Frank Lowy Quotes
120 Frank Lowy Quotes
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Of course, it’s important to know where you came from and where you’ve been – personally and professionally – but only so it can help you know where you are going.
Frank Lowy
[At age 80] Right now I’m very focused on reinvigorating soccer in Australia, so you could say that I’m definitely looking forward and not back.
Frank Lowy
[On being asked how he was in 2010 at Westfield’s 50th anniversary dinner] Always a struggle, always a struggle.
Frank Lowy
I don’t think it’s possible to measure the effect of something like that [the Holocaust] on a person – I certainly haven’t been able to at any age. I don’t usually think about it in these terms but I am sure that the insecurity and danger of my childhood days in some ways let me to always seek security and to be grateful for the freedoms that are too often taken for granted in countries like Australia.
Frank Lowy
When I came to Australia in 1952, I had a great awareness of the endless opportunities. I’m not saying things were just lying there for the taking. Of course hard work was required. But the doors were open, and it was just a matter of being able to walk through if you could work out how. I think if you never face adversity, those opportunities may not be as obvious.
Frank Lowy
I don’t think it’s a secret that migrants often come to a new country with great ambition and hunger to succeed. Of course this may or may not depend on what they have left behind and how that compares to what they now face, but for me, coming to Australia, working as hard as I did seemed in a sense easy compared to the life I might have had if I stayed in Europe.
Frank Lowy
Coming to Australia was a wonderful time in my life. I was reunited with my family, whom I hadn’t seen for many years since leaving a war-torn Europe, and I felt blessed with an overwhelming sense of freedom and opportunity.
Frank Lowy
Of course it wasn’t all easy. Australia was not the multicultural place it is today. I was very different and Australia seemed just as different to me. But strangely enough, it felt like home almost immediately. What spurred me on was that I knew I was creating a new life for myself and my family in a country that was truly free. Even thought I was new, I was welcomed. There was no prejudice and the Australian spirit of the ‘fair go’ was obvious to me from the beginning, even though it probably wasn’t expressed in those words.
Frank Lowy
I have felt like Australia was my home since coming here when I was 21. Before that, I lived in Israel for seven years from the age of 15 to 21, fighting in the Israeli War of Independence. They were formative years… so there is a part of me that feels at home there, too. But I have always felt that Australia is my home. It’s the country that gave me a new life and provided the basis for Shirley and me to raise our own family.
Frank Lowy
I think of myself as Australian and whenever I return from one of my frequent overseas trips I think, and I feel, ‘I’m home.’
Frank Lowy
Australia gave me a life I would not have been able to have in Europe, or even Israel. It’s where I’ve had my career – and it has shown me that anything is possible with enough ambition and hard work.
Frank Lowy
The philosophy I shared with Westfield’s co-founder, John Saunders, was one of ambition – ambition to succeed, ambition to grow, ambition to move forward – backed up by hard work. In my personal life, that ambition has always been balanced with my family responsibilities, which have been shared, I’m happy to say, for 56 years with my wife Shirley.
Frank Lowy
Well, whether I am the first or the second or the 100th richest man is not important. I have been fortunate, I have worked hard, and now I am happy and proud to be able to give back to the country I feel has given me and my family so much.
Frank Lowy
Australia is a new country – and that’s what’s great about it. It’s adaptive to change because it doesn’t have the tradition of hundreds of years before, like Europe. When I came here, I was able to adapt to Australia, and more importantly, Australia was able to adapt to me and my co-founder John Saunders, as we tried to find our way in business.
Frank Lowy
I think in some ways it would be easier for people coming to Australia now because it has become so multicultural. But in other ways, it might be harder because the opportunities have changed. Have they diminished? I don’t know. What would I tell someone new to the country? Work hard. Same as 50 years ago really.
Frank Lowy
What would I tell someone starting out in business? First I would say, ‘Good luck! But more than that, work hard, surround yourself with the best people, take advantage of opportunities but be cautious at the same time… and who knows?’
Frank Lowy
We saw an opportunity and we also had some knowledge. We started with the delicatessen at Blacktown at Blacktown, and of course both John Saunders and I had been in business before that, too. In time, another shop on the same strip became available and we took it. But the real beginning of Westfield – the retail property-owning business – came when we bought the land that would later become Westfield Plaza. We knew that the new phenomenon of shopping centres had taken off in America, and we thought, ‘Why not here?’ And so we did it. In the end, I think you could say a mix of knowledge, opportunity and a willingness to learn as we went, is how Westfield was born.
Frank Lowy
I know I felt optimistic when starting out. Invincible is probably not the right word. I was always looking for ways around the barriers, and always felt that I could get around them, and overcome challenges, but of course not without a great deal of effort. And there were many hurdles back then – and of course there still are in business today. So it is a matter of finding a way to get past them, and you can never take for granted that you will. Invincible is never how I felt, but optimistic… yes.
