You can access seeds podcast below or directly in podcast apps such as:
Apple Podcasts – Spotify – Castbox – Player FM – RadioPublic or to find out how to get a podcast app: try here.
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.” – Thoreau
If you like Seeds do you know about “Board Matters” my other podcast with short interviews on governance with the Institute of Directors? Check it out here.
344. Greenwashing: Audio of short Spinoff Article “Australia opens a fascinating new front in the fight for ethical investing”
This is the audio of an article I just wrote for The Spinoff – you can access the text here which also has a lot of links to all the things mentioned in the article as well: https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/22-03-2023/australia-opens-a-fascinating-new-front-in-the-fight-for-ethical-investing
If you like this content, would you be willing to copy and paste that link and share it with your networks, or share this episode with one other person?
343. Aimee Blake on Girls who Grow and Future Farmers New Zealand
Aimee is the co-founder of Girls who Grow and co-chair of Future Farmers New Zealand. In this conversation we hear about her background and growing up in a farming community, what she studied and how her career has led to this point. We had a positive energy filled conversation about what the future may hold and I hope you enjoy it – if you do, then check out some of the 343 other episodes of seeds www.theseeds.nz.
Girls who Grow: https://www.girlswhogrow.co.nz/
Future Farmers: https://futurefarmersnz.org/ that includes the Manifesto discussed
Open Farms: https://www.openfarms.co.nz/
https://www.instagram.com/girlswhogrow_nz/ @girlswhogrow_nz
https://www.instagram.com/futurefarmersnz/ @futurefarmersnz
From what is to what if – Book mentioned: https://www.robhopkins.net/the-book/#:~:text=From%20What%20Is%20to%20What%20If%20is%20a%20call%20to,dramatic%20change%20for%20the%20better.
What your Food Ate Book: https://www.amazon.com/What-Your-Food-Ate-Reclaim/dp/1324004533
Future Whenua conversation between Steven Moe and Zeb Horrell https://youtu.be/tDg36Fg2b9I
342. Leanne Holdsworth on Humanising Work
Leanne has co-authored a new book “Human Work: five leadership mindsets for humanising workplaces“. Before we talk about that we first have a conversation about her background and life growing up and the influences that have shaped her. Seeds is a project to hear about the ‘why’ behind what people do and this conversation was no different – perhaps even with more rabbit holes of curiousity than normal! I really enjoyed it and if you do as well would you be willing to tell one other person about seeds? There are more than 340 episodes and more info is at www.theseeds.nz
Human Work Book site – sign up to get updates: https://www.humanworknetwork.com/
A shout out to Melissa Clarke-Reynolds who connected us for this great conversation.
Leanne describes the book this way: “Our intention is to contribute in our own small way to shifting the dialogue about how human workplaces can actually be and why this is a good thing. Leaders stories from around the world are told in the book, together with a view on what mindsets help create more human workplaces.”
Cultivating Leadership site: https://www.cultivatingleadership.com/
Her profile: Leanne Holdsworth – Cultivating Leadership
About Cultivating Leadership: Our purpose is to cultivate leadership that shapes a just, diverse, flourishing, and sustainable planet
341. “One thing I’ve learned as an Entrepreneur…” Live panel discussion from the Entre annual launch night featuring Saskia van der Peet (Real Girls in Tech / Farmgate Foods), Jack Wood (Komodo Wellbeing), Ben Scales (KiwiFibre) and Rohan Mathias (FoodFuse)
This was recorded 8th March as part of the Entre Annual Launch night and was a panel discussing what they have learned as entrepreneurs. The insights come from Saskia van der Peet (Real Girls in Tech / Farmgate Foods), Jack Wood (Komodo Wellbeing), Ben Scales (KiwiFibre), Rohan Mathias (FoodFuse).
To find out more about the work of Entre and their competitions and support for entrepreneurs visit Home | Entre – they play a key role in the start-up ecosystem and this event was really inspiring as we also got to hear from Guy Horrocks. Thanks to the Entre team for the chance to MC the event and present some visuals as well such as yarn, avocados, trees…
340. Jennifer Hamlin on Animals, our relationship with them and the work of the Allied Veterinary Professional Regulatory Council of New Zealand
Jennifer Hamlin loves animals and in this episode we talk about her childhood, her relationship with animals, we get philosophical about our role in the World and how we relate to them and then she tells us about her life story and what has led her to New Zealand and what she does today. In particular we talk about the work of the Allied Veterinary Professional Regulatory Council of New Zealand, which she founded and now chairs. We also had a California connection – she knew the place my Father grew up (a small town)!
Website: Allied Veterinary Professional Regulatory Council of New Zealand (avprc.org.nz)
339. Jeremy Nurse on empowering youth and improving outcomes with the 180 Degrees Trust
Jeremy Nurse has led a fascinating life and we hear all about his background and working as a farmer and what led to establishing the 180 Degrees Trust. They do amazing work with youth to help improve their outcomes.
338. Janet Cole on the Kaipātiki Project, an Innovative Eco-Hub, and a life of advocating for impact
Janet Cole is the Manager at the Kaipātiki Project and in this conversation we hear about her life story and work focussed on impact initiatives that lead to environmental and community outcomes. The Project is described as follows: “Based in Auckland’s North, Kaipātiki Project is an innovative eco-hub, growing a sustainable future for people and nature. We do this by empowering people, inspiring connection with nature and enabling sustainable living.” We also touch on Environment Hubs Aotearoa and the work done there.
Environment Hubs Aotearoa site Environment Hubs Aotearoa | Collaboration for local solutions
337. Better Banking: Discussion on how we can improve it for “For Purpose” organisations with Ros Rice and Dr Jane Horan
In this discussion we talk about struggles with banks – how can we make it better for “For-Purpose” organisations? What is needed for Banks and Charities and other groups to better interact?
Led by Community Networks Aotearoa – have a listen in to what we had to say and fill in the survey! I was in conversation with Ros Rice the EO of Community Networks Aotearoa and Dr Jane Horan on this topic. We had 90 people sign up for this session.
Here is the youtube link to the video. https://youtu.be/CfaZ_vwB23A
The survey is at https://airtable.com/shrkXsmXV3dnYRn2e Who could you tell on this to help spread the word??
The other project Jane and I had worked on: https://www.theimpactinitiative.org.nz/publications/structuring-for-impact Quick LinksGet Embed PlayerShare on SocialDownload Audio File
336. Meng Foon on Race Relations in Aotearoa New Zealand
The Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon joined the last Impact Call and in this episode we hear about the work they are doing. In his role he is responsible for leading the work of the Human Rights Commission in promoting positive race relations. It was great to hear in detail what they are involved in today. If you like this content then make sure to check out the 330+ other interviews in the back catalogue at www.theseeds.nz
Website: New Zealand Human Right Commission (hrc.co.nz)
335. Jen Margaret on Pākehā educating and advocating for Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Jen Margaret is an advocate and educator for Te Tiriti o Waitangi and in this interview we hear about her life story and how she came to do this work. We also learn all about Groundwork and the work they do – what is the place for Pākehā educating and advocating for Te Tiriti. I really enjoyed this conversation and if you do as well maybe tag someone else in and check out the other interviews at www.theseeds.nz
Website: https://groundwork.org.nz/
334. Rory Birkbeck on Safe Surfer
Rory joined the latest Impact Call to share about Safe Surfer so this is a shorter than normal episode of seeds where he explains what they are up to in providing protections for young people online.
Website: https://safesurfer.io/
333. Diane Ducarme on Diet, Health and Migraines
In this conversation with Diane Ducarme we discuss the links between our diet and health and migraines, and how her time in China helped her uncover principles ignored in Western medicine. We also hear about her childhood, learning 7 languages and travel around the world before she settled in New Zealand. I really enjoyed this conversation #333 and if you do as well why not check out other interviews at www.theseeds.nz
Take the assessment What are the root causes of your health concern? (typeform.com)
Site Nectar Health | Manage your migraine attacks (mynectarhealth.com)
332. Lloyd Mander on Diversity of Thought in Governance
Lloyd has developed the DOT Scorecard and in this conversation we talk about his life and background and then about what ‘diversity’ really means. I really enjoyed this conversation and if you do as well make sure to check out the 332 others in the back catalogue.
Lloyd’s website which includes lots of resources: Diversity of Thought – Diversity of Thought Scorecard
331. Francesca Allen on chance encounters and unexpected adventures
This is a short little conversation with Francesca Allen who I unexpectedly met at Queenstown Airport…why? Have a listen to find out, and what happened next. We also talk about the wisdom she would pass on to her grandchildren.
330. Dr Peter Loerscher on Tax, Time, 2,000 year old Roman signature stones, and a focus on immigrants to New Zealand
In this conversation I hear from Dr Peter Loerscher who is an expert on tax with a focus on the implication for immigrants moving to New Zealand. We also discuss growing up among Roman ruins, what it was like starting a career during so many transitions in Europe of the 1980s and 1990s, why he moved to New Zealand, how treaties are negotiated between countries and a lot more. If you enjoy this then check out some of the other interviews in the back catalogue of 300+ conversations.
Peter has sent me some materials – if you would like a copy send me an email steven@theseeds.nz
Peter’s contact: peter@loerscher.co.nz
329. Real Founders’ Stories with Sarah Grant, Nathan Taylor and Elise Hilliam
In this episode we hear from a panel of Founders on their journeys. Very often we just hear the glamorous part of the journey of Founders of start-ups. In this session we will be hearing some of the other parts too – no sugar coating, no glitz, just the reality of being an entrepreneur. Sharing are three founders who are each at different stages of the journey- Elise Hilliam from MenuAid, Sarah Grant from Magic Beans, and Nathan Taylor from Partly. As all these founders incorporated elements of purpose and impact into their business models, we will hear from each guest on their journey and challenges in an interview format hosted by Aislinn Molloy (Senior Solicitor at Parry Field Lawyers, with an expertise in capital fundraising) and Steven Moe (Partner at Parry Field Lawyers and Seeds podcast host).
327. Charities and paradigm shifts – A Discussion with Sue Barker and Steven Moe
In this session I have a discussion with Sue Barker about the proposed changes to the Charities Act in New Zealand, the submission process, the key issues at stake and the “paradigm shifts” of thinking that are also involved. If you enjoy this check out some of the other content at www.theseeds.nz
We have also done a short article in plain English outlining some of the key changes here https://www.parryfield.com/the-charities-amendment-bill-key-changes/ and a guide to how to submit is here https://www.parryfield.com/the-charities-amendment-bill-making-a-submission/.
326. Cheryl Spain on simplifying generosity, connecting charities, fundholding and The Gift Trust
Cheryl Spain joined the latest Impact Call to share about The Gift Trust – we had a wide ranging discussion about what they do and how they operate. The purpose of the Impact Calls is to highlight the work of orgnisations and get us out of silos of thinking to learn from others. If you like this then feel free to join the list of 760+ others who get notices about the monthly impact calls by dropping me an email at stevenmoe@parryfield.com And if you like the content of seeds have a listen to other 300+ other episodes at www.theseeds.nz
Website: Welcome – The Gift Trust
Cheryl email: cheryl@thegifttrust.org.nz
Gift Collective: The Gift Collective (opencollective.nz)
325. Brianne West on founding Ethique and lessons learned
Brianne has a focus at Ethique on both purpose (having positive impact) as well as profit (being sustainable) – she has given a lot of interviews but none I could find really focus on her early years – her childhood, the influence of her parents, the first ventures that taught her a lot and what then lead to Ethique. Often we only hear the highlights but in this conversation Brianne was willing to share a lot more details of how things developed and lessons learned. I really appreciated her transparency and the model she is providing for other entrepreneurs who seek to make a lasting impact through the business they start. If you enjoy this, then check out some of the 325+ other interviews on seeds podcast – more info at www.theseeds.nz
Ethique: Ethique – Conscious & Concentrated Solid Beauty Bars – Ethique New Zealand (ethiqueworld.com)
Ethique Foundation: https://www.ethiquefoundation.org/
324. ‘Not for profit’ or ‘For purpose’? Some reflections by way of Star Trek
Star Trek and reflections on terms we use – why not? In this very short episode I read out an article just written about the phrases “Not for profit” and “For purpose”.
The article is here: ‘Not for profit’ or ‘For purpose’? Some reflections by way of Star Trek – seeds (theseeds.nz)
323 Dr. Colin Habberton on how we measure ‘impact’
Dr. Colin Habberton and I have a great conversation about his childhood in South Africa, his memories of the transitions that have happened there and how he approaches thinking about measuring and considering impact at Relativ Impact which he co-founded www.relativimpact.com. They are active across the Word including New Zealand and were set up with this mission: “We serve purpose-driven organisations on their journeys to achieve significant environmental and social impact.” This was a wide ranging interview and if you enjoy it why not check out some of the other hundreds in the back catalogue of seeds www.theseeds.nz as this is episode 323.
Relativ Impact site: www.relativimpact.com
Colin’s email: colin@relativimpact.com
322 Fireside Chat with Michelle Berriman, Kaye Maree Dunn, Sue Barker, Liz Gibbs, Steven Moe and Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafuna’i at the FINZ Conference
This was a Fireside Chat hosted by Michelle Berriman from the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand with panellists Kaye Maree Dunn, Sue Barker, Liz Gibbs, Steven Moe and Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafuna’i. In it we cover many different topics which are interesting – the future, diversity in governance, charity regulation and more. This was held in the evening of the first day of the FINZ conference. If you have not yet heard of FINZ I suggest you check them out. If you enjoy this check out some of the hundreds of other episodes in the seeds series www.theseeds.nz
FINZ Website: https://www.finz.org.nz/
My blog post about the event: Reflections on Fundraising Institute of New Zealand Conference 2022 – seeds (theseeds.nz)
321 David Meates on people led leadership
David has had an interesting life and in this conversation we hear about his origins in Christchurch, growing up as the son of an All Black and the impact that had, his studies, first job in the agriculture sector, then in retail in the UK and then in health in New Zealand. This is a deep dive into his life story and background. If you enjoy our conversation then remember this is episode 321 so check out some of the other life stories at www.theseeds.nz
David Meates site: David Meates for Christchurch Mayor Vision – Leadership – Experience
320 Rose Challies and Vic Crockford join the Impact Call
Rose Challies and Vic Crockford both joined the latest Impact Call to share about what they are involved in.
Vic Crockford shared with us about Community Housing Aotearoa and their work – for more info visit Community Housing | Nga Wharerau o Aotearoa
Rose Challies shared about Terra Nova Foundation – for more info visit Terra Nova Foundation | Reduce and Reconnect
To listen to earlier calls visit Aotearoa Impact Sector Updates | Parry Field Lawyers
319 This moment changed my life: Preston Hegel excerpt of conversation
This is a short excerpt of my conversation with Preston Hegel which focusses on a story about the moment things changed for him. If you like this have a listen of the hour long interview with him and check out other episodes at www.theseeds.nz
Earlier long form interview with Preston https://open.spotify.com/episode/7pid2ADH8O8Jr3jPnC2uXl?si=TwY6BsDZS4OZmiUZfmYs7A
Board Matters podcast https://www.iod.org.nz/news/articles/board-matters-podcast/#
318 Alana Kilmartin on Advice about Career Advice
This conversation with Alana Kilmartin we talk about careers and life choices. Are there better ways to help people make big decisions and what would it look like if there were more overseas experiences to help them get a true understanding of who they are and what work they should do. We also talk about her early childhood and growing up, time in Italy and the decision to move to New Zealand. If you enjoy this format of long form conversations about a life story check out the 300+ others at www.theseeds.nz – and leave me a rating and review, it helps support the show. And tell one other person about it?
Alana’s website: https://www.alanakilmartin.com/
Check out her podcast “Advice about Career Advice”: https://open.spotify.com/show/6nxavO08G71xZC7NLW6lpc?si=m2wb1r7yTZ-FBnqznIrjBQ
317 “Board Matters”: New Podcast
I’m hosting a new podcast called “Board Matters” which was just released – it has 13 conversations with very experienced Directors on leadership and governance. We need to upgrade and upskill our governance understanding and I hope this is one small way to help – do you know someone on a Board who is a Director or a Trustee and might appreciate this free resource? This seeds episode has information on the new show and a short trailer. Info and links to access the new show are at this page: https://www.iod.org.nz/news/articles/board-matters-podcast/#
Or direct links for apps are:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6aHNCIYEOwqoghkGlwKruU
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/board-matters/id1635454049
Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/y2tnm-2763ee/Board-Matters-Podcast
Google podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8yMDE0MzM2LnJzcw
Amazon music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/15e9ee51-1714-4270-928b-2e8b0b9e7cfe/board-matters
iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-board-matters-99622637/
316 Mau’u Sio Ifopo on Sport, Mentoring, Young People and the Special Friends Sports Trust
My conversation with Mau’u Sio Ifopo gave great insight on his life and journey to move back home to New Zealand. What’s it like to grow up with an identity linking you to Samoa but growing up in Christchurch? We also talked about young people and mentoring through the great work of Special Friends Sports Trust. If you enjoy this check out the 300+ other conversations at www.theseeds.nz
Special Friends Sports Trust website: Special Friends Sports Trust
Hi Sister Faumuina’s interview: Seeds: Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafunai on Pacific Ocean Wayfinding (libsyn.com)
315 Preston Hegel on Creativity, Art and Building Community at the XCHC
Really enjoyed this in depth conversation with Preston Hegal all about cultivating community among creatives who are creating Art at the XCHC XCHC (Exchange Christchurch) | Art Space. We start with his own background and what has shaped his life, life changing moments that led to new realisations and eventually landing in New Zealand where he is building community at the XCHC. This was a very wide ranging and in depth interview with someone I really respect for what they are bringing to this city and the country in terms of modelling creative expression and catalysing artists while also connecting diverse people together. I know the XCHC well as it has been the venue – thanks to Preston – for dozens of Impact Lunches over the years. If you enjoy this check out the 300+ other interviews in the back catalogue too. www.theseeds.nz
XCHC XCHC (Exchange Christchurch) | Art Space
Facebook Exchange Christchurch – XCHC | Facebook
Instagram XCHC (Exchange Christchurch) (@_xchc) • Instagram photos and videos
314 Neil Edmond on MoneyTime and gamifying financial literacy for children
Neil wants to help young people to gain financial literacy and does so through MoneyTime. Before we find out about that initiative and its rollout across New Zealand schools to gamify learning about financial matters, we hear about his life story and background and what has led him to do this work. Seeds is a project to capture life stories so we can learn from each other and this is episode 314 so check out some of the other episodes if you like this one!
MoneyTime site: https://www.moneytime.co.nz/
Email: Neil Edmond <neil@moneytime.co.nz>
313 Carey Ewing on Te Whare Awhero, Hope House
In this conversation with Carey Ewing we hear about his life journey coming from a small rural community to travelling the world and seeing poverty first hand in Africa – what would he do with his privilege? After discussing his background we also learn about Te Whare Awhero – Hope House, and the work they are doing in the community. Have a look at the link below and don’t forget there are more than 300 other interviews on seeds podcast so check some of them out too!!
Website: https://tewhareawhero.org/
James Stewart interview mentioned in conversation: https://seeds.libsyn.com/james-stewart-on-finding-purpose-empowering-impact-with-gemelli-consulting-and-thinking-up-solutions-to-the-housing-crisis
312. Lisa Foster and Nicola Nation join the Impact Call
Lisa Foster shares about the work of Rare Disorders NZ and Nicola Nation shares about the work of Ākina on transforming New Zealand’s economy through the power of impact.
These short insights from industry leaders give us a chance to hear about the work of another organisation – to join the email list drop me a line at steven@theseeds.nz
Rare Disorders NZ site: RDNZ | Home (raredisorders.org.nz)
Ākina site: The Ākina Foundation (akina.org.nz)
Incorporated Societies information: Incorporated Societies Act 2022: Information Hub | Parry Field Lawyers
311. Is community-led home ownership the way of the future? Audio of article for The Spinoff
This is the audio of an article I wrote for The Spinoff which you can read here https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/21-06-2022/is-community-led-home-ownership-the-way-of-the-future
I found about this initiative as I was the lawyer helping to design the legal structure – I enjoy helping purpase and impact driven initiatives like this and if you have one or know of others who do, let them know that I am always open to have a conversation on the best way to structure things. A lot of resources are here https://www.parryfield.com
This is one of 17 articles for The Spinoff – you can find others by navigating from here: https://thespinoff.co.nz/authors/steven-moe
310. Incorporated Societies: Key Changes Coming
As well as podcasting I am a lawyer and in this session we describe the key changes coming to the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. More free resources are here: Incorporated Societies Act 2022: Information Hub | Parry Field Lawyers
309. Tze-wi Ng and Emma Kostas on combining Impact in your Career
Tze-wei and Emma are lawyers with a focus on combining impact into their careers. In this interview we hear about their journeys and how they do this in their work as impact driven lawyers. Tze-wei is based in Hong Kong while Emma is based in Australia so this was an across Asia Pacific conversation for the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers launch event earlier this year.
More on GAIL (Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers) here and you can sign up to get emails: https://gailnet.org
Impact Journal just released: https://gailnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GAIL-APAC-Journal_Final_080622.pdf
308. Tony Groves on leadership lessons from the battlefield, overcoming addiction and founding Halo Training
Tony shares his life story on this episode and we discuss his childhood, joining the military in Australia at age 16, serving in war zones, his addiction to alcohol and overcoming that, what his time in the military has taught him about leadership and teams and founding Halo Training which takes people into nature and gives them real life leadership opportunities based on the instructors’ military backgrounds.
Halo Training: https://www.halotraining.co.nz
307. Elise Hilliam on nutrition and co-founding MenuAid
Answering the question “what’s for dinner?” is at the core of what Elise Hilliam co-founded MenuAid to address. In this conversation we hear about her background and influences and what led her to become an entrepreneur and the plans for the future of MenuAid. We covered a lot including the power of recipes and how food and community interconnect. I really enjoyed our conversation and if you do as well check out the more than 300 others at www.theseeds.nz
Website: MenuAid: Your menu planning & shopping list sidekick
Facebook MenuAid | Facebook
LinkedIn MenuAid: Overview | LinkedIn
306. Kate Frykberg, Sue Barker and Justin Stevenson on latest Impact Call
Thanks to our speakers at the Impact Call last Friday, we had a really amazing in-depth session on these topics which you can listen to here:
• From 4:24, Kate Frykberg shared reflections on her journey: “Missteps and learning: personal experiences of Pākehā organisations wanting to support Māori aspirations and learnings along the way…” Site: Kate Frykberg
• From 18:53, Sue Barker shared about her report which is now released looking at Charities Law Reform and what a world leading framework would be. Charities-Law-Reform-Report-April-2022.pdf (lawfoundation.org.nz)
• From 33:24, Justin Stevenson shared about whether governance in Charities is harder than in for profit companies then we had some discussions in breakout rooms – really interesting topic to consider and will share the article he mentioned when it comes out!
305. Barry Coates on investing ethically and founding Mindful Money
Barry Coates has had a fascinating life journey and in this conversation he shares about his background and what has led him to found Mindful Money, which focusses on helping Kiwis invest ethically. We discuss the work they do and the seminars, programs and awards run. We also talk about his early years, work in the United States and England and his time as an MP.
Mindful Money Site: https://mindfulmoney.nz/
304. Wendy Hoddinott on connecting people and places through collaborative design of shared spaces
Wendy Hoddinott shares her life journey in this episode and what has led her to focus on colloborative design of our shared spaces, as well as working on heritage related projects. We also talk about the Gather Foundation which is a charity she founded which has a unique focus using its Place Cadets program: “Gather Foundation empowers Ōtautahi’s tamariki and rangatahi to co-design outdoor environments in their schools, neighbourhoods and communities”, and “Wendy works with Gather Foundation to develop child-centric design programmes, drawing on children and young people’s knowledge and lived experiences, so that the final outcome is a reflection of their aspirations, rather than adult assumptions of the places they want to live and play.”
