March 19, 2024 • 21 mins
In this episode of "For The Creatives Podcast," Elisha sits down with Dennis Fay, a firefighter by day and the innovative mind behind Salty Monkeys, a brand born from a profound love for the ocean and a dedication to preserving the beauty of our seas and indigenous identity.
Born and raised in the Torres Strait, Dennis shares his journey from a small island life to creating a community-centric business that marries passion with purpose. From humorous beginnings with monkey masks and ocean adventures to impactful collaborations with indigenous artists, Salty Monkeys isn't just a brand; it's a movement.
Salty Monkeys, as told by Dennis, was inspired by ocean adventures, shared via social media, that resonated powerfully with the community. Its evolution from a fun, lighthearted venture to a flourishing brand illustrates the power of community connection and shared experiences.
Dive deep into a story of passion, community and innovation that transcends the boundaries of traditional entrepreneurship.
This episode was recorded in June 2023 at the Tropical Innovation Festival in Cairns QLD https://www.tropicalinnovationfestival.com.au/.
For The Creatives Podcast https://www.instagram.com/forthecreativespodcast/
Salty Monkeys https://saltymonkeys.com.au/
Elisha Taderera https://www.instagram.com/nachyoafro
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to the For The Creatives podcast. In this episode,
we are having a chat with Dennis Fay, the brains behind Salty Monkeys,
a brand that is as much about preserving our beautiful oceans as it is about
celebrating our indigenous cultures in Australia.
This is a story of a firefighter turning his love for the ocean into a thriving business.
It's a tale of community, identity, and the art of balancing a day job with a passion project.
(00:25):
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, an artist looking for inspiration,
or simply someone who cares deeply about our planet and its cultures,
there's a piece of this conversation for you.
Dive in with us as we explore how Dennis and Salty Monkeys are making waves
in the most creative and impactful ways.
Hey, Dennis, thanks for joining me on the For the Creatives podcast today.
(00:46):
Pleasure to be here. How are you doing? Very well, thanks. We're at a very good
festival for the week and it's been really good, just like last year.
Yeah, honestly, it's amazing up here in the tropics. so do
you mind telling me a bit of what you currently do okay so
by day full full time i'm actually
a firefighter so i run around at the
(01:08):
airport keeping the community safe really some
people would think that i don't do too much but i
keep busy there yeah but on the side it allows me
to do my business which is called salty monkeys
and that's really a business that started
off just being passion and with that passion
we got to create opportunities to
(01:30):
then turn it into a business and it's now a
brand that is passionate about the preservation of
our beautiful oceans and our indigenous identity so i was born and raised in
the torres strait and so that's one of the things and the combination of both
is it what's creating the brand and for what it is today yeah it's amazing so
(01:50):
you talked about you're working on what you're passionate about When did that start?
Is that always something you've been passionate about working in this space?
I was born on an island and the island's not that big. So you could probably
throw a rock and it'd get to the other side.
Not quite, but yeah, that's kind of what it feels like when you grow up on a very small island.
So therefore pretty much from birth, you could see the ocean.
(02:12):
And that means, you know, when
you're on a small island in a remote community, it's a part of your life.
It's who we are. And that's where it goes back to being our identity as well
and because of the connection that we have with the ocean that's provided for
us for thousands of years it's in our cultural upbringing the stories the adventures
that everything we've had in my upbringing.
(02:35):
Is why it become a passion. And it's just something who I am.
So it's just something that I did on a regular basis.
And that's when it's really started. So it's always been a part of me.
And that's how it's just now a business. I love that.
And in the early stages of Salty Monkey, what was going on? Like at what point
did you see, oh, like this could actually be a business?
(02:55):
And what is the product, your products that you have under or service under
Salty Monkey? So Salty Monkeys was never intended to be a business.
We literally just, we were going out and doing what we normally do.
So we love the ocean adventures.
It was a part of work as a kid growing up. It was a source of income, but it was also passion.
(03:16):
You know, we just love being out in the ocean. And one day I brought some friends
along and he brought a GoPro and he captured some of the fun that we were having.
And being jokesters we actually had
a few monkey masks on board we had a bit
of a fun with a bit of you know joke with it
and then all of a sudden he created this little video clip
(03:37):
put it on social media and it kind of connected with
the community they saw the funny side but they also saw the beautiful oceans
that we got to do and that's where it really started it
just was content yeah social media and
it really started to connect with people in a number of ways
we had that witty and fun approach about having a
laugh and doing what we love and people could connect with
(03:59):
that and we started to organically grow a little
bit of a community and more so in the torres strait people were seeing themselves
or the people that they were were associated with like i said before where it's
a small island it's a small area you know the population is no more than 6 000
at best so no matter where we went if there was people in the videos they'd
be able to identify them and go go, hey, I know that guy.
