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Leading with Courage and Chemistry: The Story of Tania Notaras

I came to Australia from the former Yugoslavia when I was three years old. My parents, like many migrants, arrived with nothing but determination. They didn’t speak any English but started work the very next day. My mother, Mira, worked double shifts to get ahead. My father was an abusive alcoholic, and our home life was difficult. I learned early to protect my mum and to be independent. From those beginnings came the drive that has carried me through everything I’ve done since.

By the time I was twelve, I had my first job delivering newspapers every day after school. Then came McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, cafés, and Coles, where I learned to use the old numerical keypads before scanning existed. Every job mattered. I learned to work hard, think fast, stay organised, and take pride in doing things properly. Those habits became the foundation for everything that followed.

Discovering Chemistry

I studied a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemistry at UTS. It was a sandwich degree, which meant one year in industry (two years of coursework, one year of industry placement, then a final year at university). It was the best decision I ever made. 

The internship at ICI Matraville changed my life. I learned about safety, firefighting, confined spaces, and operating gas chromatographs manually. It was real, hands-on science that made me employable immediately after graduation. It was also where I met my husband, John. 

After graduating, I joined the workforce as an analytical chemist. Two years later, I completed a Graduate Diploma in Safety Science at UNSW, which gave me valuable safety management skills that I still use today. Those qualifications gave me the tools, but the real learning came on the job.

My first full-time role was at a pharmaceutical company, developing methods using British Pharmacopoeia methods including HPLC, dissolution, TLC, and stability testing. It was great experience, but the travel was too far.

I then joined Inchcape Testing Services Caleb Brett (now Intertek Caleb Brett) and became Australia’s first female Marine Surveyor. I worked on ships, refineries, and wharves, often the only woman in sight, conducting gas testing, water analysis, and sampling of chemicals. I ran the Mascot lab single-handedly and gained its first NATA accreditation. It taught me to think critically, stay calm under pressure, and solve problems fast.

The hours were relentless and on call 24/7, but it was another turning point in my career.

The Leap That Changed Everything

When my first child was born, being permanently on call became unsustainable. I moved into a daytime role in environmental testing, and that’s where my path changed again. At Analabs (later Australian Environmental Laboratories, and SGS), I met Jacinta Hurst and David Springer. None of us knew then that we would one day be business partners.

Over the next decade, I advanced into laboratory management roles. By 2004, I was managing a laboratory and doing well professionally, but I felt stifled. I couldn’t reward my team or create the culture I believed in. My lab was highly profitable, but I wasn’t allowed to make it better, not even to paint the walls.

During my morning walks with John, I’d complain endlessly until one day he said, “Make a change or stop complaining.” That was the push I needed.

Leaving secure employment was a huge risk. We had two young children and a mortgage. The idea of mortgaging our family home to start a business was terrifying. I had always wanted a home where we could raise a family and have dogs, and now we were risking everything we’d built. Looking back, it was one of the most courageous decisions of my life. As one industry peer bluntly said later, I had “the biggest balls in the industry.” At the time, I didn’t realise how true that was.

Over the Easter long weekend, I sat at my dining table and wrote a detailed business plan. I researched the market, completed a SWOT analysis, and modelled cash flows. I realised that buying an existing lab would be faster and more practical than starting from scratch.

I found a small laboratory, JET Labs, in Willoughby. With no goodwill and no guarantees, just determination and tenacity, John and I put everything we had into it, using our house as security and our savings for the fit-out.

Through a RACI chemistry seminar, I met an accountant experienced in laboratories who set up the company structure. John’s brother, Paul, was an invaluable advisor and coached me through the M&A process. That moment, signing the contract to buy JET, was the start of Envirolab Services in 2005.

David and Jacinta joined as founding shareholders. Their arrival was instrumental. Together, we built Envirolab from a small Sydney lab into a national operation known for quality, reliability, and service.

We cleaned, rebuilt, and reorganised the space from the ground up. We worked long hours, seven days a week, while John stayed in his job to keep us financially afloat. My mother, Mira, helped raise our children. I couldn’t have done it without her. 

 

 

 

Growth Across Australia and New Zealand

From day one, my vision wasn’t to be the biggest; it was to be the best place to work and to provide great service. Growth came naturally from that philosophy. Within three years, we outgrew our Willoughby site, sold it to a developer, which funded our purpose-built facility in Chatswood, and then expanded across Australia.

