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In this interview, I talk with Dan Mikkelsen, the founder of Bicycle JunctionDan worked as an apprentice chef in Copenhagen during the late ’90s. It was in this city he discovered a love for messenger biking and the cargo bike. After returning home and working in the industry as a chef, Dan was faced with a new problem to solve. How to ride his bike and transport his newborn child at the same time. Dan reached out to Christiania Bikes, a firm in Denmark, to see if he could buy a bike and have it delivered to Wellington, New Zealand. They said, Yes, you can buy a bike, but, you have to buy four! And so, Bicycle Junction was born.Bicycle Junction is more than just a shop. It’s a community centred around helping people to ride bikes. Dan has combined his enthusiasm for bikes and his experience as a chef to create a bikery. What’s a bikery? I hear you say. Why it’s a place to hang out with like-minded souls, breathe bike, talk bike, eat and be merry.Q1 WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?I've always had a passion for carrying things by bike. I lived in Copenhagen from 1998–2002, working as a bike messenger and loved all the cargo bikes. I had an old original 80-year-old cargo bike frame that I restored. I also owned an old Thai rickshaw. Every time I rode it, people wanted to hire me. It ended up being a small side hustle.When I started the original business 11 years ago, the vision was ‘how can I buy a cargo bike to carry my firstborn child?’ I would carry him in a sling on my fixie, but it became more uncomfortable as he grew.I called up the only company I knew in Denmark, Christiania Bikes and asked if they could deliver a cargo bike to New Zealand. They said yes, but, you have to buy four due to the way the bikes were packed for shipping. So, I had to sell three bikes and ended up selling four. That meant I had to order two pallets, leaving me with three more bikes to sell. I set up a website and started selling cargo bikes online. More people bought the bikes, I ordered more and storage become an issue. As things grew, I rented a garage, then while looking for a small warehouse I found a retail space in Newtown. Three weeks later I had a bike shop!The vision for the shop is wanting to help more people be engaged in riding bikes. My realisation here was if I wanted to help more people ride bikes, I shouldn’t appeal to those who already ride bikes.I had always admired businesses that did more than one thing. But all parts need to be integrated and executed well. The idea of a café and bike shop has always appealed to me. I previously worked in the hospitality industry as a chef. And I had been talking about it with my bike shop friends for some time. When the opportunity to take on the retail space came up I thought I had better also sell coffee as I’ve been talking about it for so long. The location was great, right next to Wellington Hospital.The move wasn’t entirely impulsive. As my vision was to help more people ride bikes. The coffee provided a reason for people to come into the store and be comfortable without feeling that they need to buy a bike. It’s a nice Segway into a conversation about bikes. Not that I was trying to convert every customer into a cyclist. But as they become regulars it builds community.People can be daunted by sportbike shops. They are full of lycra, fancy glasses and the salesperson speaks a lot of technical jargon. It's not a welcoming space. So we sell bikes to people who don't currently ride or who wouldn’t think of themselves as a cyclist. We talk about cyclists and cycling. Cycling is a sport. A cyclist partakes in the sport of cycling. But, if you ride a bike for transport, you’re just a person who rides a bike to get from A to B. It doesn’t identify you, it's just what you do.The shop is all about creating a welcoming and comfortable space. A place where people want to linger. I think back to living in Copenhagen. Every morning people head to the bakery. The baker knows them by name and neighbours chat while queueing. That’s the feeling I look to foster with Bicycle Junction. We know our customers by name and our customers know each other. Bicycle Junction has a little community surrounding it.Q2 HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?I started the business with my last paycheque. Everything was new to me. Although I knew a lot about bikes, I had never worked in retail or a bike shop before. There were loads that I needed to learn. When there’s a lot of financial backing available, there’s plenty of room to make big mistakes. And I made some mistakes at the start. But they were quite measured by the nature of not having much money. As you grow, you learn. If you learn on a small scale for what those mistakes are, when you graduate to a bigger scale, you’re less likely to fall into those traps. I’d say I’ve been quite lucky, as there was plenty of opportunities to make big mistakes if I had more financial backing. An open slate can make it hard to be creative without the constraints to problem solve.Q3 WAS THERE A TIME YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?Absolutely. There’s been plenty of tough times. When I started the store in Newtown, on that first day, I only had three bikes on the floor. Two of which were my own! The constant growing pains of cash flow has been quite stressful at times. Particularly after moving the shop into Wellington’s city centre. We were always modest during the Newtown days. Growing well, but keeping it in check. Moving into town was a big leap for us. Especially with a costly shop refit. Moving a business is similar to starting all over again. We did keep a lot of our Newtown regulars. There were times that I questioned the move.But, in those dark times, I realise there's only one way out. And that’s forward. There’s a phrase my head chef used when I was an apprentice, “Full speed over thin ice”. You don’t look down, you just know what needs to be done and keep moving. Cheffing prepared me for pressure, stress and long hours. At home we laugh about buying our first house, having three kids and starting two businesses all at the same time! Sometimes I wonder, “What were we thinking!” Luckily we’re both passionate about our work. Sometimes I briefly think about giving up. But, it only takes seeing a family out on one of our bikes to remind me of why I started Bicycle Junction in the first place.Q4 WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?I’m wary that manufacturers are eager for their distributers to buy many bikes, making it easy to over-commit. And bike shops need stock on the floor. As a relatively low margin retail business, I try not to overextend my cash flow. Electric bikes in particular are high cost and low margin.One trap I haven’t fallen into is playing the price game. There’s no way Bicycle Junction can compete on price alone against nationwide stores. So we don’t. We have a different style of service. Providing a higher quality of service as a point of difference. We’ve built up a good base of loyal customers. We’re not the cheapest and that's okay. What you pay at our store ensures the bike that you buy is going to last, servicing will be carried out correctly, fair wages for our staff. You’re also supporting events for Wellington’s greater cycling community.Q5 WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?Seeing families on their bikes. I feel enormous pride that Bicycle Junction has played a part in growing cargo biking in New Zealand. They are particularly popular in Wellington.I feel that they are such a good thing for children and families. Of course, there’s the should reasons, such as good for the environment. But generally, cargo bikes are great for having a good time. My family went without a car completely for a while. We do have a vehicle now, but the kids all much prefer taking the bike. I hear that it’s the same for every cargo bike family. That to me means our kids are growing up favouring a different form of transport and realising that car ownership is just one option.Our customers tell us that electric bikes, in general, become the easiest way to get around. Even in the rain, people will jump on their electric bike instead of taking the car. That’s because it’s still easier than finding a car park.Q6 CAN YOU DESCRIBE A BREAKTHROUGH THAT YOU'RE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF?People in Wellington now know what a cargo bike is. Children can now point them out to their parents. The first few days after getting our new bike, a photo was taken of us, with our kids in the front, and posted to a website called weird in Wellington. There were comments made such as, “is it a wheelbarrow?”, “Did you make it from a shopping trolly?”. People just really had no idea what it was.It’s gratifying that there’s public knowledge about them now. That's a particularly important breakthrough. It means they have entered the mainstream consciousness. And cargo bikes are not just a novelty for an eccentric family. They’re not just for mad cyclists and eco-warriors. Cargo bikes are a real and attractive transport option for the regular family.Q7 WHAT DO YOU SEE AS BEING YOUR BIGGEST LESSON?Running Bicycle Junction is different from being a chef. I was always working to immovable deadlines. In a restaurant, you can’t go out to a table and say “Sorry your dinner is going to be a few more hours and it will cost an extra $50.” That’s how tradesmen work 😉. You just need to learn how to make those immovable deadlines work. And when you get to the deadline, you’re done. You savour the moment, feel the afterglow and prepare to start all over again.Working on Bicycle Junction, there is never an end. Yes, there can be some projects that start and finish. But generally, I’m not accustomed to the constant nature of being a business owner. I’ve found the lack of completion, relax and back to work cycle quite difficult. And having three kids at home means you can’t finish work and zone out. There’s always something to do.I’ve just had to acknowledge that I can't work eighteen hours a day for nine years straight. Fortunately, the business is at a point where I've eased up on my hours. Two years ago I would work seven days a