(04:21):
And so it was a very strong community type start.
And so what we ended up doing was we noticed that people wanted to start wearing
the equipment that we had, the shirts that we had, and we started to create
an identity from the monkey masks.
And that's where Salty Monkeys was, you know, through a little bit of talk,
we created the logo and went from there, but people wanted to wear what we were wearing.
(04:46):
So I was actually at the pub when we first had had three shirts
and we made this little simple screen print and
people wanted the shirts and they're like hey can I have
that shirt I love it you know the logo's cool I've watched your stuff it's really
great and so I said oh look I can't give you this one this is the only one I've
got but we're going around making some few videos but afterwards I'll give it
(05:06):
to you but better still maybe the next time we'll make five shirts or ten shirts
yeah and so what happened then was,
we gave the five or ten shirts out to the people who asked and then it kind
of had that snowball effect where people went, how come he's got a shirt? I'm your cousin.
I want one. Why does he get one and I don't get one? I was like,
well, I didn't really realize that anyone wanted one. And that's where it started.
(05:28):
So we kind of looked at it and go, okay.
We'll start from one shirt to five shirts and then we sort of made a little
batch and we weren't selling them to make money at the start.
It was just about creating a community and people wanted to be a part of it
and they just wanted that.
And we had that connection, I guess, emotional because people were watching
the content and the demand was there.
So people wanted the shirts and that's kind of where we started and it grew
(05:50):
quicker than what we thought.
So we started off with a few shirts and then we had to order
a few hundred shirts and it went quicker than I anticipated because
as a person who's starting off and not even really really thinking
about a business it feels like it was a bit of a risk
yeah i'm going can i really afford to buy
these shirts are people going to buy them yeah and so
we continued on and then all of a sudden you know the demand got bigger and
(06:13):
i've got no artistic skills whatsoever i can't draw to save my life you know
people play hangman with me and it's just a stick figure some people get confused
at what stage we are on hangman so i was like all right what do we do people
want these stuff we've You know,
I just don't want to throw a logo. We've got to get creative.
And that's where I guess that innovative mindset starts coming in,
but also you incorporating the community spirit.
(06:35):
So what we did or what I did was there was a lot of talented indigenous artists
in the community that love watching our stuff.
So I reached out to these people and said, hey, we've got this platform. We're creating videos.
You love watching it and all of that. How about we work together and maybe,
you know, we could share your story,
your art journey and promote you and then
(06:57):
we could put the artwork on some shirts and then people will
get to enjoy this story learn about who you are
but also appreciate your artwork and we
can get it out instead of being on someone's wall just
for them to appreciate everyone can appreciate in the community and that's where
it started off where we started with one one artist and then we started to reach
(07:19):
out and we're continuing to grow and help promote other artists in small communities
The last artists we did, we had to travel,
it took us a week by boat.
To get to it. Wow. Yep. So we traveled to the Torres Strait and he was out in
a small community called Darnley Island or Eru.
And yeah, it took us a week to get there. We were slowly putting along,
(07:40):
island hopping all the way to get out to him. And it was a month of journey in total.
We got out to him, but we, you know, we made stops along the way and back and
we had to travel by the weather.
And up there, you've really got to understand traveling by sea because it can be quite dangerous.
Yeah. So we had to wait for the right weather. We had to understand the tides
just to travel to get out to him. So the journey alone just to get to him can be quite challenging.
(08:03):
But at the end of the day, it's very rewarding to be able to get out there and
share their stories in a small community.
And then we got to put that on a number of our apparel and including our range
of beach towels, which are made from recycled plastics.
And a cool story about that artist and his name is Jimmy Thiday.
So Jimmy was an artist. He's kind of, you know, established and he's got a few
(08:26):
pieces around Australia. and I think he's even got a couple of things that went over the world.
But we really wanted to help push his story as well, more so because he's got
a very good environmental connection with the ghost nets and he created sculptures
out of the ghost net and I really love that.
So we wanted to collaborate knowing that we had a new product that was made
(08:47):
out of recycled plastics and he was doing stuff out of ghost nets.
Sorry, for those who don't know, including myself, what is a ghost net?
