Meet Jackie Yong
Curious human. Compost Enthusiast. Hair lover.
PLANTING THE SEED
Ever since she was a kid in Malaysia, Jackie Yong has loved playing with hair. As a little one she hung out at a local salon for fun, marvelling at the beauty. When she moved to Melbourne, aged seven, that seed lay dormant.
After school, Jackie stepped onto the formal education path, enrolling in a Commerce/Science degree. But Jackie is a dynamo with energy to burn. Chaos and creativity drive this woman to solve real life problems; to innovate, improve and do things better (and to do all of that NOW). University wasn’t quite the right fit…
Jackie dreamed of running her own business and being her own boss. She opened the newspaper one day, and there before her eyes was a hairdressing salon for sale. Why not? And so, Jack, Jack, Jackie was born. Jackie qualified as a hairdresser, won awards and built a thriving business.
“Hair is bountiful and nourishing. It’s a resource, not something to throw away. This is the circular economy we can and must embrace. This is how we change our social systems.”
— Jackie Yong
Energetic go-getter.
Regional woman in business
GERMINATION
Jackie had visited Fiji and experienced simple, sustainable daily living in practice. The turn of the century drought in Australia also got the qualified hairdresser thinking.
Hair retains moisture and contains nutrients. Jackie wondered. Was there a way to capture the beauty within hair to nourish depleted soils and support sustainable practice? She started to research, talk and experiment; to play with hair in new and wondrous ways.
Around the same time, Jackie felt the call of a new direction. Less style, more substance. Once again the newspaper delivered the goods. Here was business opportunity number two; a former feedlot and small scale composting business in Stanhope. Jackie converted the land into a large-scale composting facility and transformed the green waste industry.
Soilz Alive founder. Problem solver.
Soil health innovator
Compost meets hair. It’s a magical and potent combo. Soilz Alive is the culmination of Jackie’s business adventures, her lifelong love of hair, and her zest for life. The regenerative soil conditioner is testament to Jackie’s passionate curiosity, exuberant perseverance and commitment to good health.
For a few years Jackie had bags of hair sitting in the shed. But she never gave up on the concept. Ideas, like plants, need the right conditions in which to thrive; for all the puzzle pieces to come together.
Like most pioneers, Jackie has met detractors. Not a qualified scientist. A woman in a blokey industry. Not from around here. But Jackie is a born change-maker. She’ll talk excitedly to anyone and knock on any door. Other people give up but Jackie finds the ways to make things happen. And now Soilz Alive is making good things happen. Turning gardens into ecosystems.