In 2010, we acquired MPL Laboratories in Perth, forming Envirolab Group. It wasn’t easy. We were negotiating with a listed company and competing against larger bidders, but Coffey sold to us because they believed we would look after their people. We completely transformed that lab, improving systems, culture, and turnaround times.

In the years that followed, we added offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, and Darwin, started a greenfield laboratory in Melbourne, and later acquired Labtec in New Zealand and Robert Carr and Associates laboratory in Newcastle.

 

 

 

Envirolab became known for turning around underperforming laboratories and for creating workplaces people genuinely wanted to be part of. Every move was carefully planned and self-funded along with the support of NAB.

We invested heavily in our facilities because I believe that when people work in clean, well-equipped spaces, they do their best work. Clients feel it too; they want to work with people who take pride in their environment.

 

 

 

In 2019, John and I took a year off to go sailing. It was a sign that the next chapter was coming. We began a five-year succession plan to ensure the company could continue without us.

Karl Cope joined as Envirolab’s first external CEO, and later Amanda Cope became Advisory Board Chair. By 2025, David Springer had taken on the CEO role and with Jacinta’s continued leadership, and Envirolab was stronger than ever.

At that stage, we had reached 270 employees, eight locations across Australia and New Zealand, and three brands, becoming the largest privately owned environmental laboratory in Australia. 

The “Disneyland” Lab and the Intertek Sale

In 2025, just one month before selling the company, we completed our $28 million flagship Perth laboratory, a project the team affectionately called “Disneyland.” It was proof that we weren’t slowing down; we were building the business for its strongest future. It was also one of the gutsiest projects of my career.

That same year, after five years of careful planning, we finalised the strategic sale of Envirolab to Intertek. The transition was seamless and deliberate, allowing John and me to retire on the very day of completion.

Handing over something we built from nothing was emotional, but it felt right. The company was ready, the team was ready, and so were we.

Selling to Intertek was deeply meaningful. Early in my career, I had worked with them when they were Inchcape Testing Services. They treated me with professionalism and respect as one of the only women in the field, and I always admired their culture. Completing that full circle, from being a young chemist and Marine Surveyor there to selling them our business some 30 years later, simply felt right. I knew they would carry Envirolab forward with the same integrity and care that built it. 

Reflections and What’s Next

These days, I’ve swapped boardrooms for sea breezes, grandchildren, and time with family. But I remain connected to the profession through RACI, serving on the Finance, Risk, and Audit Committee, where I continue to advocate for strong governance and ethical leadership.

I also serve on UTS’s Industry Advisory Board and as a UTS Ambassador. My attention has turned to being a landlord for the laboratory premises we still own and to investing.

I often reflect on what made our success possible. It wasn’t luck. It was courage, discipline, and people. It was John’s steady support, Paul’s mentoring, Mira’s unconditional help with the children, David and Jacinta’s partnership, and a team who believed in the same values.

We proved that a business can grow and scale without losing its heart. We started with nothing, risked everything, and created something extraordinary. 

Lessons I’ve Learned

• Be involved; join groups like RACI and stay connected. 
• Be kind and generous with your knowledge.
• Always ask how things can be done better or differently.
• Plan carefully, act decisively, and follow through.
• True success isn’t measured by size or profit, but by the people who choose to walk beside you.

Tania Notaras (Co-founder of Envirolab Group)   From migrant beginnings to industry leadership, Tania Notaras built a career defined by courage, integrity, and care. After arriving in Australia from the former Yugoslavia at age three, she discovered a love for chemistry that would shape her life. In 2005, Tania and her husband, John, mortgaged their home to buy a small Sydney laboratory that became Envirolab Group, now a respected trans-Tasman network employing more than 270 people.   Three decades later, Envirolab was sold to Intertek, completing a full-circle journey for Tania, who began her career there as Australia’s first female Marine Surveyor.   Now retired from executive life, Tania continues to contribute through RACI’s Finance, Risk and Audit Committee, promoting strong governance and ethical leadership.   “We started with nothing, risked everything, and built something extraordinary. I’ve learned that success isn’t about size or profit, it’s about the people who choose to walk beside you."

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