As a kid who grew up in good ol’ Melbs, where we’d often swim in the pool during a severe thunderstorm (questionable parenting decision upon reflection), any place north of the weather-challenged city seemed like a tropical paradise.
I also used to wonder how people got any work done whatsoever when they lived in a spot where there’s consistently primo weather, Movieworld literally on their doorstep (this is what I believe and facts will not change my mind) and tanned people every which way.
In a nutshell, my tiny little brain assumed everyone on the Gold Coast didn’t have to do anything except ride waves and occasionally eat when the mood struck.
However, as entrepreneurs Sam Webb and Samantha Davies have shown, life isn’t all sun, surf and Seaworld on the Goldie – you can actually get important stuff done, too.
Both Sams have ventured down wildly different paths – Webb is the co-founder of Livin, a non-profit organisation intent on demolishing the stigma surrounding mental health, while Davies is the mastermind behind Unforgettable Proposals, a company which brings OTT marriage proposals to fruition – yet their common ground lies in the fact that they’ve both spawned successful businesses bang on the Gold Coast. (And their names, sorta.)
Davies and Webb also credit Gold Coast’s community for helping them get their respective ideas off the ground.
“The Gold Coast is actually great for start-ups, office space is cheap, there is a real support from business groups, women’s groups, networking events and more,” Davies suggests. “Having done business and often travelling to Sydney & Melbourne, I actually believe Gold Coast is the perfect city for a start-up as opposed to someone looking for a career within the corporate sector.”
Webb’s reasoning is much more close to home. After the death of his good friend Dwayne, who “suffered in silence” at the hands of a mental illness, Webb explains that it was the community that helped kick Livin into gear.
“[Dwayne’s death] rallied the community and we did our best to make a difference. We started Livin in my kitchen in 2013 and we started selling T-Shirts as a way to raise awareness and break the stigma around mental health. One thing led to the next and we set up the organisation as a fully registered non-profit by the year following.”
While both Webb and Davies have since expanded their ventures to other cities in Australia, the Goldie remains at the centre of Davies’ business. She explains, “Many times I have considered moving to Sydney and in many ways it would improve my business & overheads dramatically, however I just love the Gold Coast lifestyle.
“I love that I can catch a 45-minute flight to Sydney, see my staff & have meetings however be able to fly back to the Gold Coast and relax at home with loved ones.”
Of course, if you’re spearheading such a major project, you’re bound to feel overwhelmed at times – we’re only ‘uman, after all. Hell, I get overwhelmed when it tells me to remove a nonexistent item from the baggage area – that’ll make anyone sweat.
As Webb deals with mental health on a daily basis, he tells me that self-care is, of course, a number one priority in his organisation.
“It is pretty overwhelming but part of our mission and what we preach is looking after yourself first before you can look after anyone else. So while we’ve got pretty good self-care strategies in place – it can always be better.
“I spend most of my time on an aeroplane at the moment, so I can definitely tell you it can be overwhelming at the moment but there’s a lot of good that comes with it man, a lot of people see the good work but there’s also a lot of work behind the scene that no one sees.”
Davies reckons the aeroplane can actually get those creative juices flowing when she’s feeling overwhelmed: “My best ideas come to me when I’m in a new city or on an aeroplane, there is something about being in a new space and away from your devices, it sparks creativity and imagination.”
The two wildly successful individuals both admitted that the time factor was a big hurdle when starting out, as there was quite the common problem of you know, having to sustain yourself financially and pay for fun things like basic food and rent while also trying to achieve your life goals.
“My passion was really in Livin, so it was like, how do I escape the job so I can put more time into the passion and make it what it is?… To do that you need to spend more time with it right? So I had to work hard, do as many hours as I could at my job to make money, but also devote as many hours I could to push the momentum forward with Livin, and [my co-founder] Casey did the same too,” Webb says.
“I left paid work and started on the charity first, and then Casey came over a few months later. I was all about leaving man, I wanted to pursue this. I’m all or nothing, that’s my mantra, I’m all. Or nothing and I needed to put 100% into this otherwise it wasn’t going to work.”
For young people who aren’t quite at the stage of starting their own business but want to know whether going to uni can help in the long run, Davies offers this lil’ tidbit of advice:
“I think it’s still great to have a college degree on your resume, at Bond University there is a real focus on Entrepreneurial courses such as their new transformer program. Alternatively, for someone looking for a more intense and quick course, there are numerous intensive business courses one can do, where they can go from concept to commercialisation in 8-12 weeks with intensive training with a mentor.
“In business, you need to keep up with the trends especially with the everchanging digital work, so educational events, panel discussions, podcasts and exhibitions are great to attend to where you can also hear from speakers and feel inspired again. Always keep educating yourself.”
As for Webb’s advice?
“You’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to show up for meetings, you’ve got to take the good with the bad. It’s never smooth sailing and what I’ve learnt and embraced for myself, is just fail good – fail well.
“Everyone’s going to fail, right? It’s just being able to stay strong, staying positive when you make mistakes or when things don’t work out the way you want them to. Because it’s never always going to be perfect, it isn’t for anyone, so when you fail, don’t be scared to fail and fail well and learn from your mistakes so you can try and stop that from happening again.”
Everyone can learn a thing or two from these walking embodiments of success.
If you are still unsure about what path you want to take at uni, or even if you’re cut out to be an entrepreneur, you can hit up the Careers Explorer. Essentially, you choose what it is that you study and the Career Explorer gives you a tonne of career options. Who said choosing a career had to be overwhelming? (Everyone. Everyone says that.)
