It is difficult starting your own business but when it is a lifelong dream it never feels like a job. This is the case for Rachel Pullen who started life in the red dirt mining town of Paraburdoo in northern W.A. and ended in a 120-year-old house on a rural property in Nimbin. Denise Alison chatted to Rachel about her journey.

I was born in Paraburdoo in WA which is red dog country. That movie resonates with me too. I was a Miner's baby and at 3 we came back across the Nullarbor. I’ve never been back but I will return soon for my 50th.

(The mining town of Paraburdoo in north eastern Western Australia 1974. Photo: Rachel Pullen)

I want to take my Dad and some family and go back to Paraburdoo. I have a little jar here of the red dirt from Paraburdoo so I have a little piece of my original home.

(Rachel and her dad at Paraburdoo in 1974)

The family moved to the Manning Valley and my parents renovated different houses. My mum and dad are still down there, living separately but still down that way. Mum has a farm and Dad has his little house in Taree.

My partner Lisa and I moved up here in 2003 with her 2 sons who have now got partners and babies. They live in Ballina with their families. I’m really blessed to have such an amazing woman and such an amazing family. Their kids and their partners are beautiful. I’m really, really lucky.

I worked in retail for a long time. Lisa manages the Spar supermarket in East Lismore. I worked for a little while at Spar doing different things. I worked in Byron for a while and before I started working with my doggies I was managing the Suffolk Bakery where I stayed for over 4 years. The dog grooming job I have now has been my dream job forever. I still pinch myself every day. It’s only been 3 months but the set-up and training was months and months of work.

We moved into our home here in Gungas Rd, Nimbin 11 years ago just outside Nimbin town.

We are passionate about the rural area and passionate about animals so we wanted the space to provide an area for animals. We love our old house. Lisa is a massive gardener so she loves growing our food.

We just wanted the space. It’s 2 1/2 acres and the property’s name is Gypsy Grace Cottage and we love living here because it is such a sanctuary for us. Having worked in retail and hospitality, it’s fast-paced and people based so this is our escape. We come here with our animals and we have each other. We grow food…it’s all pretty simple stuff, we don't complicate things too much. I’m off a farm so we love to live rurally.

We have ducks, chooks, 2 cats, Alice our dog and 2 mini donkeys - Max and Mariah. They came to live with us just over a year ago. We also had a horse called Sparky who we recently lost. She was my sister in law’s horse and she was 35 years old. She came here to retire and live a lovely old lady life. She was here for her last 4 years until she had a stroke. Our cats are Mildred and Lolly. Our dog Alice came from Logan Pound but Alice can tell you her story for Dogs of Lismore. I’m a Vegan so it’s all about the animals for me. I know our animals are happy and healthy. Alice gets lovely eggs or we give them away and Lisa has eggs sometimes.

We aren’t sure how old our house is but we think about 120 years old. We haven’t been able to find much history other than a farmer called Ozzy who was the original farmer, lived here with his family. It was just a little cottage on the hill with hardly any trees other than some fruit trees and the Frangipanis which must be at least 100 years old. They are so old and huge.

Apparently, Ozzy’s wife was a gardener so we think the Mango and Persimmon plus the beautiful old Wisteria would have been planted by her. We feel so lucky to sit under those old trees. We’ve done reno's as we can afford them. We just made it open and homey.

When Lisa and I moved up here from Taree to Ballina originally, I was applying for dog wash jobs then. So I’ve always wanted to do it. I was worried at first with a mortgage and bills but Lisa is so supportive in so many ways and she said, just go do it, you’ll be amazing at it working with the animals.

The franchise people were amazing and supportive as well and it made the process easy. I’m 3 months in and super busy, still paying all my bills and meeting lovely people and lovely dogs. If ever I get a grumpy dog they have a reason. They are sore or scared or they’ve had a bad experience. Maybe they have mobility issues or they are arthritic. I just work with that.

I feel like I’m living my dream. I have an amazing wife and a beautiful family that she brought into my life which I’ve seen grow. There are 9 grandchildren. I mean I didn’t do any work, I helped raise 2 teenage boys. They were 11 and 13 when we got together.

Lisa and I had been friends way before we got together so I’d seen the boys grow up from little tackers. We fell in love and ran away. We just live here and love our lives. Lisa loves her work and I love mine.

We like to potter in the garden, have a glass of wine and enjoy our animals. Lisa knew when we got together I was into saving animals. We can see ourselves as little old ladies in gumboots sitting under the Frangi’s drinking pots of tea.”

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