We chat with Matt Leacy, Co-Founder and Creative Director of the award-winning Landart.
Tell us about Landart.
Landart is a design, construction and maintenance company that specialises in carrying out detailed work and holistic property design solutions. Whether it is a pool, guest house or a beautiful landscape we can design, build and maintain it.
What inspired you to start Landart?
At the time I started Landart there didn’t seem to be many companies providing good design and build solutions that I was aware of (this was before websites and social media took off). It felt like there was a gap in the market for this type of thing. I knew I could do both so I started out by doing the design and then the build myself. Now that we have a team of 50+ employees, I am grateful. We have built a really solid, reliable team of landscape designers, architects, tradesmen and horticulturalists who I look forward to working alongside everyday.
Tell us about your career and background.
I always wanted to work with my hands doing something physical and outdoors that helped the environment. I thought landscaping was that, so I naturally drifted in that direction. I started my career in construction and studied Landscape construction, Horticulture and design at nights. After doing my time and studies I decided to leave my employer and start up my own thing. I was naive enough to do this with just an old Falcon ute and a shovel. Not having any tools at my disposal was a problem and I had to build up over time. Since the outset I have always invested back into the company to build it up over many years.
Describe a typical work day for you.
My days are spent visiting clients and resolving their property issues. I spend a lot of time discussing and designing projects with the design team and the construction team, visiting our sites, working on budgets and accounting, the vision for the company, marketing and working to ensure the team is happy and challenged enough. My days are spent very differently to how they used to be when I started out to which I am grateful because the body doesn’t hold up forever on the tools and the challenges I now face are continually helping me grow as a person.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
Make sure you are up for it. Owning and running a business comes with a lot of sleepless nights, stress and responsibility. When you are starting out there might be days and projects where everyone gets paid but you. You have to wear so many different hats. Most of your lessons are learned the hard way and to make it work you have to invest so much of your life and money into it. It’s not for everyone. Having said all of that…..If it is for you it can be so rewarding and the experiences you have along the way will definitely make you wiser and stronger.
What’s next for you, and Landart?
We believe that design doesn’t begin or end at the back of the house. That all spaces need to be considered holistically so there is a natural flow and connectivity between the internal living spaces and the outdoors. The future for Landart is an even greater focus on more holistic design and build approach to properties overall.
