TWO sisters are proving that distance is no obstacle when it comes to running a business.
Bec Steer and Amy Gunn grew up in the Maranoa town of Bollon before life took them far away from their western Queensland roots.
However, the opportunity to purchase their hometown's only pub proved too good to pass up and they decided to go for it, despite the fact one of them lives in a different state.
"Amy actually lives down in Condobolin in NSW with her husband Sam and their four kids who are all under the age of six," Bollon Hotel co-owner Bec Steer told the Queensland Country Life.
"So a lot of the finance stuff and behind the scenes stuff is done by Amy and Sam, while my partner Aaron and I handle the day-to-day running of the pub here in Bollon."
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After living in Brisbane and Toowoomba with her partner Aaron Young and their two kids, the lure of moving back to her hometown grew on Bec and when the opportunity to take on the pub came knocking, the sisters grabbed it.
"We had talked about one day opening a pub for as long as I can remember," she said.
"As well as having a history in hospitality, we both had a drive for wanting to do something like this.
"We'd seen other people give it a go and we figured why not give it a go ourselves."
The new publican said modern technologies had made running a operation by distance with a business partner easier than ever.
"It's actually quite easy these days and we're finding that we can also do it while raising kids," Bec said.
"My kids are a bit older now and are gearing up to head off to boarding school next year, which made the timing of this from my perspective perfect.
"While the new technologies have allowed Amy to do her thing from home too, which has just made it a perfect set up for us."
Anzac Day this year proved the perfect time for the pub's relaunch and locals embraced the sisters' new direction for the popular watering hole.
"It was so fantastic to have all the locals come and celebrate our opening," Bec said.
"Since then, the community has been continuing to support us, which has been fantastic and we've recently started offering meals as well, which has also been warmly embraced by the community.
"We've also been really lucky in terms of hiring staff because I know of so many businesses that are screaming out for workers.
"But we're lucky in that we've got a good a mix of locals as well as three backpackers who are working for us now and they all help to create a great vibe around the place."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