Gather Foundation: https://www.gatherfoundation.org.nz/
Gather Landscape: https://gatherla.nz/
Email: wendy@gatherla.nz
303. Founders’ Stories with Hannah Duder, Elliot Taylor, Chris Bacon, Aislinn Molloy and Jack Wood
This is the audio of our conversation with four founders of tech companies which was part of Tech Week 2022. Thanks to Hannah, Elliot, Chris, Jack and Aislinn for being part of this!
Very often we just hear the glamorous part of the journey of Founders of tech start-ups. In this zoom session we heard some of the other parts too – no sugar coating, no glitz, just the reality of being an entrepreneur. Sharing were four founders who are each at different stages of the journey – one just raised money recently (Elliot Taylor of ThroughLine), two who have raised last year and are in growth phase (Jack and Chris of Komodo) and one who has recently exited (Hannah of Indigo & Iris). As all these founders incorporated elements of purpose and impact into their business models we will also be hearing about the “Tech for Good” aspects to what they each do. To do this we hear from each guest on their journey and challenges in an interview format hosted by Aislinn Molloy (Senior Solicitor at Parry Field Lawyers with an expertise in capital fundraising) and Steven Moe (Partner at Parry Field Lawyers and Seeds podcast host).
Capital raising guide mentioned: Capital Raising | Parry Field Lawyers
302. Kirsten ‘KP’ Patterson, Maria English and Ros Rice in conversation on the Impact Call
In the latest Impact Call for April 2022 we heard from:
00:00 – Introduction to call
05:09 – Kirsten Patterson on IOD
15:52 – Maria English on Impact Lab
27:22 – Ros Rice on Community Networks Aotearoa
44:38 – Final thoughts
46:13 – End
Kirsten Patterson (KP) is the Chief Executive of the Institute of Directors of New Zealand (IOD) – was great to hear more about this organisation that has 10,000 members and some of the resources available on their site and the initiatives and training and conferences they run. https://www.iod.org.nz/#
Maria English the CEO of Impact Lab – interesting to learn background to the work they do in helping organisations measure impact and how they go about doing that https://impactlab.co.nz/
Ros Rice the Executive Officer of Community Networks Aotearoa sharing about their recent initiative to provide governance training “Tick for Governance” in the form of a series of 10 modules at a reasonable price – including the first one being free – and loved hearing about the whimsy in the videos https://www.communitynetworksaotearoa… End
Video https://youtu.be/ilqPLLPp8Vg
301. Nicola Patrick on Purpose, Impact and Thrive Whanganui
Nicola Patrick has led an interesting life and in this episode we hear all about her journey. We have a bunch of diversions along the way to talk about social enterprise, growing up in Takaka, working for the Ākina Foundation, rights of rivers and a lot more too. We also focus in on an upcoming Expo that Thrive Whanganui are coordinating – you can find out more about it at their Facebook page below.
https://www.facebook.com/ThriveWhanganui
300. Steven Moe in conversation with Andy Dickson
The 300th episode! Thanks everyone for helping get to this point – in this one it’s a bit different as I am in conversation with Andy Dickson who interviewed me for his podcast, ‘Down to Earth Conversations’ which he called “Law, Seeds and Maximum Impact”. We talk about my background and history and I share some of my journey – hope you enjoy this!!
Check out his podcast: https://www.downtoearthconversations.com
299. Michelle Berriman on the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand and their new report on giving, wills and bequests
In this conversation with Michelle Berriman we hear about her purpose driven work, her fascinating background and what has led her to New Zealand. We also talk about a report that the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand have just released prepared over two years on giving, wills and bequests (downloadable here) called ‘New Zealand’s Willpower’.
Her bio: Michelle has been causing disruption and transformational change in the NPF sector for over 25 years, Michelle is motivated by creating change and making a difference to those facing adversity and wants everyone to be given the chance to be the very best version of themselves.
Michelle is the currently the Executive Director of FINZ. Michelle has work in a variety of roles within the charity sector, prior to a move into fundraising and development she was a youth/community development worker supporting children looked after by the state, running community-based youth projects, and working in juvenile lock-down.
Michelle’s natural ability to forge long lasting and meaningful relationships has delivered positive results for the many organisations she has worked for. Michelle has a passion for events, conceptualising ideas, and bringing a new flavour to existing programmes within organisations.
FINZ: https://www.finz.org.nz
298. Stephanie Defregger on being a Soul Photographer
Stephanie Defregger is a photographer who captures stories and the essense of a person through her photos. In this interview we discuss her background and growing up in Munich, her move to New Zealand and her work as a photographer. We particularly discuss storytelling and the role of photos as well as the significance of certain ‘thin places’ where each of us feel connection and grounding. I really enjoyed this conversation and am sure you will as well – if you do there are 298 others in the back catalogue at www.theseeds.nz
Website: https://www.stephaniedefregger.com
Email: stephanie@stephaniedefregger.com
Her pechakucha talk: https://www.pechakucha.com/presentations/re-connect
Impact unconference talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Cx6hBPDNA
297. Impact Call featuring Sue McCabe, Kaye Maree Dunn and Michelle Berriman
Each month I host an “Impact Call” by zoom – this is the audio of the latest one featuring some amazing speakers about what they are currenty up to! If you’d like to join the more than 650 that get notifications about upcoming calls and news as well let me know by email to steven@theseeds.nz …
Our speakers are:
– Sue McCabe the CE of Philanthropy New Zealand | Tōpūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa will share about their new initiative Match | Te Puna Taurite which is about to launch and provide “a more equitable, accessible and collaborative funding system” https://lnkd.in/eJaHNZHF
– Michelle Berriman the Executive Director of FINZ New Zealand who are releasing a research report soon.
– Kaye Maree Dunn will share about He Kōrero – from these podcasts focus on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the way different practitioners apply its intent and principles in their respective mahi. This mahi includes kaupapa Māori research, education, climate change, homelessness and community development. Link He Kōrero – Te Tiriti Podcasts – Community Research
Index:
00:51: Intro
04:09: Sue McCabe from Philanthropy New Zealand
13:19: Kaye Maree Dunn from
29:13: Michelle Berriman from Fundraising Institute of New Zealand
296: 10 Lessons Learned
I also typed out the audio of this short reflection on things I learned here:
295: Raesha Ismail on finding your identity and the unifying work of the Sakinah Community Trust
Raesha Ismail has grown up with multiple identities and we discuss her life story on this episode. Born in New Zealand but with strong connections back to India and being a Muslim has meant many rich cultural influences on her journey. What is it like to grow up in Christchurch? And what are the type of questions we should be asking others we meet who might not fit a neat box? We also talk about her work today as a counsellor, the loss of her brother in the March 15th attacks, and how that led her to join the Sakinah Community Trust which is a woman led charity of widows and others who lost siblings or parents and who are doing good work on uniting communities. Check out their upcoming events to mark the anniversary. This is one of almost 300 episodes so check the others out at www.theseeds.nz
Sakinah Community Trust: https://sakinahtrust.org/
Counselling work: https://canmen.org.nz/counselling/
https://www.petersgate.org.nz/counsellors
294: James Stewart on finding purpose, empowering impact with Gemelli Consulting and thinking up solutions to the housing crisis
James Stewart founded Gemelli Consulting to work on impact focussed projects. In this interview he shares his personal journey, from being challenged about how he would use his privilege early in his life and the change that resulted ad led to seeking out purpose. We also talk about his unusual business model – profits get given away. Finally we talk about a white paper he has just released which is focussed on the housing crisis and one possible solution to that. I enjoyed this conversation and if you do as well check out some others at www.theseeds.nz
White paper: https://www.gemelliconsulting.com/white-papers/
Gemelli Consulting: https://www.gemelliconsulting.com/
293: Matthew Mark on assumptions about Poverty and Homelessness and the work of the Christchurch City Mission
In this converation with the Christchurch City Missioner Matthew Mark, we find out about his background and motivations as well as the work they do with the homeless and others in need. That is a lot more people than you might think. Matthew also shares about his own background and why this work is so important to him, and how we can support what they do.
Christchurch City Mission: Christchurch City Mission
292: Kintsugi: Brokenness, Strength and Beauty, excerpt of the conversation with Nobuko Okamoto
This is a very short 5 minute excerpt of the conversation with Nobuko Okamoto about Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using gold – we reflected on what it might mean for each of us and our lives and parts that might be broken.
“The thing that strikes me about this technique of Kintsugi is that if we think about our lives, so often there are broken parts in our lives – and it is easy to push them aside and say “I don’t want to deal with that brokenness” or that pain or whatever it is. And the model that you are using is to say, “we can repair things and we can regognise that there is brokenness but that there can be beauty in the brokenness” – and by using Gold it is actually emphasising the places where the pottery was broken – and sometimes in our lives, well we don’t want to talk about the broken things but in the same way we can be repaired, we can be fixed as well, and it can be something that even is celebrated, that it actually leads to some new life for this object … or this person. It is a beatiful thing.”
Facebook for more by Nobuko: https://www.facebook.com/nobu.kintsugi/
Photos by Nobuko Okamoto of work she has done – visit her instagram for many more amazing ones. https://www.instagram.com/nobu.kintsugi/?hl=en
291: Nobuko Okamoto on Kintsugi and the art of giving broken things new life
Nobuko is an artist who uses the Japanese method of Kintsugi to repair broken pottery. In this interview we talk about the process of doing that but also what it represents about us as humans as well. We also go into her background and life in Japan, being a professional snowboarder and what brought her to New Zealand as a teenager and then later in life as well. If you have any broken items of pottery that is special then she is the best person to reach out to! If you enjoy this conversation then have a listen to some of the almost 300 others in the back catalogue.
Nobuko Okamoto <kintsugi.825@gmail.com>
Instagram : nobu.kintsugi
Stuff article: https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/decor/300444143/the-slow-art-of-giving-broken-objects-a-second-life
290: Siddharth Sthalekar on true wealth, reputation in an online world and founding Neighbourhoods
Sid is part of the founding team of Neighbourhoods, which is focussed on the role of reputation in an online world. Before we talk about that initiative we dive into his past growing up in India, joining the banking system, abandoning that for several years including time at the Ghandi Ashram, thinking about the true meaning of wealth, finding that distributed ledger technology could be used to measure reputation and what Neighbourhoods is. I think it has real potential and am a supporter of the Project and have invested a small amount too. This is the longest of the interviews recorded because we talked about so many different topics.
Website: Neighbourhoods | A design philosophy for Holochain hApps.
White Paper: White Paper v.1 – White Paper (neighbourhoods.network)
Twitter: Neighbourhoods (@Neighbour_hoods) / Twitter
The article on Captain Planet… Remembering Captain Planet, 30 years on | The Spinoff
Edmund Hillary Fellowship: Edmund Hillary Fellowship (ehf.org)
289: Nicola Nation on Ākina and catalysing positive impact
Nicola has recently been appointed as CEO of the Ākina Foundation so in this interview we find out all about the work they are doing in the area of impact. They have done a lot and continue provide many resources for those interested in the intersection of purpose, profit and business. We also hear about her life story and journeys across the world and in other roles. If you enjoy this then check out some of the hundreds of other interviews in the back catalogue.
Website: https://www.akina.org.nz
288: Joy Reid on One Mother to Another
Joy co-founded One Mother to Another which is an amazing initiative providing handwritten notes and gifts to Mothers and carers in Hospitals going through a difficult time with a sick child. Their aim is to bridge the gap between 2 strangers and offer understanding and acknowledgement of their difficulty but mostly put a smile on their face and let them know they are cared about. Before we talk about that we also learn about her life story and what it has been like being a journalist on radio and television. I really enjoyed learning about her journey and am sure you will too – if you do check out their website below and don’t forget there are nearly 300 other interviews as well for seeds.
Website: https://www.onemothertoanother.org.nz/
287: The Decentralised Revolution: Understanding the potential of Blockchain, DeFi, Crypto, DAOs, NFTs and the Metaverse to drive innovation, creativity and new paradigms
Welcome to the audio version of the White Paper that you can download here https://theseeds.nz/the-decentralised-revolution-white-paper/
286: The Apple Tree: A Short Story
This is a short story I wrote to encourage us when we lose sight of the value of what we are doing.
The printed version is at The Empty Square here: https://www.theemptysquare.org/stories/the-apple-tree
Thank you Julie Holck and Simon Glinvad Nielsen for publishing this and other writing. Check out their site for a lot of great content.
285: Oonagh Browne on the power of Chocolate and Cacao
Oonagh Browne is an expert in Chocolate and Cacao. In this conversation we hear about her childhood in Ireland, her moving to different parts of the world, her feeling on arriving in New Zealand, first experiences with making chocolate and why she started The Cacao Ambassador. We find out a lot about chocolate and cacao as well! Find out more about her work here https://www.thecacaoambassador.com/
284: On Chocolate: Excerpt of the conversation with Oonagh Browne
Oonagh is an expert on Chocolate and Cacao. In this conversation we hear about this topic as a preview of the full episode which will come out next.
Find out more about her work here https://www.thecacaoambassador.com/
283: Kirsty Allott on being happy in your Job (or making changes so you are)
Kirsty Allott is an expert in human resources, personality and job satisfaction. In this interview we talk about all of that and more but start with her background and love of dance. We then talk about psychology and her own career transition which was sparked by a manager asking if she was happy. Since then she has worked in human resources and helping people with their careers and navigating change at Vargo + Lewis. The resources they are making available called the Crafted Career Programmes that we discuss are on their website.
Vargo + Lewis: Vargo+Lewis – Empowering Performance Together
282: Questions to ask about your Job: Excerpt of the conversation with Kirsty Allott
Kirsty Allott is an expert in human resources, personality and job satisfaction. In this extract of the full interview we talk about the questions we each should be asking about our Jobs. For resources mentioned they are at Vargo + Lewis: Vargo+Lewis – Empowering Performance Together
281: Laying Foundations for Reimagining Business: The audio book
Audio book version of the newly released “Laying Foundations for Reimagining Business: Essays“. For more information on print copies, downloadable PDF and comments about the book visit: Laying Foundations for Reimagining Business: Essays – seeds (theseeds.nz)
Would you be willing to share the link with others? A message could just say this and if you tag me I will like and comment!
Check out this free resource – a book of essays about the future of business: https://theseeds.nz/laying-foundations-for-reimagining-business-essays/
Index of the audio for each essay:
2:30: Essay 1: The bottom line is not enough, companies should be required to have a purpose
7:47: Essay 2: Impact Investing presents opportunity to back a better future beyond just financial gain
12:09: Essay 3: Proposed changes to the Companies Act mark the beginning of positive change
17:15: Essay 4: Purpose-driven structures for Impact Entrepreneurs: Considering Kaitiakitanga and Steward Ownership
28:27: Essay 5: What social enterprises in Aotearoa can learn from Māoritanga
32:57: Essay 6: A case for bringing creatives to the governance table
37:54: Essay 7: The hard questions we need to be asking
48:09: Essay 8: Structuring for Impact
54:08: Excerpt from “Reimagining Business”
280: How agile contracts can promote project innovation
This is a short bonus episode with the audio of an article I co-wrote with Louisa Taylor – it arose after she gave a talk that I attended about lawyers hindering innovation so it was fun to collaborate on this with her and prove that collaboration can result in good things!
The stuff article: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/prosper/advice/300335515/how-agile-contracts-can-promote-project-innovation
279: Alina Siegfried on A Future Untold: The power of story to transform the world and ourselves
Alina is an impact storyteller who has just released a book about the power of story. She first appeared on seeds for episode 143. In this shorter follow episode 279 we catch up with her to find out about the book she has released called A Future Untold: The power of story to transform the world and ourselves. Check it out at the links below.
Website: www.alinasiegfried.com
Earlier interview for ep 143: https://seeds.libsyn.com/alina-siegfred-on-poetry-and-impact-storytelling
Here are some options for places to buy “A Future Untold”:
- Get the paperback on Amazon
- Get the paperback on Barnes & Noble
- Get the e-book on Kindle
- Get the e-book on Kobo
- Get the e-book on Apple Books
- Get the e-book on Google Play
- Other e-book platforms
278: John Morrow on The Cause Report
John joins the latest impact sector call to share about The Cause Report which he is a co-author of for JB Were. In the report there is an analysis of the For Purpose sector with data on charities analysed to look for trends and insights. The sector John is the Head of Philanthropy for JB Were and tells us about what this is and key conclusions that result. The impact sector calls are held every two months and is a chance to bring together people to listen in on new innovations and connect with each other as well. If you’d like to join the more than 500+ who receive notifications about the calls then drop me a line at steven@theseeds.nz
The Cause Report: https://www.jbwere.co.nz/latest-insights/philanthropy/jbwere-nz-cause-report-2021/
John is the Head of Philanthropy for JBWere New Zealand and joined JBWere in January 2020 from a boutique strategy advisory business he co-founded in 2009.
277: Melanie Mark-Shadbolt on founding Te Tira Whakamātaki, biodiversity, indigenous knowledge and seed banks
Melanie has a focus on preserving indigenous knowledge and highlighting the importance of mātauranga Māori and using that understanding to meet environmental challenges we face today. Her expertise in biodiversity and driving environmental outcomes are underpinned by an indigenous worldview. In this very wide ranging conversation we discuss all of that as well as colonialism and decolonisation, systemic change and also … seed banking. But we begin with her story and background which included time spent in Oman and then moving back to Aotearoa New Zealand and founding Te Tira Whakamātaki.
Website: Home – TTW – Te Tira Whakamātaki
276: Hazel Heal on the cure for Hepatitis C
The truth about Hepatitis – what do you know? In this interview Hazel takes us on a journey to understand her life and experience as someone who has been impacted by Hepatitis C but has found the cure which literally saved her life. There is a lot of misinformation on this topic out there so I enjoyed hearing first hand from someone about this topic. We also dive back into her early years to learn about her influences and what has shaped her. We also talk about the project to test the entire population of Niue and the role of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship in fundraising for that.
Website for more info:
Fundraising request on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOs11S5cOgY
Hep C Action website and butterfly resources https://hepc-action.nz/
GHNZ website https://globalhealthnz.org/
Butterfly international hit; https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/112029274/kiwi-butterflies-get-support-as-global-symbol-for-elimination-of-hepatitis-c
People can contact me, email hazel@ghnz.org LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hazel-heal- Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008681522039
Arthur book review/excerpt: https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/16-08-2021/arthur-taylor-what-its-like-to-be-strip-searched-in-prison/
Arthur and me: https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/taking-taylor-eye-opening-adventure?
275: Leadership Myths
This was fun. Elle Archer, Sina Cotter Tait, Tim Jones and Michael Phillpott joined me for an online seeds podcast unlike any before. Each of them shared one leadership myth they have seen and we had some discussions about what they shared. A key theme came through of lifelong learning. If you enjoy this then why not share with others? And check out earlier episodes with them below.
Tim Jones earlier episode: https://seeds.libsyn.com/tim-jones-on-b-corps and his website: https://www.growgood.co
Elle Archer earlier episode: https://seeds.libsyn.com/elle-archer-on-being-curious-lifelong-learning-and-the-ako-tautahi-learning-city-christchurch-festival
Michael Philpott earlier episode: https://seeds.libsyn.com/michael-philpott-on-speaking-in-public-why-do-we-fear-it-and-what-can-help and his website: https://www.michaelphilpott.co.nz/
Sina Cotter Tait website: https://collectivesuccess.co.nz
274: Dr Duncan Webb on changing the law on Duties of Directors
Dr Duncan Webb is the Labour MP for Christchurch Central and introduced a private Members’ Bill which has been selected and is likely going to change Director Duties in a significant way. In this interview we spend a long time discussing the origins of the change, what it will mean, the process to have it passed and whether there could be changes before it is passed. We also jump back in time to learn about his history, moving to New Zealand at a young age, his career as an academic, Partner in a law firm and then the decision to stand for Parliament and winning the Christchurch Central seat in 2017.
Description of the changes we discuss and link to Stuff opinion piece: https://theseeds.nz/nz-duties-of-directors-set-for-major-change-what-will-this-mean/
Information on Duncan: https://www.labour.org.nz/duncanwebb
273: Duties of Directors set for Major Change in NZ: What could this mean?
This is the audio version of an opinion piece I wrote for Stuff yesterday. It relates to proposed changes to the Companies Act regarding Director Duties. Could the changes be strengthened so NZ becomes a world leader?
Please consider re-sharing this to spread the word about the changes proposed. This is a post that will bring up an image in social media: NZ Duties of Directors set for major change: What will this mean? – seeds (theseeds.nz)
272: Matthew Jackson on co-founding Alimentary
Matthew has been involved in a wide variety of tech start-ups and in this episode we start with learning about his early years and how those experiences influenced him. We also talk about the Edmund Hillary Fellowship as well as his new venture Alimentary and the work they are doing – it was pretty fun for the podcast to be the first time Matthew has spoken about this new initiative publicly.
Connect with Matthew
www.blackswan.nz
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjackson/
https://twitter.com/mattnzl
https://www.instagram.com/mattnzl/
Learn more about Alimentary
www.alimentary.systems
https://www.linkedin.com/company/alimentary-systems
https://www.ehf.org/live-sessions
271: Savva Kerdemelidis on Crowd Funded Cures
Savva Kerdemelidis has seen a need and is trying to solve it, in this case it relates to his NZ charity Crowd Funded Cures, whose mission is to use pay for success contracts to make drug development more affordable by repurposing off-patent medicines. In this conversation we talk about this but also about his childhood, his Grandfather’s experiences in Siberia, growing up in New Zealand, when we got to know each other at the University of Canterbury Students’ Association in 2000 and becoming a lawyer who works around the World.
For more information about Crowd Funded Cures see below.
Or please get in touch by email at info@crowdfundedcures.org
Website https://crowdfundedcures.org
Social Media Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrowdFundedCure
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crowdfundedcures/
Discord: https://discord.gg/n3PXBtvd
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/pJoHURDJTF81NjA0
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/67096455/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CrowdFundedCures/
Medium: https://crowdfundedcures.medium.com/
270: A Conversation about Purpose with Tim Jones
I had a conversation with Tim Jones for his “Purpose Fuelled Performance” podcast recently and this is our wide ranging discussion on such a variety of topics I am calling it ‘The Random Episode’ – though the consistent theme is purpose. Tim was on episode 2 of Seeds so I really enjoyed jumping over onto his podcast and I have a feeling this could become a fun regular feature every once in a while!
Tim’s website: https://www.growgood.co
Look up “Purpose Fuelled Performance” Podcast too.
269: Sophie-Claire Violette on Anthropology, Decolonisation and Language
Sophie-Claire has led a fascinating life and we hear about growing up in Mauritius, her thoughts on language and decolonisation, her work as a cultural anthropologist and cultural strategist. In this wide ranging interview we talked about a huge variety of topics.
268: Jo Garner on Fundraising and Strategic Grants
In this interview with Jo we talk a lot about fundraising for purpose led organisations but we also learn about her life story and what led her to start Strategic Grants, the terminology we use in the “not for profit” space, positions of power between Charities and the Grant Makers, key tips for writing fundraising applications and more. If you enjoy this then check out some of the hundreds of other stories in the back catalogue.
Website in NZ: Home – Strategic Grants
Website in Australia: Home – Strategic Grants
267: Peter Saunders on co-founding Solagri Energy
Peter shares in this conversation about solar energy and we also learn about his life story. Solagri Energy is the business he co-founded and is a distributed energy business passionate about helping New Zealand agriculture transition to a green energy future. Thanks to Jacob Varghese for the suggestion of talking.
Website: Solagri
266: The bottom line is not enough, companies should be required to have a purpose
This is the audio version of a Stuff opinion piece that I wrote this week called “The bottom line is not enough, companies should be required to have a purpose“.
Linked In post which has a lot of comments to check out…what do you think? Let me know there: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/steven-moe-0b3b008a_the-bottom-line-is-not-enough-companies-activity-6836527083515183104-hbda
The Stuff article: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/126154370/the-bottom-line-is-not-enough-companies-should-be-required-to-have-a-purpose
Thank you Susan Edmunds for the chance to wrote this opinion piece.
