My story...

A little about Jessie, the creator and brawn behind DUSTY CREEK and where it all began and WHAT THE HELL is DUSTY CREEK?? Where did this new brand appear from!? Was like, non-existent then Nek minut.. DUSTY DUSTY DUSTY everything! Yes I’m a social media whiz... yes thats finally good for something! Yes I take my own promotional photos, yes it is just little ole me behind this dusty wheel!
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BACKSTORY: Take a moment its a long one!
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Jessica Belle Townsend: Born Darwin in the 80's, lived at good ole Noonamah. My Dad managed stations and we moved to suit that, growing up at Tipperary Station in the early 80’s, Marrakai Station & Shilo our family place as we were older. Yes we moved about a lot, hence being a gypsy to this day.. its kind of all I know. To not be in one place. This can be a bad thing in some peoples perspective, but it is also a blessing in disguise as I have met HUNDREDS of amazing people and lived in some amazing places. Stations, caretaking homes, rural towns and communities. Once my daughter got to school age though, I slowed me motor up, dropped back a couple of gears and have stayed in South West QLD for 5 years now.
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Growing up in an American family (Deep South proper from the wetlands of Florida!) life was all about family and food. And with the Townsends it certainly was all about food! But I remember vividly the fashion, the retro shirts that my beautiful Aunty Modena and my grandmother used to make me and my cousins. I remember a bright mustard yellow long sleeve shirt that my grandma made me once with pearl snap buttons and western yokes and pockets.. she made it so bright for me and in her words exactly “now sugar, this is if you fall off out there mustering them cows, that we can spot you in the scrub” loved her faith in my riding abilities!
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I left the NT in 2007, in my too cool for school (I thought so) VU Commodore ute with nothing but my saddle and a few changes of clothes. I was in search of adventure, new beginnings and the call of QLD is what all NT kids (funnily enough it’s the opposite for QLD kids!) dream of doing, heading south to learn and grow especially in the diversity of Agriculture down here compared to export yards mango farms and buffalo! I came to Roma to visit friends; I met my daughters dad and that was it married house baby the lot within 3 years. BOOMSHAKALA, and that’s how it ended to, it was all too fast. It didn’t last but some of my best memories are in those times. But that’s life, ups and downs, in and outs, challenges that grow you and mould you into a better version of you. I have a gorgeous daughter from that merging of worlds and a wonderful life to build with her that I feel so privileged to be able to do. Being a parent is hands down the BEST thing I have ever done. Now being the best parent is my NUMBER ONE goal! And by creating a legacy for us to build a beautiful future together is the BOMB diggity of all dreams for me.
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Roma was home for a while, and I moved back to the NT a couple times to work with my dad at Woolner Station and along with my daughter and her dad we lived the best life. If you haven’t been to the NT you need to go! Yes its exactly what you’ve heard, its wild, western and unlimited in space.. so much space.. I drive home nearly every year.. the peace of that highway, of home calling me as I set that cruise to 130km/hr (NT Speed limit) and let those white lines guide me home.
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My first DSLR my dear ole dad brought me as a wedding present in 2009. It was a Canon 1000d, simple entry level but I was BESIDE myself to be able to start my photography journey! Oh but boy was I in for a shock.. photographers don’t happen over night! And it doesn’t matter how much you want to learn it; you can only learn what your ready for! My brain was like Styrofoam, it didn’t absorb the details well.. I had to learn with my hands, the camera manual and peoples tips fell on deaf ears I didn’t get it! I had to make mistakes, I had to fail. Over and over again I did! How do I take photos like the pros? Well, I was a new wife and new mum, I just had to learn at my own pace and with the resources I could afford. When I created a name for my photography business, I didn’t want it to be my name.. When I named DUSTY CREEK PHOTOGRAPHY I wanted something that meant something more, and because deep down I was really shy and didn’t want to have my actual name to be my business name. I like candid, how could I take candid photos if they knew who I was! I also didn’t want to rule out any markets with the name of my business, I stayed broad and knew that we all live a dusty life, whether its station life, farm life, truck drivers, rodeo, campdraft, polox or just camping down a backtrack for the weekend.. its Dusty, its fun, its us its rural Australia and well its DUSTY.. It’s the life we love.
