Community focus for rural working women

She only employs women and they work in rural and remote parts of the state.

They stand out in their pink work shirts and, according to Kaitie, it's the little things that make a big difference.

"While ensuring the business is a financial going concern, my focus is on the community and providing a service to rural people and giving local women a job that keeps them in their region," she said.

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"As a business, we look different because we are an all-women team, but when it comes down to getting the job done, we focus on attention to detail, take pride in our quality of work and aim for consistency in our property maintenance."

Kaitie started WK Property Maintenance about two years ago in Coonabarabran.

She's not a born-and-bred local.

She married a local farmer, Will Nash, and moved to his family's farm in 2018 after a 10-year stint living in Darwin.

"I met Will in Darwin and we lived up there for about 10 years before we decided to move back to Coonabarabran," she said.

Kaitie grew up in Perth, Western Australia, so a move to the eastern side of the country was a big deal.

"We arrived on the farm during the drought, which meant a quick learning curve for me," she said.

"Then we had the mouse plague and by then I was thinking 'what is this place?'".

But it's clear when you meet Kaitie that she is a positive personality type that's bubbling with enthusiasm.

"When we first moved to the farm, I was working in aged care, and although that's really important work and I enjoy helping people, I'm an outdoors kind of girl and started to think about what else I could do that would include working outside.

"That's when I started mowing lawns.

"I bought myself a second-hand lawnmower and started from there."

The business was born.

"It wasn't long before I realised I needed help and put on another woman," she said.

"That was when my purpose or the 'why' really started to kick in and I could see this opportunity for women in rural areas to work in a job during those periods at particular stages of their life - such as after school when they are not sure what to do, or between children - that didn't require them to go into admin or indoors type roles."

As word about WK Property Maintenance grew, so did Kaitie's business and the services she offered.

They now do domestic cleaning, garden care, commercial cleaning and even agricultural services such as cleaning water troughs and preparing shearing sheds before shearing starts.

There are nine women on Kaitie's team - of all ages and from diverse backgrounds.

"By having all women on the team, I wanted to create a safe and nurturing work environment," she said. "Women are so powerful when we get together.

"We range from mums returning to work after being on maternity leave to students leaving school not sure of their next path, those who are new to town looking to meet people or those who love being outdoors in the elements.

"We are a varied bunch and that's what makes us, us.

"I just feel like it shouldn't matter what age you are or at what stage you are at in your life, if you want to work you should be able to work."

Kaitie said she is under no illusion that, for some of the women, particularly the younger ones, this is not their "career", but in the meantime they are learning valuable life skills.

"We teach them how to mow, whipper-snip, prune roses, clean gutters, know how to clean properly," she said.

The women work in pairs for most jobs.

"It's a safety thing as we are sometimes working in isolated places where phone reception is limited, but we also do it that way to foster teamwork and all the benefits that come with doing a job together."

The area covered by WK Property Maintenance also continues to expand. At first, the business was operating in Coonabarabran, Binnaway and Baradine, but it now does work in Narrabri, towards Gunnedah and across to Mendooran.

As the business expands, Kaitie said it allows her to offer more women a job in their community.

"My big dream would be to have all these small towns with someone from our team there, so our clients are not having to pay for our travel," she said.

"By supporting women in their home town, that helps build community and fosters goodwill and friendship."

Kaitie and her husband, Will, have two young boys and she said that without the support of Will, none of this would be possible.

"It's a juggle sometimes with our sons, Will working on the farm and me having the business, but we support each other and I really appreciate him," she said.

Kaitie said arriving in the Warrumbungles region during the drought and, later, a mouse plague was certainly grounding and made her appreciate all the good things her family has now.