So ghost nets mostly fishing nets
and they were used obviously for
fishing to catch fish and product and most of them come from that asian area
indonesia is one of them yeah so they use the nets to catch fish and then some
(09:09):
of them obviously break or you know drift away so then basically the nets get
lost and the currents take them towards us and then they become a hazard and
environmental hazards so what we do is then repurpose those
nets and use them we recover them from either
the reef or the beach and then people use
them as a resource and make products out of them and so jimmy makes
(09:33):
really cool sculptures out of
the ghost net okay that's very much
a circular economy opportunity they've done some really
cool sculptures and the whole community and donnelly makes
some really good stuff out of ghost nets yeah that's amazing you've You've said
it multiple times and I just love community and how the business was like started
(09:54):
from that community and the community wanting it as well and wanting to support
and share stories and finding their identity as well in it, which is amazing.
It wasn't just like a product that you then tried to force on everyone. Yeah, that's so cool.
Talking about community and talking about values, what are some of the other
values that really you care about, just yourself and maybe with the business as well?
(10:16):
So growing up in the Torres Strait, you have to have a look at the future.
So one of our values is to really work with our future leaders.
And we're starting to develop and deliver some programs working around the youth
because they are our future and we have to see that. And also job opportunities.
Growing up in the Torres Strait, there wasn't a lot of opportunities for us.
(10:38):
And that's sort of why I left.
I came to the mainland of Australia to look for work and get stuff, but also to explore.
I'm one of those types of people that loved adventures. And that's where the
ocean was the first piece of my adventures.
Those opportunities to get away with work. And so the values that I look at
for myself and for the community is getting back into the community and strengthen
(11:02):
that, bringing wealth back into the community with the opportunities and things we do.
So a couple of the projects that we're about to embark on is around those values.
And one of them is to do a marine development program, which is basically running
a program that gives job seekers essential but very basic skills that they need
(11:23):
for the maritime industry.
And the idea behind the program is to inspire people.
A lot of them already have the natural skills with water people, right?
So, you know, how are we going to teach people that are living it their whole lives? Yeah.
But I think really the core behind of what we're trying to do is inspire people,
give them the understanding that they have these skills and they can be utilized
(11:45):
in opportunities in the maritime industry and help them take that next step.
So that's about giving people opportunities in that marine pathway for opportunities
and employment and also working with the youth so that they could have those opportunities as well.
Yeah, that's really inspiring. That's cool.
I remember when I was here around this time last year, I think you had been
(12:08):
journeying with building their business, but you were pitching.
And I think that's the first time I heard about what you were doing. Yep.
Between then and now, have there been any sort of big sort of challenges that
you faced or had to work through or deal with Salty Monkey?
There's always going to be challenges and growth as well. Not having a business
background, like we initially talked about that I don't have a business background.
(12:30):
I've never intended to have a business. It was just opportunities and we were
very much learning along the way organically.
There's always going to be challenges that I didn't go to university to learn how to do business.
This is something that i guess indigenous people have
always done for a long time but in a different structure and
different form we traded all of these things so there's always natural
type of businesses just in a different form yeah adapting
(12:53):
to what we need to do in modern day or in the western world we probably say
sometimes it's a little bit different so learning how to operate how to do a
lot of things and making sure that the business still grows and more so like
i said And a lot of the stuff we do is working within the community,
so making sure we do the right things to build the brand and the reputation.
(13:14):
Some of the challenges I won't talk about, but, yeah, there have been some kind
of political stuff sometimes.
It's just trying to incorporate things in the community.
Sometimes just, you know, no matter where you go, you're going to have people
that don't like to see you succeed.
And so there's some of the challenges that we face just with people alone,
but we learn how to be resilient and understand those things and prepare,
(13:36):
I think, for all of those things, it just makes the journey a little bit more
rewarding at the end. Yeah, definitely.
I'm not going to do that. No, that's all right. But there's always been challenges.
But also there's been opportunities and rewards as well.
Yeah. So I think with some of the challenges when I've approached organizations
for help or support, sometimes we're never fitting to the criteria that needed to be completed.
(14:01):
So we didn't tick all the boxes that they needed.
Yeah. And this is where I go back to Advanced Queensland and Deadly Innovation,
who are big supporters of the festival, where they've really taken a different
approach into supporting Indigenous businesses, where they're.
They've got three aims in the deadly innovation strategy. And one of the first one is to hear.
(14:22):
And so they listened to my story, my ideas, and they saw, according to them,
that I had the right, you know, the capacity to do and grow as a business and be successful.
So the first that was that they heard and then they shared and they shared my
story and connected also with the places and the people that I needed in the business.
(14:43):
And so they had those connections and then they also activated and then,
you know, helped me achieve all of the things that I, you know,
just needed a little bit of assistance with.
A lot of challenges in other organizations said, sorry, you can't.
So that for Deadly Innovation and Duncan, I'm very grateful for because I think
because of them, I'm able to sit here and talk about all of the things that
(15:05):
we're doing at the moment.
Yeah, that's amazing. They heard, shared and activated.
