Mike writes, “‘I continued to live in Australia over the last 33 years, during which time I also seized some attractive career opportunities to live and consult in Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Germany for some years. Around 15 years ago, I moved the family down to the picturesque Huon Valley south of Hobart in Tasmania to live on our sheep farm in Mountain River, while still working full time. I held a number of roles for State and Federal government in Tasmania as a consultant and business advisor, assisting small to medium sized enterprises to prosper. For the last six years I have worked for Blundstone Australia, an aspiring and rapidly growing family-owned leather boot and safety footwear manufacturing business with its roots and headquarters based in Hobart. I joined as Group Quality Manager and was then promoted to Global Head of Design and Technology, which required regular travel to its manufacturing partners in Vietnam, Thailand, China, India, Romania and Mexico. Sadly, my wife Jane developed a Glioblastoma IV brain tumour at the end of 2018 and after an 18-month courageous battle quietly passed away in June this year aged 55. Jane leaves the legacy of our three wonderful children Jasper (26), Angus (24) and Emma (21). I have since taken early retirement to focus on developing our farm as an income source to support retirement’.”
