Chan Uoy and partner have made Dimboola home, they bought a 19th-century building and created a totally unique business - the Dimboola Imaginarium. Chan talks openly about what drove their treechange, adapting and embracing the exciting future ahead for their business, the town, and the greater Wimmera region.
@chanuoy is the co-owner of the @dimboolaimaginarium After more than 20 years in the #hospitalityindustry in #Melbourne involving owning 2 restaurants Chan desperately needed a change. He described #melbourne and #restaurantownership as a "conveyer belt of sameness and pure hard work" -a change had to be made. Long story short @dimboola is where he and partner now live and work. How they ended up making a #treechanage to Dimboola is an intriguing story of planning and serendipity.
Since arriving and inspired to create something unique as a destination they have acquired a 19th bank and built the @dimboolaimaginarium - a grand building with a fascinating history and ceiling high enough to house a 3.75 metre giraffe!
It was a big, brave move and in our Chan talks openly about the lead up, joining a new community, building a destination business as well as;
A full transcript is below.
Michael Kerr: Hi, it's Michael Kerr here. Presenting Small Bu[siness Banter. A healthy micro and small business sector means a successful economy and a more vibrant society. Small Business Banter is about helping regional business owners better prepare for current challenges, but also for the next stage of business success. I'm Michael Kerr, founder of Kerr Capital, advisors to business owners.
Michael: Each week, I interview a fellow small business owner or an expert and they share their stories, their lived experiences, the wins and the losses, and their best advice to help you, the listener, get the most you can from your own business. Small Business Banter is brought to you from the Studio's in 104.7 Gippsland FM, and is heard across Australia on the community radio network, and thanks also to Kerr Capital, supporters of the show.
Welcome to another edition of Small Business Banter Radio. I'm really pleased to have in @ChanUoy from the @DimboolaImaginarium. We're going to get Chan to talk about the Dimboola Imaginarium, but welcome in firstly, Chan.
Chan Uoy: Thank you, Michael. Good morning.
Michael: It's really wonderful to have you in. We met a couple of weeks ago when I was spending the weekend with some friends up at @Dimboola, and we got chatting, and that's how this interview came about was serendipitous. You and partner, Jamie, made a move to Dimboola about two years ago, but could you just give us a little bit of a backdrop of where you came from? When you came to Dimboola, and what the Dimboola Imaginarium is all about?
Chan: No problem. Well, everyone asks us how did we end up in Dimboola? And I generally say by accident. So what happened was, we have been fantasizing about getting out of Melbourne , for, say the last six years. We had a restaurant in Docklands for 13 years, but I start off in Yarraville in 1998. So we're one of the first in Yarraville to get a building and create a new restaurant in Yarraville. That was all that 20 years of hospitality, and I guess at the end I got really burnt out. I was actually really depressed leading up to moving to the country. It was a decision that I knew I had to make because I was depressed in the hospitality industry because it's a lot of hard work. Your life runs according to the clock. By a set time, you have to be out of here. I have done this.
So it was just a conveyor belt of sameness and pure hard work. So by the end, I was really depressed. And, of course, you need to make that call and to make that change. So we've been researching and fantasizing, and inspecting country towns, and homes for a while. So, when the opportunity came up, it was in @Stawell. So we discovered a beautiful mechanics institute building built in 1875 on Main Street @Stawell. It was perfect to create an Imaginarium there and we were going to call it. Mr. Inskip's Imaginarium because the architect was Mr. Inskip.
The building was magnificent because, in the basement, there was a Roman Stone, sorry, bluestone arches, but Roman arches and the foundation was granite, so it was really well-built. So you can imagine in the basement from the whole entire length of the building, you could create a wine bar. It was really quite spectacular.
Michael: Wow, you did contemplate going back into hospitality.
Chan: Yeah, that was just a vision but I wouldn't have done it. It was just really cool. You know what I mean? It would have been a cool space. Having come from hospitality you appreciate these things. But basically about creating restaurants: It's about creating worlds. And that's what I've learned from the last two businesses. Is that you think about what do you want your customers to experience? But also, what do I want to experience first and foremost? So, if I want to experience a particular world or environment, you create it. So that's what I've learned from the last two restaurants. You create your Ideal World Experience.
