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Feature story: making a tree change work for your business

Our new content series explores the stories of innovative eCommerce businesses who have made the move from city to regional.

Top tips for eCommerce businesses thinking of making a tree or sea change.

Running an eCommerce business can make it easier to turn the dream of a sea or tree change into a reality. But like any big move, it has its share of challenges. Following your gut and connecting with you new Post Office manager are just some of the tips from three Aussie businesses.

Video: In farmland, cattle stand in the shade by a fence. Nearby, two women tend to horses. The title 'Selling Way Out' appear in large white letters above the Australia Post logo. On a line underneath the title, a set of map coordinates glide back and forth. The numbers 2026 and 2337 sit at the far ends of the line.
A woman's hands select dark thread from a wood rack and insert it into a sewing machine. The blond woman wears a wide-brimmed hat with a layered handmade band. She sews a band for another hat then adjusts its bow. The Australia Post logo sits in the top right corner of the screen.

Audio: Woman: When I was living in Sydney, I think I was pursuing a career of what I thought I should be doing rather than maybe what I wanted to be doing. I felt disconnected to my corporate career, and I knew that when I was rebuilding this life that I wanted for myself, it would have to be something that I enjoyed.

Video: Smiling, the woman stands before hats displayed on a wall and table. An ornate light installation made from dry foliage dominates the sunny room's ceiling. Text: "Laura Hall, Founder, PHYLLi Designs." In a workshop, Laura sprays a hat as she spins it on a turntable. She sets fire to the hat. After the flames die, the pale hat has dark mottling.

Audio: Laura: I am a self-taught hatmaker. I started at the markets in Sydney and made it six months in business, but when COVID hit, my entire business just fell off a cliff. So I packed up a truck and I flew up the highway to Scone.

Video: A car follows an elevated highway through farmland. The coordinates line reappears. The coordinates settle into the middle and transform into the words 'PHYLLi Designs'. Laura drives along a tree-lined road then along a dirt track towards a farmhouse. Woven straps and hats are displayed on shelves. Bundles of cloth strips hang from long racks. Using a metal punch, Laura embosses letters into a leather hatband.

Audio: Laura: I've always had a connection to the country, having my family here, and my dad, at the time, was quite unwell. It was so special to know that I was going to be able to come home. Just before he passed away, I was explaining how I want to build hats that tell a story, and he gifted me a collection of his personal hats. One of the things that I love is that when you make a hat it becomes an heirloom piece to be passed down from generation to generation.

Video: A leafy bush town of low buildings sit near the foot of hills. In a sunny room, Laura and other women work on hats.

Audio: Laura: Probably for the first 12 months of being back here in Scone, I ran my business from my dining room table, and when we opened the store, we had everyone that you can imagine within the community swinging by to come and say hi and show their support.

Video: A postie pulls up outside the glass shopfront. Laura comes out.

Audio: Postie: Hello. Laura: Hi, Charlie. Charlie: How you doing, alright? Laura: Good!

Video: Laura writes in a card then packs a hat into a box. On an old-fashioned red-brick building, white letters read, "1879. Scone Post Office. 2337." Inside, a grey-haired woman, Virginia, watches Laura wrap a box. At a loading dock, Virginia wheels out a trolley. Laura places wrapped boxes onto it.

Audio: Laura: It's exciting when you're building something that you're passionate about, and our entire business has been built on word of mouth. I send our hats all over Australia and all around the world. Our local post office manager, Virginia, has been so helpful and supportive. One of the amazing things about working with Australia Post is how quickly we can ship my hats from a regional location, and knowing that we can reach everybody really means that we can meet the needs of our customers.

Audio: Virginia: Good weekend? Lovely.

Video: Night. In PHYLLi, people drink and try on hats. Laura moves a hat through steam.

Audio: Laura: I'm really fortunate, because we're building a creative community from a town of 5,000 people, and everyone has really welcomed me and shown me exactly how excited they are to have PHYLLi as a part of their community.

Video: On a red screen, white text reads, "See more regional success stories at auspost.com.au/watch."

Audio: Voiceover: Australia Post. Delivering for Australia. On a red screen, the words "Delivering for Australia" appear under the Australia Post logo.

PHYLLi Designs

How a move from the city to regional NSW was a pivotal turning point in the success of Laural Hall’s designer hat making business.

Laura Hall had just left the corporate world to launch her hat business when the pandemic threatened to shut it down. But then she made a decision that sent her business skyrocketing - she made a tree change from the markets in Sydney to an online business in Scone.

Oak Meadow

Ready for a sea change? Here’s how Oak Meadow founder Madeleine took the plunge in Byron Bay.

A spontaneous decision to live on the road made Madeleine Lee realise she could run her online business from anywhere in the world. So she made a sea change to Byron Bay where she nurtured and grew Oak Meadow with the support of the local Post Office team and community.

Video: Sunlight filters through leafy trees. The title 'Selling Way Out' appear in large white letters above the Australia Post logo. On a line underneath the title, a set of map coordinates glide back and forth. The numbers 3232 and 2481 sit at the far ends of the line. A couple and two small children walk along a forest track. They all have long blond hair. On a beach, they look through a photo album together. Aerial footage shows houses sitting nestled among trees on a seaside cliffs. The woman drives past trees. The Australia Post logo sits in the top right corner of the screen.

Audio: Woman: I was working in child care, my husband was working full-time, and then also being parents, it's so easy to fall into that routine of everyday. I kind of had that moment where I was like, "This isn't working." I came home after work, I said, "Let's just move to Byron." It was so scary, but we just did it. Driving away from everyday life, that was the dream. .

