Women Inspiring Better Business networking breakfast hears from granola queen Robbie Garvey

Granola can be healthy breakfast option, but it turns out it’s good for business as well as body. Geraldton businesswoman Robbie Garvey has in her own way built up a granola empire, Red Lime Jones, which she was recently rapt to find out has won over some high-profile new fans — superstars Red Hot Chili Peppers, Post Malone and Harry Styles — who were given local produce to sample during the Perth leg of their tours. Ms Garvey shared her business’ origin story and her own tips and tricks to a packed audience of like-minded local businesswomen at a networking breakfast at Spalding Park Golf Club on Wednesday. It was the Women Inspiring Better Business group’s first networking breakfast of 2023. Ms Garvey said Red Lime Jones came out “by complete accident”, recalling she was at a low point in her life after being in a near-fatal car accident, being made redundant in her job and suffering through an unsuccessful IVF journey and major break-up. She was a self-confessed “wreck” and went to Bali to “reassess everything”, not knowing what was next for her and what she was good at. On her return home, a friend asked her to make “something, anything” for a market stall. She decided to make some granola and sold 10kg in one go. “I thought there’s something here,” she said. Since then, Red Limes Jones has spread into IGA stores, specialty store and independent retailers, known for its flavoursome blends, as well as their unique names, including “I am quirky”, “I am sassy”, “I am special” and “I am nuts”. Ms Garvey said she was on her own business path and was committed to sticking to her values, one of which was freedom, which means she has no plans to set up shop. Another turning point for her in business was “learning to say no”. “It’s not anyone else’s game but mine . . . I’ve been told to change it (my business) many times, but I’ve learnt to trust it’s going to work,” she said. Red Lime Jones — which Ms Garvey named after her favourite colour, the citrus fruit she likes in her drinks and after her favourite song Mr Jones by the Counting Crows — has since branched out into porridge, dukkah and spicy nuts and is after the public’s help in naming her new chocolate granola blend. Ms Garvey can cook up to 150kg of granola in a day in her commercial kitchen, but says the creativity, marketing and making people smile were the favourite parts of her business. The next WIBBs networking breakfast will be an International Women’s Day event on Friday, March 10 at Geraldton Grammar School.