Business founder and agvocate Zoe Carter
Zoe Carter grew up in Geelong, loving horses from an early age. She had aspirations to enter the equine industry, but being diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia at 17, coupled with a serious horse accident about a year later, meant life was going to have to take a different turn. And it turned towards agriculture.
Zoe had studied agriculture during high school yet knew next to no one in the industry when she first got involved. Despite this, she went into the industry 'full tilt' and headed to country Victoria for a short stint working on a Merino stud in Wedderburn. Initially, Zoe faced a steep learning curve, discovering that what was common knowledge to industry insiders was unfamiliar to her due to her lack of on-farm experience.
Still, she was hooked and knew that agriculture was the industry for her. Since then, she has spent her time exploring agriculture across Australia, working as a livestock contractor. To date, her adventure has taken her to stints in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.
Unfortunately, hip issues are not a thing of the past for Zoe, and she can't do as much physically laborious work as she'd ideally like to do. Still keen to contribute to agriculture as much as possible, she has started a number of ventures centred around creating community and connections within the industry. These include Young Aussie Farmers, Rugged Country, Females in Agriculture Australia and most recently, Agriculture Jobs Auswide. While Zoe has worked with others to get some of these ideas off the ground, the capital required to start them has come out of her own pocket each time.
'People say I should buy a new car, but I feel passionate about putting my money into these other things which are far more important,' Zoe says. 'If I have to drive around in my 2002 Ford Falcon for the rest of my life, then so be it.'
Zoe has also amassed a large following on social media, frequently sharing her day-to-day life working in agriculture.
