Keren Mackay comes from a rural New Zealand farming background,
Graduated from Auckland University with a BA lit and history, She managed to raise 3 children, untold chickens, lambs, ponies, dogs and any other animal (or child) that joined the queue in the farmhouse kitchen, while also working as a librarian for many years and later in events and hospitality before more recently spending more than 10 years working as a museum professional.
Her side hustle, the Professional Countrywoman came as a direct result of watching herself and her friends juggling all the jobs that face busy rural entrepreneurs, managing households and tripping over gumboots at the back door while attempting to get themselves together for the next zoom call. When the time came to put her occupation on any form, the answer was clearly a “Professional Countrywoman!”
Her mission is to encourage women to care for their own wellbeing as they go about the vitally important business of raising the next generation and developing businesses. Now that she has graduated to becoming a grandmother it’s the next generation that has become her audience – she teaches workshops on how to grow food for the family, simple ways to preserve and prepare the food, and also reminding and encouraging women to care for themselves as they contribute to the health, wealth and wellbeing of the family.
Her book, the Tortoise Diet Method, is part of that wellbeing focus as she observed the often painful and pointless process of constantly battling with food and weight occupied too much unnecessary headspace in not just her own head but in those around her as well. As you can imagine given her background, the book takes a sensible kitchen table approach to a very real concern for women of all ages, but particularly as they get older and see the upward trajectory of the number on the scales with the attendant health problems. Once she decided that she never wanted to go on a diet ever again but still wanted to look and feel good, she found inspiration in the age-old tale of the Tortoise and the Hare. The Tortoise Diet Method provides the blueprint to successfully overcome years of diet failure by identifying and taking the time to deal with what has stopped you in the past and shows you how to take the right steps slowly and steadily towards winning your race.
Keren is available for speaking engagements on the following topics;
Successful Weightloss for those who never want to diet again. Her new book The Tortoise Diet Method – a sensible but successful method to good health and happiness.
From Failure to Freedom – Five steps to turn lifelong diet failure into fit and fabulous.
Plus – various garden workshops and topics available upon request.
