His passion

The first thing that becomes bleedingly obvious when you speak with Rich is his passion. Born in Canberra (GO THE RAIDERS), raised in Sydney (NSW BLUES & Sydney Swans BABY) and now living in Melbourne where he resides in the southeast bayside area. If you ask Rich he would say that he is first and foremost a dad to his two teenage daughters who have been the driving motivation behind launching “Life On Purpose”.

His Challenges

Rich’s story has been one of overcoming from a pretty early age, starting his journey of independence at just 16 after his parent’s divorce. Couch surfing was his introduction to living away from home and at many stages found himself transiting multiple times per week sleeping on a friend’s bedroom floors until he had overstayed his welcome, which was always an awkward conversation.

Tourette’s written by Rich

I was in two minds about being transparent about this because if I’m going to be 100% honest it’s a condition that carries a stigma. I had to learn how to accept and live with the fact that growing up Tourette’s wasn’t always understood. I must admit though, maybe I was lucky but even though there were extreme and uncontrollable ticks that sometimes can look odd, friends and family took it in their stride. In later life, the condition has somewhat eased and I have also learnt how to identify the triggers but it is still something I deal with and navigate day to day.

Major Car Accident

Rich was a promising junior soccer player with many prospects of living the full-time dream. Many of his fellow teammates went on to achieve that dream, however at 18 years old, life threw one of those curve balls (as it can easily do so). Rich was involved in a near-fatal motor vehicle accident as a passenger. It resulted in serious spinal damage (amongst many other injuries) that had him in hospital for many months and rehabilitating and learning to walk again over 2 years. Following his accident not only was the road to recovery intense but to make matters worse Rich experienced severe PTSD and associated mental health issues from the trauma of the accident.

Business Life

Rich is a charismatic entrepreneur whose career to date has spanned from sales and marketing roles to founding digital startups. Amongst these different businesses, Rich has also run an executive coaching agency and has spoken at several networking events in the past. Rich’s extensive and varied business and career acumen garnished over 25 years offers immeasurable real-life and practical insights for students.