That's really cool. So I'm sitting here with you and you're wearing a shirt that looks very nice.
Is this one of your shirts this is actually the
the conversation came up last year when we
were sitting around here and i jumped on stage and i just had a t-shirt
(15:26):
and with one of the other amazing businesses around here and said you know what
you should do you should make a really cool tropical polo shirt that you could
wear at the next event and here we are now i've got my little floral friday
polo shirt that it is now a salty monkeys brand and you know nice and who did
the The design that's on it.
So we work with a heap of different artists, but this is one that I just wanted
(15:47):
to do just in-house with me and a couple of other friends. And so we chose this one and the design.
This was more supposed to be a trial one to see how it goes,
test the material. That's all the stuff we did.
And it actually, the demand, once again, a lot of people, especially in the
islands, it's a tropical type shirt. Yeah.
The demand was there, so we had to get a few hundred just to keep everyone, to sell a few.
(16:10):
But I think in the future, we're going to be doing a lot more similar ones,
but with artists and have a really good story behind it to help support them
as well. Yeah, love that. So good.
And you're here, we're here at the Tropical Innovation Festival.
And today, one of the main day-long sessions that is on programs is called Deep
Dive into Indigenous Innovation.
And I know you were on a few panels, you're helping sort of facilitate some
(16:34):
of that as well. How's that going so far?
Really, really good. I actually got to facilitate somebody that I've just started
working with, and that was Topaz, and she's got a business called 15 Times Better.
And we were kind of working on that, you know, the help to help making sure
that if, you know, the business needs to scale and that accelerated commercialization space.
(16:55):
And then she was going to be there as a specialist and someone who's been in
that industry for a long time,
making sure that we are fully aware of what
it takes and that we don't miss anything to crash and burn so
that was really good to sit down and talk to her and get to
understand who she is yeah as a person what
her business is her passion and then getting some really good information from
(17:16):
her expertise but to also share with the audience so that was really good and
just to share my story again what we've been up to and what we're doing as well
yeah so so far today's been really good that's awesome well we're going to wrap
up in a moment and let you get back to it But I have two questions.
The first one is, because we're at the Tropical Innovation Festival,
I have a question that might need a bit of an innovative solution.
(17:39):
So if you have to get a rhino to the top of the mountain as fast as possible, how would you do it?
Ooh, that's a really good one. Okay, so. There's no right answer.
Yeah, I know. I mean, I'll probably create.
I mean, one cool thing I've seen is the drones and how they now can coordinate them all together.
So I would probably look at maybe creating a platform where multiple drones
(18:03):
can work together and using technology, AI, to be able to use that technology
to put the Rhino on a platform and get them up using drone technology.
That's really innovative. Yeah, amazing. Nice.
My second question is, from your experience so far in business and how you've
grown and seen different things and maybe seen how other businesses are operating,
(18:23):
what do you think non-Indigenous businesses could learn from how Indigenous businesses are run?
I think just understanding, you know, the challenges that we face.
And I think you could learn, I mean, from my perspective anyway,
being up in the Torres Strait, a lot of people face different types of challenges.
We talk about supply chain and all of that.
(18:45):
And I think some of those people who have been successful, maybe getting some
insight on how they deal with things might be quite difficult and different
just with resilience and all of that.
So I think maybe if we could teach something, learning how to be patient in
times when things are moving so fast and how they deal with it.
And that's a lot of times I just say island time, you know,
(19:05):
but sometimes island time is only because there's no
way that we can receive products or anything that
we need resources at the click of
a finger anyone else can so i think in
that space for me is learning how to
be patient because you can't just get everything you want at the click of a
finger even though we have the technologies and everything now but where we
(19:26):
work to be successful sometimes needs that resilience and patience yeah thank
you for answering that and thank you for sharing some of your insights and coming
on and having a chat as we finish again at the tropical innovation Innovation Festival.
If you were to finish this sentence, the Tropical Innovation Festival is, what would you say?
It's a must. So I would encourage everyone that listens to this,
(19:50):
come in, join the Innovation Festival.
It's an amazing event and it's a really cool atmosphere where everyone is in
that really chill tropical vibe.
So there's no formalities to really feel like you have to put up that really structured thing.
It's a very relaxed and inviting type of atmosphere.
So it's a must. So come in, check it all out and I hope to see you here next year.
(20:13):
Agreed. Well, thank you again. And if people want to find out more about Salty
Monkeys, where can they go?
You can find us. Even if you Google Salty Monkeys, you'll see our cool logo.
Otherwise, we have a website. We have Facebook, Instagram, and a YouTube channel.
Www.saltymonkeys.com.au Amazing. Thanks again, Dennis.
