The Hidden Power of Family Influence on Success - Blake Walker

In this episode of The Quest for Success Podcast, Dylan and Jam sit down with Blake Walker, a cattle farmer, former real estate professional, and Harvard alumni, to explore the complexities of success, balance, and responsibility. Blake shares his inspiring journey from a career in real estate to embracing cattle farming, where he’s pioneering innovative practices like hemp-fed beef production.

Blake reflects on the profound influence of his family, particularly his father, and the lessons he learned about leadership and responsibility. The conversation delves into the challenges of modern parenting, the role of mentorship, and the importance of resilience and authenticity in building a meaningful life. Blake also shares insights into the cultural nuances of success in Australia, the impact of privilege, and his vision for the future of his business.

This episode is a powerful reminder of the value of hard work, genuine connections, and defining success on your own terms.

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Transcript

Dylan Pathirana (00:00.354)
All right. Welcome back to the quest for success podcast. And thanks so much for tuning in once again. We're really looking forward to this episode because we have a close mate on the show fellow Aussie. He's also been to Harvard and, one of jam's mates. So we're really looking forward to having Blake on the show with us today. Like joining us. Thank you very much for having us along. It's a lovely to be here. It's a nice little bite to eat. So Blake is one of my buddies from Harvard OPM. We actually, start our own living group called.

eight buddies and yeah, seven buddies and Michael. That was a joke, he made it in his body. So we, I had the privilege of pretty much staying in the same living group. Same pretty much sharing everything except the rooms with Blake for three weeks at our last session at Harvard. And also this is exclusive podcast for

of black black black Walker and he hasn't done any podcasts before so this is the very first podcast. I'm a virgin to this this whole new media this media type I have to admit that public speaking so public anything is not not something that I've done. is a conversation between mates so yeah thank you Brick. Thanks for taking our invite and joining the quest for

Success podcast. you. No, thank you for having me. It's like I said, it's a bit of an honor to be, uh, done a, uh, watch, listen to a few of the, uh, a few of the other 35, uh, and, um, feel quite honored that I'm number 36, a nice round number. I'm waiting for my big medallion and a chain as my, as my badge of honor. That's it. So Blake, as a avid listener of the podcast, you'd know how we start this off. And so I want to ask you.

What does success mean to you? It's, it's interesting. So over the ones I've been listening to, that's as a common theme that a lot of people don't see it as a certainly not a monetary thing. And I don't know if that's the, the guests that you had, we're just talking about Gretel's, interpretation, what an entrepreneur was and that they were driven by a goal. I tend to probably suggest that, or my, my opinions that

Dylan Pathirana (02:26.176)
It's not so much a goal, it's a matter of a journey. And if you have a pathway of saying, well, here's what I want my life to be like. If you can stick within the bowling lane bumpers and you're never going to sit on a true path the whole way, but if you can stick within the bumpers and have a great balance of family, work, community, friendships, that goes into the mental health side of things, if you can have all that.

And you can get to the end of the end of your days and sort of say, I've had a great balance. That's that to me success. It's, well, is that this, this, function for my old school? had a vintage old boys lunch yesterday. So guys who were over 50 years out of school. and there were two blokes there who were Centurions, which was cool. Awesome. Yeah. But you hear they got up and had a bit of a story, a bit of a chat.

And talking to all these guys that are 70 odd plus, I was there doing a talk that I was telling you about, so was almost the youngest in the room. hearing those same stories of these guys that they've got a community that they're a part of being that they're from the school they're at. They're in the year groups. And to them that was successful that they were every year getting back to see their mates and.

And that had businesses that were successful in their journey, their lives were successful. And I think that's a, it's a, it's a journey rather than a destination. And it'll be, you know, one of those last things that people sort of say, know, people don't sort of say their deathbed though, I wish I had have done, but if someone can turn around and say, yeah, well, Blake, you're in your last moments, you've had a great balance of everything.

Congratulations. That's to me a successful life. Sounds awesome. There's a, there's an exercise just because you mentioned, you know, the part about being on your deathbed as an exercise where it's like, what would you like someone to say your, like as your eulogy? Hmm. It's, I think that exact thing is about to have, he's had balance in everything. He's had a, a career of whatever that might be. I've, and I've had multiple.

Dylan Pathirana (04:51.426)
multiple things that I've done in my work life so far. I'm sure that there's plenty more to come. We've got a loving family that are still together and they support each other, both immediate and broader being the siblings and mother and that I'm engaging in my community and whatever that might be. it my local community at the regional area or is it in the...

It's in Hunters Hill. My nickname's, um, yeah, the mayor of Hunters Hill. I would go for the morning walk with the dog and people sort of say you wavered everyone and say good morning to everyone. Um, and it's just like, well, here you go. Another nickname. So, mean, like, like a good block, right? Pretty much. I don't want everyone to like me, but it's, um, and I'm sure a lot of plenty of people that don't, um, if I, if I didn't believe that I'd be.

fooling myself, but in saying that, I don't worry about the haters and you just carry on with what you're doing. So Blake, people don't know you, the mayor of Huntersill. And just take us through, like, know, who are you and what do do right now? So what do do right now? So about three years ago, father-in-law who's been on the land.

Yeah, for all his life at 80 something decided he was going to retire. He was still working the property and it's a really beautiful property out in the central west, New South Wales. And it was like too nice to let go. My kids really enjoy getting out there. Let's help them retire or buy it. It'll be a Thursday to Sunday sort of job and I'll still be able to do a Monday to Wednesday, Thursday in the city.

Dylan Pathirana (06:48.312)
COVID obviously reduce workload at that time. So it was easy enough to go and start to do that. And.

in doing so, started spending more than that Thursday and a Sunday. And it was a lot more of a, it's a Monday to Friday, I'll come back to Sydney on weekends. And then I think, you know, as far as drive goes at the moment, was one of those things like, well, I can probably do better than this. And I'm learning. I'm putting some money into it, investing in it. And it's now become a bit of a business. It's like, not getting

better at it. I'm still a kid at it. it's, if I get another farm that's a nice little attachment to it, and they work together. So at the moment, I'm calling myself a cattle farmer. But that came out of the back of before that majority of my career was in real estate, property development building.

