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Taunurung woman, Nicole, is a successful business and homeowner, with a lot to be proud of. But she takes the greatest pride in the values and financial independence that she inspires through generations of her family. 
Nicole was determined from a young age to get on the property ladder early, to build her financial future. She achieved this at just 19 years old, through a loan with ATSIC (which later became IBA) and bought the ex-housing commission home that she’d grown up in.
“It was small, but over the years I made improvements to it,” Nicole said. “Funny thing is – I always understood the value of owning a home. I didn’t want to pay rent and waste money that could go into my own home.”
In time, Nicole transitioned to a mainstream lender and moved to another home. Fast-forward almost 40 years and one of Nicole’s three daughters, Georgia, has recently been approved for her first IBA home loan.
“I told Georgia about IBA and the value in saving to get her own place,” Nicole said. “I wanted her to have her own place too, not to waste money on rent.”
“It’s hard work and a lot of paperwork, but worth it. She’ll have her own home.”
“If Georgia had to go down a regular path, it’d be years before she had enough saved for a 20% deposit on a house. So, I kept saying to her, ‘make the enquiry at IBA’.”
Georgia and her partner, Mackenzie, have just found a home of their own with a backyard to share with their adored animals – she is the owner of three cats and wants to add to the brood with chickens and a dog.
“Sticking our sold sign onto the sale board was an amazing feeling!” Georgia said. 
“I grew up with mum always having a home, and she inspired me to want the same.”
“I did rent for a while and it’s hard to save and have security when renting. I could see that the money I was paying in rent could be going into a place of my own.”
“So, I moved back to Mum’s for twelve months to squirrel my money into savings.”
While Georgia was looking for her home, Nicole was with her every step of the way and helping her go through building reports, paperwork and giving her advice on her home purchase.
“Mum has made me very aware of what I’m getting into!” Georgia laughed.
Nicole also owns and runs a successful business, Gerrbik Laundry Services. She bought it from her dad (then known as Complete Workwear Laundry Services) with an IBA business loan in 2015. We met her back then to yarn about her business journey: Poised for success - Indigenous Business Australia.
While Nicole’s business is flying now, she has faced huge challenges. Her core business is servicing the airline industry, and she says COVID-19 restrictions wiped out 95% of her business overnight. Nicole says that at times she thought she might lose her business, and her house (which had been used as collateral for the business). But managed to keep going and weather the storm.
"My connection with IBA has been a lifeline to me!" said Nicole. "They believed in me which has given me a lot more belief in myself."
Her hard work and tenacity paid off and the business revenue has since tripled from pre-Covid including a 7-year contract with an airline for their laundry service. Nicole credits the business success to her amazing team which includes three generations of family working with her, something that she is very proud of.
Georgia has also inherited her mum’s strong work ethic. She is a professional baker and part of a boutique artisan bakery, working early hours and long days. She’s not afraid of hard work.
Nicole’s impact through the generations doesn’t stop there. She’s also encouraging one of her other daughters to start preparing to apply for an IBA loan and saving for a deposit.
“It’s about sustaining yourselves through life.” Nicole said. “We need to be self-sustainable. I want to pass that on to my kids and grandkids.”
“My nine-year-old grandson already wants a house too,” she continued. “He even saved his birthday money. That’s exciting - knowing it’s passed down. That will be a legacy for our family.”
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Nicole spoke at IBA’s release of our latest impact report on 29 May on Gadigal Country. She discussed the generational impact of financial wellness. Check out IBA’s impact reports here: IBA Impact Report 2024 - Indigenous Business Australia
