STARTING a new business or career from scratch is never going to be easy.
And it can be especially difficult for women, as they are more likely to take time off from work to raise children.
The Liebe Women's Day, held last week at Dalwallinu, was to help "increase the management capacity of women to build a sustainable future for their family, farm business and the agricultural industry".
More than 120 women who work, live or are affiliated with the eastern Wheatbelt agricultural industry attended the event.
They heard from speakers who shared their journey of starting niche businesses to diversify their farm business, which emphasised the importance of perseverance during difficult times.
Other speakers spoke on topics relevant to many regional families, such as education options and support, succession planning and women's health.
Keynote speaker Lyn Beazley shared her journey of becoming a world-renowned neuroscientist and some new projects she has been working on.
Professor Beazley was WA's chief scientist from 2006 to 2013 and advised the WA government on science, innovation and technology.
She encouraged the women at the event to take on opportunities, even when they might be under-qualified or inexperienced.
Professor Beazley was the first woman to hold a chief scientist role in Australia and said it involved being a science ambassador locally, nationally and globally.
"When I saw the job of chief scientist come up I knew I could do about nine of the 10 requirements, but because of that one, I didn't apply because I didn't think I had a chance," professor Beazley said.
"I ended up being contacted for the position anyway and it turned out that of all those 10 things, I was probably best at that one I didn't think I could do.
"If you can do most of something, just say yes and you can always ask for help or figure it out later."
Professor Beazley emphasised the importance of more children becoming interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
She said the world was facing two major challenges for the future as a result of rapid population growth - climate change and feeding a hungry planet, for which STEM would most likely hold the solutions or management strategies.
"Precision ag is one of the ways to approach this problem of feeding more people," she said.
"For example, using a solar thermal plant which uses solar power to turn saltwater into freshwater and using solar powered robots for targeted herbicide applications.
"Also, we need to do something about our waste and make it into something that we can use, such as fertiliser and methane can be turned into carbon dioxide which plants love."
Professor Beazley's passion for reducing waste has led to one of the current projects she's working on with Greenbatch, which is a recycling program that turns schools waste into 3D printer filament.
Since being awarded Western Australian of the Year in 2015, professor Beazley has worked to increase the financial literacy of women, which will ultimately help those in domestic violence or financial abuse situations.
Through this work professor Beazley helped develop Your Toolkit, which is a resource to assist women in abusive situations transition to becoming independent, empowered and financially resilient.
She has also been contributing to and supporting research into autism and the flight paths of birds.
"If we want to save the world, we need to educate more women," she said.
"For every woman that we educate worldwide, we reduce the number of children that she has by at least one, which in turn reduces the effects of climate change, pollution and population growth."
Another highlight of the day was Emily King, from Australian Wool Innovation, who talked about a social licence in the wool industry.
Ms King encouraged growers to be proud of their work, that contributes to Australia's wool industry.
"Be proud of what you do and promote it," Ms King said.
"One way that you can increase transparency at the ground level is by filling in the National Wool Declaration (NWD), which can promote trust in the supply chain.
"I love seeing people get the most return on-farm - getting the simple building blocks right can make all the difference."
Whatever your farming practices, such as mulesing or not, Ms King said that including as much detail in the NWD might increase your chances of achieving a higher price for your wool.
"Trust in the wool industry is at an all time low worldwide, both in business and the government," she said.
"But we need to try to understand why people think what they do and tell them your story too."
