keeping it in the family

our story

Women’s Work is a family-owned business run out of our home near the mighty Hawkesbury river, or Deerubin river as Darug people call it. The faces you’ll meet below are only the present-day contributors. The rest of our budding team lives on in the recipes they’ve entrusted to us and the stories we share with you now. 

The Time was Ripe 

The dust was blown off Granny Ida’s relish recipe when, facing an uninspiring lineup of mass-produced preserves, Kristina gave up trying to find a convenient replica for her hand-me-down relish recipe. The texture of the off-the-shelf options was always blah, the flavour not quite right and way too much sugar. So to granny Ida we turned. 

When our garden was in full bloom we whipped through jars and jars of Granny Ida’s relish and, being the sharing type, began giving them away to grateful friends who kept asking to pay. Cue our lightbulb moment. 

Together we’ve resurrected master recipes passed down from Granny Ida and set to work turning Women’s Work into a successful, purposeful, business.

In Women We Invest 

 For each of us at Women’s Work there is a greater purpose behind the relish we prepare and the recipes we follow. It’s a practice of preservation for the stories and skills we want protected. It’s also an investment in the future we want for women, one of empowerment, fairness and recognised value.

For Kristina it’s sharing the recipes that belong to a long family history of women’s work and allowing others to taste the creations that have been perfected over generations. It’s giving a future to these recipes so that they may exist not only as nostalgic relics, but as powerful reminders that women’s work is always worth the money that is paid for it. 

For Madeleine it’s creating a platform and opportunity for open, honest and brave conversations around women’s work. It’s bringing recognition to the patriarchal structures that have traditionally singled out ‘women’s work’ as necessary chores, not value added commodities. It’s giving time to reflection and inspiring change through attitudes and action. 

For Ian it’s paying homage to his grandmother who stepped in through two wars and the Great Depression to financially support the family after his grandfather was seriously injured in an industrial accident. At 90, Ian’s mother still knits for others never asking a cent for payment. In recognising the value women bring to the table we can begin to not only rightly compensate, but also protect the stories and skills of traditional women’s work.  

Through Women’s Work we share with you the stories and artistry of traditional women’s work. We also invite your participation as we champion an empowered, modern future for all women’s work.