Find more interviews like this one at the Wellington Hustle Interview Project. Listen to the interview on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher Radio | Spotify | Google

Find more interviews like this one at the Wellington Hustle Interview Project.Listen to the interview on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher Radio | Spotify | GoogleThis month I’m joined by Jennifer Young.Jen describes herself as a recovered-admitted-lawyer-turned-Workplace-Wellbeing-Specialist, Life & Resilience Coach, Facilitator, Mental Health Advocate, Youth Leadership Development Advisor and Writer.After university, Jennifer moved to Wellington and took up a role in Leadership Development.During this time, she struggled with the transition from study to work. This was compounded by the fact that her initial workplace had a bullying environment. Over time Jen vowed that she never wanted another person to have this same experience and Intentional Generations was created. Now, let’s listen to this interview with Jennifer Young…Q1 WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?To be a judge and make decisions to help the lives of others. Although, that would be many decades in the future.At the start of my career, I found myself in such a toxic work environment. I developed anxiety and depression. I had to quickly learn to manage my mental wellbeing. Specifically prioritising my mental health.The idea for JenY Insites (now Intentional Generations), was influenced by my first working experience. The reality was so different from what I had imagined work-life to be. I was shocked. I never wanted another person to experience that kind of treatment. This influenced my passion to make changes in organisations. Helping others develop the confidence to bring about the understanding of wellbeing and mental health. I value variety and freedom. Being able to help a range of organisations from corporates, government to schools is important to me. Impacting people, helping them develop skills to navigate life's challenges.I unintentionally started in 2017 with my blog, JenY Insights. I shared tools, resources and what I’d learnt over the years working in Leadership Development. The vision was to take the training for senior leaders and make it accessible to those less privileged. I also shared my own experience as I trained myself. After moving from consulting to a corporate learning and development role, I noticed my anxiety starting to return. Part of it may have been the environment, but I had a voice inside telling me to get out. I couldn't ignore it anymore. I had to take my own advice and access my greatest growth by stepping out of my comfort zone.To form a new habit you need to do something for at least forty days before it becomes automatic. So, I challenged myself to a ’Forty days of Facing Fear’ practice. I was scared of rejection, failing and even succeeding. So I did one thing that scared me every day for forty days. It forced me out of my comfort zone, growing my confidence exponentially. Next, I travelled to Italy and taught English for three months. On returning, I knew that I wanted to help people every day for the rest of my life. Everybody gets a sense of looking up to people who seem to be doing great things. Think of an amazing person riding a lion. Those watching are in awe. That person seems so crazy and adventurous. The reality is that person is thinking “Holy shit, how do I get off, I’m going to be eaten alive!!!” That's very much what it is like to be an entrepreneur. I can't take credit for that metaphor. It came from a mentor, Toby Thomas.Q2 HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?I have a lovely network of friends, called Founders Supporting Founders. We discuss life beyond social media. setbacks and challenges. I committed to being really honest about my challenges publicly. For the first year and a half, I earned very little. I was giving a lot of my time away fro free. I didn't know how to charge. I had no experience in running a business. I was wearing twenty different hats. CMO, COO, CEO, sales, networking and delivery.I would get offers to speak at many events, but most would expect me to present for free. Just because I was new. That was an exhausting setback. Nine months in, I was burning the candle at both ends while reminding myself to take care of my wellbeing. It was difficult. People don’t talk about how hard starting a business can be. Especially when you don’t have the luxury to hire help.Working out my worth, another comfort zone challenge for me. Up until this point nobody had openly talked with me about how to charge for my service. I started by talking to people more experienced in their coaching / public speaking journey. It taught me what was or wasn’t normal to charge. The best bit of advice I received was to charge for your worth. Even if it’s uncomfortable. It’s not just the hour I spend with a client. It’s the preparation beforehand and don’t forget all that training and previous experience. I also learnt, that in a corporate market, if I didn’t charge enough, I wouldn’t be taken seriously and I’d lose the contract.I have to be assertive and clear on my worth. Time and energy are incredibly precious resources. There are only so many hours in a day. I can't be everywhere providing my service for free. I’ve learnt to be a lot more discerning.Q3 WAS THERE A TIME YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?Yes! Two or three times over the last three years. Giving up, or at least taking a break. Finding a job, having a steady paycheque with training, holiday and sick pay.In reality, I may have had challenging days, but on reflection, it's very clear that I don't want to work in a full-time office environment.In those challenging times, I’ve learnt to ask my network for help. It’s surprised me how generous my community is when I share with vulnerability and openness. So grateful for those in my network. Many have become amazing friends. I’ve learned to step back, reassess the situation, then make decisions that align with my values.COVID has been challenging for my business sense. Many people said that they wanted my services, but didn't have the budget. During the New Zealand initial lockdown, I gave away my services at reduced rates or for free. Not sustainable from a business perspective. Thankfully the last two months have massive. I'm booked out until January 2021.COVID tested my confidence and commitment. Even though I'm supporting hundreds of people, I still need support as well. Luckily, Wellington is the most incredible community. Particularly over the last year, I learnt that even though I work within wellbeing, understanding all the resources available, I can still struggle. I’ve doubled down on being more compassionate to myself. Just because I work in wellbeing, doesn’t mean I have to be perfect.Q4 WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?I’ve never shared this before. One trap I’ve learnt to navigate learning to see people’s intentions for meeting with me. Some were professional, others would be asking for my WhatsApp number or to take me out for coffee!Being a young female, using social media to authentically share my journey publicly, I have to be careful who I agree to meet. I’ve unfortunately had a few meetings with potential clients where I ended up with a dating proposition instead. The way I dress or how friendly I appear could potentially send the wrong message. I’m strict about only meeting new people in a public setting. Sadly, this is still a thing.Possibly it's because of my caring nature. Maybe it’s from my counselling training and listening skills. Some people may not have experienced this kind of attention. Q5 WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?This podcast gives a great insight into creating a new venture. It’s not all lollipops and rainbows.Being aware of just how privileged I am. My older brother, Alex, passed away from cancer when I was eight years old. He was my best friend. This keeps me grounded. I often give back to communities that support disable kids or those struggling with cancer.My mum. She’s one of the most resilient people that I know. She’s lost a child and last year she beat cancer. That was really hard to go through as a family. Past experiences. The ones I would hate others to experience. They inspire me to do my work. Training people to be more resilient and navigate life’s challenges.Q6 CAN YOU DESCRIBE A BREAKTHROUGH THAT YOU'RE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF?Completing my forty days of fear challenge. Working out what I wanted from life and taking a stand for it.During the first year, I treated my work as an experiment. The idea of running a business terrified me. I was only 25! Getting that affirmation that my ‘project’ was working was a huge breakthrough, boosting my confidence. Knowing that one insight I share may not just change someone's mind, but in fact, change their life.One lady came up to me after an event and said, “I’ve been to most of your events over the last year. There was one event I didn’t feel like attending. I was feeling suicidal, but I went. You shared how you’re guided by getting up, dressing up and showing up every single day. No matter what. No matter how small. Even if it's just getting up, having a shower and going for a walk to the letterbox and back. You stopped me from taking my life that day.” Now that was an ‘oh shit’ breakthrough. Realising what I do is way bigger than me just saying some inspirational stuff. When I started being vulnerable about my struggles with mental health, everything shifted. It removed the perception that I was perfect and helped people relate.Q7 WHAT DO YOU SEE AS BEING YOUR BIGGEST LESSON?Discovering my vision and what I wanted to do with life. I would rather spend sixty hours per week building my dream than somebody else’s who’s values done align with mine.During my first career consulting, I was chatting with a senior leader who told me, “Don’t waste your life, figure out what cause and impact that sets your heart alight. You don’t want to get to my age and find that you’re in a job you hate. I’m overweight, my wife is divorcing me, my kids can’t stand me, I have a huge mortgage and I’m totally stuck.” He looked close to tears. That image is still with me. Spending time reflecting, practising mindfulness, yoga, dance, whatever helps you get to

