It meant he wasn’t engaged in school and, in his own words, got a spectacularly bad ATAR. But, this isn’t a story about how he came to understand how his brain works, achieving the Macquarie University Department of Marketing prize for academic excellence, or how he now has a successful career in cybersecurity. It’s about a promise he made to the university, and about showing others like him the ropes.

You may have heard of our alumnus Richard Norrie or even seen him around campus on his way to guest lecture current students. He was also a boss at our Beer with the Boss event last year, has spoken with Yue Zhang from our Alumni Relations team as part of her #CoffeeWith100MQAlumni series, and is one of our valued Lucy mentors. He has an extraordinary amount of energy and passion, and is always looking for ways to give back to the university by guiding our students and alumni to achieve their potential.

Unsurprisingly, people are drawn to him. ‘I seem to be a magnet for people looking to improve their career and life,’ he says, but really, it’s no surprise – most people can spot someone who has done the hard yards and genuinely wants to make sure others get ahead too.

‘As a mentor, I share the lessons I’ve learned over nearly 20 years in the workforce,’ explains Mr Norrie. ‘I enjoy helping others improve their circumstances and being part of their success – like taking a friend through a rebranding so he could go from earning 90k to 220k, or helping a young woman progress from a part-time marketing role to a full-time managerial one.’

So, what is it that makes Mr Norrie so committed to being a mentor and so loyal to Macquarie students and graduates? The answer is both multilayered and personal. As he begins, ‘I wish I’d had someone who’d been there for me, showing me the ropes,’ he says matter-of-factly.

‘I’ve struggled with ADHD my entire life. I was diagnosed in Year 1 and was the most terrible student you could imagine,’ he admits. ‘I was more interested in hacking into computer systems and breaking them than paying attention in class, and ended up at three different high schools before achieving one of the lowest ATARs you could possibly get.’

Still, his marks clearly didn’t reflect his true ability, and together with encouragement from his mother, who he says never gave up on him, he went on to do a diploma of network engineering, where his ability to break code suddenly became an in-demand skill. But, after a few years, at around age 27, Mr Norrie realised he’d hit a plateau.

It was around that time that a visit to Hong Kong with a friend, an investment banker, cemented his next steps. ‘Being with people who had aspirations changed everything for me, and seeing how my friend’s colleagues in finance lived opened my eyes to the opportunities available to someone with a degree.’

And so, the seed was planted for Mr Norrie to study at Macquarie University. ‘I decided to apply for a Bachelor of Commerce because I’m interested in trading and understanding economics, but unfortunately, my application for this competitive degree was unsuccessful.’

Not one to give up easily or take no for an answer, he decided to write an impassioned letter to the dean. ‘I explained I'd been working for seven years but, without a degree, wasn’t progressing – it was a non-negotiable for potential employers. I added I’d found my passion in finance and markets, and feared that if Macquarie didn't let me in, I’d be wasting my potential.’

And that’s when he made that pivotal promise to Macquarie University. ‘I wrote, if you let me into the university, I'll be there to win. I'll do my best every single day because I recognise the value of a university education.

‘And the next thing I knew, I received an email that said, welcome to Macquarie University. They took a chance on me, and that’s when I decided to repay that as much as I can, and I'll continue to do that because I owe everything to Macquarie.

‘I guarantee, my career wouldn’t have had the trajectory it’s had, my personal life wouldn't have had the trajectory it’s had, my financial security, my understanding of share markets, investing, and superannuation wouldn’t be the same, and it’s all because of Macquarie.’

As a touching side note, Mr Norrie also met his future wife Fay on campus. ‘We only overlapped by a semester at the beginning of my degree, when we’d meet and sit on the grass together,’ he remembers. ‘She was an international student from China, in class with a friend of mine – that was 10 years ago now.’

There wasn’t a lot of time for relaxing, however, working full-time in IT and attending lectures in the evening. And, for someone who just scraped through school, university-level courses were a steep learning curve. ‘Because I was so committed to success, I studied every single night, I read all the books, I even engaged private tutors to help me upskill in new concepts.

