Following trends has never been my bag. I’m the type of guy who likes to go after the buried treasure, attempt the impossible, and root for the underdog. You’re not likely to find me buying into something just because Joe Schmo has done it. It is this, I believe, that’s got me where I am in showbiz.
They said it would never work – live rhinos as casino entertainment, that is. Well, no one’s ever tried to pull that off before, have they? So there’s really no way of knowing how it’ll go. Sure, that means it could fail, but it’s the element of risk that makes it so exciting, isn’t it? That’s what people pay me for – to shoulder that risk, and make something new and thrilling happen in the process.
I apply this attitude across all aspects of my business. Take our office space fitout. Melbourne is a creative city and all, but it’s rare to see actual innovation in workspaces. In my view, that’s because the work being done in those spaces is not all that innovative. Our office, on the other hand, is home to two rhinos. It therefore necessitates a genuinely innovative fitout. Like, you’ve got to solve the problem of where to seat people for desk work when you’ve got a couple of 4WD-sized animals on the loose.
Why have them on the loose? Ah, yes. I heard that refrain many times when we were finalising the office interior design. Melbourne offices just don’t have rhinos on the loose, I was told. Hadn’t I seen that tram safety campaign, where they compared an approach tram to a rhino on a skateboard? Yes, I had seen it. Of course I had. Why else would I have thought to give the rhinos their very own skate ramp, right here in the office.
Everyone thought that was bananas, but hey – how else are rhinos going to practice their board tricks for the casino show? Sometimes I think I’m the only person in my orbit with a speck of sense.