And that was the family business, family background. I'm probably not knowing anything else. Every school holidays from about 12, I was off on sites, laboring or whatever it might be. So that was just that was sort of the 30 years before that. But, you know, four kids, lovely wife, beautiful house, got a very blessed life.

It extended family rules, so very close. And just out really having a bit of fun. you're not having fun, you shouldn't be doing it. Absolutely. That's right. So talking about having fun, your cattle farm, right? I just want to talk a little bit more if that's okay with you. What's the, why this is special? know, take us through this hemp fed beef. The hemp fed beef, it's...

Dylan Pathirana (08:46.51)
Without getting into the intricacies of how the cattle market works, but generally you send your product being a cow to a feedlot, which goes into a coles or a woolies market, and that's a price that varies daily. Or you go to the local cattle markets at Dubbo or Orange or wherever their markets are, and that's a more variable. With my background of...

construction and development, you really want to try and get a certainty of cashflow and understand how much you're going to get for your product because it varied. Like when I first bought the property, declined the price over the next 18 months, two years, over halved. So what looked like a, yeah, this could not make business out of this, suddenly just disappeared. Now it's picked back up again. it's like, so many perspectives, how do you make a business if you can't really tell?

and your business, you understand generally what the rates are for warehousing storage and it doesn't fluctuate.

The end product also doesn't fluctuate at the retail end. So restaurants don't change their menu prices every day, depending on… And same in the butcher shop. There's a very small variance on a regular basis. And I was speaking to a couple of mates from school. One's a butcher on the Central Coast and the other one lives up in Nimbin in the Northern Rivers. And he'd trialled this pre-COVID…

And the results were fascinating. The cattle were right after this hemp-fed supplement. And in context, the hemp supplement, it's a by-product of all the other plant. So effectively, it's a waste product that gets burnt or something at the moment. Whatever it is, a protein in it or whatever it is, it really attracts the cattle and you put it into a trough there in the paddock for them.

Dylan Pathirana (10:53.25)
and they run to it. So we did a trial to sort of see how they performed next to a mob that didn't have it. They grew better. We're getting through testing and so on now to see how the actual meat performs as tenderness and all these other things. There's a whole bunch of rules around what you can and can't acknowledge in the...

inclusion of hemp so we're not allowed to have any medicinal claims on it but I think testing will come back and show that there are

differences in the in the meat to a straight pasture fed mix and you'd expect that because you are what you eat. Yeah. So that's where it started. It's very early in the journey. don't only just started on it, but it's really exciting. The feedback we're getting from so many different sectors has been really positive. So it's a space. Amazing. Yeah. Looking forward to it. Yes. And like, like I want to kind of go back.

to your early childhood. Yep. Cause I feel like that's where a man is formed. And so can you tell us like a little bit about your early family and kind of how you think your parents and your siblings kind of influenced you? Sure. It's, so I'm a Shire boy from Southern Shire grew up down in Cronulla. That's where the family originally all from. it's funny that they say there's a saying that you can

Take the boy out of the Shire, but you can't take the Shire out of the boy. And it's a funny saying, but anyone you ever met from the Shire, it's a funny community. They've read different. And they are thick and it's something that they all have. Any of those kids from the seventies that lived up down, lived in the Shire had a upbringing of being on the beach, having a freedom of being able to come and go. Some of the things we used to get up to is

Dylan Pathirana (12:56.366)
10 year olds, you sit there and scratch your head now and go, you'd no way in the world you'd make a decision like that as a reasonable adult, but a 10 year old kid that seemed fine.

And whilst I never actually realised this at the time, because it wasn't... My father was always really successful, but it was never actually in your face.

But in smaller communities sometimes people start to... I might have added this later in life, but a lot of people start to go, well, you're a big wig and Australians are very good at bringing down successful people and for whatever reason. So we did move out of there and it's...

Yeah, we the business was still down there for a lot of years. That's where I first started when I left school was back down there. A lot of the initial. So your dad had the business when you were born? Yes. Yeah. So he and my grandfather started the business as a civil contractor. That's the Walker group. Yeah, the A &L Walkers. were civil contractors, trucks and bulldozers and they were a civil business. Dad started there with that and then it grew into the property development side of things.

And then that grew and grew and grew over the years.

Dylan Pathirana (14:21.006)
the business moved closer into the city over the years. I moved into in the inner west and, know, come to the mayor of Hudders Hill. It's been there for, yeah, for.

40 million. and dad live in Hunter Silla as well? Yeah. Oh, yeah. So we've still got the family house. All right. Nice. Yep. My sister still lives there. Brother's moved out. it's still it's still a family. And Hunter Silla, if you don't know, it's a beautiful, leafy area. It's got Parramatta River on one side, the Lancaster River on the other side. So it's a peninsula. We've always been on the water. All my life I've been on

Waterfront houses or very close to. So boats at any given moment we're out in the water.

Yeah, so that was involved in something to do with boats before right or something. Same thing. He grew up on he grew up on boats and sailing when he was a kid. You know, didn't matter if it was sailing boats, water skiing. He actually was in the Naval Reserves as a diver, clearance diver.

Dylan Pathirana (15:36.366)
fishing, like you name it, we were, yeah, it was always close to the water. So you're the eldest in your family? Yeah, the oldest. We've got two younger siblings, Chad and Georgia. So, and then I've got the four kids and there's another six grandkids there between the other two. And yeah, we're all really close. We spend...

I don't know if it's a disproportionate time to other people's families, but we're together probably every other weekend or every couple of weekends we'll be together in some sort if it's two or three of us, but it's all the cousins get along really well. it's nice. We're nice close family and that's probably what parents are certainly instilled in us is that family is more important than anything. Everything else can come and go, but the family is one thing that you can't replace.