Find more interviews like this one at the Wellington Hustle Interview Project. Listen to the interview on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher Radio | Spotify | Google Meet James Bennie... CONNECT WITH JAMES If you have enjoyed this article and want to start a conversation with James, you can reach out on: Websites: WellingtonNZFacebook: RAW MentorLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/james-bennie-79850831/Instagram: @raw_mentor Please don’t forget to tell James that I sent you. Interview and photography by Wellington Headshot Photographer, Tim Morrison (all rights reserved)

Find more interviews like this one at the Wellington Hustle Interview Project.Listen to the interview on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher Radio | Spotify | GoogleMeet Melissa Gollan...Mel is the sole founder of the world disrupting FinTech Startup, RIP Global. During her past career in sales, Mel learned to loathe expenses. Keeping track, sorting, submitting and looking for missing receipts turned into the pain point that made her think, ‘there must be a better way?’ RIP Global is a contactless payment and expensing system, boasting 100% compliance while enabling customers to never handle receipts again.Mel has successfully raised several rounds of funding from investors in New Zealand and the United States. She has big goals to take RIP Global world wide. Her US venture capital investors are certainly a great indication of RIP Global’s potential and Mel’s largest customer to date just happens to be the New Zealand Government.Q1 WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?My vision was to save people from the boring tasks of processing and tracking receipts. RIP Global is about connecting the payment with the purchase data in a way that has the customer doing absolutely nothing. This is how I want to do it.Every expensing solution in the world has a 50% fail rate. Relying on users to photograph and upload receipts. Nobody wants to do that, so don’t. That’s what we’re saying.  Those who use accounting systems such as Xero, MYOB etc, we can import their different account/expense codes automatically.Some people don't want to code or comment on their expenses, and they don't have to. But we do offer the opportunity to pre-code and justify each of their purchases.A smartphone app is used for a client to log expenses and add instructions or comments about their purchase. Then a dynamically created QR code is displayed and then scanned at the til. It's a little like using a loyalty card. Once scanned and payment has been made the client can just walk away. Their expense report is pre-populated with all the receipt data, the code and the justification. So we're offering 100% compliance and clients never have to touch a receipt again.It saves phone calls between people and their accounts office. No more missing receipts at the end of the month.This is very useful for those people passing on expenses to their clients or contractors. Disbursement invoices for these expenses can be created and sent automatically. This can save a lot of time. Plus, with 100% transparency, this makes their clients feel good.I’ve been working on RIP Global for nine years now. From the idea phase, being up to my eyebrows in receipts, developing the process, protecting our intellectual property. We’re committed to building a massive financial technology company out of New Zealand.Patents and IP are critical to us. We have a great relationship with Jameson Wells, a boutique intellectual property law firm. They are especially good at protecting property. You can’t get software patents. But the process behind the software can be patented. The process behind RIP Global has been patented in the US. This has been critical for raising capital.In the beginning, I had a Sales and Marketing consultancy while developing RIP Global. With that and some contracting work for Plunket,  I didn't draw a salary from the business for the first five years. Then, after moving to Wellington, I started to pay myself enough of a salary to support myself and my two young boys. Q2 HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?When you do anything new, you're going to get setbacks. So don't sweat it, there's always a workaround. In the beginning, I was a little naive. I took what I thought was obviously a banking tool to a couple of the banks and got the runaround. I’m still waiting for a Head of Innovation from one bank to call me back from four and a half years ago.Banks have long deal cycles. When you're a startup, you have limited time, money and resources. You can't be flying around to have 50,000 coffee meetings. You need results and signed commitments. We were supposed to pilot our technology with a bank. But, the deal ended up being blocked. This had me wonder how I going to continue without a big client. I knew that we were building something huge. I just had to carry on, one step at a time.Ultimately your customers are who matter. If you built a great product, present it well, you’ll get the customers. All those other people become irrelevant. We are building a globally scalable technology company and we want big customers. The reality is that New Zealand is a tiny little country. We have small businesses compared to the US, UK or Asian markets. The New Zealand government, as a business, would be our biggest, most internationally respected and the best local customer for RIP Global. An obvious choice that would see us scale fast globally.Everybody told me I was crazy. So I ran a second sales strategy, targeting Small Medium Enterprises also.We've built the best product in the world. Nothing beats us in terms of efficiency and fraud elimination. As passionate New Zealander, I want our government to be using the best tools. Our development team is based in New Zealand. All of our profits benefit New Zealand. We do have a couple of global shareholders, but we are a 75% Māori owned business. What we're doing is groundbreaking. The broader benefits to New Zealand long-term are going to be enormous. The government has a responsibility to be considering us during their procurement activities. The complexity of exports from New Zealand is on par with third world countries. We've really got to pull our finger out on that. Technology is complex and high value. It has high-value employees paying tax and spending in our community. It's time for the rubber to hit the road. Raising money as a New Zealand based technology company is hard work. The best place to start is with the people that love you. Friends, family, those who understand the problem being solved. As we've got traction and grown, we've been able to approach bigger investors. Recently we just received a follow on investment. We raised $5 million ($3 million pre-revenue), out of the United States. That's really important for us. With the level of support we receive from Callaghan Innovation and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise our American investors are seeing that our government and agencies are right behind us. It shows that New Zealand is a good place to invest. We build technology at a third of the cost compared to the US. so not only are we doing something in terms of yet, we're building great tech that we're going to export, but we're also facilitating and bringing the attention of American investment into, and to New Zealand technology.The New Zealand tech scene, we're very kiwish, apologetic when talking about money and don't want to overvalue something. But the reality is you want to raise your money to the highest valuation you can. You do have to justify it to retain equity in the business as a founder. But if you don’t put a global valuation on it, you won't be taken seriously. There's a lot of misinformation guiding young New Zealand tech startups suggesting to value yourself at $1 or $2 million. Why should you? If your addressable market is massive and your product is globally scalable, then raise money at valuations similar to the United States. Do your homework, own it and have the confidence to demand that valuation level.There's a science and art to figuring out your valuation level. We have an expensing app, so we looked at all of the other expensing apps around the world. How much did they raise? What’re their valuations? What's their market share? Then you take stock of your intellectual property. This increases the value of your company. How much market do you think you’ll capture? What’s your revenue projections and then do a multiple of that. Then there's finding the right investors. The ones who believe in and will back you.  I'm the sole founder. 72% of female founders globally get venture capitalists investment. They oftentimes return a 75% better result than the boys. My goal is to inspire other women founders to be aggressive, go out there and really own this space.Q3 WAS THERE A TIME YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?Honestly, I’ve never wanted to give up.One of my advisors once shared, the thing keeping him awake night was worrying about having to get ‘a real job’. As a founder, you don’t always sleep very well. You do every job and you’re responsible for all the people working for you. There’s a huge amount of pressure. But I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’m purpose-built for this business.Q4 WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?No, I’m old, so that helps. But I would say there's a lot of traps. Taking advice. Everyone has an opinion. But, nobody knows your business better than you. Don't forget that. Do what you think is right and back yourself to avoid traps such as under evaluations or people looking to take advantage for themselves.Q5 WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?This product, RIP Global, and not wanting to touch another receipt again.I’m super passionate about growing New Zealand’s technology space, role modelling for young women and encouraging Māori engagement in technology as a career choice. I won the MWDI Māori Business Woman Award for Innovation in 2019. I'm really proud that I'm of Māori descent. I come from a family where my mother left school at 13. She didn't own her first pair of shoes until she was 10. I have a framed photo of five generations of women from my family. All these women have working hands. I’m the first generation of women who doesn’t. That’s super motivating. I'm here to shift the needle.I’m particularly interested in young women in technology. When I looked to hire my developers, I found lots of boys, but no women. I’ve decided to actively promote technology. I’m running a career conference for young women between the ages of 12 and 18 at Scott's College this December (2020). There will be Māori women working in technology from all over New Zealand speaking. I want to show o