265: Sam Stubbs on Simplicity
This is a wide ranging interview with Sam Stubbs – the best type of interview! Before we talk about Simplicity we get into the background to Sam and his life and learn about his childhood, the impact of stuttering as a young boy, what it motivated him to do (speak in front of crowds), his work as as an investment banker, the role of the Christchurch earthquakes in a shift of thinking and his transition over to help co-found Simplicity. We also touch on many many other topics along the way like social enterprise, the future of business, technology shifts and more.
About Simplicity: Our Investment Funds – Simplicity
About Community Finance that we talk about: Home – communityfinance.co.nz
About Dyslexia as a superpower: Spotify – Dyslexia as Superpower with Geoff Bone – Seeds | Podcast on Spotify
264: Robett Hollis on Chess not Checkers and the fuel to overcome challenges
Robett has fit in a lot into his life – from medal winning professional snowboarder to successful multi-exit media and tech entrepreneur, investor and global Kiwi we dive back into his past to learn what has influenced him and motivates him today to keep going. From an early Fiji childhood to being a teenager in Aranui and the challenge from a guidance counsellor that he would end up stacking boxes we talk about how he has always been in the minority and the fuel this has provided for him to achieve. We also talk about his autobiography Power Moves and zero in on what it means to do good and give back in your life.
Robett’s site: https://robett.com
263: Garry Moore on the power of Public Debate, the Tuesday Club and Community Housing
Garry Moore served three terms as Christchurch Mayor and in this episode we hear about his childhood then really have a very eclectic conversation – as expected! We jump all through his life to learn about what has shaped him, the influence of people who called him to be more than he was, the impact of generosity shown by others and his thoughts on a wide range of issues such as Water, Community Housing and the disconnect arising from our use of Technology. We also talk about the Tuesday Club and the variety of topics it covers each week – sign up to the newsletter to stay up to date with that (link below).
Tuesday Club information: https://tuesdayclub.nz
262: Caroline Quay on investing in Health Tech and CaraMed Capital
Caroline shares some of her life with us on this podcast episode and we get to hear about what it is like to be an immigrant to a country like New Zealand. She reflects on the influence of her Grandfather who moved to Malaysia with nothing and how that has shaped her attitudes. We then get into her career, work as a lawyer, joining Fisher & Paykel and how she got involved in health tech startups and the work being done now at CaraMed Capital. We reflect a lot on what impact investing is as well.
A link to CaraMed Capital’s website www.caramed.co.nz
261: Dr Jay Matenga on identity, whakapapa, spirituality and kaupapa Māori
Jay shares about finding identity in this interview – from meeting his birth Father age 42 we learn about his journey of discovering his whakapapa, his spiritual life and his relationship back with kaupapa Māori. What is nature and what is nurture? We really went all over with this interview and covered many unusual topics that you might not expect. We even finish with Jay sharing a song! I really enjoyed our conversation and learned a lot about many wide ranging topics.
Website: https://jaymatenga.com/about/
Episode 260: Excerpts from the conversation with Jay Matenga
Some excerpts to give a flavour of the next interview, a deep dive discussion with Jay Matenga. We cover identity, spirituality, whakapapa and more. He also shares with us a reinterpreted song. Be watching out for the full interview out next.
Episode 259: Toni Truslove on Kiwis overseas and connecting them through Kea New Zealand
Toni has had a fascinating life living in multiple countries and experienced being a Kiwi overseas herself. Now leading Kea New Zealand she has taken that background and used it with the work they do connecting Kiwis who live overseas. But we start talking about her childhood growing up on a Deer Farm, early years working in Radio and a whole lot more. If you enjoy this then you might want to check out the 259 other episodes in this podcast series talking with inspiring Kiwis about what they do and why.
Kea New Zealand website: Where Kiwi Explorers Connect & Make A Difference | Kea NZ (keanewzealand.com)
Kea connect link https://www.keanewzealand.com/kea-connect/
Episode 258: Purpose and Business: Summary of talk by Colin Meyer
This is a very short summary of a talk I heard recently at the Institute of Directors event at the start of May 2021. Colin Meyer from the UK shared about purpose and business and gave some practical ideas for how to define purpose and provided a framework for this.
The book mentioned: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/prosperity-9780198824008?cc=gb&lang=en
Conference summary: https://theseeds.nz/key-lessons-and-learnings-from-day-2-of-the-iod-leadership-conference-2021/
Episode 257: Anna Judge on Our Little Village
Anna Judge shares with us in this episode about founding Our Little Village and her experience creating that charity. The charity came from her experience with child birth and the challenges she faced as a mother. With the support of her family and guidance of a doctor, she made it through the challenges but was the experience inspired to start Our Little Village, the name for which is inspired from a comment by her doctor saying it takes a village to raise a child. With the charity up and running Anna is now working with others doing similar work and with support from Ronald McDonald house is well on their way to delivering packages to new mothers to support them with their needs.
Website: https://ourlittlevillage.org.nz
Episode 256: Yoseph Ayele on the Edmund Hillary Fellowship
Yoseph is one of the co-founders of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and was the first CEO as well. In this interview we talk about his childhood in Ethiopia, moving around Africa as a young person, studying in the United States and how he ended up in New Zealand. We also talk about the origins of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and the programme which brings into New Zealand entrepreneurs and investors on Global Impact Visas and now has 532 Fellows. I really enjoyed this interview and appreciated hearing more about Yoseph’s background and life – if you like it too then check out www.theseeds.nz for a lot more interviews as well.
Edmund Hillary Fellowship: https://www.ehf.org
Yoseph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yosephayele/
Episode 255: Jezza Williams on prioritising inclusion and founding Makingtrax
Jezza founded Makingtrax to make a difference and in this short excerpt we hear from him about some of his journey – if you don’t go away feeling inspired by this then I will be very surprised!
Check him out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/makingtrax.co.nz/
Website: https://www.makingtrax.co.nz/
Email: Jezza Williams <jezza@makingtrax.co.nz>
Episode 254: Adrian Palmer on Addington Coffee Coop and ZED
In this interview we hear from Adrian Palmer about his life and growing up, with his high school friends forming the band Supra which became ZED, what it was like to top charts and travel the World, returning to New Zealand and the origins of the Addington Coffee Coop. We also discuss Common Good Coffee which has been developed with Kind Cafe and Crave Cafe in Auckland. We also discuss how they approach business differently and the connection over with India.
Website: https://www.addingtoncoffee.org.nz/
Common Good Coffee: https://commongoodcoffee.nz/
ZED: https://www.facebook.com/thislittleempirenz/
Interview with Nigel Cottle on Crave cafe and Kind cafe in Auckland mentioned in this interview https://seeds.libsyn.com/nigel-cottle-on-crave-cafe
Episode 253: Elle Archer on being curious, lifelong learning and the Ako Ōtautahi Learning City Christchurch festival
Some interviews go deeper than others and this is one of those – Elle Archer has had a very interesting life and she shares about her early years, being adopted, the role her parents played in her life, leaving school at age 14, lifelong learning and doing, making access to education accessible and te ao Māori. We also talk about Ako Ōtautahi Learning City Christchurch festival.
Ako Ōtautahi Learning City Christchurch website (on May 10-16 2021) https://learningcitychristchurch.nz
Episode 252: Rick Thorpe on Xtreme Zero Waste
Rick has had a truly fascinating life, helping the Chatham Island Black Robins survive through 9 summers of work there, having a childhood lived in a variety of countries, working on creating a permaculture farm and co-founding Xtreme Zero Waste. We talk about all that and a lot more in this discussion – shout out to Craig Fisher for connecting us.
Website: http://xtremezerowaste.org.nz/
Episode 251: Charlie Grosso on transforming youth refugee experiences with Hello Future
Charlie has had a fascinating life as a fashion photographer, running a contemporary art gallery in New York and travelling the world – what she saw on those trips led to her setting up Hello Future to work with adolescent refugees. But we start the conversation learning about Charlie’s early years in Taiwan and what it was like to be sent aged 11 to the United States without being able to speak the language – how did that experience influence what she now works on? We also learn about her different experiences leading up to Hello Future as well as her experience of joining the Edmund Hillary Fellowship.
Website: http://www.charliegrosso.com/
Hello Future: https://www.hellofuture.io/
Episode 250: What I wish I had known . . .
To celebrate the 250th episode of seeds podcast this is a short talk I gave at the High School that I went to for about 60 Year 13 students reflecting on 15 things that I wish I had known when I was their age. Hope you enjoy this as it is applicable to me today still. For more information and interviews check out www.theseeds.nz
What I wish someone had told me when I was 17 sitting in your seat …
Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi.
With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive.
The value of . . .
Identity
Knowing who you are and letting that inform what you do. Ring the bell.
Your reputation – both offline and online.
Networks and staying in touch with others.
Being open to opportunities where others see a dead end.
Avoid letting fear shape your choices.
Growth
People who are dedicated and work hard are much ‘luckier’.
Always aiming to exceed expectations. How can you add value?
‘Wasted’ time and being faithful with little.
Splitting tasks – and most anything, into three. Start, middle, end.
Everyone has a story – if you think they are not interesting, it’s on you.
Experience
Learning from ‘failure’ and looking for the positive. Compost for the next idea.
Leading when you are not in charge. You always lead at least one person – yourself.
A long term perspective and “becoming the person you would like to meet”.
Choose the less travelled path if there are two roads diverging.
Don’t wish for a time machine. Move on.
Stay curious.
Steven Moe
24 February 2021
Episode 249: Mark Longbottom on Heartkids NZ and Purposely Podcast
Mark Longbottom has had a career working with for purpose organisations in the UK and New Zealand. In this interview we find out about his passion for England from a very young age, his life there working in the NFP sector and then the decision to move back to New Zealand. We also have a great discussion about starting a podcast as he set up his last year. Check out the links to that as well – see below. There is a lot more content at www.theseeds.nz
Heart Kids: https://heartkids.org.nz/
Purposely Podcast: https://www.purposelypodcast.com/
Episode 248: Mark Bregman on Intellectual Capital: moving from Knowledge to Innovation
Mark Bregman has had decades of experience as an innovator, worked in start-ups and venture capital investing and I interviewed him on Intellectual Capital. This was a live interview held as part of an Edmund Hillary Fellowship ‘Huddle’ event this week. Big thanks to those who put the event on from EHF and the Huddles crew.
The real value in a business is most often in its intellectual capital – how do you protect that? How do you develop it? When do you collaborate and when do you keep trade secrets? How do you interact with Universities which want to hold onto IP researchers create? What about indigenous knowledge – should that even be capable of being sold to others or does it perpetuate problems to bring a Western approach to ‘ownership’ of such IP? We will cover this and more during our fast paced interview style session where Mark Bregman (C7) will be sharing his decades of experience in IT, start-ups and venture capital investing with key learnings for NZ, through a conversation with Steven Moe (C7), a purpose focused lawyer helping start-ups/investors as well as the seeds podcast host.
Mark’s Quidnet Ventures: https://www.quidnetventures.com/
Episode 247: Joe Davis on key Covid lessons, pivots and the new ‘Silver Linings’ book
Joe has just finished co-writing “Silver Linings” with David Downs about the impact of Covid on businesses and the pivots they went through as a result. In this interview we find out about that but also dive deep into his background and hear about his childhood in England, moving to New Zealand at a young age, the work he was involved in before co-founding Nanogirl Labs and how they coped with Covid. We also have a great part of the conversation thinking about what the important things are that have been highlighted from the Pandemic. The event we discuss is taking place at the end of March 2021 and tickets are available here https://www.silverlinings.nz/ Nanogirl Labs: https://www.nanogirllabs.com The book: https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/silver-linings-9780143775478Episode 246: Pivoting Nanogirl Labs: Excerpt of interview with Joe Davis
This is a short excerpt of my conversation with Joe Davis who is a co-founder and the CEO of Nanogirl Labs. In it he talks about the impact of Covid on Nanogirl Labs as well as the book that has resulted called “Silver Linings”. We also talk about what it is that we can learn from the experience and ask whether we go back to “normal” or we actually change the way we act in the future – “what is really essential?”.
Episode 245: Paul Swettenham on recruitment principles and founding Sunstone
Paul has had an interesting life including a childhood in Ilam Homestead, made famous by the movie “Heavenly Creatures” and in this episode we talk about his background, his time overseas, business in the Himalayas and what he does today. I was curious to understand from him what it is that makes a good interview and how recruiting works as he is involved in that at Sunstone.
Sunstone: https://sunstonetalent.com
Episode 244: Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafunai on Pacific Ocean Wayfinding
Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafunai’s life and journey has been fascinating – in this interview we find out about what it is like to grow up with two cultures, being born in New Zealand but with strong connections back to Samoa. In particular we focus in on Wayfinding – this originates from “a geneology of knowledge passed down through Pacific star navigators and ocean voyagers”. She wants to use Pacific Wayfinding to design better aid and development programmes. Her reflections on nature and what it is like to be out on the ocean are very insightful. Check out the last episode for a 4 minute summary.
About Wayfinding: https://www.flyinggeesepro.nz/
YouTube video of her talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y58Xf474NaQ&feature=youtu.be
Wayfinding article: https://www.ehf.org/blog/swe2a87gjavk3i0brqd2buom9z1hec
Episode 243: Nature is talking to you all the time”: Extract of interview with Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafunai
A short excerpt of the interview with Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafunai where we talked about the ocean and long voyages and what she has learned from spending time learning from nature.
About what she does: https://www.flyinggeesepro.nz/
YouTube video of her talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y58Xf474NaQ&feature=youtu.be
Episode 242: Jan Czaplicki on carbon offsetting and co-founding CarbonClick
Jan has had an interesting life as a citizen of the world and a co-founder of CarbonClick. In this interview we learn about his childhood in Norway and travels since then and how he ended up – by a serendipitous encounter – living in New Zealand. We also talk about the work of CarbonClick as well as the Edmund Hillary Fellowship which Jan is part of.
CarbonClick: https://www.carbonclick.com/
Episode 241: Sacha McMeeking on Colonisation, Climate Change and Te Ao Māori
Sacha McMeeking spoke at the 2020 Hillary Laureate Dinner to give the closing remarks. She somehow managed to weave together so many unique threads that touched on colonisation, climate change, Te Ao Māori and some real challenges about who we are taking along with us and will lead in the future. Sacha is Head of School of Aotahi: Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Canterbury. The evening was to honour the latest Hillary Institute Laureate, Christiana Figueres.
Other speeches and videos are here: https://www.hillaryinstitute.com/2020-hillary-laureate-dinner
This talk as video: https://youtu.be/7d1LCK_9754
Some excerpts of the talk:
“One of the practises in Te Ao Māori that I don’t think we have carried through enough is that most of our chiefly types didn’t get there because they were the best person for the job, they got their because when they were young somebody picked them and made them do something they were utterly unprepared to do. So collective imagination should be partnered with – where is your Rangatahi, who are you taking with you? What we need to do here tonight is to clothe each other in expectation… I challenge you all to ask yourselves – what are you going to give up? Who are you going to believe in? Who are you going to jump start? And what are you going to expect them to do for the world. I can tell you a few things that I expect all of you to do because I know quite a few of you and I know your potential, I know your roles, I know your talents – that knowledge is arguably the most important component for belief. When we talk about Manaakitanga, it’s one of those words that makes us feel good, because we think about hospitality and being cared forgot if you are going to Manaaki someone, you have got to know them – you have got to genuinely know them, you have got to genuinely care… so if we are genuinely going to do all of those things, then we have also got to deepen the relationships with each other, which is the reason I am most grateful to be here tonight sharing with you under an envelope of expectations that you will give up something tonight, that you will take someone with you tomorrow and that collectively we will self determine a better future.”
Episode 240: Levi Fawcett on start-up learnings and co-founding Partly
Levi shares some of his life journey so far as a young entrepreneur who has been involved in a few start-ups already and recently co-founded Partly. We talk about that venture which builds software solutions to solve difficult problems in the automotive parts industry. As well as rapid growth and what he’s learned raising $1.7 million in funding we also learn about his childhood and startups at University as well as his working at Rocketlab and the key things he learned there as an engineer. Some of the key takeaways from our discussion:
- Don’t be afraid to be ambitious – aim high
- Get the right people involved and establish a good culture
- Learn from what you try at first, nothing is wasted – even if not a “success” it provides fuel for the next initiative
- Be prepared to have hard conversations if things are going along “fine”
- You may need to ask some hard questions and pivot to a new approach rather than just surviving
Check out Partly here https://www.partly.com
We mention the work being done by Rob Vickery and the Hillfarrance site has some good resources too https://hillfarrance.com
The Blackbird investment notes on Partly are interesting too https://blackbird.vc/blog/investment-notes-partly/
Ministry of Awesome: https://ministryofawesome.com
Episode 239: “It’s ok not to be ok”: A conversation with Stephen Penny
In this very short interview we chat with Stephen Penny who was on the show pre-Covid. He told his life story then and in this episode we catch up on the topic of looking after ourselves and our mental health – how can we do better at checking up on those around us? LinkedIn Post we discuss: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/honorisstephenpenny_supportingeachother-askforhelp-activity-6734383145438867456-NtZi
Earlier interview with Stephen: https://seeds.libsyn.com/steve-penny-on-the-future-of-designing-buildings-and-lessons-from-being-an-entrepreneur
Episode 238: Steven Moe interviewed by Ian Harvey
I interview a lot of people but seldom get the mic turned the other way round, so this wide ranging chat with Ian Harvey from Collective Intelligence for his podcast “Stuff that Matters Now” was a lot of fun. Harv was a guest on Seeds in 2019 and came to a session I did on how to create a podcast – so he has the same gear as me! It was fun to appear on his show for his episode 34 and I encourage you to check out his other conversations too as he is producing some high quality interviews with some amazing people. In this episode we talk about my background and origins, growing up in New Zealand, becoming a lawyer, moving to purpose driven work, the changing paradigms of thinking around impact as well as the Edmund Hillary Fellowship we both just joined.
Stuff that Matters Now is in podcast apps or click here: https://www.collectiveintelligence.co.nz/stuff-that-matters-now/
Collective Intelligence: https://www.collectiveintelligence.co.nz
Description by Harv of the episode: “There are many facets to Kiwi-raised American, Steven Moe. Despite interviewing several hundred people for his own impact-inspired weekly podcast, Seeds, he’s not shared much of his own story and journey with his listeners. So here it is! Fellow EHF fellow Ian Harvey asks the question ‘Who is Steven Moe?’ and riffs with him about his transition to living a purpose-led impactful life. We credit Steven for inspiring us to embark upon the ‘Stuff that Matters Now’ podcast journey and love the serendipity of Harv interviewing Steven in the same room in Christchurch that Steven interviewed Harv in, back in 2019.”
Episode 237: Michael Gill on Sir Edmund Hillary
Michael went on many expeditions with Sir Edmund Hillary and was a friend of his for 50 years and has written an in-depth biography of his life. In this interview we find out about how they first met and what going on several expeditions with him all around the world was like. We also learn about his memories of Sir Ed and the key points in his life and how they influenced him and what his character was like. Michael has had a fascinating life so it was really interesting to hear about his adventures as well.
The book with Michael wrote on Sir Edmund Hillary: https://www.pottonandburton.co.nz/product/edmund-hillary/
Episode 236: Dr Angela Lim on Clearhead
Dr Angela Lim is one of the co-founders of Clearhead, and in this interview we find out about her childhood and life growing up in Malaysia and studying in Singapore before she moved to New Zealand. We talk about identity, how she ended up studying medicine and mental health in New Zealand – why do we have such poor rates? We also discuss how Clearhead works and what it is aimed at – an online platform using an AI chatbot to give personalised recommendations.
Clearhead website: https://www.clearhead.org.nz/our-team
Episode 235: Mitchell Gingrich on Autonomous Vehicles
Mitchell shares his life journey in this episode with a focus on autonomous vehicles. As the founder of Autonomous Consulting and the co-author with me of a paper on driverless cars I think you’ll find this conversation interesting. We start talking about the lunar landing of the 1960s, pursuing a career in the Law, moving to New Zealand and how he got into autonomous vehicles. If you enjoy this then check out some of the others in the back catalogue as there are hundreds there now.
Mitchell is the President & Lead Consultant of Autonomous Consulting +64-021-0826-5755
Co-written paper on Autonomous Vehicles “The Driverless Revolution: What Next?”: https://theseeds.nz/the-driverless-revolution-what-next-the-future-of-autonomous-vehicles-in-new-zealand/
Episode 234: Remembering … Captain Planet!
Remember Captain Planet? This cartoon celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. This is an audio version of an article I wrote for The Spinoff. The full text is here https://thespinoff.co.nz/tv/18-11-2020/remembering-captain-planet-30-years-on/
If you enjoy this then consider sharing with someone else who might remember the show?
Episode 233: Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson on understanding Menopause
Jeanette founded Power Pause to help raise awareness about Menopause. For episode 233 we find out about her life growing up in Liverpool, transformative OE experiences, her career in Human Resources and what it was like for her going through Menopause – and why she then founded Power Pause.
Website with resources: https://powerpause.co.nz/
Jeanette comments:”My aim is to provide lots of resources, on one site, so that people don’t have to work so hard to find relevant information. My over-arching desire is to normalise the menopause conversation and let people know it is a life stage which passes – so let’s support people who are going through it, or living with people going through it – so that we retain women in workplaces, improve family relationships, improve communities, eventually resulting in economic equity and improvement for women in their 50s, 60’s, 70’s and even 80’s (like Margaret Austin – episode 208 – and RBG).
Power Pause NZ home page:Power Pause
Power Pause News and Resources page. This has lots of other websites which are much more comprehensive than mine, plus lots of helpful links to articles, books, videos etc:News & Resources – Power Pause
I mentioned Ph.Creative, ‘Defenders of Happiness’, a company I work closely with to enable fabulous employer branding and employee experience:Ph.Creative | An Employer Brand Agency (ph-creative.com)
Margaret Austin interview mentioned in this: https://seeds.libsyn.com/margaret-austin-on-a-life-of-service
Episode 232: Understanding Menopause: Excerpts of the conversation with Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson
Menopause is still something of a taboo subject – we need to change that and in this short excerpt of the much longer conversation with Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson on this topic we talk about this. Be watching out for the hour long interview with her that has more detail as well. In this short episode Jeanette shares some of her experiences with Menopause and offers some thoughts on why these conversations matter and need to be normalised.
Website: https://powerpause.co.nz
Episode 231: Panel discussion on Impact Investing: The opportunity to back a better future
This live seeds panel discussion was held on 27 November 2020 and brought together a variety of experts to discuss some practical case studies on impact investing.
It ties in with the release of this paper which provides an overview on the state of Impact Investing in New Zealand. Those on the panel sharing their practical experiences from different perspectives were:
Liam Sheridan – CFO of Foundation North
Rangimarie Price – The Connective
Jenny Lackey – New Zealand Green Investment Finance
Paul Gilberd – General Manager of Community Finance
Steven Moe facilitated, with a welcome from Monica Briggs of the Centre for Social Impact.
Opinion piece for Stuff: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300169514/impact-investing-presents-opportunity-to-back-a-better-future-beyond-just-financial-gain
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBkeJ8zyJyk
Episode 230: Nada Piatek on Again Again
Nada co-founded Again Again and in this interview we find out all about the reusable coffee cup sharing system. We start by hearing about her journey of entrepreneurship as this is the third business venture she had been involved in. We end up talking about working in ski resorts, working as a physiotherapist, starting a clothing label and lots of reflection on reuse and waste. If you enjoy this check out some of the other interviews at www.theseeds.nz
Website: https://www.againagain.co/
PledgeMe site: https://pledgeme.co.nz/investments/425-again-again
Email: nada@againagain.co
Episode 229: Matt Morris on the Aotearoa SDG Summit Series
Matt is the Sustainability Advisor at the University of Canterbury. In this interview we learn about the upcoming Aotearoa SDG Summit Series as well as finding out about his life and the book he has coming out soon – “Common Ground”. I really enjoyed my conversation with Matt and am sure you will as well – if you do check out some of the other 228 other episodes in the back catalogue. Email: matt.morris@canterbury.ac.nz
Aotearoa Sustainable Development Goals Summit Series: https://www.facebook.com/AotearoaSDGsSummitSeries
Email: nzsdgssummitseries@gmail.com First event link here
Episode 228: Gardens and their hidden histories: Excerpts of the interview with Matt Morris
This is a short excerpt of the conversation with Matt Morris where we talk about his book on gardens coming out shortly called “Common Ground: Garden Histories of Aotearoa”. If you enjoy this then check out the full interview with Matt which will be out in a few days time.
