From cotton chipping in blistering summer heat to joining the corporate undertakers cleaning up the One.Tel collapse, and selling Auscott to a Canadian pension fund giant, Greg Quinn, the agribusiness deal broker, has learnt plenty about work ethics, big companies, career risks and trustworthy team building.
The food and agribusiness partner with financial services heavyweight, PwC Australia, and also Grove Juices managing director, says one of agriculture's open secrets to success is having the right culture and empathy for the sector.
"If you work for me, you need to really build a personal connection with the people we are responsible to and get the basics right," he told a Farm Writers Association of NSW Agribuzz event in Sydney.
"In agriculture you have to stick to a long game - whatever area you work in.
"If you choose to chase short term gains it's going to impact your integrity at some point."
Mr Quinn, from a farm on the NSW-Queensland border at Mungindi, gave up full time university study because he decided to "get a real taste of employment rather than studying it".
He joined regional accounting group Boyce in Moree, and, seemingly, hasn't looked back.
A series of sometimes random and bold career moves saw the bush accountant move into corporate insolvency work in Sydney, just as big insurer HIH and telecommunications high flyer One.Tel both went broke; then find himself restructuring remote Northern Territory businesses and local authorities, and doing capital raising deals, mergers and acquisitions with the likes of Elders, Select Harvests, Freedom Foods, Auscott and RM Willams' Inglewood Farms, and more.
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"I very quickly realised your job, your decisions, impact other people's lives," he said.
"I really wanted to see these businesses, their staff, the communities which depend on them, prosper.
"I also want to see our people prosper in their careers, by getting the basics right - returning those phone calls, building the right culture and relationships."
More than 14O guests from across the agricultural spectrum attended the popular Farm Writers' Agribuzz, hosted by National Australia Bank, to hear Mr Quinn's experiences and thoughts.
Agribuzz this year celebrates its 15th anniversary as an agribusiness information, networking and professional development event.
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Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
