Glass Half Fuller
Glass Half Fuller
By Riley Walter | @rileywalter_
If positivity equals success, then Louis Fuller can expect his fair share of good fortune in the near future. Of all the people I’ve met, Louis may well be the most upbeat and optimistic of the lot. From the moment you meet him, his positive energy is apparent—it engulfs you. It’s infectious, it’s almost overwhelming, and it’s quite honestly, unexpected.
In the increasingly disconnected and pessimistic society we live in today, it seems so far from the norm for anyone to be as nice to a total stranger as Loui is.
But the more you get to know him, the more you understand that’s what he does best – which in itself is amazing, considering he’s pretty good at just about everything he tries his hand at.
Amongst a plethora of other talents, Loui’s best might be his ability to stay positive and enjoy life, no matter what comes his way. But it hasn’t always been that easy for the Streaky Bay native. There was a turning point that set Loui on his current life path.
Golf was something that came easily to Louis, so naturally—as he does with every venture—he put his all into it. As a young man he was a sponsored athlete travelling around the country living what would seem like a “dream life”. Internally, however, it became more like a nightmare.
“I got to this point where I was playing golf, I wasn’t getting the results and I was putting all this energy out…so it was just sucking, sucking, sucking,” Louis said.
“I was living this dream life on the outside but internally…it was just like this black hole sucking everything out.
“I was just sort of going out on the golf course and playing, but I knew I didn’t want to be out there.” Faced with the fear of “letting everyone down” Loui soldiered on for as long as he could before it became too much. The tipping point for him arrived in late 2015 when he broke the news to friends and family that he’d had enough, and the relief was instantaneous.
Although he faced many a talented opponent on the green, it was the months following his decision to step away from golf that would prove to be his toughest challenge. The thought of returning to golf would prompt anxiety attacks.
As a result, Louis looked to darker remedies for relief. “I just wanted to escape reality. Alcohol and drugs are pretty easy to numb the pain,” he said. During that period, Louis’ life-long passion for music suffered with gigs coming few and far between …
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“There was a three month period where I hit a spot where I was just drinking alcohol, gigging once a fortnight and racking up credit cards…” The damage wasn’t exclusive to just him.
That realisation set Louis on a path of positive healing and self-improvement … he hasn’t looked back. “The real dark point came when I totally gave up. It was like my awakening to becoming the best version of myself.” A daily “gratitude journal” became his new outlet as he discovered a new lease on life – starting fresh with new priorities and goals.
“I set myself two goals at the start of 2016; one was to get comfortable being uncomfortable…and the other one was to say yes to every opportunity.” And say yes he did. Louis became a real-life ‘yes-man’, seizing every opportunity thrown at him and opening countless doors in the process.
“When you say yes to opportunities, you get a lot of stuff coming in,” he said.
If it wasn’t for this open-minded approach to such opportunities, Louis would never have been able to create the very thing that we’ve caught up to chat about—his wine label.
Image Source: Just Loui Wines
Appropriately named ‘Just Loui’, the boutique label delivers exactly what it promises: one hundred per cent Louis Fuller from start to finish. Louis’s foray into the world of wine making began when friend and Epsilon Wines owner Aaron Southern recruited him to work a vintage at his Greenock vineyard, on the Barossa’s renowned western slopes.
When Louis was keen to learn the art, Aaron offered to trade grapes for labour and show him the ropes, teaching him everything he knows about wine making. And the rest, as they say, is history. Since then, Louis has completed two solo vintages. His 2016 Shiraz ‘The Love Juice’ was a success with friends and family, and his 2017 Shiraz sold out in just four weeks.
From picking the grapes to designing the label, Louis loves the fact that he is responsible for every stage of his project and believes that his hard work shows in the final product. “The wine has been amazing because I’ve been able to create something that I’ve picked the grapes…fermented, barrelled…bottled and then share with people and bring people together and you can taste the love in the juice, really,” he said.
The personal touch in his wine is a signature trait of any Louis Fuller endeavour, with himself on display just as much as the bottles he’s selling.
Image Source: Just Loui Wines
Rediscovering his love for music has been a big part of that story and again, it’s the chance to share his creations with others that means the most to Louis.
“I’ve been very fortunate and [I’m] very grateful that I’ve been able to…have my creative juices flowing and be able to share that with people,” he said.
“That’s where it’s all really started from, I guess…I’ve sort of created that feeling of the creativity of making songs and sharing that and making other people happy…”.
Expressing himself through music is something that will be a permanent fixture for the talented guitarist and singer.
“I’ll always play music for the rest of my life – that’s 100 per cent.”
If there’s one other thing that will remain for Louis as long as the music does, it’s his positive outlook on pretty much everything life has to offer.
“Life’s a crazy journey…make the most of what we’ve got right now because you just don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” he said.
“You don’t know and that’s what I love about life, it’s so unpredictable.”
And if there’s anything that’s become clear while chatting to him, it’s that whatever Louis is doing, he’s not only doing it because he loves it, but because he really does want to make a difference.
“Life’s about helping people and connecting with people and being a better person and trying to strive every day,” he said.
“Just finding that balance of helping myself, giving myself enough time to be the best I can and from there being able to help people.”
For most people who have had some tough times, rather than helping others, the normal reaction would be to dwell on the negativity and let the mistakes of the past stop you from moving forward. Not for Louis though.
“I don’t regret anything in my life, you just learn from those mistakes and you learn from the way those curve-balls get thrown at you, and you just learn how to deal with them,” he said.
And even though he’s learnt a lot so far, his journey of enlightenment is not coming to an end anytime soon.
“I’m frothing on life, I’ve got to just keep doing what I’m doing”.
LOUIS FULLER . 2019
