Bus trips and ambition

While Spenda now has more than 40 employees fine-tuning multiple software tools across two office locations in Perth and Sydney, the business started in a lounge room in Greenwood and was fuelled by a supportive single mother.

Since the mid-90s, our Managing Director Adrian Floate has tackled numerous business problems and developed elite integrated software solutions across the globe. His career has seen him work abroad throughout the UK, USA, Singapore, and Sri Lanka.

His brainchild, Spenda is now helping companies across Australia, providing elite digital solutions to every business type and size.

As we approach Mother’s Day, Adrian has given us an insight into how his mother, Pauline, went above and beyond during his youth to help him succeed in life and make our growing business possible.

Where did you grow up and what was it like being raised in the Floate household?

Adrian: Mum was only 19 when I was born and my parents divorced when I was five. We lived in Greenwood almost all my childhood. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but Mum hustled her way through Uni and became a teacher.

I went to the Moerlina School in Claremont and all my friends lived in the fancy suburbs of Dalkeith, Mt Hawthorn, and Cottesloe. As a kid, I didn’t understand why my friends had cool toys and I didn’t. I learned to work hard for the things I wanted and my mum taught me to be resilient, and never accept second best.

What is your favourite memory of your mother during your childhood?

Adrian: My most amazing memory of her is how I used to get to primary school. I had to catch the bus from Greenwood to the city, then the train to Loch Street. For a 6 year old that’s a heck of a trek and I remember being scared. My mother told me to sit in the first or second seat from the front, but what I didn’t know until I was much older was that she snuck into the bus and would sit at the back to make sure I arrived at school safely. She wanted to teach me how to trust in myself, but she was also fiercely protective and would never let anything bad happen to me. The bus taught me a lot about independence and the experience definitely grew my confidence, I made a lot of new friends on my travels to school.

What are you doing for mothers day?

Adrian: We are having a socially distanced family lunch with my Mum and my mother-in-law. My wife usually does the cooking (she’s far better at it than me!) and we spoil our mothers that way. I’ll be making sure mum also gets some nice flowers, a card, and plenty of love.

To all the supportive and hard-working mothers out there, Happy Mothers Day.