24 Hours: A Day in the Life of... Ginn and Russ

Lucian Russ, director
Ginn and Russ
Alice Springs, NT

The 2015 AMP Financial Planner of the Year for South Australia/Northern Territory, Lucian Russ, would have become a doctor in another life. “I was attracted to medicine because of how much of a difference you can make to other people’s lives,” he says.

“The difference to someone’s health when you’re able to remove a tumour is fantastic, and you think how great that would be to be able to do that.”

Russ bypassed medicine, owing to his aversion to blood, and when he graduated from school in Bristol, he started an accountancy degree because he was good at maths.

“I lasted three months and then quit,” he says. “It was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to do with my life because it wasn’t people-based.” Instead, he took a year off to volunteer at homes in Bristol that helped institutionalised Britons reintegrate into society. He also did a volunteer stint at a psychiatric facility for children, which he found stressful but rewarding.

Russ returned to university, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in specialised humanities and a postgrad certificate in education; after working with that qualification, he looked to financial planning. This gave him a degree of stability and predictability, but he still had goals he wanted to achieve first.

“There were two things my wife and I wanted to do before we started a family: travel for two years, and run a charity,” Russ says. “And that is what we did. We spent two years moving through Africa and South and Central America, and then we followed that up with two years running a not-for-profit in Cape Town, teaching work and business skills to unemployed young people in the township.”

Russ and his wife have since moved to Adelaide and started a family, and while he is not able to heed the call of the wild as much anymore, he is enjoying great success at work.

Read the full feature – 24 Hours: A day in the life of…Ginn and Russ

Read planner profile – Lucian Russ: His biggest plan was always to help other people

Interested in having your business considered for a future 24 Hours article? Email a brief profile of the business to Professional Planner.