If Bruce Lee hadn’t been quoted as saying “To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities”, it could as easily have been Serge Niazi, CEO of IT&T.

The business, which Niazi started as a one-person operation out of his home in 1994, has grown into one of Illawarra’s leading providers of IT and telecommunications solutions. It now employs 22 people in-house (plus national and international contractors for specific projects). 

It’s quite the achievement, especially considering Niazi arrived in Australia as a skinny 14-year-old after escaping a war-torn Middle East. But Niazi is not much for beating his own drum, instead he hopes that by sharing his story, it will inspire refugees and immigrants who find themselves in similar circumstances.

Much like he himself has drawn inspiration, and continues to do so, from one particular martial arts pioneer.

“Since I was a little kid, my uncle was always watching Bruce Lee and doing Kung Fu,” he says. When Niazi became a teenager, he also joined a Kung Fu class in Sydney.

An impressive collection of Bruce Lee quotes decorates one of the walls of his office. 

“I basically follow everything he says,” says Niazi, which makes sense since Lee often spoke about being shapeless like water in order to easily adapt to one’s environment. 

The Bruce Lee quotes on Niazi's wall.

Niazi has pretty much been forging his own path since he first landed in the Land Down Under.

It’s a day he’ll never forget. Niazi had asked his mum, who had already escaped to Australia, how far it was to Wollongong? Not too far, she replied as she prepared to pick up her sons from the airport in Sydney all those years ago.

What she didn’t know was that Niazi and his brother would be arriving a day earlier, just in time for her birthday. The two brothers, who didn’t speak any English, gave the address to the cab driver and off they went. But after 40 minutes passed and they still weren’t in Wollongong, they began freaking out.

Finally, they arrived safely at their destination and knocked on the door. Niazi’s mum opened the door just to quickly shut it again. She just couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the best of birthday presents.

Niazi’s introduction to his adopted new home involved its fair share of culture shock but he pressed on and came to study at the University of Wollongong, where he earned a Master’s Degree with Distinction and Honors.

After taking a Bachelor of Mathematics and Computer Science, and a Master of Commerce in Business Information Technology, he began looking for a job.

Niazi was short-listed for all the forty roles he applied to but still, no one hired him. So began a (career) journey which saw him take whatever job he could get and seize opportunities wherever they presented themselves. 

After deciding that he didn’t want to commute every day from Wollongong to the Sydney suburb of St Leonards for work, if that meant missing out spending time with his daughter, Niazi started his own business. He hustled and hustled, often bringing potential clients a coffee or a cake, and slowly began building relationships. Still, it didn’t generate any business. Until something called the internet appeared big time.

“All these people are knocking on my door, they go ‘Serge, can you do this’? ‘Yeah, no problem,’ ” Niazi recalls. He said he had seen hundreds of customers and all of a sudden, 60 of them wanted to do business.

As Niazi’s company grew, one obstacle after the other presented itself: financial hardship, fraud, the ramifications of Covid – you name it. But through it all, he kept going, maintaining his sense of humour and gentle spirit. It has served him well.

“The longest customer has been with us for 25 years,” Niazi says as the tiny business he started all those years ago now celebrates its 30th anniversary.