Book: https://www.otago.ac.nz/press/otago739185.pdf
Overstory book mentioned: https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/the-overstory-9781784708245
Episode 227: Conference audio: Responding to COVID-19 – how might we #buildbackbetter
This is the full 7 hours of audio from the Conference held on 4 November 2020 called “Responding to COVID-19 – how might we #buildbackbetter?”.
The 2020 Charity Law, Accounting, and Regulation Conference was the third annual conference which brings together perspectives from professionals, charities, and government on key issues relating to the charities sector, covered the following topics with the time of the episode indicated for easy navigating:
01:53 Karakia, Welcome by Peter Vial and Matthew Harding
29:52 Opening Address by The Hon Justice Stephen Kós
49:58 Charities and Business: Sustainability or Distraction from the Cause? With Murray Baird, Stuart Donaldson, Fiona Martin and Andrew Phillips
1:32:29 How to be Sustainable when Asset Rich and Cash Poor with Bruce Anderson
1:46:55 Trust v Foundations and their sustainable interrelationships with Tim Watts
2:05:26 Charities Law Reform with Tai Ahu, Sue Barker, Jane Norton and Mihiarangi Piripi
2:55:44 Statements of Service Performance With Craig Fisher, Henry McClintock, Sharon Orr and Joanne Scott
3:40:47 When is it Time to Call it Quits with Craig Fisher
4:09:02 Collaborations, mergers and practical considerations of closing down with Steven Moe, Craig Fisher and Scott Moran
4:56:40 Impact Investing and how it can sustain Charities with Steven Moe, James Palmer, Rebekah Swan and David Woods
5:39:23 NZ Accounting Standards Update with Anthony Heffernan
6:30:10 Debate: Has the Concept of Charity had its day? With Jennifer Batrouney QC, David Gilchrist, Matthew Harding, Ross Hickey, Stephen Reilly and Jarrod Walker
7:02:12 Wrap up by Peter Vial
Episode 226: Practical considerations when winding up an Organisation
This is the audio of a session which I facilitated at the Charity Law, Accounting and Regulation conference held online on 4 November 2020. In it Scott Moran, Craig Fisher and I discuss the practical aspects of when it is time for an organisation to wind up – with a particular focus on charities (but the principles will apply to other types of organisation as well). We also consider the other options such as collaborating with others before deciding to wind up and what the barriers are to doing so. We ask some very hard questions but also provide some insights into the process and what is involved.
The paper mentioned on “Charting the Future” is here: https://www.parryfield.com/charting-the-future/
The description of this session: “In these challenging times, some organisations will need to consider all their options – including merging, greater collaboration or even winding up. In this session we will talk about these and other options and think about some of the practical considerations that will be very important to think through well in advance.”
Episode 225: Andrey Ivanov on mastering Uncertainty
Andrey has been studying uncertainty and in this interview we find out about how to make decisions, as well as what it was like growing up in the Soviet Union, studying in Germany, moving back to New Zealand, Game Theory, Prisoner’s Dilemma, Efficiency of Markets, longitudinal studies and many more topics.
Companion article that Andrey wrote just for this episode: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/seeds-podcast-companion-article-andrey-ivanov-phd-minstd/?published=t
Website: https://www.ivanov-consulting.co
Episode 224: Lan Pham on our Native Fish, the Environment and Freshwater conservation
Lan Pham deeply cares about our water and in this interview we learn about why. From a childhood in Wellington we discuss growing up with multiple cultures, the power of cooking, how she started studying freshwater, the ecosystem for Native Fish of New Zealand, living on a remote island and her motivation for become a Councillor on Environment Canterbury. I really enjoyed this interview and the varying topics we discussed and am sure you will as well.
Episode 223: Governance by Nature: Excerpts of the interview with Lan Pham
This is an excerpt of the much longer interview with Environment Canterbury Councillor Lan Pham to give you a snack size taste of what we talk about. I hope you enjoy it and be watching out for the full interview!
Episode 222: How to Create a Podcast for Impact
This is the audio of a zoom call I had with a group of people who want to know how to set up a podcast. In it I describe why I think there is value in podcasting, key tips from my three years of doing it, the type of equipment you can use, the program I use for editing audio, tips on marketing, social media and a whole lot more.
This page has details of equipment and other tips and videos too: https://theseeds.nz/how-to-create-a-podcast/
Episode 221: Stewardship as a lens for looking at Impact
This is a session where I shared about some of my own journey and the concept of Stewardship as a lens for looking at Impact. The event was held at the end of September 2020 for Social Value Aotearoa.
Pechakucha talk mentioned that inspired this session: https://www.pechakucha.com/presentations/global-citizenship–generational-legacy-and-kaitiakitanga
Social Value Aotearoa: https://www.socialvalueaotearoa.nz/
Episode 220: Who am I without the title? Finding your call: Excerpts of interview with Frances Valintine
This is an excerpt of the interview with Frances Valintine pulling out a few key thoughts about finding your place and your call – what would you sacrifice to do that?
Episode 219: Frances Valintine on the power of being Curious
What doors would open and what would our lives unfold if we allowed ourselves to follow our curiosity? Frances founded The Mind Lab and Tech Futures Lab and in this interview we focus in on her childhood, the role of her grandparents in her life, memories of photography (when you had 24 shots), leaving home age 16, what she learned from living overseas, the decision to return to New Zealand, our throw away mentality, working in digital education when it was a brand new field and how all this influenced the approach they take today at The Mind Lab and Tech Futures Lab. We really spend time talking about decisions about career, future, money and feeling trapped by current roles as well and the courses they offer on this, including “Leading Change for Good” and “HeyFuture!”. I really enjoyed this interview and we had many many rabbit holes that we dived into which I always enjoy more!
If you like this interview as well then I can guarantee there is someone who you know that would appreciate it if you shared this with them. Also, check out the back catalogue as there are more than 200 other interviews with inspiring people sharing their life stories.
The Mind Lab: https://themindlab.com Education innovators encouraging New Zealanders to upskill, explore and lead change
Tech Futures Lab: https://www.techfutureslab.com Tech Futures Lab connects industry experts with curious explorers, shedding light on opportunity and much-needed new ways of thinking and doing.
Episode 218: “Helping our children make sense of the world they see”: Excerpt of the interview with Richard Black
This is a short excerpt of the longer interview with Richard Black that I thought was really helpful when thinking about the role we can help with helping children make sense of the world.
“That there are times when they will make mistakes, but who they are as a person is not faulty”.
Resources for helping Children: https://mindhealth.org/mind-health-for-kids/
Mind Health website: https://mindhealth.org/about-us/
Episode 217: Richard Black on Mind Health
How often do we talk about our physical health but ignore mental health in our lives? Richard founded Mind Health to change that focus by working to empower people to transform their lives. He has recently released “Centred: Knowing who you are in an off-balanced world” and the children’s book “There’s a Happy Moon in my side”. In this interview we find out about Richard’s background and what led him to focus on this as a counsellor and what he is involved in today. There are also a bunch of free resources at the link below.
Mind Health website: https://mindhealth.org/about-us/
Episode 216: James Nikitine on our Oceans and founding Blue Cradle
James founded Blue Cradle which is a social enterprise founded to make ocean science and research accessible for all. James shares with us about his life and growing up in Europe, what led him to get into diving and how he combines his love of the ocean with telling stories. James is in New Zealand as an EHF Fellow so we also learn about his transition to living in Christchurch. I enjoyed this conversation and the insights from James and am sure you will as well – if you do there are more than 215 other episodes at www.theseeds.nz or in all podcast apps.
Blue Cradle: https://bluecradle.org/
Contact email: james@bluecradle.org
Edmund Hillary Fellowship: https://www.ehf.org/
Episode 215: Sprinting for Good: Using Co-design to Collaborate for Social Impact
Audio of session on the “Sprinting for Good” report which captures the co-design process used to develop the National Action Plan for Community Governance and provides insights into the potential application of co-design in the community sector. This launch was held on 25 September 2020.
In this session Dr Jo Cribb describes the findings from the report – the benefits of co-design, how to use the process effectively and what was learned (and would do differently). She also outlines what resources are available in the report for those interested in using the process in their organisations and communities. We also hear from Matua Kevin Haunui who provides his perspective as well.
This event was hosted by Steven Moe (lawyer and host of seeds podcast) as part of the regular community, NFP, NGO, volunteer cross sector meetings that have been going since first lockdown.
Video of the session and other resources associated with the Report: https://www.centreforsocialimpact.org.nz/te-puaha-o-te-ako/2020/september/sprinting-for-good-co-designing-for-impact-toolkit-launched
The report is here: https://www.centreforsocialimpact.org.nz/media/1661/200923-sprinting-for-good-using-co-design-csi-final.pdf
Thank you to the five foundation funders: Auckland Council, Foundation North, Rata Foundation, Ministerial Discretionary Fund administered by the Department of Internal Affairs and Grant Thornton.
Episode 214: House Prices!
Tim Jones sits down with me for a discussion on house prices based on this article I recently wrote for Spinoff: https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/14-09-2020/heres-why-more-aucklanders-should-move-to-Christchurch/
Check out Tim’s site and links are there to his Podcast: https://www.growgood.co/
In Pursuit of Purpose podcast: https://www.growgood.co/podcast
Episode 213: Jessie Cross on founding The Not So Redundant Club
What is the Not So Redundant Club? In this interview Jessie explains more about what it is and why she started it as well as providing background on her life and journey so far. One of the key themes that came through in this was community in various guises and I really enjoyed this conversation. I’ve known Jessie several years so it was really nice to reflect on the Impact Unconference in April as well and her own background in the Law. I am sure you will enjoy this interview and if you do – is there someone else who might be facing redundancy who would benefit from listening to this? There are more than 210 other interviews in the back catalogue at www.theseeds.nz as well.
For those interested in joining or learning more about the Not So Redundant Club:
Website for those who want to join the Club: https://members.notsoredundantclub.nz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenotsoredundantclub
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-not-so-redundant-club
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/not.so.redundant.club/
The SDG Art Exhibition is being put on by the Global Shapers Ōtautahi Hub, The Conscious Club and Bead & Proceed. It starts with a launch night event on Friday 25th September 2020 and runs until Thursday 1st October at Milton St Substation in Ōtautahi/Christchurch.
Website: https://www.sdgexhibition.com/
Tickets for launch night on Friday 25th September: https://events.humanitix.com/sdg-art-exhibition-launch-night
Global Shapers Ōtautahi/Christchurch Hub Recruitment Information evening is coming up on Wednesday 30th September 2020 and is open to all those interested in learning more about Global Shapers. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/641921236723556
You can follow the Global Shapers Ōtautahi Hub on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/globalshaperschristchurch
Episode 212: Chris Coromandel on technology for good and empowering Māori and Pasifika youth
Chris shares his life journey in this interview. We learn all about his childhood, what it was like losing his Father at age 16, how he rediscovered again his Māori culture as a young adult, studying technology and founding IT startups and then joining Vodafone in Christchurch and what he does today working in a future focused team. Some highlights include his memories of his Father and what he learned from him that inspires him today and his desire to give back to Māori and Pasifika youth to encourage them to explore careers in technology. I really enjoyed my conversation with Chris and if you do as well then who might you know who would appreciate being told about it?
Episode 211: Dear Disillusioned Junior Lawyer, don’t give up yet. Here’s why.
Dear Disillusioned Junior Lawyer. I do understand, but don’t quit yet. I keep meeting you. Everywhere I go I hear some of your story and it echoes the other stories of people just like you. It’s part of my own journey too as I’ve been there. Let me tell you how this story goes….
Full text of the episode is here: https://seeds.libsyn.com/dear-disillusioned-junior-lawyer-dont-give-up-yet
Some of my journey (here: https://www.pechakucha.com/presentations/global-citizenship–generational-legacy-and-kaitiakitanga) and feel free to contact me if you’d like to have a conversation.
Linked In Group for Impact Driven Lawyers here https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13903582/
Episode 210: Esther Whitehead on Neurodiversity
Esther Whitehead shares in this interview about Neurodiversity. We also find out about her life story and find out about her childhood and decision to move to New Zealand, how she got involved in Neurodiversity and what it is that we mean when talking about that term. In particular, what changes might be needed to expand our conversation? I really enjoyed my conversation with Esther and am sure you will as well. It is one of 200+ so be sure to check out some of the others at www.theseeds.nz
Dyslexia Foundation of NZ: https://www.dyslexiafoundation.org.nz/about.html
Episode 209: How to set up an impact driven organisation
In this episode I want to share what I’ve learned as a lawyer helping people set up impact driven organisations in Aotearoa. I have these conversations all the time so thought I’d share this content here so you all can benefit from it as well.
First, I will discuss the three key questions to ask
Second, we will look at three of the most commonly used legal structures for impact driven people.
Third, some reflections on the way to enshrine impact within those structures and the key things needed.
Episode 208: Margaret Austin reflections on a Life of Service
Margaret was born in 1933 and has lived an extremely full life – she is still involved today in more organisations than nearly everyone who I know and she does it all with the desire to give back. In this interview we hear about her childhood, her memories of World War II, early education, studying at University of Canterbury in the early 1950s, becoming a teacher, what made her get into politics, serving as an MP from 1984 to 1996 and her involvement with various organisations since then including Unesco, as Lincoln University Chancellor and what “retirement” means.
Episode 207: One minute with Margaret Austin
Margaret Austin was born in 1933 and in the hour long interview with her we find out all about her long life of service, including as an MP from 1984-1996 – but this is a short minute excerpt that captures something of what we discussed.
Be watching out for the full interview next.
Episode 206: Shanna on being 12
Do you remember what it was like to be 12? In this interview we talk with Shanna about what it is like for her. We cover a wide variety of topics including what it is like to be able to choose subjects, what makes a good friend, why she likes performance and drama, the impact of Covid and what she has seen, what adults could remember about being a child, what the future may hold, the environment and looking after the planet, and being part of a longitudinal study – which these yearly interviews with her have become!
Earlier episodes with her:
On being 10: https://seeds.libsyn.com/shanna-on-being-10
On being 11: https://seeds.libsyn.com/shanna-on-being-11
TEDx Youth Talk on what Adults can learn from Kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWjYxfUZhBY
Episode 205: Impact Investing in Aotearoa: Live Panel Discussion
This live seeds podcast event on Friday 28th August brought together a variety of experts together to discuss the current – and future – state of impact investing in New Zealand.
The panel was facilitated by Steven Moe as a live seeds podcast discussion with the following panelists (LinkedIn profiles as links below):
- David Woods (New Zealand Green Investment Fund and former chair of Impact Enterprise Fund New Zealand)
- Rangimarie Price (The Connective)
- Louise Aitken (Ākina Foundation and Impact Investing National Advisory Board Member)
- Rebecca Mills (Founder of The Lever Room and author of ‘Build Back Better’ report)
- Peter Tynan (Foundation North CEO)
- Pip Best (EY Oceania Climate Change and Sustainability Services Director / The Aotearoa Circle)
- James Palmer (CEO of Community Finance, social housing impact investing)
- Mark Ingram (Brightlight, Chief Impact Officer – Australia)
This conversation was presented by Parry Field Lawyers, Community Finance, The Lever Room, Brightlight, Foundation North, Ākina Foundation, Centre for Social Impact and coordinated by Seeds Podcast.
00:00 Intro to the podcast
02:57 Karakia and welcome by Rangimarie Price
03:55 Steven intro to the session
06:56 David Woods thoughts on the convergence between impact investing and other responsible investing, and the emergence of measurement science
09:05 Rangimarie Price thoughts and in particular how impact investing connects with the Maori world view and unlocking the wisdom of the past and Te Ao Maori.
13:38 Louise Aitken thoughts on investors increasingly interested in this area, process to find organisations to invest in – what work is needed to make them investment ready.
17:26 Rebecca Mills thoughts on prosperity principles and a guide for building impact strategy, and a draft map of the NZ impact economy ecosystem, available as final version soon – growing interest from Iwi and Government in investing
20:52 Liam Sheridan thoughts on Foundation North’s journey, use of balance sheets, amending SIPO and working on impact investing and using it as cornerstone investor – issue of pipeline of organisations to be investment ready, seeing movement
24:43 James Palmer thoughts on impact investing and able to vote with our dollars – focus is on housing crisis and make it accessible for investors, $17.5m advanced to Salvation Army – land is not a commodity, we need to be stewards.
28:32 Pip Best thoughts on Sustainable Finance Forum – interim report released, trying to bring mainstream finance sector to impact space, how to improve access to finance, accelerate innovative business structures
32:56 Mark Ingram thoughts on moving capital to impact lives, and try to measure and quantify that impact
35:37 First topic discussed: why such a growth in interest in Impact Investing now?
42:10 Second topic discussed: How do we measure and compare investments and authenticate what we are doing?
50:20 Third topic discussed: Types of impact and the link between hard data and positive outcomes that are hard to measure, and discussing rates of return
57:12 Fourth topic discussed: Social Washing and Green Washing – how do we deal with this and what standards are out there that may lead the way?
1:01:47 Fifth topic discussed: Discussions on Te Ao Maori perspective on impact investing and being tikanga and values driven
1:08:00 Sixth topic discussed: The opportunity here in Aotearoa and what panellists think of the future and final thoughts
Episode 204: Fiona Deehan on Conscious Leadership
Fiona is from Ireland and in this interview we hear about her early days growing up and what brought her to New Zealand. We both share an appreciation for the work of Brene Browne on courage, vulnerability and shame so we end up talking about that as well as what it is that makes good leaders. We also talk about the work she does today through Cara Consulting. This is one of more than 200 interviews so if you enjoy it then check out some of the others as well.
Website: http://www.caraconsulting.co.nz/
Episode 203: Hon Poto Williams on the Community and Voluntary Sector of Aotearoa
The Honourable Poto Williams became an MP in 2013 and is now the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, and is the Associate Minister for Social Development, Immigration, and Greater Christchurch Regeneration. In this interview we talk with her family history and about her background and childhood and Cook Islands heritage. We also talk about her early years, first jobs, studies, work in the community sector and what motivated her to leave that work in the community to become a politician. What is it that gets planted as a seed that causes someone to put their hand up for politics? We find out all about that here. We also find out what the principles are that have set a foundation for how Poto approaches her role today. I really enjoyed this conversation and if you do then you might appreciate some of the 200+ in the back catalogue as well.
Page: https://www.labour.org.nz/potowilliams
The Video by Jewel we discuss “… In the end, only kindness matters …”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfsS3pIDBfw
Episode 202: Anton Matthews on normalising Te Reo in the Workplace
Anton spoke at the Impact Unconference in April 2020 and this is the audio of his session about normalising Te Reo in the Workplace. I really enjoyed what he had to share and I thought some of you would appreciate his positive and proactive style too. I’ve heard Anton speak many times and really appreciate his enthusiasm for this topic which you will see is infectious. And if you are in Christchurch check out the restaurant Fush.
Fush website: https://fushshorebro.co.nz/
Maori phrase a day: https://www.facebook.com/groups/263436354660573/
Video version of this presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJM1qAvtBSk
Impact Unconference – 32 different sessions: https://www.impactunconference.nz/videos
Episode 201: Mele Wendt on Culture, Racism and having the Tough Conversations
Mele Wendt MNZM spent her childhood in Samoa and Fiji before coming to New Zealand to study at University. In this interview we find out about that upbringing and growing up in a house full of the Arts and Culture (her Father is Albert Wendt who is a very well known poet and author). We also talk about Racism and Culture and the differences in New Zealand between the 1980s and now. These are important, difficult, conversations to have. We also talk about her work at Victoria University as well as Fulbright New Zealand and her work on helping to shape governance culture for the hundreds of thousands of people who are involved in boards in New Zealand (particularly those in the NFP area who often have not had formal training in this area) – Mele is chairing the National Strategy for Community Governance. Mele’s governance career spans over 20 years across 15 different entities. She currently serves on the boards of Te Kura (the Correspondence School) and the Wellington Community Trust.
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mele-wendt-mnzm-b7016b15/
Community Governance: https://www.centreforsocialimpact.org.nz/korero/2019/november/the-importance-of-community-governance
Episode 200: The 200th Episode! Highlights from 30 episodes …
This episode is a celebration of reaching 200 episodes and 75,000 listens. In it we hear from 30 different people to give a taste of the wide variety of voices, stories and conversations we have had so far.
Thank you so very much for your support of the show, it means a lot when you listen and share and tell others about it!
I wanted to feature something from every episode but that would have been a 2 hour episode easily so this has short excerpts from 30 episodes to show the wide variety of voices so far, including:
Episode #1 – Michelle Sharp
Episode #78 – Sister Mary Scanlon
Episode #5 – Shanna Moe
Episode #18 – John Hammond
Episode #61 – Simon Mbonyinshuti
Episode #83 – Kerri Bonner
Episode #108 – Osman Ahmed
Episode #112 – Israel Cooper
Episode #99 – Isabel age 6
Episode #10 – Mark Ambundo
Episode #24 – Amy Marsden
Episode #102 – Ian Harvey
Episode #84 – Lisa Mead
Episode #114 – Hannah McKnight
Episode #117 – Bridget Williams
Episode #88 – Matthew Goldsworthy
Episode #32 – Erica Austin
Episode #19 – Mark Prain
Episode #8 – Daniel Flynn
Episode #191 – ‘Anau Mesui Henry
Episode #30 – Camia Young
Episode #44 – Michael Mayell
Episode #45 – Samantha Jones
Episode #26 – Dorenda Britten
Episode #55 – Julia Rucklidge
Episode #79 – Kathleen Gallagher
Episode #89 – Peter Beck
Episode #174 – Michael Philpott
Episode #189 – Kaila Colbin
Episode #125 – Natasha Zimmerman
Episode 199: Marian Johnson on fostering collaboration at the Ministry of Awesome
Marian is the Chief Awesome Officer at the Ministry of Awesome. In this interview we discuss how it is helping connect and encourage start-ups and entrepreneurs and develop an ecosystem that encourages collaboration at Te Ōhaka. We also talk about the Healthtech Supernode Challenge. But before that we discuss Marian’s childhood as the daughter of a diplomat which meant she lived in many countries growing up. We also discuss her career in television and the skills she learned from that when it comes to brining different groups and people together for a common goal. I really enjoyed this interview and am sure you will too. Remember there are almost 200 others in the back catalogue as well at www.theseeds.nz
Ministry of Awesome: https://ministryofawesome.com/
Te Ōhaka https://teohaka.co.nz/
Article on Ministry of Awesome: https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/16-10-2019/the-ministry-of-awesome-reflects-the-exciting-new-era-of-christchurch-startups/
Healthtech Supernode Challenge: https://www.healthtechchallenge.co.nz/
Episode 198: Healthtech Supernode Challenge: An explanation of why it matters with Marian Johnson
This is an excerpt with Marian Johnson about the Healthtech Supernode Challenge which is on now. The full interview on her life and work with Ministry of Awesome will follow later this week.
For more on the challenge visit: https://www.healthtechchallenge.co.nz
Episode 197: Chelsea Aitken on co-founding New Zealand and Beyond
Chelsea Aitken co-founded New Zealand and Beyond and shares a few insights from her entrepreneurial journey in this episode. We also find out about her background and what has led her to become an entrepreneur and the business model supporting NZ companies going to China. I enjoyed this interview and am sure you will as well. Be sure to check out the 4 minute excerpts in the last episode as well. And this is episode 197 so there is a lot more content and stories at www.theseeds.nz
Website: https://nzandbeyond.co/
Episode 196: “Imposter syndrome can stop you trusting your gut…” an excerpt of the interview with Chelsea Aitken
Chelsea Aitken co-founded New Zealand and Beyond and shares a few insights from her entrepreneurial journey in this short extract from the full interview which will be released soon. Key points:
1. Trust your gut – imposter syndrome can stop this …
2. Not everyone’s advice carries the same weight, so don’t listen to every opinion
3. The first two points are really all about self belief
4. Surround yourself with mentors that both challenge and encourage you
Watch out for the full episode coming out soon.
