Grace Brennan: It's just proof of cool things coming from small places. I suppose I get as proud of the sales data as I do those stories of mindsets changing and opportunities opening up. When people invest in business in the bush, creatives benefit, service providers benefit like graphic designers, lawyers, accountants. I think limited bullshit and maximum impact is what we're all about.
[Voiceover]: Welcome to ADD to cart, Australia's leading e commerce podcast that express deliver all you need to know in the fast moving world of online retail. Here's your host, Bushy.
Nathan Bush: Hello and welcome back to another episode of Add to Cart. My name is Bushy joining you from the land of the terrible people here in Brisbane, Australia. What does Paris Fashion Week, Hollywood homes and a dusty kitchen bench in rural Australia have in common? They are all part of the incredible story that you are going to hear today behind Buy from the Bush. Today I am joined by the amazing Grace Brennan, who is the inspirational founder of this hugely impactful E commerce, but also social movement. Grace has not only helped shine a light on the incredible talent that is thriving in rural and regional Australia, but has also generated a huge $14 million in sales for small and micro businesses across the bush. From pearls that made their way to Paris Fashion Week to rural art gracing the halls of Hollywood homes, Grace's work has brought Invisible Talent into the spotlight and it all started at her kitchen bench during a drought. Today we chat about the emotional and economic toll of droughts on rural communities and how Grace has turned that into a movement that's helping places and business owners that are affected in these areas. We discuss the movement from Buy from the Bush as a marketplace and into a directory and the extra impact that they've been able to make from changing that format. Grace shares the heartwarming stories of resilience and creativity and digs into how businesses and big corporations can and should get involved to create lasting impact for those well beyond the city borders. If you've ever wondered how e commerce can genuinely transform lives, this episode's for you. Now, if you haven't already, I would love to invite you in to join my weekly newsletter. Every Tuesday morning I send you industry insights as well as five stories from E Commerce that you need to know straight to your inbox. It's all free.
Nathan Bush: Sign up now.
Nathan Bush: Add to cart.comau subscribe thanks as always to our partners Shopify plus and deliver in person. Now let's chat with Grace Brennan, founder and CEO of Buy from the Bush.
Nathan Bush: Grace, welcome to ADD to cart.
Grace Brennan: Thank you for having me, Nathan.
Nathan Bush: How good it was funny We've kind of been trying to line this up. We've talked about it a little bit online around lining this up, and I'm so stoked that it's here to have this conversation. But it was funny. Even last night, I sent through a couple of questions. I was like, hey, Grace, here's what I'm thinking. And you're like, I'm on the road, I might get a chance to look at it. But you're like, literally driving somewhere. And I'm like, I've got no idea where you're driving or what your day looks like. You must be all over the place.
Grace Brennan: I am, but not for exciting reasons. I was driving back from Sydney last night and. Yeah, so we're definitely winging it. Yeah. Life's busy, like, for so many small business owners and I've got a few kids and I live in the bush, so travel is just essential. So. Yeah, and it's harvest time here, so it's all systems go for sure.
Nathan Bush: Where's the bush for you?
Grace Brennan: Yeah. So I live in a place called Warren, which is northwest of Dubbo in New South Wales, for those who don't know it. And it's. It's God's country.
Nathan Bush: Tell us about Warren. Why is it so special to you?
Grace Brennan: Well, I actually grew up in the city. I grew up in Sydney, so. So I'm an import, so I don't think I can ever do it justice and I'll never be a local. But for me, it has been such a shift and, you know, in a way, a bigger cultural shock than I ever anticipated it being. I feel like I've got two homes now, Sydney and Warren, and as a result, I get to live the best of both worlds. There's something really special about living in a small community and absorbing the wisdom of these communities and. And the talent, and it's. So much of it is invisible. So I feel like I'm quite privileged to have been let into the wonders of the bush. Yeah, it's pretty special, but this time of year it's manic. It's a funny thing because many of the farms around here are cropping. Springtime is harvest leading to Christmas. And as you go further south through Christmas, so from a retail perspective, it's always, you know, harvest meets harvest, and there's some serious tension around what takes priority. And it's. It's kind of thrilling and exciting to.
