Personal reflection — Kyrstie Barcak

Is your work your passion? Mine is… but it took me a while to find and pursue it.

By Kyrstie Barcak

As my maternity leave dwindled after the birth of my second son I was prompted to seriously assess my career options. I wanted to work out how I would earn an income while still spending as much time with my family as possible.

My current job is as a garden consultant. I help and inspire families to start their own vegetable gardens and enjoy fresh, healthy food. I have recently started working with kindergartens, and hope to include childcare centres soon. Last month I published my first book, Grow Just One Thing — The first step in a fresh food journey, so I guess I can give myself the title of ‘author’ now too!

You could say that this is far removed from a degree in arts, a postgraduate degree in human resources and the roles that followed. I am not so sure that it is...

My career began when I ‘accidently’ fell into retail store management with a ‘big box’ retailer. After a few years I moved into a national office HR role focused on training and process development. Next, I entered a senior communication and change management consulting role, delivering large programs of work to multiple industry sectors in some of Australia’s largest corporations.

I loved my corporate career when I was in the midst of it. I loved the pace and challenge, and the role was stimulating — never the same. I implemented all sorts of projects, some of which included the development and delivery of learning and strategic competence initiatives to 2700 targeted employees across the South East Asia and Oceania region, and of a computer-based training solution to 15,000 employees impacted by a payroll outsourcing agreement.

These roles taught me discipline, organisation, influencing and communication skills that have been invaluable when applied to my own business. I have found each skill to be transferrable to situations in my daily business activities.

My business, A Fresh Legacy, began as a blog when I was on maternity leave. It was a hobby and creative outlet to share my newly discovered love of a productive vegetable garden and the fresh ingredients it presented our family each day. When my children were young our day revolved around the garden and our meal preparation.

A Fresh Legacy has grown over a period of four years. During that time I have developed recipes for some of Australia’s leading food brands, including Kambrook, Pureharvest and Australian Mushroom Growers. A soup concept I developed for La Zuppa Soup is currently sold on supermarket shelves.

In the past 12 months, in addition to my book, I have developed and launched two unique products, the Kitchen Garden Box and the Small Space Garden Kit, to help families and those with little space to begin their own vegetable garden.

My business has grown from the blog, based on our family lifestyle and experiences. Creating physical goods and a service to meet the needs of my readers has allowed me to monetise the work and continue working from home. This means I can work based around my family.

My greatest reward comes when a customer sends me a picture of their new vegetable garden, inspired by my work. This year I also achieved some formal recognition, selected as a finalist in the Australian Small Business Champion Awards 2016 in the Home and Garden Improvement Category and a nomination in the 2016 Geelong Business Excellence Awards.

My corporate experience equipped me with a broad and strong suite of practical skills, determination and perseverance. These skills are now applied to the development and running of my business.

My career change was not as major as some may think — it was more like a stepping stone to help me achieve my dream of making a great difference to the lives of Australian families by inspiring and helping them to grow and enjoy fresh food, while experiencing the many associated benefits this brings.

Read more about Kyrstie at http://afreshlegacy.net.