Author Archives: Emily Facoory

Kerry Schilling is Brisbane’s own wildlife warrior, rescuing and rehabilitating native wildlife such as possums, kangaroos, wallabies and gliders. She has been an animal hero for more than 30 years and has launched her own wildlife centre, Kerry’s Wildlife Rescue and Care.

“The idea for Kerry’s Wildlife Rescue and Care first came around 15 years ago, my husband said to give it up, that it’s never going to work. But I said I’m going to make it work and here I am now,” she said.

At the moment Kerry is caring for around 10 animals but gets sent in more every day, “I work 24/7, feeding times are every three hours, right around the clock,” she said.

People can join the centre and learn courses that teach them how to become a carer. All of Kerry’s courses are onsite and cost only $10 for a 3 hour course.

“My goal for the future is to get as many carers as I can to understand our wildlife, they need our help. People need to stop chopping trees down, we don’t need too much development. The animals were here before us, if we don’t have wildlife, what’s this earth going to be like.

At the moment I have 16 carers and an ambulance driver who picks up animals that need rescuing, but we desperately need more carers and donations,” Kerry said.

For more information, you can contact Kerry Schilling on 0431 674 016 or visit Kerry’s Wildlife Rescue and Care Centre at 4 Reis Street, Woolloongabba.

Words by Emily Facoory | Images by Christian Anderson

Published on May 6, 2015 on West End Magazine

 

Brisbane’s iconic South Bank has just been listed on Queensland’s heritage register, which will now protect the area from plans for high rise development. This includes two 30-storey towers that were under plans to be built above the Queensland Performing Arts Centre and the Queensland Museum.

Dr Steven Miles who is the Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection said, “these buildings, widely recognised as a unique part of Brisbane’s skyline, are some of the most celebrated works of the late architect Robin Gibson. The listing ensures any changes to the Precinct remain true to the spirit of its original design. The Australian Institute of Architects’ nomination of the Queensland Cultural Centre attracted a record 1254 public submissions—the most received by the Queensland Heritage Council for a single nomination in the history of the Heritage Act.”

Council chair Peter Coaldrake said the listing did not prevent future appropriate development or expansion. “Times change, technology provides new opportunities and there has been an understandable level of anxiety that the listing not involve the building being frozen in time,” he said.

Designed by Architect Robin Gibson the buildings were made to draw the eye towards the river and establish the state’s cultural precinct. Other prominent Brisbane spots that were also in the new heritage listing include the Queensland Art Gallery, Queensland Museum, QPACand The Edge at the State Library of Queensland.

Published on June 16, 2015 on West End Magazine

 

Local mum and entrepreneur Tess Freund of Monkey & Mum has been seriously busy this past year. She’s opened a studio and shop here in West End, launched a Fair Trade Range with a women’s development group in India, and has now been nominated for the 2015 St George Banking Group AusMumpreneur Awards.

Monkey & Mum have created a unique recipe that nobody else seems to be using. They specialise in unusual and bespoke necklaces, designed for mums but which are also safe and entertaining for their babies.

“Mums can get a bit forgotten after the baby arrives, and that’s when they need to be noticed and celebrated the most,” says Tess.

Monkey & Mum’s new studio has a relaxed feel with a kid’s corner and a tea station. Tess’s commitment to celebrating mothers goes above and beyond with Monkey & Mum launching their Fair Trade Range earlier this year, created in conjunction with a women’s development group in Jaipur, India. The group is mostly mothers – women have been oppressed by gender inequality, social constraints, child marriage, lack of education or abject poverty. This range provided them with the skills, confidence and economic power to turn their lives around.

The nomination for the AusMumpreneur Awards, presented by The AusMumpreneur Network, recognises Australian mums in business achieving outstanding success. The awards are designed to recognise the growing number of women who successfully balance motherhood and business.

