adelaide was my favourite place, it was everything I thought Australia would be when you have an idea in your head and Adelaide was it,” she said.
“South Australia has super friendly people, I mean everyone here is really friendly.”
AMY-LEE KING
Amy-Lee King’s passion for fashion has seen her offer something no other clothing store in the region does.
Growing up in the area, Ms King said it was always clear there were few clothing stores forcing Hills dwellers to shop online.
She said online shoppers faced long delivery wait times, hoping the item would arrive, would fit right and meet expectations of the buyer.
It was this hassle that inspired her go into business and launch her own online store – Wildly Inspired Boutique – but with a few points of difference to target local customers.
Through a click-and-collect option and free local delivery, her goal was to provide the Hills with quick access to beautiful brands and styles.
Ms King said it was always a dream to launch her own clothing store from a young age.
“I used to work at a clothing store from when I was 14 … it was the only real up-to-date modern clothing store but it shut up shop,” she said.
Then she got into hospitality before working as a carer but when Covid hit Ms King said decided she needed to chase her dream.
“I thought ‘I’m not filling my own cup up any more, it’s not what I’m passionate about’ … I was sick of working and not feeling like I was achieving anything,” she said.
And in June 2022, she launched the business and it became her full-time job.
While Ms King concedes she still has hard work ahead of her, her future vision is to have a Wildly Inspired Boutique storefront for the community to have the full retail experience.
CORALIE TALBOT
An artist has combined her love for painting and indoor plants turning it into a unique and popular business.
Coralie Talbot’s Coral and Blush venture kicked off in 2020, just before Covid after she painted some plant pots and posted them on Facebook marketplace.
They proved popular and she quickly realised there was high demand for decorative pots to cater for the growing indoor plant craze.
“I think it coincided well with the inside plant boom – there wasn’t a lot of variety in pots and people seemed to really love the art,” Ms Talbot said.
She suddenly had a following of people from all over the state wanting her art on pots.
Ms Talbot said her craft soon had people wanting to get in on the creative action themselves, with customers suggesting she ran workshops.
She obliged and another popular part of her business was born.
“It was like the current ‘paint and sip’ craze, before ‘paint and sip’ was a thing,” she said.
“I started doing workshops at people’s houses, at things like hen’s parties, birthdays.
Her art has become sought after and is no longer limited to just pots – Ms Talbot does wall art commissions and has murals across the state.
The busy mother describes Coral and Blush as a “side hustle” as she also works at the Federal Court in native title legal case work.
“It’s a side gig, but having said that I run workshops nearly every weekend, at any time I have about 30 commissions on the go, it keeps me very busy.”
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