Yeah, so something I want to talk. Sorry, I'm asking all the questions. You know, Dylan, because we were away when your father's service early this year, when your father passed away this year, which is I guess he was one of like big influence to you. And so Dylan, I asked Dylan to join that service. And that was the first time actually Dylan kind of got to know you.

And, he was saying, wow, he was so inspired by the story of your dad, like, know, what he's done for Australia and all the things like, you know, he, he, you know, done. So I'm sure Dylan's got a lot of questions that he wants to ask. So I'll hand over to Dylan. No, suppose it's like just being there and hearing you speak and other people speak about, know, your father's legacy. I think that's the.

That's something that we could, we could go down, but you know, I think this is, this is about your story. And so I kind of like want to link it, link it together. I suppose one thing which I'm maybe like connecting between you and your dad is it's kind of just the battler mentality. It's like an Aussie battle going out there, getting after it and just going and achieving something. Like, as you said, your, your dad and grandfather started as just civil contracting. And then now.

Dylan Pathirana (17:58.286)
just hearing about some of the buildings that they've built, the half of Sydney is thanks to, you know, your family. so like, do you think that's, that's something that plays on, your mind? Do you know it's, um, and it's only really happened since that pass. We've sort of gone back and reflected on, on all those things. Cause we got letters from people all over the world. I feel they'd been to the resort in Fiji and said, Oh, you know, I've heard on Lang's passing.

...our condolences but he really made our family holiday to Fiji so special. He came up and made sure that we were enjoying it. And this is a family that were paying guests at the resort... ...that felt that their holiday, their family's holiday was so special... ...because he took time to go and do that. Dad was...he was genuinely interested in people's feedback... ...and he had a saying that he got two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion.

So he'd go and ask questions and prod people of like, what about this and how about that? And is this hat good for you? And it was, there was no ears and graces. And so that's how we've always been brought up. Don't be afraid to talk to anyone and just be respectful. And so, you know, the other thing, so I had to write that speech for the memorial and it was...

On that reflection, went, hey, and there's some really at the time, were projects that we just did and they were let's do them the best we can. you look at what could have been in the war for Walla Mallu was as a probably a perfect example was the government at the time wanted to actually demolish that wharf and have the bay completely open, which in some people's perspective is good reuse of public waterfront. So

the design at the time and what was quite critical is, well, if you want public waterfront or public access, let's make it open to the public for two thirds of the wharf that they can walk around and see it. But it's a historical building that needs keeping and we can make sure that we restore the building and it's there to be seen for future generations. as it was as a wool loading dock for so much stuff left Australia through those the wool and exports. So when left through that wharf.

Dylan Pathirana (20:25.582)
that it'd be a real shame to see it demolished and removed.

You look at things like that and you kind of go, at the time it was just a project and we got through it and it was, yeah, sure, it's profitable, but the profit probably wasn't the main driver. It was the right thing to do for what was in front of me, the infrastructure. was, yeah, profit flows from it, but it was probably not always the driver. And Parramatta Square is probably another example. was, the centre of Sydney is moving west daily.

The amount of people that come from the West into the city to the CBD is phenomenal on the trains. Prime Minister of have been trying to do something there and it was a bit of like, well, here's the right thing to do is bring it back a second CBD, proper CBD out here in the West. it was the biggest urban renewal project in Australia from what I know. yeah, it's just won an international award.

for its design. So it's, but again, you know, the profits gotta be as an important part of it, but the, it's not the sole driver. Make decent profits decently. That's exactly right. You're you're a concentrate. So there's one part that I want to touch on there. I, I, as you mentioned before, you know, speaking with people who are a bit more like a bit older than you, you can kind of start to get an idea of maybe what success means later in life.

Was there like, as you were spending time with Lang, your dad just before his passing, was there anything that you kind of learned from him in that time? Like, especially around like success, like what we're doing here today.

Dylan Pathirana (22:18.328)
Probably a lot more around the family side of things because, you can put your footprint on a place and say, yeah, we'll help develop that. But it's a team that brings it together. It might be a concept that he's come up with, but it's a team that's delivered it. So not always believing that you're the only thing to make something happen. Understanding that whilst you can be a leader, a leader still has to have a team and you've got to look after them.

they're probably your most important asset.

And family is also part of your team. You might be the leader of the family, but you've got to be able to lead them and put them into positions that they can do their... that they can have their successes, whatever that might be for their journey, but to make them the right people. you know, it's creating a base for people to do what they're good at is, you know, what a leader should do. And don't try and do it all yourself.

And I think that's what he, um, you know, one of those lasting legacies that I'll get from him is that they, you're not going to be the smartest person in the room. Um, you're not going to be the hardest working in the room. So you need to be the cleverest to make sure that you get the best out of everyone else. Um, and that doesn't matter if it's work, family, community, sporting groups, whatever it might be that, um, yeah, he was a really good people person and.

good at generating, excitement about whatever it was. and maybe the people go and do what they were good at and, Yeah. Surround himself with a great team. And so I guess also he had a very good vision, right? Like, so he saw things that normally none of us, so not average person can see. Correct. Future. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's,

Dylan Pathirana (24:22.03)
Yes, that's a talent. A lot of people, there are a lot of people who have a similar talent. But to be able to then back it up and deliver it is, you you'll have architects that have a brilliant concept and a brilliant vision, but then be able to deliver it to take it through to creative people. They create things and images and the like. Yeah. But can you then turn that into a...

Yeah. project. Can you actually turn it into apartments or reality? Yeah. you? Yeah, actually that was our mantra for our slogan for long called vision to reality. Vision to reality. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, um, so the Walker corporation started by your dad or your grandfather. It's sort of evolved. So I think, um, I think it was, um, I and L Walker of Alec and Lang Walker. Um, the Walker group part probably evolved more out of just dad.

and grandfather was more on the civil side of things, but they sort of, yeah, come together. It's been effective. They're both there together and it's a sort of a vault. And do you feel a responsibility to continue that?

