Ballarat Talks Josh Driscoll

Emma Conroy is the owner of Emma’s Bakery in Sturt Street, Alfredton. The successful bakery opened direct to the public in 2021 after Emma first started selling her baked goods at the Trash and Treasure market in Creswick Rd in 2015. Emma’s journey to her own business has been an interesting one, having grown up in Daylesford with her parents and siblings, Emma left school at the age of 15 and fell into a baker’s apprenticeship through Purtell’s Bakehouse. After two and a half years working full time, Emma moved to Sydney as a 17 year old to follow her passion in equestrian and show jumping. Working seven days a week training and preparing horses for competitions Emma was fortunate to be able to travel to Europe for three and a half months in an attempt to qualify for the 2004 Australian Olympic Equestrian Team, though unsuccessful in her pursuit, Emma still competed on the world stage and won medals for equestrian around Europe.   After returning to Australia, Emma decided to move home and began working track work for Ballarat thoroughbred trainer, Darren Weir. When Emma gave birth to her first child, having worked long hours since leaving highschool at 15, the shift to being at home with her new baby was a huge upheaval for Emma and she began to suffer from post natal depression. To preserve her mental health Emma began baking to pass the time and was soon providing delicious home baked treats to family and friends. Her desire to return to work in 2015 required her to find a job that worked around her young family, the Trash and Treasure Market on a Sunday provided a great opportunity for Emma to showcase her baked goods and through this she was able to establish a great wholesale network through various local cafes and independent grocery stores. Having registered her personal home kitchen to commercial standard, Emma soon outgrew her home bakery and had to develop her own commercial space. The opening of her own retail space was the icing on the proverbial cake for Emma. With her incredible work ethic and award winning cakes and pies, Emma’s bakery is quickly becoming a Ballarat legend for a whole host of delicious baked treats!

David Lenehan is living proof that your life’s journey can be as varied as you want to make it with no limits to when you can make a change. Born in Colac, Dave grew up on the extended family dairy farm in Weerite, just outside of Camperdown. The second of 6 kids and, being the oldest son, Dave took what he felt was the expected path out of school after completing year 11 into a farming apprenticeship. For the next 25 years Dave worked across country Victoria and New South Wales as a farm hand and livestock manager.   Mental burnout was the final driving force that saw Dave eventually move out of farming and into a completely different life path. Knowing that he wanted to work in a helping role with people, Dave decided to complete a Cert 4 in disability support, working with Pinarc and through the Ballarat Specialist School Farm in Norman Street. For six years Dave continued in this role, but sensing limitations in his capacity to grow from a career standpoint, Dave took the brave leap into tertiary study at the age of 47 and completed an undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing degree.   Since completing his studies Dave has taken a role as a nurse in oncology which is where he has remained and built to now work as an ANUM on his ward. As a nurse Dave has had the opportunity to navigate through a global pandemic, with constantly shifting rules and regulations impacting both on his own work and on the care of his patients. Through it all Dave has continued to learn and grow and recognise the privilege that comes from working with people at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.

Harley Tempest is a local Ballarat boy who was born and grew up in the commission area of Wendouree West, raised predominantly by his Nan. With a somewhat turbulent childhood, Harley credits some of his position now to the fact that he was able to attend Ballarat High School, one of Ballarat’s best public high schools, and was exposed to families and lifestyles so different from his own that he could see how he wanted his life to be. Harley decided at the beginning of year 12 that school was not for him and so left to become a professional fighter. Despite working to achieve this, it soon became obvious that this was not to be. As an eighteen-year-old man, living off Centrelink benefits he was encouraged to undertake some vocational training and completed a course as a Personal Trainer, though not initially sold on the idea and, left in the lurch at times during work experience by other trainers, eventually Harley found his passion for PT and his niche first as an assistant and eventually manager at Snap Fitness in Ballarat. Through his role at Snap Fitness Harley met Josh and together they worked to build Iron Oak the brand and eventually opened their first gym together in Ballarat in 2014. Since opening Iron Oak, Harley has moved to Shepparton where he and Josh have opened their second gym, Origin, and he has stayed to build it to what it is today. Throughout his life Harley has proven to be a highly motivated young man with vision and purpose; he sets his sights on a goal and works hard to achieve it, always striving for bigger and better things.

