The Author
A bit about Bruce Sullivan.
Bruce Sullivan is a relationship specialist and a proven performer in achieving results through people for over 25 years. His practical, hands on experience is based on working in both the community and business. He is a Husband to Gillian of 25 years, a Father to Hannah (14) and Declan (11) and he currently balances this with being a director of six private companies.
Based in Brisbane, Australia, Bruce is known worldwide as an authority on how to live a balanced life – at home and at work. His life is evidence to what he teaches from the platform, with his time shared with family and friends, business and the community (and in that order).
Managing his own businesses since his teens, by age 24 he had established his own million-dollar network of businesses and he has an extended track record of working with a wide range of private and public organisations’, both in Australia and overseas.
Bruce has also worked with individuals, families and communities providing education and opportunities for personal improvement. It is this experience that has given him a unique understanding of our ability to relate to one another in the workplace and at home. It is what sets his work apart as he gives very practical, timely and often humourous insights into what makes we humans tick.
To compensate for the travel that he does for work, Bruce schedules eight weeks of annual leave each year to coincide with school holidays. This ensures a healthy balance and that family stays at the top of his priority list. The Sullivan family love to travel and make the most of every opportunity to go exploring.
Second to his family, his personal passions centre around education and making a positive difference through his work in both business and in the community. He is one of only a few speakers in the world who is currently an owner of businesses outside of speaking. By combining his experiences with family, business and the community Bruce brings a refreshing response to the issues that affect all three and their impact on each other.
Bruce has a huge list of goals that he is working through each year and the energy he brings to almost every day is one based on the fact that he knows one day the ‘pulse will be gone’ and his turn will be over.
He enjoys anything to do with water whether it is on it (boating), in it (swimming) or under it (diving) and he has been involved in learning and teaching martial arts in the disciplines of Kung Fu and Ju Jitsu for over 20 years. Bruce still plays competitive soccer, enjoys a hit of tennis and gets through one game of golf a year. He has also held his Private Pilot Licence since 1996 which was a goal he completed after resigning to the fact that he was getting too old to be an astronaut!
When asked if he gets it right every time he admits that, “As soon as I find the perfect relationship and I join it… it’s not perfect anymore.” He does however go on to say, “The goal is not perfection but a genuine desire to improve your own effectiveness and how you interact with your family, your business and your community. Imagine if every year you could look back over your life and clearly and easily identify the areas that you are now more effective in and more importantly, what you did specifically to make those improvements.”
In 2007 Bruce was awarded the Keynote Speaker of the Year by the National Speakers Association of Australia. He was also presented with the Paul Harris Fellowship Award for his outstanding contribution to the Rotary Youth Leadership Award which is a Youth Leadership Program for up and coming leaders in the 18 to 25 year old category. Bruce has been presenting at this program for over 19 years.
Through his book ‘Hannah’s Christmas Gift’ Bruce has raised over $80,000 for Down Syndrome Associations all over the world. Over $40,000 has been raised for Make a Wish Foundation through sales of his second book ‘Rippa! How To Have The Energy Of A Four Year Old Almost Every Day.’
Bruce’s latest business venture sees a return to the hospitality industry with the launch of the first of many ‘Una Vita – Inspirational Coffee’ cafes on the Northside of Brisbane (Australia.) Una Vita means ‘One Life’ in Italian. Bruce explains “At Una Vita we live by this ‘One Life’ mentality by striving to live life to the full. We aim to create the best for our lives and the lives of those around us through serving and loving our community.”
Right next door is the 1 Life Health and Fitness Centre. A place where dedicated trainers take a wholistic approach to health, fitness and wellbeing. They’re helping people transform their lives – not only physically, but by inspiring them to be the best they can be in all areas of their life.
Read an excerpt from Hannahs Christmas Gift here – “Who Is Hannah?”