Frank Lowy
Of course failure weighed on our minds! Who can be in business and not think about failure? You can reach a point where you might be able to relax more than you used to, but really, you can never take things for granted. We were careful but at the same time we were prepared to take risks. Otherwise how could we get anything done?
Frank Lowy
Yes, we made some bad business decisions… well, who hasn’t? The most important thing is to recognise these decisions, and learn from them so you don’t make them again. Over the years there have been disappointments, too, but on balance I do think the good outweighs the bad.
Frank Lowy
Challenges are everywhere in business… It can be when faced with someone or some organization that doesn’t share the same vision; or it can be when faced with an adversary who wants to restrict your growth or opportunity; it can be internal – about people, or about the corporate structure that can generate the best returns. These challenges are all as important as each other when they arise, but the most important thing is to overcome them and try to move forward. That is the only way forward.
Frank Lowy
It’s hard to single out particular decisions as ‘the best’, because I think in many instances of success, it is usually because of a series of steps – not just one fork in the road. If I had to name a few of our best decisions, I would say listing the company and expanding outside of Australia.
Frank Lowy
Compared to hard work, luck has had very, very little to do with it. That’s not to say there hasn’t been some luck during my career, but I would say that hard work, relentless hard work, will win out every time when it comes to seeing how success was achieved. It’s not big secret, and most people have it in them – hard work, dedication. There are a few more, but the basis of success is that you put everything that you have in there, and if you do that I think you will succeed. Of course you need to be good at what you do, and you can’t do it alone, so after that comes good relationships – which are as important today as they were 50 years ago.
Frank Lowy
[On trust] I trusted my co-founder John Saunders of course. I have had the privilege of working with my sons for the past 35 years and many Westfield senior executives are long-standing, so there has been a great deal of trust. But none of that changes the raw fact that everyone in a business needs to be vigilant and work hard, and never leave things to chance.
Frank Lowy
In the early days, John and I soaked up knowledge from whoever and wherever we could… but that is not to say we didn’t have our own opinions and instincts. In fact we were both always very clear on how we wanted to proceed in a given situation.
Frank Lowy
I can’t say I ever really had a mentor. It was more a case that we always knew which skills we didn’t have and made sure we worked with the very best who did.
Frank Lowy
My family is what’s most important to me. It’s really the basis of everything and if you can succeed with it, it’s a great strength. It is a great thing to nourish, to preserve and keep.
Frank Lowy
I think I could say Westfield is synonymous with success. But in order to be successful there are certain things you need to do, to focus on, as an executive team. You need to conduct your business properly. You need to be friendly as much as you can. You need to be hardworking, and you need to take into consideration all the stakeholders … It means being creative and adaptive.
Frank Lowy
The company has to make money to be able to pay its debt, to invest and to pay dividends.
Frank Lowy
My own business philosophy is probably no surprise. It’s this: work hard, know your business and have the best team around you. But above all, be dedicated.
Frank Lowy
Business has taught me that there is always more to learn, but that without hard work it means nothing.
Frank Lowy
Nothing is perfect 100 per cent. I can’t say that everything was done like in a textbook. We took some directions that with hindsight we may not have done given a second chance. Sometimes things went a little bit up and sometimes a little bit down. Or even a little bit more down.
Frank Lowy
The most important thing was, and is, to be able to recognise the mistakes, and change them as quickly as possible, and get back on track. And that can be difficult, but when you come out the other end… I think there’s a great satisfaction. And generally it’s acknowledged that you have dealt well with adversity.
Frank Lowy
[On expanding Westfield into the US] Australia at the time was a relatively small market, and expansion opportunities were limited. We wanted to extend our business. The United States, although it was far, had all the other components: We understood the business, we knew the conditions, we spoke the language. And it was a relatively simple matter to do except for the distance.
Frank Lowy
[Westfield is] The only company in the global mall business with a focus on the redevelopment and expansion of existing assets to maximise value.
Frank Lowy
[On why he branded Westfield] For the same reason McDonald’s brand its hamburgers. A customer in San Diego can expect the same product as one in Washington, D.C.
Frank Lowy
‘Am I proud of myself? Well – that’s a harder question to answer than you’d think. I was never certain of success and I was always questioning ‘Are we secure? Are we there yet?’ And in effect, you are never there.
Frank Lowy
There is a sense now, there was a sense a long time ago that we are a successful company, we are financially sound, we know our business, we are able to cope with it now. But you can never think that you’re secure or that you are there because that will certainly bring you down.
Frank Lowy
I’m certainly proud of some things I have done in my life, but I haven’t done them alone. I’ve been very fortunate in always being surrounded by supportive people, and very talented people. And I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have always had the support of my family. I am very happy with my life. I do many things – I don’t think there’s room for anything else.
Frank Lowy
Anything is possible with enough ambition and hard work.
Frank Lowy
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