Kate Berry
They say if you need something done, ask a busy person. But you could just as easily ask Kate Berry. The Ballarat-based creative is known as a real mover and shaker around the traps, with her entrepreneurial nature being the key to her success. Though if you ask her, she wouldn’t consider herself a success story, simply a woman who puts ideas into action for the sake of it. Founder of the much-loved Lunch Lady Magazine as well as the regional Victorian music fest OK Motels, Kate sees her desire to connect and inspire as the driver behind all her ventures. In this piece, our visionary takes us along her journey from student through to first-time mother and beyond, sharing the joys, the woes and everything in between.
Words by Della Vreeland
Kate Berry has never been a huge believer in the school system. “It works for some. But for kids like me, and many others, it wasn’t engaging,” she says, as she tells of how she was “booted out of school in Year 11 and headed straight to art school, which also wasn’t my thing.” Luckily, Kate’s natural resilience and non-aversion to risks kept her wandering down the path less travelled until she landed the gig she’d been dreaming of. “I tried a photography course. Failed. So I gave up on school and just started working. My teen dream job was to work in a design firm in London, or to be a florist, so at the age of 23 I jumped on a plane to London with meagre savings and after a year of slog I landed my dream job in a youth-focused advertising agency.” For Kate, school was a case of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. But there was never any denying that creativity flowed through her veins. It was just a matter of discovering how to effectively harness those creative juices.
Some would say, it was simply a matter of leaving her to her own devices. No pun intended.
“I studied photography in high school and at art school and I enjoyed it, but I didn't really know what I was taking photos of,” she says. “I didn’t see the world how I see it now. I appreciate little things and moments more now than when I was 18. “My more recent incarnation of photo taker was all very accidental. I just somehow stumbled into it and all of a sudden that’s what I was doing. It wasn’t planned, and I float in and out of it still. I just love how taking photos makes you look at things around you. How the light hits, how the lines intersect, or the colours come together. I just appreciate it in the moment.” Kate’s photography is indeed very signature Kate Berry - her images of food, family, fashion (and mid-century landmarks) basked in muted tones that evoke an utmost sense of calm and intrigue. And while photography is no longer her sole and major focus, her images do wonders in bringing out the beauty in the ordinary, and asking us to perceive in a different (literal) light. Interestingly enough, Kate’s latest labour, OK Motels, is similarly instilled by the same mantra as her photography - asking music lovers and road trippers alike to take notice of their surroundings and observe the beauty in what’s often overlooked.
For those yet to stumble across this venture of hers, OK was conceived four years ago when Kate decided to gather a group of friends in the unassuming Charlton Motel for a few bevvies and a boogie, enjoying the simple pleasures that only a 70s motel can conjure. Soon, the event evolved into a full-blown fiesta, engaging a plethora of musos from across Australia, and even being held at various motels and venues across the state. And while it found itself on a short hiatus during the pandemic, ticket sales sold out in record time once the event re-launched last year. “OK Motels was another accident,” Kate says, “It was initially just an Instagram account of my fave motels, but then a party at the Charlton Motel that was going to be for friends, and friends of friends, turned into my job. “It’s just about enjoying simple things. I feel we’re looking for a bit more of that these days. It’s about getting out of the city and enjoying a weekend away in a small country town. On the weekend in Charlton you can go to garage sales, the local pub, pool, lawn bowls club, and get to know a little known place a little better. It also creates a space for people to come together from different walks of life and get to know each other. “I am still in such disbelief as to where it is now. I thought it was just going to be a one-off party. I never thought I’d be here four years later still going. It makes me so happy to know there are people out there who enjoy coming to Charlton as much as I do.”
Of course, OK Motels is only one of the many ingenious notches firmly pressed upon Kate’s belt. Many would know her as the founder of the much-loved Lunch Lady magazine, which quickly earned itself a cult-following since Kate initially launched it as a humble blog back in 2012 - with two young daughters in tow, mind you. Having given birth to her first daughter at 28, Kate says she found it quite lonely as one of the only ones in her friendship group with children. But that’s perhaps what “sparked the entrepreneur within”. “I stopped working in advertising agencies and I had time at home, a computer, and so many ideas. I created so many brands that went nowhere, which is still one of my favourite things to do. So many domain names, logos, and business names registered,” Kate laughs. “I think I am very lucky to have a background in things that help me push my ideas from my brain to things that become something to the outside world. I tend to make businesses out of things I am really enjoying at the time. “I started the Lunch Lady blog in 2012, and then the mag came along a few years later. My main aim of turning the blog into a magazine was to create a job for myself. At the time I was working three jobs and I just wanted one. Little did I know creating a magazine is the equivalent of having a million jobs.
“Juggling small kids and work is bloody tough, and I didn’t always have the balance right,” Kate admits. “I really did let my kids down when I was making Lunch Lady, and it wasn’t lost on me that I was making a magazine about family and I never spent time with my own. Once that realisation hit, it was time to move on.
“It still to this day amazes me the reach Lunch Lady has. It did fill a space in the market that was desperate for a voice from like-minded people. My girls are much older now than when it started, and I am happy to have moved on to something that I can enjoy with them. We love road tripping and adventuring together and we will for years to come.” A country girl at heart, Kate has done wonders to make a name for herself across regional Victoria and the rest of Australia as a key mover and shaker in the world of arts and culture. - promoting the music industry during a time of great duress, while also assisting with the execution of key festivals and events to drive tourism to regional towns across the state. And for someone who decided to take a risk early in her youth and see where her passions would lead her, we think it’s safe to say she’s done a pretty rocking job at bringing people together under the banner of creativity and connection. Something that poring over letters and numbers doesn’t necessarily teach.
“I just hope to keep creating good times, connections, and opportunities for artists and musicians throughout regional Victoria,” she says.