Meet Samantha Meurant and Tori Kopke. These small business owners live thousands of kilometres apart in vastly different parts of rural Australia but are joined with a passion to help other women just like them in a new, joint initiative called Big Rural Ideas.
Samantha Meurant is the powerhouse behind The Rural Compass, a podcast dedicated to spotlighting women in business who are working hard in rural and remote areas across Australia. Tori Kopke is a Texan transplant based in Cunderdin WA and describes herself as “a small business lover and marketing guru.” Her business 20/20 Marketing Solutions provides regional businesses across Australia with realistic marketing solutions.
Given their two different bases of Queensland and Western Australia, geographically, a joint venture between the two women, didn’t make sense. However, it definitely wasn’t enough to stop them! A clear vision and a desire to educate and empower women, the two embarked on a Marketing Mini Series under the Rural Compass Podcast. But, it couldn’t end there. They have now gone on to co-found Big Ideas Rural, a virtual space designed to empower, educate and connect rural business women across Australia.
“We want to walk with women every step of their business journey. We want to celebrate wins with them, we want to empower them. We want to minimise the challenges of being a rural woman in business by providing resources and a community of like minded women,” says Mrs. Kopke.
Big Ideas Rural is launching a mini course titled Master Your Marketing, a three module self paced program that focuses on discovering an ideal client, creating content, and leveraging platforms. This program builds upon the foundation laid by the Mini Marketing Series in the Rural Compass Podcast. Course enrolment opens on September 9, 2019 and will only be open for two weeks with class starting on September 23, 2019.
As Samantha told Flying Solo: ” As rural women and in particular rural and remote women running businesses it can often feel isolating. What Tori and I are creating with Big Ideas Rural is a community and network of other rural women in business in rural areas from across Australia to help eliminate that isolation. As well as a virtual education platform aimed directly at those women who may be struggling to be seen due to their rural and remote location. Tori and I are a perfect example of how distance should not be a factor when it comes to running a business. We are both living rurally and as well as that we have connected across the country. Our recent Mini marketing podcast series has given us the drive to connect more rural businesswomen and show them it is possible to run your business no matter your location. The Rural Compass offers inspiration and success stories of this in the weekly interviews. Big Ideas Rural will connect, inspire and educate rural businesswomen on how we and others can and will make it work from wherever their location may be. And that we are not alone in our journey.
In addition to the Big Rural Ideas course, Samantha and Tori have a free Facebook group for rural women in business called Compass Cooperative. Membership to the group is building quickly, it is a dynamic place to share ideas and make new connections.
You can continue following the journey of this incredible joint venture on Instagram @BigIdeasRural. This is just the beginning and all rural women in business are invited to join the adventure.For more information please contact [email protected].
