A native New Zealander, Liane Sayer-Roberts moved to Australia in 2001 and later moved to the rural community of Leeton in 2004. In that same year Liane started her own public relations agency, Sauce Communications, as she refused to give up her career upon her move from the city. Over 10 years later, Sauce Communications continues to be headquartered in Leeton. Liane now leads a team of 11 public relations professionals working across the Riverina, Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne, so that they are able to assist both rural and urban clients. Even from this rural base, Sauce Communications serves large clients across Australia and internationally as far as Papua New Guinea and the United States. Liane stresses the fact that location is not a barrier to success, and that it’s not necessary to compromise a lifestyle and rural location in order to run a small business. She’s also passionate about providing opportunities to women in public relations and marketing, especially those who live in a rural area. Liane also emphasises the importance of technology in any business, but especially in keeping her regional business connected. The Sauce Communications team uses teleconferences and Skype to keep each other updated in regular meetings while they can also interact and stay connected with one another via Skype Business instant messenger. Cloud-based applications also assist in supporting their everyday work. Networking has been key for Liane in keeping her small business connected with the local community as well. She’s a previous member of the Murray-Riverina Business Chamber and also participated on two local organisational boards: Riverina Citrus and the Riverina Regional Tourism Board. Nationally, she’s also a member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) and the PRIA Registered Consultancies Group. Liane has also found the Australian Businesswomen’s Network an important resource for her business. She’s found it inspirational and loves being able to stay connected with other like-minded businesswomen from across Australia. She says, “The Australian Businesswomen’s Network provides an invaluable resource in helping people like myself to stay plugged in, learn from others and develop both personally and professionally.” Liane’s advice for other regional small business owners is to find what’s unique about what your company has to offer and emphasise it; be flexible but always protect your work culture, integrity and reputation; surround yourself with a great team and network; invest in yourself; and think big – don’t limit yourself just because of industry or geography. This post was co-authored by Courtney Sweeney. Courtney is currently completing a journalism internship at the Australian Businesswomen’s Network. She studies journalism, political science, and public relations at Michigan State University in the United States.