Nathan Bush: What do you harvest around Warren? What's. What's good there?
Grace Brennan: Well, it depends on the season, depends on the year, but largely dry Land crop.
Nathan Bush: You've got serious crops there.
Grace Brennan: Yeah.
Nathan Bush: What was it that inspired you? What was the moment where you went, actually I've got to turn this from an observation into kind of a movement with buy from the bush.
Speaker E: Yeah. I think that there's, it's probably a growing thought somewhere in the back of your mind. I had a, you know, sisters who would come out to visit and I'd always take them to the local stores because they always used to comment that you couldn't find those lovely things in
Grace Brennan: the high street stores in Sydney.
Speaker E: So there's that at the back of my mind. But ultimately I was in the kitchen one day and I was hearing a conversation on the radio between a journalist and the Prime Minister and they were talking about the drought and my family in Sydney were kind of whatsapping, asking me questions and it just felt like something was really being missed in the conversation. And they were talking about, you know, funding models and, and the journalist was being really combative saying, you know, this there is a great national disaster and in Parliament you wouldn't know it existed. And the Prime Minister was saying, well, I'm doing something, look at this, look at this funding. And the conversation wasn't getting to the lived reality of drought in rural communities and by extension how that affects small businesses, retail businesses, households, women. Because often when we talk about drought we look at, you know, men in the paddock and dying sheep.
Grace Brennan: But what I was seeing was kind
Speaker E: of the death of a community and the local store owner wasn't going to the trade fair because nobody was coming in. So she wasn't refreshing stock. And that's kind of a self perpetuating problem. There were, you know, the school fundraisers were being canceled because people weren't buying tickets. Women were returning to work early from maternity leave because their husbands kind of going in search of work or they were out of work. So there's all these ripple effects. And it felt like that was an important thing to communicate to my friends and family in the city so that they understood the impact and also had some sort of very simple way to engage. And so like listening to that radio interview, I actually sat down at my desk on my kitchen bench and started to. Which is like a desk for any working mother. You just clear away the, you know, the breakfast and open up the laptop. And this letter was kind of aimed at nobody and, and it was meant to be describing the experience of drought, but I wasn't clear on who it was to and what it was for
Grace Brennan: and what my call to action so
Nathan Bush: you've done incredible work here. Obviously Buy from the Bush was born in the drought, you know, had really strong growth and you've done an incredible amount of awareness. Not only awareness you've generated, which I read and tell me if this is true. $14 million for small and micro businesses based in rural Australia, which is incredible. Tell us about some of the stories of the people that you've met along the way who has really inspired you. You talked about this invisible talent and I love hanging on to that word because I think that's what you do. You bring out the invisible talent that you know, the majority of Australia doesn't see. So along this journey, has there been any business or creator that stood out to you as being one of the invisible talent you've been really proud to help promote?
Grace Brennan: Yes, there's so many. I wish I could tell I'd bore you if I spoke about them all, but I can think of one who's actually just not that far from me in a small town called Trangi. And when Buy from the Bush first started, she was teaching and making pearl jewelry on the side and she had this incredible jewelry. It was so commercial and I just, I mean it. Anyway, when we featured it, it went bananas and then it just kept going bananas and she grew her business substantially at that time only on Instagram and I think she had an E commerce site. But just over the last five years, watching that go from a side hustle to a full time gig, she wrote to me one day and said, I just want you to know the impact you've had on me and my husband and our family or our household. And she quit her day job, she'd become a director of a company, she'd done all these really kind of grown up things as a result. And then a year later she writes and says that she bought a old stock and station agency building on the main street of the small town and, and was going to open her first flagship store and studio space. And then she exhibits in Melbourne Fashion Festival with help from PayPal who kind of wanted to showcase some rural businesses. And then just this year she just went to Paris Fashion Week and her designs were on the, on the Runway, which had nothing to do with us, but it's just this beautiful evolution of a brand from that side hustle thing to something that should, you know, has, is so worthy of attention globally and from this small town. She's now had two kids and her business looks a lot different. And then there's, there's examples of people who have Been retailers with the storefront and then kind of found rhythm. There's Lottie. Ray is an artist, runs an amazing art business, was a retailer when Buy from the Bush first started. Had this talent for content creation and her business did incredibly well through Buy from the Bush. But then she kind of evolved to wanting her art to be her main gig and pivoting. And now she's doing incredible collaborations with Australian designers. All from the middle of nowhere, ultimately. And she told me the other day that a couple of Hollywood stars have bought her art and she shipped them off to the US and it's just proof of cool things coming from small places if they can get seen.