Episode 195: Building a Story Brand: Book Review
This is a short book review of “Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen” by Donald Miller.
More on the book: https://buildingastorybrand.com
Episode 194: John Berry on Ethical Investing
John Berry shares his life journey during this interview and we find out about what he is doing today in the area of ethical investing at Pathfinder which now has 7 different funds. To start with though we find out about John’s childhood and he shares with us about becoming a lawyer, travels through the Middle East, going through a burnout period and deciding to move back from London. We also dive pretty deep around mental health and learning how we can be more open with each other and support people going through hard times. I really enjoyed this interview and learned a lot and am sure you will appreciate it as well.
Pathfinder: https://www.path.co.nz
Caresaver: https://caresaver.co.nz/
Men’s Health Trust: http://menshealthnz.org.nz/about-the-trust/
Episode 193: Vaughan Winiata on founding V Formation and what Small Business needs
Vaughan founded V Formation to focus on helping small businesses achieve their potential. Along the way he has become a passionate spokesperson for the owners of the hundreds of thousands of small businesses in New Zealand. In this interview we talk all about that and what is keeping him busy these days, but we also start off back with his childhood and learn about what has led him to get involved in this. We also hear about his working for Japanese companies and what he learned from that, the important legacy that comes from exploring his Whakapapa and family origins and what makes a good storyteller. I really enjoyed this conversation and am sure you will as well.
Website: https://www.vformation.co.nz/
Episode 192: “When you leave the Marae, that world is still with you…” excerpts of a conversation with Vaughan Winiata
This is a short excerpt from the conversation with Vaughan Winiata which will be released next week. In that full interview we talk about small business and what they need as well as many other topics.
About Vaughan and his company V Formation: https://www.vformation.co.nz/about
Episode 191: ‘Anau Mesui Henry on Empowering Pacific People
‘Anau shares her story of coming from Tonga as a child. What is it like to grow up with two cultures and how do you adapt? This is a really fascinating insight into the story of an immigrant as she is very open and honest with us about her journey. I love the podcast for the different perspectives it can offer us on life, other journeys and what we might otherwise take for granted. Check out some of the things that ‘Anau is involved in below.
Talanoa Tuesday Facebook https://www.facebook.com/talanoatuesday
Talanoa Tuesday IG https://www.instagram.com/talanoa_tuesday/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anau-m-64aa62163/
Four Shells Kava https://www.fourshells.nz
Episode 190: Empowering Pacific People: short excerpts of a conversation with ‘Anau Mesui Henry
‘Anau came to New Zealand from Tonga as a child – her full story will follow but this has 4 short excerpts from our conversation telling a few stories about her life. I love the podcast for the different perspectives it can offer us on life, other journeys and what we might otherwise take for granted.
189: Kaila Colbin on Values, Leadership and founding Boma NZ
Kaila is the co-founder of Boma Global and the founder and CEO of Boma New Zealand. I’d been looking forward to this conversation for a long time because Kaila has had a fascinating life and has an attitude and approach I’ve learned from. In this interview we jump back in time to hear about her childhood and find out about some of her journey (including being the subject of an attempted kidnapping as a child). Her journey starts in New York but has side trips to Argentina, a culinary school, learning languages and eventually arriving in Christchurch. We discuss why she has stayed here and what the values are that drive her. I was particularly interested in the last sentence of her bio and why she included this so we talk about that: “Her purpose in life is to be an uplifting presence”. We touch on a lot and that includes running TEDxChristchurch for 10 years as well as TEDxScottBase, bringing Singularity University to New Zealand and Australia, co-founding Ministry of Awesome and her work now with Boma. As well as all that we fit in a great discussion about vulnerability and what she learned from her training with Brené Brown. I am sure you are going to enjoy this interview with Kaila!
Boma website: https://nz.boma.global/
Short 10 minute version of this with three extracts of the interview: https://seeds.libsyn.com/i-am-incessantly-curious-excerpt-from-kaila-colbin-interview
188: “I am relentlessly curious”: excerpts from interview with Kaila Colbin
Kaila Colbin is on the show next week talking about her life – this is a short compilation of three excerpts from that interview to give a taste of what we talk about. I sometimes get feedback that people want shorter version of the episodes so – here you go!
187: Rob Lawrence reflections on Life at Retirement
Rob Lawrence retires in a few days and just turned 70 so in this interview we hear about his reflections on his career and life. Starting from a young age he had an interest in the outdoors (his Father took him on his PHD research on Beavers as a 4 year old), we discuss what he studied and how his career took him to many different places, including New Zealand. Rob has also done many varied things and had “interesting jobs” such as raising Salmon, working at Orana Wildlife Park, at a Veterinary Clinic and assisting start-ups and tech businesses with Government investment through Callaghan while working at the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce for almost 15 years. This interview is very special to me because as you will hear Rob’s life has intertwined with my own as Rob worked with my Father first back in the mid 1970s, before I was even born. There is also a 4 minute episode where Rob shares his “20 life lessons” which you can access here: https://seeds.libsyn.com/20-life-lessons-from-rob-lawrence I really enjoyed hearing Rob’s stories of his life and his reflections at a significant point in his journey and know you will as well.
Rob’s photography site: https://www.roblawrencephotographer.com/
Linked In profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-lawrence-a678375/
Email: birdman22@xtra.co.nz
186: 20 Life Lessons in 4 minutes from Rob Lawrence
Rob Lawrence retires at the end of this month and recently turned 70. Last week I interviewed him about his life journey and that will come out later this week, but in this short episode he offers 20 life lessons from his last 50 years working in business. Email: birdman22@xtra.co.nz
185: Charting the Future: A framework for thinking about change – Live discussion
In this live session I discussed with Craig Fisher the paper we released called “Charting the Future: A framework for thinking about change“. We discuss what the paper covers and why we wanted to issue the challenge of 7 questions for organisations to consider when they look at their strategy. There were 55 attending this Zoom call on Friday 12 June 2020.
To download the paper visit https://www.parryfield.com/charting-the-future/
Video version of this talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uba1wjoarak
Index of video content:
00:00: Welcome by Steven
01:08: Craig Fisher intro and context
03:11: Steven Moe intro and context
04:41: Explaining why we wrote the paper now + thoughts
13:18: Giving context of paper before looking at questions
14:50: Question 1: What is our purpose?
19:53: Q2: Do we have a right to exist?
22:22: Q3: Do we still need to exist?
27:52: Q4: Should our organization have an end date?
31:07: Q5: Should we continue to try and go it alone?
37:02: Q6: Who could we collaborate with?
41:16: Q7: Can we reimagine the future?
45:25: Discussion about guardianship and legacy
49:18: Discussion on key things to consider
52:01: Discussion on summary of key questions to ask
53:55: Discussion on funding
56:15: Final thoughts
58:40: End
184: Creatives & the Arts: How can they shape our future? A live panel discussion
Live panel discussion on Creatives & the Arts: How can they shape our future? This was held as part of “Vision Week” and this panel brought together 4 thought leaders in the Arts from across a variety of sectors.
We assembled an experienced lineup of artists as panelists including:
- Anne Rodda,among other cultural and arts initiatives, Michael Hill Violin Competition organiser, formerly professional Cellist and now advisor to NFP sector. Profile here.
- Professor Peter O’Connor, Director of the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation at Auckland University. Profile hereand a short video profile here.
- Hannah Teipo, Facility Co-ordinator of Te Oro http://www.teoro.org.nz as well as an artist in her own right. Co-director of Malae Collective and musician SEMA. Hannah Teipo is a NZ born Indo-Cook Island artist recreating the narrative of what it means to be a Pasifika artist in New Zealand.
Link to profile: https://www.instagram.com/sema… - Felicity Letcher, Formerly a theatre producer working across comedy, theatre and dance who has been on several boards including Red Leap Theatre and Theatre Stampede and now runs Main Reactor Ltd, chair of the Screen Sector Covid 19 Action Group. Profile here.
Video of this panel discussion: https://youtu.be/67zuQxFRZ2o
183. Vicki-Anne Parker on founding NZ Gifts of Love & Strength
Vicki-Ann shares her life journey in this interview and we talk in detail about her founding NZ Gifts of Love & Strength. This is a great new charity which was set up to support victims of different events such as the shootings in Christchurch. We also chat about her background and things she has faced in her life, including Lyme disease, which I did not know much about. I really enjoyed my conversation with Vicki-Ann and am sure you will as well.
Facebook page for NZ Gifts of Love and Strength: https://www.facebook.com/nzgiftsofloveandstrength/
182. Anne Rodda on Music, Creative Arts and Developing Good Strategy
Anne started her career as a professional musician before getting involved in a wide variety of initiatives focusing on the creative arts. In this interview we hear about her life story, the influence of a meeting with Yo-Yo Ma, how she came to move to New Zealand, starting the Michael Hill International Violin Competition, and her role today in helping NFPs shape their futures. Anne has led a wide variety of organisations including the NZ Centre for Gifted Education, James Wallace Arts Trust, Cognition Education Trust, Auckland Writers Festival and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (among others). Most recently, she was in charge of running the New Zealander of the Year Awards.
One topic we dive into is the role that creatives can play on Boards and that conversation has become an example of what Seeds podcast is at its best: Anne and I are now co-writing a white paper on this topic. Be watching out for it and if you know of examples that would fit with that topic then let me know.
Website: https://www.voyageradvisory.nz/
Youtube video of this interview: https://youtu.be/yf3uz1tPLtk
181. Terry Shubkin on Young Enterprise and how to define ‘Success’
Terry Shubkin is Chief Excitement Officer at Young Enterprise which is focused on “Inspiring Students. Unleashing Leaders.” In this interview we hear about her life journey and what led her to taking on that role. I really enjoyed hearing about her background and interesting journey and lessons learned when making life decisions (“what’s the worst that could happen?”) as well as the work being done to promote enterprise among high school students. We also talk about the shift in focus over time among students who are increasingly interested in the impact their companies will have. With thousands of alumni who have been through the programme there is now a lasting legacy of businesses whose CEOs first learned about business through YES.
Website: http://youngenterprise.org.nz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YoungEnterpriseNZ
180. Sally Duxfield on Leadership Lessons, being an Experiential Architect and collaborating with Nature as co-instructor as the owner of Makahika Outdoor Pursuit Centre
Sally curates unique learning experiences, sallyduxfield.com, and delivers may of her programmes at Makahika Outdoor Pursuit Centre and in this interview we find out about her background, influences, time in the military and what led to what she does today. We also find several rabbit holes to go down including what makes a good leader, how important soft skills are and the role of the ‘camp fire’ and nature when it comes to learning. I really enjoyed this conversation and am sure you will as well.https://www.sallyduxfield.com/ sallyduxfield.com https://www.makahika.co.nz/ Makahika Outdoor Pursuit Centre Video of this interview here: https://youtu.be/eHICnRr5pUY
179: David Hall on Consumer Decision Making, Nudge Theory, Political Philosophy, and how all this affects Government Policy
David is a lecturer at AUT and Co-Director of Mōhio’s Climate Innovation Lab. In this interview we talk about his early life, the influence of his parents in shaping his focus on impact and many rabbit holes around public policy and consumer choice. David has a D.Phil in Politics from the University of Oxford and experience in journalism, publishing and the non-governmental sector. His research interests include ethics and public policy, and environmental policy.
Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/2MudC90BUCI
Website: https://www.mohio.co
Latest book edited: https://www.bwb.co.nz/books/careful-revolution
178: ‘New Power’: Book review
This is a short book review of “New Power: How anyone can persuade, mobilize, and succeed in our chaotic connected age.” By Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms.
For text of this review look here: https://theseeds.nz/new-power-book-review/
177: Luke Campbell on co-founding Vxt
Luke is a young entrepreneur and in this interview we hear about the challenges of setting up a new venture. We also find out about his life story and journey so far. I really enjoyed my conversation with Luke and learning about Vxt which is a software company revolutionising small business communications by providing affordable voice message management and automation tools. Seeds podcast is trying to build up an ecosystem of stories of journeys of people that we can learn from and so this is a welcome addition.
Video version of interview here: https://youtu.be/sBdWoFI6-0Q
Website: https://www.vxt.co.nz/about
176: Piano by Matthew Goldsworthy
A beautiful original song played on the piano by Matthew Goldsworthy which he performed live for the Impact Unconference last Friday 24 April.
It was too wonderful not to share with you all. The power of music to evoke memories and emotions.
Would love to get him in the studio to record with violin and cello in the background – contact me if you want to help make that happen.
Video of his full performance of other pieces as well (30 minutes – this is a video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOsPmeFOjas
His earlier interview on seeds describing Youth Arts New Zealand: http://seeds.libsyn.com/matthew-goldsworthy-on-youth-arts-nz
Matthew on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0s2Szbrbgr9YFh63FNVNyu
Matthew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthewgoldsworthy99
Other Impact Unconference videos: https://www.impactunconference.nz/videos
175: The Great Disruption: Opening session from Impact Unconference
This is the audio of part of the opening session at the virtual Impact Unconference held on 24 April 2020 where I shared about the context in which the conference was happening and asked some questions about ‘what next’.
Full video of opening session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnL6mWDLHCE&t=1s
Videos of the IU: https://www.impactunconference.nz/videos
174: Michael Philpott on being NZ’s premier speaking coach and Speaking in Public: Why we fear it, and what can help
Michael is New Zealand’s premier speaking coach. We find out a lot about speaking in this interview – why we fear it and what can help. You will want to listen in on our conversation as I learned so much from his observations. We also hear about his early years (including in an orphanage) and leaving school very young and what led to being the speaker coach for people like Lilia Tarawa (over 9 million TEDX listens… and the fifth most viewed TEDx talk on the planet). I really appreciated Michael’s vulnerability in sharing his story and also freely giving us so many tips and insights into the art of crafting a good talk!
Website https://www.michaelphilpott.co.nz/(has links to resources mentioned in talk).
Video version of thisinterview: https://youtu.be/XHO2m7J-ots
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelphilpott/
Lilia Tarawa TedX talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS7mBbXxJYA
173: Jenny Gill on lessons from a life in Philanthropy
Jenny has spent decades working in Philanthropy in New Zealand. In this interview we hear about her childhood and some of the influences that shaped her, becoming a teacher, travelling overseas and what she learned in India, the work she did with organisations involved in Philanthropy including working with Sir Roy Mckenzie on setting up his personal foundation, being involved in the creation of Philanthropy New Zealand and leading the largest New Zealand community trust, Foundation North, from 2004 for 15 years. Throw in also leading Fulbright New Zealand (awarding academic scholarships) and being a trustee of other groups like the Vodafone Foundation and you’ll see we touch on many topics. We also focus in on discussing what she has learned about developing effective strategy, what listening to communities really looks like, the role of philanthropy and what works and doesn’t work. I really enjoyed this wide ranging conversation with Jenny and know you will as well.
Video version here: https://youtu.be/P5YJzaMQaWU
172: Glenn Dodson on helping ex prisoners and being diagnosed with Cancer
Glenn has had a variety of roles in social services and is currently helping ex prisoners with accomodation with The Salvation Army in Addington, and prior to that working with Stepping Stone with community mental health recovery. In this interview we find out about those initiatives but also hear about his cancer journey – from feeling a soreness on his tongue to having surgery just a few days after this interview was recorded.
Since recording this interview several months ago the good news is the cancer has not spread and Glenn’s speech is adapting and returning to normal despite a large part of his tongue being removed.
171: Ursula Cheer on a varied career in Law
Ursula Cheer is the Dean of the Canterbury Law School. In this interview we find out about her life and the fact that she has really had three careers out of her law degree: as a lawyer, as an academic and working at Parliament – including as a speech writer for Geoffrey Palmer. We also find out about legal education now – and what it might look like in the future. I really enjoyed hearing about her life story and some of the insights about times in New Zealand’s past when she was working in Wellington.
170: Virtual Impact Unconference
Announcing the first New Zealand Virtual Impact Unconference on 24 April 2020. Collaboration is our future. This unconference wants to get us out of silos and encourage discussion and cross fertilisation across specialties.
The short version of its origins are simple: We were going to do an in person unconference in May 2020 in Christchurch for 300+. Plans were laid. Then Covid-19 came and we pivoted – a lot! Now, it will be virtual.
169: Shamubeel Eaqub on the impact of COVID-19 and foundations for the future
Shamubeel is one of New Zealand’s leading economists so this interview provides a fascinating insight into COVID-19 from an economic impact perspective. But we end up talking about a whole lot more than that – like what the crisis is revealing about us as humans and what it is that we might build the future on. Hint, it involves resilience, cooperation, learning from each other and taking care of the most vulnerable.
The video of this is here: https://youtu.be/Oipz7gIMo4E
168: Tamara Smith on her love of Music
Tamara is a flautist, composer, dancer and much more – in this interview we talk about her love of music and how that began as well as her band Mundi. We hear about her early days as well as getting the chance to hear her play some different flutes for us (also released as a separate stand alone episode earlier). I met Tamara at TedX Christchurch so it shows how volunteering for something can lead to new conversations that can lead to – a podcast interview!
Mundi: https://www.facebook.com/www.mundi.co.nz/
Mundi site: http://mundi.co.nz
167: Coronavirus: Professor David Murdoch on infectious diseases
The headlines are dominating on the topic of Coronavirus / COVID-19 and I just woke up remembering that I interviewed one of the world leading experts on infectious diseases last year: Professor David Murdoch. So I pulled out the part of his interview where we discussed viruses, diseases and antibiotics and am putting it out as a shorter episode here. We obviously did not know about COVID-19 at that time but we discuss topics that are related and more relevant than ever now.
To listen to his full interview visit here: http://seeds.libsyn.com/professor-david-murdoch-on-infectious-diseases
166: Chris Taylor on career changes, busyness and developing winning habits
Chris switched career in his early 40s and in this interview we find out about what led him to do that. We also hear about his family dynamics growing up (with a Father who left to work in Saudi Arabia) and the impact that had on them, and how he ended up in New Zealand. He now works helping people to find their purpose and in particular coaches people about building Winning Habits. I really enjoyed hearing about his life and some of his insights and I know you will too.
Earlier episode with Kit Hindin on busyness: https://seeds.libsyn.com/kit-hindin-on-ministry-of-awesome-and-slowing-down
Pehakucha talk mentioned in the intro that I did on seeds recently: https://www.pechakucha.com/presentations/global-citizenship–generational-legacy-and-kaitiakitanga
165: Dr Brett Mann on the impact of stress on our bodies, psychotherapy and ‘somatisation‘
Brett is a generalist with a deep interest in many areas. While practising as a GP he has done a lot of research into psychotherapy and the connection between life events, stress and a person’s health and ‘somatisation’ – the expression in physical symptoms of psychological distress. In this interview we talk about that but also about his family’s history (including someone who was at the signing of the Treaty of Waiting), his perspectives on spirituality and the role it has to play in life and many other topics. I know you will enjoy this wide ranging conversation.
One of Brett’s talks on somatisation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXJKG402FPU&t=16s
Episode 164: Raphael Nolden on the future of Tech and developing Amy, an AI powered maths tutor
In this conversation we hear about Raphael’s life and his background. That starts out with finding more about his childhood and what he studied at University, the chance meeting at a Startup Weekend which led to a new venture and saw him working on creating Amy, an AI powered maths tutor. I really enjoyed this conversation and am sure you will too.
Learn more about Amy and try her out – https://www.amy.app/
For High Schools – https://iqualifyschools.co.nz/amy-maths/
For Primary Schools – https://youplanit.org/
Episode 163: Souhila Abdelazziz on immigrating to NZ and founding The Metamorphosis Path Academy
Souhila Abdelazziz shares with us some of her journey, what it was like growing up in Algeria, the decision to move to New Zealand, being a new immigrant, the importance of attitude to all circumstances, the impact of the shootings in Christchurch and founding The Metamorphosis Path Academy. I enjoyed hearing about Souhila’s journey and am sure you will as well.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/infinitepossibilitiesacademy/
Episode 162: Scott Gilmour on founding ‘I Have a Dream’ NZ and supporting kids growing up in material hardship
Scott founded ‘I Have a Dream NZ‘ and in this interview we learn all about the impact it is having on the lives of kids through a program that helps children from low income communities reach their education and career goals by providing a long term programme of mentoring, tutoring, and enrichment. And by long term, he means long term – the people involved commit to supporting and being involved with the same children from a very young age right through to early adulthood. It’s an amazing program – more below – but we also find out about Scott’s life and his background in Invercargill, working for Intel in the US and what he learned there about culture and work practises, what he learned working at Intel, impact investing, moving back to NZ and being involved in founding IceAngels one of the first Angel investment groups in New Zealand.
Episode 161: Airport Rabbits: An untold story of Christchurch (Part 2)
This is the sequel to the first episode – suggest you listen to that before this. Many thanks to Colin Meurk who I interviewed for this episode.
Episode 160: Airport Rabbits: An untold story of Christchurch (Part 1)
This is an untold story of Christchurch. That’s all you are getting – you’ll need to listen to the episode to find out more. Be watching out for Part 2 with the conclusion. Video of rabbits: https://youtu.be/y79CWoUg7XQ
Episode 159: Brett Curtis on a Life spent on Ships
Brett has lived most of his life on ships. With his wife he raised his 5 children travelling between remote and isolated communities bringing health care and medical supplies to them. In this interview we find out about his origins on a Kiwi fruit farm in New Zealand, what led him to a life on ships and some of the work YWAM Ships do today reaching out to the remote communities of the South Pacific. I really enjoyed talking with Brett about some of the issues facing these communities and am sure you will as well.
Website which includes some great videos on the work done: https://www.ywamshipsaotearoa.org.nz
Episode 158: The Future of Food: A conversation between Sarah Kessans (synthetic biologist) and Peter Wells (permaculture designer and food forest creator)
This one is a bit different as it is a mash up with two former guests – Sarah and Peter discuss genetic engineering, food supplies and the future (without me being in the interview). The two of them have different views on genetic engineering which came out in the interviews I had with each of them. So I invited them back to interview each other and this is the result!
Peter’s earlier interview: https://seeds.libsyn.com/peter-wells-on-local-urban-food-hub-tkaro-orchard-and-edible-food-forests
Sarah’s earlier interview: https://seeds.libsyn.com/sarah-kessans-on-genetic-engineering-and-applying-to-be-an-astronaut-to-nasa
Episode 157: Jessica Trybus on the role fun should play in Education and founding Simcoach Games
Jessica Trybus believes that education should be about fun and uses technology to achieve that. She is the Founder and Chief Games Officer of Simcoach Gameswhich is a company whose mission is to create fun video games that inspire youth and connect them to relevant career paths.
In this interview we talk about her early years and what shaped her into the person she is today, which includes talking about her job working for Drew Barrymore in Los Angeles, working as one of the first employees at AltaVista in Silicon Valley and what she learned from that.
Simcoach games: https://www.simcoachgames.com
Episode 156: Dare to Lead by Brené Brown, book review
I read Dare to Lead over the Christmas break and wrote down notes and reflections which make up this book review. If you enjoy this then is there someone else who would appreciate being sent a link to this episode?
Full text is written out here: https://theseeds.nz/dare-to-lead-book-review/
Earlier episode on Creativity and Vulnerability mentioned in this episode regarding critics and being in the arena: https://theseeds.nz/creativity-vulnerability-give-it-all-give-it-now/
Link to info on Kaila Colbin and the courses offered by Boma NZ: https://nz.boma.global/dare-to-lead
Episode 155: Gavin Sole on Environmental Sustainability
Gavin is an experienced Process Engineer who has worked for many years in the water and wastewater engineering industry. In this interview we talk about his life and what led him to work in that area as well as some practical steps he and his family have taken to put environmental sustainability into practice. Since recording the interview Gavin has changed jobs and now works at Brickhouse Technologies which is focused on water and wastewater solutions.
