4 minute read
Selling Shoes to the World
Queensland footwear company holster sells its unique brand of shoes and sandals in more than 40 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, but BGS Old Boy Ben Nothling ’94 says the essence of the brand he cofounded will always remain on the Sunshine Coast.
Nothling, a third-generation Old Boy, met his wife and business partner Natalie in the year 2000 at a job interview for an independent surf store on Hastings Street in Noosa.
That store is long gone – victim of the big brand shops that now dominate Hastings Street – but Ben and Natalie combined their passion for travel and a coastal lifestyle to produce stylish Balinese footwear and accessories that can be worn on the beach or at the bar.
Two decades on, holster has grown into a global brand producing more than 350,000 pairs of shoes annually.
Ben and Natalie still live in Noosa with their two children, Miller and Kira, not far from holster’s flagship store and offices in Noosaville.
“Ever since Natalie and I have known each other we’ve always worked together. For us, working together is normal,” Nothling explained.
"Our business really exploded in Asia, Europe and the UK thanks to our jelly sandals with crystals and studs. It was different to how jelly sandals had been made before.
“In most of our markets we still sell a lot of the jelly sandals, but we’ve also expanded our range significantly to do sneakers, EVA slides, and many different types of footwear including a men’s line.”
Nothling, 46, has retail in his blood. His great, great, great grandfather was David Jones, a Welsh-born merchant who founded the eponymous retail empire.
But it was Nothling’s grandfather, Otto, who established the family link to Brisbane Grammar School.
Otto, who graduated in 1918, captained the BGS Rugby First XV, played cricket for the First XI and was a standout sprinter and GPS shotput champion.
During the 1920s, Otto played 19 Test matches for Australia in rugby union, captained the Queensland Sheffield Shield team in cricket and was selected for Australia as a replacement for Don Bradman.
Later, Otto became a GP, served as deputy lord mayor of the Wide Bay region and established the speciality of Dermatology at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane.
Otto’s son, Old Boy Martin Nothling ’61, was a champion sprinter before he lost one of his big toes in an accident on Otto’s farm. As a result, he followed his father into healthcare, qualifying in Medicine at The University of Queensland and specialising as a psychiatrist in Brisbane.
During the 1990s, Ben played rugby at BGS and was Captain of Swimming in Year 12, setting a BGS record in 50m freestyle that stood for 24 years.
Although Nothling was aware of his family’s achievements in sport and healthcare, he was encouraged to pursue his own career path.
“All my friends at BGS knew about Otto, because the teachers would talk about him. All the boys nicknamed me ‘Otto’," Nothling said.
Ben Nothling (front row, middle) was Captain of Swimming in 1994
As self-taught footwear designers, Nothling and his wife have built a business that has seen off the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic – a considerable achievement considering holster’s international reach.
“We learnt the business as we went. We’ve experienced a few testing periods, but you just have to adapt and react quickly,” Nothling said.
“Luckily, we picked up some good distribution partners in other countries, some of who we have been working with for more than 10 years.
“The last couple of years our export business took a bit of a battering with COVID-19. We have 24 holster shops in Bangkok malls that sell a high volume of footwear, but with malls locked down sales in Asia ceased.
“Production for our export business stopped for six months in 2021 due to mall lockdowns. Once they opened back up, we had to quickly start producing footwear again to satisfy demand.
Although the family is firmly entrenched on the Sunshine Coast, Ben said his son, Miller, could soon become the fourth generation Nothling to attend BGS.
“BGS got me off to a good start and made it easier to get into university,” he said. “It’s a great school, whether academic or sporting, and it helped me get ahead in life.”
