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When you have accomplished everything you set out to do and achieved the ambitions and promises you made to yourself, where do you go? While there’s always an opportunity to build on your successes and diversify, Andrew Purdy, chief executive of property developers Bennett Williams, has found a new kind of satisfaction through philanthropy.
Using the incredible skillset and team he has built as one of Australia’s top property developers, he returns with plans to revolutionize social housing. Purdie also hopes to inspire others to make giving back a focus of 2023 with his new podcast, The hidden philanthropist.
“This year, my ambition is to integrate a purely social housing development division into my business, which distributes 100 percent of the profits to selected charities that my family wishes to partner with and support,” he explains.
“This is the most satisfying part of my career so far. To run a brand that continues to seek improvement and at the same time makes a social difference.”
Attitude: Changes with growth
There is no doubt that time and success have changed Purdie’s thinking. “At the beginning of my career, being a successful entrepreneur was driven solely by my insecurities and fear of failure; and drive and determination that overcame that uncertainty,” he says.
“I was corporately aggressive, I didn’t sleep much, I didn’t listen to advice and I was stressed as hell, but I wanted to succeed at all costs. I literally drove myself into the ground to achieve my financial goals. In retrospect, it was crazy. I approach my career in a very different way now, and my purpose and drive come from a very different place.”
Recognizing that he surrounded himself with talented colleagues who excelled in areas of the business that he felt were not his areas of expertise freed Purdy to focus on his strengths.
“My approach these days is to bring in the intelligence around me that I lack and nurture and support them so that they want to support me in return,” he says. “I enjoy engaging consultants who are much more talented than I am in areas that are not in my area of genius.”
Giving back has become a stronger calling, and it’s something he feels can benefit so many other CEOs. He created The Purdie Foundation as he shifted his focus from what he could accumulate to what he could share.
“The Foundation will focus on delivering social housing projects as a solution to Australia’s huge social housing problem; while at the same time providing a significant amount of money to non-profit organizations,” he says.
Purdie is also looking forward to the launch of his new podcast The hidden philanthropist will inspire others to get out there and support charities and causes that speak to them. “I feel a personal obligation to help those who really need help,” he explains.
“I’ve had a wonderful career so far and I’ve achieved many things I never thought possible. Now a stage has come in my life where I feel it is time to help others. I can – so I must.”
Philanthropy: A Personal Mission
Purdie appreciates the opportunity to give back, as he feels he has been able to provide so much for his family by building his company, Bennett Williams. He wanted to be able to send his children to the best schools and take them on amazing trips, as he himself grew up in a low-income single-parent family where he watched his mother sacrifice for her children.
He believes this has given him an empathetic perspective and motivation to share his knowledge, experience and wealth to help others in the most effective way possible. He started by making sure the company was community-minded, socially conscious and environmentally responsible, but that wasn’t enough.
Having personally felt inspired by the stories of others who give of their time and energy, Purdy was baffled by the fact that so often this area of one’s life goes unnoticed.
“It’s ugly and unscrupulous to push your own agenda when it comes to philanthropy and helping others. However, there are so many amazing people whose plans need to be highlighted and their philanthropy talked about in a public forum,” he notes.
Now he hopes to be part of a cultural change himself. “I love interacting with people and engaging them in conversation; and I am genuinely interested in every word they have to say.
He found the conversations with the guests on his podcast incredibly inspiring and motivating, and he hopes the feeling is contagious to those who tune in.”[Listeners] they need to understand how they can make an impact and where they can get advice on how they can help. I hope [the podcast will be] inspiring other people to engage with their communities or causes they wish to join and to go out and make a difference,” he says.
“Donate a few hours of your time, read a book to a sick child, deliver food to the elderly or homeless. It doesn’t take much to have a big impact.”
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