REAL BUSINESS LESSONS SERVICING CLIENTS ALL OVER THE WORLD FROM REGIONAL AUSTRALIA

By Ondina Montgomery –omcre8tiv

Who would have thought that you could start and successfully operate a consulting business providing marketing and branding services, produce and finance local and international movies, provide mentorship and communication ethics services to a wide range of businesses from all around the world – without leaving your home in the hinterland the northern rivers in regional Australia. At omcre8tiv we did!

After living many years abroad in Europe and Asia we initially thought returning to live in rural Australia would put us out of reach for most of the things we love to do in work and play. And we returned during a global pandemic that gripped the world and seemed to signal the end of civilization as we knew it! We wanted to live in rural Australia to give our young children access to a lifestyle that provided quality living with clean air, great beaches, nature on tap, organic foods and if we were fortunate enough quality education, extra activities and engaging entertainment.

We were prepared to compromise our business opportunities to get these great life building skills for them. What has resulted is beyond our wildest imagination. Living and working in Australia has proved to be idyllic and it feels like a model for the rest of the world to follow. And we have had experience living in multiple countries so we can compare. Sure, there is the need for kaizen, the continual improvement of the process, but realistically what a great base we have to work from. As Pink Martini sings in the song ‘Lemons give you lemonade’, there was an upside to the pandemic. It fast forwarded everyone getting online in both personal and business at such a rate it made the virtual world feel and be more ‘real’.

Business truly became a case of ‘meet you on zoom’. And thankfully business for us as creative strategists increased, not waned. We were able to expand our key team to include specialists from around the world to work with us virtually, and to deliver world class services to meet our client’s needs. Mentors from Bucharest, professors from London, specialists from Canada and the USA, designers, and manufacturers from all across Asia and the Middle East, consultants Australia wide…and clients from all around the world. And all this happened from our house overlooking the rolling hills of Bungalow.

The children’s education was well catered for with a local mini-bus collecting them from a bus stop tucked away on a beautiful country lane. After school activities were endless, from traditional karate, drama, and dancing to surfing and the more exotic trapeze training at the local circus. Strong internet and wifi allowed for all our work to be stable, while streaming services are easily accessible allowing access to great movies and interactive games and numerous apps. There is nothing really lacking to hold back the avalanche in technology for the children and us. And cultural opportunities like museums, opera, theatre and interactive art spaces were only two hours away either by car or regional air travel.

Australia provides affordable top level medical care, and has supported an economy through devastating fires, record flooding and global pandemic. It’s not the sort of support we were expecting or you would receive in other countries, and while there have been some mistakes it is by no means what I would call inappropriate or questionable considering the depth and breadth of the issues we have faced as a community.

Ondina & Mark Montgomery –omcrea7tiv

omcre8tive is a strategic design group that defibrillates your ideas and visions.

When we think about the situation we are in and talk to our friends living overseas, especially those with children, we feel blessed to be living in the hinterland of Byron Bay with all its fresh home-grown organic vegetables, meats, dairy and conserves all available at the regular markets or in cute little roadside stalls that you drive by on a daily basis.

We see business all around us thriving. For us life could not be more idyllic under the circumstances and with the rise of the virtual world we are living in paradise and working online.

Founded by Ondina and Mark Montgomery during the global pandemic, they have fused their unique set of skills that they perfected in the fashion and entertainment industries and made them available to entrepreneurs, founders and established businesses who are looking to avoid making critical creative mistakes in their business planning.

With an atom to multiverse approach, and innate knowledge of enterprise and strategic design learned along the start-up path to commercialisation their counsel is succinct, unexpected, innovative and omnidirectional.

We consult businesses, providing practical and strategic solutions to create exceptional experiences. We design integrated business, brand and communication strategies for established companies, and emerging startups.

With a focus on the end-user and technology, we identify key areas of discord and opportunity within the market, utilising design thinking and strategy to meet business objectives.