Elsie Adamo
SHEENA Wood wanted to create a safe space for anyone requiring mobility equipment in the Limestone Coast to find it, free of judgement, and nine years later her customers are thankful.
Aiming to fill a rental gap for mobility equipment in Mount Gambier, her business Equipt Mobility was born.
“When you go away, you do not realise what you need to take with you and how hard it is to find at the other end if you cannot take it with you,” Ms Wood said.
“I originally predominantly wanted to do hire, so people could come in on their holidays and find what they needed.”
However, Ms Wood’s reputation soon had customers asking for her to expand into more products.
“A lot of my customers that I had wanted me to start selling continence products because of all of the knowledge I have got,” Ms Wood said.
“It went from this small little thing to this huge thing, we had to build on and expand the store.
“All the stock you can see in the store is what people have asked for, I have grown the store to what customers and the area have wanted.”
After nine years Ms Wood credits the success of the store to building a safe and accepting place for those in the community to visit.
“A lot of people do not mind talking to me because of my disability, where they may be embarrassed to go up to someone in the pharmacy, they feel a little bit more at ease talking to me,” she said.
“I try to make it as comfortable as we can and accommodate everyone.”
With limited options in the region, many of the store’s customers travel from Kingston, Keith and even Casterton.
“We get a wide range, it is not just Mount Gambier,” Ms Wood said.
“We send a lot of stock to Adelaide on freight for our customers who have relocated.”
From her experience finding the right career path for her, Ms Wood said she has been proud the store has offered employment opportunities to others in the disability community.
“A big goal of mine through doing this has been employing others with disabilities to give them the confidence and the awareness that there are things that you can still do,” she said.
“I found it difficult to choose a career growing up because of my limitations.
“I did a traineeship out of school in admin, but I found I enjoyed the retail side of things.
“We work with them and their limitations, we have had staff with all sorts of intellectual and physical disabilities here.”
There is no chance of Ms Wood going anywhere anytime soon, clearly just as passionate about her work and the store as when it was first established.
“I work six days a week here, I am always thinking about the store it is like my second home.“
