Even though Australia’s business history is usually one of steady, measured progress, every now and then a leader steps up and turns systemic chaos into a springboard for radical, inspired innovation. This is the saga of Winson Tan, a modern-day entrepreneur whose career has not followed a straight path but rather exploded with adaptive growth. Rather than waiting for things to improve, he actively rebalances the whole opportunity landscape. In addition to being a thriving conglomerate, his companies, the WA Group, JWT Property Group, and Nexus Education Group, represent a shared conviction that bravery, community, and business are all interconnected and essential.
Winson’s professional genesis is deeply rooted in the stillness and isolation of Melbourne’s extended COVID-19 lockdowns. This period of profound uncertainty became his definitive moment of clarity. Where many saw an insurmountable void of closures, he saw a stark, urgent need for reconnection. He felt an intense, internal calling to establish tangible, meaningful spaces where people could gather, share hope, and rebuild the essential fabric of community. This deep-seated conviction, born under the immense pressure of global crisis, served as the foundational spark that rapidly ignited the WA Group.
Today, Winson is recognized as a formidable force driving multi-sector enterprise, a Trailblazer of 2025 whose leadership is defined by its purpose-led intent and people-first values. He currently pursues a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), focusing his critical research on developing an evidence-based leadership framework specifically designed for the post-COVID world, emphasizing empathy, adaptability, and unwavering relevance. His story is a powerful, living testimony that vision, fierce resilience, and a consistent focus on humanity can successfully transform deep adversity into unprecedented, lasting opportunity.
The Unscripted Leap to Multi-Sector Impact
Winson’s initial career track was grounded firmly in the analytical world of Business and Information Technology. His eventual, dramatic transition into the dynamic, high-touch world of hospitality was entirely unplanned, a profound and necessary departure from his technical training. He freely admits he possessed no practical knowledge of managing a café and certainly never imagined himself involved in the culinary sector. Yet, the emotional weight of the lockdowns created an inescapable sense of duty, recognizing that the greatest service he could offer the city was the restoration of shared human experience.
The initial days of his entrepreneurial life were far from glamorous; they were a masterclass in necessity. He secured his very first café for just $7,000, acquiring it during the peak of the lockdown’s enforced solitude. This transaction began an intensive, self-directed crash course where he was able to learn every aspect of the business from the very foundation. He mastered operational efficiency, delivered responsive customer service, managed complex payrolls, and created effective marketing campaigns, all while the world outside stood still. He views every single early mistake as a critical lesson and every obstacle encountered as a powerful element that ultimately strengthened his core resolve. What he initially lacked in direct industry experience, he quickly and effectively compensated for with an almost boundless capacity for resilience, infectious curiosity, and a leadership heart dedicated to meticulous service.
Now, he holds the distinguished role as the Founder and Managing Director across three interwoven ventures: the WA Group (hospitality), the JWT Property Group (development), and the Nexus Education Group (early learning). This multi-sector architecture beautifully reflects his conviction that leadership must be driven by purpose and dedicated to genuine community enrichment, spanning these three industries, all connected by a singular, defining mission: to forge deeper human connection. He is the recipient of two Honorary Doctorates in Business Leadership and Entrepreneurship, formal validation of his broad and accelerating impact.
Decoding the Human Equation in Business
The true beginning of the WA Group is an indelible narrative of seizing opportunity during a historical low point. The initial, modest café purchase quickly expanded into a compelling, large-scale vision of actively connecting people and profoundly enriching local communities. Winson’s idea transcended the simple transaction of serving coffee or food; it centered entirely on the creation of sacred social spaces- places where personal stories are openly shared, enduring relationships are authentically forged, and an undeniable, essential feeling of belonging is immediately felt.
This powerful sense of purpose, the Connection DNA, is meticulously engineered into every establishment the WA Group operates. Venues like Docasa, Prefisso 3088, Jerry Joy Café, and Little Tienda are designed with deliberate intent, acting as cultural anchors and community hubs. As the enterprise rapidly matured, Winson strategically pursued expansion beyond the limits of hospitality. This intentional diversification gave rise to the Nexus Education Group, an early learning network that embraces the inspiring Reggio and Montessori principles, focusing its energies on actively nurturing highly confident and culturally aware children who will become the leaders of tomorrow.
