Welcome to the RB Sellars

Autumn Winter 2021 Collection

Photographed in collaboration with Graziher Magazine

Imagery by Abbie Melle.

We recently visited fourth-generation farmers, Kellie and Matt Mason at ‘Westwood’ in the Central West of New South Wales, home to the couple and their brood of six.

Going about their day-to-day routine of living and working on the land, The Mason’s put our Autumn Winter Collection to the test.

Be kind and do your best. That’s all that Kellie and Matt Mason, farmers in Central West New South Wales, ever really ask of their kids Airlie, 16, Finley, 14, Claudia, 12, Freya, 10, Geordie, 7, and Tilly, 5. And they lead by example. “Kindness … to people we know, to people we don't know, to animals … that is something that Matt and I try to live by,” says Kellie.

The Monday after Matt and Kellie first met during a night out in Wellington, New South Wales, Kellie strolled in to work and told her boss, "I’ve met the man I'm going to marry”. It was 1999, and Kellie was living and working in Dubbo as a subeditor on the local newspaper. As it turns out, she was right. Matt was working as a fourth-generation farmer on his family’s 6000-acre property “Westwood” at Spicers Creek, which is now home to the couple and their brood of six. 

“Matt has worked on this property for most of his adult life,” Kellie explains. “He is an incredibly hard worker which is something he gets from his dad. I don't know anyone who has a stronger work ethic than my father-in-law and my husband,” she adds, proudly. After they married in 2002, Kellie made the move out to Westwood to join Matt in a beautiful old farmhouse. “This house was built by Matt’s great-grandparents in the 1930s,” she says of the homestead. “We're really lucky because it is a beautiful old house with a lot of history attached to it.” Over time the pair began to make it their own, renovating the kitchen, adding a pool and opening up the entertaining area. “It's a lovely big house, which is lucky because we have a ridiculous number of children,” Kellie laughs.

Farm life was nothing new for Kellie who grew up on a farm at Beckom in the New South Wales Riverina region. “My parents had a property down there, so I guess I've lived on the land for most of my life as well.” One exception being her stint in Bathurst, where she completed a Bachelor of Communications majoring in broadcast journalism at Charles Sturt University. “Ultimately, I went primarily into print journalism,” she explains, which led her to the local paper in Dubbo.

“I don't know that I actually ever really saw myself being a stay-at-home mum. I thought I’d always work,” Kellie admits of her career plans. But things changed when tragedy struck in 2003. “I was pregnant with our first baby when I was involved in a car accident,” she says. At 37 weeks, Kellie and Matt’s first baby boy, Hamish, was stillborn as a result. “We had his nursery all painted and ready. And then we had to come home to an empty nursery. And that's devastating.”

Losing Hamish quickly changed Kellie’s life trajectory. “Don't get me wrong, there's times that I miss working and I do plan to go back, but it makes you realise how everything can change in a second,” she says. Climbing any kind of corporate ladder fell to the bottom of the priority list. “I don't think it was a conscious decision. But I guess I just decided to enjoy my kids.”

Instead, her focus shifted to the trials, tribulations and great joys of motherhood. “When you've known the sadness of leaving a hospital without a baby, there's nothing quite like the joy of holding a newborn in your arms. Without even realising it, I think I was trying to fill a void in my heart.”

In 2005, Kellie and Matt welcomed their second baby and first daughter, Airlie. For the next decade, they continued to add to their family with Finley, 14, Claudia, 12, Freya 10, Geordie, 7 and Tilly, 5.

Airlie, 16 “She's my most reserved, my most guarded. But really thoughtful and creative,” Kellie says of her now 16-year-old. Then came Finley, 14, who is most like Matt. “He's a very hard worker and diligent student. But at the same time, he is also a bit of a class clown,” Kellie laughs. Claudia, 12, is described as the ‘old-soul’ of the clan. “She was always a really calm baby. Now she's entering her teenage years, so not as calm as she used to be, but she's so thoughtful and empathetic." 10-year-old Freya is very much her own person, "She's a very spirited little person. Sassy, strong-willed and independent," Kellie says, while Geordie, 7, the youngest boy is the people magnet. “We went on a three-month trip around Australia when he was two and he had this head of gorgeous blonde curls … he was our magnet for meeting people, they were just drawn to him," his mother dotes. “He is a really good little friend. Very thoughtful and loves the company of older kids,” Kellie says. And then came Tilly, 5. "She is definitely our cheekiest. I think that comes from being the youngest of six. She has to be able to stick up for herself and have her voice heard in what can be, at times, a loud and chaotic house,” Kellie says. “But she makes sure her voice is heard above the noise."

Now, the family is beginning a whole new chapter. As Tilly prepares to start school next year, Airlie has just earned her L plates. “It is a terrifying prospect. I've worked out I will have somebody on their Ls or Ps for the next 13 years,” Kellie laughs, albeit a little nervously. The good news? With the kids growing up, it means some extra help around the farm. “In the last couple of years, Finley’s been learning to drive the header and the tractor. I mean, all the kids love the farm,” Kellie says. “I think it's a great place to bring up kids, obviously.”

Jokes aside, Kellie and Matt wouldn’t have it any other way. “There's just a freedom to it,” Kellie says of the farm life. “And I think being able to see the rewards of their dad's hard work, now their hard work too, to see first-hand where food comes from and how much hard work goes into producing it, that’s invaluable.”

While some years are low on rain, there’s never a shortage of work ethic at Westwood. “To be a farmer, you have to have a certain level of resilience because it is a tough game,” Kellie says. “I do think farmers are born. And I think my husband was definitely born to be a farmer.” And with six kind and hardworking kids, there’s a good chance he won't be the only one.