They're young, passionate and living life to the beat of their own drums. DENISE CARTER talks to people who are not content with traditional humdrum jobs but who are finding their own form of success and personal satisfaction by creating work they truly enjoy  

Young people are doing it for themselves, and doing it their own way like a good old Frank Sinatra song.

At a time when Australia is beset with miserable news about the global economic crisis, and companies are folding around the world, it is inspiring to find young people in Cairns who are fearlessly carving a niche for themselves in areas which stoke their particular passions.

None of them are motivated purely by money, but rather by the desire to spend more time doing what they love most.

An eclectic bunch, their methods of advertising their enterprises reflect their individual outlooks.

Crate Art Gallery (crate59) manager and artist Liz Dunn cites her motivation as simply having a space for artists to exhibit and network that is relevant to young people.

As it’s not a commercial enterprise, she prefers a
low-key approach.

Word-of-mouth, an online mailout, and music gigs are staged to attract a core group of interested artists.

On the other end of the spectrum is Clint Carroll, co-founder of Eight180, a fashion T-shirt company.

He bombards his public from myriad angles, with an increasing online presence
and hands-on approach in the
real world.

Jeremy Blockey of Advance Cairns and the Cairns Chamber of Commerce says Cairns has always been an environment conducive to people with get-up-and-go.

He says it would be
interesting to quantify young people’s contribution to the
local economy.

"You’d wonder if any of them will become the next Bill Gates," he says.

Young Chamber president Sarah Powell says young people are seeking advantages in these times of economic uncertainty.

"I think times like these bring them out of the woodwork," Sarah says.

"We hear a lot of great stories."

WHETHER he’s in the hostels of Buenos Aires or travelling the briny east coast of Australia, Clint Carroll wastes no time or space when it comes to promoting his T-shirt venture.

The 32-year-old recently returned from a two-and-a-half year trip to re-kindle Eight180 with business partner
Steve Daly.

The venture began when
Clint was working in a rafting company’s shop and coming up with designs for their T-shirts, while Steve was supplying the same company.

They realised it wasn’t just people who had been rafting who were buying the gear,
but others who just liked how
it looked.

So the pair created an extreme adventure fashion label using their particular talents.

Clint loves to design and Steve has a screenprinting company.

The first order of business was foraging for a name.

Then came selling to extreme sports stores.

A website, which Clint calls his "labour of love", has meant the company was making sales even while he travelled the
world trying extreme sports (motocross biking, six skydives
in Canada, and paragliding
in Columbia).

"We’re now just trialling
all the new media available," Clint says.

"When I was in North
America, I realised everybody uses the internet way more than we do here."

Clint and Steve use Google
for inbound marketing, are on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, and use blogs.

And they will soon launch their promotional video on YouTube.

But they have not overlooked traditional marketing methods.

The travelling Clint was also on a sell-fest, placing stickers in hostels and talking to everyone he met about his T-shirts.

Even now, while holidaying down the east coast, he can’t resist hawking his wares to extreme sports stores en route.

"Work is just all the time," Clint says.

As the global financial crisis hits businesses across the world, Clint and Steve are not
really fazed.

"Life goes on," Clint says.

"It will bounce back.

"The thing is even if we hadn’t got this business, I love what I’m doing. I would be designing T-shirts anyway."

SKYE Young has dabbled in myriad careers.

She is a singer, dancer and actress. But it’s her grounding in beauty therapy which has
led to her forging into an independent venture.

A lover of art and fashion, being a make-up artist seemed an ideal choice for Skye and she had no fear of going into business alone.

"My father had his own businesses all his life and he started when he was my age," Skye says.

"It was always something I wanted to accomplish."

Having completed a make-up diploma in Melbourne, Skye returned to Cairns and worked as a make-up artist on the movie The Pacific.

She printed business cards, and she now works predominantly on weddings and fashion shoots.

Mixing it up career-wise has worked well for Skye because she has a broad range of contacts she can use as a make-up artist.

She generates interest in her work by emailing wedding planners and celebrants.

And she hands out her cards everywhere, whether she’s in her local coffee shop or at the Cairns Amateurs.

"I handed out cards to 200 people there," she says.

Skye is now working alongside Jade Cosmetics at the Pier marketplace.

She still has plans for her singing, dancing and acting.

"But I’ll always have my own business," she says.

ARTIST Liz Dunn manages the newly-opened crate59.

She embarked on her new venture when looking for a studio to work in.

She, along with some friends and artists who worked at another studio, decided to rent their own space.

They found a place in Sheridan St and negotiated rent with the landlord.

As there wasn’t any money for furniture, they ingeniously used a donation of milk crates as seats.

"We now have nine studios out the back and 11 artists working in the studios,"
Liz says.

Liz is not bothered with the commercial aspect of the venture, although individual artists have sold works they have exhibited at crate59.

"We don’t operate as a business and we are entirely self-funded and volunteer run," Liz says.

"We aim to support
young and emerging artists
through our exhibitions and other programs."

The gallery, which opened in January this year, has been promoted by word-of-mouth and an online mail-out.

They are also developing a website.

"I’m only pretty new in Cairns but it feels like it’s a good time to be here," Liz says.

"There’s a bunch of things happening just below the tourism radar that are pretty exciting to be involved in."

VICTORIA Meyer is part of an artists’ co-operative called the Merchants of Fine Objects – or Mofo.

The brain child of well-known Cairns artist Sam Tupou, it began in September with a shop selling custom-made T-shirts, and it is developing new creations as more artists join.

Victoria has made accessories since she was a child and she is now taking her passion further.

She makes hair-clips, bags, pencil-cases and necklaces, works for Mofo as their marketing manager, and
helps in the shop up to three days a week.

And it’s all on top of a job in hospitality, so it takes its toll.

"I think we all have fleeting moments when we think we could be doing something else," she says.

But she loves what she does.

"I love being creative and supporting local artists and being around artists in general. And I couldn’t be an accountant," she says, laughing.

The group has a website that is being updated, and they are on social networking sites My Space and Facebook.

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