Looking around the office of artist and business owner Wayne ‘Liwingu’ McGinness, it quickly becomes evident that the man needs a bigger whiteboard. The small board on which Wayne currently records commissions for his marine-grade Aboriginal steel sculptures is full, with entries including Wesfarmers, the state governments of Victoria and the Northern Territory (NT), and the 2012 Australian Paralympian Team.

Halfway down that list though is one entry that means the world to this quiet and unassuming artist—‘Billy Missi and Me’—representing the one metre tubular sculpture Wayne recently created in collaboration with Missi, an internationally renowned Torres Strait Islander artist. To have collaborated with an artist of that calibre, for exhibition at the prestigious Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, is just one of many rewarding creative experiences Wayne has had of late. Such experiences are testament to the rapidly growing reputation and demand for the art he produces through Aboriginal Steel Art, the business he operates from the backyard of his family home.

Just as important as the public recognition he is receiving, however, is the personal validation Wayne feels about the leap of faith he and wife Lucy took in moving their young family away from home, extended family and Wayne’s employment as a welder in the NT to test out their idea for an arts-based business in the tourism hub of Kuranda, near Cairns.

Now with their business galloping ahead faster than they had imagined, the couple are concentrating on ensuring both their business and family foundations stay strong to keep pace with the opportunities coming their way.

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Wayne’s love affair with steel began as a child in the NT watching his late grandfather, Val McGinness (Woodadudawich) at work. ‘I learned everything from grandad, who was a welder and mechanic’, said Wayne. ‘We started out with normal kid’s stuff—we made a sidecar for my bike. And we’d go to the tip and pick out all this steel and cut it up, and it was all old-style welding with gas bottles and torches. All the time I was learning from him about steel thicknesses and so on… My dad often says, ‘You’ve got your grandfather’s brain, and if he was around now think of the things you two could make together'.

It was in 2006, while fencing his family’s new home outside Darwin, that Wayne first thought to combine his love of art with his skills as a welder and steel fabricator. ‘We’d bought a little block of land’, he said. ‘I’d made a fence…and had this idea to make a solar-powered sliding gate. I wanted to put a wrought-iron decoration on it, but I didn’t want to do the normal vines and stuff you see… My parents are both artists, and as I started sketching I was thinking about mum and dad’s paintings… I did a couple of drawings of a four metre crocodile… Off I went to the tip, like I did with grandad, and got some rusty steel for $30 and made this sculpture that I attached to the gate… Dad was here on holiday, and he and mum were looking through my sketchbook and he said, ‘You could probably make a living out of that, you should do that’. Simple as that!’

So the family moved across the country to Kuranda, and Wayne began ploughing his 17 years of welding experience— and all the teachings of his grandfather—into a range of functional Aboriginal art (such as fence panels, gates and balustrades), as well as one-off fine art sculptures for sale through art galleries in Cairns, the Atherton Tablelands and the NT. As a newcomer to the art world, however, establishing relationships with retailers and gallery owners proved tough going, and the family soon found themselves under financial pressure. ‘There were a lot of dead-end phone calls and emails’, said Wayne. ‘I was thinking I’m going to need to go out and get a part-time job and earn money, because we’d put so much into this business… But Lucy said, ‘No, I’ll go and get the job and you can keep working on this’. All along she has been the person who has said we’ve really got something here, we can do this… It had gotten to a stage where we really needed to find some sort of [business] direction, and we thought there must be somebody out there who could help us’.

That help appeared in the form IBA’s series of three one-day Into Business™ workshops, designed to help Indigenous Australians explore their ideas and readiness for business ownership. On completing the free workshops in 2011, Wayne and Lucy received mentoring to move their business forward, and chose Elmarie Gebler and Graham Caldwell of Fortis One Pty Ltd in Cairns from IBA’s network of business consultants.

‘...early on you want to please everyone, get every little bit of work you can, and you’re scared you’re going to lose jobs… But Elmarie helped me realise that there will be other jobs, you need to stick to your pricing, and if a customer wants the work they’ll pay for it—and if not, somebody else will’.

