Hello friends and HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY! Today we are celebrating all ladies around the world – shout out to you for being AMAZING! International Women’s Day is all about empowerment and recognition of some of the amazing achievements of Women so we thought today we would interview none other than Jane Hutcherson. Jane is not only one of the owners of the Freshwater Farm property, she is also our Finance Director. Jane is also a Co-Director of Soap Solutions, the manufacturing side of our business where we make all of the our beautiful products on the Northern Beaches.
Jane please tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi I am Jane and I am all about style, heath and the beach lifestyle! These elements have all helped to shape Freshwater Farm, to create a brand that is a true reflection our values and vision, which I believe makes us so unique. I am a mother of 2 and a grandmother of 5 and it gives me great pleasure watching the next generation become more and more involved in our brand. I lead an enormously busy life but it’s all worth while getting to play a role in such a successful brand.
What inspired you to begin in the personal care industry?
My husband, Al, had wanted to buy a soap plant in 1993. To be quite honest at first I did not think it was a very good idea haha…I said what on earth are we going to do with that! As I mentioned I have always been interested in Health and Wellbeing so I guess I took this an opportunity to use my knowledge in those areas to ensure we create products that align with what I believe are genuinely good for people. We agreed that if we were to start making soap we wanted to do it right. I think in the past there has been a real gap in the market for what I believe to be high quality personal care that is ethically manufactured in Australia, I wanted to change this. This motivated us to ensure our products would be environmentally friendly and made with high quality, well researched ingredients right here in Australia.
How has Freshwater Farm changed since you first began?
The Freshwater Farm brand itself developed in 2018 and was inspired by our recently purchased Farm on the Mid-North Coast. On the Farm already there was existing an Tea Tree and Lemon Scented Tea Tree plantation. Since then we have planted Lemon Myrtle and started producing Manuka Honey from bees feeding on the Lemon Scented Tea Tree. It brings me great pleasure seeing all of the beautiful ingredients from the farm that we worked so hard to nurture and grow actually be used in our own products. I love knowing exactly what goes into the products we make because we have created the ingredients ourselves. I am so proud of the high quality look and feel we have achieved.
What is your favourite thing about Freshwater Farm as a brand?
My favourite part about the brand is reading all of the wonderful feedback from customers about the products. It’s such a great feeling when people really appreciate what you believe in and worked so hard to achieve. It’s been amazing being able to tell our story and have people really resonate with us and our products. I really think people can tell the difference with Freshwater Farm because you can feel all of devotion and hard work that goes in everyday. It wasn’t easy to get to where we are and I think people really appreciate that and want to be part of building the story.
What is your best piece of advice for any women wanting to start her own business?
I think my best piece of advice is finding a blend. I think you always need to bring your own blend of values into everything you do so that is has a soul and represents who you are. People will always gravitate to what is genuine and there is no better way to do that than bring your own personal touch. I managed to find a blend between what’s important to me – my family, career, health and vitality – and I brought all of these with me into Freshwater Farm.
Thank you so much for your time Jane!
We hope you enjoyed this special interview. Let us know if you have anymore questions for Jane!
Lots of love,