Shine Awards: Yolky Dokey’s story of heartbreak and success

When faced with tragedy, the couple behind Yolky Dokey turned to healing by working the land as they grieved.

Life has a way of both taking from you, and giving when you need it most.

Gabrielle Banay and Jacqui Lanarus know this better than anyone else.

When their daughter, Lily, was killed in a car accident in 2018, just weeks shy of her 21st birthday, the couple turned to farming as a way of channelling their grief in a productive way.

What followed was a flurry of work in a matter of weeks, including leasing 20 hectares of farmland in Somerville, Victoria, and the purchase of about 1000 chickens in pursuit of Lily’s dream: to own a bush block, running a beauty salon on-site while also pasture-raising chickens and selling their free-range eggs.

“It was what kept us going and sustained us during that early time,” Jacqui said.

“Working so hard on that site gave us something to focus on, and a reason to get up every morning.”

In their grief, her mothers brought her dream to life, in what culminated as the business Yolky Dokey.

Gab and Jacqui at Yolky Dolky have transformed the pasture raised farming industry through hard work, building strong relationships and following a dream born out of tragedy. Picture: Zoe Phillips

And as much as their farm has supported and healed them on their journey through tragedy, so too have the couple worked to heal and regenerate the land upon which they work.

Yolky Dokey now farms 4200 Hyline chickens on a new site at Main Ridge, and farms strictly in a sustainable, regenerative way, with no chemical inputs.

Chickens are rotated every 24 hours through pastures to increase soil biodiversity, and Gabrielle and Jacqui supply only the local Mornington Peninsula region.

“We were wanting to create the most delicious eggs, the best eggs, because we were doing it for Lily,” Gabrielle said.

“And we’ve always had a lot of pride in that. The chickens are happier being on beautiful pasture, and you can see that in the colour of their yolks.”

While Gabrielle and Jacqui entered farming as a way to honour their daughter’s memory, they knew they wanted to farm in a way that would give something back to the land.

“At the end of the day, we just want this to be the best product possible,” Jacqui said.

“We definitely want quality in front of any profits we’re going to make.”

Jacqui said she was certain Lily would be “thrilled” with how her parents’ pursuit of her dream had panned out.

“I think she’d think we were two crazy, middle-aged women, and there would be days where she would have refused to come to work because it was windy or cold,” Jacqui said.

“But I feel she would be so proud of us in many ways, for completing something on her bucket list, but also using it as a tool to manage our grief, and to direct that grief in a positive way.

Gab and Jacqui created Yolkey Dokey from nothing and with no farming experience to become significant suppliers of pasture raised eggs in Victoria as well as educators, employers and role models to strong women everywhere. Picture: Zoe Phillips

“Even though, every day, I still have terrible moments of pain and crying. I feel she would have been proud that we found a way, a tool, to help ourselves and to be outside in nature. Nature does something to your mind, and it just brings inner peace.”