Mildura’s top business women including Deborah Bongenhuber, Lisa Allan, Kerryne McLelland
There are plenty of amazing business women in the Mildura region. Here’s some of the most inspiring.
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From founders to managers – running for-profits, not-for-profits and social enterprises – Mildura has no shortage of businesswomen making waves.
The Mildura News asked for readers to suggest who was inspiring them and then spoke with the nominations.
Here’s why they are having an impact in the business world.
Deborah Bongenhuber, Food Next Door, Out of the Box
Food Next Door set out to address three problems: access to local produce, new migrant farmers not having access to land and the large amount of under-utilised land in the region.
What resulted was a member-focused co-operative that finds solutions to each of these problems.
Co-founder Deborah Bogenhuber said on the food production side, Food Next Door incubates small-scale farmers by providing access to land, training, tools, equipment and water to grow food.
Land share agreements are entered into with private landholders.
Then the distribution of food is handled through Out of the Box, a weekly local produce box scheme run on a subscription model.
About 90 customers get this produce delivered either weekly or fortnightly.
Bogenhuber has a background in freshwater ecology, which helped inspire the project.
“I’ve always had an interest in how things are connected and the relationship between things in the ecosystem,” she said.
Food Next Door is a certified social enterprise and Bogenhuber said it was having positive wellbeing benefits for participating farmers.
Nicola Harrison, Farmgate Nursery
Looking for a way to get back into the workforce after being a stay-at-home mum, Nicola Harrison set up Farmgate Nursery two years ago.
As she worked away on a certificate III in horticulture, the business was basically started from scratch.
Initially, people booked into pick up plants when they could.
In the second year, the business opened on weekends.
With certificate in hand, Harrison and her husband now open the doors during the week too.
The business now employs another person and is about to open seven days a week.
It’s also “tripled in size in two years”, has partnered up with a wholesaler and gone out to markets.
“We’ve got two greenhouses going up,” she said.
“In future I’m looking at building a shop, so I can put the decor in, and putting in more product lines.”
Lisa Allan, LA Personal Training and Yoga
After 10 years in finance and time working in restaurants, Lisa Allan turned to her third industry.
She trained as personal trainer, did a body sculpting competition and began working at a gym.
Soon, she started her own business at home, which is growing with each year.
One studio became two and Allan now does yoga classes as well.
She said all of her experience had come together, because she would be dealing with finance, food and the health industry through her business.
Now with more than 100 clients, Allan said she would continue to look to expand.
“We’re branching out, we’ve just put in a big outdoor sauna,” she said.
“Eventually expansion is on the horizon … each year I just increase something or add something to the business.”
Ash Loveridge, CDC Mildura
As service delivery manager for CDC Mildura, Ash Loveridge’s role spans both Sunraysia and Broken Hill.
She oversees the day-to-day operations of the business, including the office, bus drivers, charters and a workshop.
Making sure school buses are on time and government departments have the information they need is all part of the job.
After Loveridge finished Year 12, she had no idea what she wanted to do.
But at 19 she began a traineeship in administration, which led to a receptionist role and then administration manager.
When CDC purchased the business in late 2018, the general manager retired and Loveridge stepped up.
Loveridge, soon to be a mum-of-two, said it was a challenging role but she liked it that way.
She said she was supported by a great team.
“I like working with a whole range of different personalities and we definitely have that here,” she said.
“We have the older generations and the younger ones coming through, all of which I get along with.”
Leah Baynes, Willow & Ivie
The picturesque Willow & Ivie in Nichols Point is a family-owned venue and restaurant.
It hosts weddings, funerals, christenings, Christmas functions and more.
Leah Baynes said when the family started building the business five years ago the space was “a prickle patch”.
“We were at that time in our lives when a few of our friends were getting married and we’d seen venues around the state,” Baynes said.
“We just loved the idea and didn’t feel like there was anything that could offer this kind of thing in Mildura.”
COVID-19 hasn’t been kind to event-based businesses in 2020.
Baynes said two wedding seasons were lost, with many bookings due to take place this year pushed back to next year.
But things are starting to get back to normal at Willow & Ivie, including live music on Sundays, and with all the delays bookings are hard to come by in the 12 months ahead.
“It will be a busy year next year,” Baynes said.
Ashton Kreuzer, Mildura Paddle Steamers
The third generation in a family business, it didn’t take long for Ashton Kreuzer to literally be shown the ropes at Mildura Paddle Steamers.
Growing up, she spent plenty of time on the boats helping out.
But she was also encouraged to try other things and explore other opportunities, so her first career stop was as a teacher.
While on maternity leave, she was helping out with the business and began working on functions and events such as the PS Melbourne’s centenary festival.
“It got me thinking about other ideas for the business,” she said.
Kreuzer then began taking on more responsibilities, from special cruises to social media, advertising and promotion.
As marketing manager, she this year put herself forward as a public face for the business as COVID-19 border restrictions caused a raft of impacts.
This drew attention to the problems that were faced by being a tourism business that picks up customers from Victoria but operates in New South Wales.
Kreuzer said it was about fighting to keep the business alive.
While the business isn’t out of strife yet, things are getting better, and the Mundoo is about to return to action.
“A lot of the time, businesses don’t keep going through generations, so I’m proud to be keeping my grandparents’ legacy alive but also doing it in my own right and my own way,” she said.
Kerryne McLelland, Diggerland Community Services
At different times of the day, Kerryne McLelland could be wearing all sorts of different hats.
Red Cliffs not-for-profit charity DCS runs the cafe Good Golly, disability services, aged care services and a cost-free cafe for food hampers and meals.
Executive officer McLelland started the operation 15 years ago with disability services, with DCS writing person-centred programs for clients.
“We’re very much a one-on-one or two-on-one service,” she said.
When it began, McLelland was working another job, but now she’s full-time at DCS and oversees a team of volunteers.
“I make it a bit of a philosophy of mine that I don’t ask my staff to do anything that I won’t do myself,” she said.
“I like to get hands on and get involved in it all.
“Whatever it takes, if its packing a hamper or taking food out to people, I do like to get involved.”
She said Red Cliffs as a community worked well together to achieve good outcomes for the town, including both for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises.
“I’ve got an absolute passion for Red Cliffs,” she said.
“We look around and if there’s a hole somewhere we try and fill it
“We’re not trying to duplicate or replicate what anyone else is doing, we like to work hand-in-glove over here.”
Emily Tasci, Hair & Beauty on Darling
Not many people can say they owned their own business at 18.
But Emily Tasci did just that and 12 years later, her Wentworth salon is going strong.
Tasci had completed her apprenticeship when in 2008, the previous owner of the business decided to move on.
“I thought bugger it, I’ll buy a business and maybe run it for two or three years,” she said.
“It sort of started off quiet and then it took off.”
Tasci said she began to attract a new wave of clientele and now, such is the demand, she is no longer taking new bookings.
She enjoys the social and creative aspects of hairdressing.
The Wentworth community also provided strong support.
“It’s just a fantastic little thriving community,” Tasci said.
“I don’t think people realise just how bubbling it is at the moment – we’ve got a good lot of other small businesses as well.”
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