By Esther Lauaki
What’s your connection to Wyndham?
I have lived in Hoppers Crossing for now around 15 years and all my children (three boys and a girl) have been involved in lots of schools, community groups and churches in the area. I catch the train and work in the city for NAB and also run a music school on the side.
What are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about seeing children and adults grow and develop their musical skills. I love seeing young children enjoy, have fun and be passionate for music just as I was when I was growing up in a country town.
Why did you start the Davies Music School?
I started learning at the age of eight, in a family of four who all did piano in Ararat, Victoria. My next door neighbour was my first student. I taught her as a hobby. This on-the-side job has turned from a hobby into a successful business with more than 400 students per week having lessons. We turned our one-room studio into a three-room studio starting this term. We also have teachers working from their own studios and driving to students homes.
Once I started teaching my love of
music teaching came back and within a few months, word of mouth got around and I had a handful of students. We now have about 50 music teachers and cover most of the western suburbs of Melbourne and beyond. We have grown from that one student next door to just under 400 students overall in a relatively short time
What is the most rewarding thing about running Davies Music School?
The most rewarding thing is that you can see that the clients are so happy in your services that they tell their friends. There friends ring up and say they have been recommended and would like a certain teacher to teach their kids!
What hats do you wear in the Wyndham community?
One is a father to four kids, one of which has charge syndrome, so we are often running from speech therapists, to doctors and medical professionals of all types. Another hat is that we help run a friendship group for our local church at Enjoy Church based in Sunshine. I also am a banker.
What’s the quirkiest thing about you?
I love to play computer games when I have time and have played online Fortnite games with my sons’ school friends. My son always mostly wins and calls me hopeless.
What do you love about Wyndham?
I love Wyndham’s multi-culture influence. We have restaurants of every kind and great schools and churches.
What would you like to see improved?
More free tennis courts and more roads to get our congested traffic passing through. One accident can cause the roads to be blocked.
