Member Profile // Scott Roberts
Scott Roberts is the Founder of Studio Helm, a boutique design studio working closely with a diverse roster of clients across many sectors, from large international organisations to small boutique startups, and everything in between. Scott has extensive experience working in agencies throughout North America, Europe and Australia, with clients such as Hilton, Sony, Amex, Tottenham Hotspur and RBS. Scott and his wife Roxanne and their two young children moved to Australia from Canada in 2019 and haven’t looked back.
Scott chats to us about making the leap to leave the City and how the Coal Coast is working for their family & work life balance.
What’s your local life story? How long have you called the South Coast home?
I moved to London straight out of design school. I was meant to stay there for two years, but it ended up being seven. I worked for a branding and design agency, and then met my wife Roxanne who’s from Quebec in Canada. We decided to come back to Australia, but before we did, we wanted to go and spend some time in Montreal to get to know her friends and family. Over there you count time in Winters, not years. The winters were pretty brutal over there, I think the coldest day I experienced was minus forty 40 degrees. It’s a really amazing city with the bilingual culture. So I did six winters, then we came back to Australian in 2019. I guess you could say I came back with a little bit of extra luggage, not only my wife but our two kids too. I have Oscar who’s six and Raphaelle who’s four. We moved to Marrickville and to be honest I thought I would be living in the Inner West of Sydney my whole life. However a friend of mine a few years back had suggested that I have a look at the area around Thirroul, and for some reason it just stuck in my head. We basically came down one weekend last year to check it out and fell in love with the landscape and the lifestyle. Not long after we pulled the trigger and never looked back.
How does your work/life balance look? Does it look much different to if you were working in the city?
I think coming down here it’s definitely improved, it’s a small community down here and everything is quite accessible compared to the city. The kids school, the shops and the beach are only a block away. WorkLife is only a seven minute drive from home. I guess what that allows me to do is easily flip between the two when I need to. If I need to pick up the kids, I can do that. It’s no hassle. In the city I had about a forty minute commute from home to work. You come in for the day and you’re there the whole day. Things have definitely improved.
What was your greatest fear when you took the plunge and started working for yourself?
Before moving to Montreal I worked for a branding and design agency in London for seven years. When we moved to Montreal, I decided to take the leap and set up my own business. There’s always a bit of doubt about where your projects are going to come from, where your next clients are going to come from, and whether you will be able to sustain a type of lifestyle. I think sort of little by little you make it work. If your work is good and you work hard at your relationships then people will naturally want to work with you. Once I sort of started the idea of going back to work for someone else just never entered my head.
What’s been the biggest hurdle you’ve had to overcome?
I am fairly new down here, so I would say breaking into the local market. I have been so busy with my Sydney clients and overseas clients, I haven’t really pushed too hard on that front. I think I would like to work with local businesses more to help them define their brand image and grow. I think it’s going to be incredibly rewarding to do what I do in the local community. You can see the effect it has every day because it’s all around you.
How does it work for the rest of the family? What’s been the impact on them?
We moved late last year so that my son could start Kindergarten this year. That was our deadline. Ever since then we have had no regrets. The only thing we miss about city life is the food, I think in the end you are trading that in for a simpler life. You’re looking to minimise those options. You’re taking away the FOMO you get in the city life and focus on what’s important for you. My wife grew up in a small town on the Canadian-US border. From her perspective she’s happy to be in a more relaxed community environment again. But I guess this time it has a beach!
Is there anything that’s been a surprise to you?
The calibre of independent business professionals on the South Coast. Literally everyday I come across the most inspirational people often running their own successful businesses — whether it’s at WorkLife or in the local community. I guess they have made a conscious decision to design their life for the better to make it work for them. It can be a bold call leaving the city if that’s what you’re used to, so I think it attracts a certain type of person.
What’s your passion project/side gig? Is there anything that you’re hustling on?
One of my goals since moving down here is to learn how to surf. It’s amazing how everyone surfs down here — you’ll just be walking down the street and there’s this guy just casually carrying a surf board under his arm. I think it’s such an Aussie cliche but I often laugh at what my Canadian friends would think if they came here. I’m a pretty keen photographer also, my camera rarely leaves my side, I play touch footy once a week and set up a rugby club over in Montreal because nothing existed over there. We’d play every year outdoors until there was snow on the ground.
Picture your book shelf at home. What’s the one book on it that everyone should borrow?
I’m a pretty keen cook, at the end of the week cooking is sort of my zen zone. That’s what sort of really relaxes me. I guess you could say on that front, my two go-to books would be Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat. I would say any of the Ottolenghi cook books also. He’s a London based chef, who single handedly reduced the meat consumption in my household.
What piece of furniture in your house makes you the happiest?
My wife is an interior designer. She has this eye for hidden gems which I don’t often notice myself. A couple of years ago she found this old dilapidated buffet. She has completely restored it. It has these beautiful curved glass doors on the sides which are super unique and what attracted us to it. It’s a really beautiful piece and we love it so much we gave it the most important task of all in our household, it houses our alcohol collection.
When people come to the South Coast, what’s the one thing they should eat locally?
Two Smoking Barrels in Wollongong. It’s a BBQ place that also has a food truck. That was a very happy find on my behalf. I just got a pizza oven for my birthday so I could say my house! There was a really amazing restaurant in Gerroa called the Blue Swimmer. Between one of those three, as I am very arrogantly including my own pizzas in that!
What’s your go-to listen (music/podcast) for any trips up to Sydney?
I am a big fan of a podcast called Reply All, it’s about technology and the internet. Little in depth reports they investigate that are based on that theme. It’s been going for seven years but in true finger on the pulse style I only discovered it late last year. The other favourites would be Kermode and Mayo Film Review and a US politics podcast called Hacks on Tap, featuring a democrat and republican who analyse the week’s events and talk strategy.
What’s your best productivity hack to get the most out of each workday?
I have a Trello list. It’s an online productivity software. It lists all my client projects that I have going on and then I update it at the end of each day. I then handwrite in my diary the four to five most critical tasks I need to get done the day after. I find writing everything out the night before reduces my stress levels, I know what needs to be done for the next morning. Emails can be a massive black hole, so I use a rule that I can only check them at set times each day and put them on mute for the rest of the day. I tend to email in my time, rather than them popping up and demanding my attention. Another thing I found was turning off the email notifications on my phone, meaning when I leave the office it’s my time and I can switch off and not take things home with me. I’m very militant with holidays, telling my clients months in advance so I can switch my phone off and relax.
What’s the best thing about your membership to WorkLife?
I am a big fan of WorkLife. Having a dedicated space to work is really important. Having that separation between work and home. The separation makes me a lot more focussed. It gets me out of the house, the social aspect is really important from both a social and networking point of view. There are a lot of independent business people down here and you never know where the next opportunity is going to come from. The location is pretty cool too! We back onto the beach pretty much, so you can get out of the office for fifteen minutes to go for a wander down there. All the little touches, like the fruit bowls, gin and other facilities are awesome and not to mention it’s a nicely designed space.
Imagine tomorrow is a perfect snapshot of your Best Life. What are you doing?
I lot of this goes out the window when you have kids but let’s play on the fact that you said a perfect snapshot! I wake up without an alarm, eat a leisurely breakfast with the family. Walk the kids to school and daycare. I would probably head to a cafe if it’s early enough and have a drink there and even do a crossword to wake up the mind. Then make my way to WorkLife and spend a few hours working efficiently, leave early to pick up the kids. Spend a few hours with them, maybe do a little bit of sport late in the afternoon or evening, and then come home to put the kids in bed and enjoy a glass of wine with my wife.
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