Kate’s husband had been buying her books on gardening for years. But as a marketer in financial services for over 10 years in the UK, planting was always a passion pursuit for Kate not a professional one. Coming home and settling in Brisbane, Kate thought she would continue her career in financial services only to be bluntly informed by a local recruiter that her career would not continue in Brisbane unless she was prepared to go into the mining sector. So, she threw herself into the project of building a house which eventually led her to focus on the clay patch that was her garden. In Kate’s words, forgetting the garden is like “buying a beautiful dress but forgetting the shoes”. To address her garden, Kate needed to get to know the native plants that thrive in Queensland so she enrolled herself in a local landscape gardening TAFE course. She loved it so much she picked up a couple of subjects in horticulture and before she knew it, she had completed this course as well. For Kate, it was like a light bulb switching on, all of a sudden she found this amazing thing that she loved. Several years ago, she started her own business ‘Horte Couture’, a landscape gardening and design business. In creating her business, she has been able to bring to the table not only her previous business and marketing skills but all the skills she built as an expat – tenacity and persistence being the top two. Since COVID, her business has thrived (yes, pun absolutely intended!). Just like she did when Kate returned to Australia, people are pivoting their lives and the home has never been more important. Inside and out, plants are playing a role.

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