Hard work: Lydia Thomson has had her own gardening business Mowing Motivation for the past eight months. Photos: Aidan Briggs
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
For about the past eight months, Lydia Thomson has been running an Echuca gardening business and using it to help create a safer place for women.
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“I started this business mainly for women in domestic violence so that I could be the one to go there if they didn’t want a man around and to help employ some of those women,” she said.
“My priority is women and helping them to gain self-confidence and to be financially independent, so they don’t have to rely on anybody else but themselves.”
It’s personal: Lydia Thomson said her own history with family violence has inspired her to take action.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
The scourge of family violence is something that Ms Thomson knows about, with it having been a part of her life during both childhood and when she was older.
“I come from a background where it felt like my whole life was full of domestic violence. It’s why my kids and I are in Echuca, so it’s a really huge thing for me,” she said.
“It’s so hard to get help when you’re in that situation in Victoria, and I just want to make it easier for someone who wants to get out.”
Due to work over the past months, Ms Thomson was flown to Sydney earlier this month to be celebrated for her new business Mowing Motivation by Asuria.
You can do it: The success of her gardening business has given Lydia Thomson a lot of confidence in herself.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
“It was a small start-up award, and only eight months in, who would’ve thought I would be here getting flown to Sydney for an award,” she said.
“It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had.”
Ms Thomson said her confidence had grown tremendously since starting the business.
“It’s been extremely rewarding confidence-wise, as in people are actually choosing me, calling me, booking me out. It’s been amazing,” she said.
Winner: Lydia Thomson said getting the start-up award was one of the best experiences of her life. Photo: Supplied
“It’s not even my friends that are giving me that — it’s the town and it’s the people in the town. Complete strangers have been more amazing than people that I know at times and that’s really heart-warming.”
Although helping women has been the primary goal, Ms Thomson said that supporting men’s mental health is also essential to her.
She said she’s excited to see the business grow over the next few years.
“Eventually I would like to have a fleet of women from DV situation and a fleet of men getting help with their mental health, driving around their own Mowing Motivation trailer,” she said.
“That’s what I want. A fleet of survivors. That’s my plan.”
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