By Samantha Noon
In April 2022, Goondiwindi midwife and lactation consultant Carla Dillon celebrated her fifth birthday with her natural cream business Little Button Essentials. Like all rural businesses, the last five years have been a challenge, with the business managing to continue to thrive despite the difficulties thrown up by long-term drought and the Covid-19 pandemic.
”I will always be grateful for my customers; it was their ongoing support that saw me through the toughest of times,” Carla reflects.
Carla, her husband Justin and two children run a grazing property 70 kilometers south east of Goondiwindi. Like all farming families, the last drought saw them severely destock and manually hand feed the small number of livestock they had remaining. Luckily for the Dillons, sales from Madannah products in combination with Carla’s work as a midwife at the local hospital supported the farm and the family during what was to be one of the toughest times for Australian agriculture.
Covid-19 also brought along with it a myriad of challenges, with many local events being cancelled and Queensland/New South Wales border restrictions having a major impact on the Dillon family.
“When the Premier {of Queensland} announced the border closures, we made the decision that the girls and I would remain in Goondiwindi, so they could continue to attend school, and me, work. What this meant however, was that effectively, our family was cut in two.”
Justin remained with the family farm on the New South Wales side of the state border, while the girls remained in Queensland. It was a difficult couple of years for the Dillon family, but Carla is happy to report that all is right once again.
“The borders are now open and after two years of uncertainty, we can travel freely to our farm and back. We are a family unit once again.”
As for Little Button Essentials, the fifth anniversary is only the beginning, with big plans for new products, business growth and new opportunities abound. Carla looks forward to continuing to hand-make and hand-pour with love, the wide range of naturally organic creams for the whole family.
