If you didn't know already, our founder Sophie Kovic built herself the most incredible Tiny House in the Byron Hinterland. We thought it was about time we got her to sit down and tell you a little more about how she ended up here and why you should throw yourself head first into your dreams, whatever they may be!
''It’s struck me as I’m looking down the paddock to the dam on my 2 acre block that the main thing holding people back is fear.
Fear of the unknown, fear of loss, fear of financial strife, and fear of not keeping up with their peers and societal norms.
Two years ago I did something that I never thought that I would do, I bought into a community farm - fast forward two years and I’m well and truly settled on my block.
I share this 66 acre Permaculture farm with seven other shareholders. We each own our own 2 acre plot which is completely private and we all are responsible for the running of the remaining working farm, which is also a Permaculture education centre and campground.
I wasn’t looking to buy into a community farm, and I certainly wasn’t looking to build my own off-grid project.
It just so happens that these picturesque 2 acres came up in the small village that I spent a lot of time in as a child, only 45 minutes from my hometown of Byron Bay.
When I saw the listing and understood the potential of participating in an already up and running self-sufficient Permaculture farm, it ticked so many of the boxes I had in my head, even if I wasn’t aware of them.
I can reflect back now and look at the full page that I wrote over two years ago that was a manifestation of this place. It just wasn’t wearing the clothes that I expected.
But that’s the wonderful thing about life. Buying into this farm perhaps was one of the biggest lessons of my lifetime in intuition, because I knew before I had arrived for that initial inspection that I was going to put a deposit down and figure the rest out, and as I began dreaming up how I wanted the place to feel, the practicality of my vast lack of knowledge and expertise struck me, but I plunged into it with enthusiasm and only ran out of steam about two or 300 times during the entire project.
Building off-grid has its challenges, but the rewarding feeling of drinking pure rainwater, that has fallen from the sky or turning on your lights, knowing that you harvested that power from the sun is truly so rewarding and so empowering.
I often just sit and stare looking around me in wonder at what I’ve created and often say that I could never have imagined just how incredible it would turn out. If I had an idea in mind of how good it was going to be, I would at least double it and that’s the reality.
If you’re interested in more information, I have documented the entire process on my TikTok account, where you’ll find a lot of information about tiny-house off-grid living and my natural swimming pool, which has been unexpectedly a hugely controversial topic.
Finally, I think that anything worth doing is going to be challenging and likely you’ll come up against a lot of obstacles whether mental or physical or financial, but I really think it’s those uncommon things that turn a life from good into great and I know that this is truly one of the greatest things that I have ever been bold enough to go after.''
