Michael Pilbrow is the 'Outstanding Business Leader' for the Yass Valley in 2018

The husband and father of three, now all in their 20s, is also president of the Yass Valley Labor Party branch, co-owner of local consulting firm Strategic Development Group and is part of the National Health Coop.

He was president of the Yass Valley Business Chamber for three years and worked for government in foreign affairs for 10, including as a diplomat in South East Asia for a few of those.

If it were possible to wear any more hats, Pilbrow was also previously the Labor Party candidate for Hume.

At university, he studied economics and politics, but Pilbrow jokes that could have turned out differently.

“Growing up, I had always wanted to be a test cricket player,” he said; that was, until the age of 17 when he realised it was a less than likely reality.

“But, I came from a really big family (Pilbrow is one of 10 children) and from a very young age, I always had a good understanding of who I was and the essence of bringing people together to get things done.

“I guess that's what politics is. And then I got interested in business. I really believe in creating jobs for people.”

From years of experience as a leader, Pilbrow has a clear definition of the two attributes a leader must have.

“A leader is someone with followers, but they’ve got to be taking those people somewhere. So a leader must have imagination and a vision of somewhere to go, and then the ability to mobilise people to go with them.”

A man of politics must also be a man of many opinions, so what does Pilbrow feel passionate about?

“When there's a challenge or a problem, and the standard reaction is to complain and expect someone else to do it. I think, let's actually do something about it.

“I also get really upset when a whole section of society gets dismissed because of their status. Everyone is an individual, from the struggling to the most successful, and everyone has their own aspirations for life. We've got to encourage that.

“On the other hand, and this is not a usual view, I get really upset when people dismiss the successful.

“Business and profit are often used as bad words, but hang out with the Business Chamber and you'll see they’re brilliant people who have taken a risk and are offering jobs.”

It was after Pilbrow left bureaucratic life that he became more involved with the community and created a vision for the life he wanted to lead.

To begin with, he helped his wife Lynne with her business Fun Music for Little Kids and began setting up his consultancy business as a sole trader.

“I was working work around life at that time so I could spend time with the kids and get involved in community initiatives such as the school P&C.

“That’s when I realised there are a lot of people doing it tough in the community.”

That was when he and several others set up the National Health Coop, giving power to the people by making the patients the stakeholders.

Also believing government should support those struggling the most, and with a vision for more jobs through business, he joined the Labor Party. “I came into it with a vision to create jobs for unemployed people and saw the need for an environment businesses can thrive in,” he said.

His own business is part of this vision, which today employs 12 people between Yass and Bulli, Canberra and a couple overseas.

Strategic Development Group believes in positive development, from poverty reduction projects overseas to creating more housing locally, and brings the necessary agencies together to make that happen, he said.

“We also believe in bringing the community along on that journey, because the development is there for a long time once it happens.”

Outside of business, Pilbrow loves nothing more than heading home to his “oasis of love, support and shared passions”.

“It’s more than happiness,” he said, describing what family means to him. “It’s facing the world together.”

That includes spending time at Pink concerts with his daughter Rebecca, at the AFL with son Matthew, and at soccer with son Nick.

This must be how he ends the day still smiling, despite juggling it all.