The wide streets of Adelaide are lined with heritage buildings, great coffee shops, and global commercial success stories. Within sprawling parklands is a thriving business district, now home to the offices of multinational companies with world-class reputations.
For Aaron Mullins, this is the Adelaide he always imagined was possible. Born and raised in South Australia, he spent time living and working in the UK, Canada and Melbourne, but returned home during the Covid-19 pandemic to find a city that could support his career dreams while bringing him closer to family and an idyllic lifestyle.
Now a regional director for cloud software company Salesforce, Mullins says he’s been amazed by how much the city has changed.
Regional director at Salesforce, Aaron Mullins. Photo supplied.
“I’ve always wanted to strive for the best and be successful,” he says. “When I started my career, that probably lent itself to needing to explore opportunities outside of South Australia.” However, Mullins says, that’s no longer the case. “There’s been an exceptional amount of growth and maturity with respect to how South Australia operates on the global and national stage.”
A lifestyle city in a global transformation
As a tenant at the Lot Fourteen innovation district, Salesforce shares its address with local and global organisations innovating in technology, cybersecurity, defence and knowledge development. Companies such as Cisco, CommBank and Teamgage sit alongside two collaborative research centres, SmartSat CRC and HILT CRC.
“Salesforce is one of the tech companies that’s decided to put roots here in South Australia,” Mullins says, “as well as Google, Amazon Web Services, some of the other large players.” The state, he says “has cultivated that larger end of town, but that’s also supporting confidence in the targeted industries that have grown here over the last five years”.
Mullins says Salesforce’s decision to set up a presence in Adelaide was driven in part by South Australia’s commitment to more sustainable practices. The launch of Net Zero Cloud, a product that helps companies track and monitor their carbon footprint, and its carbon-credit platform Net Zero Marketplace, aligned perfectly with the state’s ambitions to reduce its environmental impact. Salesforce entered into a partnership with the government to help South Australia accelerate its climate goals. “There was a synergy there,” Mullins says.
Aaron Mullins. Photo supplied.
Working for a company of Salesforce’s standing was a life’s ambition for Mullins. He imagined it would come at a cost, but the chance to do it from Adelaide has made it possible to live and work without compromise. “The ability to live in what is one of the best cities in the world and have that opportunity is quite unique,” he says. “Often there are trade-offs in life, but Adelaide is hitting that sweet spot of [enabling] growth and contribution while enjoying being in South Australia.”
It’s easy to see, Mullins says, that Adelaide has “found its mojo”. “It’s keeping true to itself in terms of the things that make South Australia great: the lifestyle, the hills, the food and wine, the events. But also having a heartbeat to some of the core industries which are important to the new economy moving forward.
“We’ve got an identity and we continue to kick goals. That’s now got people thinking differently around what Adelaide can offer.”
A world-class city with small-town community spirit
One of those people thinking differently about Adelaide is Tyson Gundersen. He’s passionate about his own success, and also about the city’s transformation into a world-class commercial hub. Adelaide is not Gundersen’s home town. In fact, he had never even visited the South Australian capital before becoming a permanent resident. But he’s a convert, and is now raising a family alongside multiple flourishing enterprises.
Tyson Gundersen, executive director of Milkbar. Photo supplied.
After growing up in Byron Bay, Gundersen spent time working in finance in Sydney and London, before twists of choice and fate eventually led him to winemaking in Burgundy. Those dual interests made Adelaide the perfect option for settling down: a city of entrepreneurship, nestled among world-renowned wine regions.
Gundersen is the executive director of MilkBar. He and his team support founders with funding, infrastructure, networks and distribution to grow their businesses. Adelaide “feels youthful, young and exciting,” he says.
The city’s small but enthusiastic population makes it the ideal place to foster creativity and innovation, Gundersen says. “It gives us access to a great pool of talent who are able to pursue entrepreneurial endeavours. You’ve got time to sit and think. It’s more open and free – you can jump in and have a go, then take that creativity to the world.”
Although he’s worked in some of the world’s largest business centres, Gundersen says Adelaide is packed with advantages. “You’ve got three really good universities to bring through a lot of talent. You’ve got a very engaged group of young people who are keen to do exciting stuff, and are able to do it because the culture here is of a state that’s challenging the bigger states and other parts of the world.”
Living in South Australia has given Gundersen easy access to like-minded people, government contacts and business networks. It’s also offered him an incomparable lifestyle that means no one in his young family misses out.
“I can be five minutes to the beach, 10 minutes to the city,” he says. “I can be up in the Hills in 20 minutes and going for a walk with my kids. In the three years I’ve been here, it’s been unbelievable to see how many new cafes, restaurants, attractions are opening up, and the amount of investment coming into the state.”
Like Mullins, Gundersen is enjoying a balance he says might not be possible in other major cities. “I love that I get to see my family for dinner every afternoon without letting down the work front. It has a European feel to it – life is prioritised.”
It’s a balance that Mullins and Gundersen both plan to enjoy for years to come, in a place that supports their goals. “The exciting thing for me is you can now do world-class stuff from anywhere in the world,” Gundersen says. “And if you can do it from anywhere in the world, why wouldn’t you do it in Adelaide?”