Going back to that leadership that Dad had spoken about, surround yourself by a good team. He had a leadership team in place that seconded none as far as I'm concerned, as far as the family concerned in Australia. And that's what they're really good at doing. They work really hard and they are really good at delivering. And he'd had these guys...

Not molded, but you he was working with this team, been together for probably over 10 years. And the CEO now, I think he's been with us for about 25 years. So these guys spoke, those two spoke more than Dad and I spoke. He'd speak to them three or four times a day. And so do I feel a responsibility? Yes, but as for the team that we've got in place,

Dylan Pathirana (26:32.29)
Yeah, we're still involved in the business, but we don't work in an executive capacity. So it's to give the guys who are really good at what they do the platform to go and do what they do really well. That's probably what we've got the responsibility for. Because there's still some really cool stuff that that had started, which needs execution. And these are the right guys to go and do it. Because they understood

boldness of some the things. And the next one is going to be Blacktown, where the Blacktown CBD is to be completely redesigned and reworked. Even some of our close comps that sit there and go, are you sure? Like this stuff nuts. But you look at the vision when he's gone, goes, well, if you can deliver it, it makes perfect sense. Yeah. So that's what I need to be responsible to, to, to let them.

give them the platform to keep going. Did you ever want to take over?

You know, I had a really privileged childhood and right the way through... ..which allowed us to go and do holidays and disappear from the business. Not a lot of notice. But also, with the family side of things, you had responsibilities... ..or you'd have to go off and do...meet people and whatnot.

Do I ever really want to take over? No, because I probably never thought the old man was ever not going to be around. know, it's... He just had this invincible aura around him and was... He's larger than life. Yeah, it was just... You could never see the day of him not being around. So it probably never really entered my mind. And to that point, I'd...

Dylan Pathirana (28:31.116)
had a couple of different career changes where my brother and I had gone off for a few years and done our own property development stuff. I had four kids, he had none, so we had different sort of drivers of where we wanted to go, know, as it hold or developed and so on. So then I went off for and did my own developments myself for a couple of years. I went and worked for a finance, property finance company for a year.

So I'm taking probably a lot more of the lifetime of learning journey than, than a straight career. That's my lane, sticking it. And the ag side of it now is probably doing the same thing. Okay. Well, I've learned a lot there. I'm not, I haven't learned anything and everything in real estate, but it's, um, here's a whole new challenge. Let's go and learn about that. And, uh, and that's what's, uh, you're driving me lot at the moment. Yeah.

So Blake, you mentioned that you had a, privilege childhood, like, know, and, know, so, growing up to a very successful businessman, that privilege life, what, what's it's like, you know, were you, you had the, the things that you can do as a normal kid or like, you know, your dad or mom and dad given you to do things. just trying to understand, you know, it was like we had,

Yeah, lots of time on the water. we're always around boats. Got to go to some amazing holiday places, both in Europe. We went skiing a lot over in America. So a lot of those things where you get to travel and see some fantastic... See the world, absolutely. And there was always, know, it wasn't just go off and sit on the beach and do nothing. was, well, you can learn a bit about...

wherever it was, either the culture or, or what it might be, but you're not just going to sit on the beach and read a book.

Dylan Pathirana (30:38.19)
But it was never, it was never a free ride. Like it's still had to go and it was not like, yeah, go to it. It's all worked in the holidays when we were around. Um, the day after I finished my final exams, I think I had one day off and I was on a building site the following day. Um, there was no sort of, okay, you finished school, have the summer off. So did you like your dad intentionally asked you to get involved in the business, uh, doing stuff or that was something that you were interested in doing?

that that stage like leaving school. Probably. Well, so didn't really know what I wanted to do. left school. I did sort of say I'd get into construction or so on. Yeah, what do I do? It's November. Christmas is coming up. I'll go and do a couple of weeks, library and get some get some money for the for the summer holidays. Yeah.

came back and from, I think we went to Mexico or something that year. No, we went to Mexico.

came back and sort of rodeo will holidays over. You're going to meet this guy and you'll start working there and do you work out what you want to do? Wasn't probably as studious as I should have been at school and the marks didn't quite get me into the, the, the university course I suspected I was going to get into. it was a rodeo.

pivot here. I'm now off to TAFE and I'm to do a building course at TAFE. it was a part-time thing. So I balanced the work. So it's sort of, again, another thing that has evolved. I started off saying, well, I thought I was going to go for a full-time uni. That didn't happen. I still want to do building. It's only available part-time. Well, I still got to work, might as well work in the building side and learn the two together. So just forgot to leave.

Dylan Pathirana (32:34.894)
for a long time, but it had a really interesting, right the way the whole business from being on site, project management, the town planning.

Yeah. So you had those days like family holidays, right? So the whole family went together to Mexico and then your mom and dad very family oriented as well. that's I heard I listened to that, you know, in when you had that speeches mentioned that your Fiji resort that your dad built it for your family to enjoy mainly.

Yeah, well, was.

It was always going to be a project of like, well, let's build this. But it was modeled on how would I like to family? How would I like to holiday with my family? So it was a generational resort. It needs to be able to have grandparents, parents, older kids and infants and have something for them all to do. But somewhere for them all to come together. he...

It took a long time to develop and get it right and there were still remodeling parts there that are not right, but it's...

Dylan Pathirana (33:49.71)
It was always done, well, what's my experience of with my family and that's sort of what works. And that's, the feedback we're getting is that they've had wonderful family holidays here and end up with incredible memories. we've had, there's a story of one young kid there that when it came, we call it the crying song when they, you go to leave and they're farewelling you. And it was a...

