Women Behind Wool

Sorry guys, we've been a bit MIA but we are here now to round out the 2022 season of Women Behind Wool and to say a big fat thank you for listening and supporting this project of ours.

In this chat we revisit what's been achieved to-date and get excited about what's to come in 2023.

While we wait for 2023 to roll around please stay in touch via @womenbehindwool on Instagram where we are planning some lovely features in the coming months. And as always we would love feedback on what you're loving (or not) and your fabulous guest suggestions for the next season of Women Behind Wool.

This week our guest is Julie Davies, General Manager for process innovation and education extension at the Woolmark Company.

Her work is largely involved in product development and also education, mostly of people along the supply chain, so the likes of garment manufacturers, textile dyers and developers and the like.

Julie’s perspective on wool is quite different from any other we have profiled on Women Behind Wool.

She's been based in Sydney all her life and never really had much connection to the process of growing wool but she’s one of the best when it comes to knowing how to get the most out of wool as a natural fibre.

We love that she has always had a love for textiles and making clothes and that through years of professional development, she really is at the top of her game in the field of using wool in innovative new fabrics and textiles.

Today we interview Sally and Olivia Falkiner from Haddon Rig merino stud near Warren in central west NSW. Sally met her husband George Falkiner at Haddon Rig as a backpacker and never left. Sally and George were married and had four daughters and so this story is all about these women have worked tirelessly as a part of the Haddon Rig empire for years gone by and (hopefully) many more years to come.

Visit the sheep pavilion at any local show around Australia and there’s a fair chance the punters know Kristen Frost (nee Williams) of Thalabah Stud at Laggan on the NSW southern tablelands. If it’s not for her work re-birthing the family’s stud operation, then chances are they’ve read her articles as the national sheep and wool writer in the The Land newspaper.

“I’m a fifth generation woolgrower and a first generation national sheep and wool writer,” says Kristen with a smile. Each is of equal importance to her and they complement each other in a rare way. “It’s what makes my life a bit special ... Being a writer really, really helps me understand my business.”

Emma Billett is a 32 year old shearer from central west New South Wales. She never intended to be a shearer but found she loved the atmosphere and the physicality of working in the shearing shed on her family's farm near Nevertire. One day, a colleague asked if she wanted to give shearing a go and Emma has been shearing ever since.

Emma tells Skye about a time when there were no other women in the sheds, and how she's seen that change in recent years, a wonderful thing, she says.

Vanessa Bell is the founder of Vanessa Bell baby blankets, bespoke 100 Australian Merino Wool baby blankets, knitted with care over 3 months by an expert team of hand knitters. Vanessa's blankets are one-off pieces that have been sold all over the world.

Vanessa didn't grow up on a Merino farm, in fact she came to love wool as a catwalk model at age 15. She's a wool farmer now, but Ness is a great example of the passion, pride and ingenuity that can happen when fresh eyes are cast on an age-old industry. In the future, she's determined to bring wool scouring back to Australia and to knit blankets using Merino wool from her own flock, in order to discover a true farmer to fashion product.

Maggie MacKellar is an author and writer who lives with her partner Jim on a fine wool farm on the east coast of Tasmania. As a child she used to love spending time on her grandparents sheep farm in central west NSW but they were vastly different sheep, they were Dorsets, Poll Dorsets and Black Faced Suffolks.

When Maggie moved to Tasmania 10 years ago, she fell in love with the curious ways of the Merino sheep. She made it her mission to take time to watch their temperament, they way they ate, mothered and many other intricate details of the Merino sheep - and then she would write about her observations.

In recent time Maggie has written numerous columns for lifestyle magazines, Graziher and Country Style, detailing in beautiful words a day in her life as a fine wool farmer and in 2023 she will be releasing her latest book, The Lambing Diaries.

Cathy Wendelborn is arguably the best female shearer to have existed in the world. This year she was the first female to be inducted into Australia’s Shearing Hall of Fame.

Cathy was a self-taught shed and competition shearer who shore sheep in all Australian states (except NT) for 21 years.

She used competition shearing as a way to improve her style and skills. In those competitions she came second a number of times and often she won, much to the disgust of the boys.

In 1988 for the Australian Bicentenary she was invited to shear in front of the Queen – where she presented her royal highness with a staple of wool.

This is her story.....

See more at www.womenbehindwool.com.au or @womenbehindwool

This is a production of the Manson Podcasting Network.

Meet the women behind Women Behind Wool, Skye Manson of the Manson Podcasting Network and Penny Ashby, designer and founder of Lady Kate which sells beautiful jumpers made of 100% Australian merino wool. Both of these women, who are the greatest of friends, grew up on fine wool farms in the southern tablelands of New South Wales and have a love of Australian wool sewn into their hearts. In our first episode for 2022, Penny and Skye flip the mic on each other so that you can learn more about their own journey's in the Australian wool industry.

Over the next eight weeks we will be bringing you the stories of impressive women working, living and breathing the Australian merino wool industry.

Over the next eight weeks we will be bringing you the stories of impressive women working, living and breathing the Australian merino wool industry.

Subscribe to this podcast and each Wednesday morning at 6am we'll introduce you to a new fabulous women in the wool industry each week.

You can see the women in some beautiful imagery on @womenbehindwool on Instagram as well as on our website www.womenbehindwool.com.au

Explore more podcasts from the Manson Podcasting Network on Apple Podcasts or @mansonpodcasting on Instagram.

Explore Lady Kate's 100% merino wool jumpers, socks and scarves at @ladykateknitware on Instagram.

Pip Smith and her husband Norm run a holistic fine merino operation near Wellington in NSW and they absolutely love the fibre they produce, they believe in their wool and are proud of how they manage their farm to get the best for their animals.

These guys are holistic farmers, who don’t mules their sheep, the use SRS techniques and don’t mules their sheep and after many conversations, trips overseas, research and testing, Pip Smith has been able to not only sell their wool directly to a processor in China, but they also receive a portion of that processed wool back to their farm, which Pip then has turned into scarves, baby wraps, beanies and so on.

The path to get to this point was long, and with many hurdles, but now that Pip has broken the back of the system, she’s happy to share her contacts, her learnings and to generally help anyone else who’s interested.