To develop a more solid financial and administrative platform for the business, and a more consistent income stream, Elmarie and Graham encouraged Wayne to explore the corporate gifts market. This would require Wayne to produce multiple copies of his artworks, and Elmarie believes Wayne’s willingness to embrace that idea has contributed to the growth his business is now experiencing. ‘Wayne is not precious about his art’, she said. ‘He’s precious about wanting the world to see it, but not precious to the point of, ‘I will not feed my family because I want to create this beautiful [single] piece of art…’ When we first met, most of Wayne’s work was in galleries, which is lovely, but it’s all on consignment, and you have to hope somebody is going to buy it… So we went off and looked at the market for corporate gifts… The Cairns Convention Centre was the first company to say to Wayne, ‘We’d like to buy a few pieces from you’…and I think that gave him the confidence to think yes, I can do this… It was very hard at first to make those contacts, meet the right people, but once it gained momentum Wayne built up more and more self-confidence…’

Wayne’s confidence as an artist and businessman was further tested when it came to deciding on, and sticking with, a price for his artworks. ‘In the early days I did a lot of work that cost me more time than it was worth’, he said. ‘I found it hard to place a [dollar] value on my work. Everything was a first and there was no unit cost. Also, early on you want to please everyone, get every little bit of work you can, and you’re scared you’re going to lose jobs… But Elmarie helped me realise that there will be other jobs, you need to stick to your pricing, and if a customer wants the work they’ll pay for it—and if not, somebody else will’.

At those IBA workshops…the thing I learned was that the nine to five job is gone; now it’s five until nine and longer some days…’

And there has been no shortage of work since Aboriginal Steel Art joined the Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council (AIMSC) as a certified Indigenous supplier. AIMSC was established to assist Indigenous businesses to enter into commercial relationships and supply some of Australia’s largest corporations and government agencies with the goods and services they require. Aboriginal Steel Art continues to receive new and repeat orders from AIMSC members, and was asked by AIMSC itself to design the trophies for presentation at its annual awards in April this year.

At the time of interview, Wayne’s workshop benches were awash with 450 handcrafted steel butterflies commissioned by Wesfarmers (a frequent and loyal customer) for inclusion in a conference bag. Waiting in line was a commission by the Tali Gallery in Sydney for a steel sculpture of ‘Lizzie’, the frill-necked lizard and mascot of the Australian 2012 Paralympic Team.

This rapid growth in reputation and demand for Wayne’s art has brought with it a new and unfamiliar predicament: how and when to say no to a business or creative opportunity. It is a scenario that Elmarie had the foresight to recognise, and encouraged both Wayne and Lucy to consider to avoid overpromising to customers, and/or burning out physically and mentally from the workload. Elmarie said: ‘How much Wayne is there to go around? He is already working long hours to meet the production demands. With the demand as it is he will need to start saying, I can do this for you but you will need to give me ‘x’ number of weeks or months’.

Wayne’s growing confidence as an artist and businessman has enabled him to respond to that challenge. ‘I don’t want to be rude’, he said, ‘but I know I need to be firm [when saying no]… And I need to be pretty picky about what I send out because it’s going to represent the business’.

To cope with current production demands, Wayne has begun outsourcing some of the basic laser steel cutting of his designs, having first locked in non-disclosure agreements with suppliers to protect his art and intellectual property. This has allowed more time for the creative side of his business, designing and sketching new pieces. He’ll soon have even more time when Lucy joins the business on a parttime basis. ‘We thought long and hard about it’, said Wayne. ‘Lucy’s initially going to cut back to three days a week at her job [in real estate], and work two days a week with me. That way we won’t have all our [financial] eggs in one basket’.

Wayne is excited to have his biggest supporter finally working alongside him in a business she has championed from the start. ‘It’s going to be so satisfying for me’, he said, ‘because it really does become our business instead of ‘my art’. I mean I always refer to it as we, our, us but now it really can be our business’.

With Lucy having recently completed a Certificate IV in Frontline Management, the timing could not be better. The rapid growth of Aboriginal Steel Art has already necessitated a rethink of existing business practices and administration systems. In her new role, Lucy will take over much of the customer relationship management and maintenance of databases, while both she and Wayne continue to work with Fortis One on reviewing their accounting, reporting and business structure.

The couple is aware of the energy and time that their expanding business will continue to demand of them, and are focused on ensuring their family unit stays as strong as their business foundations. ‘At those IBA workshops…the thing I learned was that the nine to five job is gone; now it’s five until nine and longer some days…’ Asked how he juggles the demands of a home-based workshop with family life, Wayne said: ‘I don’t know that I ever really switch off from work. I mean I’m not welding roof beams out there [in the workshop]. So some mornings I wake up having dreamed about a design and map it straight out… But working from home, I do get to put the kids on the bus in the morning and be here when they come home from school. And sometimes that might mean working at 11 o’clock at night because I’ve done something fun with them in the afternoon. But I don’t mind, it’s nice and quiet at night and when you love it, it’s not a chore’.

