Connor Linz

2018

Trade - Plastering

My Global Footprints Scholarship trip in 2018 completely reshaped the path I thought my career would take.

It gave me the opportunity to learn a unique skill and give me the confidence to take the plunge and start my own business focusing on Venetian Plaster whilst still keeping the plastering trade I learned at TAFE.

When I planned my scholarship trip, I looked for a tradesperson I could shadow as part of a placement overseas.

I found Darrel in Canada who did Venetian Plaster.

At the time I had no idea what Venetian Plaster was, and even when I arrived in Canada, I still wasn’t sure what I’d be learning though I was excited to learn because at the time Venetian was basically unheard of in Australia.

I always had the vision of owning my own business and thought if I could add the avenue of Venetian to Gyprocking it would be a great business model.

I spent five weeks in Canada learning from Darrel from Cadoro, who taught me the art of applying Venetian Plaster, and I saw what large scale it could be applied to. Darrel undertook huge jobs such as Hotels, shops and multi-million-dollar homes (upwards of $40 million!).

The possibilities of Venetian plaster were larger than I could have imagined so I was very excited to bring it back to Australia. I decided I would buy 3 palettes of Darrell’s Cadoro products (Italian lime plaster) and ship it to Australia so I could start my own business PURE Venitian Plaster.

In Canada, Venetian Plaster is already known as an eco-friendly product, due to its natural production process and its natural ingredients that don’t contain any harmful chemicals or byproducts. I learned all aspects of the environmental friendliness of the product and how well the product lasts over time to make for more sustainable building practices.

My team and I are very environmentally conscious, and we are excited to offer a sustainable way for people to renovate their homes and businesses.

There is starting to be a shift in clients wanting more sustainable and healthy products for their homes. Venetian and micro-cement is a great renovation tool as clients can apply it over existing surfaces such as bench tops and tiles which saves money from having to rebuild those expensive rooms, it saves landfill and with the latest media exposure of the negative health effects of stone cutting people are searching for different alternatives.

It also has added cleaning benefits in the home, if used in bathrooms or kitchen splash backs it means no grout and no mould!!

I have recently found a product which I import from Spain that is 3 x stronger than conventional micro-cements, water-based, toxin and COVs free which reduces the carbon footprint and is made with 15% recycled raw products.

I’m most proud of being able to bring our new environmentally conscious micro-cement product to Australia and be at the forefront to show people what the possibilities are in their home. I’m also pretty proud that I could start my own cro-cement product to Australia and be at the forefront to show people what the possibilities are in their home. I’m also pretty proud that I could start my own business at just 23.

Going overseas definitely gave me the confidence to start my own business. Darrel not only taught me the art of Venetian Plastering but also how to run a business, deal with clients and build confidence within myself. Before I went over, I was very reserved. Sometimes I still can be, which is why I hired a chatterbox of an apprentice.

I love that I get to be creative with my trade. It’s been so exciting that the success of my business has allowed me to put on a plastering apprentice of my own who I can now share my knowledge and experience with. I love that no job is ever the same, every day brings something unique and different.

Without my scholarship I wouldn’t have discovered Venetian Plastering which has given me a great creative outlet. I’d probably only be Gyprocking whereas now my apprentice and I get to plaster, use venetian and micro-cement to create amazing features in people’s homes, plus we have just started building custom venetian furniture!!

I’d strongly encourage young people to apply because if you get the opportunity it can open so many doors as well as opening your eyes to all the extra possibilities of where you can take your career.