No worries. And thanks for having me. And that is a wrap on today's journey
(20:36):
with Dennis Fay and the inspiring story of Salty Monkeys.
Thanks for tuning in to the For the Creatives podcast. podcast.
If this episode sparks something in you, why not share that spark,
pass it along to a friend who loves creativity, innovation, or just a good story.
And if you're feeling generous, please leave us a review. It helps more people find out about us.
(20:57):
Follow us on Instagram at for the creatives podcast for behind the scenes content.
And don't forget to check out Salty Monkeys.
Until next time, keep creating, keep dreaming, and keep making waves.
Welcome back to the For The Creatives podcast. In this episode,
we are having a chat with Dennis Fay, the brains behind Salty Monkeys,
a brand that is as much about preserving our beautiful oceans as it is about
celebrating our indigenous cultures in Australia.
This is a story of a firefighter turning his love for the ocean into a thriving business.
It's a tale of community, identity, and the art of balancing a day job with a passion project.
(00:25):
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, an artist looking for inspiration,
or simply someone who cares deeply about our planet and its cultures,
there's a piece of this conversation for you.
Dive in with us as we explore how Dennis and Salty Monkeys are making waves
in the most creative and impactful ways.
Hey, Dennis, thanks for joining me on the For the Creatives podcast today.
(00:46):
Pleasure to be here. How are you doing? Very well, thanks. We're at a very good
festival for the week and it's been really good, just like last year.
Yeah, honestly, it's amazing up here in the tropics. so do
you mind telling me a bit of what you currently do okay so
by day full full time i'm actually
a firefighter so i run around at the
(01:08):
airport keeping the community safe really some
people would think that i don't do too much but i
keep busy there yeah but on the side it allows me
to do my business which is called salty monkeys
and that's really a business that started
off just being passion and with that passion
we got to create opportunities to
(01:30):
then turn it into a business and it's now a
brand that is passionate about the preservation of
our beautiful oceans and our indigenous identity so i was born and raised in
the torres strait and so that's one of the things and the combination of both
is it what's creating the brand and for what it is today yeah it's amazing so
(01:50):
you talked about you're working on what you're passionate about When did that start?
Is that always something you've been passionate about working in this space?
I was born on an island and the island's not that big. So you could probably
throw a rock and it'd get to the other side.
Not quite, but yeah, that's kind of what it feels like when you grow up on a very small island.
So therefore pretty much from birth, you could see the ocean.
(02:12):
And that means, you know, when
you're on a small island in a remote community, it's a part of your life.
It's who we are. And that's where it goes back to being our identity as well
and because of the connection that we have with the ocean that's provided for
us for thousands of years it's in our cultural upbringing the stories the adventures
that everything we've had in my upbringing.
(02:35):
Is why it become a passion. And it's just something who I am.
So it's just something that I did on a regular basis.
And that's when it's really started. So it's always been a part of me.
And that's how it's just now a business. I love that.
And in the early stages of Salty Monkey, what was going on? Like at what point
did you see, oh, like this could actually be a business?
(02:55):
And what is the product, your products that you have under or service under
Salty Monkey? So Salty Monkeys was never intended to be a business.
We literally just, we were going out and doing what we normally do.
So we love the ocean adventures.
It was a part of work as a kid growing up. It was a source of income, but it was also passion.
(03:16):
You know, we just love being out in the ocean. And one day I brought some friends
along and he brought a GoPro and he captured some of the fun that we were having.
And being jokesters we actually had
a few monkey masks on board we had a bit
of a fun with a bit of you know joke with it
and then all of a sudden he created this little video clip
(03:37):
put it on social media and it kind of connected with
the community they saw the funny side but they also saw the beautiful oceans
that we got to do and that's where it really started it
just was content yeah social media and
it really started to connect with people in a number of ways
we had that witty and fun approach about having a
laugh and doing what we love and people could connect with
(03:59):
that and we started to organically grow a little
bit of a community and more so in the torres strait people were seeing themselves
or the people that they were were associated with like i said before where it's
a small island it's a small area you know the population is no more than 6 000
at best so no matter where we went if there was people in the videos they'd
be able to identify them and go go, hey, I know that guy.
(04:21):
And so it was a very strong community type start.
And so what we ended up doing was we noticed that people wanted to start wearing
the equipment that we had, the shirts that we had, and we started to create
an identity from the monkey masks.
And that's where Salty Monkeys was, you know, through a little bit of talk,
we created the logo and went from there, but people wanted to wear what we were wearing.
