Jason, Jo and Jessica McInnes made the transition from Sydney city slickers to Murrindindi Shire country folk ten years ago. The pressure of city living weighed on the family.
“I had this vision of a future where my daughter would be a latch key kid,” Jo said. “I didn’t want to bring her up like that. Plus, I wanted to get back into horse riding.”
So with courage, they made their dream a reality, and moved to regional Victoria where they opened a French Patisserie. Jason is a trained pastry chef. Jo continued the marketing business she established in Sydney. They ran the patisserie for two years, but Jo says they were a bit ahead of their time. “Knowing Sydney, we saw a product gap, but didn’t do enough research on Alexandra’s demographic,” she said.
“It’s different now though. We lifted the bar in town and now there are a number of successful coffee shops. It just shows the importance of timing and location.”
In an unexpected twist, selling the shop enabled Jason to pursue his rediscovered passion for horses. After seven years studying horses, while chefing part time, he is living his dream as an accredited horse trainer.
“It was coincidental that we happened to be in the ideal area for Jason to pursue his love of horses and translate it into a business,” Jo said.
Jo’s business plans also altered from working for Sydney clientele long distance. For three years she worked for Murrindindi Shire Council in tourism and economic development. Throughout this period she built a customer base for a local marketing business. Jo now runs her own business from home – a 130 acre farm filled with horses, dogs, cats and an orphaned kangaroo – and consults to the tourism industry.
This arrangement means she sees plenty of Jessica, now aged 12, and can fulfil the family values she felt were threatened by a hectic city life. Jessica also enjoys farm life but hasn’t been deprived of a quality education with several good schools to choose from in the area.
“We really are lucky where we live,” Jo said. “By adopting a flexible approach and taking opportunities as they’ve arisen, we’ve escaped the rat race and are still running successful businesses.”