“After my first son, I tried to return to my job part time as previously arranged, but managers had changed, and earlier agreements went out the window” says Tess. “Working for myself means a lot of hard work and late nights, but it also means I get to pick my kids up from school, and I love that!”
At times it can be challenging to raise a family whilst running a successful business but Tess has proven that it is an achievable goal. “You will face so many obstacles – money will run out, ideas will fail again and again, and people will doubt and criticise you. If you can dream big though, believe in yourself and follow your heart, you’ll have the perfect recipe for success!”

Published on August 4, 2015 on West End Magazine

 

The Melbourne Cup Trophy was welcomed to Brisbane last Thursday with a full day of celebrations hosted by Mental Illness Fellowship Queensland. A community breakfast, tour of the local health precinct and corporate luncheon provided the Brisbane community with a chance to experience the magic of the $175,000, 18-carat gold Emirates Melbourne Cup Trophy.

Coinciding with MIFQ’s 30th birthday, the event also helped create an avenue to raise awareness of mental health issues in the community and the role MIFQ plays in supporting people. Indulge had the opportunity to speak with the owner of The Hat Box, Dale Olsson who donated two hats to be auctioned off at the event.

Dale Olsson has been the owner of the Hat Box in the Brisbane Arcade for the past 11 years, pursuing her love of hats and racing after being a high school teacher. The hats that Dale auctioned off at the event included a ladies yellow wide brimmed hat that went for $350 and a man’s Akubra hat. According to Dale, big hats are on the agenda for the upcoming racing season along with every shade of pink and cobalt blue.

“For the last few years at Melbourne Cup time we’d be wearing little hats that you call perches, but I’m finding that this year the trend has been towards big hats again. So we’ve made quite a few large brimmed hats and they do look beautiful, they’re reminiscent of Gone with the Wind and all those lovely feminine romantic styles,” she said.

Dale has 15 milliners from all over Australia that make exclusive, original designs for The Hat Box and with many of her clients entering fashions in the field they want their hats to be one of a kind. Over the 11 years that she’s owned the brand, Dale said that one standout experience was making the hat for Anna Bligh when the Queen came to town.

Her golden tip for wearing a hat to the races is to never take it off and to make sure it’s well anchored on and bobby pinned in place. “There’s nothing worse than having it fall off,” she said.

Published on October 5, 2015 on Indulge Magazine

 

Armi Alive! is an insightful and striking film that shows the trials and tribulations of one of Finland’s best known female entrepreneurs. The Finnish movie revolves around the portrayal of a theatre company performing a play about Armi Ratia’s life. Armi Ratia was the founder of the Finnish clothing and textile company Marimekko in 1951, based in Helsinki, the company is best known for its brightly coloured printed fabrics and classic styles. The film focuses on the years between 1949 and 1968. Revolving around Marimekko’s initial formation, its international success and Armi’s frequent rocky relationship with the company. A complex character, Armi was headstrong, bold, feisty and did anything to get what she wanted, often resorting to extreme lengths. The actress who played Armi, Minna Haapkylä, fully immersed herself into the role, to the point of struggling with the contradiction of Armi’s personality and temperament. The movie often switched perspectives from the actors performing the play to them and the director sitting around and discussing the film in between rehearsals. I found it created insight and gave a unique perspective from both angles. The concept of filming the theatre company acting out Armi’s life added an interesting and unique dimension. Though I found that the overall structure of the film was often confusing at times especially when the scenes shifted from the actual play performance to the cast talking. The production design was quite simplistic but could be forgiven seeing as the film benefited from concentrating on the beautiful prints and clothing.

There were also charming dance numbers throughout, portraying the clothes in an entertaining way instead of a plain runway show. There was a brief case of nudity and the purpose behind it was unclear but other than that the film was relatively tame. By seeing both sides of Armi, the loving side she showed towards her employees and the reckless side she cultivated through drinking and spending large amounts of money really showed a diverse perspective of this incredible and striking woman. The film allows people to gain insight into the struggles and successes of being an entrepreneur and the way in which they defined Armi and made her become one of the greatest entrepreneurs in Finland.

