always said we would move home for the eldest to start year 7, and the criteria was it had to be somewhere the kids could walk to school and play football. Lifestyle is everything. The most important thing in our life at this stage is to bring up happy, healthy kids,’ says Shaun. Bendigo lifestyle has provided this for the Langdon family, the kids are happily settled and walking to a school that boasts some of the best results in regional Victoria, are playing footy, and Dad is President of the South Bendigo Junior Football Club where he coaches his daughter’s team. ‘Footy is a big thing in country life,’ says Shaun. ‘It’s a great way to not only connect with the community but it enables me to have a positive influence over the lives of kids who are at such an impressionable age. You can really make an impact. It’s a lot of work but it is also very rewarding.’ Shaun continues community engagement in his capacity as CEO of Strategem, a Bendigo mainstay that has been providing financial services to the region for almost 90 years. Strategem has supported the community a lot over those years. As an experienced manager and business coach, Shaun is well-placed as lead facilitator of the Business Builders Group. A training, educating and networking group for local businesspeople where members are selected to ensure diversity. ‘We have a range of small to medium sized businesses and age groups represented. We want to achieve a group with diverse experiences, common values and a willingness to learn, grow and share. It’s an open forum,’ says Shaun. Shaun agrees a great thing about life in Bendigo is everything is accessible, but Melbourne still isn’t far away. The time gained in being 5-10 minutes from everything you need on a daily basis makes a huge difference to parenting professionals like Shaun. ‘Oh, I can’t imagine how I would do the human taxi thing in Melbourne!’ he grimaces. ‘Working at Strategem I can get in early and leave early enough to get to footy training, which is only 5 minutes away. It’s the difference between being involved in my kids’ sport or not. A work/ life balance is so important. So is the local food and wine,’ he says with a twinkle, ‘food and wine was a big part of our lives having lived away.’ Well, luckily the region can take care of that too.
SPRING 2020 |
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