Steven Hoepfner

Summary

Since returning home to Adelaide, Australia, I have decided to start my own business, combining all of the skills and knowledge I have picked up over the last twelve years and offering them to customers that appreciate honest, well thought out work with an eye on using recycled goods and taking into account the ideals of permaculture. These include:

• Earthcare – recognising that Earth is the source of all life.
• Peoplecare – supporting and helping each other to change to ways of living that do not harm ourselves or the planet, and to develop healthy societies.
• Fairshare (or placing limits on consumption) – ensuring that Earth’s limited resources are used in ways that are equitable and wise.

My skill base is vast, covering property maintenance ranging from minor Automotive repairs and service parts replacement to complete home decoration renovations.

Past Experience

Having worked in a hardware store as my first job at the age of 16, I quickly became aware of the necessity and finer points of maintaining and improving property. From my first job I was able to gain employment as a building maintenance officer in a 4 star Hotel, The “Adelaide Southpark“. I left that job after 3 years to work in a leading hardware store, in the paint department. Learning the skills, techniques and product suitability for home decoration. From There I made the move to a specialist paint store, “3D Paintmasta” in Seaton, SA. Here I became a trade liason.

I moved to Queensland to work in one of Australia’s leading privately owned paint stores, “3D Nerang” situated in the hills behind Queenslands famous “Gold Coast“. Here I was entrusted with weekend sole store operation and ‘top brand’ ordering. At this store I was able to meet some of Australia’s most succesful master painters. I decided to quit retail to pick up a brush  and I had the honour of spending 6 months working with and learning from some of these quality painters. I learnt everything from surface preparation of existing coatings in readiness for a recoat, to new construction finish coating.

My last job before leaving Australia for Ireland was a large, timber clad resort style house on a hill top just outside of the township of Brunswick heads on the New South Wales scenic north coast. After establishing a firm passion for gardening, especially in plants that offer more than one use around the home. i.e. visually, scent, building materials, medicine, vegetables etc. I was fortunate enough to meet Jimi Blake of “Huntingbrook gardens” near the township of Blessington in Ireland’s revered Wicklow mountains. Here I studied the processes and practical applications of basic Gardening and landscape design utilising existing garden features under Jimi’s expert Dublin Botanic gardens training. During my continued correspondence with Jimi, I was invited to Participate in a study of soil preparation for the beginning of an organic vegetable garden. After completing this, I was then employed to design and build a vegetable garden to supply a leading eatery in the township of Kenmare, Co Kerry, Ireland.