Michael: Yeah. In the restaurant or in those businesses, were you a chef? What was your...
Chan: So my background was accounting. So I think...
Michael: Not what I expected, but...
Chan: No, I did accounting and the reason why I realized I didn’t like accounting was I just want to go to auditing. I saw. Oh, no, I've chosen the wrong course. So, you know, look I've done it. I didn't like it only because I realize I like to create things. So you have a vision [crosstalk] and ...
Michael: And if you do that in accounting, you can get in an awful lot of trouble.
Chan: That's right. So I wanted to create something that, you know, that's real, you know, that's an experience and I guess I couldn't do that with accounting.
Michael: Yeah.
Chan: So, I mean, something happened early in my life where I just realized, I guess it was my first proper crisis I should say. So you talk about a person going through crisis, that was my first adult crisis that I went through. So it was a bit of a shake-up and that's why I decided to create my own world. And that's why we created the first restaurant in Yarraville because it's about creating my own little world.
I didn't like the politics and power games in the private industry, and I just want to get out of that and I wanted to create my own world where the first restaurant was with family. The typical migrant story. You buy a building and create your own business soo you become independent and autonomous and do your own thing. So, that's where it all started. It's that desire to be free. That was what started the first restaurant.
Michael: Yeah. And you got to a period of time and showed you had a second restaurant, but really just burnt out. You know, it's one way...
Chan: After 20 years? Yeah, because after 20 years I did start becoming successful, but your stress if you're busy or stress if you're quiet. You're stress all around.
Michael: Yeah, okay.
Chan: So my stress level was higher than an average person, but it was my normal. It was my new normal so you can see why I had to get out. So a #treechange stem from that because I knew how to address mental health and I guess physical health as well.
Michael: Yeah.
Chan: So if I had stayed in Melbourne now and not have moved to the country when I did in April 2019, I probably would have lost everything. [crosstalk] As a reality.
Michael: Yeah. Yeah. So how did you go about ending up... You looked at Stawell? Dimboola's may be in, I don't know, an hour, hour and a half, is it? or maybe a bit longer from...
Chan: Yeah. So what happened was, once again, I can't make this up but stawell, The Mechanics Institute was used as a Bible College. So it's called the Australian Bible College. So they're on the extreme side of Christianity. So we saw like, we're aware of them because their Facebook posts were extreme to the point where, to give you an example of extremity, they described the #MelbourneWhiteKnight as demonic.
Michael: Okay.
Chan: Yeah. So because of that, we kept an eye on them on social media. So one morning a few days before Christmas, Jamie comes running out of the bedrooms so distressed. Oh my God, the owners of the Bible College are in prison in New South Wales for fraud. They were the ringleaders of 11 people for selling fake training certificates. Now, we couldn't make that up, you couldn't make that up. So we put a deposit on it. And of course, three weeks into it, I realized hasn't been signed and returned to me and now we know why because they were in prison in New South Wales for fraud. So because of that, we had to quickly look for other properties because our property in Melbourne was on the market to help fund our renovations because the Bible College didn't have a kitchen. So, we needed to have a kitchen and turn it into a home as well.
Michael: Yeah.
Chan: So we got the deposit back, thank goodness, but we had to quickly find an alternative property. So we did a list of five different properties, all unique because for us to move out of Melbourne, we wanted the property to be special to make moving out of Melbourne worthwhile.
Michael: Yeah.
Chan: There's no point moving out of Melbourne to move into an, I guess, ordinary property. For us, it wasn't the point. The point...
Michael: You've definitely haven't got an ordinary property. You've got an 1800s...
Chan: It's a 19th Century Bank, but the new brick building was built in 1909. So so the original bank was the Oriental Bank in 1883, it was a weatherboard building, but then that collapsed globally due to mismanagement. So the National Bank of Australasia purchased the building, and then they built this building in 1909 in nine months. So to give a description is built in the Renaissance style architecture. So it's got Greek and Roman elements. So really it was an emblem of Dimboola’s prosperity for the time.
