A Friend of Mine by OAK Magazine

This is an audio version of an article published in OAK Magazine Issue 11. Narrated by Kristy Reading. A painful and emotional medical journey placed Amanda Keller with the unenviable title of being in the top 10 per cent of worst cases in the state for her diagnosis, but life beyond recover has lit a fire in this remarkably strong woman to raise awareness about the condition that had been silentl...

Take Me Somewhere is a podcast by OAK Magazine. This episode of Take Me Somewhere has been recorded live in our mobile podcast van at the Riverine Plains Innovation Expo Field Day held in Yarrawonga on July 28 2022.  Many successful small businesses start life from the kitchen table, and Sarah Armstrong’s story is no different. Sparked from a conversation overheard at her parent’s kitchen tab...

Fiona Landford and her husband Wayne have fostered 32 children and adopted four along with being biological parents to their daughter Jess. Fiona’s career started out in special education. It was through her work and her children that she saw a growing need for services that would proactively support not only isolated and/or disadvantaged families but also neurodivergent children and their familie...

From her home in Western Australia, Emma Williams founded Maxx Marketing (formerly SociallyEm ) at age 28. It is now a multi-million dollar empire powered by a team of more than 30 staff - 40% of whom are based in her home state of WA. It hasn’t all been a smooth run to success. Prior Maxx Marketing, Emma lost her first business – along with a treasured friendship. Despite being $80,000 in debt an...

This is a special mini series featuring this year’s AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award Victorian finalists.  Grace Larson is a third generation nurse, and although she didn’t set out to follow in the footsteps of her grandmother and mother, she found herself drawn to the profession. Through her 15 years experience working as a paediatric intensive care nurse, Grace knows how important timely acc...

This is a special mini series featuring this year’s AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award Victorian finalists.  Nikki Davey is the co-founder and CEO of Grown Not Flown , a digital platform and marketplace dedicated to promoting and selling locally grown flowers and produce. As a relatively new flower farmer herself, Nikki is using her skills in digital product development and analytics management...

This is a special mini series featuring this year’s AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award Victorian finalists.  Through her own experiences as a migrant to Australia, Neha recognised that opportunities are often down to who you know, not what you know. This disadvantage is even more acute for women living in regional areas like Neha’s hometown of Shepparton. Identifying an opportunity to bridge the...

This is a special mini series featuring this year’s AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award Victorian finalists.  Sarah is a paediatric critical care nurse at the Royal Children’s Hospital and has cared for many critically injured children and those with complex medical needs whose parents navigate the medical world from home every single day. Many of these children reside in regional and rural Austr...

Have you ever wondered what's happened in the life of a previous podcast guest? Well, in this special catch up episode we speak with Sarah Gee from Curium Legal. Sarah was on the verge of throwing away 15 years of training and hard work as a business and commercial lawyer before deciding to forge a career on her own terms. She launched her business Curium Legal in 2020. We first spoke with Sarah i...

There is no other job that requires you to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week and Louise O’Neill believes farming should not be the exception. The sports therapist and mental health coach has spent the past six years helping men and women in the bush to shift their mindset and challenge the unconventional paradigms facing farming communities. Her passion stems from a personal level, having see...

Nikki Davey is a co-founder of Grown Not Flown - a digital platform supporting the slow flower movement to reduce flower miles, boost local economies and showcase the best our flower industry has to offer. Launched in 2021 during the pandemic, Grown Not Flown started as a social media platform showcasing and promoting local farmers growing seasonal blooms. It quickly morphed into an app to facilit...

A desire for a change in pace and a life-long love of her grandmother’s cooking led burnt-out Melbourne PR executive Greta Donaldson to a new life, and a new business - Bendigo Brittle. Greta was inspired to establish the business after whipping up a batch of peanut brittle for a family Christmas gathering. The brittle was a huge hit and she began to consider options for sale. Bendigo Brittle has...

OAK Magazine founder and editor Kimberley Furness takes us behind the scenes of her incredible journey as this year's AgriFutures Rural Women's Award state (VIC) winner and national runner-up. A big thank you to guest host Erin Auld, a former breakfast radio announcer, OAK contributor and long time friend. ABOUT OUR SPONSOR MAC&ERNIE Are you always stressing and guessing when it comes to your...

