Jesse Costelloe is not a designer by profession but he has firm ideas about what makes a speaker look good. This led to him starting up his own business at the tender age of 21.

Jesse Costelloe’s description of his first musical memory evokes a sepia-coloured past when men were men and they tuned into music by painstakingly twiddling a button on a hand-held transistor radio with one hand, simultaneously steering their ute with the other.

“I used to listen to a beaten-up Roy Orbison tape in my dad’s delivery truck,” Jesse says. “And I learnt every word of his songs.”

However, these days the reality of life for the 21-year-old designer from Brisbane with a self-confessed entrepreneurial streak is far from prosaic.

His career history began at his parents’ fruit shop in Queensland’s Mango Hill near Brisbane where Jesse lent a hand in the business.

But a tech-savvy neighbour with an interest in audio systems alerted him to the business opportunities afforded by the AV world.

“I was first shown a real Hi-Fi system by my neighbour, and this is what sparked my interest in the entire industry. He put Hotel California on by The Eagles and I became totally lost in the experience of sitting in a room and becoming part of a sensory experience I thought was only possible at a concert.”

The epiphany-like moment also offered him an alluring way of financing his international business studies course at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Otherwise it would have been flipping burgers.

“I knew I didn’t want to finance my time at university doing some crappy little job,” he says.

His enthusiasm for music and design, and his business instinct, formed the seeds of what is now Jesse’s rapidly expanding AV business.

The business idea came to him – as these things so often do – when he spotted what he believed to be a gap in the market.

“Some time ago I had saved $5,000 to buy my own sound system, but when I went looking I couldn’t believe how ugly everything was. I knew mum wouldn’t have the stuff in the house, and I don’t blame her.”

Now he has launched his own brand of high-end speakers under the name Oden, a product of his disillusionment with the aesthetics of speakers encountered in mainstream retailers.

The Oden speakers, launched last year, are the progeny of Jesse’s parent company Evok. It is the synthesis of the look provided by Oden speakers and Evok’s design concept that is crucial to Jesse’s thinking.

“Evok provides a complete system design, from the ground up, around home theatre and lifestyle for individuals.

“It has its own interior design department that generates an idea for the client then provides the entire technical fit-out. This means not only Oden speakers but matching living room design accessories such as a sofa, sideboard, coffee table, lighting, etc.

“The speakers use the same components as other high-end brands but are made in a beautifully finished and designed cabinet. I have not used new technology but have sourced great components.”

This young entrepreneur makes no pretence of being an expert in the field he has chosen to enter.

“I have no formal training as a designer. I am where I am today thanks to the people I have been able to find and surround myself with. When I have an idea, I find the people I need and they make it happen.”

And Jesse’s business is a truly international affair. The components for the speakers come from as far away as Germany and Taiwan.

They are then transported with the designs to the Chinese city of Shenzhen, north of Hong Kong, where they are assembled and returned to Jesse’s doorstep.

So where does Jesse see himself in 10 years’ time?

“The innovative products, designs and the strong brand of Evok is what will carry us in the industry.

“We are bridging the gap between the living room and the home theatre. Evok is essentially a start-up but it is set up for a public float in 2013 if all goes well.

“I will take the designs and concepts overseas and look to make the brand globally recognised as an innovative design company based on home lifestyle products.

“In time I would like to work with architects to do entire custom home solutions. For example, the architect would design a distinct looking home, then we would design and develop custom interiors to match.”

Jesse has come a long way since the days when he nurtured an ambition to be a journalist but realised he didn’t have the grammar.

He may not be the newspaperman he wanted to be, but the Oden enterprise more than makes up for it.