Michael: Yeah. Okay, and it's a two-story, [crosstalk] substantial building that you've been in now, for, how many years?
Chan: two-story. Over two and a half years.
Michael: And there's living quarters, living upstairs. And so this, it's a good opportunity to talk about the Dimboola Imaginarium and what you've created there.
Chan: Yeah, so we wanted a special building because the building style of the building creates the experience. So when you think about it, architecture creates experience, and it tells a story. So for us, the building had to be special and hence going back to store, The Mechanics Institute Building, because that was a majestic building, Victorian era, that could convey what an Imaginarium is. And that's why, you know, we can't create an Imaginarium in a normal shop. It hasn't got the same oomf. It can't take you to a magic place. So, architecture plays a big role in it. So when you walk through the original bank chamber in the Imaginarium, you really do enter another world.
The ceiling height is four and a half meters high. Because it's four and a half meters high we can put that three-point-seven-meter giraffe because we want to create an otherworldly experience for patrons, but also for us because it is our lounge room as well. The bank is our private residence in the old days, the bank managers live on site. So upstairs is four-and-a-half bedrooms, lounge room, dining room, kitchen in the back. So before the bank shut, it was turned to a private residence. So, the shop is our Lounge room. So we want it to be nice for us, first and foremost, and of course, that conveys to customers.
Michael: So, what is an Imaginarium?
Chan: So an Imaginarium is just a place that inspires the imagination. So for me, I've always, I realized I do have an imagination, but I guess society sometimes tell you to suppress your imagination. You know my parents tell me to pursue other careers.
Michael: Accounting is a good career. [crosstalk] Which it is for some people
Chan: That was one of them. Yes. So I guess what got me through the dark periods of the restaurant world at the end was through reading. So I would read a lot of books. I would read books about, non-fiction books, of course, you know about history, architecture, but also about spirituality, and also about just humanity. What makes humans do? To understand more about where I was at? And I also read a lot of fiction as well. So fiction takes me to other places. So through reading that actually helped me get through the dark periods of days.
So for me, creating an imaginary room, really suited me because I could allow myself to be creative and free. And that's one of the reasons why we moved out of Melbourne was to find a place where we can create another world for ourselves that's different to the restaurant world, but our world that we want to create finally, and at the age that we are because this is the last big project. Then therefore when it comes to that, you realize what you've got. You actually want to do what you want to do, create what you want to create, and actually enjoy life again. So I have to say I'm the best space that I could be. I never thought I would get to this space. I thought it was just, it was just a long tunnel. I really didn't think I would see the light, literally the light, and I guess the Imaginarium has become a symbol of, I guess me, healing from the dark periods of my years in Melbourne.
Michael: I think, you know, to make a significant choice to move from Melbourne, you know, from successful businesses in and of itself is it's a huge move. But you've recognized that's what you needed to do.
On today's edition of Small Business Banter radio, I'm chatting with Chan, Uoy from The Dimbulla Imaginarium. There's a bit of a Renaissance going on right across the country for more. We've had a couple of guests on this show talk about people fleeing from major cities to the regional areas Dimboola carries, It's a pretty iconic name in Australian In folklore history, you've landed there. What are you hoping to achieve with the business? I mean, you've talked about the reason for wanting to escape Melbourne, to create something of your own, but what's the in a crude sense, the business model that you've got there? And how is it fitting in Dimboola and that, you know, the Silo Art Trail and all the other interesting things around the around the area?
Chan: I have to say, when we first got here, we ordered some firewood and an older man who delivered it said to us, "Don't do anything too ambitious. Some locals, may not like it." We came to that to that warning. So, of course, we clearly ignored that. So what we've done is in a sense, I guess for some people would be considered brave.
But what we did was something that we consider, that gave us Joy. So, by creating something joyful that people can experience for the first time that's completely different, completely unexpected. People don't expect to see this in Dimboola. You know, you see I've had feedback that is a shop you see in big cities like London or Paris. It's that sort of caliber because we've gone all out, putting all our work experience into the one space. So what is...
Michael: And it's a range. Its books. It's quirky.
