Women from far and wide attend special event

As a young woman, she founded Merry People, the gumboot manufacturer for Australian women who live on and off the farm.

Dani spoke about how she used the resilience she earned from growing up in Gippsland and in a family of mixed ethnicity to build her brand and company.

In the early days of her business, Dani had a stall at Farm World where she sold her Merry Boots and used direct customer feedback to guide her design ideas.

Stephanie (Steph) Trethewey married a man who was raised on a farm in Tasmania and, although both of them were working as journalists, she followed him when he wanted to return to farming in rural Tasmania.

Feeling isolated and with a young family, Steph founded Motherland Australia, an online community to connect women like her, raising families in rural communities.

Steph has gone on to develop a podcast series and authored a book of stories related to her by other mothers.

She received the 2024 Australian of the Year in Tasmania award and in 2022 was the national winner of the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award.

Telstra has sponsored the women in agriculture lunch at Farm World since its inception.

Telstra is also sponsoring the autumn series of podcasts produced by Steph for Motherland Australia.