Find more interviews like this one at the Wellington Hustle Interview Project.Listen to the interview on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher Radio | Spotify | GoogleMeet Lotty Roberts...Through her business, ‘Mind U’, Lotty helps both companies and individuals use mindfulness to navigate change.She also hosts The Vulnerability Effect podcast. Interviewing people, sharing their stories of vulnerability with the purpose of showing how vulnerability can be a point of strength and connection.Lotty is originally from Suffolk in the UK, but after 16 years, now calls Wellington home. Her past career focused on implementing transformation and leadership in the corporate world.In 2018 Lotty endured a spell of burn out, took some time off to think and ‘Mind U’ was created.Oh, yes, Lotty has also worked her way through the challenge of recovering from a double hip replacement.Q1 WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?My business is called MiND U. I left my previous job, taking time to think about what I wanted to do next. I knew it would be connected to mindfulness as I was training as a mindfulness-based stress reduction teacher. In my past career I was really passionate about change and facilitation. I loved being a catalyst for positive change and transformation in others. But I didn't know what that would look like. I certainly hadn't thought I would start my own business. I did what was very unusual for Lotty. I just slowed down and did nothing to see what would pop up. I was in Bali at the time, and decided to start my own company. I updated my LinkedIn profile and straight away somebody approached me to talk at an event with their senior leaders. I agreed and they said, “it's in nine days time”. That’s how I started.I’ve learnt a lot about leadership and change. I have also made a lot of mistakes. This has shown me how I can be of service to people independently, rather than working as part of an organisation. Normally I'm a real planner. A lot of my career was focused on vision, being intentional and putting it into words and goals. Instead, I did something that was quite counterintuitive. I decided to just dabble for a while. I was fortunate enough that we could survive on my husband's salary. So, I had the freedom to discover what I wanted to do with my business. I knew I wanted to help people navigate change. What evolved is how I help people with their self-reflection and mindfulness. Guiding them to be more present in their life.I like to say, “Mindfulness and change go together like cheese and crackers”. Change done well is Mindfulness in action. This stood out to me as being a little different, but really useful to help people and organisations land change better.Everything I do has different aspects. I do a lot of work around emotional culture, independent mindfulness work, coaching, change and mindful leadership courses. Although these seem quite different, they all achieve the same thing. To help people navigate change. Change is the one thing you can't stop, it happens all the time.A beautiful quote I love by Jon Kabat-Zinn, “You can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf”. I like to think that I'm helping others learn to surf those waves of change. Sometimes they might be doing crazy, awesome flips. Sometimes surfing those waves of change is just literally clinging to the board. It's not about everything being fluffy. How can you stay on the board through the bad? It doesn't need to be pretty. It's just about survival. So, whether it’s helping people to perform their best or navigating adversity, that's my purpose and how I’m of service.Q2 HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?I've been really, really fortunate, I don't think I've had any major setbacks, but perhaps it’s a matter of perception. Starting your own business is a journey of discovery. What I've learned is it’s normal to feel a bit bipolar. Some days are awesome; clients book in, you meet some amazing, inspiring people or you create something from scratch and feel so proud. There's nothing like those days, they are amazing. And then you have days where you feel like no-one is interested, you feel a sense of lack, feeling not feeling good enough (that old Chestnut!) and that it is all so tiring. All you see is other people doing really well and you don’t feel you are doing as well as them.What has been really useful for me is being really aware of what’s going on as it arises. I notice, “There’s that self doubt again” or “Oh, there's that judgment”. Whether it be judgment of myself or judgment of other people. I've learned I'm somebody who's always had quite high expectations for myself and others and expectations are disappointments waiting to happen. So when I really started to become aware that when there are setbacks, it's not going to last. I notice the thoughts are coming up from that setback. I try to be with them and ride it out. I’ve done a lot of work on myself to not beat myself up.I got to a point where I was burned out in my career because I was too much of a try-hard, always trying to be perfect, driven by the ego. That was when I started my business. I have had setbacks like a double hip replacement and divorces but they all ended up being points of growth for me. This is why I'm really passionate about the subject of vulnerability, being with the emotions and thoughts and seeing what you can learn. So the other thing that I do on the side (I’ve got lots of side hustles for the Wellington hustlers!), is run a little podcast called the Vulnerability Effect. It has been running for about 18 months now. I interview people around their stories of vulnerability and what they think about it, with the purpose of seeing vulnerability as a point of strength and connection. When we don't face our vulnerability, it can really compromise our mental health.A few years ago I would have in no way liked to be seen as vulnerable. I was asked to speak at a mindful leaders conference and to share my story. I realised I can't stand up on that stage and talk about my journey without sharing the mistakes I've made. Until then I'd always wanted to show up as shiny and awesome. I knew I had to be real, honest and true to myself. I had been in leadership a long time, but I don't think I was always a great leader. I pushed other people as hard as I pushed myself and I broke, so I could've have nearly broken them. I possibly wasn't the best listener. I wasn't sometimes the most present. I shared all these things on that stage. I felt physically sick when I walked off. I thought people were going to think I'm so naff now, but the opposite happened. People thanked me for my authenticity… “Thank you for being honest, because what you were saying is what we feel inside, but we're too scared to say”. That experience and Brené Brown work inspired me to do a little event, which was called the “Vulnerability Project”. We got some people to share their stories of vulnerably. It was a sellout, people loved it and they wanted more, which is why I ended up doing the podcast.Q3 WAS THERE A TIME YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?I've had some real low points. Nine and a half years ago I had chronic pain from an autoimmune condition, psoriatic arthritis. I was injured, my pelvis was inflamed and arthritic, it felt at time like my body was rotting. I was told I wouldn't be able to run and they had no idea how long for. I had two children and my second child was only five months old. I was completely burned out and I started suffering from postnatal anxiety and depression. Until then what had served me up to then was always being busy, I could never sit still. I saw a counsellor who asked me to consider mindfulness. I asked, “what's that?”. She described it to me but I didn’t get it. I went home and researched the word mindfulness. I thought it was really weird. I'm still wasn’t getting what this mindfulness thing was, being present, accepting what is without judgment and all that.I happened to be sitting in a waiting room for an appointment and saw a flyer on a wall advertising an eight-week mindfulness course. I signed up immediately, being a good student as I am. What really got me to that point was, I was driving in the car, feeling totally burned out, physically exhausted, in pain - such mental anguish. I had always seen myself as a very resilient, strong person, but all of my go-to’s weren’t working. I was searching for something that would make me feel better. I didn't want to take antidepressants. I've got nothing against them, but I just didn't want to do that. I had to stop the car in a lay-by and I cried. I had two children in the back. My three year old was asking me what was wrong. I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I'd been sucker-punched with a bowling ball in my stomach. I knew the way I was living and my life wasn’t working. I needed to do something different. That would have been my lowest point. Not my double hip replacement because of the mindfulness practice which has helped me. Through mindfulness and a lot of work on my general health, I’m in a good space now.I've had little wobbles in my career where I wonder if I’m doing the right thing, when it seems like so much effort. What I've realised, it's just your mind, your thoughts and your feelings. Sometimes you're going to have funky days and they pass because. Nothing ever feels as low as it probably would have done in the past with mindfulness.Q4 WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?The trap I have to be really aware of is comparison. I have a saying, “Comparisons is the thief of joy”. It's not my saying I stole it from someone else. Every time you compare yourself to other people and what they're doing, you’re not really celebrating what you have to offer and it's not helpful. I’m really aware of that comparison habit now and dampening down the ego. My ego got me into a position in my career where I had climbed the ladder and where people would have seen me as being successful, but I didn't feel successful. I took jobs I didn’t think I would like, because it was a really good position.The traps that are always there in the corner for me are comparison, ego and being hard on myself. I always

