Alix Mace is passionate about helping rural women to connect

Before the house echoes with voices and scampering feet, before the sounds of sheep, dogs and motorbikes fill the day, she gets to have a few quiet moments to herself. To be herself, before the responsibilities of mother, wife, farmer and business owner take over.

And this is exactly what she wants other rural women to remember - to take time for themselves so they can be everything they need to be for everyone else.

Alix wants to bring rural women together for support. That's why she has launched The Rural Women's Collective - a place for rural women to meet, bond, and learn about self care, business, health and everything in between.

The Collective, which was launched on Facebook in April, invites rural women to connect. It also features live interviews with women who are experts in health, business and personal development.

The focus on health and taking care of yourself is what drove Alix to launch the Collective. And it was a difficult time in her life that made her want to change direction.

Alix and her husband Nick run a cropping and sheep property near Walgett, with the help of their four children, Stella, 8, Freddy, 6, Primrose, 3, and Monty, 2.

Their days are busy on the family property with four children, growing wheat, barley, oats and chickpeas, as well as multipurpose Merinos and occasionally having cattle on agistment.

Alix worked in administration jobs in between caring for kids and helping on the place, as well as driving 200 kilometres a day to take the children to and from school.

But if that wasn't busy enough, she decided to get her environmental law degree.

Alix also has her own business, which helps ambitious rural women to create an online business and income no matter where they live.

But just before Freddy was born, and during a drought, life changed for them. Nick was diagnosed with cancer. And it was after surgery and chemotherapy that they started to look at life differently.

"It was such a shock, because we thought we were pretty healthy," Alix said. "And it just headed us down another path."

Alix said they started to focus more on health and personal development. Nick completed an online integrated nutrition course, and they were looking at ways to be healthier.

"We found that a lot of the information we were learning wasn't available in our local town," she said. "Like naturopaths and kinesiologists, all those sorts of people who do such amazing work - I'd never really heard of half of them, let alone having access to them in our local town. You might be lucky enough to have someone like a naturopath or women's coach in your town, but it's probably highly unlikely."

And this got Alix thinking. She wanted rural women to be able to access advice and services that weren't right outside the farm gate or in the nearest town.

So she launched The Rural Women's Collective.

"I started a Facebook group for people who are interested in health and these sorts of things who are in a rural location," she said. "These are things that I am very passionate about, particularly the health, the wellness aspect and the personal development, like mindset and confidence. All those kinds of things I think are crucial to live not only a healthy life, but also an empowering and positive life, whether that's on farm or parenting or with a business. There's so many amazingly wonderful, talented rural women."

As well as helping rural women connect, she was keen to hold interviews with professionals who offered telehealth and online services. "I think it is transformational when you can hear the value they can give. It bridges the gap."

She said Buy From The Bush exposed rural women doing amazing things. "There's so many business coaches, social media coaches and personal branding coaches, and so many of them offer services online, so I wanted to reach out to them. Because I think if you optimise all these areas of your life, you can really thrive where you are. Location is no barrier."

She said starting her own online business opened her eyes to what rural women could access and create online. "We really need to take advantage of that."

Alix has interviewed six fabulous women so far, including holistic health coach Charlotte Heald, rural business coach Tori Kopke, Nicky Noodle from Rural Women's Coaching, Kate Kahl from Yugen Kinesiology, online business coach Jessica Zalums, and Nadine Rizkallah, a physiotherapist and clinical Pilates instructor at her practice Hamsa Healing. The interviews are live, but can be watched later on the Facebook page.

Alix said she had learned so much from the women she had interviewed so far, many of which had offered discounts and free services.

"The women are amazing," she said. "They are just so excited, and they are giving it everything they've got. It's been really, really awesome. I've been loving it so much. And I've loved that the women I have interviewed so far are rural women as well, so we can support those experts who are rural women also."

And for Alix, there has been plenty of advice that has struck home.

"Self care has been massive for everyone, I think," she said. "One of the biggest struggles for some women is managing the juggle of the kids and the farm. My husband calls it being Minister of Domestic Affairs. And women are feeling like they've got absolutely no time for themselves."

"It is really crucial to take care of our needs first. We're not serving anyone if we are completely depleted. We do not feel any kind of joy in our day because we are giving absolutely everything we have. It has been a wonderful reminder that you do need to take care of you. You are extremely important."

"One piece of advice was 'bookending' your day, so having a little bit of time for yourself in the morning and a little time at the end of the day, just to reconnect, relax, do something you enjoy, and just to ground yourself."

"Hearing that really solidified it for me - to make sure you are doing something for yourself."

Alix said she made sure she found time in the morning to go for a walk or a run. She has even signed up for a 10km run. And in the evenings, she makes time to read. "I love reading, so I made sure I do some reading. And I don't skimp on it, even if it's just 10 minutes. We find it hard to give ourselves permission to sit and read. And if you are having a rough day, stop and reset, and then keep going."

Alix is inviting women living in rural areas, either on farms or in smaller centres, to join the group.

"I hope to give more awareness to rural women that they can have access to these services. We do need to take advantage of the online space and everything it has to offer. The ability to [utilise services] in your own time around the family and kids, I think is really powerful."

"I'm keen to create more connections, and to encourage more women to join in.

"It's just a nice space where you can connect, especially if you don't have any local friends who have those kinds of interests as well. We get your challenges because we're all rural as well."