About Us
Adventures with Purpose is an organisation founded by Steve Scanlan and Mike Roddy.
Based on the principle of living a full life yet giving to those deserving in our community who are fighting battles with terminal illness, Steve and Mike found their purpose.
With a passion for sport and business, Steve and Mike are constantly testing their own boundaries when it comes to endurance events. The decision to bring along everyone for the journey and raise funds for worthy families was a logical outcome.
In 2018 over $50,000 was raised at our inaugural Dinner, proudly supporting the Starlight Foundation. In 2019, we have doubled our goal and we are determined along with all your help, to raise $100,000 for Starlight.
Steve and Mike are proud supporters of Starlight and we are privileged to again be raising funds for this most worthy cause. Steve in his role as Board member for Queensland, has undertaken previous adventures and we invite you to read all about them in our 'The story so far’ page.
Steve and Mike have been long time friends who have a passion for making a difference in this world we all live in.
The simple philosophy that a life must be lived exploring one’s potential and facing up to all the wonderful moments and challenges as that is what makes life so fulfilling. Self described as the ultimate ‘odd couple’ they have very different personal and professional backgrounds and experiences and yet as the old saying goes, the more things that are different about us, the more the same we all are!
The idea of setting up ‘Adventures with Purpose’ is to continue living a life full of adventure as well as give to those who are most deserving. Our love for endurance events such a marathons, treks etc. is the ideal sort of challenges we are passionate about and proudly supporting the Starlight Foundation goes hand in hand.
MIKE RODDY
Mike Roddy has a passion for living a life of purpose and fulfillment. Mike is a very dedicated father of a teenage son, has held a variety of senior corporate roles across a diverse industry base, and is currently Managing Director of Technology People Group – Queensland. a specialist IT and Consulting firm in the field of IT Recruitment and Consultancy. Mike is the host of a weekly podcast ‘Career Journeys and Aspirations’ and dedicates any spare time to Family, Friends, Sport, The Arts, and Community Support.
Mike has extensive involvement in Business consultancy, Career Advisory, Sales and Operations Management, HR / Recruitment, Consultancy across IT, Digital, HR / Telecommunications / Advertising / Sales and Hospitality industries. Mike has a record of demonstrable success in business development and has managed firms on the BRW’s top twelve in growth, as well as being the recipient of a number of industry success awards.
His expertise and experience include:
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recruitment – IT and executive
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strategic sales and operations management
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(B2B and B2C)
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human resources including career and
business advisory -
business planning and implementation
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change management
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financial management
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operational support
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direct sales
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employment relations roles.
Mike regularly commentates on the world of work through various media channels, hosts workshops and is considered one of the foremost thought leaders on leadership and workforce optimisation.
STEVE SCANLAN
CEO Steve Scanlan has built a stellar career in professional sport and business. His proudest achievement is his family of 5 who as all fathers can appreciate, he is dedicated to.
From a business perspective, Steve is notable for his stewardship of Recon Solutions’ meteoric growth, reflected in a slew of industry awards for growth and entrepreneurship crowned by his victory of “Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2017”. Steve has made an indelible mark on the Recruitment industry with his attitude toward hiring and talent management. The recruitment industry recognised this in 2018 by awarding Steve the coveted “Leadership Award” at the annual ITCRA gala dinner in Sydney.
Steve’s vision was to create a company that cared about families and not just the financials. Steve’s philosophy is that companies need to hire the best talent and this is exactly what he has done. The team is considered family, and all interactions are based on a level of trust and camaraderie, rarely seen in most corporate enterprises today.
Steve’s achievements have been considerable across many disciplines.
Representing England in Professional Rugby League, and occupying senior corporate roles that eventually culminated in starting a HR / Recruitment Consultancy that achieved the fastest growth enterprise in Queensland for 2017 and 12th fastest in Australia according to the BRW - this sets Steve apart from most of the competition.
Steve is on the Qld Advisory Board for Starlight Children’s Foundation, is the chairman of the newly formed New York Rugby League team which has been accepted into the English competition, a Harvard Business School Graduate and is a regular speaker at Industry breakfasts and various events focused on Entrepreneurship and Leadership principles that work in today’s business arena. Publicly, Steve is known for giving Boxer Jeff Horn financial support to take up his dream as a world-class Boxer without the impact of holding down a job at the same time.
Steve has recently completed a book on his journey which will be released in early 2020 and is now looking at new projects to invest his time and effort into, after recently divesting his Recruitment and Consulting Business to pursue his passion for start-ups as well as new projects in philanthropy.