Meet the team
Nathania Springs sports a diverse, fresh team, with
each member bringing their own skills and flair to the job. It is likely
that you will meet the staff members presented here when you visit us to
plan your wedding.
Helen Célèrier
Prior to her career in sales and marketing for professional publication companies, Helen gained hospitality experience in France, the UK, Germany and Belgium.
At Nathania Springs, Helen keeps the books and she plays a key role in managing the day-to-day activities of staff planning, sales inquiries and current functions planning. Helen has a strong interest in floral artistry and in addition to preparing the table arrangements for each function, she take care of bridal bouquets with her own business under Nathania Springs umbrella, Darling Buds .
JF (Jean-François) Célèrier
Before buying Nathania Springs in November 2001, JF had an extensive career in hospitality with Hilton International hotels and Spotless.
Work assignments over 30 years took him from the UK to Germany, Belgium and to national operations roles in Australia and New Zealand.
His experience across many cultures and cuisines have shaped his wide-ranging interests in food, wine and cultural traditions.
Besides his daily activities in sales and operations, JF is always keen to customise a wedding package to suit your own tastes, culture and interests.
Paul Smith
After a 20-year career in Western Australia where he led kitchen teams of award winning restaurants and 4 & 5 star hotels in Perth, the Swan Valley and northern resorts, Paul moved to Victoria in January 2010.
Paul brings to Nathania Springs a passion for best cuisine that dates well before Masterchef made it a fashionable statement.
This passion started as a child when he was cooking with his Mother. After a solid apprenticeship in Leeds (UK) and an advanced catering course where his attention to details and quality singled him out as a the top of his year, Paul went on to an illustrious career in London. There, if he was not cooking for Margaret Thatcher, David Bowie, Prince Philip or Paul McCartney, he won the “Chef of the Year” competition.
Paul is dedicated to his culinary craft and nothing pleases him more than a perfect meal to suit a perfect and very special day.
At home Paul rarely cooks. He is discreet about playing the piano which he has been playing since he was 5. That’s talent all around! And sorry, he does not play wedding gigs.
Jason Deacon
Jason joined as one of our waiting staff in October 2004
and quickly became involved with the office and marketing activities of
Nathania Springs, including the design and maintenance of this website and
the centre's brochure. When working on marketing, Jason dresses casually and
is very proud to say that the majority of this website was designed while
wearing slippers. In more recent appearances Jason thoroughly qualified as
"a cool dresser".
Jason studied at the Victorian College of the Arts and completed a degree in Creative Advertising at RMIT University. Although mostly 'hidden away' in the office, Jason also has a Certificate III in hospitality.
In late 2008,
Jason completed an Erasmus exchange to Universidad
Politecnica de Valencia in Spain. He followed that in 2009 by being one of the 5 winners world-wide of the Future Lions advertising awards in Cannes, France. Employed full time
in the creative team of one of the leading advertising agencies since early 2010, Jason plays a key role at Nathania Springs in progressing marketing innovation and strategy.
Penny Forrest
Penny is currently on parental leave and we are all
waiting for the great news early October.
Prior to joining Nathania Springs in July 2007 , Penny managed restaurants such as T.G.I
Friday’s and Hard Rock Café. She has also thoroughly enjoyed working at theatre restaurants
including Dracula’s (playing a crazed psycho) and Titanic.
Prior to this hospitality career, she obtained a Bachelor of
Applied Science (Intellectual Disability Studies) and worked in
various places in that field before deciding to change paths. In
the middle of all of this, Penny was also lucky enough to be
part of the Commonwealth Games volunteer squad!
Penny enjoys playing, coaching and umpiring netball and
got married in April 2008. Starting at Nathania Springs as a Function Manager she assumes the role of Operations Manager, whilst
still running Functions.
Matt Hillman
After a sabbatical break of 3 ½ years, the team and the
clients are pleased to see Matt back at Nathania Springs. Matt was a valued
part of the team for six years and dedicated to providing stellar customer
service, working in the bar, as a DJ, and eventually taking on the role of
Function Manager, a role to which he returned in April 2011.
Matt works outside Nathania Springs as a drama tutor and is also an
accomplished writer, director, singer and performer. He is still yet to call
himself a decent dancer! He has most recently been seen in stage productions
of Les Misérables, Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, Miss Saigon and The Sound
Of Music, at the opening night of which he proposed to his delightfully
gorgeous fiancée. He’s always quick with a joke and a smile and has a
natural talent in helping you plan your wedding day, all the while planning
his own!
