An ongoing problem in Australia is the shortage of teachers in several rural, regional, and remote schools. Teacher retention is an important factor in the quality of student education in country schools (HREOC, 2000). Challenges that teachers experience include isolation, distance from the support of family and friends, teaching multiple year levels and subject areas, inaccessibility of professional development, resources, and facilities (Campbell, 2012). Despite generous economic incentives, potential career progression, and community atmosphere, some graduate teachers struggle to adapt to rural life. Job satisfaction (Curry & O'Brien, 2012) and students’ learning outcomes (Richardson, Watt, & Devos, 2013) are effected by teacher wellbeing. Limited research exists regarding early career teachers’ wellbeing, particularly PERMA wellbeing, during their first year of rural teaching. Using a mixed methods research design (PERMA-profiler and interviews), this presentation explores early career teachers’ narratives and perspectives of their sense of PERMA wellbeing, in particular how they are making a meaningful life in their new rural profession. Understanding the PERMA wellbeing of early career teachers may help to address the enduring issue of attracting, recruiting, and retaining rural teachers with the aim of helping them to flourish and thrive.