International Women's Day isn’t just about celebrating the extraordinary; it’s about recognising the ordinary women who shape our daily lives. The ones who work alongside us, live across the street, take our orders at the bakery, make our coffee, paint the mural, administer our vaccinations, and drive the tram that gets us to work, picks up our kids, or takes us to a laugh with a best friend.
Jenna Hipgrave is one such woman. She’s the brains, heart and courage behind Hungry Workshop, where she prints bespoke letterpress pieces alongside her husband. On weekends, she bakes cookies with her kids.
This is Jenna’s story — just one of many women balancing it all, striving to do their best every single day. Today, we celebrate her and the countless other women who make life richer and more meaningful in the most everyday, yet extraordinary ways.
Tell us about yourself
I grew up in Missoula, Montana, in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. It was the kind of magical place where we’d spend summers swimming in rivers and winters knee-deep in snow. After high school, I moved to Seattle to study graphic design and I had the chance to do a semester abroad at the Queensland College of Art in Brisbane. That’s where I met Simon – my future husband / business partner / father of my children – who was also studying design. From that point on, Australia became home.
Letterpress found me in the most unexpected way, through a neighbour, who told me about a little museum filled with old printing presses. That led us to the Caboolture Historical Museum, where we fell in love with the machines, the process and the sheer magic of letterpress. One day, they offered us a spare antique press and that was the start of Hungry Workshop.
We moved to Melbourne soon after, knowing it was the best place for a creative business like ours. We found a shopfront in Northcote, with a tiny apartment upstairs, and threw ourselves into the local creative community. A year later, we adopted Olive, our rescue dog (who’s still very much part of the family), and a few years after that, we had our son Franklin (who is turning 10 soon), followed by his little brother Huxley (now 6 years old).
These days, I spend my time letterpress printing, designing and running Hungry Workshop – while Simon now runs his own business, Bone.Digital. As Hungry Workshop has matured and myself along with it, I’m finding more time for myself and our community. I’ve joined a women’s bowling team at The Keys, I lift weights with an amazing group of women at SeeChange, I read voraciously with my book club and, every summer, I fill the garden with as many tomato varieties as I can squeeze in. I’m also on a mission to bake the perfect gluten-free chocolate chip cookie.
Tell us about Hungry Workshop
Simon and I always knew we wanted to work for ourselves, we just weren’t sure what that looked like when we graduated university. Six years into my design career, I stumbled upon letterpress and it felt like something truly special. Letterpress was enjoying a revival overseas, but there weren’t many studios in Australia at the time. Then the printing press offer landed in our laps, and we knew this was it – an opportunity to build something unique, deeply tactile and enduring.
One of the greatest joys has been the community we’ve built. Over the years, we’ve hosted charity exhibitions, we’ve collaborated with extraordinary designers, illustrators and artists, we’ve helped people celebrate life’s most important moments and feel a deep pride for their accomplishments.
Then there’s the work itself. No matter how many times I see it happen, there’s always a little magic in the moment the first print comes off the press – when something that existed only on a screen is suddenly real, textured, sculptural.
There have been plenty of challenges along the way in running a small business. In the early days, we had to figure everything out ourselves – invoicing, managing staff, fixing presses, marketing, etc. If I could go back in time, I’d hire a bookkeeper much, much earlier. Bringing children into the mix also created its own set of challenges. The early years of babies and small children is mentally and physically hard, especially when we didn’t have the luxury of a year off for maternity leave. We managed, with the help of grandparents and friends, and now the flexibility of being business owners is something that I’m truly thankful for.
I’ve always worried over the years that print might become redundant. But the more digital our world becomes, the more we crave physical, tactile experiences. And as AI continues to shape so much of our lives, the work we do – where hands get inky, machines whir and paper is pressed with real weight – feels more vital than ever. We’re creating a legacy, the printing presses will live on past my lifetime and this is a craft that deserves to be passed on to future generations.
And how do you stay grounded?
You don’t do it all – you get help! My husband and I both run our own businesses, which gives us flexibility, but also means juggling separate commitments and outsourcing where and when we can.
I’ve worked with incredible business coaches over the years – Sharon McNamara, Jo Hook and Damien Hinks – who have all helped shape both Hungry Workshop and my life into what it is today. I’ve learned to set boundaries. I don’t need to be switched on every moment. When I’m with the people I love, I’m not also trying to take work calls or send emails. I’m a bit of a luddite – I don’t have a smart watch, I treat social media like part of the job rather than my personal life, I’m terrible at keeping up with the news and I’m dreaming of bringing back the home phone.
Our kids are early to bed and early risers, which allows us evenings to ourselves (and each other) and relaxed mornings (even on school days). We have a family rule of no screens at the dinner table and recently started Screen Free Sundays – giving our family time to be present with each other and, sometimes, even a bit bored.
A few years ago, I made a commitment to myself (and my family) to take a week off every school holidays and close Hungry Workshop for a month over the summer. To make that happen, I worked with my team (and my bookkeeper) to figure out the best course of action, so that everyone could all have that time off to recharge and reset. The lead-up to the end of the year is intense but knowing that beautiful big break is coming makes it all feel manageable.
Most weeks, I’m at the school gate at least three afternoons a week and I don’t often work on the weekends. I never wanted to build a business that meant sacrificing time with my kids. But I also want them to see me working – I have grit, I can do hard things and I want them to grow up believing that about themselves too.