Emily Deacon
Having recently returned from her grand tour of Europe, Emily is one of the Function Managers to make it happen on the special day.
Emily has been part of the waiting team since 2005 and at the start of
2008 she became a Wedding Sales Co-ordinator. Emily truly enjoys seeing a different and beautiful wedding dress every time she comes to work.
A very keen dancer for many years, Emily is a student at Kallista Dance Academy
and also enjoys teaching dance.
Emily completed her degree in Journalism in 2010 at Monash
University and in her spare time, she can be found shopping, having cheese
themed picnics and reporting the latest news on her blog.
Tim Werner
Tim joined the Nathania Springs team in September 2007
as a kitchen-hand and waiter. After increasing his
repertoire to include yard, maintenance, DJ, bar and photography, Tim
became a Wedding Sales Co-ordinator.
Keen to make friends with everyone and everything, in his
spare time Tim enjoys playing tennis, soccer, painting and
learning guitar.
He is currently studying Environmental Engineering and Science at Monash
University and is keen on making Nathania Springs a more
sustainable business. Tim looks forward to working with the
Nathania team to produce Australia’s first “Green Wedding”.
Look out for the guy wearing the vest!
Kyle Pasalskyj
Kyle joined the Nathania Springs team in
October 2007 as a "Yard Boy". Since then he has changed his area of expertise
several times - gaining experience both as a kitchen hand and as a waiter,
before finally settling into the glamorous position of Bartender.
As of January 2011 - Kyle has been a valuable member
of the Nathania Springs Office Team as a Wedding-Sales Co-ordinator, and plays a
large part in the establishment and growth of our
Facebook Page and other
multimedia projects.
Kyle is currently on hiatus from his Bachelor of Information Technology course
at Deakin University - which has allowed him to take time out for himself to
appreciate the finer things in life...like his vast collection of Apple
products & portfolio of "prize website acquisitions" (which he swears will be
worth millions one day!)
In his spare time, Kyle enjoys
serenading strangers/birds with his guitar, developing websites and purchasing
"treasures" off of the internet.
Megan Fleming
Megan has been a member of the Nathania Springs team since
2004. Beginning as a waitress, she now doubles as a Wedding
Sales Co-ordinator.
A broad range of interests keep Megan on her
toes; playing goal keeper for her local netball team being one
of them. She also is a big fan of desserts and enjoys baking the odd cake... or ten.
Megan is currently studying Arts at Deakin
University with an eye for becoming an art teacher in the
future. When she was in grade five she painted a beautiful
whale, which still serves as a benchmark in Primary School art
appreciation.
Daniel Jackson
Daniel has been a member of Nathania Springs' staff since mid-2001. The majority of his time at Nathania has been in the role of Maintenance Supervisor, and additionally OH&S Supervisor after completing a Certificate III in OH&S, in 2011.
A sharp sense of humour inhabits Daniel;
he and Jason are the voices and co-creators of our radio ads created for Light FM.
Along with Jason, Daniel co-hosted the Thursday breakfast
program on radio station 3MDR for over 5 years.
A talented musician, Daniel plays guitar and sings with alternative-indie-rock band Yoshitoro, which continues to gain popularity on the Melbourne circuit.
Ellie & Finn
Ellie and Finn are the four legged members of the Nathania Springs team.
Ellie is a charming,
(sometimes white) West Highland terrier – Westie born and bred in Geelong. She joined the team in January 2007.
Finn is an alert black, with a bit of brindle, Scottish terrier - Scottie born and bred in Thornbury. He joined the team in February 2010 after being spotted at a Highland gathering in Berwick.
Both Ellie and Finn love greeting visitors and rarely miss the opportunity to say hello or to have their belly scratched.
On wedding days Ellie & Finn are trained to stay out of the way and they are often seen having a tug at a toy in the back office.
Their other interests include patrolling the grounds and checking that possums and cockatoos keep within their territory.
Ellie & Finn also enjoy curling up in the sun or on the back office
sofa for a snooze and dream about gorgeous brides and handsome
grooms.
If you are
interested in joining the Nathania All-Stars, be sure to have a look at our
employment page! |
