Both came from sheep and beef farming backgrounds and have now come full circle, having spent 15 years dairy farming in the North Island.
Originally from the Manawatu, Mrs Malcolm had wanted to be a farmer since she was about 8, while Mr Malcolm's family has been farming in North Otago for about 135 years.
After both gaining university educations, the couple started their farming journey "with nothing" in south Taranaki in their mid-20s.
While neither had a dairy farming background, they both saw it as an opportunity to get into farming.
Mr Malcolm started off with a lower order job, milking 185 cows, which provided a "really good basis for learning all the skills", while his wife was doing farm consultancy for Maf, before going out on her own.
With the goal of farm ownership always in mind, the theme was "save, save save" and, in three years, they saved $160,000, which they used as a deposit to buy their first farm.
Fast forward to 2001 and, with four young daughters, it was all becoming "too much".
Both Mr and Mrs Malcolm were doing consultancy work, both were milking cows and they were like "ships that pass in the night", they told an exit-entry seminar in Oamaru last week.
They were offered a 50-50 job, milking in the Waikato, and so they decided to lease out the farm in Taranaki - figuring that would pay the mortgage - move to the Waikato, drop the consultancy work and do the one thing.
Between 2001 and 2004, they were 50-50 sharemilking - and still saving - and at the end of that period, they went lower order sharemilking for two years, sold the cows and paid a large lump-sum off the mortgage. It also allowed their children to stay at the same school.
When the five-year lease expired on their dairy farm in Taranaki, they were faced with a big decision - whether to return to Taranaki or to do what they always wanted to do and go drystock farming.
Having moved around various houses, Mrs Malcolm was ready to settle down and "have somewhere to call home" so they started looking for drystock farms.
During a holiday visit to North Otago, Mr Malcolm's parents, Lindsay and Maureen, asked if they would be interested in buying the family sheep and beef farm, and so the family moved south to pursue a new direction.
Answering why they had chosen their particular path, Mr Malcolm said it was a way of using their skills - with their university education and farm consultancy experience - and while they did not have dairy farming experience at the beginning, they could gain knowledge as they farmed.
The great thing about the dairy industry was that it was full of people who came from "completely different" backgrounds, or with "no money at all" and make a go of it.
It was a great way to amass a large amount of cash and get that capital growth. Dairy farming was also a relatively simple system.
They could have a family and grow their business at the same time, acquire both physical and business skills, actively practice the decision-making process and there was openness, structure and opportunities in the industry.