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In the lead up to Father’s Day, we wanted to get to know some of the awesome dads who work at our centre. We asked 14 dads to share their stories with us & now we’re sharing them with you. We caught up with Fabian from EB Games, Dad of 5. What’s the best Father’s Day gift that you have received?: So far, being that the oldest is 7, the best gift I’ve received is their hand drawn cards. Mum usually (helps) do the cards secretly. They’ll draw me up a little card with a picture of the family or whatever they can draw at the time. They end up on the fridge for a couple of months which is cool. What has surprised you about being a dad? That is a good question. I suppose the biggest surprise is how naturally it ends up coming to you. So you’re scared of your life changing when you do have kids, but it actually changes in a very positive way & then you naturally fall into a role. It’s a very enjoyable one & it’s very fulfilling as well. What is your best piece of parenting advice? I’ve received it, but I also give it out, it was from my father. He taught me that if you want to play where others can’t, you’ve got to do what others won’t. And turn your shoulds into musts & everything would flow from there. So I try & live by that. What are your biggest hopes for your kids? My biggest hopes for my kids is that they go on to have large families themselves. That they find their place in life & do what they enjoy. Whatever that ends up being, so I just want to support them in whatever direction they want to take. Who’s a dad that you admire? Tony Robbins. He would be someone that I admire as far as a father figure goes. That’d just be because of his motivation & the way that he keeps himself motivated. I feel that’s a core thing for a family. For the father to be self-motivated, help motivate the family to pursue whatever goals they’re trying to pursue as a team.

We all love a good dad, the cheesier the better. In the lead up to Father's Day, we're on the look out for the best dad joke. Starting August 21st, share your joke on our Facebook page for your chance to win a Father's Day hamper worth $300 Make sure it's suitable for all ages. Terms & Conditions apply

In the lead up to Father’s Day, we wanted to get to know some of the awesome dads who work at our centre. We asked 14 dads to share their stories with us & now we’re sharing them with you. We caught up with Ken from Cocochine, Dad of 4. What’s the best Father’s Day gift that you have received?: Tickets to King Kong the musical. My wife & I, we’ve never been to an opera or musical, we’re just not interested in that type of thing. When I was young, mum used to take me to this Chinese opera, bored me to death! So I said no more musicals, no more opera. So when we got (to the theatre) I said to my wife; I bet we’re going to fall asleep in the middle of it, (she says) ‘no you have to stay awake because they’re gonna ask you whether you enjoy it. You need to tell them the story.’ Ah alright I’ll make an effort. But surprise, surprise we enjoyed it. We stayed awake the whole show & we enjoyed it. And my daughter, she’s very sceptical about my answers she said “dad tell us the truth, did you really enjoy it?’ And I say yes I did. You introduced us to the world of musicals. What has surprised you about being a dad? The joy of seeing them turn out to be like them. A friend I haven’t seen in forty years, now he’s a grandpa & he asked me ‘what did you achieve after 40 years?’ And I said my biggest joy, my biggest success is my family, the kids. I’m very proud, they turned out good. What’s your biggest hope for your kids? For them to be happy. Both me & my wife we never put pressure on them. We always asked them what they want & they go for it. If that’s what you want, you go for it. Now that they’ve all graduated, all finished uni, got their jobs. So what I’m hoping now is that they have a happy life, that’s all I can hope for. Who’s a dad that you admire? My father in law. He had eight kids, more than twenty grandchildren & finally he got his first great grandchild. I admire him for the fact that he’s very honest. Because of that, he doesn’t judge people. I really admire him for that. Secondly, I admire him (being a grandfather) for the fact that I really am longing for my first grandchild. One day it will come.

