IN the past five years, Gabriella Beaumont has tackled more challenges than she cares to remember.
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The region's worst drought in history nearly brought her cattle business to its knees, leaving her with just 20 head of stock.
However, the mother of two was not to be deterred and looked to a former passion to help supplement her income.
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"I was involved in real estate and was a property agent long before I made cattle my life's work," Beaumont said.
"However, the drought just got worse and worse, so I was reduced to limiting my cattle numbers right down to the nucleus.
"At times we were having to use agistment in places like Ebor and Tenterfield, but that was not sustainable.
"I had to find a way to try and supplement my income, so I looked to get back involved in the real estate industry. Initially, I was working out of town, but it wasn't panning out.
"Luckily, John Miles from Imagine Property Consultants helped me get going and now I am embarking on setting up my own business."
While setting up her fledgling business is a costly exercise, the property agent said it was a risk she had to take.
"It wasn't so much a good idea as it was a matter of survival," Beaumont said.
"To be totally honest, my cattle business is pretty much at ground zero.
"We've had to destock so often in the past five years, simply because it has been so dry and there's been no feed.
"While there has been some rain recently, the damage has already been done and we are down to the nucleus of our herd.
"It has been heartbreaking at times, but you've got to try and put it behind you and do whatever you can to keep going."
Specialising in property sales, Beaumont said she was eager to bring "a lot of care" to her clients.
"I'm really keen to help get my foot in the door and really start to build my client base up again," she said.
"I'll be getting around to communities such as Calala, Manilla and Currabubula to really try and get my name out there.
"To be honest, I'm really looking forward to putting the client first and doing whatever I can to make them happy.
"I think at times people can overlook the fact the client comes first, but that is certainly something I will be prioritising."
Beaumont said she would recommend diversifying income to any farmers.
"I'm still really passionate about farming, it is my life's work," she said.
"I'm hoping I can bring all of my knowledge from farming into this new venture.
"I think most farmers have diversified in some way, for me it was returning to real estate.
"At the end of the day, you do what you need to do to keep going."