Yep - I have finally ventured solo - here's to the landing!

Here’s from someone who’s just embarked on the journey, three days in the making, with a young family, an ongoing house renno, and absolutely no idea on how things are about to turn out!

It may come across as reckless and unnecessary, but there is a stranger sense of control, direction and focus that I’m gaining. And to top it off, the feeling of being on your own and ‘knowing very very little’ has re-ignited a sense of learning and discovery that I have been missing lately.

I started my engineering career out of USQ with Boral Asphalt and cut my teeth immediately into frontline roles, from simple ones such as a storeman (filling in) to a project engineer, maintenance planner and plant supervisor. Working under the leadership and mentorship of the likes of Mike Raff, Kevin McCullough and Murray Read hasn’t been short of extraordinary – I quickly learned how humbleness and empathy, combined with a real hands-on leadership approach can build great teams and make for an awesome workplace.

During that time and in response to the Global Financial Crisis, I was seconded as an analyst to a Business Optimisation Program, led by Shane Graham at the time, and delivered by an external management consultant – Cameron Smith. I had not heard of management consultants at the time, and I was amazed at the entire process from diagnosing every aspect of the operation to developing and presenting solutions to the relevant stakeholders. I was hooked!

In 2011 I joined Partners in Performance as an entry-level analyst and was by large and far, the best career move I had made. I learned how to solve problems, present solutions, and most importantly – how to implement and generate results for my clients. I had incredible development leaders such as Rob Aitken and Gareth Huckle, not to mention the day to day peers who had an enormous impact on my growth and development over the years. In seven years, I had worked across five different industries, in more than 11 countries, generating hundreds of millions of bottom-line value. By the end of 2017, I had achieved a Role Model Associate Principal performance review and a Principal ‘Partner’ promotion on the table. I had dreamed of making this role the first day I joined, however, I had a strange feeling that I needed to move on to other experiences and see what else the world had to offer.

I subsequently embarked on an exciting dual degree, studying for an MBA with IE Business School and a Master in International Relations with IE School Of Global and Public Affairs, over 18 months based out of Madrid. I relocated the young family (my wife is awesome) and we went on a student budget for quite some time. It was the entrepreneurial spirit at the business school, specifically, the IE Startup Lab that introduced me to an entirely brand new world of challenges, solutions, ways of working, approaches, tools and methodologies etc. Having worked for dozens of miners during my time at PIP, it made perfect sense to start a mining venture in Africa and had a special panel of mentors David Lobo, George Abihabibi and Anuj Kataria under the mentorship of Matti Karinen. ?Working in teams on an actual business proposition and presenting to an investor panel every week for six weeks was a game-changer. I remember how Paris de l'etraz, during one of my practice pitches suggested ‘Stop with those complicated Deloitte slides and come to me with a simple story that investors can get in a few minutes – I was hooked, again ??

As you can imagine though, coming out of 20 months of unemployment and with a young growing family (yep a second one came along the way during uni) the prospect of entrepreneurship was out of the picture (at least momentarily). I ended up joining DuPont Sustainable Solutions and was based out of Dubai. I loved the heritage of the company, its passion and mission of Safety and protecting lives, and the focus on growing a new offering in the market. Delivering more consulting engagements was not going to stretch my development – it was time to transition my career towards a commercial focus, with revenue targets and tier 1 clients to go after, it is a perfect opportunity that I knew I was ready for. ?Working again with incredible development leaders such as Marco Pagnini and alongside some operational experts from both DSS such as Alfredo Verna and DuPont (the parent company) such as Bill Mooney, I was able to elevate my commercial skills and gain a promotion 12 months into the role.

I just left DSS now and started Consultya, intending to continue to deliver exceptional value and bottom-line results to my clients. I have also experienced an increasing interest in helping smaller and medium-sized enterprises along the way. At this stage, the journey is only beginning and there’s a sense of excitement, anxiousness, and thrill! Well done to those who have and continue running their own companies – it certainly looks easier from the outside!?