Creative / Creative enlightenment

CREATIVE enlightenment

Tricia and Nikolas Cerjanec moved to Tasmania from Sydney with their three children in August 2017. Early in 2017, both had reached a moment of ‘enlightenment’ and a compulsion to simplify and slow down their lives so they could spend more time with their children. They both left intense corporate careers in legal and insurance banking. They wanted to get away from the 24/7 traffic congestion, pollution and crazy manic living to somewhere calmer, cleaner and greener. The family found it in Launceston.

A start-up eco-tourism project based out of George Town sees a new venture in their lives. News from Launceston Grammar caught up with them recently to talk about the project and their use of the new co-working space at the Senior Campus. A number of local businesses are also looking to use the space (to hold meetings), collaborate with like-minded businesses, and mentor students.

Q. Eco-tourism accommodation sounds like a wonderful and exciting venture. Please tell us about the project and what you are looking to achieve.

Tricia came up with the original idea while travelling to the US for business. The idea has evolved, and the current vision is to develop a mountain bike accommodation hub on Mount George, George Town, to leverage off the mountain bike trail project George Town Council is now developing following guaranteed funding from the Federal Government. The proposed build site has amazing panoramic views of Bass Strait, Tamar River and surrounding vistas. Stage 1 of our project will comprise fully fitted out recycled container accommodation, bike storage, laundry facilities, BBQ area and a kiosk. Depending on the success of Stage 1, we hope to expand the venture to offer different types of accommodation and experiences. George Town Council has indicated they hope to commence works on the mountain bike trail project within 6 months and complete the project within 12 to 18 months thereafter.

Q. How will the co-working space assist you in your quest to set up the project?

We see great potential in the space and the benefits it can offer students. We hope to use the area as a proper office away from our home office to hold meetings with partners, suppliers and prospective employees. We also hope to benefit from sharing the space with other business users through discussion, brainstorming and collaboration.

Q. How has creativity played a part in the project?

Creativity and entrepreneurship are key to this project. The fleshing-out of our original vision has been due to our creative juices running wild as we educate ourselves and conduct research on everything required to progress our vision. We have learnt how to start a new business and familiarised ourselves with the Australian and Tasmanian tourism and hospitality industries. We are also researching the unique mountain bike tourism industry and what an eco-tourism philosophy looks like in reality. All things we had no direct prior knowledge of or experience in and definitely a far cry from our previous expertise. It has been these abilities to be creative and have autonomy plus the prospect of giving back to Tasmania that motivates us to pursue this exciting venture.