10 year old kid that they couldn't find the seaplanes about to leave and they couldn't find him anywhere. And they eventually found this kid hiding somewhere and they said, yeah, come on out little Tommy. And he said, no, no, no, I'm staying. Just get Dave to his credit card here and they can go home. staying. And you hear stuff like that from a young kid and you go, okay, well, we've got one market sorted. And I know that family being back. So we've got that part of the market sorted. it's yeah.

Yeah. I don't know if this is the right way to ask it, but do you think privilege is a blessing or a curse?

Dylan Pathirana (34:56.972)
That's a really interesting question because.

You never know if people are...

I've ended up becoming someone who I think is a fairly good reader of people because you've always got a guard up of going, well, what's their angle?

And I've got a, you know, what I'll call a reasonably good bullshit detector. You know, when someone's not quite right and you know, when someone's genuine. So is it a blessing or a curse to be astute around the environment you're in? I think it's been a real blessing. But as a curse, well then, yeah, you, you never really know if someone's going to be there. I've seen some amazing things and experienced some, experienced some awesome things.

I'd like to think I'm a pretty genuine person. I have not let the, the, the privilege as such, try to get to me too much. It's I'm still just a normal guy and I'll go to the pub and ask for the steak special rather than the T-bone steak. yeah, I'm, I'm frugal as I'll be, I'll watch the dollars as opposed to be frivolous with it.

Dylan Pathirana (36:24.482)
But, I don't know that it's either either one. It's just, it's what it is. It's what you make of it. Yeah. Yeah. Cause there's saying, think I've brought it up so many times on this podcast, but it's like tough times, great strong men, strong men create easy times, easy times, great, weak men. And it's something that like, I feel like you and me are in a similar situation. Sure. Absolutely. You know, your dad went off and started something and built an empire. Yep. And then you kind of.

We're in that seat of kind of, you know, had options, you're living on the shoulder of the, of the giant. And so then it's like, that's why I asked about responsibility because it's kind of like it, to me, it's a blessing and a curse at the same time. Yeah. Cause it's like, damn, I've got a fantastic life. But then there's also, feel like there's a weight on my shoulders. And look, they're, they're, they're

There should be a way to responsibility because if you've had that privilege, upbringing and especially if you get to see how those who haven't had that upbringing live and survive, there's a, there really is an obligation to make sure that, you know, I'm not a socialist further sing from it, but.

If you've got the resources to be able to help other people and, we're, we're, got a lot that our foundation does, but we've been very selective on it's in education and health. Um, and it's where the business is involved. you know, we do a lot of stuff in Western Sydney. Um, we've made a big contribution to the powerhouse at ParaMatter and it's around education. Uh, there's another one in, in Campbell town and it's around the hospital and it's around the,

health and medical research. So there's a saying that it's hard to make money. It's harder to give it away. And knowing how to do it, that's difficult. And that sounds hard, but you can let it go to whoever. if you actually focus it… …and that's the hardest part about medical research is there's so many different entities out there… …trying to get the same…

Dylan Pathirana (38:42.018)
funds available as, as philanthropy goes, it's how do you pick the right one? So, that's, you they have a whole nother rabbit hole that one, but it's, yeah. So it's. I don't think it's either. It's just a responsibility. It gives you a responsibility that you need to be mindful of, that you can make a difference with it. Yeah. And we've spoken a lot about your dad, but I want to know about your mom and kind of.

What do you think? Cause clearly she's played a massive role in your life as well. No, you're right. And they say behind every great man's a greater woman and probably no truer Testament because, um, you know, she's been following and following me around everywhere. you know, there was a, there was a saying that, yeah, so when I, the three of us get away all the time, what do you the three of you? Oh,

me, Sue and my phone. It was so, yeah, they'd go away in the known European holidays, they'd go away and time zone wise, he wouldn't be able to get off the phone until lunchtime one o'clock over there. So she'd sit around twiddle of thumbs and wait for him to be finished his work. Then they'd go and have lunch or whatever they'd go and do and come back and time zone wise, was right after dinner for him to start work again. And so that's how

Yep. She's, you she's put up with, you know, for a better saying, put up with that stuff forever. That was just normal. That's how it had always been. And she was a fantastic mum because, you he wasn't around at all. He worked hard and, you know, that was one thing we didn't do growing up. We didn't have regular family dinners, you know, Monday to Friday. know, the kids would eat early and then mum would wait and when dad got home it would be pre-mobile phones and that sort of stuff. But it's...

So, you know, she certainly kept us all together. As best as you when you're kids and you're all siblings and you love to hate each other and hate to each other. And it's so nice. She's been good. And, you know, it's still like that still very much the matriarch of the family, all the grandkids spending time with her and we all play golf together on Sundays. it's so she's still, you know, integral part of

Dylan Pathirana (41:09.14)
Our family, guess the leadership of the family's shifted now from dad to mum. It's the role that she's assumed and it's probably a little unfamiliar to her to be able to make some of those decisions. But yeah, she's doing great. She's only stepping up and yeah. Blake, how are you as a father? Have you changed? you're different to what you're doing, what your dad done or?

I mean, you've got four beautiful children, right? Yeah, sure. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, four, yes, four beautiful children. Yeah. It's, it's a different time. Yeah, we've got the ability now to work from anywhere.

And that allows you to spend more time with the kids geographically, not necessarily more time with them in a manner that you're conversing with them. the mobile phone and internet allows you to be anywhere in the world, still be able to do work. And you'll able to bring that down to shorter periods of time, but you can have your family there so you can balance that time.

that time with them.

I'm sure I'm a product of what I learnt from my parents. Probably not too dissimilar from the way I was brought, given as many opportunities as possible.

Dylan Pathirana (42:46.914)
Yeah, it's, anything you're trying to do different though? It's like there anything that you're.

Dylan Pathirana (42:54.094)
What am I trying to do? Yes, it probably is.

trying to get them to set their own path a bit more. So the three of us, my brother and sister and I, all end up in the family business or in property at some stage. At the moment, my oldest is in the family business. And of the next three, two of them are at uni. One's doing or just swapping from teaching to a business degree.

