David Prior’s journey from five:am yogurt to rare whisky
David Prior (MBA 1999) has an air of serenity about him that belies the worry, risk and uncertainty he has faced as a successful builder and seller of businesses that have made him millions.
“When you go to bed every night knowing that your family home's mortgaged, you owe four million bucks to the bank and things are maybe not going the way you'd thought, you deal with it … you put it in perspective. Lots of people are going through worse things, and you just get on with it.”
Perhaps, it’s his yoga skills or the soothing scotch whisky that he regularly sips as the owner of his latest venture, the 200-year-old Bladnoch Distillery in Scotland, that help him stay cool.
Or maybe it’s his determination to succeed in all he does, including as founder of Culture is Life, a not-for-profit organisation that is tackling Aboriginal youth suicide by developing pride in the world’s oldest living culture.
Hearing David speak about his trials and tribulations in creating and selling the specialist yogurt and dairy foods company, five:am, which he sold for $80 million to British consumer goods company PZ Cussons, is a lesson in measured confidence.
Having previously helped his father successfully build and sell two packaging companies, and now the proud owner Bladnoch Distillery, David’s energy, inner strength and success are inspirational.
David’s achievements in business and life were honoured at our School’s 2017 Annual Alumni Dinner, where he received the Distinguished Alumni Award
Each year, Melbourne Business School allows anyone to nominate a member of our global alumni community worthy of recognition, and nominations are now open ahead of the 2018 Annual Alumni Dinner in these categories:
- Distinguished Alumnus Award
- Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award
- Alumni Service Award.
Click here to nominate and find all the information you need.