Finalists for the Wyndham Business Awards were recently announced. We at Stockland Point Cook were proud to see several of our retailers be named as finalists, including Craig from Telstra Business Centre. We caught up with the owner, Craig, nominated for Business Person of the Year. How did you come to work for Telstra?: I came to work for Telstra 13 years ago. I’d been in banking my whole life up until that point & was doing quite well. I wanted to get out of corporate life & run my own business with some of the skills that I got. I had a look around at various different franchises, business models & the Telstra one was relatively new at the time. It had a big brand name & it had what I thought would be a business that I could actually grow beyond just a little retail store. That’s probably the reason for going into Telstra. There was no real passion around telecommunications, in fact I had no real idea about IT, I had to actually learn that. But really the drawing power of the Telstra brand. The fact that they would lead technology & technology would always be there & growing is probably why I got into Telstra in the first place. It’s grown in that time from 6 people when I started a small retail store in Sunshine to approximately 60 now across 4 different sites. It’s exciting, it’s scary at times, a bit overwhelming & daunting when you realise the little business that you started is not a little business anymore. But we’ve got a great team of people around, a lot of people have been with me for years & that makes it a lot easier. What do you enjoy about working here & being part of the business? There’s a lot of things that I enjoy. So many of the team members that work with us, I consider them to be friends & a lot of people say that we’re a bit of a family. There’s a lot us who have worked together for 7 to 10 years. Being able to work with people over such a long period of time is unique, you don’t really get that in corporate, so that’s been really good. The other thing is that I’ve got customers that have been with me for 13 years since I started & it was funny, watching their businesses grow with mine has been really valuable to me. I really enjoy having those conversations with business customers who remember where we started & we’ve gone on this journey together, which is really good. I also enjoy the technology, it just blows my mind in terms of how far technology has come, what’s coming & the kinds of things that can do. It never ceases to amaze me in terms of the things that you can do, it’s just amazing. Brave new world & it’s going to be braver. What does this nomination mean to you? I guess it’s a bit humbling, to be honest with you. It wasn’t something that I expected, it wasn’t something that I’ve sought . I don’t think we’ve even entered the business awards before. It’s humbling that someone would not only nominate the business, but myself personally. So I guess it’s a bit of recognition, gratitude on my behalf that people have recognised not only the business that I’ve built but the contribution that we’ve made. To the team of people, the customers & the staff that have supported me in the nomination. Plus you know I guess I am very community oriented in the way I do business. We sponsor a hell of a lot of sporting clubs. I give an enormous amount of my personal time to voluntary organisations mainly the Sanctuary Lakes Golf Club, I’m the chairman. It’s kind of recognition for a lot of that kind of work as well, which is pretty humbling. What do you enjoy most about being part of this Wyndham & Point Cook Community? It feels like home. I grew up in Hoppers Crossing. It’s great now to have a business in this particular area. I love the fact that I can talk to people across generations, I’ve got people from my father & grandparents era that come & talk to us, because they know the business is ‘us’. It helps me connect with a lot of people that I previously wouldn’t be connected with. It’s a really diverse, multi-cultural community.

Grill’d Healthy Burgers, located in the Town Centre, created Local Matters to share the love and lend a hand to the local communities they call home. Each month, three local community groups, charities or sporting clubs promote their great work to Grill’d customers, who vote for their favorite group. First place receives $300 from Grill’d, and the two runners up each receive $100. All three groups receive lots of promotion of their good work! Grill’d Point Cook is on the lookout for some awesome community groups for their Local Matters program. If you’re interested, or if you’d like to find out more, please visit www.grilld.com.au/localmatters Grill’d Healthy Burgers, located in the Town Centre, created Local Matters to share the love and lend a hand to the local communities they call home. Each month, three local community groups, charities or sporting clubs promote their great work to Grill’d customers, who vote for their favorite group. First place receives $300 from Grill’d, and the two runners up each receive $100. All three groups receive lots of promotion of their good work! Grill’d Point Cook is on the lookout for some awesome community groups for their Local Matters program. If you’re interested, or if you’d like to find out more, please visit www.grilld.com.au/localmatters Grill’d Healthy Burgers, located in the Town Centre, created Local Matters to share the love and lend a hand to the local communities they call home. Each month, three local community groups, charities or sporting clubs promote their great work to Grill’d customers, who vote for their favorite group. First place receives $300 from Grill’d, and the two runners up each receive $100. All three groups receive lots of promotion of their good work! Grill’d Point Cook is on the lookout for some awesome community groups for their Local Matters program. If you’re interested, or if you’d like to find out more, please visit www.grilld.com.au/localmatters Grill’d Healthy Burgers, located in the Town Centre, created Local Matters to share the love and lend a hand to the local communities they call home. Each month, three local community groups, charities or sporting clubs promote their great work to Grill’d customers, who vote for their favorite group. First place receives $300 from Grill’d, and the two runners up each receive $100. All three groups receive lots of promotion of their good work! Grill’d Point Cook is on the lookout for some awesome community groups for their Local Matters program. If you’re interested, or if you’d like to find out more, please visit www.grilld.com.au/localmatters Grill’d Healthy Burgers, located in the Town Centre, created Local Matters to share the love and lend a hand to the local communities they call home. Each month, three local community groups, charities or sporting clubs promote their great work to Grill’d customers, who vote for their favorite group. First place receives $300 from Grill’d, and the two runners up each receive $100. All three groups receive lots of promotion of their good work! Grill’d Point Cook is on the lookout for some awesome community groups for their Local Matters program. If you’re interested, or if you’d like to find out more, please visit www.grilld.com.au/localmatters Grill’d Healthy Burgers, located in the Town Centre, created Local Matters to share the love and lend a hand to the local communities they call home. Each month, three local community groups, charities or sporting clubs promote their great work to Grill’d customers, who vote for their favorite group. First place receives $300 from Grill’d, and the two runners up each receive $100. All three groups receive lots of promotion of their good work! Grill’d Point Cook is on the lookout for some awesome community groups for their Local Matters program. If you’re interested, or if you’d like to find out more, please visit www.grilld.com.au/localmatters