JEFF and Jill Oliphant have built quite the reputation in Beaudesert from being the previous owners of Beaudesert Café and the current owners of Beaudesert Driving School.
As “partners-minus-the-crime”, the pair have spent almost 30 years in the small country town after moving to Beaudesert in 1997, with an additional 10 years of being in each other’s company.
“We’ve been together for 38 years now. It’s hard work, but you’ve got to work out what you want,” Jill said.
In 1986, the couple first met at their workplace in Brisbane where Jeff worked in the factory of the company and Jill worked in the office.
Jill said it was literally a whirlwind romance and walked down the aisle just 12 months after meeting.
Their secret to a long-lasting marriage is being able to grow together.
“I think the biggest part is working together,” Jeff said.
“We thought we had to spend every minute with each other. You can’t do that.”
“We are not the same people that we were 38 years ago, so, you’ve got to decide if you want to change, how much do you want to change, and do you accept the person that they’ve changed into,” Jill said.
Although the two didn’t have children together, they found a connection with youngsters when they owned Beaudesert Café in 1996.
“We used to buy basketballs and let them go play and they’d have to bring it back in the afternoon.”
“They could come in if they were getting bullied or getting under pressure and just hang out with us,” Jeff added.
“But that was reciprocated too, with the kids, because then they would look after our shop for us,” Jill said.
“They would tell other kids, ‘Don’t mess around with Jill and Jeff’s shop’.”
After selling their café, Jill felt that they couldn’t go back to working for others and decided to purchase Beaudesert Driving School in 2008.
“I think it was very hard for us to go and work for somebody else. I wanted to buy Beaudesert Driving School because I wanted the Beaudesert name,” she said.
“I was doing the office stuff, and then I decided that Jeff was having too much fun teaching, so I started teaching as well.”
Jeff and Jill love servicing the Beaudesert community and have no intention of stopping anytime soon.
“It’s always been up and down, but it really has been fun. The biggest thing is watching the achievement of the driving school kids getting their licenses, getting their freedom,” Jeff said.
