Member Profile | Sam & Tom

Tom and Sam, as partners in life and work, can you please give us the run down of the Empire you are building together here at WorkLife in Berry?

Sam
So our main business is Digital Habitus, which is a digital marketing agency, focusing on small to medium businesses, across all industries. We lean heavily towards social media, social media management, social advertising. We also have a content creation and creative agency, Vue Studio, so with the content business we do videos, film, photography, website, design, graphic design. Oh, and then for fun, we have two other businesses…..

You guys are incredible. What are the side hustles?

Sam
So our side hustles are Seed & Sow, which is a dried citrus slice, business. And Tom has recently started a mens clothing and outdoor lifestyle brand called Soil and Bone.

Kate
And have you always worked together?

Sam
Well, technically, yes. We have always worked together because we met in a work situation, but we weren’t working for the same business.

Kate
So tell me the local life story – when did you make the South Coast your home and why?

Tom
When we started Digital Habitus in Sydney, we very quickly realised that the overaseas travel that we loved wasn’t possible anymore- as a small business, we just didn’t have the resourcing to be able to step away for that amount of time.  So we thought, how can we have an adventure in a different way, that means that we can keep working. We were commuting for 40 minutes between Paddington and Alexandria every morning and every night. So we thought, why are we sitting here when we could have an adventure somewhere else around New South Wales!

Sam
So we thought we would do a gap year. And because Tom’s parents live down this way already, we’d spent a lot of time in the area. And we loved it. So we thought, let’s do it, we’ll have a gap year, and just go with the flow and see what happens. And six months after we came here, our rental property was sold. So we had a choice of whether to try and find a new rental for which there were none on the market or buy a house for which there was also only a few on the market. But we knew at that point that we were ready to put roots down.

Tom
We knew it was a sure thing. The lifestyle here is a lot better than a city. And this was before COVID. It was only two hours away to get to the city. The commute was fine to do every couple of weeks at least. And the community around here was fantastic and incredibly inviting as well. We ended up having more of a social life down here than we did in the city. And it was amazing. So we were convinced there was no point going back.

Kate
That’s awesome. And what does the work life balance look like? Especially compared to looking back at life in the city?

Sam
It’s honestly gone through and peaks and troughs. I think when we first moved here, we really wanted to embrace the lifestyle and we used to play tennis in the middle of the day and we had a new puppy so we had a very flexible work day. As the business has matured and  grown, we have added more staff and we’ve created a lot more structure.

Tom
We definitely don’t work the late nights we did in the city. And I think the stress level is typically not as high. But in our industry, there’s a lot of peaks and troughs with growth. Right now we are hiring and growing the team locally, so its a crazy stage at the moment.

Kate
Working for yourself is a bit of a journey. So when did each of you take the plunge?

Tom
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always hated the idea of working for the big man. My parents have always owned their own companies. So I’ve been brought up in that entrepreneurial mindset of, if you put your mind to it, you work hard then you can do whatever you put your mind to. So I started with an ecommerce business before ecommerce was even really a thing just because I couldn’t afford a retail space. I was selling camping gear and rock climbing gear. So that did quite well. I’ve had a bunch of businesses that have done well that we’ve sold or we’ve closed up. Then I went back into the workforce, went into marketing and then went into agency world and started thinking how do I get out and do it on my own? I helped grow an agency in the city and then when that sold I that started Digital Habitus.

Kate
What about you Sam?

Sam
We always had the intention that Tom was going to break away, and I was going to stay in my stable job while Tom got things set up. We thought that it was going to take a lot longer for him to get it all going. We were never going to bring me on until both of our salaries could be covered. We thought that that was going to take a year or so and it took three months! It took 12 months before I could finish my role and join the business. I was just helping him on the weekends and he had to hire other people to help, so that that was a bit full on but in a really positive way.

Kate
I know there must be heaps of challenges of working with your life partner, instead i’d like to ask what’s the upside?

Sam
From the beginning we’ve been ying and yang. We’ve always been on the same path, we’ve always had the same goals, the same philosophies, the same values. In the workplace, that mirrors well because we have the same aspirations and values for the business.

Tom
We have quite complementary skill sets. So we’ve always kind of balanced each other in work and in life. Without Sam, we wouldn’t have half the business and without me, we wouldn’t have the other half. So it’s like, literally, we’re stuck together.

Kate
I think attitude to risk is always one of the most kind of essential ingredients. Do you think you both have a similar attitude to risk?

Sam
I think you’re more risky.

Tom
If it wasn’t for Sam, we would either be in a ditch somewhere, or a mansion. It’s great to have a tap on the shoulder and someone to go, that’s a crazy idea, or how about you think about X, Y or Z.

Sam
I think I’m the ultimate, what’s the worst case scenario? What’s the best case scenario and level things a little bit.

Tom
In my mind I’ve got a plan A, but then backup plan B, C, D, and E.

