A Slice of Innovation: The Story behind Earth and Soul Pizza with Merryn Padgett

Are you eager to savor a slice of entrepreneurial innovation? 
Join us as we pay homage to the power of creativity and ingenuity, served fresh with Merryn Padgett, the dynamic owner of Earth and Soul Pizza. 
Merryn’s business isn't just about crafting mouth-watering pizzas; it's a reflection of her commitment to sustainability, community, and staff well-being. 
With local produce at heart, waste management strategies, and a four-day work week, Earth and Soul Pizza is an inspiring example of a mindful modern business.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:22

Welcome to the Rural Venture Collective podcast, the show that celebrates the strength, innovation and resilience of women across East Gippsland. Whether you're a local resident or someone curious about the unique spirit of East Gippsland, this podcast is for you. Together, we'll explore the triumphs, the lessons learned and the dreams that fuel these East Gippsland women. Through this podcast, we'll dive into the heart of East Gippsland and shine a spotlight on the incredible women who are shaping business, creating art, nurturing the land and fostering connections across this vast region. Get ready to be inspired, to learn and to be a part of a collection that celebrates the shared experiences that make East Gippsland more than just a place but a home. So grab a cup of your favourite local brew, find a cosy spot and tune in as we embark on a journey of connection and discovery together. I'd like to acknowledge the Gunnye-Kurnye people as the traditional owners of the land on which we are gathered and pay my respects to their elders, past, present and future. Hello everyone, and welcome to the Rural Venture Collective. I'm your host today, liz Whitehill, and I am delighted to welcome today's guest, maren Padgett. Maren's a multi-faceted businesswoman, currently based in Men's Dough, but the world is her oyster, or should I say margarita. Let's give a big rural welcome to Maren Padgett.

Speaker 1: 2:06

Welcome to the James Yates podcast studio. Great to be here. How cool is this? It's awesome. I know it's done such a great job, haven't they? We're in this little sound-proofed room. We've even got a fancy schmancy on air light. It's very professional, I know it feels so professional.

Speaker 1: 2:22

Absolutely. Hey, maren, thanks for coming in today. We wanted to have a chat with you about a whole heap of stuff that you're doing. But earth and soul pizza. I mean, it says it in the name, doesn't it? But tell us a little more about how that's different to your regular corner pizza shop.

Speaker 2: 2:39

Yeah, yeah, thank you. So I guess, at earth and soul, we believe that we're offering a nourishing indulgence and it's filled with bliss and wholesome goodness and it is a decadent delight because we use beautiful produce, because we live in a food bowl and we nurture with love and take that produce and artists and craftsmen make your pizza, and so that's what we believe is our difference.

Speaker 1: 3:08

You're making me hungry, so local produce your source, as much local produce as possible.

Speaker 2: 3:14

Yep, absolutely. David Luke's Fresh Food Market is our main supplier of fresh produce. One of our pizzas the bar bar is kind of like a skipsland on a plate. It's got spinach from the Lindonow food bowl. There's beautiful lamb steak Like. It's so delectable and tender and pink when it's being cut and then marinated. And the tomato and onion comes from Luke's as well. So it's pretty much every ingredient in that pizza is David Luke's produce. That's great. Yeah, so always local when we can. Obviously, seasonality does try to come into our menu. However, there are, you know, certain things like tomato that we do have all year round, and you know there's great local down in West Skipsland, the hydroponic tomato setup. So I love that Luke's go local when they can as well.

Speaker 1: 4:09

The flip side of using all these fabulous local produce, of course, is how we manage our waste. So obviously that's a big part of sustainability. Do you have special ways that you manage your waste?

Speaker 2: 4:22

Yeah, absolutely so. We have traditional general waste contractors who collect the cardboard recycling as well, but our food waste is actually donated to a local hobby farmer who has a heap of chickens. They're gorgeous chickens and they're featured on our Instagram profile and got a lot of traction. So yeah, like sometimes 50 kilos of food waste will go to this hobby farmer. Wow For the chickens to enjoy World's fattest chickens. I know World's fattest chickens on earth.

Speaker 2: 4:56

That's great, and then also, like a pizza box, is technically fully recyclable or compostable. You can tear the top off and the bit that isn't contaminated with food waste can then be composted or used as firelighters in the winter. There's so many ways to use a pizza box. And then our pasta containers are 100% sugarcane from Biopak, so we never had single use plastic at all, and when we had to change the bio bags that were used every now and then, we use paper bags, so they're fully recyclable or repurposeable too.

Speaker 1: 5:33

Great. So this has been part of your business philosophy since the get go.

Speaker 2: 5:37

Yep, absolutely. There is no Planet B triple bottom line of people, planet and prosperity. So that means that we care for the people at that employee level, at the brand level, at the community level. We have sponsorship callouts once every six months and there's an ongoing sponsorship application on the website as well. So if people have got requirement they can do it any time of the year, Don't just have to wait for our callouts. And then that human sustainability it is the four day work week that we adopted after COVID, you know, closing Sunday, Monday, Tuesday so that we can have that time to ourselves and to recharge, to feed ourselves with what we need, whether it's mountain bike riding or walking in nature with our dogs, or just cooking at home because it fills our cup, or even studying, you know, just things to improve our contribution to the community.

