HILLSY
By Dave Roberts
There's this guy who comes on
the radio when I'm driving to work in the morning
and he's generally loud, and he's always convinced
that the water is great for one reason or another,
and he always wants me to take the day off and "get
amongst it". Jolly good idea I reckon.
| So we decided to figure out
who is this guy who yells at us, and always
convinces me that to be driving away from
the beach at 7:30am is a dumb thing. |
|
 |
Mark Hills has basically got himself
to a point where he is an integral part of the surf
culture of the south west. Mark pretty much had
a head start on that, Margaret River was reportedly
first surfed by a handful of guys in 1961/62, and
the name that stands out is Cliff Hills, Mark's
dad. Having the same last name as the guy who found
the wave has to buy you some cred.
(Just by the way, Cliff lives up in
Perth, and still surfs. Turns out he didn't learn
to swim til he was 14, but by 16 was making his
own boards and representing the state. We know there's
a great story in it, and we just might figure a
way to weasle it into the site some day).
When Mark was 15, the family moved
to Yallingup, and Mark got to complete years 10,
11, and 12 at Busselton Senior High School. It doesn't
seem likely, but twenty years ago, the total number
of surfers at Busso SHS was Mark and one other.
Things change. Back then surfing was something that
itinerants and hippies did, and Mark did most of
his surfing with guys who lived at the caravan park.
Mark finished school in the early
80s and thought that he might go in for teaching.
The main reason for it was a sense that his communication
skills with other people, and especially with young
people, was how he should make a crust. Many a great
story has been started while someone found their
way to live while trying to study, and as luck would
have it, one of the surfing crew was Murray Smith,
who sponsred Mark, and let him work out the back
patching up Dings. When things got busy, Mark discovered
he had a talent for surfing, and that's really where
the Hillzeez thing started.
There were a series of surf and ski
shops, always tumult in the industry, and always
room for a bright young fellow to do OK for a while,
but need to move. Somewhere in this, the delightful
Ruth shows up, and they elope to the island of Jersey.
Western Australia and the surfing
fraternity were home, however, and though Jersey
offered some learning experiences and a certain
way of life, the pull was on to get back here.
More moving around the surf culture,
and one day in 1988 an opportunity comes up to puchase
the Bali Hai surf shop in Busselton. I like his
style, Mark sets up Shop with his mum. I kind of
get the feeling (no proof) that in this arrangement,
there might have been the odd occasion when Mark
was late in from a morning surf and mum made the
thing happen. Great gig if you can make it happen.
Seriously, it suggests that family
is a big thing in the Hills house. Absolutely central
to who Mark is, is being Dad to Levi and Zac, and
husband to Ruth.
We spoke for a while about business.
I'd been impressed with the staff whenever I called
or visited Hillzeez. Mark believes that harmony
is worth pursuing. He wants a lot from staff, but
he wants to support them in getting to where they
are going. So he selects people who want to do the
things that need doing in his organisation, and
puts a little time into developing their strengths.
The place needs harmony, they need to work together,
everyone really should want to be there.
The harmony thing is important in
life too. The surfing industry suits him because
the customers are there pursuing a lifestyle to
make them happy. Mark gets to help people who he
generally likes, and he gets to focus on that. He
employs people who want to help too, and he has
put customer service as his major priority.
The business has supported Mark for
a long time. Through that he's become virtually
an icon in the south west. Improving his business
systems and practices has meant that he gets weekends
off now. Work hard and play hard was dad's motto
and it's another part of the inheritance. He yells
at me in the morning and gets away with it, and
he continues to search for and generally find his
harmony.
The Hillzeez web site is at www.hillzeez.com.au
March 2003