Concurrently, the JWT Property Group was purposefully established. This division provides the essential financial and physical foundation for the entire group’s growth, dedicated to sustainable development and the creation of community-driven physical spaces. This integration ensures that Winson’s vision for community is built not only within the walls of a café or classroom but also physically anchored in the real estate where people live and gather. Since 2020, Winson has successfully initiated and managed more than 14 distinct businesses, clearly proving that visionary thinking, coupled with high-level creativity and the support of the right people, can transform the most humble beginnings into an extraordinary, multi-faceted impact.
The Engine of Value and Empowerment
Winson’s immense appetite for business is powered by an insatiable curiosity and a deep, abiding love for generating positive impact. He remains perpetually fascinated by the powerful alchemy through which a simple idea transforms into a palpable experience and how insightful, good leadership can radically transform communities. He views business not as a purely financial endeavour, but as an indispensable vehicle for generating profound value, creating essential jobs, and establishing true meaning for countless others.
Through his continuous progression, he has meticulously cultivated a mindset that is naturally inclined to embrace calculated risk. He recognizes that risk is inherent in growth, but he manages it by firmly believing in the necessity of data-driven decisions while equally trusting his highly developed intuition. It’s a sharp instinct refined through the constant, careful observation of market behaviour. He maintains a firm non-negotiable standard: every business he initiates must be deeply grounded in purpose and engineered for long-term sustainability.
He acknowledges that the major challenges lie in his relentless, almost singular drive. In the nascent stages of his ventures, this intensity often led him to assume too much personal responsibility, resulting in periods of intense burnout. Over time, he assimilated a critical truth: effective leadership is not about personally executing every task, but about the essential act of empowering and trusting others to grow and succeed with him. He prioritizes intentional focus over rigid time distribution, ensuring his professional and personal values move in perfect harmony as he guides his organizations.
Crisis, Resilience, and Accolades
Winson states unequivocally that the COVID-19 pandemic acted as both the ultimate test and the most critical teacher of his professional life. When mandatory restrictions severely impacted his operations, his hospitality venues faced immediate shutdowns and paralyzing uncertainty. His response was immediate and strategic: he and his team adapted with decisive speed, launching new delivery models and fundamentally redefining their cost structures to achieve true resilience.
Crucially, the pandemic restrictions also served as the genesis for strategic diversification. That same difficult period gave birth to both the Nexus Education Group and the JWT Property Group. Winson learned that crisis inevitably reveals character, compelling his team to think creatively, act with unhesitating decisiveness, and care with profound depth, lessons that continue to define the group’s operations today.
His influence is formally recognized through Two Honorary Doctorates, a rare honour that validates his extensive contributions to global Entrepreneurship and Business Leadership. His hospitality venues are consistently celebrated, exemplified by the prestigious Café Dining of the Year awards for Jerry Joy Café and the Casual Dining of the Year awards for Prefisso 3088. Furthermore, he has received industry recognition as a Business Elite’s Top 40 Under 40 (2025) and for the Nexus Early Learning initiative, which secured Gold and Silver Stevie Awards for demonstrable excellence in the highly specialized education sector. These achievements underscore a leader whose impact is validated across multiple, fiercely competitive fields.
The Imperative for Conscious Leadership
Winson offers highly distilled, actionable advice for the next generation of leaders: you must start before you are ready. He stresses that achieving perfect readiness is an illusion; the combined forces of courage and consistent action will impart far more critical knowledge than any meticulous planning ever could.
He urges aspiring professionals to deliberately choose purpose over prestige. He advises them to focus their energy on building something that actively solves a recognized problem, successfully connects people, or genuinely elevates the quality of life. For Winson, authentic leadership is far less about achieving a title and entirely more about the intentional cultivation of positive influence. His final directive is to remain relentlessly curious, maintain genuine humility, and constantly remember that any professional success is meaningless unless it is actively and intentionally shared with the people who helped build it.
Winson is profoundly invested in designing the future of conscious enterprise. His journey, which bravely commenced with a $7,000 investment, remains steadfastly guided by an unwavering belief in the human element. He is actively channelling this philosophy into his ongoing Doctor of Business Administration research, which seeks to formalize a new, empathetic paradigm for modern leadership. He confirms that no vision is ever too small, provided it is meticulously built with intention and driven by the deep courage to serve.