Video: Far below, the car drives through dense forest towards the blue sea. The coordinates line reappears. The coordinates settle into the middle and transform into the words 'Oak Meadow Clothing'. The woman cuts out a square of flowered fabric and places it in a scrapbook. She examines a light dress made from that fabric near a rack with similar dresses.

Audio: Woman: I really passionately wanted to make womenswear. And I remember just really casually putting up on my Instagram, selling these clothes that I'd made, and from there it just took off.

Video: The woman stands before a rack of light clothes. Text: "Madeleine Lee, Founder, Oak Meadow." Flowery clothes, some with gathered sleeves, hang on a rack. Madeleine adjusts a woman's sleeve.

Audio: Madeleine: With Oak Meadow, I don't want to just focus on fashion and fast trends. We're really trying to nurture women, making them feel beautiful as they are.

Video: Madeleine walks up stairs leading from the showroom. Women open a glass door and a roller door under an 'Oak Meadow' sign. Inside, Madeleine and a woman wrap clothes, put them in a Tough Bag, and stick on an address label.

Audio: Madeleine: Moving to Byron, I think it was within two weeks, this space came up. The business was growing faster than what we were moving, and it felt like it was just exploding. The logistics, getting it just all flowing, that was quite hard.

Video: Madeleine carries a bag into the post office. Her children help hand parcels to the woman behind the counter, Jo, who scans them. At the Oak Meadow loading dock, Jo opens an Australia Post van, then hugs Madeleine who's holding a large bag. Jo examines a flowery outfit.

Audio: Madeleine: I was driving to the post office twice a day, bringing these big Santa sacks of parcels, and that's when I met Jo. I think she could see that we were struggling to keep up, and she was just like, "I'm gonna start picking them up from you." So that was a big game changer for us. Jo's played such a huge role in our growth, and I'm so grateful that every day she comes and picks up our orders.

Video: Under a vast blue sky, a leafy town nestles by a beach on the edge of a cape. Madeleine strolls through Byron Bay. On a beach, the family sit together then walk along the golden sand.

Audio: Madeleine: I think that's the beauty of small towns. I know have, like, a trusted community of people, and we rely on each other. When we made a choice to live here too, we were just like, "This is us." Following your gut instinct, that is the most important thing.

Video: On a red screen, white text reads, "See more regional success stories at auspost.com.au/watch."

Audio: Voiceover: Australia Post. Delivering for Australia. On a red screen, the words "Delivering for Australia" appear under the Australia Post logo.

Video: The Australia Post logo sits in the top right corner. A chic brunette in a grey trouser suit stands with her back turned, watching fashion images being projected on a purple-tinged wall. The words 'Selling Way Out' appear in large white letters above the Australia Post logo. On a line underneath, a set of map coordinates glide back and forth before settling in the middle. The numbers 3121 and 3444 sit at the far ends of the line.

Audio: Woman: Moving to Kyneton was definitely a huge milestone for us. We are such a proudly Australian company. It's part of our DNA as a luxury skincare brand to be innovative.

Video: The woman sits facing the camera, as the images continue to be projected behind her. Text: "Shamini Rajaeethnam, CEO, Rationale." Above bushland, the coordinates settle in the middle and become in the RATIONALE logo. A large sleek black building sits near a bushland town. Streets are lined with old-fashioned buildings.

Audio: Shamini: Telling the full story of what RATIONALE stands for is so highly important. Part of that was bringing our manufacturing in house. The founders of the business had a huge affinity for the Macedon Ranges, and in 2016 we found a plot of land in Kyneton. It has such a legacy as being a beautiful town that has so much to give in terms of opportunity.

Video: The Kyneton Post Office building features colonnaded archways. People wearing small backpacks stroll across a bridge and up a tree-lined road. Shamini drives. From above, her car is visible following a forest road.

Audio: Shamini: We did section off every part of the business to understand what would be the challenges. Until you're doing the commute, until you're in the space, you don't really understand the full effects. It's quite a beautiful drive. As soon as I see the rolling hills, I take a deep breath and I do feel really fortunate.

Video: Bottles move through high-tech black and white machinery. On a white label, the RATIONALE logo appears in silver. Parcels sit in a large metal basket that features the Australia Post logo. Shamini walks and talks with a woman. In a warehouse area, tall shelves are piled with boxes. A StarTrack truck backs toward the warehouse door. The driver loads a basket of parcels.

Audio: Shamini: One of the challenges we were very concerned with was the distribution that we need to do from Kyneton. We worked very closely with Australia Post to understand how we close the gaps of what our clients were used to and what would the differences be of moving the business from our metropolitan warehouse into Kyneton. We have had challenges and obstacles from a service-delivery point of view. If we did not have this close and good relationship with Australia Post, I don't believe this would have been possible.

Video: The building's black facade reflects its surroundings. In large sunny rooms, people give presentations and hold meetings. The streets of Kyneton are a patchwork of roofs and treetops.

Audio: Shamini: Now that we've been here for almost a year, people really see the inspiration of coming together through this state-of-the-art building that we created. There are so many benefits that come from moving a business regionally. The strength of the culture and the team to embrace that tree change is really inspiring.

Video: On a red screen, white text reads, "See more business stories at auspost.com.au/business-stories."

Audio: Voiceover: Australia Post. Delivering for Australia.

Video: On a red screen, the words "Delivering for Australia" appear under the Australia Post logo.

RATIONALE

What this successful big business wants you to know about making a tree change.

RATIONALE was ready for international growth but needed a bigger facility to accommodate the necessary changes. It found the perfect location for a new build in country Victoria. The company’s successful tree change rested on three elements – meticulous groundwork, open communication and a close relationship with Australia Post.