‘It was tough. People often asked why I was doing it, or thought I should stop, but I wasn’t going to give up. I always pushed myself as far as I could go, knowing that in the end, the result I received would be the result I deserved because I’d always tried my best.

‘And,’ he continues, ‘despite having a very non-conventional start, I ended up flourishing at university because I found things I was passionate about. Being a mature-age student also meant I was further along the journey of knowing myself and my strengths and weaknesses, which helped too.’

Interestingly, this journey included working out how his brain functioned best so he could harness the underlying intelligence that had been thwarted by his struggle with ADHD. ‘It took me nearly 30 years to understand myself, but it changed everything,’ he says.

Unsurprisingly, his grades improved, and he started topping units like applied maths and marketing. But, most importantly, he was also able to get the most out of the experience. ‘University was so enlightening for me. I was learning how much I didn't know, things that were genuinely new to me. And that was the story throughout my time at Macquarie.’

Given he was already established in his IT career, Mr Norrie didn’t end up working in finance, but says, ‘Everything I learned at university is a skill and knowledge I can apply in life. That's why I'm a huge proponent of people studying a Bachelor of Commerce. It teaches you everything you need to know, no matter what business you're working in, no matter what industry, and it prepares you for the rest of your career as you move up the corporate ladder.’

Today, Mr Norrie works as the top consultant for Dell Australia for cybersecurity and business resilience, helping Australia's largest companies with their cyber strategy and designing infrastructure solutions to meet their technology needs. He’s at the top of his game, always pushing to be more and achieve more.

So, with life moving on, his degree complete and his university days behind him, he could be forgiven for forgetting his promise to the university. But instead, Mr Norrie remains a committed alumnus, and his pledge holds as much weight as the day it was made. In fact, it only gets stronger.

‘After winning the university marketing prize, I was invited to join the Macquarie Young Leaders Program, where industry speakers came and spoke to us, and I met Dr Prashan Karunaratne and Professor Eric Knight from the Macquarie Business School. My relationship with the university has just continued to grow. I was invited to present at Careers Week in 2021, and have been involved in other alumni events, such as guest talks and Beer with the Boss last year.’

Most importantly, he was invited to be a mentor in the Lucy Mentoring Program, which empowers women and gender-diverse students by connecting them with professionals from the business world. Always one to go above and beyond, Mr Norrie says he’s currently mentoring two young women rather than just one. ‘There’s a lot of demand for the program, and I’d encourage anyone interested to become a mentor. It gives me a great amount of personal satisfaction to be able to give back in this way.’

Naturally, Mr Norrie is also keen to reach out to neurodivergent students at Macquarie. ‘I’d like to eventually start my own scholarship and mentoring program within Macquarie University for people who are neurodivergent and just keeping their head above water.

‘For most of my life, I had to keep my struggles undercover,’ he says. ‘But now, it turns out quite a lot of people I talk to have ADHD or struggle with neurodivergence or their mental health. I know firsthand what it’s like, and that’s why I want to be that person for others and show them the ropes.

‘I want people to know that if you network and find people who are where you want to be, and you push yourself to become like those people, you can do it. Of course, it’s about having the right strategies, and teaching people how to work things out for themselves rather than just giving them the answers,’ he adds. ‘But my overall message is, don’t give up on yourself. Together, we can all make it.’

Bio

Richard Norrie graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Commerce (2022). An accomplished leader, he delivers strategic guidance that empowers clients to maximise the integration of people and technology, with a focus on cyber risk. These clients include those in the financial, communications, government and critical infrastructure sectors with rigorous compliance and regulatory obligations.

Mr Norrie has also led the successful delivery of multiple large-scale infrastructure projects for both government and commercial clients. He’s passionate about information security and achieving cyber resilience. He uses a logical and data-driven approach to problem-solving with a risk-minimisation mindset.

In addition to his experience leading global teams, he combines industry best practices with real-world disaster recovery and ransomware experience. Mr Norrie is familiar with most global standards and regulations for information security such as ISO 27001-2, PCI DSS, NIST CSF, APRA CPS 234, ASD ISM, ITIL, COBIT, PSPF and AS/NZS 4360.