Find more interviews like this one at the Wellington Hustle Interview Project.Listen to the interview on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher Radio | Spotify | GoogleMeet Joel Bouzaid...Joel is a facilitator of growth and student of hard conversations. He helps people see their possibility, remove their limiting beliefs and guides them to become empowered, confident leaders.Joel started his career as an International Operations Manager for Full On in Italy. Next, he Co-Founded a Health Facility with his brother. Now Joel is a keynote speaker and coaches culture development and leadership for large organisations across New Zealand.Q1 WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?My vision has always been clear. Whatever mode I'm in, leading a class, keynote speaking or one-on-one coaching, I’m there to create a sense of possibility and a guide to remove limiting beliefs. That's always been the vision. It's vague, but that’s okay, as long as it's exciting.I teach leadership. Over time, I’ve found that the most important work for leaders, before they start leading others, is to learn to lead themselves. Some people are into that. Others want to jump straight to building trust and performance in their teams.What’s become particularly evident when dealing with a mix of leadership perspectives, is understanding the environment. So when I go into a business, I’ll help a small team distil their culture. Clarifying how their business chooses to execute and perform at its best. Once team members are crystal clear with a sense of identity, they then have an actual shot of fully expressing their leadership.But until then, people operate by walking on eggshells, trying to lead, but not trusting colleagues to have their backs. They’ll always be holding back. To create possibility, I really want people to show up and give it their everything. Then they're actually associate being at work with a sense of positivity. They know work is psychologically safe, they're accepted and included, and it’s encouraged for them to lead fully.The main leadership issue is uncovering what prevents a person from being able to fully express themselves. Often people are stopped by difficult conversations. My aim is to create ways to approach those difficulties. Ultimately gaining clarity and possibility for those conversations to happen. Establishing what can we achieve together. Working together to figure out the next few steps, so you can achieve your goals. This is an engaging, vulnerable, open, honest and candid conversation.Mostly I train small teams, but I also love jumping on stage to work with hundreds of people.Coaching one-on-one is limited in terms of my impact in the world. Although, it is effective at testing ideas, asking questions and quickly receiving feedback. It helps me gain an intimate understanding of what drives ambitious team leaders.Q2 HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?I worked with my brother, which was immensely rewarding. But switching back and forth between family and professional relationships was challenging. It wasn't a setback. It was a growth opportunity for me. At times, it felt like we weren’t moving as fast as we could. Dealing with this was ongoing with difficult conversations and consistent communications.Looking back, I now feel more experienced to have those harder conversations with anyone. But at the time, they were certainly challenging for both of us. My brother and I have a deep respect for each other. We were never going to let anything professional get in the way, but that takes a lot of energy.Time and energy are two of the greatest resources in life. Everybody has their own version of, “I don't have enough time.”When energy runs low, it makes for a challenging lifestyle, sense of fulfilment and purpose. You have to protect them well. I believe it's been good for my brother and me, now that I’ve fully committed to teaching leadership outside of health and fitness.Feedback tells me that I have good energy. But when life decelerates or isn’t what I expect, it gets me down. So, I have a few daily rituals that help maintain a high level of energy. My aim is to have a similar, if not greater amount of energy for my kids at the end of the day, as I had for the workshop that morning. It’s only fair. I believe that the measure of a great father, like a great leader, is that we can give our energy to the people that need it.“I’m tired,” that's the discussion around energy. The most commonly used phrase. I would love to have people thinking about how to add more energy into their life. So when they are getting tired, it’s 8 pm as opposed to 3 pm and they don’t fall apart for the evening shift.Earlier in my career as an Operations Manager, I really rated myself in terms of delivering great service for the client. I believed it was a reflection of my leadership. I poured all my eggs into this basket. In 2010, my boss observed me for the day and provided feedback. I was expecting him to say, “Joel, top job!”. But he blew me up. It really shocked me. I actually felt like throwing in the towel. I thought I was doing a really great job. He then demonstrated that I wasn’t only doing a poor job, I was also falling down in other areas and it just wasn’t good enough.Many of those difficult conversations ended up serving me well for the future. Not to press harder necessarily, but to ask good questions about how I’m doing and how I can do better. That hard moment 10 years ago was instrumental as a setback.Q3 WAS THERE A TIME YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?Thinking about giving up reminds me of how resilient humans can be. I have a deep belief that no matter how hard it gets, human beings have an amazing capacity to deal with deep adversity. We’re experiencing that now, halfway through a pandemic.One time in Italy, I was setting up our abseil site. I forgot my safety line and leaned out over the 35-meter drop. Afterwards, when I realised my mistake, it really hit me how close I could have been to my end.As the operations manager on that site, I shouldn't have been setting up in the first place. I was trying to do everything. Often this is what operations managers have to do.It made me realise the importance of having the right people around me. Trusting in them to do their piece, allowing me to contribute to the bigger picture.Q4 WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?As human beings, we’re consistently worried about being good enough and accepted by others. It’s very natural. My common traps are trying to please and being likeable. Especially as a leader. I want to do a good job and part of that is about getting on with people and building trust. But in reality, I can't be everything to everybody. And at some point, it just ends in frustration for them.If you want to grow and develop as a leader, you must first develop principles that serve you really well in different situations.When I first started in Italy, I wanted to be the popular operations manager. Everybody should want to come to my site. They’d be inspired by my ability to communicate. I wanted our sales to be the best ever. So, I’d do whatever it takes to achieve those targets.This impacted my energy, wellbeing and family started to suffer. It wasn’t sustainable longterm. Then after 10 years of travel between New Zealand and Italy, I began to wonder who I was as a leader. What’s my leadership philosophy? Is it built around pleasing people? Meeting targets? Do I have a deep sense of way strengths and what works for me? That experience taught me to put myself first.All those times flying to Italy, I never watched more than one movie per flight. Instead, I would spend time getting clear on my vision. I would write out how I wanted every aspect of the trip to unfold. So, when I’m asked a question about the operation, I can clearly communicate my vision with deep conviction.So often in leadership, we don’t know what we want. The same applies to our individual lives also. This applies to me too. A big part of my personal development is getting clear on how I can serve others and best live my life.Q5 WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?Helping people unlock their personal insights. That moment when someone says “hang on”, and there’s a sudden shift in their thinking and language. Being part of that process and creating a space where these shifts happen is just huge for me. It's a beautiful thing when you can bring insight into the conversation.This is why I’ll spend hours perfecting my craft. I want to create that moment for people. When they grow, they engage. Engagement is one of the worlds biggest challenges right now. Not just in the workplace, but at home. Just think, how hard is it to engage with your family and friends? People have their cell phones everywhere. So we're fighting engagement.Q6 CAN YOU DESCRIBE A BREAKTHROUGH THAT YOU'RE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF?Four years ago I ran a pilot program for a large organisation in New Zealand. I presented to 12 people. They were tasked with deciding whether to make me part of their national training. I thought the workshop went great. But, at the end of the day, they couldn't see any value. It was super awkward and I took a few days to reflect. As it happened they did provide me with feedback. I adjusted the program and they accepted me into their national training. My program ended up with the highest feedback rating ever received for an external trainer.This experience reinforced to me that we don't always see things ‘as they are’. Remember, we’re looking through the filter of ‘as we are’. It’s important to keep this in mind when working with others.I now believe that positively reinterpreting that experience has taught me that I’m able to shift my perspective on almost any situation. Given the opportunity, I can do some amazing work. I must continue to believe and remind myself that I’m making a difference.Q7 WHAT DO YOU SEE AS BEING YOUR BIGGEST LESSON?Continuing to get better at having conversations that matter.There’s an inherent value of giving and receiving feedback. Consistently having difficult conversations sends a message that you care about growth and development. Most people try to avoid this.I didn't show up in the wor

