I’m so glad to be here today. I want to share a personal story with you that I hope will resonate and inspire. It’s a story about dreams, setbacks, and finding a new purpose.

In 2014, I sat at my dining room table in South Melbourne, years before I was a dad. We were living off my wife’s wage as I poured my
life’s savings into a new business - Private Mortgages Australia (PMA). Its mission was simple: to help small and medium businesses access credit when traditional banks would say no. After several years of blood, sweat, and tears, the company became a big success. The headcount kept growing, and life was good. We raised millions from investors and completed over $100M in property finance settlements when I stepped aside as Managing Director in late 2019.

With PMA’s continued success over its first five years came a big decision. My family and I decided to leave Melbourne behind and embrace a
sea change in Northern Rivers, NSW. A slower pace of life by the coast where we could spend more time raising our kids closer to nature. It was a dream come true, but the journey didn’t end there.

In a dramatic turn of events, PMA fell on hard times, and I was confronted with a choice. Go broke waiting for the company to be profitable
again or jump back in as the Managing Director to get the company back on track. Little did I know, the other shareholders thought otherwise, voted me off the board of directors, and terminated my employment contract, Steve Jobs style. It felt like a punch to the gut, like being kicked out of a place I had worked so hard to build. I remember feeling like a failure, especially with three young children at home and a fourth soon on the way. It was one of the most challenging times in my life; we came close to losing everything we had worked so hard to achieve. I went from being a ‘Winning Dad’ on the top of my financial game to a ‘Wounded Dad’ within a year.

But here’s the thing about tough times – they reveal our true strength. I had to dig deep and find a way to regain financial security
for my family. It wasn’t easy, but I persevered. As a ‘Visionary Dad’, I immediately started to cook up new business ideas, but having burned through all our savings, we ran out of runway, and I knew we couldn’t take that path. Not with mouths to feed and mortgage to pay. I had to bite the bullet and plug into an existing business; I needed to face reality for where I was and prioritise my family's needs over my own. PMA was my firstborn, so I couldn’t stomach the thought of working for a competitor. I needed to find something different, even if it meant starting from scratch in a new industry.

Enter Property Strategy. I soon started learning a new skill set. It allowed me to take my finance nerd skills and apply them differently. I was hooked from day one because I was helping families eliminate personal debt and scale property portfolios with income-producing assets. I ran the numbers of hundreds of people, all from different walks of life. I began to notice patterns in people’s lives and their numbers. I could tell quickly if someone was on the path to financial freedom or servitude. Sadly, I ran the numbers of a staggering number of people in their sixties, out of time, who had very little to show for a lifetime of hard work. It was hard not to be able to help everyone.

And pretty much every dad I spoke to showed me the same thing. They showed me how much they cared for their families, sacrificed for
their kids, and desired to retire earlier to have their time back. If they were 40, they wanted to retire at 50; if they were 50, they wanted to retire at 60. Those ten years of quality time with their family were just out of reach for so many. Those dads showed me what their ‘why’ was: family. They showed me they were prepared to grit it and bear a job they didn’t love for their family they loved dearly. Those dads humbled me and got me thinking about things differently, about how I could serve those dads better.

After years of hard work as a Property Strategist, the tide turned. I now have the financial resources to pursue my Visionary Dad blueprint,
take the big, bold step into the unknown, and build a new business more aligned with my values.

Fast-forward to today, where I stand before you, not just as a dad who has been through the wringer but as someone who has emerged on the
other side. I’ve turned those challenges into a mission: to help other dads achieve prosperity for their families. I’ve learned that setbacks can be powerful lessons and that our failures do not define us – they refine us.

So, today, I’m here to support you. I want to help you take charge of your financial future, just as I found my way back to success. We all
face battles, but we can turn those battles into victories with the proper guidance and support of a thriving community.

Thank you for letting me share my story. Let’s move forward together, striving to be the leaders our families need us to be.

Thank you,

Tony Barbone

Founder, Practical Provider