I it's just done a just finished a business degree and a communication degree. So what that would might or might not have to do with the property business, who knows? Is there an opportunity for them to go work there? Yeah, I guess if there's a role. But not to be reliant upon the fact that there's an investment there that we have that you could that's available to you, you might need to go and

set your own course. and you're smart enough and clever enough and brave enough to go and do it. So give it a crack. They're all only young, um, or 23 to 19. So, um, go have a crack. You you can't make too many mistakes at this age. Is that one of the reasons you think that you wanted to start this cattle farm to kind of forge your own path?

No, I don't think it really came into. I've always had an interest in it. And I don't know where it came from, but from a young age, I love spending time on farms. My wife's a country girl. Although she hasn't spent a lot of time out there since school. And I've just always had a had a real affection for being

Dylan Pathirana (44:55.47)
away in the quiet. I've always been happy to do some hard work as far as, you know, getting dirty and, and, and doing stuff. It's always new. You're always learning. Um, yes, you've got to be, you've got to be, um, nimble things change regularly. You the weather deliveries, whatever cows go down, whatever it might be, there's something that's going to change. You can start the day with 10 items on your list of things to do, and you'll get halfway through item one.

And your day will change. There's a saying, it'll take five or five, five minutes or five hours. It could be either one, especially when you're working with animals. So yeah, was that a drive for me? No, probably not. But it's evolved into going, well, yeah, okay. It's, here now. Let's go online, something new. The door on the property. I've still got a few property investments and developments I do myself. So that door is certainly not shut, but this is just a whole new, whole new venture.

And what do you reckon it's taught you?

There's not a lot of money in farming. You've to be very resilient. It's a lot of fun.

You're surrounded by a bunch of really genuine people. They'll tell you exactly what they think very quickly.

Dylan Pathirana (46:25.026)
But in saying that, I think the future of the ag in Australia in particular is really got a huge opportunity. They're not creating any more land that's durable and to able to grow stuff, we've got a fantastic environment here to be able to grow just about anything. It just needs the right people in there and it is getting a lot more corporate, which is a bit of a shame.

sort of needs people on the ground, boots on the ground to be able to deliver the outcomes. Something that's getting rarer though, like, especially kids who are staying in family farms. Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, cause it's not, it's not what you wouldn't be getting into it for the money. There's, you don't see very many, rich farmers rolling around. not to say that you won't end up with a nice lifestyle and, and what's the fun part of farming.

Dylan Pathirana (47:25.93)
creating. It's the end of and that's a bit of same as building. It's at the end of the day, you can see what you've done. It's animal health is something that's very important. You're to do a lot of vaccinations and injections and all that sort of stuff. And knowing that you're looking after those, they've got a job at end of the day, they're either going to have calves or they're going to end up on a plate. And that's the fact of what it does as far as

cattle farming goes. And it's a journey to get there. So you need to make sure that to get the best product. It's a journey that you need to go step by step. And it's quite methodical. All right. Yeah. That if you miss a step, that could have a result or a negative outcome in 18 months, two years time. Did you have any like other than your parents, did you have any kind of mentors? It's interesting. And after listening to a few of these

previous episodes and I think you've asked a few people that question and I thought it

Father certainly one as you'd expect. Father-in-law as well on the farm side. He's been fantastic and given me a lot of advice. both the outlaw… …monster-in-law, the mother-in-law should say. The one on the record. And they're all fantastic on the family side of things. But as far as a business mentor goes… …I had coaches and guys like that.

…probably not a mentor or such. And I've been thinking about who would I… …and again out of the coaching from Harvard… …our coach sort of set me the challenge to go and identify someone that I think could be. And I've really…I've struggled with it.

Dylan Pathirana (49:17.834)
I don't know why. don't know. I wouldn't know how to approach the right person. A few names popped in my head. you know, so short answer is no, haven't outside of the immediate family. haven't really had an external mentor as such, but I'm working on it with your dad. Right. Obviously you learn so much from your dad, seeing what he was doing. Right. Apart from that.

Have you had any chats with him? Like, you know, one on one chat, like, you know, he'd given you some advice. he'd always give me career advice, family advice, advice on my golf swing. Tell me what I was doing wrong in the sailing boat. I wasn't pointing high enough. So he never was one to hold back his thoughts. He actually, strange enough, he took a real interest in the cattle. So when I started there, he was,

really intrigued as to what I was doing, why I was doing it. He years ago, about 15 years ago, maybe a bit longer, maybe it was 20 years ago, board a large cattle station up in the Gulf of Queensland on the territory border as a funny sort of story behind how he got into it. But he quickly understood the mechanics of what the important things were there and...

got about putting them in place and he only had the property, I think, for about three years. But then sort of informed what that market was doing for... You know, sold it for X and he just kept watching the value of the property go up.

And so he had shown quite a bit of interest in what I was doing.

Dylan Pathirana (51:10.99)
I'll suggest you ask a whole lot of uneducated questions, which I know what I don't know. I I know I don't know what I don't know. So, but often those questions that lead me to go off and say, I better find that out. Cause that was one thing he was really good at doing was asking questions that were, could walk into a meeting with him and think you have all the answers to every question and really be prepared. And you'd sit down, he'd ask you the first question you go, I don't know. And you're just like, I don't, didn't say, and a bit of luck.

He would have been a star Harvard student. He just had that ability to think from a completely different angle and make it so obvious. Why didn't you think of that? So that was one of his great abilities. he'd stump, he'd stump the greatest people. And maybe that's what a lot of those leaders can do is just look at things from a different, from a different perspective. I guess that probably come from their experience, right? Like, you know, what they, what you learn.

When you're going through some very difficult situations, right? You have to be really creative to survive on some of the situations, right? So I'm sure your dad had several, those kinds of challenges and opportunities. Um, so that's when you start thinking totally differently. You have to, right? Only way that's the only way you survive, right? Sure. Yeah. That's, um, you've got to be agile. You've got to be able to be reactive. Um, if there's an opportunity, jump at it.

