Indigo Interview: Tree change to Beechworth for Kate

Kate Watson was born in Melbourne and spent nearly eight years in Northern NSW, where with her partner Anthony built their private dining business, ODE Dining, and had their daughters, Olive and Vivienne. “We made the treechange to Beechworth almost a year ago to be closer to my parents. We do miss that Pacific Ocean though,” Kate said. What do you do workwise? I’ve just begun as interim operations manager at Quercus Beechworth. I also run LE GOLD, a marketing, strategy and operations consultancy that helps businesses grow, win work and the systems to actually implement the work won. And I co-run ODE with Anthony, who’s the chef. What led you to your role/career? I studied communications at RMIT, then spent about 15 years across brand, marketing and strategy, mostly learning on the job in businesses building what has been coined as a portfolio career - including the Project Forty Nine Cambridge Street in Collingwood when it was there, where Anthony and I met when working with Lisa. What do you love about your work? Taking something messy and chaotic and making it work: a tender that wins, a system that gives an owner their evenings back, a plan people can actually follow. Most of the businesses I work with are founder-led, so the difference shows quickly. What do you do in the community? ODE has had a stall at the Revival Market, and we’re keen to do more locally, including food relief. Our girls are at Beechworth Primary and Beechworth Early Learning Centre, so we’re part of those communities too. Quercus is a chance to be involved at a community level in a more substantial way. Is there an important community issue that you think needs addressing? The cost of living has hit a lot of households hard, and more people are struggling than we’d probably guess. It’s not always ongoing hardship. Sometimes it’s one tough week or an unexpected bill, and that could be any of us. What would you do to solve, change or improve that situation? Make sure people know what’s available in terms of help and support, and that using it is normal. At Quercus you can sit down for a chat or simply use the community fridge without speaking to anyone. Removing the stigma around asking for help is important. What do you see as one of the most important current world issues? The genocide in Gaza, which hasn’t stopped. People who are already traumatised and displaced are now living through floods and storms in tents, and people are still being killed every day. If the person you would most like to meet came to Indigo Shire (past or present), or was already here, who would that be, what would you show them, and why? We need to get presenter, standup comedian and comedy actor Alan Carr to Beechy who recently appeared in BBC’s ‘The Traitors’– can you imagine? A leisurely long lunch at Stanley Pub – and onto Tanswells. A brisk dip and sauna on the lake in the morning. Heaven. What book are you reading? I’ve just finished ‘All Fours’ by Miranda July (and yes, my fellow bookclubbers, not this month’s book! Sorry).

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