Speaker 1: 6:38

It's so important, as you say, and we're really lucky in East Kippsland to be able to do that.

Speaker 2: 6:43

Are we ever?

Speaker 1: 6:44

Yeah, that work life balance and to be able to go bike riding or surfing or bushwalking or skiing. We are very lucky to have that all just right on the boat. Out on the boat absolutely, or duck down to Melbourne for a day. You know it's all achievable and manageable. So you've spoken about freeing up some time for potentially studying. Is studying something you're doing at the moment?

Speaker 2: 7:08

Yes, it is presently engaged in the brand experience and content marketing course with RMIT online as a part of the digital jobs program, which was a very competitive process delivered by the Victorian government.

Speaker 2: 7:24

They saw a shortage in mid career people like myself who may want to reskill into a digital job.

Speaker 2: 7:31

So there's a variety of topics that you can choose from, like AI and cyber security, project management with agile methodologies or brand experience, which I chose, and that is complimenting the postgraduate certificate I did last year in customer success, because Earth and Soul is a five year plan for us, and so we're in our fifth year and really just pondering that next step, and so, for me, equipping myself with enough knowledge and skills to then take that next step was fundamental to the process. So when the digital jobs opportunity came up, I just thought, why not? I'll just put myself in the running, and I actually got into it last year as well, but declined the position and took up that grad cert and then, yeah, I did it this year and really enjoying it. So we get 12 weeks of training, and then there's mentoring from a Hudson recruitment coach, which is fabulous, and then there's a 12 week placement internship with the opportunity to work with intern match to secure that at a place that you desire.

Speaker 1: 8:43

So so you're the embodiment of the expression If you want something done, give it to a busy person. Absolutely. Can anyone access the digital jobs?

Speaker 2: 8:53

program they can. So one round left, which will commence next year, january 2024. And so if you are keen on learning more about that, I suggest just probably searching digital jobs, victorian government. There is a dedicated website with so much information. All the courses are outlined, yeah, so definitely.

Speaker 1: 9:15

And you don't need any former experience or training. It's all about upskilling.

Speaker 2: 9:18

Yeah, it's all about upskilling really. I think you submit your CV as a part of the process, so there's going to be some demonstrable experience, I guess. But yeah, there's one round left, so get on to it Great Look.

Speaker 1: 9:31

it shows great initiative. Merrin, that's apparent in everything that you do. Tell us a little more about what getting out and about in East Gippsland. Where's your favourite place to go by riding?

Speaker 2: 9:42

So I must confess that I haven't hit the tracks for a while, but Mount Taylor was where I learnt, so the Southern Cross Track was certainly something that I would indulge in. I have an e-mountain bike.

Speaker 1: 9:56

That's my dream for my husband. Oh, they're so good.

Speaker 2: 10:00

So Mount Taylor was amazing. Still remember my first stack. It freaked me out and the berms still really freaked me out. But which are the tight curves? I actually still walk down some of them because I do have this height velocity thing, as I'm not a risk taker at all. So even just to go down over the bridge on the Southern Cross Track there's a few little gnarly bits and technicalities where you've got to go around the corner and then down this bridge and then you just kind of work yourself going back up and then there's another bridge which is really steep and that's where I had my first stack on a tree trunk and it was good. It was a nice metaphor for life that you just pick yourself up, dust yourself off. So Mount Taylor hands down because it's the only track I've done For an urban ride from home in Painesville to Eagle Point.

Speaker 2: 10:51

Go the Silk Jetty's. That's always a nice little urban ride through there around the bluff. It's a pretty cool goat track up the bluff road. I don't go down it because I don't like the down. But yeah, that accomplishment of cycling up a big hill and when you can feel every single muscle in your body screaming, it's really cool. But I walk a lot more than I do ride, so Sunset Cove track is my go-to in Painesville, which is the Dinai Bark Walk. I love that track. It's really accessible from home and it gives me a really solid 7K round trip walk. So yeah, Great.

Speaker 1: 11:33

We have some fabulous walks and rides around East Gippsland, don't we? The first 10Ks are open in Omeo as well.

Speaker 2: 11:40

The Omeo mountain bike track, so you'll have to go and check that out. Definitely, yeah, and great bakery up there too. It's all about the bakery treats. Yeah, absolutely. And there's a new cafe up there as well.

Speaker 1: 11:51

So there's plenty happening in Omeo.

Speaker 2: 11:53

I can imagine.

Speaker 1: 11:54

Yeah, merrin Pageant, I could talk to you all day. Thank you so much for making the time to come in and chat with us, to talk to us about Earth and Soul Pizza and your philosophy behind local produce and sustainability, and we wish you every success with where life takes you. It's great to be here. Thank you. Well, that's us for today. Thanks for joining us on the Rural Venture Collective. Remember to like and subscribe so you'll be updated when our next podcast lands. Most importantly, stay connected and get out there and enjoy our beautiful East Gippsland.

Speaker 2: 12:35

Bye.

Speaker 1: 12:44

This podcast is brought to you by East Gippsland Marketing with the support of the Victorian Government, recorded at the James Yates Studio, bend Style.