Vanessa grew up on a farm in Gunnedah NSW. After school she spent several years in Brisbane studying business, commerce and interior design. Her desire to open her own store only increased as she got older, as did her desire to move back to the country, so in 2006 she relocated to Goondiwindi to open Nutmeg Home.

Vanessa and her husband Nigel live on a cotton farm near Goondiwindi with their children Harriet and William.