In the midst of the dust storms and drought of 2019, Buy From the Bush founder Grace Brennan had an idea that would bring the creativity and resilience of rural Australia to the fore.
Above: Buy From the Bush founder, Grace Brennan.
“It was October 2019 and I lived about 70km from Warren on a mixed farming property, which my husband had been managing through what was about our third year of a pretty significant drought,” Grace said.
“I was sitting at my kitchen table when I noticed the local boutique had been featured in a news article about how hard it was doing business in drought – so I shared their page on Facebook and said if you want to support a local business, here’s one that has beautiful Christmas gifts to buy.
“Straightaway, a friend commented to say she was so glad she found this business as she was buying from the bush for Christmas this year.
“That, then, was the seed of an idea planted in my mind that led to the start of Buy From the Bush.”
Humble beginnings
Starting small with just an Instagram account, @buyfromthebush, as a platform to share content from local creative businesses, Grace’s plan to empower rural businesses experiencing hardship soon took off.
By late 2019, Buy From the Bush (BFTB) was the second highest used search term in the country and was fast becoming a household name in both rural and metropolitan Australia.
“I thought if I could start showcasing some of the beautiful things from the impressive businesses around me and other drought-affected communities, maybe then people in the city and further afield might do their Christmas shopping from these stores,” Grace said.
“We didn’t expect it to get quite as big as it got.
“Quite quickly, we realised that if we wanted to keep achieving the impact that we were that we needed to transition to a business that generated revenue and sustained activity, so we shifted.”
While BFTB has certainly evolved from those early days of 2019, Grace has been careful to ensure it has never wavered from its core purpose – that is, to empower rural communities in drought.
“There’s so many learnings to be taken from drought,” Grace said.
“Through it all, I was seeing people being innovative and working really hard to create alternative income streams.
“I felt it was important to bring that to light and try and both tell the story of the impact of drought on small communities and on small businesses, while also highlighting some of the creativity and productivity that occurs in an economic downturn in the bush.”
Above: Grace and one of her four children.
Onwards and upwards
There’s no doubt Buy From The Bush has achieved something special, having generated over $9 million in revenue for small rural businesses and amassing a social media following of nearly half a million to date.
However, Grace has no plans to slow down, with her sights set on ensuring BFTB continues to evolve to serve rural communities across the nation.
“Now, three years on, we’ve got just shy of 200 small businesses from around Australia – and it’s extended beyond just drought-affected communities to communities all over regional Australia,” Grace said.
“As we continue, we want to make sure that BFTB is not just crisis relief – because it’s about establishing long-term sustainable support for rural Australia and empowering founders to grow any kind of business from the middle of nowhere.
“If these often female-led businesses are enabled and empowered, then we can potentially crisis-proof these communities that offer so much to the Australian spirit and the Australia story.”
Buy From the Bush will be hosting a two-day market in Sydney from 11am - 8pm this Friday 9th and Saturday 10th December at Tallawoladah Lawn, Circular Key.
20 talented bush businesses will be offering a unique range of wares on the day and at 2pm on Saturday 10th December, a live charity auction will be held to raise funds for the flood-affected community of Eugowra. This 'Hour for Eugowra' auction will also be hosted live on AuctionsPlus and you can view the catalogue or join the auction live here.