By CASEY NEILL
“WE’RE only restricted by our ability to have a vision. Vision is power. Vision overcomes challenges.”
This was just one piece of advice braap Motorcycles founder Brad Smith gave more than 150 Year 9 and 10 students at the annual Lunch with the Winners, at Sandown Racecourse on 3 September.
South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance (SEMMA) hosted the event with South East Business Networks (SEBN) and South East Local Learning and Employment Network (SELLEN).
Mr Smith joined executive and consultant Jon Wood, Jacqui Ralph from Structural Change and MC and M+K Lawyers managing director James Sturgess on stage, to share their journeys to success.
Strategic futurist Marcus Barber also gave predictions for emerging career opportunities for employees of the future.
South East Business Networks’ Paul Dowling said the event highlighted career opportunities in the region and told students that employers were looking for diligent and focused workers.
Mr Smith is certainly both of these things.
The 26-year-old decided at age 13 that he’d design, create and market a new motorbike that was more accessible and affordable.
“I didn’t come from a rich family. They lived in government housing,” he said.
“But I did come from a great family. My parents taught us that whatever we do, we do it with passion.”
Mr Smith told the audience his family once drove from Launceston, Tasmania, to Sydney in a white van so he could compete in the junior Motorcross titles.
They pulled up at the event beside another rider who had a truck with six new dirt bikes, a coach, a nutritionist – even a helicopter.
“It was like we’d parked next to Richie Rich,” he said.
His mother told him the boy’s family hadn’t worked harder than theirs, they’d worked smarter.
“Education is the foundation for growth,” he said.
“From then on, when my mates were playing I was either earning or learning.
“In our family, goal-setting was culture.”
He set about making the sport more accessible for others.
“A clean adrenaline rush, away from drugs, crime and violence,” he said.
The first manufacturer he went to ripped him off, costing him a year of his time and four years of savings.
“But I didn’t lose my vision,” he said.
When Mr Smith turned 18 he went to China, found a translator and visited as many manufacturers as he could.
More than 60 laughed him out of their offices when he told them he had no money, distribution network or engineering experience.
“Persistence is power. Persistence is the difference,” he said.
He finally found a plant willing to take a risk and his business now turns over more than $1 million a year.
“Every time I set a goal I think about how I want to feel,” he said.
“I want to wake up with inspiration and go to bed with satisfaction.”
He said the number one thing he looked for from prospective employees was hunger.
“You definitely have to have a good resume but don’t expect people to hire you on it,” he said.
Mr Wood told the students there were three baskets for all aspects of life – one for things they’re good at, one for things they get better at the more they practice, and another for things they’re not good at.
“I live my life in baskets two and three. That’s where you lean the most.”
Ms Ralph has worked with steel fabricator Structural Change since 2004 and is now the company’s senior project manager.
But it took a career change at 27 to find her way to the role.
She’d been working in administration.
“I wanted a little bit more so got the TAFE guide out,” she said.
A building and construction course was her calling.
Mr Barber told students future employment opportunities ranged from building robotic exoskeletons to vertical farming to achieving medical advances.
He encouraged them to find a vision, identify the barriers to achieving it and how to overcome them.
Mr Barber said common barriers included spending major time on minor things, people not paying attention to what was going on around them and being unwilling to ask questions.
“Every time you ask a question there’s an opportunity to learn something else,” he said.
“The number one purpose in life is to achieve your vision.”
