Tallarook’s Young Gun commended nationally

On Monday, February 17, all of Ms Rusic’s hard work paid off when she took out the top spot of the Australian Independent Rural Retailer Young Guns program at an annual conference in Queensland, accepting the windmill award in front of a crowd of more than 800 people.

“To see our store logo displayed up on the big screens in front of so many other stores and suppliers, I’d like to hope it gives us a little bit of weight, a little bit of backing,” Ms Rusic said.

Ms Rusic hails from a store tucked away on Railway Pl in Tallarook which services all customers’ animal feed, farming and rural needs.

Having stepped into the management position at Tallarook Rural Supplies about two years ago, following just over a year working in an administrative/sales role, Ms Rusic said her drive to improve the store and her commitment to offering all that she could to the community had only grown.

Ms Rusic said her passion, as well as that of store owner James Anderson and other staff, was sometimes overlooked.

“People think we’re this pokey store in the middle of Seymour and Broadford and that we don’t really do anything, but in fact, we do a heck of a lot of good, and it was good to get some recognition for that,” Ms Rusic said.

“It’s not just business-to-business. We service a lot of local places in Tallarook, predominantly horse properties, but we also do livestock and fencing.”

The AIRR Young Guns program has not only allowed Ms Rusic to develop her skills and improve business, but has also provided both her and Tallarook Rural Supplies with the commendation they deserve.

“A lot of people have the tendency to go into town and go to a corporate store because they’re big and they’re there, but we have so much to offer as well, and this just really acknowledges what we can do,” Ms Rusic said.

AIRR is a buying group for rural retailers who are small, local independents who are not a part of a buying corporate.

Being a member of AIRR helps give smaller retailers greater buying power, providing them with access to private label brands that other stores don’t get, as well as a large warehouse, which operates in each state, from which stock can be pulled.

Each year, AIRR, along with partner reseller group Tuckers, hosts a conference during which the Young Guns program winner is announced.

Bi-annually, the Young Guns program deviates between a focus on AIRR stores and Tuckers stores.

The program aims to assist the development of people in the industry who are under 35.

Just 10 people are chosen to be part of the program Australia-wide, which is an achievement in itself.

Young Guns involves two days of rural industry-specific training, as well as an opportunity for participants to do an open day or event for their store based on this training.

People in Seymour and surrounds may recall the inaugural Tallarook Rural Supplies Rural Mega Expo that Ms Rusic put on at the Seymour Racing Club last September.

The expo involved more than 20 suppliers, food, beer, wine, five educational keynote speakers and thousands of dollars worth of raffle prizes.

Ms Rusic said some of the more than 200 people who walked through the door were still asking when the next expo would be held.

The success of this event took Ms Rusic from the top 10 to the top five in the Young Guns program.

On the night of the gala dinner at the AIRR and Tuckers conference in Queensland, during which the Young Guns winner was announced, Ms Rusic said that although she was “quietly confident,” she still didn’t fully expect to take home the windmill.

“You see what other Young Guns have done and you think, ‘have I done enough?’,” Ms Rusic said.

“It was in those last few moments where I was getting pretty panicky and started to worry a bit.

“But, I’m absolutely over the moon that all my hard work has come to fruition and that I was able to take out the win.

“Equally, though, the people I shared it with were fantastic.”

Since donning her new title, Ms Rusic said the support she had received had been overwhelming.

She thanked the Tallarook community, her customers, her suppliers, AIRR and, of course, Mr Anderson.

“Everyone who supported us throughout this entire process is just unbelievable and I couldn’t have done it without them,” Ms Rusic said.

She is also grateful to the Young Guns program, giving a wholehearted recommendation for eligible parties to apply.

“It’s something that I highly recommend everyone who is eligible to apply does, because of what you get out of it, in terms of both professional gain, personal gain and what your store gets out of it,” Ms Rusic said.

“You get out of it what you put into it.

“And they’re skills that you can carry with you for life, no matter what industry you work in.”

Attendees of the Seymour Farming Expo can expect to see Tallarook Rural Supplies there.

“We’re putting a bit of a different spin on what we do this year,” Ms Rusic said.

And although the Rural Mega Expo at the Seymour Racing Club in 2024 was a difficult feat for a store with a small workforce, Tallarook Rural Supplies might be inclined to put on another event due to the flooding of support it received last time.