Sisters are doing it for themselves

By Kirsten Goode for YBM’s client profile series

Regional Australia is a hotbed of talented and amazing women. Whether it’s the successful city gals wanting a tree change or the born and bred who dream of bigger and better things, women in regional Australia are making extraordinary things happen for themselves, their families and their communities.

One of these women is Pip Brett from JUMBLED, a homewares store based in Orange in the Central West of NSW.

A JUMBLED History

After studying design and textiles at Sydney’s University of Technology (UTS) Pip decided to follow in her mum’s footsteps and opened her first store, the clothing store Iglou in Orange in 2006 followed by JUMBLED in 2011. She runs them together with her team of Jess, Sarah, Celina, Rach and Em.

Situated in the old Masonic hall, appropriately named The Sonic, these two businesses, along with Nimrods cafe, are all combined under one roof in a concept store that aims to inspire and enhance your shopping experience. It’s a space that instantly lifts your mood as soon as you enter.

‘Strong businesses create strong communities’

Running a business in regional Australia can be a challenge in today’s digital obsessed world. It can also be very rewarding as it can open up a whole new avenue of customers you did not previously have access to.

Pip not only embraced the challenge by establishing a very effective on-line presence, she has also made significant headway into the world of social media with 96200 followers on Instagram,  8400 followers on Facebook and over 2000 on Pinterest. She will also be adding a podcast series to her significant on-line credentials called Jumbled-Loves-A-Chat.

Not satisfied with her own success, Pip decided that she wanted to pay it forward and use her knowledge and her network to help other women in business achieve similar outcomes, and from this, The Huddle was born.

The spark

The Huddle low-down

Pip has been dreaming of an event like this for years. Her aim, to hold an event that gathers together the brainstrust of women in business in Australia to share their stories of success and failure and provide tips, tricks and tales.

The huddle is a networking and brainstorming event that seeks to provide its attendees with game-changing information on how to run a successful business. To provide ‘that AH-HA moment, the game changing piece of information, the thing you have wanted to hear and needed to hear’.

‘Your vibe attracts your tribe’

It’s a weekend full of activities including yoga in the vines, cocktails at The sonic and the main event, The Huddle! featuring ‘a killer lineup of amazing guests’ for a day of inspiration and practical knowledge.

The amazing mentors

★ Phoebe Bell – Sage and Clare

★ Julia Green – Greenhouse interiors

★ Amy Clarke – Confetti Rebels

★ Sophie Hansen – Local is Lovely

★ Grace Brennan – Buy from the bush

★ Katy Reed – Rolla Bottle

★ Melissa Robbins – The Lot Co

★ Rebeka Morgan – Build Her Collective

★ Briony Marsh – Fashion Designer

★ Edwina Bartholomew – The Huddle Host

★ Stevie Dillon – Stevie Says Social

The topics:

★ How to use Social media.

★ How to inspire and empower your community.

★ How to create and sell a unique product and,

★ How to go that extra mile for your customers

The objective

‘To empower, educate and change lives’

The original inspiration behind The Huddle was to hold a business event in Orange to help the Orange community. This type of event doesn’t usually take place in regional Australia and Pip was determined to make it happen. Making it a whole weekend event ensured that local businesses and the whole Orange community would benefit from the 450 women staying locally over the 2 day event.  Pip and her team approached local business for sponsorship and began their journey to gather together the rock stars of women in business around Australia. 

YBM jumped at the chance to help get this event off the ground through providing sponsorship. We also sent our three female partners along to check it out.

The outcome

What happened at The Huddle?

The sold out event held on the 8th and 9th of February 2020 attracted women from all around NSW and as far as Perth, Queensland and Victoria. Women at different stages of their lives and their careers.

All three of YBM’s female partners took full advantage of the weekend with the Yoga morning, the cocktail evening and the all-day HUDDLE event. 

Sharon Lord, Christine Whybrow and Cally Woodhouse share their thoughts and inspirations on the event; 

‘Women are out there doing amazing things, changing their paths and directions to suit their families and their passions. It’s a very powerful experience to be surrounded by so many inspiring women.

‘My favourite part of the weekend was listening to the amazing speakers and hearing their personal journeys. Each and every one of them had an inspirational story to tell of how they overcame the odds to excel in their chosen fields.’

Strive for progress and not perfection

‘Women in business face some unique issues juggling career and family and we need to realise that progress rather than perfection is a more realistic goal.’

‘I was in awe listening to Jane Cay, the founder of Birdsnest, talking us through her business journey from the start up of Birdnest to its current day model. Listening to how she overcame challenges in her business as it grew to something bigger than she had ever anticipated was inspirational.’

‘Anything is possible if you believe in yourself and are passionate. Many of these women had stepped out of the corporate life to create awe inspiring businesses, following their passions and taking huge risks in the process. The energy around these stories was powerful and very empowering, I hope to bring some of this energy into our practice.’

The ah-ha moment

With women like Pip championing local businesses and communities, I think the future of regional Australia looks very bright!

Will there be another Huddle next year?

Due to the amazing success of this year’s The Huddle, there are plans to hold one again next year and I, for one, will definitely be booking myself and my friends in for a weekend that ticks all the boxes! relaxing, social and inspirational all in one.

If you don’t want to miss out, or you want to see what went down that weekend, follow Jumbled on  Instagram or Facebook where Pip has created stories about the event and will share all upcoming event news with you.  There is even a Spotify playlist for The Huddle if you are in the mood to be inspired.

YBM proudly supports women in business and will work passionately to help your business succeed. Strong businesses create strong communities! For help with your business advisory needs or just to have a chat to see how we can help, please contact us at: