Our Stories
My Story
I’m a well-versed and highly driven all round marketing specialist with over 20 years’ experience.
I started my marketing career in grass root positions, working my way up to C-Suite level. The business knowledge and experience I’ve gained over the years comes from working in companies ranging from massive corporates to family-run businesses; well established companies to little start-ups.
Marketed brands and products in over eight countries. My industry experience spans across retail, tourism, hospitality, health and beauty, services and most recently, the sheep milk dairy industry.
Expertise includes successfully planning, developing, implementing, communicating, delivering and overseeing innovative brand and marketing strategies and activations across both digital and traditional marketing channels; to build and improve brand presence, customer engagement, grow market share and drive sales performance.
Over the years I’ve worked with and alongside some of the most reputable advertising agencies in the world and learned so much from them.
I know how important it is to spend every marketing dollar wisely and cut out all the wastage!
My Brand Story
I find ‘pottering’ in my garden to be very therapeutic and have always loved lemon trees, especially potted lemon trees. I find their colour combination uplifting. When the trees bloom, they produce an extremely sweet fragrance. Even the crushed leaves produce a sweet citrus scent. Their fragrant white blossoms attract bees, which pollinate the flowers. Lemon trees are easy to grow and care for, need ‘just enough water’, and do not like waterlogged soil. They produce fruit profusely and almost continuously.
My eldest son Ryan, bought me a beautiful ‘potted lemon tree’ for my birthday a few years ago. I tenderly care for it and it’s produced many juicy lemons over the years.
When I was discussing the idea of opening my own marketing business with youngest son Nolan, we starting chatting about a name. He suggested that I name my business Lemon Tree Marketing – his rationale “Mum you love lemon trees and you’re very passionate about marketing – why not combine the two.”
When thinking through how I would run my own business I knew one thing for sure – I wanted it to be different. So, I built my business on the same principles of growing and caring for a lemon tree.
The Lemon Tree's Story
When reading through these stages below, think about your own business.
A lemon tree has four stages of growth:
1. Flower bud induction 2. Flowering 3. Fruit set 4. Ripening
‘Potted’ lemon trees prefer deep, well drained soil. The ideal potting mix includes equal parts peat, sand and perlite or bark. A lemon tree generally outgrows its pot every three to four years.
1. Flower Bud Induction
Flower bud induction in lemon trees starts by November and continues into early January. Flower bud induction is influenced by any environmental stress upon the tree. The flattening of the developing buds starts to become evident late in January.
2. Flowering
The flowering stage in a lemon tree is greatly dependent upon environmental factors such as the moisture in the soil, and the temperature. Under optimal growth conditions, the trees achieve full bloom in spring. The lemon tree particularly flowers in two major peaks every season and then continuously at reduced intensity during the remainder of the year. The five-petaled, white flowers appear either singly or in clusters. The pollen grains are sticky and the flowers either cross or self-pollinate by insects that are attracted to the strong scent of the flowers.
3. Fruit Set
During the fruit set stage, the flower or ovary makes its transition into a young fruit which then keeps growing until maturity. Any failure in fruit set is referred to as abscission. This can occur at any time after the ovary has grown significantly. Fruit set and abscission is greatly influenced by the flowering intensity, management of the tree and climate conditions.
4. Ripening
The proper ripening of lemons on the tree is very important, as this effects the storage life and ultimate fruit quality and taste. If fruits are picked before they ripen fully, they are of an inferior quality when they eventually ripen. With reference to ripening, fruits are divided into two groups; those that are not capable of continuing the ripening process if removed from the tree, and those that can be ripened if picked earlier. Citrus fruits belong to the first group, hence lemons need to be fully ripe before they are picked.