Just an update since the interview. Gavin and his family have since sold their lifestyle block and are building a new house in Christchurch. The new house is designed to be a Passive Haus, with triple glazing, a 4.2kW solar PV system and heat recovery.
Episode 154: Impact Unconference 2020
This is the audio of the first planning meeting for the Impact Unconference 2020 to be held in Christchurch in May next year. In it I explain the background behind what the event will be and why it is being held.
Even if you only listen to the first 5 minutes you will get a sense of what this will be. The reason for releasing the audio of an initial planning meeting like this is so that others can find out about it and get involved – there are almost 60 organisations who have sent their logos to date and are supporting it in some way. Join them? The event will be led from the ground up so releasing early planning content exemplifies the ethos behind this conference as well.
For more on this initiative visit www.impactunconference.nz and reach out by email to steven@theseeds.nz
Video of this planning meeting is also here https://www.impactunconference.nz/about
Episode 153: Nathan Seaward on making big life choices and starting a new career
Nathan Seaward left a successful career as an airline pilot to start something new as a personal coach – in this interview we find out why. We also discover his life story growing up in New Zealand and what led him to explore overseas and become a pilot. This also contains the short 2 minute extract I did with him on “heads or tails” and how to make decisions. Nathan is also a podcaster (The Nathan Seaward Show) so we talk about his podcast as well. I really enjoyed this conversation with Nathan and am sure you will too.
Episode 152: Don’t delay, a reminder from Glenn Dodson
Glenn never expected the sore on his tongue to be cancer – in this short excerpt of an upcoming interview we hear from him about this and his encouragement to get things checked… it just might save your life. This was recorded 4 days before Glenn went in to have part of his tongue removed – fortunately he is recovering and the cancer had not spread.
Episode 151: Jezza Williams on founding Makingtrax (live recording)
Last night I had the privilege of interviewing Jezza Williams and hearing some of his story. This was recorded in front of a live audience of about 120 in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and was a Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce “Next Generation” event. The interview is relatively short as it was one of several things that evening – but we covered a lot! Be watching out in 2020 for a complete episode where we can dive deeper with Jezza but I think you will agree that what he shares on this is inspirational. I personally loved being taught about the power of the word “inclusivity” as opposed to “accessibility” and will go into the future with a new way of thinking as a result. Website: https://www.makingtrax.co.nz
A bit thanks to the sponsors Vodafone as well as Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce and the team that organised this and made it such a high quality and easy event – in particular Tash.
Episode 150: Sacha Vee on Singing and founding SOLE Music Academy
Sacha is a multiplatinum selling singer, songwriter and musician who has also founded SOLE Music Academy. In this interview we talk about her life story, her love of music, the role her Grandfather played in her singing, competing in Jazz competitions from a young age and why she thinks music is so important. We also talk about the origins of SOLE Music Academy, what it is aimed at doing by empowering young people in their music careers and the plans for the future.
I really enjoyed this conversation and know you will too. Please check out the website for SOLE Music Academy which has a link to the PledgeMe campaign currently running.
https://www.solemusicacademy.co.nz
PledgeMe: https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/6347-new-music-hub-for-christchurch
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0T39WRpIykwV2LJhmO6mj8?si=C2gqeuW3R6-nM6sY6ap-ew
Episode 149: Steve Penny on the future of designing buildings and lessons from being an entrepreneur
Steve founded Honoris a year ago and in this episode we catch up on how that venture is going as well as learn about his life and what it is like to design buildings. We also hear about his early days in England, what led him into the career he has pursued and what led him to New Zealand. What might a building of the future be like when AI has been integrated into it fully? I really enjoyed this conversation with Steve and am sure you will as well.
Website: http://honoris.co.nz
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/honorisstephenpenny/
Email: steve.penny@honoris.co.nz
Episode 148: Tamara Smith live performance on flute
Tamara came in for an interview yesterday and we also recorded some songs – here they are! There are several songs played on this episode using three different flutes as well as lots of insights into playing flute in between…. her band Mundi are amazing – check them out! She also impromptu composed a short song called “Rata” as one of the pieces.
For more on Tamara visit http://mundi.co.nz
Episode 147: Matthew Button on Mentoring and Big Brothers, Big Sisters
Matthew is the manager for the Christchurch branch of Big Brothers, Big Sisters. In this interview we learn about his childhood and life journey, the role that mentoring has played in his life and what BBBS is involved in. We also talk about what training they give to new mentors – skills that are relevant to all of us. I really enjoyed my conversation with Matthew and know you will as well. Website: http://bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nz/team-chch.html
Episode 146: Enette Pauzé on Leadership, Intergenerational Stewardship and Systems Change
Enette is an expert in Leadership and System Change based in Canada. In this interview we talk about how that system change happens but also discuss stewardship and legacy. We also learn about her work in health care reform and what led to her making the decision to pursue what she does now with Level 8 leadership. I really enjoyed our conversation and all the variety of topics we touched on, including what she most appreciated about her Grandparents and what it means to be a French Canadian. It’s a very wide ranging conversation!
Website: https://level8leadership.com/
Episode 145: Heads or Tails? A simple question about what to do next
This is very short extract from a conversation I had with Nathan Seaward where he shared a story that I thought others might appreciate as well. If you are faced with a decision then this might be one thing to think about!
Episode 144: Rebecca Parnham on founding Krama & Co, Giving Seeds of Love and the power of weaving Community
Rebecca connects people and through that weaves community across traditional divides. She does this through starting her own initiatives as well as supporting others with theirs. The number of people she mentions in this interview who have helped her or been involved in different things is an indication of the value she places on community – just have a look at the 24 names and links below for evidence!
In this interview we hear about her life story and trace back to her childhood, what motivated her to start her social enterprise Krama & Co., the impact of attending an Impact Lunch and the connections that led to starting Giving Seeds of Loveafter the attacks of 15 March as well as her thoughts about the future. Too often we hear negative stories so it is nice to hear some good ones too.
Episode 143: Alina Siegfried on impact storytelling, systems level change and performance poetry
Alina Siegfried is an Impact Storyteller, Narrative Strategist, and award-winning Performance Poet. She is passionate about arts, storytelling and narrative as a tool to inspire systems-level change. In this interview we talk about her background and how she became a poet and what it means to draw out people’s stories in order to describe the impact they are having.
Website: www.alinasiegfried.com
Episode 142: Big World, Small Planet: The Remix, a poem by Alina Siegfried
In next week’s episode we will hear from Alina Siegfried a performance poet and impact storyteller. She read this poem during the interview and so this is a preview of what is to come. I think poetry helps us reimagine our world so appreciate the chance to use this platform to share a poem like this. This poem was written after Alina read “Big World, Small Planet” by Johan Rockstrom, director of the Stockholm Resilience Center, and Mattias Klum.
Alina Siegfried hello@alinasiegfried.com
Episode 141: Angela Reimer on using music to heal brain injuries and the work of Cantabrainers Choir
Angela is a speech and language therapist who works with people who have brain injuries through Cantabrainers Choir. Cantabrainers helps people with neurological conditions to find their voice again. In this interview we talk with Angela about her early days in Springfield, what it was like growing up in a small town of 80 people, the role of steam trains for her Father, how she became a speech and language therapist and what she learned in studying that, and her role today in helping people who have needs for speech and language therapy. We also dive into what Cantabrainers Choir is and what they are involved in and the role they play for the people who attend.
Episode 140: 2119 – An intertalk with Ron Park
In this intertalk we speak 100 years after the original interview with Ron Park. We sit down with Ron Park jr, the great grandson of Ron Park (named after his great grandfather), and reflect on what our grandparents had discussed way back in 2019 on seeds podcast.
Episode 139: Ron Park on health, sustainability and founding Kōrure
Ron moved at age 8 to New Zealand from Korea and while a University student he founded Kōrure. In this interview we talk about his memories of arriving in a new country where he did not speak the language, going through difficult times and what he learned from that, the UCE summer startup program and its impact, the business he set up, health and food supplements and Omega 3 and his work on other initiatives including the Whakamana Museum with Michael Mayell about Hemp. I really enjoyed this interview with Ron. THIS IS ALSO A VIDEO – CHECK THAT TAB.
Episode 138: John Balash on developing innovative educational ecosystems
John is Director of Educational Engagement at Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Centre. In this interview we talk about his early years and his background that has led to a career looking at how entertainment can intersect with education. We also talk about John’s childhood and experience in France, what he studied, why he loves lego so much, what it was like to compete at lego and the role it plays in this life today.
Episode 137: Christchurch: City of Impact
This is a panel discussion held as part of Impact Week at the end of September 2019 where we looked at what makes Christchurch unique today, how the earthquakes, shootings and fires have shaped that identity and given it an international profile, what we love about living here and what potential there to really embrace being a true City of Impact.
Episode 136: Dr Alex Wild on caring for your spine and co-founding Connect Chiropractic
Alex grew up in Norway and dreamed of being a professional snowboarder. In this interview we learn about her childhood in that country and what led her to study Chiropractic care. We also discover what she has learned through that study and get a few tips to care for our spines. We then turn to focus on the business of Connect Chiropractic which takes an unusual approach in its business model having a Koha system of paying as you choose. I really enjoyed my discussion with Alex and know you will as well.
Episode 135: Future of Learning 2019: Audio of Conference
Full index of this conference and lots more info is here. https://theseeds.nz/future-of-learning-2019-full-audio-of-conference/
Episode 134: Say NO to say YES
Transcript of this short reflection on what we say YES and NO to is here.
Episode 133: Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd on being Chief Justice of England and Wales, being a peer in The House of Lords and the role of Judges now and in the future
Lord Thomas was called to the bar in 1969 and after a long and distinguished career became Chief Justice of England and Wales between 2013 and 2017. In this interview we talk about his early career and what led him to that role and what he is involved in today and what it is like being a peer in the House of Lords. We also talk about the place of the Judiciary and role of the Judge. He was the New Zealand Law Foundation’s 2019 Distinguished Visiting Fellow and visited New Zealand in September 2019 where he spoke at the Canterbury University Law School.
Episode 132: Dr. Mahsa Mohaghegh on founding She# and connecting Women in Tech
Mahsa is an expert in Artificial Intelligence working as a senior lecturer at AUT. In this interview talk about her background and childhood in Iran and what first got her interested in computers (at age 7) as well as machine translation and AI. We also discuss how she ended up in New Zealand (by chance), what her first impressions were, why she founded She# as a networking platform for women in tech to connect professionals with high school and tertiary students. We also discuss what it would take to encourage more diversity in tech and the plans for the future (anyone want to help She# expand outside of Auckland?). I really enjoyed this interview and the diverse topics we were able to cover.
We also discuss this Benjamin Franklin quote:
“Tell me and I forget,
Teach me and I remember,
Involve me and I learn”
Episode 131: Jason Swanson on being a Futurist
Jason is Director of Strategic Foresight at KnowledgeWorks where he works as a futurist. He visited New Zealand for The Future of Learning Conference held 30 September – 1 October 2019. In this interview we talk about Jason’s childhood, the role of his Grandmother in his life, falling in love with education, his first job as a tattoo artist, the role of serendipity and luck, and his becoming a futurist focused on what it will be like decades from now. We also talk about the future of education and what that will hold with new technologies becoming more available. Finally, we turn to Knowledge Works and learn in detail about what they are doing – see link below for more on that. Website: https://knowledgeworks.org/resources/meet-jason-swanson/
Episode 130: Impact Summit 2019: Audio of Conference
Audio of entire day held on 21 September 2019 of the main stage speakers at Impact Summit 2019 hosted by UCE (University of Canterbury Centre for Entrepreneurship). The speakers were fantastic and it was a great day of insight and learning. This is an extremely long episode so how can you listen to what you want to hear? You can jump to hear the session you want by navigating to the following points using this index:
1:41 – Speaker Session 1: Tori McNoe with a Karakia (UCSA) Jason Pemberton MC with an intro to the day (link to his site), then:
13:09 – Alanna Chapmann (27 Seconds) (some audio issues at start, keep persisting with it)
26:59 – Shannon Thompson (Out of Comfort)
40:51 – Bariz and Saba (Honouring 51 Lives)
45:21 – Q&A with the speakers
58:28 – Panel Session A: Demystifying Commercialisation hosted by Xstart with Mads Moller (Tech Entrepreneur), Matthew Jones (CertusBio Ltd), Chelsea Aitkin (New Zealand and Beyond) and facilitated by Olivia Theyers-Collins (Xstart)
1:55:31 – Speaker Session 2: Intro
1:56:26 – Brad Lake (Brothers Green)
2:09:21 – Kendall Flutey (Banqer)
2:21:02 – Q&A with the speakers
2:30:47 – Panel Session B: Harnessing Creativity with Jason Pemberton (Felt), Preston Hegel (XCHC), Rosie Carroll (Nifty Markets, Thrifty Nifty, Rosie Threads & Slo-mo) and Bridget Williams (Bead & Proceed)
3:30:11 – Panel Session C: Entrepreneurship for Impact hosted by Xero with Elizabeth Ü (Xero), Cecilia Clavijo (My Vita Bag), Anthony Rohan (Fairground Accounting), John Jo Ritson (Flashworks Media), Jeff Ward (Liminal and Addington Coffee Co-op)
4:21:15 – Speaker Session 3: Intro
4:22:30 – Tim Bateman (Cloud 9 Float Club and O-Studio, part of The Welder)
4:33:55 – Brianne West (Ethique)
4:45:41 – Q&A with the speakers
4:59:42 – Final thoughts and thanks
5:07:56 – Close
Thanks to UCE for arranging the day and allowing the audio to be recorded and shared in this way to empower those who could not be in the room as well. In particular Hannah, Jessica, Jess, James and Rachel. Well done Jason, a really great job as MC. Big shout out to all the volunteers who made the day run smoothly.
Two of the people who spoke have been on seeds podcast before so check out:
Bridget Williams https://seeds.libsyn.com/bridget-williams-on-the-sdgs-and-founding-bead-and-proceed
Alanna Chapman https://seeds.libsyn.com/alanna-chapman-on-27-seconds-a-social-enterprise-winery-focused-on-ending-modern-day-slavery
Episode 129: Longdy Chhap on being Trafficked
Longdy was trafficked age 8 from Cambodia to Thailand and forced to beg on the streets. He had contracted polio as a young child and lost the use of his legs which was the reason he was targeted for trafficking to earn money as a beggar. In this interview we hear Longdy’s unique perspective on life which results from the circumstances of a childhood that none of us can imagine. Modern day slavery and trafficking is happening today and this interview opens up an understanding of how that happens. Eventually he ended up being cared for by Hagar and so we also hear about the work that they do for people like Longdy. We also hear about what his life has changed to become as a result of being looked after.
Episode 128: Ben Reid on AI
Ben is the Executive Director of the AI Forum and in this interview we discuss his background and journey to settle in New Zealand. We then talk in depth about artificial intelligence – what is it and what might it mean for the future of New Zealand? We also discuss a lot of the content in the new report “Towards Our Intelligent Future – An AI Roadmap for New Zealand” that has just been released and some of the key points which it makes.
Episode 127: Clive Antony on Identity and the power of Social Media
Clive founded Mates Social Media and in this interview we talk about the power of social media and marketing – what works, what doesn’t? We also talk about Clive’s background and what it was like to be born in New Zealand yet have very strong links back to India where his parents were from. What is it that forms your identity when you have a background like that and what is it like to grow up here in New Zealand? I really enjoyed talking with Clive and hearing his perspective on the world. He is currently campaigning for local council elections so is keeping busy!
Episode 126: Zahra Hussaini on valuing Diversity
Zahra arrived in New Zealand as a 12 year old Afghan refugee who spoke no English. In this interview we hear about what her childhood was like, being a refugee, coping with bullying when you don’t speak the language, reshaping identity when you arrive in a new country, what it is like to transition into a place that was so different and the impact of the March shootings. We also discuss her decision to stand as a councillor and community board member in the local elections for The People’s Choice Labour Waimairi.
Episode 125: Natasha Zimmerman on the science of belonging, community and founding Unchatter
Natasha is a doing her PHD in organisational psychology at Canterbury University on belonging and community. In this wide ranging interview we talk about her childhood and what shaped her, as well as why she has such an interest in deepening relationships. We start off with a poem she wrote and that really sets the tone for what follows.
Episode 124: Shanna on being 11
Do you remember being 11? In this episode we talk with Shanna about what her views of the world are. It’s good to get these reminders from time to time and also to hear about what children are learning about and what they think of the world and what the future might look like for her generation. Shanna was one of the original people interviewed back in episode 5 for seeds podcast. We also talk about the difference between Happiness and Joy, as well as some ethical questions, genetic modification, coding, what is valuable in a friendship as well as what it was like to present at a TEDxYouth event … we cover a lot!
Episode 123: David Clifford on re-imagining ‘school’, Liberatory Design and how that can help nurture X-shaped students
David is an edu-agitator who has explored what education is for many years through his work on Liberatory Design. In this interview we hear a lot about David’s childhood and his own education and how that has shaped the person he has become today and what he does. We also talk about the school he co-founded – the East Bay School for Boys. This is one of those interviews where we talk about a wide range of topics – from the word curiosity, to white male privilege, working as an artist, the power of creativity and the future of “school”. I think you’ll enjoy it – it would be in my own top 10.
Watch our for the TEDxChristchurch talk from David too. Big praise to the TEDxChristchurch team, it was great to support what you did the past weekend. And thanks Rebecca Robertson for the intro to David on the Friday night – and for finding out that you are a fan of seeds!
Episode 122: Creativity & Vulnerability: Give it all … give it now
Reflecting on the intersection between our creative lives and the power of vulnerability. The full text of this is below. Inspiration from a variety of sources including Theodore Roosevelt, Vincent Van Gogh, Brene Brown and Annie Dillard.
Episode 121: Darren Ward on catalysing impact, improving governance and NGOs
Darren has worked for many years in the NGO sector and now assists organisations to maximize social impact through Direct Impact Group. In this interview we talk about his childhood and early years and career before he joined an NGO. We focus in particular on governance and impact and how you go about maximising social impact. We also discuss what he has observed over the years of working as the head of an NGO and now consulting to assist them.
Episode 120: Bill Murphy on the Purpose Capital Impact Fund
Bill Murphy is the founder of Enterprise Angels and of the Purpose Capital Impact Fund. In this episode we talk a lot about entrepreneurs, start-ups and impact investing. However, we also talk about Bill’s life and what has led him to what he does today.
Episode 119: Paradigm Shifts and Magic Eyes: Melbourne presentation at CLAANZ conference
This is a short presentation in Melbourne at the Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (CLAANZ) annual conference. Text of what I said and VIDEO as well are here:
Episode 118: Ian Kennedy on being Ambassador to Japan
Ian was the ambassador to Japan at the time of both the Christchurch and Tohoku earthquakes of 2011. In this interview we hear all about his childhood and what led him to the diplomatic service. We also find out about what he loves most about Japan and what it is actually like to be a representative of a country. These days Ian is involved in the Japan New Zealand Business Council so we also learn about that organisation.
Episode 117: Bridget Williams on the SDGs and founding Bead and Proceed
Bridget cares about the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and founded social enterprise Bead and Proceed to highlight them. In this interview we find out about the SDGs as well as her own life story and journey including her work with the Student Volunteer Army, Global Shapers, working as a lawyer and time on the TV show, What Now. For some reason we also discuss a lot of memorable and inspiring quotes on this particular episode – it was great to welcome this self described “enthusiastic human” onto the show!
Episode 116: What is your Cathedral?
A short reflection. The text of this is here. What do you think?
Episode 115: Japanese decision making and what we can learn
Japanese decision making – how is it different? What can we learn? This is a short little presentation at the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce on doing business in Japan. I lived in Tokyo and Osaka for 5 years and worked two of those years within a very large Japanese trading house so this episode contains some of the key things I learned. In particular, I talk about the concepts of Nemawashi and the Ringi system of decision making.
Episode 114: Hannah McKnight on communicating your Vision
Hannah is a communications consultant and wordsmith who helps organisations focussed on impact to communicate their stories. She founded Ngātahi Communications and in this interview we find out about her childhood growing up on a remote high country farm, her early love of writing and stories, a special relationship with her great-grandfather, studying communication, the impact of the earthquakes and why she focusses on organisations creating positive impact. We also chat about her decision to switch to a 4 day work week, as well as the impact of her family history on what she does today.
Episode 113: B Corps: the what, why and how – live panel discussion
This is a live panel discussion recorded 17 July 2019 in Christchurch at an event to answer questions about B Corps. In it we hear from 6 different people about their experiences either working for B Corps or looking to become one, as well as from Andrew Davies from B Labs Australia and New Zealand.
Episode 112: Israel Cooper on co-founding Home, and the importance of Community, People and Purpose
Israel has a clear sense of identity and purpose and we talk about what led to his co-founding the building company, home, which has a real focus on people and community and is an impact driven company. From his earliest years as a child growing up in the cult his Grandfather founded (now called Gloriavale) to time in the United States and Australia, working at PWC and co-founding IT companies, working in the movie industry, we talk about that and more along the way. What shines through in this interview is a clear sense of identity and resulting purpose which places an emphasis on people and community over profits. For me, having worked with many social enterprises and other companies what home is doing is significant as it foreshadows the future I think more companies will embrace – including time frames that allow for 100 year business plans, a focus on employment and care for people who work at a company and a desire to actually do some good through the business of the company itself – in this case, providing homes (not just houses) to many in New Zealand. This is one of my favourite interviews so far and as it is the 112th one, that is saying something.
Episode 111: Glen Herud on failure, Happy Cow Milk, the hard road of entrepreneurship and what matters most
Glen’s start-up Happy Cow Milk failed. That failure resulted in an outpouring of support – so he started again. In this interview we talk about his dreams and what went wrong, what happens when you admit defeat but then get even more support, the value of transparency in business, the impact of pursuing your dream on your family, the corporatization of farming today and what it means for the people and animals involved, moving from being a milk production company to becoming an IT company – oh, and landmines in the garden and lions by the African road as a child in Rhodesia. Yes, this interview has all that and a lot more as Glen shares honestly about his struggles and future hopes.
Episode 110: Dave Sewell on Leadership in Business and beating Stress
Dave has been studying leadership and the key elements that make up a good leader. As well as that his focus is to understand stress and what that does to leaders, in both good and bad ways. In this interview we talk about his origins in Scotland, what brought him to New Zealand, his entrepreneurial journey and his work today. Dave has a new book coming out later this year so we get a bit of a previous of what sort of topics it is going to cover as well.
Episode 109: Hayley-Maree Litt on counselling and letting go of the past
Hayley-Maree is a counsellor and in this interview we talk about change, personal growth, addiction and moving forward in life. We also find out about her early years growing up on a farm where race horses were raised, overcoming trauma and grief and becoming a counsellor. We also chat about Aroha and Love after the events that have impacted Christchurch in the last 10 years. Hayleymareelitt.counsellor@gmail.com
Episode 108: They are Us: Abdigani Ali and Osman Ahmed on the attacks in Christchurch, Resilience and Collaboration
This one is powerful – today we hear from Abdigani Ali and Osman Ahmed, who was one of those shot in the attacks in Christchurch in March 2019. I was due to interview Abdigani Ali about his initiative, the Canterbury Resilience Foundation, and Osman Ahmed came along as well from the Canterbury Muslim Community Trust, so I just decided to interview both of them. This is rare as normally I only talk to one person at a time. But they both have fascinating stories about being immigrants in New Zealand and what that is like. As Osman was shot in the back in the attacks we hear about his memories of the day and listener discretion is advised – as well as that we also here about the many positive results in the community that they both have seen resulting from the incident.
In the photo Steven is on left, Abdi in middle and Osman on the right.
Episode 107: Professor David Murdoch on Infectious Diseases, Nepal and the University of Otago, Christchurch
David is Dean of the University of Otago, Christchurch. His main research has been into infectious diseases and in this interview we discuss that research, his time spent living in remote Nepal for two years as well as the role of antibiotics and breakthroughs he is searching for.