If there's a issue assess it, deal with it. yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's exactly what we were talking about. Like what Dylan was saying, you know, sometimes having that privilege, like, you know, childhood is that give you enough opportunities or challenges to learn. Right. But saying that you're not just sitting down and, and, you know, enjoying what your dad's success, you already started your own.

business and you're trying and you're going through a lot of challenges right now. Yep, absolutely a lot of challenges. Yeah, but at the same time, think again part of that responsibility is to share what I've absolutely the next generation. So you say well, here's what I've learned and take that and make it better. I've learned from the mistakes I made and stand on the shoulders of giants and create something that's better again or an improved solution.

Dylan Pathirana (53:36.134)
And that's, think what you'll find is probably a sub topic of success is can I stand on, can I learn from those who have gone before me and do it better? Exactly. So some of the discussions that we had, like Casey, what he was saying, pretty much you take someone's framework rather than you kind of recreate something or come, you know, pretty much framework, right? Like someone's framework and then successful person. Yep. Copy.

And rather than, sound and try and do it. Yeah. Adapted. Yeah. Pretty much. Yeah. Cause I can guarantee you they've made mistakes. how do you learn from those mistakes? And yeah, you don't have to make mistakes. You know, learn from other, mean, yeah, do it once. It's not a mistake. Do it twice. It's a mistake. Absolutely right. And I think this would be an interesting one. Comparing what you think success is coming from the city and then also seeing

and being around these people in the country. Do you see like a clear difference in kind of what people class as success?

Mm.

Dylan Pathirana (54:49.12)
Yes, I'm probably not qualified to answer from the regional cycle. I haven't been there long enough. But the same thing as having a good family outcome. And rural things you just said before about having succession planning is really difficult. You have a family that's got three or four kids. If the business footprint hasn't grown, and it's not easy to do, know, it's...

can a business end sustain three kids who are all going to a salary? And you see a lot of families who the kids will work back there and they'll just never draw a salary from it. They'll have things paid for through the business and so on, but they'll never actually really draw a salary. Then parents pass and then it's like, okay, we've now got three of us. We've got to start to work out how we're going to, how we're going to divvy this show up.

And it's a really, no doubt I'll end up seeing it when I decided to get out of it and my kids may or may not want to step into the role, it's, that's a difficult one, but yeah, I'm probably not qualified on the, on the regional side of it. And you mentioned something really early on, which I think is an interesting point that I want to get your opinion on. was kind of, said something along the lines of, people kind of.

push you out once you've started to succeed. And I think it's the tall poppy syndrome here in Australia. And I want to get your take. Why do you think here, especially when people start to become successful, people, people don't want to like know you. It's,

bit of fallacy, I think Australians… …my view on Australians tend to be that if you can show them… can work hard and that you're not afraid to get your hands dirty… …and get the boots on and stand alongside them and work… …you'll quickly gain their respect. But if you can't demonstrate that you want to sit on an ivory tower… …and think that you're different or better than anyone else…

Dylan Pathirana (57:06.412)
That's where that tall poppy syndrome comes from. back to Gretel's definition of an entrepreneur, was someone who's out there and flashy gold teeth and the whole bit. it's like, that's just such a small minority. That's like saying the only birds is the bin chicken. There's so many other birds that are beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's,

So yeah, like said, I've worked on all different aspects of things. I've met the people I've met incredible all over the world. But quite enjoy getting back on the site and meeting the blokes that's got the shovel and the broom and then whatever he hasn't got, I'll pick up and work alongside it. It's I think if you can demonstrate that you're going a lot of respect and I think Australia is good at respect and really good at...

disrespect isn't the right word, but calling someone out if they're not willing to have a go. was very different to the American version, which is that guy's really successful. I want to be like him and expect it. I think Australian say, no, you got to earn it. Hmm. I like that. I would agree with you. think. Yeah. yeah. yes and no. Right. I agree to a certain, like, you know, the Australians are very good to help people like when they really need help.

Right. So this is my experience again. I mean, we all had different journeys, different experience, I guess, you know, so I had so many help when I started my business, to get to where I am today. Right. But then certain level, you know, they start cutting me off. I felt it. Like, you know, mean, direct conversation I had, you've grown too fast. Right. So I had some pushback.

Not that I was lazy or anything. I was working very, very hard. Maybe I felt like, know, in a way that what this guy's saying, I don't, you don't really need my help. Like you, reached that point that you can do it yourself. I don't know. It's just so silly. I think it's a universal thing. You know, I, I mean, I'm coming from Sri Lanka. I know.

Dylan Pathirana (59:27.118)
People have the similar kind of attitude. Like sometimes, you know, they help you to get to where, know, like, know, when you need help, but then come to a certain level, you know, uh, they don't want to kind of, you know, yeah, they don't see, you know, you don't, don't deserve that. If you flip that around a bit and again, back to that first, um, session we had with the coach and.

All eight of us around the table felt like we had an imposter syndrome. Yeah. And you wonder if people who are offering help are happy when they know they're able to help. Yeah. And then when they start to say, hey, and you're on my level. Yeah. I don't want to offer that help in case you look, you've obviously been very successful to get to here. Am I going to start looking silly? If you keep going. And I think.

successful people generally have that have a trigger of doubt in the back of their mind. Yeah, constantly. that's probably what drives a lot of people to go well, they've got to quash it or prove it wrong. Yeah. And maybe that's where people sort of say, I'm not willing to help you anymore, because I might look silly. You've obviously picked up really well. I was one that was one thing I was really amazed with the amount of people that suggested that they didn't feel like they belonged in the room with a Sarah.

