Director of Milk & Honey Consulting, Shelley Walsh, has only known small business. Growing up on her family’s 1000 acre farm in the south east of South Australia she watched and learnt while her father and Papa worked hard, with the rhythm of the season’s, to ensure the land provided for them. Conversations about cash flow, gross margins, budgeting, grain prices and Lucerne buying were just part of the daily dialogue.
Now with over 20 years experience in operational management of small business her personal trademark centres around a desire to make a difference, help and share learnings. It is this trademark that drove her to establish her boutique consultancy business, Milk & Honey.
Having a BA (Psych), a Bachelor of Management (Hospitality) & an MBA Milk and Honey teaches management and business theory, however more importantly the years spent at the coalface of small business, specifically means Shelley understands and can interpret the daily challenges business owner’s face.
Shelley’s expertise are in operational management, business positioning, strategic planning & operational execution. She is skilled in business finance, leadership techniques and the operational processes required in small business to drive outcomes. A natural communicator and leader who thrives on challenges and problem solving, Shelley will seek to not just understand but will drive herself to provide solutions. She has a discerning ability to cut through the issues to identify the required outcome while always adopting a calm and considered approach.
Shelley has been a Finance Manager, an adult educator in Marketing and Finance, a Commercial Manager for one of Australia’s premier leadership consultancy’s and spent 6 years as General Manager of one of Australia’s most well-regarded food destinations and luxury hotels, the iconic Lake House in Daylesford, Victoria.
Embracing the sense of adventure that has always served her well, Shelley moved to Perth from the Eastern states for love, many years later she is a mother, a stepmother, an educator and a consultant. The desire to raise her toddlers, as she was -immersed in space and family – have recently brought her back to South Australia and she now calls the Barossa Valley home. When not working with clients to help them achieve what her Papa would call “their land of Milk and Honey”, or wrangling her two toddlers, you will find her relishing exploring her home state again and imbibing in all the riches the villages of the Barossa and its people offer up.