Chan: It's a lifestyle. Yeah. So by creating that in Dimboola, which people never expected with locals. It's become a destination shop.
Michael: Right.
Chan: Yeah, so that's that's how I guess the Dimboola town has evolved to because, since we've opened, two other shops have opened. Two other unique individual shops, that you will never find anywhere else in Australia.
Michael: Right.
Chan: And that's what it's about. It's about creating. I think we've come full circle, the whole world, all the shopping centers around the world, all the same. It's the same brand.
Michael: Yea.
Chan: So what's happening with, in terms of Renaissance for Dimboola, is that people are creating very personalized, individual shops, that you can not find anywhere else in the world. So, and of course, now, there's another one coming up in, hopefully, the next few weeks, and that shop will be unique. It's got handmade things that's made in Dimboola. They've got items sourced from the Western Bloc, you know Eastern countries during the Cold War. Now, that's pretty cool. That's right. So so basically...
Michael: People will travel.
Chan: People will travel. And after Covid, when you've been in a lockdown for how many weeks for Melbournian's a four-hour drive out of Melbourne is liberating now. Before Covid, it was a chore. People would never contemplate that but because of Covid, people realize its freedom, absolute freedom. And also, it's a chance for them to discover their own backyard. Of course, the fact that they can't travel overseas as you know, that's been a benefit for regional Victoria.
So we're getting lots of first-timers coming to Dimboola, coming to #Wimmera for the first time. Because Wimmera is really the Last Frontier of our tourism because of the distance. If you're not going to South Australia, you really wouldn't be that motivated to come to Wimmer. But covid has changed that perspective. I think the Wimmeras got a lot to offer now. I've you know, I'm learning about the área, and the more I learned about the more passionate I become about the area. There's a lot of untapped experiences in the Wimmer.
Michael: What are some of those Chan? Just to shout them out because...
Chan: So for example these quirky historical elements that people don't know about. So for example, there's a church at Pella church (https://pellaviarainbow.lutheran.org.au/) just north of Rainbow. You're driving 15 minutes out. You're going through the woods, you're surrounded by nothing but just woods, and also you hit upon a Lutheran Church in the middle of the woods, which they would have had to use horse and carriage to get to. And when you get in there, you discover 19th century, pipe organ from Germany.
Michael: Wow.
Chan: You talk about a Pipe organ that you saw in a bigger church, but this is in a small Church in the woods. It's just the journey to get, there's quite a kind of amazing, and then when you get there, the tour guide starts playing Bach on the organ. It's like a bit of Phantom of the Opera in the middle of the bush. It's just amazing. I guess that juxtaposition between extremities of distance and in having a church in the middle of the woods with a 19th-century pipe organ. It's just fascinating.
It was just an example where, you know, you can have droopy experiences and also the architecture for the towns. You know the 19th-century architecture. And because I've always been drawn to architecture, I quite find them to be gems.
Michael: Yeah. And still affordable? is that...
Chan: Yes. Compared to other country areas of Victoria, it's probably the most affordable area. And look at the distance.
Michael: Yeah.
Chan: But the Renaissance I think that we're experiencing now is changing that. And I mean, people are coming to Dimboola and the Wimmera.
Michael: I think the whole, you know, there's there is a shift going on and what was too far away, people are reassessing that now because, you know, they want experiences and creating destinations. You've talked a lot about this new shop opening, but also, you know, the Wimmera River, the little desert. I mean, there's a lot that you can access from around the place where we found that glorious.
So, I know you've also, you know, in moving to a from Melbourne to a small town with a population of I think it's a thousand or maybe...
Chan: It's floating between fourteen hundred and seventeen hundred.
Michael: Okay.
Chan: depending on what part of the internet you come across.
Michael: So that's a big move. How else have you got involved? I know there's a, I think there's a festival that you're behind. Do you want to talk about it? Just the effort you made to get involved with locals.
Chan: Yeah.
Michael: So to kind of broaden out what Dimboola had to offer through, I mean it's lots to offer already but you know you're kind of adding to the mix with this Festival.