(04:46):
So I was actually at the pub when we first had had three shirts
and we made this little simple screen print and
people wanted the shirts and they're like hey can I have
that shirt I love it you know the logo's cool I've watched your stuff it's really
great and so I said oh look I can't give you this one this is the only one I've
got but we're going around making some few videos but afterwards I'll give it
(05:06):
to you but better still maybe the next time we'll make five shirts or ten shirts
yeah and so what happened then was,
we gave the five or ten shirts out to the people who asked and then it kind
of had that snowball effect where people went, how come he's got a shirt? I'm your cousin.
I want one. Why does he get one and I don't get one? I was like,
well, I didn't really realize that anyone wanted one. And that's where it started.
(05:28):
So we kind of looked at it and go, okay.
We'll start from one shirt to five shirts and then we sort of made a little
batch and we weren't selling them to make money at the start.
It was just about creating a community and people wanted to be a part of it
and they just wanted that.
And we had that connection, I guess, emotional because people were watching
the content and the demand was there.
So people wanted the shirts and that's kind of where we started and it grew
(05:50):
quicker than what we thought.
So we started off with a few shirts and then we had to order
a few hundred shirts and it went quicker than I anticipated because
as a person who's starting off and not even really really thinking
about a business it feels like it was a bit of a risk
yeah i'm going can i really afford to buy
these shirts are people going to buy them yeah and so
we continued on and then all of a sudden you know the demand got bigger and
(06:13):
i've got no artistic skills whatsoever i can't draw to save my life you know
people play hangman with me and it's just a stick figure some people get confused
at what stage we are on hangman so i was like all right what do we do people
want these stuff we've You know,
I just don't want to throw a logo. We've got to get creative.
And that's where I guess that innovative mindset starts coming in,
but also you incorporating the community spirit.
(06:35):
So what we did or what I did was there was a lot of talented indigenous artists
in the community that love watching our stuff.
So I reached out to these people and said, hey, we've got this platform. We're creating videos.
You love watching it and all of that. How about we work together and maybe,
you know, we could share your story,
your art journey and promote you and then
(06:57):
we could put the artwork on some shirts and then people will
get to enjoy this story learn about who you are
but also appreciate your artwork and we
can get it out instead of being on someone's wall just
for them to appreciate everyone can appreciate in the community and that's where
it started off where we started with one one artist and then we started to reach
(07:19):
out and we're continuing to grow and help promote other artists in small communities
The last artists we did, we had to travel,
it took us a week by boat.
To get to it. Wow. Yep. So we traveled to the Torres Strait and he was out in
a small community called Darnley Island or Eru.
And yeah, it took us a week to get there. We were slowly putting along,
(07:40):
island hopping all the way to get out to him. And it was a month of journey in total.
We got out to him, but we, you know, we made stops along the way and back and
we had to travel by the weather.
And up there, you've really got to understand traveling by sea because it can be quite dangerous.
Yeah. So we had to wait for the right weather. We had to understand the tides
just to travel to get out to him. So the journey alone just to get to him can be quite challenging.
(08:03):
But at the end of the day, it's very rewarding to be able to get out there and
share their stories in a small community.
And then we got to put that on a number of our apparel and including our range
of beach towels, which are made from recycled plastics.
And a cool story about that artist and his name is Jimmy Thiday.
So Jimmy was an artist. He's kind of, you know, established and he's got a few
(08:26):
pieces around Australia. and I think he's even got a couple of things that went over the world.
But we really wanted to help push his story as well, more so because he's got
a very good environmental connection with the ghost nets and he created sculptures
out of the ghost net and I really love that.
So we wanted to collaborate knowing that we had a new product that was made
(08:47):
out of recycled plastics and he was doing stuff out of ghost nets.
Sorry, for those who don't know, including myself, what is a ghost net?
So ghost nets mostly fishing nets
and they were used obviously for
fishing to catch fish and product and most of them come from that asian area
indonesia is one of them yeah so they use the nets to catch fish and then some
(09:09):
of them obviously break or you know drift away so then basically the nets get
lost and the currents take them towards us and then they become a hazard and
environmental hazards so what we do is then repurpose those
nets and use them we recover them from either
the reef or the beach and then people use
them as a resource and make products out of them and so jimmy makes
(09:33):
really cool sculptures out of
the ghost net okay that's very much
a circular economy opportunity they've done some really
cool sculptures and the whole community and donnelly makes
some really good stuff out of ghost nets yeah that's amazing you've You've said
it multiple times and I just love community and how the business was like started
(09:54):
from that community and the community wanting it as well and wanting to support
and share stories and finding their identity as well in it, which is amazing.
It wasn't just like a product that you then tried to force on everyone. Yeah, that's so cool.
Talking about community and talking about values, what are some of the other
values that really you care about, just yourself and maybe with the business as well?
