Meet the Team
John Lee
Business Director & Nursery Manager
Lucy Henderson
Landscape Apprentice
Christian Hurring
Gardenologist
Dan Rakali
Gardenologist
Griffin Leslie
Gardenologist
Simon Boyce
Gardenologist
Professional, positive and energetic, with a great sense of fun, Dan is the ideal boss.
He enjoys getting out and meeting our clients, speaking with you to learn about the way you use or don’t use your outdoor space and determining your exact requirements – so EUPS can deliver precisely what you need.
Dan is a nature lover and garden enthusiast who is passionate about enhancing your garden and providing exceptional landscaping designs. This is his second gardening business, having sold “Your Garden Gnome” when he relocated to the Tweed region several years ago.
Creating beautiful spaces for clients to enjoy is Dan’s driving force. He loves what he does and truly goes the extra mile to ensure people are happy.
He enjoys the satisfaction of viewing a finished job and knowing our team has delivered on our client’s expectations. Gardening is his passion – His happy place is knee-deep in grass and clippings!
Dan is proud of our well-oiled EUPS machine and the way we operate. He focuses on supporting our team members and enjoys creating opportunities for people.
In his spare time, Dan loves nothing more than escaping to the bush to spend a week completely off-grid, cooking or dining out, entertaining and socialising with people, going to the beach and spending time with his two special fur babies.
Dan White
Business Director
Just call him Ozzie! With a strong background in trades businesses, Ozzie brings a wealth of experience to our team. He has no less than four trades under his belt!
Ozzie’s role at Early Up is to carry out quotes for our lawn and gardening services, and to coordinate the schedule for our teams.
Known for his honesty, reliability and great communication skills, Ozzie is friendly and approachable, enabling him to quickly establish rapport with our valued clients. Building quality relationships with people is what he does best. Ozzie truly enjoys meeting people and getting to know them, and delivering the results our customers want.
In his spare time, Ozzie is an avid golfer and avid sports watcher. He also enjoys weekend drives to explore our beautiful region and getting into the outdoors at every opportunity. He also loves socialising and catching up with friends.
Darryl (Ozzie) Barlow
Maintenance Manager
As a seasoned landscape designer, Jenny brings a wealth of expertise and a deep love for crafting breathtaking outdoor sanctuaries for her clientele. Her journey began with a strong connection to plants and gardening, which led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in design from the esteemed University of New South Wales, followed by a Diploma in Horticulture (specializing in landscape design) and a PDC Permaculture Design Certificate.
Starting her career in Sydney with Spirit Level Landscape Architecture, Jenny gained valuable experience before venturing across continents for the next 12 years. During this time her projects included establishing an 800-tree cider apple orchard in Sweden and sharing the produce with the local community.
Now back in Australia, Jenny lives in Murwillumbah with her family and their beloved Australian Terrier, “Digger”. They dream of turning their new home into a sanctuary.
Jenny thrives on the personal connection forged while collaborating one-on-one with clients. With a discerning eye and a genuine passion for understanding their desires, she meticulously weaves together landscape concepts that resonate with their vision. Prior to commencing any project, Jenny conducts thorough consultations to grasp your needs, ensuring a tailored approach. Through close collaboration, she orchestrates optimal layouts and harmonious plant selections, seamlessly blending functionality, aesthetics, and an enchanting final product.
Jenny Hong
Landscape Designer
As an experienced landscape designer with a deep understanding of landscapes and sustainability, Ei designs beautiful gardens for our clients. She harnesses her passion for sustainable landscaping which is sensitive to the natural environment. Ei focuses on selecting appropriate plants for your site, designing a garden which complements your property and your own personal style and works with forms such as stone, timber and textural plants.
Following her passion for the environment, Ei has completed a BA in Environmental Studies and Masters of Urban Horticulture.
Ei is professional, experienced, studious and always cheery. She will consult with you to discuss your requirements before quoting for drawings. Once you’re ready to proceed, she collaborates with you to determine the optimal layout and plant combinations to integrate function, aesthetics and a beautiful end result.
In her spare time, Ei enjoys practicing survival skills, foraging and she plays the cello!
Ei Yang
Horticulturalist
Travis has established strong working relationships within the team and with our clients as a team lead. Hardworking, chirpy and always willing to help anyone, Travis is able to quickly build rapport. He treats people the way he’d like to be treated.
He takes the time to introduce himself, ascertain your needs and familiarise himself with the job, yard or gardens to understand what’s required. Travis takes pride in ensuring all work is done to a consistently high standard.