Sam
My preference is stable growth, we’ve had a lot of stability, but without being stagnant. I think if it was up to me, we’d be stagnant.

Tom
I love change.  I literally would change something in the office every day if I could just to kind of change things up.

Kate
And what about the year ahead, what’s on the goal list at the moment?

Tom
It’s actually something we’ve been speaking about a lot recently, and we have a number of scenarios that we’re looking at. Speaking for Digital Habitus, which is our primary business. It’s more about growing locally, providing more value for existing clients and for the community. Doing things like joining the Committee at the Berry Chamber of Commerce and Tourism was part of that.

Sam
So our goal is to expand and employ more people locally, because I think we were really taken aback moving down here just the sheer calibre are some of the local businesses around here. We’ve been incredibly impressed with clients like Few and Far, The Berry Tea Shop, Bangalay Villas, The Heads Hotel, Hungry Monkey and Long Weekend Store. There’s a lot more people moving down here after COVID. And there’s a lot of opportunity, and we just want to be part of that.  Then for the other businesses, is to just slowly grow them, there’s no rush.

Kate
Some of those local businesses are very, very much my favourite businesses!

Tom
Ours too! As well as that, we’re really keen for the next year to expand Vue Studio and create more content, because more than ever businesses are reliant on social media and social media is reliant on content. So we have a holistic approach to that. There’s a lot of really great brands, businesses and people that we’ve got to work with. And I think there’s a lot more that we can help.

Kate
Fantastic. Now we switch to the personal things. Thinking of your bookshelf at home, what’s on there that everybody should borrow?

Sam
Well, mine is very personal. I’ve been reading JK Rowling, but she writes under another name, and it’s a crime series because I love crime books- I’ve recommended them to a lot of people recently.

Tom
I was given Elon Musk’s book- I didn’t go out and seek it but it has actually been quite an interesting book. I would recommend everyone to read that too. His philosophy and sheer determination is  quite admirable, even though he can be a bit of an asshole. My love and hate for the guy has really fluctuated reading it. I think everyone who owns a business would find it useful- while he’s making millions, it is so comparable to if you’re making $100. It’s exactly the same thing. It’s that consistency and sheer self belief that what you’re doing is the right thing. And as long as you believe that, success should be around the corner.

Kate
What piece of furniture in your house that makes you the happiest?

Tom
The barbecue- it’s the only piece of furniture I’m allowed! No, actually, Sam has a hobby- she loves taking old furniture that someone’s selling or getting rid of and she’ll paint it, restore it, put new knobs on it. And recently against my advice, she painted a timber TV cabinet white with black trim- and it looks brilliant- it is probably one of my favourite pieces now.

Sam
I brought it and Tom said leave it as it is! For someone who likes change, really…

Kate
Now when people come to visit you on the south coast what’s the one thing that you think they should eat locally?

Tom
You love Queen Street Eatery.

Sam
I love Queen Street Eatery. It’s awesome. Love it. It’s my favourite place, or Bangalay Dining. Just because their menu is so unique.

Tom
I think the first time we ate at Bangalay it just knocked our socks off I took my parents before we were even talking to Michelle about working with them and we had the tasting menu experience. Local indigenous ingredients,  it is just so unique. It was like nothing else we’d really experienced.

Kate
Now what is your best productivity hack to get the most out of your day at WorkLIfe.

Tom
Start early.

Sam
Yeah. Start early I think. We’ve also put in a few kind of procedural things which have helped the whole team. Asana for task management- just having a really clear plan of your day, and allocating time, I’m very big on organisation. I think having a really clear outline of what we want to achieve, I literally break it down. I do my whole week, but I break it down by day. And I make it achievable because meetings, phone calls, just responding to emails, all that stuff pops up.

Kate
And what’s been the best thing about being a member of WorkLife?

Tom
The space. Having our own space is really important for us. And also, to be able to simultaneously be part of a wider community of small business owners has been just a huge value add. And more importantly than all of that is the incredible coffee machine.

Sam
We knew we were in a stage of scaling, where we were going to start hiring locally, and actually create an in-house team. And there literally isn’t any other opportunity for what we were looking for within our costs for that stage of business. Having that opportunity has been fantastic. It’s also given us the work life balance that we didn’t previously have, because we made the decision that stepping in the door here, we get our work done, we be as productive as we can be. And then we go home and we just relax. Whereas previously, it was all a big blend. And I never really switched off.

Okay, tomorrow’s your dream day. Give me a snapshot of your best life. What are you doing?

Tom
Gosh, anything anything? I’m camping I’m out swag. Just in the middle of nowhere, just horizons of mountains and not a single sight of anyone else. What about you Sam?

Sam
It would be just about anywhere- anywhere in the sunshine to be honest. It’s my perfect day.

Kate
All right, legends. Thanks very much for sharing your WorkLife story with us as this months member profile. It’s been great diving into the details of how the hell you make it all work. We can’t wait to see the empire continue to grow.