Nathan Bush: Hear that?
Nathan Bush: Customers are tying their shoelaces. They are limbering up. They're ready to bolt into your store this Black Friday. That's very exciting, isn't it? I mean, you've done the hard work this year and you deserve that traffic. You're stocked up, you've got sizzling promotions, you are waiting to welcome them with open arms. What's that?
Nathan Bush: That's your old payment tools in the corner. Surely they're going to survive this stampede, right? I mean, if you have any doubts, now is the time to investigate. Shop pay.
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Nathan Bush: This year,
Grace Brennan: Another artist messaged me one day and said, you'll never believe what I'm doing. And she was painting, you know, her watercolor Christmas cards, or she'd actually been commissioned to paint Roxy Jenko's house. And just again, it's like the most unlikely thing that this. She's a vet, she lives on a property and there she is painting in eastern suburbs home for a PR guru. And I love those stories. It's kind of the blending of quaint and cool or something. It's exactly what I think modern rural Australia needs. Needs a bit of a reframing and I'm seeing that everywhere. And one of my favorite stories is a woman who runs a cool online business, Wattle and Twine, and she curates rurally made Australian made goods. So homewares and gifts and all sorts of beautiful things. She runs it from her farm in Queensland and she wrote to me to thank me for the Impact of bike in the Bush on her business. And she just sent me these photos of machinery being unloaded, of the front end loader being unloaded on farm. And she said that while the tractor looks nothing like my dream kitchen, it is payment for the hard work that I put into this business over the last couple of years. And ultimately it was, it was kind of evidence of how this off farm income had been able to contribute really significantly to their farming business. So yeah, I mean, amazing. I suppose I get as proud of the sales data as I do those stories of mindsets changing and opportunities opening
Nathan Bush: up, they're incredible stories and you should be super proud of the impact and I know you will never claim any of the success behind them, but just to have someone in their corner to kind of push along because I could imagine there's also the obviously the exposure that you can give from Buy from
Nathan Bush: the Bush, but there's also probably a
Nathan Bush: feeling of connection almost like. Because I saw that it's not just products, there's services like photographers and all sorts that you're bringing together. There must be a connection there around artists and creators in rural areas that also has that network effect, not just sales.
Grace Brennan: Yeah, of course. Like when people invest in business in the bush, creatives benefit, service providers benefit like graphic designers, lawyers, accountants. I think we've worked on some really amazing creative campaigns, all with locals and whenever we have partnered with multinationals, I always, you know, sometimes the stock images come out for a rural Australia campaign. I'm always like, stop everything. We are not using that photo for engaging a local photographer and I promise you the campaign will be stronger for it. And it has been. So yeah, there's, there is a network effect for sure. And that kind of social capital is really strong in rural Australia. And in a way I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Even though things are so tough, I just consistently, I think our secret sauce is that that one person's success is really everyone's success and people really believe that. So there is a natural inclination to co promote others in, in small business networks. In the bush.
