My happiest childhood memories are from time spent in the seaside town of Mt Eliza on the Mornington Peninsula with my mum, dad and big brother Nicholas. It was such a beautiful place to grow up. I went to Toorak College until I was 16 then we moved to Melbourne – it was perfect timing – I was getting ready to explore the world and needed a change of scenery…
I started my career at the age of 18 at an Interior Design company called Inarc Design, which seemed a natural fit as both my parents met working for Terence Conran in London, so it was in my blood!! After two years I had itchy feet and decided to travel overseas to Europe, where a visit turned into a year long stay in London, working at Designer’s Guild on Kings Road. When I moved back to Australia I fell head first into fashion. I started the journey working at the Esprit head office, followed by a nine year on/off role at Style Counsel as a fashion stylist and producer, I also worked at King Enterprises – a costume jewellery and homeware’s business for several years, then a brief stint at Witchery followed by three and a half years as the Melbourne Editor of Harper’s Bazaar magazine.
During this time I met my future husband, Ian Robertson. Together, we bought the 85 room Albany Hotel in South Yarra, running the hotel for nearly 15 years. In 2012 we moved to Bali with our boys. Sadly, in 2016 my husband passed away after a 20 month battle with cancer. Call it crazy timing, but a week later, I launched my Homeware’s business ‘Bloomfield and Webber’ and opened a shop in Barwon Heads, where I was living at the time. Not long after I was asked to join the cast on Season 4 of ‘The Real Housewives of Melbourne’. This was not something I had ever considered, but at the time I thought, why not? To be honest it was a great distraction for me at that time and something I loved being a part of.
I also launched Bloomfield fashion and accessories during the same year and when Housewives aired it went a little crazy but I have now decided to focus on being the best mother I can be, building my hotel brand, working on my motivational speaking at schools across Australia and penning a novel about my life that has been on the back-burner for some time. I have also recently started a blog and I have a Podcast coming soon with my good friend Laura Kininmonth, called ‘Do you know who I used to be’ celebrating the fabulous but slightly faded, a bit like my good self!! I have also recently been signed up with Bella Talent Management so that should keep me busy for a while….
I now divide my time between the beautiful coastal town of Mount Eliza and Umalas in Bali, where in 2017, I opened my boutique health and wellness retreat, Bloomfield Bali.
Sincerely, Sally x