Adapting is second nature for first in class
“I love the word adaptable,” says Peta Tillett, 35, manager of Lazuli and Co. “I feel like I’m more adaptable to my surroundings now.”
The hairdresser and business owner, after all, has had a lot to adapt to – her salon is in central Lismore and was destroyed by the February 2022 floods, which also completely engulfed her nearby home. Before that were the ravages wrought by the pandemic.
But it was an unlikely kind of business disaster that made Peta think outside the box well before both of those events unfolded. A major telecommunications issue in 2020 meant her salon was without phone or internet access for 11 weeks. She decided to hire a locally-operated virtual administrator to take care of all business phone calls. It was a prescient move that she credits with keeping her relatively calm when her business was dramatically forced shut – it meant she could focus on her inundated house and concentrate on the safety of her staff while her administration team communicated with clients.
It’s a long-term approach that is wrapped into the way Peta, who moved to the Northern Rivers from Victoria five years ago, leads Lazuli, too. Here, she invests heavily in training, with her two apprentices brought into planning and decision making from the moment they began.
She bought the salon four years ago, expanding it to an eight-chair space with six staff. All of Lazuli’s products are Australian-owned and made. Peta also manufactures her own cosmetics line, Peta Elizabeth Cosmetics – a brand that sits neatly within her philosophy of sustainability and local production.
“I don’t think I’d feel like this if I didn’t have my team around me”

Nineteen weeks after closing because of the floods, the salon reopened in “an enormous” new space on the top floor of a building on higher ground. An in-house receptionist is planned as is a dedicated Peta Elizabeth Cosmetics manager.
Most excitingly, Lazuli will pivot to the needs of a town in transition, delivering luxury services at an affordable rate, so that those who lost everything in the floods are able to benefit from the salon. “We have more space,” she explains, “I have the ability to grow our business, offer different services and more jobs, which means more opportunities for people in the town.”
But Peta’s proudest achievement of 2022 has been maintaining her team. “I don’t think I’d feel like this if I didn’t have my team around me,” she says.
It’s no surprise, perhaps, that she is a perpetual optimist – and, in her words, has a little too much energy at times. And while it’s been a tough year, her voluntary work for Hair Aid, teaching vulnerable women prisoners in Indonesia and Cambodia the skill of hairdressing, has given her a healthy sense of perspective.
Above all, she has learnt the value of looking after herself.
“I started running again. I started doing pottery classes. As much as we have all this stuff going on, you have to focus on the things that make you feel good,” she says. “We don’t have walls in our house but I make time to look after myself in ways that I know I should.”
Share this story
Read more stories
carefully crafted business success
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Evans-Head-Cabinetry-001.jpg 2000 1041 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Evans-Head-Cabinetry-001.jpgEvans Head Cabinet Making
“People often say, ‘They don’t build things like they used to’,” says fine furniture and cabinet maker Justin Crisp. “But I can confidently say…”
Three generations of style
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SCARBOROUGHS.jpg 940 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SCARBOROUGHS.jpgScarboroughs
Running a small clothing shop in a country town is a fine art. It requires balance, delicacy and an open mind to serve the needs of locals, tourists, the area’s workers and more.
let there be light
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/northern_lights-_ballina_northern_rivers_001.jpg 2000 1333 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/northern_lights-_ballina_northern_rivers_001.jpgNorthern Light
“I eat a pot of honey every day and I’ve been stung more than 70,000 times,” says Jeffrey Gibbs, founder of Northern Light, an organic beeswax…
true blue locals making a difference
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/mountain-blue-001-copy-2.jpg 1920 1280 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/mountain-blue-001-copy-2.jpgMountain Blue
Mountain Blue is the definition of a twenty-first century business. Not only have owners Ridley and Mieke Bell expanded their blueberry production…
take me to the river
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/10986182_733888960072606_3561220566688304460_o.jpg 2048 1536 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/10986182_733888960072606_3561220566688304460_o.jpgGrafton to Yamba Houseboats
The Clarence River, at the southern end of the Northern Rivers, is known colloquially as the ‘Big River’, while its Aboriginal name is ‘Breimbah’ or…
It was time the level the paying field
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Zepto-image-e1669713021167.jpg 1500 562 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Zepto-image-e1669713021167.jpgZepto
What do you do next after more than a decade building up a Byron Bay skydiving business to become a national success and then stepping back after listing it on the Australian Stock Exchange?