Nathan Bush: Yep. And so Buy from the Bush today is an incredible platform promoting rural and regional businesses and makers. At one stage I saw it was a marketplace where people could actually buy and I'm not sure if you were doing the fulfillment or not, but. But you definitely could buy. But now it's linking people off to the creators or the, the retailers site. What was the impetus behind that change?
Grace Brennan: Yeah, so we started as a Instagram account, no commercial model. It Wasn't just a hopeful movement. And then about a year in working around the clock, the marketplace was a, essentially a partnership project with PayPal. They, they sponsored us and partnered with us in a really meaningful way to create a marketplace. And that was our first, I suppose, iteration into trying to clip the ticket and make this sustainable and draw revenue from. From the movement. So it was a really powerful way of doing that. We kind of. We launched really quickly. I think we were. I remember the Marketplace. We built it on Marketplace and I think they told me that we were like the fastest launch with the most sellers that they'd ever launched with at that time. So we just turned it around really quickly to get it in the Christmas. Yeah, for Christmas launch. And it was incredibly successful for us and the small businesses. But ultimately, I think, you know, it was probably about three years we had the marketplace, which did its job for sure, connecting customers with small businesses. But it's not where we really wanted to go long term. Commercially. The business model was problematic. The margins were small, the workload was enormous, and there's natural leakage that happens in a marketplace. And we kind of, in a way, I want that to happen because I want customers to go direct. That's kind of the joy of buying from the bush. And so even though I believed in what we were doing in terms of it would have a net benefit for those small businesses, ultimately the small businesses became our paying customer. They paid us commission in this subscription. And there's a natural tension there when the very people we're supporting are also our paying customer. So it didn't allow for a lot of agility for me and for our team. We couldn't really drive the commercial side of a marketplace like you need to, because we want a community benefit probably more than we wanted profit. So there's that side of it and then there's just the kind of personal side of probably knowing what we were good at. Loving the storytelling, loving the community building and the transactional e commerce side of things was just a means to an end for us. So it was a bit of a shift towards doing what made our hearts sing and, and also thinking that ultimately it's probably a more profitable avenue to go down to be a marketing platform and using kind of corporate partnerships to fund some of the work we do.
Nathan Bush: Yeah, I mean, you're in the impact business, right. You've got to look at what resources you have and where you can make the maximum impact. And there's no point going down a business model where you kind of keeping it Rolling over, but not making the impact that you want to make.
Grace Brennan: Yeah. And even as I talk, there are some things that we really miss about the marketplace. There were some really good things and it certainly did an enormous amount. Like it was hard to tell some small businesses who drew a fair amount of their revenue from our marketplace that we were, we were going to close. So there's things lost in that change and also I think a lot gained and the specific makeup of our team, it also meant kind of downsizing the team, going back to basics. And for me and our family, that was a really well timed change. So it's kind of a boring answer in the sense that it's a few reasons, but now we've shifted towards a directory. We have that in our sister Paige, Stay in the Bush, which promotes rural tourism and, and showcases rural tourism offerings. And so we kind of move towards a similar model where we get, you know, basically pay per promo model and also try and attract corporate sponsorship on a larger scale or partnership to achieve some of those community building projects that we want to do.
Nathan Bush: Yeah, it's definitely not a boring answer. It's a very real answer.
Grace Brennan: Yeah.
Nathan Bush: You've mentioned the role that PayPal have in your journey and I know you've had other corporate sponsors on board, Meta, Visa, a couple of others. If we've got these businesses listening, and I know that many of them do, how can corporates, especially in the E commerce space, help you with your mission at Buy from the Bush?
