I first met Deni 5 years ago when she bounded up to me at a market and introduced herself as Mrs Chicken!  She is vibrant, bright and terribly creative.  Since that meeting I have watched her go on to launch a fabulous business Free Range Living – a concept I just love.  I happen to think you might just love it too…

Tell us a bit about you, fabulous you!
Hi, I am Deni Fowle, aka Mrs Chicken.  I have the most wonderful supportive husband Nathan, 2 scrumptious kids Amalia who is almost 7 and Tae who is 4.

We live in Kurnell, a unique seaside village on Sydney’s southern beaches, along from Cronulla, and the location of the first landing place of Captain James Cook and the Endeavour, back in 1770.

I studied Psychology at uni, and after working in Juvenile Justice and Youth Mental Health for ten years, I opened my own private practice in 2011.

I am also very lucky to be able to work with my other passion – design and hand crafts, in my business Free Range Living.  FRL is a creative business that I run with my sister, Loren, who is also a mum of 2 year old twins, and an Interior Designer. At FRL we run a Creative Learning School, with casual sessions, skills workshops and parties in our CreativiTea Cafe, and we also have a retail emporium full of gorgeous Australian made gifts, fashion and home wares.
Who inspires you?
People who create things themselves – from the design, drawings on paper, to generating technical drawings, hand crafting their designs themselves, and working with others face to face, to teach or develop their products.

I probably don’t say this often, but my husband inspires me, with what he has achieved throughout our house and landscaping our backyard.

I am very passionate about Australian Made – and we are very lucky to work closely in FRL, with many of our designers, who join us for our craft social group on Tuesdays, and run workshops with us, passing on their skills and knowledge.

What can’t you live without?
My craft – particularly my crochet – it’s my therapy

Do you have a favourite blog/s?
I love Lisa’s blog The Red Thread, and I love Natalie Halyar’s Eat Read Love

How do you like to spend your spare time?
Spare time?? Well, I do try to get some crochet in of an evening when I am watching tv.  I also love to organise trips with the family when I am not in the shop. We have a family house in Ulladulla, on the South Coast, and I love spending time down there, going to the beach, and shopping in Milton.

Best time saving or sanity saving idea/tip for mamas?
Using my Mindfullness Skills – literally focusing my attention on what I am doing in the present moment, what the priority task at hand is, and not allowing myself to get distracted by my mind wandering off in another direction.

For example, I am not a morning person, and quite often am running late to get my daughter to school and myself to the shop,

I realised that I was getting distracted in the shower, by thoughts on what the day held ahead of me, or financial problem solving, next thing 15-20 minutes has disappeared – so I practice my Mindfullness in the shower, to just get the shower done in a timely manner, and get on with the morning.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I like to dream big – I have a vision that we will open Free Range Living Centres in other key locations around Sydney, NSW and beyond.  I already have a couple of spots in mind 🙂

What is your favourite quote?
Luceat Lux Vestra – was my school motto and means “Let Your Light Shine”

Where can we find you?
Free Range Living is currently located at Shop 1, 2-4 Prince Charles Parade, Kurnell, opposite the Kamay Botany Bay National Park.

You can also find us on;
Facebook
Website