Chan: So it was a bit of a shock coming here to a small town on one level because it's a smaller community where everyone knows each other. So in Melbourne, you can be Incognito and Anonymous and you can float through society with no one knowing you or knowing your neighbors, but here, everyone knows your business. So because, you know, we bought a significant building in town. Everyone's going to know people. The building of course, so they're already watching us, you know what I'm saying? So what they do is... So I guess for Melbournians, just be mindful that you will be noticed. You do have to make a, I guess, your behavior needs to be changed as well. It's such a small knitted Community. Everyone knows each other and most likely are related to each other. So be careful what you say as well because it travels small things, you know, spread very quickly.
So having said that, we broke the ice with the town, by having a special event, by having it photo re-creation of the bank opening in 1909. So, in the year that we moved, we were a hundred and ten years later that we took residents of the building. So, there's a photograph that we discovered of all the men, male customers were invited to the opening of the bank. So we felt like we really want to create this shot because it hasn't been done before. Or after a hundred ten years. So we broke the ice by inviting the locals to come to participate in that photo Recreation. Two hundred and fifty turned up. Mostly older people which was really great because I appreciate history and heritage. They had such a good time. They gave us the best event of the Year 2019. From the town community and also a letter from the CEO of the council.
So, so that was really good. So we broke the ice and from there. We open the shop and we're also been active in the community, you know, and also, what people said is that they really like the fact that we're really down to earth in genuine. So that's really important to I think we've been moved to a country town. So, you know, defeating, just be down to earth and that's what we are. And that's how we managed to do.
So, because of that, over the years, which is only two and a half years. I dunno, I think people like what we're doing. And so whatever we do seems to awaken people's awareness of certain elements. So I guess the steampunk event is one we're pushing the envelope. Because not many people around here know what steampunk is. So and I know that steampunk festivals around the world in other country towns have been extremely successful. So it clearly works in the United States, New Zealand, the UK, and also different parts of Australia.
Steampunk really lends itself to country towns and farming communities, because they can upcycle and make wonderful contraptions through the materials. So, after this first event, I think all the farmers will learn what steampunk is. And I think they will embrace it because it's aesthetically quite beautiful. It won't date, and it's quite quirky. And I think the Herald Sun described Dimboola as a town that has got an eccentric flavor. So let's embrace that and I think steampunk lends itself to that.
Michael: Yeah, so so we are coming up to the end. But can you just quickly describe what steampunk is and when this Festival, all things going well with Covid, etc., when it will be?
Chan: Okay. September the 4th the day before Father's Day. Yeah, and steampunk is really Victoriana, combining Victoriana and your imagination. So another way of saying is 19th-century aesthetics lending with science fiction. So it's a literary genre that stems from science fiction. So you imagine Jules Verne, the time machine, that sort of period that romanticized version of the 19th-Century imagination with science fiction is steampunk. So you're imagining the past having the technology that we have now, but still with the materials of the 19th century.
Michael: Yeah okay. And there's lots of raw material to work within some of these older towns, so...
Chan: That's right.
Michael: That's great. Hey Chan, thank you so much for your time today. It was really a very personal insight and I thank you for that because one of the things that we want to encourage is people into small business and you've done that. And also this program goes out through Regional Australia through the Community Radio Network and a lot of people have now considering moving and you've done that and I really admire what you've done. And I hope people listening in will also take some inspiration from it. It's a great story.
So we wish you well at the Dimboola Imaginarium and I can speak from firsthand experience it so it's a hell of a great place to visit and worth lots to do around the area. So well worth the time and effort. Thanks again, Chan.
Chan: Thanks, Michael. Thanks for the chat.
Michael: So that is all for today's episode of Small Business Banter. I continue to be inspired bringing you small business experts, and other small business owners and hearing their stories. Do you want to listen to any past episode? Jump onto your podcast platform of choice and search Small Business Banter. There you will find a diverse and fascinating collection of small business owners and experts openly discussing and sharing their experiences.
For any of the links, resources, or information we've talked about on the show today, or to contact me, please head over to smallbusinessbanter.com or you can find us on Facebook and Instagram. And it would be great to have you tune in the same time next week for another episode of Small Business Banter.
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