To provide perspective on our origins and mission, below is a summary of Russell’s career journey:
My quest for a fulfilling career began in perhaps an unusual way when I was taken out of school in Australia at 14 due to a family health and financial crisis.
Lacking a career path, I stumbled around for a while. But seeing an obvious need, I eventually committed to providing my large family with a home of their own. With a brother, I bought a small business. We achieved our goal and I left Australia seeking further education and a fulfilling new direction.
I studied in the UK, then spent a few years in Africa as a minister of religion. I found it rich in meaning but unacceptably restrictive of freedom of thought. With my American wife and our young family, I relocated to the US, entered the corporate world and advanced to a top executive role. As head of franchising for a restaurant chain, I transformed it into one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing franchise systems.
Life was financially rewarding and for a time, challenging, but success led me to realise that my Vice Presidents and team no longer needed me. The company also went through a takeover and I realised that under its new ownership, its golden era would soon end. The recognition that this could happen at any time undermined my interest in moving to another company even as CEO.
More fundamentally, the underlying need for more meaningful work had never abated.
I resigned and sought a new direction through a return to self-employment. What followed was an extended period during which I was unsuccessful in finding support and guidance of the quality I needed. I wasted several more years.
However, after returning with my family to Australia, I recognised that key insights gained through my own experiences provided the foundation to develop a career management model that would help clients build their own powerfully inspiring futures.
I now find my work more fulfilling than ever.
I had finally found the compelling vision I had been seeking for so long.
In 1992, I founded EPR Careers, Australia’s first career management firm for executives and professionals. Over the ensuing 22 years, the firm helped thousands to achieve more engaging and impactful careers and gain the powerful sense of meaning I myself had sought.
Yet learning opportunities continued. I became committed to a model with excessive overheads. Eventually, funds ran out and the business changed hands in 2014.* It was a painful experience but led to one of the most transformative periods of my life because it freed me to see things differently.
In 2015, I returned to my chosen path to apply the lessons of the past in a better structured business. Today, I find my work more fulfilling than ever. I aim to be of service for many years to come and to build a legacy worthy of being counted among the world’s leading career development consultancy firms.
* The new owners closed the business in 2016. In 2017, the name was re-registered by another business. However, there has never been any connection whatsoever between that business and the one that I launched in 1992.
Russell Johnson
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