The best career moves are often the most obvious, and when Peter Shaw sat down with his wife and partner, Simone, roughly over 25 years ago to look at the books, something unexpected but very nice was staring them in the face.
At that point in Peter’s career he would have described himself as a Geelong boy, trained and practicing as a greenkeeper who was now living in Anglesea. But the figures were showing that his sideline in landscaping – squeezed in between early morning and late night turf work – was taking up more and more time as his collection of loyal customers grew.
So the Shaw’s made the obvious decision and Ocean Road Landscaping was officially opened for business. Somewhere between having a family and keeping up with the books, Simone left her previous career to turn her attention more fully to the business. And as things became busier, a team of very good people joined them, and together they’ve worked at building a landscaping business based on a genuine wish to do things the right way.
And anyone can see it, customers are listened to and kept informed; there’s respect within the team; beautiful gardens are built and then maintained. Doing it the Ocean Road Landscaping way does take more effort, but everyone feels it’s important. Like sending a new construction-team member to work alongside a seasoned maintenance hand to build their skillset, or visiting a work-site to take images and clips to bring the client up-to-date with progress.
Then there’s the other layer to the business, the part that underpins how appealing it was for Peter to shift from turf to landscapes all those years ago. For Peter, creating gardens is a personal creative outlet. He draws and writes, and he believes in the benefits of working with Nature (rather than imposing something impractical upon it). As over-used as the term has now become, he understands the value in creating sustainable landscapes through sustainable choices of materials and methods.
Over twenty five years on, that career choice has proved a good one. The fact that Ocean Road Landscaping’s work is valued and given respect is obvious – from their client base who do a great job promoting Ocean Road Landscapes by word of mouth; from the growing number of their gardens taking part in the Open Garden Scheme; and from their awards.
Connect with Peter Shaw on Linked In by following the link below.