(10:16):
So growing up in the Torres Strait, you have to have a look at the future.
So one of our values is to really work with our future leaders.
And we're starting to develop and deliver some programs working around the youth
because they are our future and we have to see that. And also job opportunities.
Growing up in the Torres Strait, there wasn't a lot of opportunities for us.
(10:38):
And that's sort of why I left.
I came to the mainland of Australia to look for work and get stuff, but also to explore.
I'm one of those types of people that loved adventures. And that's where the
ocean was the first piece of my adventures.
Those opportunities to get away with work. And so the values that I look at
for myself and for the community is getting back into the community and strengthen
(11:02):
that, bringing wealth back into the community with the opportunities and things we do.
So a couple of the projects that we're about to embark on is around those values.
And one of them is to do a marine development program, which is basically running
a program that gives job seekers essential but very basic skills that they need
(11:23):
for the maritime industry.
And the idea behind the program is to inspire people.
A lot of them already have the natural skills with water people, right?
So, you know, how are we going to teach people that are living it their whole lives? Yeah.
But I think really the core behind of what we're trying to do is inspire people,
give them the understanding that they have these skills and they can be utilized
(11:45):
in opportunities in the maritime industry and help them take that next step.
So that's about giving people opportunities in that marine pathway for opportunities
and employment and also working with the youth so that they could have those opportunities as well.
Yeah, that's really inspiring. That's cool.
I remember when I was here around this time last year, I think you had been
(12:08):
journeying with building their business, but you were pitching.
And I think that's the first time I heard about what you were doing. Yep.
Between then and now, have there been any sort of big sort of challenges that
you faced or had to work through or deal with Salty Monkey?
There's always going to be challenges and growth as well. Not having a business
background, like we initially talked about that I don't have a business background.
(12:30):
I've never intended to have a business. It was just opportunities and we were
very much learning along the way organically.
There's always going to be challenges that I didn't go to university to learn how to do business.
This is something that i guess indigenous people have
always done for a long time but in a different structure and
different form we traded all of these things so there's always natural
type of businesses just in a different form yeah adapting
(12:53):
to what we need to do in modern day or in the western world we probably say
sometimes it's a little bit different so learning how to operate how to do a
lot of things and making sure that the business still grows and more so like
i said And a lot of the stuff we do is working within the community,
so making sure we do the right things to build the brand and the reputation.
(13:14):
Some of the challenges I won't talk about, but, yeah, there have been some kind
of political stuff sometimes.
It's just trying to incorporate things in the community.
Sometimes just, you know, no matter where you go, you're going to have people
that don't like to see you succeed.
And so there's some of the challenges that we face just with people alone,
but we learn how to be resilient and understand those things and prepare,
(13:36):
I think, for all of those things, it just makes the journey a little bit more
rewarding at the end. Yeah, definitely.
I'm not going to do that. No, that's all right. But there's always been challenges.
But also there's been opportunities and rewards as well.
Yeah. So I think with some of the challenges when I've approached organizations
for help or support, sometimes we're never fitting to the criteria that needed to be completed.
(14:01):
So we didn't tick all the boxes that they needed.
Yeah. And this is where I go back to Advanced Queensland and Deadly Innovation,
who are big supporters of the festival, where they've really taken a different
approach into supporting Indigenous businesses, where they're.
They've got three aims in the deadly innovation strategy. And one of the first one is to hear.
(14:22):
And so they listened to my story, my ideas, and they saw, according to them,
that I had the right, you know, the capacity to do and grow as a business and be successful.
So the first that was that they heard and then they shared and they shared my
story and connected also with the places and the people that I needed in the business.
(14:43):
And so they had those connections and then they also activated and then,
you know, helped me achieve all of the things that I, you know,
just needed a little bit of assistance with.
A lot of challenges in other organizations said, sorry, you can't.
So that for Deadly Innovation and Duncan, I'm very grateful for because I think
because of them, I'm able to sit here and talk about all of the things that
(15:05):
we're doing at the moment.
Yeah, that's amazing. They heard, shared and activated.
That's really cool. So I'm sitting here with you and you're wearing a shirt that looks very nice.
Is this one of your shirts this is actually the
the conversation came up last year when we
were sitting around here and i jumped on stage and i just had a t-shirt
(15:26):
and with one of the other amazing businesses around here and said you know what
you should do you should make a really cool tropical polo shirt that you could
wear at the next event and here we are now i've got my little floral friday
polo shirt that it is now a salty monkeys brand and you know nice and who did
the The design that's on it.
So we work with a heap of different artists, but this is one that I just wanted
(15:47):
to do just in-house with me and a couple of other friends. And so we chose this one and the design.