Find more interviews like this one at the Wellington Hustle Interview Project.Listen to the interview on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher Radio | Spotify | GoogleMeet Kerene Strochnetter. Kerene is in the business of bringing the practice of mindfulness to corporate leadership. Making the inwards cool.Kerene’s career spans being a registered nurse, teacher, coach, consultant and now business owner.Her company, Mindful at Work, helps change the way people think and behave in business. Or as Kerene likes to put it, “stopping people from being such $#&^holes in the workplace”.What was your vision when you first started your venture?I didn't have one. I don't believe in really clear visions.Moving to Wellington, I began working in the corporate world. It was fascinating and I loved it. It was so different from working in public health and education.After making several significant faux pas' in my personal life, I discovered mindfulness.While training as a coach, I was first introduced to mindfulness through neuroscience. Neuroscience was just becoming known. It's a blend of old age philosophical practices and what science has actually proven. To cut a long story short, I started meditating every day and followed meditation expert Dr Joe Dispenza.I saw meditation as being transformative for my own life. So much so that I realised if my coaching clients were practising mindfulness and meditation, then I wouldn't be working with such messed up people. That sounds very selfish, but some clients would vomit out such awful circumstances. They'd tell me all the reasons why and everything they think I should be coaching them on, which would fix it all. But, I believed if we didn't explore under the surface for the problems creating these thoughts and feelings, then we may as well be straightening deck chairs on the Titanic.So, I began refusing to coach people until they started practising mindfulness.There's a particular therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which is basically mindfulness with legs. I had no idea such a thing existed.The wonderful Sam Hannah first introduced ACT to me. Then, in the middle of writing a mental health program with Michael Bunting, he suggested that we needed to incorporate ACT. After a lot of research, I discovered that its a form of mindfulness therapy. Helping people to get clear about what really matters and to understand how they could be self-sabotaging their ideal life.I've never been interested in teaching people to be better meditators. I'm interested in people knowing themselves, knowing what matters and having the tools to create the life they really want. It's not about having a perfect life, it's about not sleepwalking through life.Working with high functioning corporate leaders. These people are suffering. Their lives are incredibly busy. They're constantly distracted by technology. So they can really relate to the impact their successful lives have on them. So I combine mindfulness with leadership coaching.But it's not just about meditating. It's about changing behaviour and we're not built for it as human beings. We're created to be risk-focused, highly distractible and hyper-vigilant. Designed to live as long as we possibly can. Evolutionary wise, anything that was dangerous killed you. If you're removed from your tribe, you dead.So, get a performance review with 29 expectations exceeded and 1 unmet. Which do you focus on? Which wakes you at 3am worrying about losing your job, not being able to pay the mortgage? It's where our minds go. We are really programmed to be miserable.Mindfulness is a practice to rebalance the score. Tuning into life, not living so much in our heads and stopping to smell the roses. If you have no way of observing your thoughts, you will become them. We don't think about how gorgeous, brilliant, and talented we are. We think about our faults and what could possibly disconnect us from our people. That's what we focus on. Our brain is there to keep us safe and connected.How did you deal with early setbacks?My philosophy has always been stay in action and get good advice from people you trust. Don't sit and ruminate because your mind will do you in.If anything, my mindfulness practice makes me aware of when I'm ruminating. I'm really in the business of managing my own mind. When I experience setbacks, I use my practice to help. It doesn't make everything turn out perfect. But it stops me from going into analysis paralysis.When a setback hits, I tend to get more lost in my mind. For example, if I'm keynote speaking and I'm going to talk to 100 accountants. Managing my mind is really important. It's also about getting myself into that peak performance state. I meditate every day. I practice yoga, walk or go to the gym every day. I eat and sleep really well. When I'm in top form and walk out to deliver, I'm confident and energised. Of course it will go well.I know my stuff. If I find myself wanting more preparation time, that's a warning to me. Stop, pause, breathe, be present and connect. My best tends to occur when I'm really connected with myself and those in front of me.I noticed anxiety. If you don't experience anxiety before a big speaking event, there's probably something wrong with you. Just relabel that anxiety as excitement, knowing it's here to help.Getting yourself into condition is really important. Self-care. This is the opposite of what we're often taught. People can see that as incredibly selfish, but when you're in top form feeling really well, it just tends to spill over.Was there a time that you wanted to give up?No. I've had low moments, but there's never been a time where I've wanted to give up.Were there any traps that you fell into?It's always going to be self-doubt. My job is knowing how to deal with it. That doesn't mean positive thinking and affirmations. You have to feel and believe it.As an Australian, I've struggled to promote myself. Culturally it makes me cringe. Don't talk yourself up. And yet, I am selling myself. There's a real tension there.I know cool, famous people. But it makes my skin crawl to namedrop. Self-doubt, it's innate in all of us. We all run the script that we're not good enough. It's constant. Practice seeing it, letting it sit there and choosing differently.A lot of people think "if only I could get rid of this voice". Most aren't even aware they have that voice. You can't get rid of it. Its there for a reason, to keep you safe. Just let the voice be there and choose differently.Mindfulness is all about awareness. If you don't have awareness then you're just at its mercy.Just noticed when the voice pops up.I've coached so many people. It doesn't matter how beautiful, wealthy or successful they are. They all have self-doubt. Absolutely. Everybody. It's just part of the human condition.What inspires and motivates you? My friends. I surround myself with brilliant people. Those who are kind and have high emotional intelligence. It takes an incredibly brave person to be kind and that inspires me.A resource that I love is the book called Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola. I first came across this book, through a woman's book club. They were all raving about it. I've probably read it 30 times since. One of my man friends asked if it was a feminist book, but it isn't. It has a thin feminist intent. As women, certainly I know I have this, we have a strong resistance to being contained.I highly recommend this book. To anybody who wants to read it, be prepaid to be challenged, but there is gold inside. Clarissa Pinkola, English is not her first language, so it can be a challenging read. It's a beautiful, beautiful book.My sons, when they were teenagers, would tease me by saying "Oh yeah, but you run with the Wolves don't you mum?"Can you describe a breakthrough that you're particularly proud of?When I realised that I was not listening to my inner knowing or gut instinct. Whatever you want to call it.I was flying to Western Australia and stumbled upon the book Eat Pray Love in Auckland Airport. I was determined not to read it because I thought it was soppy. But I was bored. So I opened it up and inside the front cover was the message "tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth". And I had this whack in my mind that said: "to yourself, to yourself, to yourself".At that moment, I knew I'd been lying to myself. Not listening to my own heart. Which was the reason why I was escaping to Western Australia.I had only just started meditating. Tuning in to your own inner knowing is a big part of mindfulness. Helping you make wiser choices in life.What do you see as being your biggest lesson?Being true to yourself.If you can't be truthful to yourself, it's impossible to tell the truth to anybody else.Has your vision always been clear and how has it evolved?No, it's never been clear. I don't think it has to be. Occasionally, a few people may have a very clear vision that they stick to. But I believe most of us stumble our way through the dark, looking for signposts.If you listen to your heart, great advice and be prepared you'll find your way. This sounds cliche, but, be prepared to screw up regularly and learn from it.I have a clear sense of purpose. Making a difference, having fun and making some money.My youngest son has the attitude towards life of 'If it's not fun, I'm not doing it'. That doesn't mean everything is all wonderful for him. He seriously thinks about his life choices. If something isn't enjoyable, then he stops doing it pretty quickly.What would you do differently if you had to start again from scratch?I would listen to my own gut. But in saying this, I didn't have the skills in the beginning. I feel this is to do with my upbringing. I'm not blaming it. My upbringing created a big chasm between me and my emotions.If I had the perfect upbringing where I was given permission to tap into my emotions, then I wouldn't be the person or doing the work that I am today. I'm incredibly imperfect. A huge thing is being able to see your own ridiculousness. Be prepared to laugh at that inner critic and the amazing ways that you have screwed up.My father taught me to see the humour in everythin