Episode 106: Tech for Good: A live panel for TechWeek19 discussing this with Tim Jones, Georgia Robertson, John Ascroft, Dave Lane and Menno Finlay-Smits
Tech for Good? This is a panel discussion on that topic recorded just one week ago. We joined forces with Ian Wells (many thanks to you) from Canterbury Tech and hosted a Techweek 2019 session in the Parry Field Lawyers boardoom considering “Tech for Good” and what legal structures are best: charity? Company? Social Enterprise? Something else? After an intro from Kris Morrison (Partner at Parry Field), we heard from a range of panelists with questions facilitated by me and hearing the journey of Tim Jones, Georgia Robertson, Menno Finlay-Smits, John Ascroft and Dave Lane. Thanks to the great crowd who turned out and asked some good questions too!
Episode 105: Emily Morrow on Balance: Achievable, mythical, unhelpful or something else?
Emily practised as a lawyer for many years and now assists both law firms and lawyers with thinking deeply about the work they do, and why they do it. This interview was recorded live in front of an audience of more than 100. We talk a lot about a commonly used word: “balance”, and whether that is achievable, or not. We also talk about the idea that “your work is your love made visible” and how life could be more integrated with work, in a positive way. Emily shares about her own life story and provides insights for people to consider at whatever stage of their career they are at – whether they are students, graduates, have been working for a while or are nearing retirement (the correct R word being, “reinvention”).
“Follow your nose, and don’t be dazzled”.
Episode 104: The Human Economy and the Future of Business, a breakout session at Philanthropy NZ Summit 2019 with Louise Aitken, Christina Bellis and Shay Wright
This breakout session at the Philanthropy Summit 2019 deals with a very topical issue: The future of business in the “human economy” – but what is meant by that term and how does it all fit with social enterprise? In this session we got to hear from three leading experts each offering a unique perspective and insight on the state of play in Aotearoa, New Zealand. First is Louise Aitken the CEO of the Ākina Foundation, Christna Bellis from Thankyoupayroll and Shay Wright from Te Whare Hukahuka. Check out their bios and info below.
Episode 103: Impact Investing: Future Trends from Philanthropy Summit NZ 2019 with Rebekah Swan, David Woods, Emily Woodland and Clive Pedley
The Philanthropy Summit 2019 was held for the last three days (15-17 May 2019) at Te Papa with 500 attending. To celebrate getting to 30,000 listens of seeds podcast thought it would be great to release a session I was involved in about impact investing. I helped out with facilitating the Q&A time for this breakout session where close to 100 attended – recorded it all so that those not in the room could also listen to what was discussed. Impact investing represents a real vision for the future and in this session we hear from four experts about their experiences and thoughts of current state of play and future trends. The question time then unpacks some of the concepts in more detail.
Index
3:12 – Rebekah Swan
12:57 – David Woods
27:03 – Clive Pedley
41:58 – Emily Woodland
53:25 – Q&A starts
Episode 102: Ian Harvey on Collective Intelligence
Harv founded Collective Intelligenceand in this interview we find out what that is and how it works. We also learn about his childhood, his family being torn apart by a murder trial, the impact of partial deafness, what it was like working as a Shepherd and then a farmer and his fluency in reading people’s body language in groups. This is one of those interviews I love because we had so many different rabbit holes to go down. If you enjoy this style of interview and hearing about someone’s life story they consider checking out some of the more than 100 interviews in the back catalogue.
Episode 101: Oliver Hunt on founding Medsalv, making health more sustainable
Oliver founded Medsalv 18 months ago and in this interview we hear about his entrepreneurial journey. We also find out a lot about the medical industry and single use devices and the amount of waste which goes to landfills. UCE and it’s programmes for encouraging entrepreneurs is also discussed. Medsalv is a fantastic business approaching things in a unique way that combines profit and purpose as they seek to make health care more sustainable.
Episode 100: The Honourable Justice Joseph Williams explaining the Karakia “Whakataka te Hau”
This was not planned. Which makes it the perfect 100th episode as we always look for depth and meaning in unexpected moments. Justice Joe Williams got up to give the keynote speech at the recent Charity Law and Regulation conference held at Te Papa in April 2019 and rather than start straight into that topic he took time and instead reflected on the Karakia which had been said just before that, “Whakataka te Hau”. I thought the description and explanation provided was really beautifully done as it opened an understanding of what this prayer was really about. So I got permission to release those reflections as this podcast episode. Have a listen to some of the other 100 for more diverse content and interviews!
Episode 99: Isabel on being 6
Do you remember being 6? Most of us have forgotten but it’s important to try and recall sometimes. This episode may help a little as we hear from Isabel about what she enjoys in life and how she sees the world. What can adults learn from kids and what should they do less of? It’s a great 99th episode with a unique perspective!
Episode 98: Lauren Burr on Mathematics
Lauren loves mathematics and that shines through in this interview. She has worked for many years as a maths teacher and so I wanted to talk with her about her life and perspective on this as well as her work with the NZ Association of Maths Teachers. This podcast covers any topic that we want it too – variety and quality of story are the consistent principles!
Episode 97: Audiobook: “Structuring for Impact” Report
This is an audiobook of the report “Structuring for Impact: Evolving Legal Structures for Business in New Zealand” that was released 17 April 2019 (index of key sections is below). I am really proud to have been involved as one of the co-authors and wanted to provide a different platform for it be accessible on here for those who might listen but not want to read the whole thing. The report can be downloaded here. https://www.theimpactinitiative.org.nz/reports/structuring-for-impact
Index:
Foreword: 1:51
Executive Summary: 4:47
Disadvantages of legal structures: 8:49
Part One:
1.1 Introduction: 13:56
1.2 Conceptual Framework 19:15
Part Two: How Social Enterprise is unduly affected: 28:37
2.1 Mission 30:01
2.2 Funding 1:19:22
2.3 Innovation 1:53:06
Part Three: Solutions 1:58:50
Conclusion: 2:23:56
Episode 96: Georgia Robertson on Humanitix, the world’s first non-profit events ticketing platform
Georgia is a changemaker, ex-lawyer and now CEO of Humanitix NZ, and she shares about building the world’s first non-profit events ticketing platform backed by Google and Atlassian, the value of education and the power of community.
Episode 95: Louise Aitken introducing “Structuring for Impact” a new research report on the Future of Business and Social Enterprise in New Zealand
Louise is the CEO of the Ākina Foundation and she spoke this morning in Wellington at the launch of the major new report: “Structuring for Impact: Evolving Legal Structures for Business in New Zealand”. I really enjoyed the process of helping to co-author this report with a group of amazing people who are mentioned in this podcast. Please have a read of the report and help us share it to your networks too – it is about what the ingredients are to help empower business of the future here in Aotearoa New Zealand!
You can access it here – please also consider sharing the link so it can spread wider!
Episode 94: Full conference audio: “Future Prospects for Charity Law, Accounting and Regulation” held 11-12 April 2019 at Te Papa
Yes, this is a very long episode! Have a listen to short intro to understand more but it is all the audio of more than 10 sessions at the two day conference “Future prospects for charity law, accounting and regulation” held 11-12 April 2019 at Te Papa and providing it all here so accessible to all those who were not in the room but would be challenged and empowered by the content.
Episode 93: Dr Carolyn Cordery on a History of Financial Reporting – recorded live at Te Papa for ‘Future prospects for Charity Law, Accounting and Regulation’ conference on 12 April 2019
Carolyn is an expert on the history of financial reporting – in this interview we spoke in front of a live audience of almost 200 at a conference held at Te Papa in Wellington on 11-12 April 2019. In this wide ranging interview we discuss the history of what might sound like a dull topic by jumping back in time ancient Egypt as well as fish hooks in colonial New Zealand and what has led to our current reporting standards. I have been on the committee organising this conference which brought around 40 speakers from around the world together.
Episode 92: Impact and Social Enterprise, a live panel discussion at Te Papa moderated by Steven Moe with Louise Aitken, Dana Brakman Reiser, Holly Norton, Kaye Maree Dunn and Andrew Phillips
This bonus episode is all about impact and social enterprise in New Zealand. It was recorded on Friday 12 April 2019 as a live panel discussion at Te Papa.
Episode 91 – Wil McLellan on co-founding EPIC Innovation centre in Christchurch
Wil co-founded EPIC (Enterprise Precinct and Innovation Campus) a unique building which houses many start-ups and tech companies in central Christchurch. As one of the first buildings to go up following the earthquakes there is an amazing story behind the building which we discover in this interview. Wil also shares his background growing up in the UK and how he ended up in New Zealand. We also discuss what makes a good salesperson, key elements that make up a great team and what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.
Episode 90 – John Page on Focus for Boards
John Page is a governance expert at BoardWorks. He is also the writer of a major research report “True to Label” looking at how value is measured in the non-profit sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. He has many years of governance experience in a variety of roles and in the arts which we discuss in the interview. Now in his role he works as a consultant supporting governing boards and directors in their leadership roles.
Episode 89 – Peter Beck on love and ‘thin places’
Peter was the Dean of the Christchurch Cathedral at the time of the earthquakes in 2011. I chose to air this interview now because we talk about love and acceptance in this and it feels like the most appropriate interview given the Christchurch attacks which have just happened. In this wide ranging conversation we discuss his background in the UK, his studies at Oxford University and what led him to become a priest, how he ended up in New Zealand and his memories of the quakes. We also take time to reflect on spiritual ‘thin places’ where the distance between physical things and spiritual things is less thick.
Episode 88 – Matthew Goldsworthy on Youth Arts New Zealand
Matthew founded Youth Arts New Zealand to empower youth to creatively express themselves. We talk about his life and what led him to start this, the value of collaboration across creative arts, the interaction between an audience and a performer, what music means to him, storytelling through live shows and music and why bringing different types of arts together is so important.
Episode 87 – How to create a Podcast
In this episode I share everything I’ve learned about how to create a podcast. This was recorded live when I gave it as a session at the Social Enterprise Unconference in Levin in mid February 2019. One of my dreams for seedswas to teach others so they could start their own podcast so if you are interested in learning more then drop me a line and happy to help answer your questions – steven@theseeds.nz.
Episode 86 – Collett’s Corner: A paradigm shifting community minded property development
This short bonus episode profiles Collett’s Corner with founder Camia Young sharing about what this crowdfunded community owned property development is about. For Camia’s full story check out this earlier episode: http://seeds.libsyn.com/camia-young-on-architecture-as-a-way-to-create-community
Episode 85 – Joanna Norris on ChristchurchNZ
Joanna is the CEO of ChristchurchNZ which promotes the city as both a tourism destination and a dynamic place for business to grow. In this interview we talk about her early life, working as a reporter, the role of journalism in the world today, her role as Editor of The Press just after the earthquakes and what the future holds for Christchurch. I really enjoyed this 85th episode and my discussion with Joanna and am sure you will appreciate it as well.
Episode 84 – Lisa Mead on founding ‘Social Currency’
Lisa founded Social Currency an accounting firm with a difference that we discuss in the interview (hint: it gives back). We also talk about Lisa’s early life, a near death experience at 11, growing up and playing different sports, how she came up with the idea for social currency and how it works. I enjoyed my discussion with Lisa as we talked about many other things as well ranging from prison to encouraging the youth of today.
Episode 83 – Kerri Bonner on changing perceptions of “Disability”
Kerri coordinates ‘Carabiner’ in Christchurch which helps provide mentoring opportunities for young people aged 18-25 with disabilities. In this interview we talk about her childhood, love of the outdoors, working life and her views about what the word “disability” means. I really enjoyed talking with Kerri and she is a real inspiration – a few minutes of listening to this interview and you will see what I mean as her positivity and humour are catching!
Episode 82 – E Wen Wong on being 16 and founding P.S. Our Beaches
E Wen Wong was 13 when she founded P.S. Our Beaches. Now aged 16 we talk about her love of poetry, founding an organisation to clean up our beaches, solving problems and what the future holds.
Episode 81 – Steve Jukes on Pathway a social enterprise helping ex prisoners
Steve is the Executive Director at Pathway which is a charity and social enterprise helping prisoners reintegrate back into society after they leave prison. It does that through a charitable trust owning two businesses which employ those ex prisoners. In this longest episode so far we talk about his childhood, different careers including as a radio host, President of the Canterbury Students Association and Owner of the Hollywood cinema in Sumner. We also touch on national identity, teachers who shape us most, social enterprise cinemas in Rolleston, and much more.
Episode 80 – Robert Read on Suicide Awareness and Prevention: Liberated Syndication
Robert speaks about suicide from a place of sincerity and personal experience which is profound. In this episode we talk with him about his childhood, early life, guardian angels who have saved him from suicide, the epidemic that we are seeing now, mental health, vulnerability and how to have more open conversations. This is a wide ranging conversation touching on many topics with an eloquent voice for his generation who co-founded a Facebook page “Killing the Stigma” on this which now has 370,000+ likes and has hit a real chord.
Episode 79 – Kathleen Gallagher on being a poet, staying attentive and slowing down
Some interviews are like little jewels that I’ve somehow uncovered while walking along the beach. Today is one of those as I speak with the poet Kathleen Gallagher. Kathleen has written plays, poems, novels as well as done 7 feature films. In this interview we talk about her childhood, the creative writing process, how she writes, being attentive and in the moment and her recent novel Inangahua Gold.
Episode 78 – Sister Mary Scanlon on 70 years of service with Little Company of Mary
Sister Mary was born in 1929 and knew she wanted to be a nurse early in her life. In January 1949 she joined Little Company of Mary which is coming up to 70 years of service. In this interview we talk about her early life and memories of the first radio her family purchased, the Great Depression, the start of World War II and at age 16 her first experience of being with someone who died while she was working as a nurse caring for them. We then talk about what she has learned through a life of service and in particular about light and love. This is a most unusual interview and one I think is particularly powerful so I hope you enjoy it.
Episode 77 – Julie Chapman on co-founding KidsCan and child poverty in New Zealand
Julie co-founded charity KidsCan 13 years ago and is the CEO now. In this interview we talk about her childhood, her first jobs, the influence of her parents on her life and what led her to start KidsCan. We also talk about child poverty in New Zealand and what they are seeing on the front line among the almost 800 schools that they are in and how they are supporting children in need. We then discuss Te Ao Māori and its growing influence on what they are doing at KidsCan. This is one of those heartbreaking, challenging, encouraging and uplifting interviews as we dive deeper with Julie to really understand what motivates her and what they are doing through KidsCan.
Episode 76 – Celebrating 20,000 listens with a bonus episode reflecting on Social Enterprise in Aotearoa, New Zealand
Thanks everyone for helping reach this significant milestone! The 75th episode was just released and with that we passed 20,000 total listens across all the interviews. Thanks to all who are out there listening to one, or many, of the episodes of the show and telling others about it – this milestone would not have been possible without you! In honour of reaching this have edited the seminar last week that was given in Auckland called “Social Enterprise in Aotearoa: Where to?”. This was held on 4 December 2018 at RSM and there were more than 50 who came along to hear the talk and some really good discussions and engagement around the issues.
Episode 75 – Bonus: Short reflection on paradigm shifts and the term social enterprise
Earlier this week (actually, last night!) I presented to around 50 people on Social Enterprise in Auckland and this is just a few short minutes extract of that more than hour long session. I was reflecting on what we are actually talking about when we think about social enterprise and the paradigm shift that is occurring as we move away from the binary conception of charity on the one side (mainly acting from heart) and business on the other (mainly acting from mind) and how the term social enterprise helps us as an intermediate stepping stone between the two, for now.
Episode 74 – Dr Mike Dickison on being ‘Wikipedian-at-Large’ and giant flightless birds
Mike was appointed earlier this year to be ‘Wikipedian at Large’ and has been travelling the country in that role. In this interview we talk about his childhood, his PHD in giant flightless birds and their egg sizes, his work in museums over the years and his role now promoting Wikipedia and running seminars across the country on that.
Episode 73 – Historian Rowan Light on ANZAC day, what we commemorate (and why)
Rowan is a lecturer in the History Department at Canterbury University who has done years of research into ANZAC history. In this interview (released in the month that is the centenary of World War I ending) we talk about his early childhood in Auckland,what led him to study history, and why it is that we celebrate a defeat in WW1 rather than the end of the war or a victory. This is one of those wide ranging interviews that touches on many areas so I am sure you will enjoy it. Rowan’s book on the topic of the ANZAC history will be published in 2019.
Episode 72 – Louise Aitken on Ākina, Social Enterprise in Aotearoa … and being a twin!
Louise Aitken is the CEO of Ākina Foundation which is growing social enterprise in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this interview (the longest so far!) we talk about her childhood, what it was like growing up with her twin sister Natalie, moving to Brazil age 17 and how that shaped her identity, taking care of her father who passed away from cancer in her 20s, her career working in London, how she made the decision to return to New Zealand and her work in CSR and other areas since returning. We then go into lots of detail about social enterprise in New Zealand – both its history here, what the shape of it may be and what the future could hold.
Episode 71 – Dyslexia with Geoff Bone
On this episode we discuss dyslexia as a form of Superpower. Why might that be? After our full interview Geoff Bone contacted me to say he wanted to talk about Dyslexia. While it is hinted at in the full interview he asked if he could come back and share more about his experience. We thought it would be a 2 minute insert into the interview but then it became more – this episode. I readily agreed to chat because I think everyone knows someone who has been affected by Dyslexia so here is a short episode where we discuss his experience, what it has meant for his son who is on that journey and the value it has played in his adult life (developing grit and determination).
Episode 70 – Geoff Bone on the New Zealand Agricultural Show and how to create meaningful events
Geoff is the event director for the New Zealand Agricultural Show (formerly the Canterbury A&P Show). In this interview we talk about Geoff’s childhood and years overseas in Australia and London, what it is that makes a great event, cultural differences between New Zealand and overseas, how to succeed while dealing with rejection, the history and what goes on at the New Zealand Agricultural Show which gets 100,000 visitors over a few days in November as well as the nature of it and being a social enterprise.
Episode 69 – Holly Norton on co-founding ‘Collaborate’ the social enterprise volunteering app
Holly is one of the four co-founders of Collaborate which connects people with volunteering opportunities. In this interview we discuss her early childhood in the UK, the implications of moving to New Zealand at a young age, her interest and love of theatre and what that has meant for other initiatives, how she started on the journey of co-founding Collaborate, how it works, the ups and downs of being a social enterprise and what the future holds.
Episode 68 – Professor Anthony Butler on 3D colour x-rays, MARS Bioimaging and the future of scanning in health care
Anthony is a co-founder (with his Father) of Mars Bioimaging Limited which produces 3D colour x-rays (spectral molecular imaging). This involves the intersection of high energy physics with clinical medicine. In this interview we talk his childhood and background and what led him to work in this area. We also talk about the technology itself and how it works and then dive down a rabbit hole what the future of health care and scanning might look like in 30, 50, or 100 years as technology improves. Finally we chat about Anthony’s purpose and real reason for continuing to develop the technology further.
Episode 67 – Māori perspectives on Social Enterprise with Kaye Maree Dunn, Cain Kerehoma and Chanelle Armstrong
“What does Social Enterprise mean to us as Tangata Whenua?” This question was explored during this participative session2 at the Aotearoa Social Enterprise Forum held on 19 October 2018. We heard from Kaye Maree Dunn (Chair) along with Cain Kerehoma, and Chanelle Armstrong.
Episode 66 – Bonus: Final challenge at the Aotearoa Social Enterprise Forum 2018 from Samantha Jones
Samantha Jones gave the last word at the Aotearoa SocialEnterprise Forum held on 19 October 2018 in Wellington. The full transcript is also available. She brought some truths to the table that deserve to be heard such as “Leave ego behind. If you really want to influence people let your actions speak for themselves.” This is a challenge for change and action over complacency and not focusing on the image without the substance to back it up. She also talks about how hard the journey actually is which is something we don’t do enough of. I am releasing this less than 24 hours after she gave the talk because I think it is important for all those who could not make it to the conference to also hear this message and the many challenges it contains. If you agree then consider sharing it with others who would appreciate it.
Episode 65 – Dr Pleayo Tovaranonte on social enterprise “Beyond the Stethoscope”
Dr Pleayo Tovaranonte explains the social enterprise Beyond the Stethoscope that he co-founded sending Doctors to other parts of the world. We also discuss his many other entrepreneurial adventures, such as his work with REV3 Tech on new technology to sell apartments with Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for construction projects. We also talk about his childhood in Thailand and what it was like moving to New Zealand at a young age and the cultural differences he noticed. Oh, and the tiny house movement,studying to be a heart surgeon, what it is like to be a GP and making a difference with your life.
Episode 64 – Seeds Takeover! Tim Jones & Mark Ambundo discuss … everything!
Two former podcast guests have become great friends in the last year and as I respect each of them so highly I invited them to comeback and chat about whatever they wanted – I knew the quality would be superb and so on this episode they offer their unique perspectives on the West, the future, holding hands, cultures, colonisation, people, dog walking, spirituality, purpose, driving culture, social enterprise … it’s wide ranging which has always been the purpose of this podcast – to tell good stories and stimulate thinking. This is the best type of podcast mashup to keep things varied up! On one side of the microphone we have Tim Jones (originally from the UK) and on the other we have Mark Ambundo (from Kenya). This is a rollicking ride of a discussion and I hope you enjoy it!
Episode 63 – Bonus: Governance tips for Boards
This is a short talk given to about 50 people who were all involved as board members and so was sharing a list of top 10 tips for good governance. Thought some of you would be interested in these as well. My voice barely made it through!
Episode 62 – Dr. Cheryl Doig on the Future of Learning
Cheryl is a leadership futurist and expert in education and in this interview we combine the two into a far reaching discussion about what is to come in relation to the future of learning. We also talked about her background as a school principal, the impact of a child dying of abuse on an entire school community, the recent Future of Learning conference she co-organised with Hamish Duff (from Recalibrate) as well as her work at Think Beyond.
Episode 61 – Simon Mbonyinshuti on being a Refugee from Rwanda
Simon fled Rwanda aged 16 in 1994 and never saw his home again. This is one of those really deep episodes where we really explore what it even means to be human and reflect on what is important in life. In this interview we talk about his experience of being a refugee, what it is like to have your identity stripped from you, key points that he has learned from his journey and how he survived. We also talk about what he learnt from his parents and their positive attitude and the impact on his life of someone who helped his family in unanticipated ways. Finally we talk about his transition to life in New Zealand and how he continues to help others since his arrival here 15 years ago.
Episode 60 – Dr Sharon McIver on interviewing music icons like Radiohead and founding social enterprise ‘Our Daily Waste’
Dr Sharon McIver founded social enterprise ‘Our Daily Waste’ and in this conversation we talk about her entrepreneurial journey. Before getting to that though we discuss her childhood as well as work as a music journalist that meant she reviewed hundreds of albums and interviewed many musicians such as Radiohead and Ben Harper. We also talk about her doctoral thesis on outdoor dance culture which also looked at the influence of the New Zealand landscape on Kiwi music. This is one of those conversations where we end up talking about many, many topics so you are sure to enjoy it!
Episode 59 – Reuben Bijl on designing apps and co-founding Smudge
Reuben is a co-founder and Managing Director of Smudge which has been developing apps since the iPhone first came out. In this interview we start with a discussion about his love of music before we turn to his early experiences developing apps. We then discuss some of the work they do today including with the New Zealand Police to save thousands of hours of time and reduce the paperwork involved in their jobs. This is being released in the week of the Canterbury Tech Summit 2018 which had more than 700 attend – and where Seeds Podcast had a stand in the Community Zone.
Episode 58 – Bonus: Start-up key issues (structures for social enterprises, governance, key documents, IP and more)
To celebrate getting to 15,000 listens this “Legal Mashup” is a bonus episode recorded at XCHC recently. In this I presented along with Kris Morrison about key start-up issues including what a social enterprise is, best legal structure options for them, the charitable option, governance, board size, liability, intellectual property, overseas considerations, employment, and other start-up issues … we covered a lot! If you enjoy it consider sharing with someone else who is at the start of their entrepreneurial journey.
