Nikki Davey, Glenmore, Victoria, never expected that she would live and work on the family property she grew up on.
But when succession planning came into play, it became clear that she not only would, but she would thrive.
The co-founder of Grown Not Flown was announced as the 2023 Rural Woman of the Year this week in Canberra, an award she said she never thought she would receive.
Grown Not Flown is a free digital platform and app to connect consumers with local sustainable flower farmers, reducing 'flower miles' and supporting micro economies.
Ms Davey said she's "not a natural born farmer", despite now being entrenched in the industry.
"The property is just over 300 acres... my mum and dad pretty much always ran it as a hobby farm, small-scale beef cattle," Ms Davey said.
"When we took over the farm we were all still working fulltime so we wanted to do something that wasn't going to require us to be on the property and as hands-on as what livestock takes.
"We started with truffles - we engaged with a truffle consultant which was quite a lengthy process, it was two years of soil work before the trees went in the ground."
Ms Davey said in the coming months she plans to launch a similar product to Grown Not Flown for farmers to distribute produce direct to consumers - and for her family to sell the truffles.
Announced as the runner-up at the awards was Michelle Leonard from Coonamble in New South Wales.
Ms Leonard is the founder, artistic director and conductor of Moorambilla Voices, a choir which brings children aged between eight and 18 together to connect to country.
"Moorambilla Voices has been an artistic venture to counter-balance a lot of the brain drain that has been significantly impacting the opportunities for excellence and equity educationally but particularly artistically in western New South Wales," she said.
Ms Leonard said she hoped the award and the attention that came with it would amplify the importance of the arts in rural and regional areas.
"If you can stand up and perform new art music with a chamber orchestra in front of a very large audience, you can very easily go for a job interview," she said.
The other finalists for the award were Ali Paulett, founder of Bush Devine, SA, Emma Gibbons, founder of Huds and Toke, Qld, Melissa Duniam, founder of Leading Rein, TAS, and Michelle Moriarty, founder of Grief Connect, WA.
Each state winner receives a $15,000 Westpac grant, while Ms Leonard will receive an additional $15,000, and Ms Davey will receive an additional $20,000 in prize money.