Grace Brennan: A couple of things come to mind because one of the things I was struck by with working with huge organizations was they are hamstrung by a lack of agility. Often they've got global priorities and we've got local issues and local trends and local kind of insights that they need to balance somehow the challenges of global priorities, but local needs. So with each partnership that we have engaged with, we deliver something different to that corporate. In some cases it's been about political goodwill, some cases consumer goodwill. Sometimes it's, you know, connection to a community of small businesses. And each time I think we have over delivered in terms of creating meaningful content, real outcomes, incredible things that they can add to their reports. And you know, part of the, actually part of the partnerships have often been around research and impact reporting which then garners enormous pr. So in a really transactional sense, they get very good storytelling from partnering with real organizations that have impact on the ground. And it's also storytelling that is different to what might come out of the agency. Like I've sat in agency meetings and just cringe. I mean I love the agencies I work with, but I've just crossed cringed at some of the messaging around. Like I remember this is an example, but I remember, you know, an ad executive in Melbourne saying we were talking about the messaging for a campaign and they said, oh, you know, what about support our Aussie Bush battlers? And like I almost vomited on the phone. I was like, no, that is not the messaging and it will not get the traction that you want it to get. So just adding that three dimensional insight and proximity to customer, proximity to community, enormous goodwill, cool activations. I think there's lots that partnering with small organizations brings you as a big corporate, but also I think if they're, if they're looking at sustainability outcomes, then looking to that community building, women in business, rural and regional Australia, there's so many angles where it's actual sustainable outcomes and not just lip service. So we've had really meaningful partnerships in terms of both the capacity building stuff. So some like Facebook have delivered workshops in small. It was Facebook back then, now meta. But I remember when Facebook called me and said we want to help, which they did within weeks, called me and said, we've seen you, we want to help. I was like, and I must have hesitated. I promise you, I'm a real person, this is not fraudulent. I'll get on the phone, you can see me. We want. And within a couple of weeks they were out delivering workshops. They were setting me up with a content agency to get some paid ads and so, and then, you know, PayPal, obviously the marketplace, there's been like a scale of investment from them that led to real change in rural communities. And then they've got that to tell their, you know, whether it be investors or the stakeholders, their consumer side, I think they're chasing real, real impact and real stories. And that's what partnering with, I suppose rural small business does for them. I actually think it's, it's enormously underestimated and sometimes sorry for the long winded thing, but I feel quite passionate about this. Sometimes I have these conversations with potential partners and I know really quickly whether it's not a good, this is not going to deliver for like mutual benefit because I think they actually have a cap on their understanding of what a partnership can be, a marketing partnership and even a brand partnership. I think the partners that come to it with a genuine desire to invest in changing people's future and in changing the story of, in our case, rural Australia, then amazing things can happen. But if you come, you know, seeking very specific kind of PR outcomes or advertising outcomes. It never leads to the magic. So it's a little bit of alignment as well I think.
Nathan Bush: Yeah.
Nathan Bush: When you think of your last E commerce experience that went wrong, how did it go wrong? Was it because there wasn't enough product images? Was it an out of whack mobile experience? Was it that one rogue negative review? I doubt it. I bet it was because of your last mile experience and whether your product turned up on time and undamaged. That's what we remember Delivered in full on time or dieot for the sexy shortened version is a key metric for retailers and customers. Why? Because it's a critical indicator of reliable on time delivery and the post purchase customer experience. However, many Australian retailers are settling for 70 to 80% delivered in full on time results. That's a lot of unhappy customers. That's why brands such as July, Samsonite and the Party People turn to deliver in person. With an average dyfot score of 99.6% you are delivering experiences to remember. Do not settle for less. Find out more@deliverinperson.com I love what you
Nathan Bush: were talking about around obviously it helps rural communities, rural families, but it's so much broader and deeper than that. You know, talked about sustainability outcomes. I suppose mental health falls in there a little bit. But even the women in business I think is really important because one of the stats that I read is it still 97% of the businesses that you work with in buy from the bush and help promote are actually founded by women. Why is it so high?