Episode 57 – Dave Lane on Free and Open Source Software
Dave Lane is an advocate for open source software and is the President of the NZ Open Source Society. In this interview we talk about his early years (including his Quaker roots) and growing up in a multilingual home. We also discuss his studies and what led him to New Zealand and his experiences as an entrepreneur.
Episode 56 – Philipp Sültrop on rockets, endurance races and surviving cancer
Philipp is researching fuel use in rockets at the University of Canterbury looking in particular at rocket flight mechanics and control in collaboration with Rocket Lab. In this interview we talk about his childhood in Germany, what he learned from his Father who got cancer and passed away and how it prepared him for his own battle and surviving cancer. We then get pretty deep about what that experience of survival has meant for how he approaches the rest of his life and finds his purpose. We also talk about extreme endurance races and one that Philipp was about to do in Africa that was more than 200 kilometres in a week.
Episode 55 – Professor Julia Rucklidge on diet and mental health
Professor Julia Rucklidge has been researching the link between diet, nutrients and mental health and in this interview we talk about that work. We also discuss her childhood and background growing up in Canada, how she got into this field, what the research is actually showing and what it was like to give a TEDx talk that has almost a million views.
Episode 54 – Zoë Hector on deaf children and her social enterprise to help them ‘Talk Town’
Zoë Hector (nee Haws) founded social enterprise ‘Talk Town’ after she had worked as a teacher aide and saw deaf children left out of games on the playground. In this interview we talk about her own background and journey that has led to this initiative, what it was like to win the Entre start-up challenge in 2017 and her plans for the future. Zoe has a crowdfunding campaign at the moment – check it out in the link below.
Episode 53 – Bonus episode: “The moment things changed . . .”
This is a bonus compilation episode to celebrate getting to 52 interviews looking back through some of the conversations to pull out short extracts of “the moment” when something changed for the people I was interviewing. I hope you enjoy it!
Episode 52 – Stuart Dillon-Roberts on social enterprise Digital Journey
Only a few social enterprises that I meet are focused on the digital and online world – so it was refreshing to talk with Stuart Dillon-Roberts who founded social enterprise Digital Journey. The aim is to ‘deliver digital projects and initiatives to support our goal of creating an environment where everyone has the opportunity to use, understand and benefit from digital services.’ In this interview we talk about Stuart’s background and what led to forming this venture as well as how they work as a social enterprise. We also discuss exactly how they can help companies and people to improve their online presence with an interactive assessment and resources.
Episode 51 – Angela Sothern on plans for a global fundraising loyalty programme to help towards the achievment of the Sustainable Development Goals
Angela Sothern has an idea for a new charity fundraising loyalty programme which is intended to to help towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We discuss Angela’s background and history as well as her new initiative. In this interview we disagree a bit about the steps to implement the idea and have global impact. Angela has also provided the update below as well on positive progress since the intervew.
Episode 50 – Marcelle Lunam on the art of Film, being a Director and the Tūmanako Wellness Centre
Welcome to the 50th episode! Marcelle Lunam is the founder and project lead for Tūmanako Wellness Centre. Marcelle has worked in film as a director and we discuss the influence her Grandfather had on her as a child learning to appreciate light, paintings and film. We also discuss her career and work with the innovative Chris O’Brien Lifehouse in Sydney as well as being a creative who has been the international Creative Director of Mambo and Creative Director of zSpace in Sydney. We then discuss Tūmanako Wellness Centre and the unique plans to take the best of what is done overseas and improve on it here – what is it, what the plans for the future are and how it might change life for people.
Episode 49 – Andrew Bell on preventable blindness and the work of The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ
Andrew Bell is the Executive Director of The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ which he has led since 2010. In this interview we discuss his background and childhood in South Africa as a child of apartheid, studying anthropology and sociology and what that was like with a growing sense of the injustice of apartheid. We also discuss his role now with efforts to prevent blindness through the work of The Fred Hollows Foundation.
Episode 48 – Sarah Kessans on synthetic biology, GE and applying to be an Astronaut to NASA
Sarah Kessans is a research fellow at the University of Canterbury. In this interview we talk about her work as a synthetic biologist and discuss genetic engineering and the ethics of change as well as how it all actually works at a practical level. We also talk about her application to become an astronaut to NASA and what it was like to go through that process.
Episode 47 – Peter Wells on edible food forests and the Ōtākaro Orchard
Peter is the project coordinator for the local urban food hub Ōtākaro Orchard. Its aim is to provide knowledge and inspiration about sustainable food systems as part of the Food Resilience Network. In this interview we talk with Peter about his background and experiences in different parts of the world and what led him to move to Christchurch to be involved with this new initiative as well as his time in Edinburgh, Costa Rica, discussing modern dance, acting and theatre.
Episode 46 – Alanna Chapman on 27 Seconds a social enterprise winery focused on ending modern day slavery
Alanna Chapman is a co-founder of 27 Seconds which is a social enterprise winery whose profits go to ending modern day slavery. They do this by supporting the work of Hagar with their profits. In this interview we talk about her childhood that included living in South East Asia, her more recent encounters with modern slavery and the resulting origin of the idea for 27 Seconds and how it operates as a social enterprise.
Episode 45 – Samantha Jones on sustainable fashion and founding social enterprise Little Yellow Bird
Samantha Jones is a social entrepreneur who founded B Corp certified Little Yellow Bird (https://www.littleyellowbird.co.nz/). It’s aim is to ethically make uniforms and other workwear while also considering the source of organic cotton, impact on the environment and the fair treatment of the workers involved. In this interview we talk with Samantha about her childhood, living in Russia, some initiatives she is involved in such as Campus and the origins of Little Yellow Bird.
Episode 44 – Michael Mayell on founding Cookie Time, the Power of Failure, and social enterprise Nutrient Rescue
Michael founded the iconic New Zealand brand Cookie Time more than 30 years ago. But that wasn’t his first business idea and the initial ones he had tried failed – but he kept trying. When you talk to Michael it is apparent that if the cookie idea hadn’t worked then he would have tried something else – that entrepreneurial spirit is still evident today with the launch of social enterprise Nutrient Rescue and other ventures we discuss in the interview. Michael’s focus has shifted greatly in the last few years and we discuss his continuing evolution and a wide variety of things that interest him – from tiny houses to electric cars and ‘Light’.
Episode 43 – Bonus episode: “Are there too many Charities in New Zealand?”
A bonus episode to celebrate getting to a total of 10,000 listens of the show and to say thanks to those who subscribe! This is a bit different as it is from the recent conference at Te Papa where I was able to help moderate a session on the topic “Are there too many Charities in New Zealand“
Episode 42 – Miranda Satterthwaite on Space, colonising Mars and promoting STEM for the next generation
Miranda is the STEM Coordinator at the Ara Institute of Canterbury. In this conversation we talk about Miranda’s background including her early years in the ski industry, involvement in space camps for youth, visiting NASA, the mission of Spacebase, the colonisation of Mars and the promotion of STEM for the next generation.
Episode 41 – David Carter on Technology, Canterbury Tech and his entrepreneurial journey
David is the Chair of Canterbury Tech and in this episode released during Techweek ’18 we talk about the origins of Canterbury Tech, what it is involved in and the future of technology for the next generation. We also discuss David’s childhood in South Africa, his different entrepreneurial ventures, what makes a good manager and how you hire to get the best people and culture fit.
Episode 40 – Stella Ward on the impact of Technology on Health Care
Stella is the Chief Digital Officer (and Acting Executive Director Allied Health) for the Canterbury DHB and West Coast DHB. In this interview we talk about Stella’s career and what she is involved in relating to technology and the health sector. What will a ward of the future look like? What will ‘big data’ mean for health care? We explore these and other questions in this interview.
Episode 39 – Peter Beggs on Antarctica
Peter was the Chief Executive of Antarctica New Zealand and in this interview we talk about his background as well as the history of explorers in Antarctica, the work being done supporting world leading science and environmental protection, keeping people safe on the ice, the role of technology now and in the future as well as the international significance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
Episode 38 – Professor Rob Lindeman on Technology, Virtual Reality and the HIT Lab NZ
Rob is a Professor and Research Leader at the HIT Lab NZ (Human Interface Technologies) at Canterbury University. In this interview we talk about Rob’s background and how he started researching virtual reality in the 1990s, the origins and key points in the history of virtual reality, how you have to start with the human problem faced before getting carried away with technology and what the future holds for augmented reality.
Episode 37 – Fiona Allan on Elite Sport, Paralympians and Inspiration
Fiona is the Chief Executive and Secretary General of Paralympics New Zealand. In this interview we talk about her childhood growing up in the UK, the role her parents played in her days as an elite athlete in Europe and how the transition to being involved in Paralympics happened. We also talk about the role of elite sport and in particular in the context of Paralympians, what it is that they inspire in those who get to know them and understand the work they put in, what she has learned from the athletes she has met and her most joyous moments in the job (such as calling the athlete to tell them they have been selected to represent New Zealand).
Episode 36 – Dr Peter Simpson on the Arts in New Zealand
Peter has written many books on New Zealand’s leading creative authors, writers, painters and musicians. His most recent recognition was the 2017 Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in honour of his non-fiction. In this interview we talk about his work as an editor, writer, critic, curator and former academic in New Zealand and Canada. We also talk about his memories of growing up just after World War II, the thriving literary scene in Christchurch between 1933 and 1953, his life as an academic as well as a period as a Member of Parliament for Lyttelton, his friendship and memories of the poet Allen Curnow, and what he likes about collecting books.
Episode 35 – Chris Simcock on Impact Investing … in NZ!
Chris is the Founder of Impact Ventures NZ which is a partner in the Impact Enterprise Fund which recently completed a first close having raised $8 million dollars for impact investing in New Zealand. In this interview we talk about his background and work as an investment banker before the decision to get into impact investing. We also discuss what impact investing actually is and what you look for when you go to invest such a fund which is commercially focused and wants market returns but also wants to have impact in other ways too. We also talk about developments in New Zealand in this sector such as the Social Enterprise World Forum in 2017, the role of Ākina and the network of impact investors that is developing as well as the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (Chris is a part of the first cohort).
Episode 34 – Nigel Cottle on Crave Cafe and the dangers of “success”
Nigel is a co-founder and Manager of social enterprise Crave Cafe in Morningside in Auckland. In this interview we talk about his childhood memories of the Solomon Islands, how he moved from the desire to make lots of money into setting up Crave, the challenges of operating a social enterprise (particularly in the hospitality industry), the dangers that can come with “success” and the transformation it is bringing to the suburb there and plans for the future.
Episode 33 – Dr Jarrod Gilbert on Gangs in New Zealand
Jarrod is a sociologist at the University of Canterbury and the author of “Patched:The History of Gangs in New Zealand” which was a finalist for best non-fiction book in the New Zealand Book Awards in 2013 (and is also the most stolen book in New Zealand). He recently co-edited “Criminal Justice: A New Zealand Introduction”. In this interview we discuss his life and what has led him to become an expert in this area as well as reflect on the role mentors have had in his life, the importance of cross discipline challenges and danger of silos, changing your mind in the light of better evidence and our shared memories of being involved together with the UCSA almost 20 years ago.
Episode 32 – Erica Austin-Knopp on being an Experience Curator
Erica is involved in a wide variety of different groups and organisations and we talk with her about all of them and her role as anExperience Curator, Photographer, Community Weaver, #ChChAmbassador and Social Intrapreneur (working with existing organisations to help them grow). The interview begins with her memories of coming from China to New Zealand as a child, studying architecture and then making the decision to move to Christchurch and help support and grow movements here.
Episode 31 – Michelle Sharp on Kilmarnock’s key learnings
Michelle is the Chief Executive Officer of Kilmarnock Enterprises which is a social enterprise established 60 years ago. I interviewed Michelle for the first episode of the podcast about her own story but in this follow up episode we focus more on Kilmarnock itself and the challenges it has faced in recent years as an organisation. In particular we talk about developing a great culture as well as how you raise funds when you are a social enterprise and do not fit traditional funding requirements. We also talk about the Social Enterprise World Forum, Impact Investing and the ability of one person with an organisation to leverage change.
Episode 30 – Camia Young on Architecture and Cultivating Community
Camia worked as an architect in Europe for many years before she made her home in Christchurch after the earthquakes. In this interview we talk about community building, the role of architecture in that and the key lessons learned on her journey. We also discuss the XCHC, transitional architecture with the pallet pavilion and her work now with Ohu (Office for Holistic Urbanism).
Episode 29 – Leighton Evans on the Rātā Foundation
Leighton is the Chief Executive of the Rātā Foundation which provides millions of dollars in grants to community groups and charities each year. In this interview we talk about his life and journey to taking on this role at the end of 2017. We also learn about his motivations, influences, mentors, the key experiences which have shaped him and the meaning of “True North”.
Episode 28 – Franca Buelow on the value of Collaboration across Disciplines
Franca is an Environmental Social Scientist with a curiosity about many things in the world so we discuss topics ranging from her childhood in Germany, her research on transnational sovereignty, climate change and love of poetry and the importance of engaging each other across disciplines to both challenge and innovate.
Episode 27 – Sam Broughton on Leadership and Legacy
Sam is mayor of the fast growing Selwyn District and is one of the youngest mayors in New Zealand. We talk about his childhood, the decision to pursue a political career and what he has learned on the journey. In particular, he reflects on the people who have played a role in his life and encouraged him and what sort of legacy he wants to leave behind. We also cover his involvement in other things such as 24/7 youth work and engaging with young people in Selwyn.
Episode 26 – Dorenda Britten on Design and Critical Thinking
Dorenda has studied and worked in Design for nearly all of her life and founded The Britten Institute. In this interview we discuss what application principles of design and design led strategy have in other areas (beyond those we would traditionally think about). We also learn about a life spent trying new things and pushing boundaries that included several years in Papua New Guinea and helping her younger brother John Britten with his work before his untimely death.
Episode 25 – Michael Trengrove on Code Club Aotearoa
Michael co-founded Code Club Aotearoa and in this interview we talk about the work that organisation is doing with primary aged school children to teach them how to code. We also talk about his background on rural farms in New Zealand and experience living for several years in the Amazonian jungle before he got into his career in IT. We also discuss his involvement in Canterbury Tech – and what it was like to introduce the Prime Minister of New Zealand at a conference.
Episode 24 – Amy Marsden on Whanau, Children and Te Mapua
Amy Marsden is a co-founder of Te Mapua which translates as “the precious children” and works to provide camps and other activities for kids in need. In this interview we talk about her early life and what influenced her to work full time with children. We also talk a lot about her Maori heritage and the impact that has had on her thinking and approach to the work she does now and in particular talk about the term ‘Whanau’ and what that means for the children and others that come across her path.
Episode 23 – Joanna Pidgeon on Women in the Law
Joanna is the President of the Auckland District Law Society. She is also the founder of Pidgeon Law in Auckland which is a boutique property and commercial law firm. She has been involved with a variety of not for profit and charity committees such as the Selwyn Foundation and Auckland City Mission and these are discussed in the interview. We also talk about growing up with a famous lawyer father, women in the law and the changing profession and what it has taken to succeed in career and integrating that with being a Mother.
Episode 22 – Jonathan Lee on Photography as Art
Jonathan Lee is a professional photographer who has traveled the world taking photos and through them telling amazing stories. In doing this he often supports social enterprises and other great causes. In this interview we talk about his early life in Hong Kong, immigrating to the United States as a child, what formed him and gave him a sense of direction, his involvement in the Beacon Food Forest, a community-driven food-producing garden and forest in the city, work in Nepal after the earthquakes and his views about photography as a form of art and what makes capturing moments in time through photos so special.
To learn more and see his photos visit https://subtledream.com/
Episode 21 – Ben Atkinson on finding your purpose and founding social enterprise ‘Fill Their Lunchbox’
Ben set up the social enterprise Fill Their Lunchbox and in this episode shares his journey. We learn about his childhood and hard times during high school, losing a friend during the Christchurch earthquakes and his resulting depression and how all these factors led to his being inspired to start Fill Their Lunchbox which not only feeds children who wouldn’t get a lunch otherwise but also works with people from Odyssey House (recovering from drug and alcohol addictions) preparing the lunches to help them find their purpose.
Episode 20 – Catherine Brown with a Funder’s perspective on social enterprises
Growing up in an international family that spanned the globe, working as a lawyer before starting to work for a variety of charities particularly in the health sector and then becoming the CEO of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation in Melbourne, Australia which the is the largest and oldest community foundation in Australia and funds many charities and social enterprises.
Episode 19 – Mark Prain on Sir Edmund Hillary
Traveling the country at 11 as a boy soprano, studying acting and working as a professional actor and then working internationally as an opera singer before becoming an activist with Greenpeace, working with Sustainable Cities and the “Redesigning Resources Business Leadership Group” then founding the Hillary Institute to honour those around the world doing great things in mid career and working with Sir Edmund Hillary on that. Mark Prain is the Founding Director of the Hillary Institute of Leadership.
Episode 18 – John Hammond on choosing life
On falling in love at first sight, the impact of a friend passing in your 20s, a lifelong love of skiing and travel, co-founding a marketing agency, deciding to retire but then getting a prognosis you never expected to receive and what you learn from that. John Hammond co-founded marketing agency Beck & Caul.
Episode 17 – Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom on Space
Growing up in the Philippines with dreams of Space and interplanetary travel, how a scholarship to the International Space University in France has led to a unique career as an international space consultant, co-authoring “Realizing Tomorrow: The Path to Private Spaceflight”, working as Chief Impact Officer at Singularity University and the study of how to leverage exponential technologies for global impact, becoming one of the first recipients of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and how that has enabled the newly created SpaceBase team to start leading the push for the democratisation of access to Space, from New Zealand. Emeline Paat-Dalstrom is a co-founder of SpaceBase and arrived in New Zealand in 2017 on a three year Global Impact Visa through the Edmund Hillary Fellowship.
Episode 16 – Martin Large on “Common Wealth”
Growing up on a Yorkshire Dales hill farm, living in South East Asia during the Vietnam War era, pursuing an academic career, founding the Hawthorn Press, developing ‘Stroud Common Wealth’ and establishing community land trusts and social businesses and what that term “Common Wealth” actually means. Martin is a former academic, business consultant, Quaker, publisher with Hawthorn Press, founder of the UK Biodynamic Land Trust and a director of Stroud (UK) Common Wealth Ltd which enables co-op, cultural and social businesses e.g. community land trusts. Author of Social Ecology (1981); Set Free Childhood (2002); Futures that Work (2003), Common Wealth (2010).
Stroud Common Wealth: http://www.stroudcommonwealth.org.uk/ Hawthorn Press: https://www.hawthornpress.com/
Land Trust NZ: http://www.thelandtrustnz.com/
Episode 15 – Peter Townsend on Business Leadership
Growing up in Rotorua, being involved in the fishing industry and co-founding the New Zealand Salmon Company in the mid 1980s, working as Chief Executive at the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce for more than 20 years and the leadership lessons learned over his career.
Episode 14 – Gary Shaw on having been an Anti Human Trafficker
Ambitions to be a superhero as a child and how that affected the decision to become a policeman and then work for many years as an anti-human trafficker, the highs and lows, including burn-out and depression and what you learn through that. Gary Shaw is now the Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Kathmandu.
Episode 13 – Elena Casolari on Impact Investing in Africa and India
Growing up in Italy, working as a researcher of economic models at the Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, joining the finance world as an investment banker before co-founding OPES Impact Fund which focuses on investing in early stage social enterprises in Africa and India. Elena Casolari is the Co-founder and Executive President of OPES Impact Fund and she is also a Board Member of Social Enterprise World Forum C.I.C. based in Glasgow.
Episode 12 – Dr James Austin on the Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School
Joining the Peace Corps in 1964, studying at Harvard Business School and then joining the faculty before being involved in co-founding the Social Enterprise Initiative there. Dr James Austin is Emeritus Professor at Harvard Business School in the Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus Co-Founder Social Enterprise Initiative Harvard Business School.
Episode 11 – David Harland on the Eden Project, education by stealth and plans for the red zone in Christchurch
What the Eden Project is, the concept of weaving together entertainment with education, operating as a global social enterprise with expanding operations in China, Australia, America and a proposal for the red zone in Christchurch. David Harland is the CEO of the Eden Project in England which has large biomes at the site in Cornwall in which there are a wide variety of plants from all over the world.
Episode 10 – Mark Ambundo with an African perspective on Western Culture and taking advantage of opportunities
Growing up in Kenya and what life is like in the city of Nairobi, what impresses about Western culture when viewed from an African perspective, how community is different, the opportunities people may take for granted here and what it means to find your purpose. Mark Ambundo has been in New Zealand for less than a year and in this conversation gives his unique perspective on what we probably take for granted. Mark is a pastor at Hope Presbyterian Church in Christchurch.
Episode 9 – Kit Hindin on Ministry of Awesome and the value of Slowing Down
On what makes coming home from overseas so special, working with entrepreneurs as ‘Start-Up Activator’ at Ministry of Awesome, the scary/exciting moment you decide to launch out on your own and finding joy and purpose by taking the time to slow down. At the time of this interview Kit Hindin was the Start-Up Activator at the Ministry of Awesome which was founded after the earthquakes to make things happen in Christchurch. They support early-stage entrepreneurs with ideas for projects, events, start-ups, social enterprises and more; to turn their ideas into reality.
Episode 8 – Daniel Flynn on Thankyou
Co-founding the Australian Social Enterprise Thankyou at 19, being transparent about the ups and downs of the journey, what keeps you going on an entrepreneurial marathon, the importance of purpose as your foundation and what the future holds. Daniel Flynn co-founded Thankyou, a social enterprise started in Australia which aims to end global poverty. I spoke to him during the Social Enterprise World Forum in Christchurch.For more on Thankyou visit https://thankyou.co/
Episode 7 – Bailey Peryman on Cultivate Christchurch
Building a network of urban farms as a social enterprise, their potential to help the young people involved find their purpose and the chance to participate in the next stage of Cultivate Christchurch through “Broccoli Bonds” with the ability to receive fresh veges if you invest. Bailey Peryman is the co-founder of Cultivate Christchurch, which is a social enterprise that inspires young people to live lives they value in an urban farm environment in Christchurch, New Zealand. For more visit: http://cultivate.org.nz/
Episode 6 – Dr John Vargo on Organisational Resilience
Working in Silicon Valley in the 1970s, what resilience is in an organisational context, how theory was turned into a living labratory when the earthquakes hit Christchurch and what organisations can do to improve their resilience before a crisis hits.Dr John Vargo is an Executive Director of Resilient Organisations Ltd based in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Episode 5 – Shanna on being 10
What it feels like to turn 10, what kids can teach adults and what they wish we knew, the keys to developing a growth mindset, some innovative transport ideas, how to reduce pollution and what it means to be a good friend.
Episode 4 – Lianne Dalziel on being the Mayor of Christchurch
A childhood without TV but plenty of imagination, becoming a Member of Parliament, how the earthquakes sparked the decision to become Mayor, the future for social enterprises and both the challenges and unique opportunities facing Christchurch today.
Episode 3 – Netta Egoz on Pechakucha and Social Enterprises
Talking about when a national identity forms if you are a child of immigrants, starting your first charity at 15, empowering others as a Social Enterprise lawyer in post Earthquake Christchurch and moving to Tokyo to help grow the Pechakucha movement worldwide.
“Just because you can’t do everything doesn’t mean you should do nothing.”
Episode 2 – Tim Jones on B Corps
We learn about what it takes to leave working in the corporate world behind, what B Corps actually are and the process to become one, what changes are needed to have more purpose driven people and societies and how medieval history fits in to all this.
Episode 1 – Michelle Sharp on Kilmarnock and Social Enterprises
Michelle has had a fascinating life – we learn about a childhood in Mexico, introducing the BlackBerry to Europe with Vodafone, being involved in IT startups in England and how all these unique experiences combined to provide a perfect background to working as the CEO at Kilmarnock Enterprises, a world leading example of a Social Enterprise based in Christchurch, New Zealand.