Yeah. And it was, I think it was a hundred percent of it. They all said, they all say that they're amazingly successful people. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And it all went, Oh, I'm not sure I belong here. And it was just like, I'm not the only one. Great. Um, and I just wonder, you know, it's, I can move, I can move something from the shop to the back of my car and get into the house and get into the fridge, but I'm not going to tell you how to go beyond that. Yeah. Oh, I mean, this is a whole different discussion, right? That's like, mean, it's a

Yeah. I guess, you know, we all had different kind of a journey and different experience, but, know, yeah. suppose kind of what's next for you. Like, suppose it's the cattle business, but where, where do you see it going? What's the goal?

Dylan Pathirana (01:01:47.374)
And this sounds a bit terrible because I don't actually have a, again, it's a bit of a journey. It's very early. A a branded product that I can have a integrated supply chain from end to end. The classic plate. I probably don't need to have retail stores or anything like that, but be able to provide it to that and take out, sorry, value add.

to my product right the way through. Cause I know that what I get is what I've got is a really good product and give it its best ability to do the best it can when it gets in front of a consumer. What that looks like, I don't know. The hemp fed stuff I hope would be the line it takes. But like I said, it's got a lot of hurdles to get flying yet, but still making sure that what I'm putting in front of a consumer is

the best product it can be. It's probably the simplest way of summing it up. And looking back on your journey, do you feel successful?

Dylan Pathirana (01:02:57.804)
On the criteria that I laid out before, yeah, you know, with family, I haven't upset too many people along the way. I'm involved in a few communities that I enjoy being involved in. Family life, you know, think it's really good. So, so far, looking back, I'd be ticking a few boxes and going, I'm on the right path.

But it's a, hopefully a very long journey, journey yet to come. Yeah. It's an exciting journey coming off as well. That's for sure. That is definitely for sure. And I suppose to wrap this conversation up, I've jotted down a few things, which I think are keys to your success. The first one I think is a pretty obvious one is family. It sounds like, it sounds like honestly, we're pretty similar in terms of family. It's like a very strong core pillar.

Because like even when I talk about family to my friends just similar to you It's not quite the same. You've got to be able to rely on them. Yeah, so you've to be able to rely on someone Who better than family? Yeah, you can't pick them. You're stuck with them It's a relationship that does take work because you're all different

But you know them intimately and that's important. you, yeah, it's a key relationship to have for any sort of success. If that's not right, everything else is holding on. And then the next one I've got is it's your view on success is very holistic. And I think that kind of ties into your life. Like you could have just gone and focused hard on, on work, or you could have just.

You know, you were one of few people in a situation where you could have kind of just hands off and just gone and enjoyed life with your family. But you've, you've managed to kind of work all of the strings and you're, you're working on this very holistic and balanced life. And I think that's something which gives you like long-term success because you feel balanced. And as you said, it's a journey. I think along the way there's going to be ups and downs in all of those different buckets, but.

Dylan Pathirana (01:05:19.8)
that will end up fools. No, I think that's someone explained to me, know, life is like a circus performer. One those guys that spin plates and you sit there and they spin one plate on a pole and then they spin the next one and then they get four or five going. They've got to come back and work on the one that's starting to wobble. And you've got to keep, how many of those plates can you keep going at once? and if you can get, you know, a few of them going and

spinning consecutively. That's a holistic sort of approach to everything rather than just focusing on a single line. think life would be bit boring if you weren't able to be.

Experiencing as much as possible. And the next one I have is you're a hard worker. And I think it's, I said it a bit before, but you give off the full Australian battler mentality. You go at things, you give them a red hot crack and you know, whether it pans out or not, you can be, you know, sit with yourself knowing that you gave it your best shot.

And whether it's in, you know, work or family or, know, your new venture, I think you work hard, and, and get after the things that you want. And then the last thing is authenticity. And I think that's probably my biggest takeaway is, you know, you're in a situation, a very unique situation, where as I said before, you could have taken an entirely different path.

but you kind of own your situation. You're not trying to beat around the bush and say, I had a super tough life, like super tough upbringing. You own your situation and you're trying to build upon that. That's something like I really, really respect. you you are like, you're not trying to hide it. You're following your passions and you're being true to yourself, which I think is something that's becoming more and more rare. People are trying to chase.

Dylan Pathirana (01:07:31.502)
things that are getting shoved down our throat by society, but you're, you're going the opposite way. You're doing things which are unique to you. And so I'm really glad that we got to sit down. That was a really interesting summation. Don't thank you for that. Yeah. Add to that Dylan's authenticity, you know, knowing Blake for last two years, and especially last few months, hanging out with you quite regularly, uh, on your face all the time. Um, he's one of the humble guys that I've ever seen.

When we did our introduction in our eight of us in the living group and he was just saying he's working on this beef farming thing, right? I mean, none of these guys actually knew his background. You know, he's I mean, probably not important to him to share that. But I had to tell, you know, Blake is, you know, coming from a very successful family. And he was like, if you don't know Blake very well, you know, you probably see him.

Very casual, you know, talk to everyone. Want to understand every, everyone's seen our background and things like that, but very, very humble guy. know, he's not showing off. know, Tommy, was intimidating. I think that's part of the authenticity. Yeah, exactly. You're You, you're not just sitting on your father's legacy. Absolutely writing your own story. Yeah. Like this podcast isn't the Lang walker episode. This is the bike walker episode and there's back so much.

we've learned from you. Not just, you know, your family's. Yeah. And Blake, it's amazing to have you on this podcast and you've done really well for your first social media podcast. You'll have to me how to download it. Next, the next one, hopefully we'll be at the the farm.

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Taste testing, taste testing. sounds like a, yeah. We'll have to get you through the yard. first thing is a free steak. That's right. That's right. Thank you very much for having me. with, with that, if you've learned anything from today's episode, we'd really appreciate it. If you follow and subscribe to us on whichever platform you're listening to this on right now. And if you want to watch more inspiring episodes, you can see all of them over at our website, the quest for success podcast.com.

Dylan Pathirana (01:09:48.994)
And with that, we'll see you guys in the next episode. Thanks for listening. Thank you. Thanks. Bye.