Grace Brennan: Because rural communities are often made up of. Well, they're centered around traditional industries like agriculture, mining and others. There are many women not engaged in those. There are many women engaged in those industries, but so many not engaged in those industries. They've got all these talents and skills and often they're sitting idle and then they have the space both literally and figuratively to create, to make things to. They also have a need to diversify sometimes in farming, you know, obviously you probably know it's seasonal and sometimes, you know, during the drought that secondary income became the primary income and became incredibly important. So largely it's the nature of what we were showcasing. I suppose, you know, it was, it was commercial consumer based goods. Women are the ones interested in selling those often in, in rural communities. But also there is this incredible energy and talent that is often resting idle in rural communities because opportunities are pretty limited sometimes or they have been probably before COVID to work remotely. So that's why I think it's this unbelievable resource that needs to be invested in and it's also why there is, why it's so important, I suppose that we, that people see the value in, in. I spoke to a retailer in a small town who said her farming father in law, she like me, had married a farmer and created the most incredible retail business that would be successful anywhere. But it happened to be in a tiny town. And her farming father in law always thought it was nice little things that she did. Oh, that's nice that you have that project that you can kind of go off and have some fun each day and then bite in the bush happens and the drought happens. And that business became pivotal to their survival but also incredibly successful and dynamic. And everybody in town was talking about it and she told me with tears in her eyes that he had started to change the way he spoke about her business. And so I think that is the, that's the potential of something like this. When women in rural Australia realize their potential and consumers kind of get behind it, it is very meaningful.
Nathan Bush: I love it.
Nathan Bush: Grace, I feel like we've only touched the surface of some of the stories that you could share with us to help us understand more, especially those of us who are in the cities understand kind of the potential of what's out there, you know, that we can help promote and get out there. You're doing such an amazing thing for the community that you're in, but I think also just for Australia in general, to make it more interesting for everyone. Yeah.
Nathan Bush: What's on the radar?
Nathan Bush: What's the next 12 months? Obviously you are in peak season right now. Now both from a harvesting and from a retail perspective. After that next 12 months, what are we thinking?
Grace Brennan: I hate this question. I don't know what anybody else does, but immediately like anything that was in my head just disappears. When somebody asked me what's next? I don't know. I'm testing this. Whether this is, this has legs, this model of essentially, you know, content creation, marketing, paid promotions, partnering with corporates. I believe that we have lots of cool things to still achieve and so I'll be working really hard to do do that. But I also, as you know, you've helped me before. Part of what we do is this capacity building stuff with small businesses. So creating opportunities for them to learn from experts and from big companies and from people who have gone before them. So we always have projects in mind for those, you know, small business development, community building stuff which I think is so important for the mentor health stuff. So more of that More storytelling and I think some, you know, growing stain the bullshit a little bit more too. So that's what we'll be working on and I hope that that sounds sufficient for an answer. I also just like, I'm thinking I'll also do a grocery shop and I'll try and get my child through. You6 normal. Yeah. I think ultimately what we're trying to do is connect consumers, like global consumers with people in the bush and that is largely achieved through creating really dynamic content and some creative partnerships as well.
Nathan Bush: That's awesome. That's awesome. So this is normally the question where I say if people want to learn more or get in touch, what's the best way to do that? But I'm going to change it for you because I'm going to say if people want to get in touch to help or contribute or share the stories that you're helping to create, what's the best way to do that? We've talked about corporate support. We've talked about just going on by from the bush and having a look at things like the Christmas range and considering it for your Christmas shopping. Talked about the skills that you're looking forward to help spread skills throughout for creators and businesses in rural and regional communities. What are you looking for?
Grace Brennan: Really specific stuff like corporate gifting. We've got this cool program where we'll curate a corporate gift page for you and even offer a bit of a discount. Sometimes property development companies offer their clients and their tenants these kind of curated gift guides from us. Corporate gifting, obviously at this time of year. I also just would encourage, if you are most of you listening, probably have some sort of stake in E commerce and may even run really big successful businesses or service companies for those businesses. And I would encourage you to think about creative partnerships with small and micro businesses in rural Australia to deliver insights, to deliver pragmatic and impactful help to them. And if you need some suggestions on how to do that, please come to us. Or if you want access to these communities, please come to us. Because we love connecting big business with small business and doing meaningful stuff. You know, I think limited bullshit and maximum impact is what we're all about.