 

Published on July 24, 2015 on Indulge Magazine 

 

Australia’s first ever Fashion Film Awards will be debuting its red carpet awards ceremony on May 20 in Sydney to celebrate the achievements of brands and artists in the genre of fashion film. The Australian Fashion Film Awards (AFFA) is a not-for-profit organisation that has created a platform for the collaboration between the fashion and film industries. The organisation aims to nurture artistic vision, enable new partnerships for brands, generate career opportunities for young talent and support the local fashion industry.

Anastasia Fai, founder of AFFA said that, “AFFA will celebrate the fusion of the two industries that are working closer and closer with each other. The fascination and access to film production has meant that a photo shoot is no longer enough to launch a new fashion concept. More and more leaders in the fashion industry are recognising the need for a short film to articulate a brand’s personality to millions of people around the world who are consuming video content online. In fact, viewers are 64% more likely to buy a product on an online retail site after watching a video,” Anastasia said.

Categories that will be recognised and awarded at the awards red carpet ceremony include, Best Australian Fashion Film, Best Director, Best Styling, Best Student Fashion Film and Best International Fashion Film. Some of the talent, agencies and brands that are also being represented at the awards ceremony include, Miranda Kerr, Abbey Lee, Gemma Ward, Country Road, Mugler and Fendi.

Published on May 11, 2015 on Indulge Magazine

 

The Roundabout Antiques store held a Moorcroft Annual open day on the 21st of February to showcase their new release, limited editions and general range pieces for 2015. With the 100 year centenary of the ANZACS this year, Moorcroft has created a collection of pottery especially for Australia and New Zealand. Pottery pieces include depictions such events as the tale of Simpson and his donkey and the Battle of Lone Pine.

Moorcroft pottery has been made in the same factory in the United Kingdom since 1913 and according to Robert Neilsen, who runs the store along with his family, the Moorcroft brand is basically the Rolex watch of the pottery world. A family run business since 1996, the Nielsens have a proud history of being professional antique and collectables dealers. “The shop is a bit unique in the fact that we deal with Moorcroft pieces from 80 to 90 years ago as well as their modern pieces. We deal with the entire spectrum of Moorcroft and we are one of the only ones in Australia that do that,” Robert said.

A prominent piece in their Australian exclusive collection is The Great Barrier Reef Vase which the Nielsen family featured last year. The Roundabout Antiques store will be having another open day in July where one of the artists from Moorcroft will be visiting.

Visit www.roundaboutantiques.com.au to see their collections.

Published on December 26, 2014 on Highlife Magazine

 

 

 

 

Since 2011, the Salt Caves in Toowoomba have been providing guests with the natural healing properties of Himalayan Salt. Salt therapy is said to boost immune systems and relive respiratory illnesses.

A drug free treatment that reproduces the natural climate of a salt cave, salt therapy works by dispersing a dry salt aerosol in a halo chamber whose surfaces are covered with layers of salt. As the Himalayan salt is inhaled, it travels through the sinuses and respiratory tract absorbing moisture, cleansing, clearing mucus, killing bacteria and reducing inflammation. The Himalayan salt caves were specially designed under the instruction and guidance from Halotherapy experts in Poland and have over 14 tonnes of Himalayan salt blocks in the walls alone.

Himalayan salt has long been known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties as well as helping to loosen mucus build up and phlegm and helping with asthma treatment and bronchial conditions. Studies have shown that people with chronic upper respiratory conditions, seasonal allergies, sinusitis, bronchitis and skin disorders can gain benefits from salt therapy.

Salt therapy can also help prevent respiratory viruses, including the common cold and flu. Children and adults who experience chronic or multiple colds throughout the year due to day cares, schools, or poor ventilation in the work environment can also benefit from Halotherapy.

Yoga and meditation classes are also held in the salt caves. The Salt Caves are located in Toowoomba on 192 James Street, for more information contact 07 4659 9269 or visit www.saltcaves.com.au.

Published on July 2, 2015 on Highlife Magazine