VERNON KINGMAN The pivotal business of self-motivation, drive and enthusiasm by Vernon Kingman Something I found rather amusing, if not astounding, is that Ian Thorpe, winner of 5 Olympic gold medals, was allergic to chlorine as a child. How could one of Australia’s most celebrated swimmers be allergic to something he excelled in? As a youth, following his elder sister into the pool, Ian found that the chlorine allergy affected his willingness to swim. Ian used a nose clip to solve the issue until he finally outgrew the allergy over time. Thank God for nose clips! I also had an allergy in my early days of working in the sign industry; a lack of challenging or exciting work would kill my instinct to be creative or excel in the workplace. I grew up in a family business in Dandenong, Victoria, where my father’s business excelled in two significant areas: Real Estate signage and truck painting and pin lining. My father was regarded as one of Australia’s finest truck line and scroll exponents. Much of the scrollwork on trucks today emanated from my father’s designs. My brother Rod has also made a name for himself in the industry and concentrated heavily on real estate and large- scale land development work. He was very good at it and excelled at it from every platform. Real Estate signage was an excellent training ground for apprentice signwriters, and many, like myself, learnt their trade by churning out real estate signs. However, once I mastered the brush, which took about five years, I found that for me, real estate signage was as exciting as a root canal treatment. 36 OCT/NOV 2022 When I moved to Perth in 1984, I vowed never to paint another real estate sign for the rest of my life. I found it boring and monotonous. And I never did another For Sale sign… ever. I was pulled in another direction, away from Real Estate signage, into something that demanded challenge and creativity, which motivated me. I discovered that working for the shop fit industry and creative designers challenged me, forcing me to master the CNC routers and other manufacturing skills. The Graphic and Interior Designers I worked with all had a design flair that was leaps and bounds above the average sign shop’s capability. Initially, I was challenged mightily by interior designers’ plans for signage. I found it difficult and strange. I couldn’t help but think that they should design it to be easier to manufacture. But that’s the point. Isn’t it? To make it different. To give it originality. Imagine what The Sydney Opera House would have looked like if the design had been based on the cheapest and easiest construction method! The finished shop design always, and I do mean, always, looked terrific. I once did a job where the designer created the shop sign on a waving stainless steel 50mm diameter tube, with the letters fitted to the tube and with the tube passing through the centre of each letter. It took me ages to decipher how to get the letters to fit onto this waving tube; in the end, I used a 50mm drill to create the hole through the centre of the letter. And when I saw the completed design, I understood the “madness” of great design. The point I’m making is of course, to challenge ourselves in our workplace and as business owners. What gets you to bounce out of bed in the morning if you aren’t motivated to do something creative and challenging? I think the sign industry is the most creative industry I know of. Perhaps only challenged by the jewellery industry, but when was the last time you saw a piece of jewellery hanging off the side of a building? You’ve got to love signs. You, as business owners, need to find what excites you, then go for the moon and achieve your goals. It might have nothing to do with the type of work you do; it might be hitting a sales target. It might be working three-day weeks. It might be profit-driven. It doesn’t matter, but we all need to be motivated by something. My other motivator was sales. I would get the biggest “high” whenever we won a major job or contract. Every single time. finally