Find more interviews like this one at the Wellington Hustle Interview Project.   Listen to the interview on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher Radio | Spotify | Google   MEET DIGBY SCOTT, THE CORPORATE REBEL   An Australian adventurer, husband, father and developer of leaders looking to bring change to the world.   Originally a Charted Accountant, Digby felt the world had more to offer, turned to travel, headed to Canada and spent a season working at a ski resort. He then followed this up by talking his way onto a commercial salmon boat with no experience. He finally settled back into the corporate world as a professional recruiter in London.   This is when Digby found his passion. Development of people, development of culture, development of organisations. Getting the best out of people and helping them grow towards a new future.   Q1 WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?   My idea was to offer career coaching. I wanted to help align people with their ideal work. When people play to their strengths, deliberately choosing the work they love, then the organisations who employ them benefit. In the late nineties, coaching wasn't valued by organisations as much as it is now. I quickly started working on a way to develop leaders and managers to become the catalyst for other employees' change. Empowering them to show up as the best person they could be.   At the time, only a few organisations were conscious of this approach. Now the idea of developing the best in people to improve their performance is the zeitgeist of today.   Based in Wellington, I work with public sector agencies, government departments, as well as several private sector companies.   Primarily if an organisation looks to shift its culture, I'll coach a handful of people to be the change agents. People who'll make a disproportionate impact. Then I also work with the executive team to help them support the change agents to make that culture shift. You can't just drive change from the top.   My book Change Makers came about to help run my workshops and programs. A book is a great way to help people for very little money to get maximum value for time. You don't have to be anywhere. You just take your book off the bookshelf, sit down in your bean bag and soak it up. For $20 or $30, that's a pretty good investment.   Q2 HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?   The setbacks that I've experienced are mindset barriers.I'll give you an example. I stayed two years too long before leaving Inspire Group. I realised my enthusiasm for the job and performance was flatlining. I had stories in my head about why I shouldn't leave. That wasn't good for me. I was less excited about work. I was wanting to work for myself and believed I would make more of an impact doing so. But then I wouldn't move.Fortunately, I had a couple of good mentors who challenged me to change my story. Gently but firmly holding my feet to the fire. Eventually, I spoke with the CEO and it was relatively painless. We discussed me leaving, made a six-month timeline and managed it well. I should have done that a couple a few years earlier.Sure, I could say I wouldn't be the person I am now without that lesson. The setback was two years of my life that I could have used way more productively. The lesson, if you feel hesitation, and you want to move on, then you really must examine that feeling.Tim Ferris is one of my favourite podcasters. He has a great Ted talk on fear setting. We have goal setting, but unless you're addressing the fear holding you back, you're likely to stay stuck.He has this lovely process of analysing the worst possible case scenario. When you examine your fear, it becomes smaller. He uses these questions to help take action:1. What could you do to prevent failure from happening? If you acted, what preventative measures would you have in place?2. What would you go if things didn't work out? What could you do to repair it?3. What's the cost of inaction?Many senior leaders have flatlined in their work and are asking the question 'what else?' Moving on seems dangerous, maybe causing the loss of money or credibility. So there's inaction that needs circuit breaking as soon as possible. It's fundamental so as not to block innovation or other people from progressing. I want to be a catalyst for a more deliberate choice. Not just for individuals, but society. Guiding people to have more purpose towards contribution. Not just making a difference, but also making a life.Personally, with encouragement from my mentors, I discussed with past clients the possibility of working differently together. Determining if I had a service they would be interested in. That validation quickly built the self-belief I needed to move forward. I could have read all the books in the world, but I don't think it would have helped. It's the human connection, their belief in you, that makes you believe in yourself.I'm a huge believer that there's a couple of key things that shape our behaviour.QUOTE:"Your beliefs become your thoughts,Your thoughts become your words,Your words become your actions,Your actions become your habits,Your habits become your values,Your values become your destiny."― GandhiThink about that. The more we understand the wiring inside our heads, the more choice we have around our behaviours. I'm a huge believer in the power testing our assumptions. We tell ourselves all these stories about what's okay, what's safe and what's not. They're all invented.Environment also shapes behaviour. The saying is "You're the average of the five people you hang around with the most". So who do you choose to hang out with? The more you can deliberately be an environment that serves you, the better you're going to be.QUOTE:The more you can deliberately be an environment that serves you, the better you're going to be.― DigbyFor me, living in Wellington, access to nature is right there. If I'm running a workshop or keynote, I'll go for a walk in nature. The beach, the bush, wherever it might be. If I can't, I'll listen to music. I've have a bunch of different Spotify playlists for different situations. Music's great for mood shifts. Often after a good day, I'll play my Heavier playlist and rock out all the way home. Who knows what people in the other cars are thinking.I have a handful of people that are just gold. You've interviewed Gillian Brookes on your podcast. We just lift each other, it's awesome. That's 'one of the five people' sort of thing and reaching out to those people.I have a cool people list. I'd never share who's on it. It changes all the time. I have thirteen people on it at any one time. One for each week in a quarter.Every Friday I'll call one person from the list. If I can't get hold of them, I'll leave them a voicemail. Something like, "Hey, thinking of you, just wanted to connect and see how you're going". When we do see each other and it might not be for a quarter or two, we at least have that connection. I'm deliberate about that.Q3 WAS THERE A TIME YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?I had burnout in the mid to late nineties. It was a soul-destroying time. I wasn't suicidal, but I was at a low point. I really had to dig deep into 'who am I and what do I want from life.'I did a lot of that work in my late twenties / early thirties. If I'm honest, it probably took me almost five years.That work set the mould for how I am today. At a deep level, I created a strong sense of conviction for the work that I want to do. It's like moving a big heavy wheel, pushing until it gets momentum.Whenever I've come across obstacles or challenges, I have a deep conviction to find a way around it. Sometimes there are some blind alleys. But there are no doubts. I know this is the work for the rest of my life. Of course, it evolves and grows. But the core idea is still there.So no, there's not a time where I've wanted to give up. It's more realising that I'm a little flatlined and asking what's the next version?Q4 WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?Yes…· I get seduced into work that looks sexy on the surface, only to find it's not.· Saying yes out of fear.· Letting my ego get in the way and not wanting to let people down or upset them.Overthinking is another trap. For example, my book Change Makers. I had the idea of writing it three years before I did. My next book, I have the idea, in six months there will be a book. Don't overthink it, don't overanalyse it, just experiment. Try things out and get moving. This is probably the biggest one for me. I'll still hold back sometimes, I'm only human after all. But I'll also have someone to hold me accountable.(As of writing this article Digby has isolated himself to concentrate on writing his next book)Q5 WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?Every year, for the last 20 years, I go to a place in northwest Western Australia with a bunch of mates and camp for two weeks. It's on the edge of the ocean. It's rugged, 150kms from the closest town, world-class waves, coral reef, sea life abundant, stars abundant and no cell phone coverage. We windsurf and surf our hearts out.It's really hard to put into words. If something catastrophic happened in the world, we wouldn't know about it. There's something quite cool about simplicity. Slowing down and getting away from complexity. Whenever I strip back this stuff from my life, something else always emerges. And that happens for me on these trips. It's why I keep going back. I'm not particularly religious, but there's a connection to something bigger that happens out there.What also inspires me are stories of authenticity, people who remove their facade.I coached a lady who was the head of one of Australia's largest mine sites. To start she was gruff, wearing steel cap boots, overalls, serious with a strong handshake. As I got to know her over a year, she began to be her authentic self. Interested in holistic sustainability, she searched the answer to the question "How can we be an amazing corporate citizen when we're a miner?"The struggle to drop the facade enabling her to fit in, a female in a man's world. Wo

