'Such an evolving town': A drive to see Ballarat grow its tourism reputation

"I hope it continues growing, evolving and becoming that trendy little town where people like to come and spend the day, the weekend or the week here, because we've got so much to see and do," she said.

Ms Feldman's desire to highlight all that Ballarat has to offer will often roll into her businesses.

Her first foray into the wedding industry and highlighting Ballarat businesses started with her own wedding planning journey.

At the time matching silk robes were a trend for bridal parties but she was struggling to find something with the right price range and quality.

"[We thought] let's fill that gap because we don't have something that's affordable without compromising on quality," she said.

"That's how we started Ivory Haus."

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Ms Feldman moved into running a wedding expo because she wanted to make it easier to find Ballarat based vendors.

"I went to the local wedding expo but it wasn't run by locals ... it was underwhelming because they were all from Melbourne with Melbourne prices," she said.

"I felt like we should create something for Ballarat to show off all these businesses that we have here in our own backward.

"I found we had all these incredible businesses in Ballarat, it was just about uncovering them."

Ballarat has always been Ms Feldman's home but she realised how much while she was overseas backpacking for seven months.

"While I was away, I wanted to go and live somewhere else in Australia but when I got home I realised I really loved Ballarat," she said.

"In the seven months that I was away, everything had changed, we had a new nightclub and we had all these new restaurants."

Even today, change is one of the things Ms Feldman still loves about Ballarat.

"It is such an evolving town ... there's something new popping up all the time."

Ms Feldman has been part of Rotary for over a decade, recently she was involved in the Young Ambition group which is now disbanded.

"I have this motto I like to live by which is when you find yourself with more than you need, build a longer table not a higher fence," she said.

"I think that is a really nice thing to live by, especially in Ballarat which is such a giving community, it's a nice thing to be part of where you can make a difference.

While in the middle of lockdowns, Ms Feldman fell into the world of book publishing.

"I had just cancelled the wedding fair for a third time in a row and was on maternity leave from my day job," she said.

"I was just bored out of my mind and I wanted a creative keepsake book for my baby and niece who was born in lockdowns."

Ms Feldman wrote a picture book called Lockdown Baby and thought she might sell about 10 copies to friends and family.

"I didn't intend for it to become a thing," she said.

"Everyone was like 'well, what are you going to write next', and I was like 'I'm not going to write anything else, I'm not an author'.

"Turns out it is really addictive."

Ms Feldman said she had always written as a creative outlet, but it wasn't something she would share with anyone.

But she tried her hand at a second book.

"I thought maybe the first was a fluke and this one won't sell," she said.

"But then that one became a number one international bestseller which was great."

Following the success Ms Feldman has people reaching out asking for advice.

"I figured I had something valuable to share and I created a course," she said.

"This year I taught over 500 women how to publish their own children's books."