Nathan Bush: Love that. Can you make that your tagline?
Grace Brennan: No, actually our mission, I should get across that our mission is to crisis proof rural Australia by enabling small business and empowering founders. And I think that is not limited to us. I think, you know, just everybody can kind of do that in their own way. Everybody listening can do that in their own way. And I think it's incredibly important thing that we look to.
Nathan Bush: Well, if you're not going to use it, I'm going to take limited bullshit. What's the best way for them to get in touch? This is the part where you plug the website or tell them how to contact you.
Grace Brennan: Yes. So it's fivefromthebush.com and my email is grace@bifeinthebush.com Come straight to me, please. I'd love to have a conversation.
Nathan Bush: How good. Grace, thank you so much for joining us on Add to Cart.
Speaker E: Thank you.
Grace Brennan: Thanks for having me.
Nathan Bush: I just love that Grace sat down and said, I'm going to start an Instagram page. And it turned into $14 million of increased sales for those all across Australia, especially those who are doing doing it tough. It's just a remarkable legacy so far and I've got no doubt it is just the start for the impact that she is going to make for rural Australia. Here are my three takeaways from that conversation with Grace. Number one, the people behind the product is just as important as the product itself. Buy from the Bush has become a bridge between rural creators and urban consumers. But beyond the sales, it's the sense of recognition and emotional connection that is transforming these communities. For example, the jeweler who grew her side hustle into a thriving business culminating in showcasing her designs at Paris Fashion Week. Or the vet turned artist painting Christmas cards that ended up in Hollywood homes for e commerce businesses. This is a powerful lesson that your platform isn't just about your product. It's about the people and the stories that resonate. And if you are a founder in a business, this goes for you too. People want to know your story. Don't be afraid of telling it. Number two, invisible talent is untapped opportunity. Grace's work shines a light on the invisible talent that is scattered across rural Australia. Often overlooked by major markets. Businesses like Buy from the Bush have unlocked over 40, $14 million for small rural businesses, proving that this is just the tip of the iceberg and that there is a wealth of creativity and capability waiting to be discovered from those who go to seek it. I mean, we've heard some rural stories before. The one that comes to mind is Jane K and the Bird's Nest team who are doing incredible things not only as retailers, but in the community and the team that they have built, building to support each other up in these areas. For brands, I think it's a really great call to action, to think beyond the kind of communities that you know within the cities. Collaborating with rural talent and marginalized communities could bring unique offerings to your product range while making a meaningful impact. And number three, simplify for scalability. Grace's decision to close the Buy from the Bush Marketplace caused a bit of a stir at the time, and her pivot to a curated directory wasn't just about cutting costs, it was about amplifying impact. She recognized that focusing on storytelling and partnerships with companies such as PayPal and Meta could achieve much more than chasing the traditional e commerce model. And the result speaks for itself. More reach, better alignment with their mission, and sustainable growth for e commerce businesses. It's a great reminder that when something feels complex and unwieldy and maybe just not right, it's time to step back, simplify, and make sure you're having the biggest impact on your mission that you
Nathan Bush: can at that time.
Nathan Bush: If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a friend or a colleague who would love Grace's inspiring sharing story. Maybe send it to someone in a regional or a rural area that you know who is struggling with their business. It could be the uplift that they need. And if you are feeling generous, leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts as it helps us reach even more listeners. A huge thanks again to our sponsors, Shopify plus and Deliver in Person for making this episode possible. Before you go, we'd love to invite you to join our free e commerce learning platform Add to CART Campus, meet other professionals and learn from e commerce experts to take your business and your e commerce career to the next level. Register to join campus@addtocart.com
Nathan Bush: now.
Nathan Bush: If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure you share it with a friend or a colleague. Or even better, leave us a review on Spotify or Apple. It really makes a difference.