Eric Morris 

Though often confused for a Ballarat Local, Eric Morris’s journey to Ballarat was a long and fairly convoluted one. Eric, well-known owner of Ballarat’s own D2E gyms, was born in Cowra, in country NSW, and spent a lot of time growing up in various small towns around NSW with his mum and sister, and his grandparents in Cootamundra. At the age of 16 he made the move to Canberra and took on an apprenticeship as a glazier before an injury to his hamstring provided a setback and he was forced to find a new job that would allow his injury to heal. At the age of 18 he took a job as a signalman on the railway and remained for four years working as a contractor for John Holland, completing the railway sleeper replacement works that took place from Sydney to Melbourne. While working on the railway was an opportunity to make good money, the nature of the work was a hindrance for a young man in a new city. Having already completed his PT ticket, Eric left John Holland and took on a job as a personal trainer at Fitness First gym in St Kilda. Having to compete for work with many other trainers at the gym Eric realised he was going to struggle to get ahead, so, after a brief journey back to the railways to get some money behind him, his passion for health and fitness drove Eric to take a job with AWA Supplements in Albert Park. The success of the business allowed for the development of a new store in Ballarat and it was with AWA, that Eric first started working in Ballarat, commuting back and forth daily to Melbourne.   During his time working at AWA Eric met his wife, Mel, and together they moved to Ballarat in 2012. For both Eric and Mel their background in fitness prompted them to take a chance and step out of their corporate work back into group fitness training. Initially training out of a friend’s gym their group sessions soon became so popular that they had to find a way to move into their own space. With an unfortunately less than perfect financial history in the background Eric and Mel had to find a creative solution to make their business work. Initially starting with group training sessions and a small amount of second hand equipment, Eric and Mel were able to open D2E gym in its current Delacombe location and have built it up to be one of the most popular 24 hour gyms in Ballarat with state of the art equipment and a solid member base.   Since opening D2E, Eric, along with Mel, has poured so much time and energy into their business in an attempt to build an atmosphere where members feel safe and comfortable to train. In the midst of the pandemic, with multiple lockdowns occurring in the health and fitness industry, Eric and Mel took a huge leap and opened a second D2E space in Wendouree. Now, as we emerge from the height of the pandemic, Eric is enjoying the challenge of running both gyms and raising his young family with Mel.

Kyle Ponder - The Black Hill Hotel #042

Kyle Ponder originally grew up in Skipton, 45 minutes southwest of Ballarat, where his family owned the local Roadhouse. After finishing primary school in Skipton, Kyle attended secondary school at Ballarat and Clarendon College, and, though the academic life was not really his forte, he completed year twelve with the support and encouragement of his family.   After finishing high school Kyle worked for a brief period in his family’s shop before taking on a role as a logger. Kyle enjoyed his work, despite the long days and commuting to work in the wee hours of the morning, but after seven years Kyle opted to make the huge leap from his job in logging into the hospitality industry to fulfill a goal he had had even as a child, to own his own bar.   In 2019 Kyle officially went into business for himself, taking on the lease at the Black Hill Hotel. Having been scouring the market for a pub and researching various venues around the Ballarat area, his local, the Black Hill Hotel, was put on the market and Kyle snapped up the opportunity to take on the business. For the past three years Kyle has shaped the hotel and put his stamp on the business, creating a successful bar and bistro for the people of Ballarat North with live music and a warm, inviting atmosphere.   Along the way Kyle has experienced some troubling times, finding himself, as he says, ‘on the wrong side of the bar’ and enjoying the social aspect of life a little bit too much. Through it all though his family and partner, Chelsea, have supported him and helped pull him out of a negative cycle that threatened to ruin his career and his dream. Having found the drive to refocus and pursue his passion, Kyle is now working to build his business and hopefully, one day soon, expand even further.

Jimmy Morrison - Ballarat Barber #041



Ballarat born and bred, as a young lad Jimmy Morrison could be spotted playing gigs as a guitarist at Karova Lounge or doing dodgy haircuts for his mates in his kitchen at home. After completing high school at Ballarat Christian College, Jimmy began work as a builder and shop fitter, only to change track at the age of 21 and follow his passion to become a barber. After commencing a hairdressing apprenticeship at Federation University in Ballarat, Jimmy was encouraged to transfer to Melbourne where he could focus solely on men’s hair design. He began working as an apprentice at a barber shop in South Yarra and, after 9 months pushing through his apprenticeship, qualified and was soon managing the barbershop. For five years Jimmy commuted to Melbourne working long hours, five days a week to support his growing family.   In 2017, needing a change that would allow him to spend more time closer to home, Jimmy finished working in Melbourne and opened his own shop in Ballarat. For three years he worked and grew his business, employing more barbers and apprentices to join him in his shop as their name and popularity grew. In 2020, in the early phase of the COVID pandemic, with uncertainty about work and income as long periods of lockdowns loomed, Jimmy’s mental health took a battering, needing a change he pulled away from the barbershop and began working in construction. After a total hiatus for 6 months Jimmy slowly got back in to barbering and now, whilst working full time in construction, still likes to cut hair for his mates at home, enjoying the social aspects of his craft and the opportunity to be present with his young family.