Origin Stories Robert Tighe

David Downs was recently appointed as the CEO at New Zealand Story Group, the the ambitious initiative to tell Aotearoa New Zealand's stories to the world. David has one of those CVs that makes you question your own life choices. He’s packed so much into a career that has included 13 years at Microsoft as Regional director for South East Asia and senior roles with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise specialising in technology and more recently agritech. 

He’s written and published four books, two on New Zealand innovation and innovators, one about his battle with cancer, and this year he published Silver Linings, a book about the positive stories to come out of the Covid-19 crisis. He’s an ex-comedian, TV and Radio actor and a popular MC and speaker.

In this episode David talks about...

— what he learned from his Irish parents;

— how he almost ended up becoming a priest as a teenager;

— escaping the clutches of the Catholic Church and discovering comedy and acting at university;

— becoming the first person in his family to attend university — graduating proved a bit trickier;

— his first big breakthrough and how it led to a job in TV;

— how the skills he learned as a comedian and actor translated to the corporate world;

— giving up comedy in exchange for a real job;

— why curiosity and innovation have been key motivators in his career;

— the five different careers he's had and why you should never be afraid to start again;

— his incredible cancer survival story;

— why he's so positive about NZ's ability to bounce back from Covid;

... and much more.

Zac is an award-winning business coach, consultant and strategist based in Auckland. In simple terms, Zac makes businesses better. His company Business Changing works with some of New Zealand’s leading companies and each year hundreds of owners, founders and senior managers attend Business Changing business planning & strategy workshops. Before he started Business Changing in 2011, Zac was the Managing Director of Barkers Menswear and before that he was the finance guy behind House of Travel and Flight Centre.

In this episode Zac talks about...

— the importance of managing your mental health as a business owner;

— why he reckons it will be 2024 or 2025 before we are anywhere near pre-Covid normal, whatever that will look like;

— the frustration for business owners who are not in control of their own destiny;

— how his personal life suffered as a result of prioritising business;

— how analysing his Dad's sales figures game him a great grounding in numbers;

— running his first business which was 100 percent pure profit;

— why he focuses on income not costs;

— Buying Barkers Menswear and how winning the All Blacks account was crucial in turning the business around;

— Why he left Barkers to go out on his own and set up Business Changing;

— how to grow and scale a business;

... and much more.

Maria Devereux is an Executive Creative Director with Colenso BDDO and a passionate member of the Mentally Healthy Change Group. She won six Cannes lions in her first six years as an Art Director with Colenso. Since then she has held creative leadership roles at TAXI Canada, Special Group and Y&R NZ. She's motivated by that perfect mix of innovation and optimism which leads to seemingly inevitable creative solutions. In 2019 Maria was named in Adweek’s Creative 100 and in 2020 she was awarded a Certificate of Excellence at Campaign Asia’s Women Leading Change Awards. 

In this episode Maria talks about...

— why understanding what makes people tick is the key to marketing;

— how she graduated from a graphic design role to creative leadership roles with some of the best agencies in the world;

— whether creativity is an innate skill or something that can taught and learned;

— being brave as a creative and why you're only as good as your last idea;

— her passion for bluegrass and cross-stitching and what hobbies have to do with the creative process;

— the importance of being provocative in order to stand out from the crowd;

— her husband's battle with mental health illness;

— why she's obsessed with bringing more empathy into the workplace;

— why it's okay to be yourself at work and live an authentic life in and out of work;

— how advertising can help change the world for the better;

— attracting more diversity into the advertising industry;

... and much more.

David Trubridge is one of the world’s preeminent designers and a recognised leader in environmentally responsible design. Countless influential international publications have featured Trubridge’s iconic work, which ultimately launched the 'raw sophistication' design trend. 

In 2008, the French magazine Express listed him as one of the top 15 designers in the world. He is the recipient of the 2005 Antarctica fellow and in 2007 he was given NZ’s highest design award, the John Britten Award, by the Designer’s Institute of NZ.

In this episode David talks about...

— making matchstick models growing up on the Isle of Wight;

— nature versus nurture;

— studying naval architecture and how it influenced his design philosophy;

— how a broken leg led to him taking up wood carving and designing furniture;

— Margaret Thatcher's role in his decision to leave the UK and sail to the other side of the world;

— how living in the Pacific Islands and learning about Polynesian culture changed his perspective;

— settling in New Zealand and the challenges of starting all over again;

— how designing and building his own house led to a second career as an architect;

— the role free-form experimentation played in his iconic lighting designs;

— why the lack of market research helped him come up with a design that no knew they wanted;

— his sobering opinion on climate change and why our relationship with the planet has gone so badly wrong;

— the problem with greenwashing and the changes he's made to run a more sustainable business;

— why taking risks and learning from failure are so important

... and much more.

Nick Roud runs Roud Career Coaching, an award-winning executive coaching business he started in 2016 after successful careers in accountancy, the events industry and his own recruitment business. 

In 2020, Nick was awarded Best Executive Coaching Consultancy at the Asia Pacific Business Awards. He works with CEOs, C-Suite Executives, Senior Leaders and Future Leaders and has coached over 700 leaders and professionals, including some of New Zealand's best-known business leaders.

In this episode Nick talks about...

—  being a proud Pom and falling in love with New Zealand;

— why he considers being diagnosed as dyslexic at the age of 8 a great gift;

— why numbers made sense to him and accountancy gave him such a good grounding in business;

— the importance of mentors including his father;

— the difference between coaching and mentoring;

— how his first rugby coach gave him one of his most valuable life lessons: to play what's in front of you;

— the knee injury that put paid to his promising rugby career;

— why senior executives need a coach and why Nick reckons he's got the best job in the world;

... and much more.

Sharn Piper describes his childhood as a mix of Once were Warriors and Gloriavale. Despite growing up surrounded by gangs, violence, drugs and alcohol, Sharn managed to avoid following in the footsteps of his father.

He left school at the age of 14, qualified as a builder, started his first company at 17 and grew it to over $20million dollars by the age of 20.
Then the Global Financial Crisis hit and Sharn had to start all over again. Today, he's the CEO of Attain, a Revenue Growth Agency, specialising in Sales and Marketing integration.

In this episode Sharn talks about...

—  the power of choices and the decisions we make;

— how his dysfunctional childhood forced him to grow up fast and fend for himself;

— lessons learned as a teenage labourer on the building sites;

— coping with depression, pride and ego to rebuild his life and career from the ruins of the GFC;

— how selling fire extinguishers helped him find his spark again;

— why he's so passionate about sales and helping other businesses achieve their targets;

... and much more.