{"id":67586,"date":"2020-03-07T12:52:11","date_gmt":"2020-03-07T01:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/?p=67586"},"modified":"2020-03-07T12:52:11","modified_gmt":"2020-03-07T01:52:11","slug":"the-best-blankets-in-the-whole-wide-world-women-in-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/living\/the-best-blankets-in-the-whole-wide-world-women-in-business\/","title":{"rendered":"The best blankets in the whole wide world – Women in Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Branberry co-owner knits together her own success and fosters the next generation of designers and makers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

KASSIE Blaszak worked hard to be where she is today.<\/p>\n

At 32 she\u2019s the co-owner and director of Branberry and Interknit, an award-winning local knitwear manufacturer and designer label based in Mount Pleasant, Ballarat.<\/p>\n

Growing up in low socio-economic circumstances, Kassie never considered higher education to be an option to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI left school after completing year eleven,\u201d she said. \u201cThe classroom didn\u2019t suit me when I could be out learning to work and earning full-time in the real world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was fortunate to have the great influence and support of my stepfather who ignited my entrepreneurial spark and my mother\u2019s strong work ethic.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just one of the reasons why her company now hosts high school work experience students and supports RMIT fashion students with their final projects. Kassie knows very well that a lot of learning happens on the job.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Co-owner and director of Branberry and Interknit, Kassie Blaszak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI am a knitwear designer, although it feels strange to say it because I\u2019ve never sat a day in design school,\u201d she laughed. \u201cI\u2019m actually more qualified for a career in hospitality management on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning design on the job has led to the creation of fantastic new and useful products.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t start drinking red wine until I was thirty, but I have two very active messy children so I was already making baby blankets you could machine wash and tumble dry,\u201d Kassie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a natural extension to make throw blankets and cushions from the same luxurious natural fibres with the same easy to care for instructions, you know, for those accidental red wine spills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to create anything I wouldn\u2019t use with my own family or wouldn\u2019t wear myself which completely rules out hand washing, but I still needed it to be natural.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have designed each garment for Branberry which is really beyond my wildest dreams. I love working with my husband every day building a business that has a real purpose both in the local community and in Australia in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

To see more of Kassie\u2019s designs, visit the store in Ballarat or shop online at branberry.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Branberry co-owner knits together her own success and fosters the next generation of designers and makers.   KASSIE Blaszak worked hard to be where she is today. At 32 she\u2019s the co-owner and director of Branberry and Interknit, an award-winning local knitwear manufacturer and designer label based in Mount Pleasant, Ballarat. Growing up in low […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":67587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-67586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe best blankets in the whole wide world - Women in Business - Golden Plains Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/living\/the-best-blankets-in-the-whole-wide-world-women-in-business\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The best blankets in the whole wide world - Women in Business - Golden Plains Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Branberry co-owner knits together her own success and fosters the next generation of designers and makers.   KASSIE Blaszak worked hard to be where she is today. 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