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In 2011 when I had my daughter, she was, according to the spinning wedding band and all other types of tricky alternative methods, a BOY! We both love surprises and we got one! But she is Lacey, a sprightly, excited, creative, caring girl and her name suits her to a tee.. but if she was a boy, she was going to be Dusty. We wanted a Dusty so bad. We tried for a Dusty. It didn’t happen. Mother nature knew best. And that’s ok! As I created my own Dusty baby.. and I added Creek to the end to give it some substance.. One: Because a creek flows, it moves, it doesn’t take mind to what’s around it, it cuts through banks and trees and bush and follows its own course.. sets its own pace and just goes.. that’s me. Im always going always moving always flowing, evolving, changing, growing, learning and sharing a bit of me everywhere I go. Two: It’s a little town in the states and my family originated from there in 62.. Three: It sounded bloody cool and I knew then and there standing in the little demountable kitchen I was staying in when lacey was 12 months old id stumbled onto an amazing future opportunity. I stored all those little ideas to the back of my head for a time when my world wasn’t falling apart. I had to sort that shit first. It took a long while!
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I love a bush life, the minimal rules, the open spaces, no neighbours or concrete cities. I LOVE people though, so have done a good stint in town the last few years and really smashed my business into 2020 flat out no braking here! I am social, I am creative, and I am an ideas factory, coming up with new plans daily and I love my friends for being there for me and backing me as many couldn’t keep up! And that’s ok! Entrepenurs and creative types aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. I love what I do, and have learned to love myself and my over active brain through creating something awesome in a severely dry time where most people are fighting for their livestock’s survival and fighting for their own sanity through one of the most severe droughts we have seen this century.
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I got the idea to create a clothing brand from my absolute obsession for caps, like I seriously have a problem. I have brought in excess of 50 caps (that aren’t mine) over 10 years.. its stupid. I didn’t like them after a while, or wish I could change them, the colour the style, the brim so I’d buy another. So I decided to make my own a couple years ago and this last year bag, my first few hundred were a sell out. Clothing is another obsession. I’ve always been eclectic, wearing bell bottom jeans and a massive brimmed hat in early years got me many stares.. but I hated following the crowd.. I might have looked silly to some but I just liked being different. I usually got it wrong too and had to big a bum to pull most style off I revert back to a work shirt and shorts religiously! I would search the American clothing sites and import stuff all the time. It’s been years I’ve been obsessed with clothes, since I was a kid at Grandmas kitchen table dangling my legs off a high stool at the counter oohing and ahhing over a sheplers catalogue as we got EVERYTHING from the states. It was HEAVEN to open the parcels with grandma and have Dentyne cinnamon chewing gum fall out (along with Granddaddy’s Redman chew!) and all the jeans and new racy bright cowboy shirts, high top boots and rhinestone belts as we’d do big orders all together as a family. When I was older, id go buy clothes from vinnies and get vintage cowboy stuff and up style it, or cut it up and make it work another way or I’d make pillows it of it for my dolliesI am not blessed with being able to sew like my talented Grandmother and Aunty, which her daughter was also blessed with. I just had the ideas! Same as being a photographer, cant draw for shit! But I can capture it!
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I was always buying stuff for my friends to, I knew what would suit them and what colour’s worked. No idea why, I was a scruffy bush kid and hardly even brush my hair to this day! But I know what works and what doesn’t, and I research as much as I can to keep up with modern trends and am on the war path at the moment to create unique designs for a very very tough market that’s being hit hard by many others. I think the trick is to set yourself apart, don’t be to specific to one genre, and always stay true to you and what makes you tick. Whether its as a photographer, a business owner or someone creating a brand madly like me.
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From caps and tees currently, I am creating more clothing, custom designed and focused at kids and women. My plan is to evolve Dusty Creek continuously, with sub brands in the horizon and new styles of caps and products to come.
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Stay tuned for more on my story, I’m hoping that by sharing mine and being honest and truthful in my road to success, that I can help others do the same and that no matter where you are right now, right at this minute that you too can change your life and make a difference and do something amazing.. and it doesn’t matter how or what hurdles you come up against you can and will do it. 😊

 Xx 🤎🤎🤎
Jessie