Lexton business owner Rebecca McErvale is excited to have a reason to celebrate this month after a tough year in business.
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The co-founder of Australian merino wool product business Leroy Mac Designs has been named as a finalist in four categories for the 2020 AusMumpreneur Awards.
The award nomination comes as the business continues its recovery after the family farm was ravaged by fire in December.
The fire scorched 1000 hectares, 95 per cent of the farm and they lost 300 sheep.
"After the fire things were looking pretty grim," Mrs McErvale said.
"Now with COVID it has been pretty tough, so this is a bit of a rainbow."
Leroy Mac Designs specialises in baby beanies, blankets and scarves made with wool from their property.
The wool is sent to Italy to be processed and the products are knitted in Ballarat.
Mrs McErvale is a finalist in the business excellence, regional business, customer service and product categories of the AusMumpreneur Awards.
The awards are designed to recognize the growing number of women who balance motherhood and business.
Mrs McErvale is mother to two daughters aged six and four and is currently juggling home schooling and work.
She said support throughout their fire recovery had been overwhelming and although they could not do their usual product promotion at markets and trade shows due to COVID-19, people had been supporting the business online.
"There has been a lot of support online after the bushfires for Australian made products and I think people are looking for that now," she said.
Watch the video from PRD Real Estate featuring Leroy Mac Designs below.
Leroy Mac Designs launched in 2010 and is the only Australian company making machine knitted, machine washable garments using the wool from their own sheep.
"There was nothing on the market that was pure Australian merino," Mrs McErvale said.
"We had 6000 head of sheep and I said 'why can't we do this, why can't we use the wool off our own sheep?'."
Voting for the AusMumpreneur People's Choice Awards is open now. Visit surveymonkey.com/r/AUSMUMVIC.
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Rochelle Kirkham
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
