Women Behind Wool

Manson Podcasting Network
  • 0.0 (0)
  • DOCUMENTARY

Women Behind Wool is a podcast about the women of the Australian Merino Wool Industry. Join your hosts Skye Manson and Lady Kate Knitwear's Penny Ashby as they introduce you to CEO's, researchers, TV hosts, shearers and shed hands alongside those who're cooking, cleaning, mustering, drenching and helping to bring up the next generation of wool growers in our country.

  1. Penny and Skye back to say goodbye and thank you!

    26/07/2022

    Penny and Skye back to say goodbye and thank you!

    Sorry guys, we've been a bit MIA but we are here now to round out the 2022 season of Women Behind Wool and to say a big fat thank you for listening and supporting this project of ours. In this chat we revisit what's been achieved to-date and get excited about what's to come in 2023. While we wait for 2023 to roll around please stay in touch via @womenbehindwool on Instagram where we are planning some lovely features in the coming months. And as always we would love feedback on what you're loving (or not) and your fabulous guest suggestions for the next season of Women Behind Wool.

    17 min
  2. Innovation in wool fabrics with Woolmark's Julie Davies

    14/06/2022

    Innovation in wool fabrics with Woolmark's Julie Davies

    This week our guest is Julie Davies, General Manager for process innovation and education extension at the Woolmark Company. Her work is largely involved in product development and also education, mostly of people along the supply chain, so the likes of garment manufacturers, textile dyers and developers and the like. Julie’s perspective on wool is quite different from any other we have profiled on Women Behind Wool. She's been based in Sydney all her life and never really had much connection to the process of growing wool but she’s one of the best when it comes to knowing how to get the most out of wool as a natural fibre. We love that she has always had a love for textiles and making clothes and that through years of professional development, she really is at the top of her game in the field of using wool in innovative new fabrics and textiles.

    35 min
  3. The women behind the Haddon Rig merino empire

    08/06/2022

    The women behind the Haddon Rig merino empire

    Today we interview Sally and Olivia Falkiner from Haddon Rig merino stud near Warren in central west NSW. Sally met her husband George Falkiner at Haddon Rig as a backpacker and never left. Sally and George were married and had four daughters and so this story is all about these women have worked tirelessly as a part of the Haddon Rig empire for years gone by and (hopefully) many more years to come.

    42 min
  4. Kristen Frost: 5th generation stud breeder, 1st generation wool writer

    31/05/2022

    Kristen Frost: 5th generation stud breeder, 1st generation wool writer

    Visit the sheep pavilion at any local show around Australia and there’s a fair chance the punters know Kristen Frost (nee Williams) of Thalabah Stud at Laggan on the NSW southern tablelands. If it’s not for her work re-birthing the family’s stud operation, then chances are they’ve read her articles as the national sheep and wool writer in the The Land newspaper. “I’m a fifth generation woolgrower and a first generation national sheep and wool writer,” says Kristen with a smile. Each is of equal importance to her and they complement each other in a rare way. “It’s what makes my life a bit special ... Being a writer really, really helps me understand my business.”

    32 min
  5. Shearer Emma Billett used to be the only female in the shearing shed, but now that's changing

    24/05/2022

    Shearer Emma Billett used to be the only female in the shearing shed, but now that's changing

    Emma Billett is a 32 year old shearer from central west New South Wales. She never intended to be a shearer but found she loved the atmosphere and the physicality of working in the shearing shed on her family's farm near Nevertire. One day, a colleague asked if she wanted to give shearing a go and Emma has been shearing ever since. Emma tells Skye about a time when there were no other women in the sheds, and how she's seen that change in recent years, a wonderful thing, she says.

    43 min
  6. Vanessa Bell on what fresh eyes can achieve for Merino wool

    17/05/2022

    Vanessa Bell on what fresh eyes can achieve for Merino wool

    Vanessa Bell is the founder of Vanessa Bell baby blankets, bespoke 100 Australian Merino Wool baby blankets, knitted with care over 3 months by an expert team of hand knitters. Vanessa's blankets are one-off pieces that have been sold all over the world. Vanessa didn't grow up on a Merino farm, in fact she came to love wool as a catwalk model at age 15. She's a wool farmer now, but Ness is a great example of the passion, pride and ingenuity that can happen when fresh eyes are cast on an age-old industry. In the future, she's determined to bring wool scouring back to Australia and to knit blankets using Merino wool from her own flock, in order to discover a true farmer to fashion product.

    36 min
  7. Author and Merino farmer Maggie MacKellar uses beautiful writing to educate the masses

    10/05/2022

    Author and Merino farmer Maggie MacKellar uses beautiful writing to educate the masses

    Maggie MacKellar is an author and writer who lives with her partner Jim on a fine wool farm on the east coast of Tasmania. As a child she used to love spending time on her grandparents sheep farm in central west NSW but they were vastly different sheep, they were Dorsets, Poll Dorsets and Black Faced Suffolks. When Maggie moved to Tasmania 10 years ago, she fell in love with the curious ways of the Merino sheep. She made it her mission to take time to watch their temperament, they way they ate, mothered and many other intricate details of the Merino sheep - and then she would write about her observations. In recent time Maggie has written numerous columns for lifestyle magazines, Graziher and Country Style, detailing in beautiful words a day in her life as a fine wool farmer and in 2023 she will be releasing her latest book, The Lambing Diaries.

    37 min
  8. Australia's #1 female shearer Cathy Wendelborn

    03/05/2022

    Australia's #1 female shearer Cathy Wendelborn

    Cathy Wendelborn is arguably the best female shearer to have existed in the world. This year she was the first female to be inducted into Australia’s Shearing Hall of Fame. Cathy was a self-taught shed and competition shearer who shore sheep in all Australian states (except NT) for 21 years. She used competition shearing as a way to improve her style and skills. In those competitions she came second a number of times and often she won, much to the disgust of the boys. In 1988 for the Australian Bicentenary she was invited to shear in front of the Queen – where she presented her royal highness with a staple of wool. This is her story..... See more at www.womenbehindwool.com.au or @womenbehindwool This is a production of the Manson Podcasting Network.

    30 min
See All (18)

Trailer

About

Women Behind Wool is a podcast about the women of the Australian Merino Wool Industry. Join your hosts Skye Manson and Lady Kate Knitwear's Penny Ashby as they introduce you to CEO's, researchers, TV hosts, shearers and shed hands alongside those who're cooking, cleaning, mustering, drenching and helping to bring up the next generation of wool growers in our country.

Information

More From Manson Podcasting Network