This special episode was recorded live for the National Farmers' Federation through its Women in Agriculture Leadership Facebook Group.  Kimberley Furness, founder + editor of print publication OAK Magazine, and regional business owner and Diversity in Agricultural Leadership graduate Pru Cook are both entrepreneurs, mums and changemakers based in regional Victoria. While Kimberley, a seasone...

If you’re an NBA 2K23 gamer, you’ll have noticed there is a new player on the Pelicans roster and he hails from my hometown Bendigo in Central Victoria. Australian basketballer Dyson Daniels is the latest star to be drafted into the NBA. The 19 year old went at number 8 to the New Orleans Pelicans and has signed a four year contract rumoured to be around $US25M with $US5.5M earned in his rookie se...

Erika McInerney is the OG of social media marketing having laid the foundations of her business Mac&Ernie in 2015 before officially launching in early 2016. In just four months, the demand was there for her to quit her part time job to work in the business full time. Erika has been working in advertising and digital marketing for over 25 years and shares that practical experience and knowledge...

Take a listen to our new podcast show recorded live in our mobile podcast van. Hello I’m Kimberley Furness, the host of A Friend of Mine podcast. As a print journalist, I have fallen in love with podcasting - I cannot get enough of it - so it’s no surprise that I’ve launched a new show called Take Me Somewhere.  This one is a little different in that I travel around in my mobile podcast...

You don’t exactly plan to have a business in another country but that’s how it panned out for Chris Edwards, and it’s working well. Chris followed her husband to Singapore as a “trailing spouse’ in 2008 during the global financial crisis. She struggled to find a job that matched her strong marketing background, skills sets and pay expectations, and instead found herself stuck between jobs that did...

Sarah Stamm is an interior designer turned creator of handmade treasures. As the founder of Salisbury and Maude , Sarah creates exquisite, luxurious and beautiful wreaths, quilts and knitted keepsakes from her home in Beechworth, Victoria. Sarah doesn’t take her creative life for granted. Aged 22, she was crossing the street in Sydney when she was run over by a bicycle courier. The nerves in her r...

Patrina Roberts and her family have a motto, ‘Always rainbows after rain… and then dance in the sunshine.’ It’s a motto their family adopted 11 years ago when their eldest was diagnosed with Leukaemia. Those words have provided strength and knowledge that life is so very short and such a gift.  Patrina recalls having to push through some very dark days, working three jobs to pay back the debt...

Cas Watene left her 9-5 job at 20 when she became too sick from her first pregnancy to keep working. She devoted her early 20s to raising her four kids. Cas started in network marketing in 2013 quickly rising to top sales person in Australia with the company and earning incentive trips and decent commissions. In 2018, she stumbled into cake decorating with no skills or qualifications and launched...

Four years ago, Leslie Carvitto left a 9-5 digital marketing job for her own creative pursuits and she refers to it as ‘one of the best decisions of my life’. While she was working at the digital marketing agency, Leslie started experimenting with photography and writing. She began defining herself as a multi-passionate creative, and started to let go of the idea that she needed to grow up and out...

After years as a CEO in the not-for-profit sector, Linda Goldspink-Lord quit the safety net of her job when her health took a turn for the worse. In 2012, Linda experienced every parent's worst nightmare when her daughter Molly was killed in a tragic accident on their property in the Illawarra. Having also recently lost her mother, and suffered major health problems of her own, Linda had to find a...

Transitioning back to work after parental leave is hard. As Sarah Gee watched her return to work date creep closer, she began to feel an internal struggle between wanting to spend precious time with her son and needing to maintain her standing in the workplace. Sarah was on the verge of throwing away 15 years of training and hard work as a business and commercial lawyer before deciding to forge a...

It’s time to explore our own backyard in this special travel episode to Maldon in Central Victoria. Maldon is a historical gold mining region between the larger centres of Castlemaine and Bendigo, and just over a 90 minute drive from Melbourne. It is a charming historic town with an added pinch of the arts, fine accommodation and niche retail experiences to add a little sophistication to the count...