This was more supposed to be a trial one to see how it goes,
test the material. That's all the stuff we did.
And it actually, the demand, once again, a lot of people, especially in the
islands, it's a tropical type shirt. Yeah.
The demand was there, so we had to get a few hundred just to keep everyone, to sell a few.
(16:10):
But I think in the future, we're going to be doing a lot more similar ones,
but with artists and have a really good story behind it to help support them
as well. Yeah, love that. So good.
And you're here, we're here at the Tropical Innovation Festival.
And today, one of the main day-long sessions that is on programs is called Deep
Dive into Indigenous Innovation.
And I know you were on a few panels, you're helping sort of facilitate some
(16:34):
of that as well. How's that going so far?
Really, really good. I actually got to facilitate somebody that I've just started
working with, and that was Topaz, and she's got a business called 15 Times Better.
And we were kind of working on that, you know, the help to help making sure
that if, you know, the business needs to scale and that accelerated commercialization space.
(16:55):
And then she was going to be there as a specialist and someone who's been in
that industry for a long time,
making sure that we are fully aware of what
it takes and that we don't miss anything to crash and burn so
that was really good to sit down and talk to her and get to
understand who she is yeah as a person what
her business is her passion and then getting some really good information from
(17:16):
her expertise but to also share with the audience so that was really good and
just to share my story again what we've been up to and what we're doing as well
yeah so so far today's been really good that's awesome well we're going to wrap
up in a moment and let you get back to it But I have two questions.
The first one is, because we're at the Tropical Innovation Festival,
I have a question that might need a bit of an innovative solution.
(17:39):
So if you have to get a rhino to the top of the mountain as fast as possible, how would you do it?
Ooh, that's a really good one. Okay, so. There's no right answer.
Yeah, I know. I mean, I'll probably create.
I mean, one cool thing I've seen is the drones and how they now can coordinate them all together.
So I would probably look at maybe creating a platform where multiple drones
(18:03):
can work together and using technology, AI, to be able to use that technology
to put the Rhino on a platform and get them up using drone technology.
That's really innovative. Yeah, amazing. Nice.
My second question is, from your experience so far in business and how you've
grown and seen different things and maybe seen how other businesses are operating,
(18:23):
what do you think non-Indigenous businesses could learn from how Indigenous businesses are run?
I think just understanding, you know, the challenges that we face.
And I think you could learn, I mean, from my perspective anyway,
being up in the Torres Strait, a lot of people face different types of challenges.
We talk about supply chain and all of that.
(18:45):
And I think some of those people who have been successful, maybe getting some
insight on how they deal with things might be quite difficult and different
just with resilience and all of that.
So I think maybe if we could teach something, learning how to be patient in
times when things are moving so fast and how they deal with it.
And that's a lot of times I just say island time, you know,
(19:05):
but sometimes island time is only because there's no
way that we can receive products or anything that
we need resources at the click of
a finger anyone else can so i think in
that space for me is learning how to
be patient because you can't just get everything you want at the click of a
finger even though we have the technologies and everything now but where we
(19:26):
work to be successful sometimes needs that resilience and patience yeah thank
you for answering that and thank you for sharing some of your insights and coming
on and having a chat as we finish again at the tropical innovation Innovation Festival.
If you were to finish this sentence, the Tropical Innovation Festival is, what would you say?
It's a must. So I would encourage everyone that listens to this,
(19:50):
come in, join the Innovation Festival.
It's an amazing event and it's a really cool atmosphere where everyone is in
that really chill tropical vibe.
So there's no formalities to really feel like you have to put up that really structured thing.
It's a very relaxed and inviting type of atmosphere.
So it's a must. So come in, check it all out and I hope to see you here next year.
(20:13):
Agreed. Well, thank you again. And if people want to find out more about Salty
Monkeys, where can they go?
You can find us. Even if you Google Salty Monkeys, you'll see our cool logo.
Otherwise, we have a website. We have Facebook, Instagram, and a YouTube channel.
Www.saltymonkeys.com.au Amazing. Thanks again, Dennis.
No worries. And thanks for having me. And that is a wrap on today's journey
(20:36):
with Dennis Fay and the inspiring story of Salty Monkeys.
Thanks for tuning in to the For the Creatives podcast. podcast.
If this episode sparks something in you, why not share that spark,
pass it along to a friend who loves creativity, innovation, or just a good story.
And if you're feeling generous, please leave us a review. It helps more people find out about us.
(20:57):
Follow us on Instagram at for the creatives podcast for behind the scenes content.
And don't forget to check out Salty Monkeys.
Until next time, keep creating, keep dreaming, and keep making waves.
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