Proving that career success starts with personal passion, Jervis Bay's Olivia Williams gave up academic study in linguistics at Sydney University for a Nowra TAFE certificate in horticulture. Now, she's reaping a rich harvest from her choice.
by Dan Johns, TAFE, with Global Footprints and Spark /
A gap year with an apothecary in the Austrian Alps changed the course of Olivia Willams' life and led to her Global Footprints Scholarship award for international professional development.
“When I got the call telling me I’d been awarded the scholarship, I almost dropped the phone,” Ms Williams said.
She plans to use the scholarship money to travel abroad and explore her interest in species conservation and bush regeneration.
“I’m really interested in the intersection between horticulture and conservation and this will be an amazing opportunity to explore how other countries are doing this.”
“I hope that the experience I gain through this scholarship will contribute long-term to horticulture’s future in Australia, helping areas of sustainability, education and innovation.”
Olivia Williams, 23, had never considered a career in horticulture before embarking on a gap year as an exchange student in Austria, where she was billeted to a family that ran a business specialising in endemic plant species.
That stay unlocked a love of horticulture in Ms Williams, who, upon returning to Shoalhaven, turned her back on an offer to study linguistics at Sydney University and instead dug into a Certificate III in Horticulture at TAFE NSW Nowra.
She was offered a horticulture apprenticeship at Schultz Landscaping in Tomerong and, after completing her apprenticeship early this year, now co-manages the nursery section.
Ms Williams was recently announced as one of 25 national winners of the Global Footprints Scholarship, which grants $9000 to recipients in the agriculture, horticulture or trades fields to travel overseas for industry experience and professional development.
According to the Australian Government’s Job Outlook, the nation’s gardening services industry is in a strong growth phase, generating annual revenue of nearly $3 billion by the end of 2024.
Ms Williams said the TAFE NSW Nowra course gave her the job-ready skills to make an immediate impact.
“My teacher was so experienced and was able to pass that experience on to the class.
“I also got a lot out of the plant identification unit and enjoyed going out into nature and doing my own research for the assessment.”
TAFE NSW Head Teacher of Horticulture, Ben Garnero, said Ms Williams was one of a growing band of emerging female horticulturalists making their mark on the industry.
“Horticulture is a very exciting industry to be a part of right now and it’s great to see TAFE NSW graduates like Olivia having such success,” he said.
In her scholarship application, Williams drew attention to her 'Living Wall' work project, which was produced and designed with her coworker.
"This is a green wall display with built-in irrigation. It was my job to select, source and order the plants," Williams said.
"I wanted not only to market this as low maintenance and doable for the everyday Joe, but I also wanted it to highlight the importance of beneficial insects in our living spaces.
"Using plants such as Tradescantia purpurea, Chlorophytums and Sedums for the Living Wall, it’s created its own microclimate and mini-ecosystem.
"I’ve recorded a host of pollinators, including native stingless bees, blue-banded and blue carpenter bees, as well as yellow-shouldered ladybugs galore all regularly visiting the wall.
"It’s honestly really amazing!
"It is an area I’m really excited to grow in and I hope to build upon displays like this that inspire my customers to understand the value of horticulture and sustainability in even the smallest of areas."
Wiliams believes that knowledge empowers consumers to make a first-hand conscious contribution to sustainability in horticulture instead of favouring "perceived convenience".
She credits Dan Fuller’s ‘Plants Grow Here’ podcast as inspiration and one episode about Singapore's CapitaSpring initiative, especially "blew my mind" she said
"CapitaSpring is a vertically connected ornamental/produce garden in a commercial skyscraper.
"Its output as both a food forest and an urban green area is super fascinating.
"I think we are at a point in this world where we realise just how much we have taken from the environment, and how our methods to date have done more harm than good."
Williams said CapitaSpring highlights, internationally, what the future of horticulture in cities should and could be: multi-use areas of diversity and an urban space where people connect to nature.
"If we could tailor ideas like this to include native endemic species as ornamental, edible and spaces of cultural connection, imagine how much better we’d all be for it."