Travis holds his chemical certificate, which ensures we are safety compliant. His role involves mowing, edging, gardening, trimming, weed spraying, pruning, top soil, landscaping and any other related tasks our clients require.
Travis enjoys working outdoors and the fact that every day and every job is different, as our teams work across a wide variety of locations.
When he’s not working, Travis enjoys AFL, cricket, golf, going to the beach, snorkelling, fishing, swimming and joining his family to do nippers at the local Surf Club.
Travis Newnham
Team Leader Maintenance
Al brings a wealth of experience, strong organisational skills and a “can do” attitude to our company. With his genuine, honesty and friendly manner, Al is able to easily establish rapport with clients and ensure we meet requirements.
Al works to maximise the efforts of his team to deliver great outcomes for our clients. He has a very high standard of work and likes to ensure every job is completed to the client’s satisfaction.
An aircraft engineer by trade, Al spent 25 years working in the Middle East while training and working for various Air Forces. He’s loving the change of pace that comes with working in the great outdoors of the beautiful Northern Rivers.
When he’s not working, Al enjoys surfing and playing golf. He now lives in Pottsville, but is originally from Geelong, so yes, he barracks for the Geelong Cats!
Al Stiens
Team Leader Maintenance
Having owned and run his own graphic design business for 20 years, Mark has the staff management skills and experience required to be a strong team leader.
His role includes supervising staff and taking charge of the team vehicle to ensure all the necessary equipment is loaded ready for the day.
Mark excels at time management and is conscientious in completing each job to a high standard, treating each client’s property as if it was his own home. He is direct, efficient and always very polite.
He enjoys working in the outdoors and moving around to different locations. Being outside, working in the fresh air helps him feel healthy and he enjoys being part of the close-knit team at Early Up.
Mark is passionate about Aikido, a martial art and does lots of reading in his downtime.
Mark Storrier
Gardenologist
A gardenologist team member, Aubrey is a good allrounder and hard worker who likes to get in and get the job done and is always there to help his fellow team members.
He’s a true Tweed local – born and raised and is also a bit of a larrikin who likes a good laugh.
His role includes garden maintenance, hedging and whipper snippering, lawn care and lawn maintenance for our valued customers.
In his spare time, Aubrey enjoys spending time with his young family and going to the beach during the warmer months.
Aubrey Dodds
Landscaper
With a love of gardening and the outdoors, Hamish joined the Green Team in 2018. He is methodical, consistent, enthusiastic and enjoys doing physical work.
Hamish enjoys working in the outdoors, doing mowing, landscaping, tree lopping and garden clean ups in the sunshine.
Tapping into his interest in nature and animals, Hamish has completed a Cert II in Animal Studies.
When he’s not working, he enjoys going to the beach, spending time with his friends, going to the gym and keeping pet snakes.
Hamish Storrier
Gardenologist
Jai enjoys being outdoors, so gardening was a natural choice for him. He has experience in working for local government carrying out hedging and landscaping projects.
His role includes brush cutting, mowing and hedging, and he says hedging is his particular strength.
When required, Jai steps up as team leader in his department. He is energetic, enthusiastic and keen to further develop his skill level.
In his time off, Jai enjoys surfing and the beach lifestyle of the Tweed Coast.
Jai Smith
Team Leader Maintenance
We were so impressed with Jordan’s hardworking, conscientious approach during his work experience, we asked him to join the Early Up team. Jordan is now undertaking a government-approved traineeship, which includes studying a Cert III in Horticulture and comprehensive on-the-job training over a three-year period.
Throughout his traineeship, our experienced gardenologists will mentor and assist Jordan to learn various aspects of the business, including regular lawn and garden maintenance jobs and completing more complex tasks such as landscaping.
Jordan Paton
Gardenologist
Roxanne is your first point of contact at Early Up. Organised and efficient, she helps our office run smoothly on a day-to-day basis, while keeping team morale high.
Her role includes taking calls, assisting with enquiries, allocating jobs, invoicing, working closely with our team managers Aaron and Ozzie to keep our teams working effectively, and assisting our Director, Dan.
Roxanne brings a comprehensive background in customer service, events and hospitality, and she holds a Bachelor of Business in Marketing.
Friendly, approachable and professional, Roxanne pays close attention to detail in everything she does. If she doesn’t know the answer to your question, she’ll find out and get back to you – or she’ll connect you with the person who knows.
In her spare time, Roxanne enjoys spending quality time and hanging out at the beach with her husband, two young children and their beloved labradoodle.
Roxanne Gell
Business Support Manager
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