Fresha’s Story

Hey there, I’m Nick, the face behind the camera behind the company of Fresha Digital. I’ve not always been a photographer or filmmaker. In fact I started as a research and development chemist (Glade air fresheners and Mr Muscle, anyone) and then moved to the fragrance industry, an industry that excited me. I loved how fragrance could transform a situation; one smell of a great fragrance and no matter what the situation I was in I would feel fantastic, as if floating in air. I was also captivated by fragrance’s power to transport me to an instance in time, such as the memory of the smell of roasted chestnuts at Christmas time as a child. What I didn’t realise at the time was that I was developing a truly wonderful skill that would go on to influence my love for food.

Along the way I travelled. As university was an enlightenment, travelling gave me a chance to assess my life as well as experience what was happening in the world outside the cocoon of my ‘career’. I have a recollection of sipping tea whilst in view of Mount Everest and being able, for the first time in many many years, to think clearly without the pressures of daily life, and I recommend it to anybody – to be able to just think with clarity. I could feel within me a creative person that wanted to surface, and the idea of returning to an office based job was now fading. But food always remained, and as I travelled through India and South East Asia I was truly excited by the flavours, techniques, produce, spices and camaraderie and friendships developed around food: my first masala dosa in Bangalore, eating fried fish and coconut rice from a banana leaf in the backwaters of Kerala, the aroma of pungent spices in Old Delhi, Fragrant Green Curry and crisp Singha beer in Koh Pee Pee, Magnificent Street Food in the suburbs of Singapore, succulent steak in Kathmandu – there were so many experiences and memories that I banked in that memorable time travelling.

As my travels took me to Australia I discovered the multi-cultural food of Sydney and Melbourne, and in particular great great seafood. Australia ended up being the place I settled and re-joining the working race, this time in Melbourne – but the restlessness of wanting to pursue other avenues wouldn’t leave. So, I quit my then career – for some bizarre reason I had ended up as a System Engineer writing requirements for Air Traffic Control Systems – and started to pursue the development of a creative website (Mudboard), as well as look after my young daughter for two days per week. It was during this time that I found that I had more time to spend in the kitchen, and the more time I spent the more time I wanted to spend. I decided that this was growing in to something greater than a hobby, and with that in mind I started to study food in a more organised way e.g. meat, fish and poultry preparation, making sauces, vegetable preparation and pastry work, as well as thinking more about experiences with flavour combinations. Then I started to look into the science of food, using renowned chefs such as Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adria as references. Along the way all those skills and memories from London to Delhi were beginning to shape how and what I cooked. Using my trained sense of smell I was cooking by aroma as well as taste whilst being influenced by all of the things I had eaten around the world.

The progression to food blogger was a natural one; a way to document what I was cooking and to take photographs. The blog became a place I could refer to as well as point others to that wanted to learn a

cooking technique or recipe. From there I discovered film and started looking at the possibilities of creating my own short cinematic style videos of the food I was cooking. The early ones were very rough but as time progressed, and the social media phenomenon grew, my photography, video and design skills grew to the point that people were asking if I could create content for them.

Apart from working, cooking and blogging I’ve also eaten out a lot in the last 25 years – and in a number of places around the world. I’ve tried to understand what works, what doesn’t work and what are the things that contribute to creating successful food businesses.

Take for example restaurants; if the food is terrible and the customer service is good I won’t go back. If the food is great but the customer service is bad I may give it another go. If the food is great and the customer service is good then I will return. This should be a minimum. What sets the good and the amazing businesses apart though are a combination of the smaller factors: an edge, something exciting or surprising – it can be something simple done immaculately, it can be the way a waiter/ waitress smiles and engages the customer, it can be something in the decor that excites and eases, it can be those things that turn someone from being a patron to an ambassador.

For growers and producers of food and drink; the quality of what you grow or make, and the the stories behind it are also important. Take the Holy Goat cheese company from Victoria in Australia that uses a particular bacteria from the region it produces the cheese in – it’s the ‘terroir’ or characteristics of the local environment, making that cheese unique to that locality. Not only is the cheese wonderful but it has a story and a purpose, something that engages customers.

It’s these experiences of food combined with a desire to tell stories that led me to create Fresha Digital. Through film, video and photograph I can tell your unique stories, stories that will grab your potential customers’ attention, so much so they will want to experience the real thing.