A walk on the wild side
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Fix-Vision-Walks.jpg 1245 933 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Fix-Vision-Walks.jpgVision Walks Eco Tours
Wendy Bithell has built her multi-award-winning eco-tourism business, Vision Walks – Eco Tours, by combining her two areas of expertise: ecology and technology. Her Byron hinterland adventures are as diverse as nature walks with night vision goggles, Indigenous bush tucker tours, and three-day women’s indulgence escapes.
Casino RSM Club
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/RMS-Club.jpeg 1360 906 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/RMS-Club.jpegCasino RSM Club
The 23 of March 2020 was the hardest day of Neale Genge’s career.
back to the future with new inspiration
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/bennett-construction-lismore-003-2.jpg 1920 781 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/bennett-construction-lismore-003-2.jpgBennett Construction
It would be fair to say that Bennett Construction and Ballina High School have come full circle with each other. It sounds like a back to the future…
not just a business, a community partner
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/stone-and-wood-001.jpg 960 761 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/stone-and-wood-001.jpgStone & Wood
“That’s like asking parents to name which of their children they prefer,” says Jamie Cook, Stone & Wood co-founder. He has been asked which of the…
Adapting is second nature for first in class
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Lazuli-_-Co_Peta-scaled.jpg 2560 1709 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Lazuli-_-Co_Peta-scaled.jpgLazuli and Co.
The hairdresser and business owner, after all, has had a lot to adapt to – her salon is in central Lismore and was destroyed by the February 2022 floods, which also completely engulfed her nearby home. Before that were the ravages wrought by the pandemic.
Community connection runs deep
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Untitled-1.jpg 1644 848 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Untitled-1.jpgConnect Business Solutions
Connect Business Solutions can be thought of as the glue that holds a business community together.
Flexing the entrepreneurial muscle
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Summit_Matthew-scaled.jpg 2560 1707 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Summit_Matthew-scaled.jpgSummit Sport & Fitness
Like many Northern Rivers businesses, Summit Sport & Fitness has undergone immense change in 2022 – except, rather than being buffeted by floods or pandemic, these changes are positive, and mark a new chapter for owner Matthew George.
spellbinding growth for a home grown icon
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/spell_designs_byron_bay001.jpg 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/spell_designs_byron_bay001.jpgSpell Designs
The scent, texture and aura of Byron Bay is famous, and well-loved. If that Byron Bay feeling was a fashion brand, it would surely be Spell & The Gypsy Collective….
overtures of romance and style
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Osteria-Tweed-Coast.jpg 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Osteria-Tweed-Coast.jpgOsteria
Mark Wilson, Lia Mason and Lee Middendorf all met when the three of them were working in hospitality jobs at The Sandbar …
ahead of time on equality and agility
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/hurfoods_hardwood_002.jpg 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/hurfoods_hardwood_002.jpgHurford Hardwood
When Olive Hurford told the bank manager she’d be looking after the accounts of her husband’s new building company, the story goes…
building bridges with water
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Yaru-bottles.jpg 1600 1067 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Yaru-bottles.jpgYaru Water
“This unique partnership between an Indigenous family and a non-Indigenous family enabled Yaru Water to start changing the way the procurement…
Clean green superfood team
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Foods-That-Love-You-Back_Erle.jpg 768 1024 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Foods-That-Love-You-Back_Erle.jpgFoods That Love You Back
Health activist Erle Astrup founded Foods That Love You Back in January 2021, and her business – which has created the world’s first affordable, alkaline shot of concentrated microgreens – is infused with the passion she has for driving it.
Generational innovation
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ABL-2.jpg 1440 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ABL-2.jpgAustralian Bay Lobster Producers
Thenus australiensis. Moreton Bay bugs. The Bay Lobster. Whatever nomenclature you want to use, there is no doubt that these crustaceans are a much-loved staple of Australian seafood menus.
Nurtured by nature
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GreenX7_Tim-Jack-Adams-scaled.jpg 2560 1723 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GreenX7_Tim-Jack-Adams-scaled.jpgGreenx7
For the past 10 years GreenX7 has been running workshops and retreats internationally and in the Tweed for clients as diverse as McDonald’s, Deloitte, Six Senses, and the Australian Defence Force, to inspire both individuals and teams to tap into the healing power of nature.