With what they call the phenomenal support of close family and friends behind them, Wayne and Lucy’s excitement and enthusiasm at working together to move Aboriginal Steel Art forward is palpable.

And they’re definitely going to need a much, much bigger whiteboard.

Find out more about Aboriginal Steel Art and IBA's Business Development and Assistance Program.

Doctor Alanna Sandell isn’t all she appears to be. Speaking with her, it soon becomes obvious that beneath a warm and engaging exterior, there lies steely strength, determination and ambition. ‘I’ve been tough a long time’, she said. ‘I’ve got that type of personality’.

It’s this toughness that Alanna drew on in deciding to relocate her medical practice and family from NSW to WA last year. And it’s this toughness that is driving her burning desire to have a lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of current and future generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

So far, this proud Ngarrindjeri woman is hitting the mark on both counts.

Through her business Monitor: Health Check Solutions, Alanna is helping Indigenous Australians maintain their fitness for work and for life, by providing pre-employment assessments and personalised health programs for high-risk employees. These packages are developed following onsite health assessments of a company’s Indigenous employees to identify any early health or safety risks.

As a qualified general practitioner (GP), Alanna has extensive experience in and knowledge of general and Indigenous-specific health issues, including orthopaedics, cardiothoracic intensive care, coronary care, drug and alcohol treatment and mental healthcare.

‘This business is here to help people’, she said. ‘It was conceived to focus on Indigenous health – helping Indigenous people maintain their fitness for work. Our business is designed to effectively address the needs of business by assisting companies in reducing downtime, retaining Indigenous employees and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace’.

Alanna explains that numerous health conditions are more prevalent within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. ‘Indigenous people are affected early in life by many chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, hypertension, mental health issues, lung disease and renal failure, which significantly affect their quality of life, including their work productivity and retention’, she said.

‘Indigenous people’s health is so affected by these diseases that their lives are shortened by 20 years on average when compared to non-Indigenous Australians’, she continued. ‘That should highlight to all industries that employ Indigenous people that monitoring the health of their Indigenous employees is of enormous benefit in retaining those workers’.

‘A lot of it is lack of education’, she said. ‘They [the clients] haven’t actually understood the disease process or the management involved. I have a very detailed and broad [medical] base. So that’s why I can work in an area like this and feel pretty confident. But it’s also being Indigenous myself and understanding cultural barriers. A lot of the Indigenous guys will speak to me and are more receptive [than going to another GP] in terms of their health. They feel more support from and have more trust in me because I can relate’.

Alanna gives an example of an Indigenous man who refused to take insulin to treat his diabetes. He had received negative feedback from his community about insulin and was frightened of taking it. By gaining his trust and understanding the cultural context, Alanna helped the man to begin treating his condition.

Alanna knows from personal experience the pain that can result from inequity in health, healthcare and health education. She says her childhood was very difficult. Her father suffered from health issues related to an ongoing struggle with his Indigenous identity, and left the family home when Alanna was young.

‘I look at my father - he was never settled, never truly a happy man. Not down to the core; there was a sadness in him for who he was’, she said.

Alanna left home when she was 16 years old and, with characteristic determination, put herself through the remaining two years of high school by working in a supermarket and lodging with a family. She said she was drawn to the medical profession, training first as a nurse.

‘Just to go to university was a treat. I was so pleased to have gotten into university. I did nursing but was never really happy with it. I am very nurturing, so it appeals to my personality, and I loved the health industry. But in nursing I couldn’t make my own decisions. I was being told what to do and I didn’t like that. I realised I had to go off and become the person that my brain wants me to be’.

Alanna moved to Newcastle in NSW to undertake an arts degree, but after being accepted into medical school, obtained her Bachelor of Medicine from the University of Newcastle.

Over the years Alanna has witnessed inequalities in Indigenous health first-hand, having worked in remote communities and within the Aboriginal Medical Service. But the first seed of her business idea was planted in late 2010 when she visited her brother in QLD and spent time at a mine where he was working.

‘Oddly enough, the business idea came out of the blue’, she said. ‘I always wanted to run a business but I didn’t want to run a general practice. I wanted a bigger business, something I am very passionate about; part of me wanted that challenge. I realised that to make any sort of difference you’ve got to put a business together.

‘Indigenous people’s health is so affected by these diseases that their lives are shortened by 20 years on average when compared to non-Indigenous Australians. That should highlight to all industries that employ Indigenous people that monitoring the health of their Indigenous employees is of enormous benefit in retaining those workers.’

