Work Horse
The business owner and Project Coordinator
Full-time project coordinator Lee-anne also cares for her three very different equines and her young daughter, and runs Melee Creation, a seed-ball business
About my job…
I work full-time as a project coordinator for Alchemy Medical Writing, organising writers to compile copy for medical clients. In my ‘spare’ time, I run Melee Creation, which makes seed and herbrelated products for grazing animals’ fields — principally horses, but also for other livestock, such as alpaca and goats. There are even seed bombs containing plants suitable for the environment in which cats, dogs and rabbits live.
My mum Mel (the company name is a combination of her Christian name and mine), is a carer for my grandmother, Constance, but she also manages to do 99% of the seed-ball making and seed mixing, while I do most of the admin on the computer. It’s given mum a new lease of life. Any profits we make we donate to the Emile Faurie Foundation.
My working hours…
On a typical day, I work 8am to 4.30pm for Alchemy, sending emails, chatting to staff and clients on the phone and via Teams and creating time sheets. I stop for lunch between 12pm and 1pm and also take a few minutes out just before 4pm to pick up my daughter, Layla, seven, from the school bus.
After doing my horses and putting Layla to bed at 7.30pm, I grab a glass of wine and start to make seed balls. I also spend some time checking orders and updating our social media and sales sites.
How I got here…
I grew up in South Africa and left school at 18 to work for a grand prix dressage rider.
At the age of 23, I travelled to the UK and worked in a lot of dressage yards. However, I often didn’t like what I saw and I ended up teaching riding. I worked front of house at a couple of gyms, waitressed and then became a project coordinator in the oil industry. Part of my role involved worked on the commissioning of oil rigs, and later on decommissioning them. I loved it and was heartbroken when Covid brought it to an end.
My horses…
My three horses are very different in size. The smallest is the Shetland My Delilah (Twiglet), who Layla shows. I also put Twiglet to work on my three-acre holding pulling a harrow.
“I had my first ride on a pony at a Cape Town craft market. Horses became like the air I breathe — totally necessary”