The Nitty Gritty - with Kristie Murphy

I met Kristie online a while ago and we connected over a shared love of natural skincare and delicious healthy food.

Once I got to know her better though, we clicked even further while sharing our inappropriate sense of humour, our deep and abiding love of filthy jokes and a host of other shared interests.

She's now one of my closest friends and I hope you enjoy getting to know her too.

Tell us a little about yourself and your work

My name is Kristie and I am the owner and creator of Freya’s Nourishment – a brand of natural beauty products and Journal with deliciously healthy recipes and wellness posts.

Freya’s Nourishment is all about Natural Beauty Inside and Out.

How did you get started?

I have a diploma in Remedial Massage, Reflexology and a certificate in Aromatherapy.

I also worked for years in the catering industry so really Freya’s Nourishment is a culmination of my working life.

I was looking to change from my corporate job and thankfully the stars aligned for me to be able to do that.

The Freya’s Nourishment products (yes even the men’s Odin range) are all products I use myself.

The Rejuvenating Facial Oil is a product I have been using now for nearly 10 years, long before Freya’s Nourishment existed in reality.

Combining my love of cooking and with a history of food intolerances and health issues, has led me on a quest to find alternative ways to enjoy wholefoods without feeling like I am missing out.

To me, combining health and beauty is the most natural thing in the world. If we are so conscious of what we put on our skin, why wouldn’t we be just as conscious about what we put into our bodies?

Describe your style.

Freya’s Nourishment products use organic base oils blended with essential oils that work on both a physical and an emotional level.

Scent is everything!

My food brings joy. It makes you smile when you eat it. It makes people realise that being healthy is really not that difficult….or boring.

Who do you admire?

Anyone who follows the beat of their own heart.

In a busy world where there is so much noise, the ones that stand out to me and stop me in my tracks are those who do things their way.

Their light pours out of them and makes me smile.

What's your dream job?

Freya’s Nourishment!

I mean, seriously. It is all of my passions and loves rolled into one business. And I can steer it in any direction that takes my fancy.

What's your "can't live without" prop, tool or piece of equipment?

I cannot live without my food processor, my blender or my weighing scales.

Google for searching for ingredients and my Danish grandmother’s silverware for using in everyday eating as well as props.

Life is short, don’t keep the heirlooms for special occasions.

Do you have one piece of advice for anyone just starting out?

Know your product, whatever it may be, and don’t be swayed by what others are doing. They are not you.

Follow your gut and do what is right for you and your brand.

Sweet or Savoury?

Making sweet and eating savoury

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Haha I know this will upset some - making anything chocolatey but eating vanilla.

Four favourite instagram accounts?

Well this will be an interesting mix! Only four is cruel, but these are a mix from various modalities for different reasons, in no particular order.

@gumtreegreys

@georgeats

@naomisherman_foodcreative

@mimosabotanicals [endif]

Three songs to listen to while working?

Silence! I don’t listen to music while I work.

It’s my meditation time, with external noise I can’t hear the ideas that flow through my mind.

What was the last cookbook you bought and what are you currently reading?

Last cookbook I bought was How to Eat by Nigella Lawson.

Last book was a gift, for a crime mad friend :P (And I'm very much enjoying it, thank you)

I am currently reading The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell. I now want to live in Denmark more than ever!

Tell me something we might not know about Freya’s Nourishment.

Ooh that’s hard! I don’t know what you don’t know!

One thing is, we are passionate about helping others.

We all have our own thing that pulls at our heartstrings, but I believe each of us has the responsibility to support others in some way, especially as a business.

To highlight areas of need, to educate each others, to be part of a community and to support each other in some way, shape or form.

If you follow Freya’s Nourishment in any capacity, you would probably know we support Gumtree Greys with every product sold.

Gumtree Greys is a not for profit greyhound rescue charity, primarily along the east coast of Australia, solely run by volunteers.

When you foster or adopt through Gumtree Greys, you become part of an extraordinary community who help, support and are there for you all the way.

I don’t think I’ve ever been part of such a wonderful community before!

For Mother’s Day each year, we donate to OCRF (Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation) and now with the men’s range Odin, we will be contributing to men’s cancers this year.

On a personal note, I have also been a volunteer for OzHarvest for a number of years. Food wastage is huge in Australia, and worldwide. In Victoria, there are 790,000+ people who rely on food donations, and over a third of those are children.

In 2019, how can children be going to school not knowing if they are going to get breakfast? OzHarvest is a food rescue charity, who collect food from any food registered business and brings this food to a number of different recipients.

They also have a program called Cooking for a Cause, where a business can send a team in to the OzHarvest kitchen to learn how to cook, with rescued food, and the meals created are then sent on to those in need.

Can you show us some of your early work, along with something more recent that you're really proud of?

One thing that I've been focusing on this last year or two is really upping my photography and styling game.

In a market where you have such a brief time to engage with your audience, quality imagery is essential.

I'm really proud of the changes that you can see here.