As I found out through my research, there is a need for a company like mine to step in with the larger companies [and Indigenous workers] and help facilitate the individual and the company in getting people fit for work’.

Once she had decided on the focus for her enterprise, Alanna set about building a framework around her idea and in doing so came into contact with IBA. To help explore her readiness for business and to develop her idea, IBA invited Alanna to attend its series of Into Business™ workshops.

‘I did the three workshops, which were useful. It was great, such a huge learning curve’, she said. On completing the workshops, facilitator Garry King provided ongoing assistance over the phone to support Alanna as she developed her idea further.

Not long after completing the Into Business™ workshops, Alanna relocated to WA to take up a contract delivering health programs to a major mining company. But things didn’t go according to plan, and that contract fell through. With typical resolve, Alanna set about building relationships with alternative WA companies with whom she might work. She credits Donald MacIntyre, Senior Business Development Manager at Ngarda Civil & Mining (50 per cent subsidiary of Leighton Contractors Pty Limited) for going ‘over and above’ in introducing her to companies that hire Indigenous employees.

A meeting with Leighton Contractors and Broad – who are constructing the inlet and public space facilities for the Elizabeth Quay development in Perth – provided the turning point Alanna was seeking. Alanna attended Leighton Broad’s Elizabeth Quay Indigenous Business Forum, an event supported by IBA, aimed at encouraging employment and business opportunities for Indigenous Australians. The event outlined project opportunities, as well as the resources and strategies available to assist organisations to secure works on the Elizabeth Quay project.

As a result of attending that forum, Alanna was offered an opportunity to work with the Leighton Broad Elizabeth Quay project team delivering a pre-employment medical service for the employees. The company has also leased Alanna office space within its building so she can easily consult with those working on the project. ‘They are promoting Indigenous employment and training and I have slotted into that’ she said, reflecting on her good fortune. However she also credits Leighton Contractors’ employees Shirley McPherson, Group Manager of Indigenous Business, and Raylene Bellottie, Manager of Indigenous Employment for facilitating this initiative.

While her business is still in its infancy, Alanna says she has received a lot of interest from companies about what she is trying to achieve, and she is using every available opportunity to network and talk to people about her work. With the business gaining momentum, Alanna is excited that so many aspects of her past and her professional training are finally coming together.

‘I’m an obsessive person when I want something’, she said. ‘I have not stopped thinking about this business over the last two years. Not for one day. You cannot ever get something off the ground unless you are obsessed. Every day it has to be front of mind. Whatever you want in life, you have to be completely focused’.

‘You can have a goal, a dream’, she added. ‘You don’t have to get everything right all the time... You don’t always have to be the best of the best all the time. Life is part of learning and growing, and moving ahead is actually failing at things and trying again, and being happy with that’.

Juggling the role of medical professional and businesswoman, it is clear that Alanna is a family woman above all else. As a single mother, she is proud of the travel experiences she has offered her two children, and proud of the way they have coped and adapted with the move to WA and a year of drastic change.

‘It was a big thing for us to move and for them to leave all their friends,’ she said. ‘I’ve always kept them very close about what we are doing with the business. It’s our family business, and I wanted them to be a part of the whole thing’.

For all her determination and ambition, Alanna says she is happy to let her business develop at a natural pace, to ensure it achieves the long-term outcomes she yearns for.

‘So my legacy is to my children. I want to say to them that you can be Indigenous and be a doctor, and you can be Indigenous and a businessperson. At the end of my career I don’t want for anything other than to give the next generation strength. It’s very important to know who they are and be proud of who they are.’

‘I would like Indigenous people to have a better understanding about their health and how to prevent poor health, and if they’ve got chronic diseases, to make sure that they are more aware of treatments’, she said. ‘In an ideal world I would like to see no diabetes, or to see the gaps [in health] reduced, and I would like to know that I have picked up a patient’s disease at an early age and managed it.

‘When there are bad health outcomes, the whole fibre of a family is lost. It’s gone. It’s very important to keep all that together’.

‘So my legacy is to my children. I want to say to them that you can be Indigenous and be a doctor, and you can be Indigenous and a businessperson. At the end of my career I don’t want for anything other than to give the next generation strength.

‘It’s very important to know who they are and be proud of who they are. Then they’ll be a settled generation because they’ll be happy with who they are’.

Find out more about Monitor: Health Check Solutions and IBA's Business Development and Assistance Program.