In this series we profile the varied residents of the Mudgee region and ask them to share their stories and wisdom with us.
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What is your name and what are you doing at the moment?
“Scott Goodkin and I am a co-owner of Mudgee Music.”
What is a story that has impacted you as a person and who you are now?
“I don’t really have a story but a mentor.”
“When I was 19 years old I was pretty much looking like I was going to be a blue-collar type of guy. I was doing industrial tech and welding at the time and I needed a job, whilst I was going to university, to learn welding skills and stuff so I took a job at an Ensino Travel Lodge in California, it had an 85 year old man running the show, who was re-managing because it wasn’t running so good, and it was his job to getting it back up and running so we could sell this half of the building.”
"Success is a state of mind, not to mistaken by material representation."
- Scott Goodkin
“I had long hair back then too, but I went in and the manager Don his name was, said he would hire me but first, I had to cut my hair. And I was mad, I was like “that is discrimination,” and I was fuming, and he was like “well if you want the job it yours, you just have to get a haircut.” So, I went home fuming still, woke up in the morning, booked an appointment at the closest barber I could get, got a haircut, went back to the job the next day and took the job, and he was like “great, you start tonight.” So, what it taught me was that sometimes you have to think about the big picture and not the immediate problem.”
If you could make a quote of what your experience in life is like, what would it be?
“I actually have a quote that I have been telling people for decades which is “Success is a state of mind, not to mistaken by material representation.”’
What do you think about Mudgee’s culture?
“You know I have lived all over the world, I have lived in some of the smallest locations you can think of. I have lived in a little Indian village by the Arctic Circle, as a teacher, and I have lived in some of the biggest cities like Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Sydney, and so I have lived in some pretty big places and I have lived in some small ones.”
“Turn off your bloody phone.”
- Scott Goodkin
“Most recently I have lived in the Blue Mountains, which I thought would be pretty cool but it was actually too busy and too noisy, so we came out here to Mudgee and bought a farm out in Hargraves. And to the culture of Mudgee, I love this place, that’s why I invested all this money into Mudgee Music, because I think the town is a great place I love the people, I think that people are honest and that you don’t have to worry about people mucking around with you.”
“I think it is a fairly safe place to live and I like the way, the different aspects of the community get involved with each other. And I really like the mix and the people. I think the culture for me is perfect.”
Do you have any words of wisdom for the next generation?
“Turn off your bloody phone.”
Do you have a social media account?
“We certainly have one for the store. I also have a personal account, I mainly use it to keep in touch with my friends in America and some here of course, now that I have been here for 10 years.”
What are your thoughts on social media and its impact on society?
“I think that social media has, like a lot of things (computers, TVs, etc.) was an amazing concept Back in the 50s, now it has just turned into an abomination, and I think social media is in a similar vein.”
“I think it has amazing potential and terrible sides to it as well. I think it has created a society of people who hide behind it, and are cowards, and they will go and bully people, they will say terrible things about people all because they are sitting back in their home in front of their laptop. I find that it is unfortunate because the genre of it could be so much better.”
“The good side is that it does allow people to stay in touch with each other if you use it for that reason, and I think that is the saving grace, but I also think that people grandly abuse it, beyond what I would say is acceptable. It is terribly, terribly misused.”