Meet the ‘SACE failures’ who went on become successful politicians, entrepreneurs and celebrity chefs

Dropping out of school, repeating Year 12, not receiving an ATAR or barely passing has not stopped these South Aussies from rising to the top of their industries.

MP David Pisoni never finished school instead dropping out to pursue a trade. Picture: RoyVPhotography

When a 16 year old David Pisoni left school in search of an apprenticeship, he couldn’t have known his more than 40-year career would take him from cabinet maker to cabinet minister.

The retiring MP did not finish Year 11 at Salisbury High School and instead he began searching for a job in 1979.

“There was no aspiration to university,” said the former skills minister under the Marshall Liberal Government.

“I didn’t enjoy maths much and that reflected in my grades.

“Those creative areas really suited the career I ended up in.”

Mr Pisoni is among South Australians who have led successful careers despite their poor academic results.

They have shared their advice for students ahead of their to final Year 12 exams which kick off next week.

David Pisoni – from cabinet maker to cabinet minister

David Pisoni returned to his old school Salisbury High School, after dropping out of Year 11 and ended up starting a successful furniture business and had a long career in politics. Picture: RoyVPhotography

“I applied for about 100 apprenticeships by knocking on doors and responding to ads,” Mr Pisoni said.

“I wasn’t particularly worried about what trade it was as long as it was a trade.”

After months of searching, he scored a furnishing trades apprenticeship at CBD business Norman, Turner and Nottage, the company that built a table for The Lodge in Canberra.

Then at just 21-years-old, he started his own furniture business, which he ran for about 20 years, with one of his last sales a dining room set for Australian-Israeli billionaire Frank Lowy.

Mr Pisoni, who said he has always had an interest in politics, initially flirted with joining the Labor Party but after attending a meeting, he joined the Liberals.

In 2006 Mr Pisoni was elected as the member for Unley, a position which he has held until he announced he will retire in 2026.

His advice for the Year 12s of 2024 is to “look at all the options that are available to you and consider developing a skill set through an apprenticeship”.

“Some people learn very easily in an academic and lecturing environment and others learn more effectively when they’re combining their classroom experience with on the job training,” Mr Pisoni said.

Anna Gerlach – from repeating year 12 to mixing with A-listers

Anna Gerlach repeated year 12 but now runs a successful catering company, which has curated menus for A-listers. Picture: Supplied.

Anna Gerlach has catered events for every prime minister since John Howard and created an elaborate menu for a Saudi prince.

But before she started her business, she “struggled through school academically” at Seymour College in Glen Osmond and hated exams.

“Half the time I hadn’t prepared properly, that’s why I didn’t like them,” Ms Gerlach said.

“I’d be sitting exams and I didn’t know what the hell was going on.”

Ms Gerlach graduated in 1991 with a matriculation score in the 70s, but she was unsatisfied and two years later she repeated Year 12 at Eynesbury College.

“I just didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Ms Gerlach, 50, said.

“I went to uni and I didn’t like that and I worked in retail but I thought ‘is this it?’”

But it was work experience in catering which led her to start her company, Indulgence Food Design, at the age of 25 and she credits her teachers at Seymour with the confidence to take the leap of faith.

“We had these incredible teachers that spent their lives shaping, moulding and giving us confidence,” Ms Gerlach said.

WHERE SA’S SACE STARS ENDED UP AFTER SCHOOL

After brushing shoulders with celebrities including Cate Blanchett and KISS at her catered events, Ms Gerlach said feeling “anxious” before exams is not just natural, but important.

“Anxiety does mean that you care, that it’s really important to you,” she said.

“Every job I go to, I still get the anxiety and once that goes, you’ve given up.”

Ms Gerlach now returns to Seymour College to speak with students and tells them that “school is not the be all and end all but it’s important you try your hardest”.

“The person you are at … 16, 17, 18, that person might change incredibly in your 20s when you’re well and truly out of school,” she said.

Sam Ackland – from no ATAR to millionaire entrepreneur

Entrepreneur Sam Ackland graduated from Westminster without an ATAR in 2008. Picture: Supplied.

Entrepreneur Sam Ackland left Westminster School at Marion in 2008 without achieving an ATAR, but went on to establish a business valued at more than $10m.

He takes an unconventionally relaxed approach to managing his businesses, including Build Clean which makes sure new builds are clean before handing over the keys to their first owner.

“I take high end business clients and I consistently wear Crocs because I don’t want to conform to other people’s perceptions of how I should look,” Mr Ackland, 33, said.

“I want to wear what I’m comfortable wearing.”

After leaving school with no tertiary admission score, Mr Ackland said he “ran away from my problems”, moved to Byron Bay in NSW and lived in a van.

“I was working hospitality casually in Adelaide and interstate but I realised that lifestyle did not align with my true drive,” he said.

He moved back to Adelaide and sat a test to gain entrance to Flinders University, where he studied business.

“Accounting 101 was one of my first topics and I failed that,” the now entrepreneur said.

Mr Ackland graduated in 2016, got a job in car sales but then started his first business a year later.

He described his time with the business, Ground Control, as “trading time for money doing any job people would pay me for”, and was undertaking property maintenance.

“Learning sales gets you a very long way,” Mr Ackland said.

In 2018, he started Build Clean, which now has 116 staff across four states.

Mr Ackland believes “the school curriculum doesn’t teach all of life’s skills”.

He encourages students to develop skills “which can transfer to any industry” such as sales, communication and confidence.

“I’d like school leavers to consider their hospitality job as an opportunity to sharpen their customer service skills … and their retail job as an opportunity to test their sales skills,” Mr Ackland said.

Suraya Lavalette – from barely passing school to HR manager

HR manager Suraya Lavalette scraped through with a 51 ATAR at her Western Australian high school but has since landed a job leading a team at Stepney-based disability support provider DLi.

HR manager Suraya Lavalette just scraped a passing grade in Year 12 and has now led a successful career. Picture: Supplied

Since high school, she has led a successful career in HR and managed teams in naval shipbuilder ASC, but initially “couldn’t get into uni at all”.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do and I didn’t have enough exposure to the world,” Ms Lavalette, 41, said.

She studied a six-month bridging course to gain university entrance, but she “didn’t like the learning style”.

“My brain is a little bit neurodivergent and I learn a lot differently to a lot of other people so learning on the job actually worked well for me and I thrived in that environment,” Ms Lavalette, said.

After working in Singapore for a software company, she arrived in Adelaide and did a TAFE diploma in human resources about a decade ago.

Since then she has worked in various HR roles including for the Cancer Council.

Her advice for Year 12s is to “do your best, work hard but it’s not the be all and end all of your career”.

“Don’t compare yourself to other people as everybody learns differently,” Ms Lavalette said.

“Don’t be ashamed if you have a low score, it’s not a forever thing.”

Originally published as Meet the ‘SACE failures’ who went on become successful politicians, entrepreneurs and celebrity chefs