Find more interviews like this one at the Wellington Hustle Interview Project.Listen to the interview on your favourite podcast app: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher Radio | Spotify | GoogleTODAY I’M TALKING TO JORDAN BERRY, PERSONAL TRAINER AND FOUNDER OF KAIZEN FITNESSJordan is passionate about taking the holistic approach to personal training. Mental health and growth is a big part of Kaizen Fitness. He’ll have you doing more than working hard at the gym. You will end up discovering your why and what you want to be. Then together you will put in place the habits and goals to get you there.Q1 WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?The goal for Kaizen Fitness is to provide a high quality, enjoyable service. With the onset of becoming a personal trainer, my sole vision was helping as many people as possible. It’s now developed into a more holistic way of training. Not just helping with the physical, but mentally and emotional swell.I've always been active. This sounds like a cliche person trainer story. I started going to the gym in high school. As soon as I worked out I could get an annual membership for $50, I was straight in there pumping weights. I probably weighed all of about 48 kg.I've always really enjoyed helping people. During a careers expo I was taken with a personal training qualification. So I studied and qualified as a personal trainer along side graduating from high school. Ever since I haven't looked back. I absolutely love it.My desire to help people, my desire to be physically and mentally fit, just grew into my business, Kaizen Fitness.Q2 HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?Going into the gym and starting my own business as an 18 year old was very daunting. Especially in a new city.Confidence was a big setback for me. Confidence in my ability as a personal trainer and then my ability to sell. Selling was particularly challenging. Offering services to people that I didn't know for a price. Realising that the service I offer has the potential to impact lives helped develop my confidence over time.Luckily I have a really supportive family and group of friends. My good friend David, another personal trainer, helped me out a lot. He was always there for me to run my sales scripts past. Lots of simulation and positive reinforcement. Fine tuning the way I approached the people at the gym.The more confidence I displayed, the more I believed in the service I provided, the more people believed in me. Having good mentors and a good support structure was key. I could be the best personal trainer in the world, but if I can't sell, then, I’m not going to do very well.Q3 WAS THERE A TIME YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?Obviously in the first six months it was definitely difficult. Overcoming my confidence barrier and fully immersing myself in the business. But at no point did I feel like giving up. Being a personal trainer was my passion and I love helping people.It never crossed my mind.Previous to being a personal trainer, I was a checkout chump at Pak’N’Save. I was working with great people, but it just didn’t fulfil me. So building my business was not something I wanted to give up on.Q4 WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?I think a trap that a lot of people fall onto when newly qualified is being in the industry for the status. Being able to put PT at the end of their Instagram name. It should be more than that, starting with the people you're helping. It’s not about becoming a personal trainer to justify taking topless photos of yourself on Instagram. And on the flip side, these personal trainers could be misleading others by putting out bad quality advice.If you went to high school with me, you'd know that I'm appalling at Maths. Ask any of my clients, they'll confirm that I struggle with accounts sometimes. Now I have an accountant. I’m really thankful. I’m bad at the numbers, but it has to be done. Luckily I have good people to help.All my client payments are now run through a direct debit. I use a service called ezidebit. If you are a personal trainer, I definitely recommend an automated payment system. It makes keeping track of many individual payments so much easier. Through ezidebit, your clients complete a form, all the payments are collected and then one lump sum is deposited into your bank account. It’s much more systemised and takes the stress out of chasing up payments. Especially at tax time.Q5 WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?My clientele, 100%. I've worked with a lot of people from different backgrounds. From 17 years old through to 60, international athletes or people just wanting a six pack. No matter where they come from, what their goals are, they always inspire me.I have a client, Bob. He’s 58 years old and every session he just loves pushing himself. There’s times when he blows me away with the amount of weight that he lifts.My really good friend, John. He competed in the 2019 Commonwealth Judo Tournaments. He's 54 years old and still really investing in his physical self.Another client, a lady in her 20’s or 30’s. She was just looking to lose a little bit of weight. She would head to the gym at 3am most days and smash out 30 kilometres on the rower.There's a lot of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It doesn't matter if they’re big, small, old or young. It just really motivates me to better myself.I’ve had two pivotal mentors over the last six months, Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi. I’ve looked up to them for self-development and offering my clients a better service. They have really inspired a lot of paradigm shifts for me, both personally and professionally.I discovered Tony Robbins’ Date with Destiny documentary on Netflix. I was mind blown by the time I finished watching it. The way that he connects with people and seeing the transformations at his live events. So this was in the forefront of my mind going to sleep. Then the next morning I was scrolling through Facebook and saw an ad for a seminar with Dean Graziosi and Tony Robbins. They were just about to go live. I was really Tony Robbins’d up. So I spent the next two hours watching the seminar for a course called Knowledge Business Blueprint. On a hunch I bought the program, NZ$3200, quite a financial investment. Not something I would normally do, but it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made.Q6 CAN YOU DESCRIBE A BREAKTHROUGH THAT YOU'RE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF?Through investing in the Knowledge Business Blueprint course, I discovered that my work as a personal trainer is more than just the physical. I should also be helping my clients develop their mental states and emotions.I’m working more holistically with my longer term clients. People who I have a good personal relationship with. I know them well enough to be able to see the signs when they they’re not doing so well. Maybe they need a little more one on one time outside of the gym.So, I’ll take them for coffee, talk about mental health and help them work out some personal goals. It comes down to working out the areas where people potentially need a bit more help. Mental health is something that’s still gaining relevance in New Zealand. We’re such a stoic society, people find it hard to talk about.As a personal trainer, I’m often seen as a counsellor as well. My clients know that I don’t know their friends and family. So they often feel safe enough to open up about aspects of their life they wouldn’t normally share. I take this role very seriously. I’ve developed my skills over the last six months in order to help my clients work through those emotional blocks.I’ll have my clients define their current state. Asking them to be really honest about their happiness, work, career, weight, what ever they want to change. This is straight out the book of Tony Robbins. Most times there’ll be a couple of things they want to change.So, I’ll have them define their future self. How would they like to feel? Are they happy, are they confident? Then I have my client visualise their present and future selves. I then help them see that there’s absolutely no difference between these two people. The only thing that's different are their habits. Next we break down their future self and choose supporting habits to be put in place. At this point my clients normally list a whole load of possible habits to take them to the next level. Now they have a roadmap helping them become their future self.Q7 WHAT DO YOU SEE AS BEING YOUR BIGGEST LESSON?Whenever I start to feel lost, I always remind myself why I started.Finding my ‘why’ is the foundation on which I build everything else from. Why do I get out of bed in the morning? Why am I personal trainer? Why do I want to help people? When I’m loosing my direction, ‘I put why’ in the forefront of my mind. Just learn to question things and be honest with yourself.I have two keywords, authenticity and passion.I like to be really authentic with people. During my Instagram stories I show the real me. The stuff that I'm struggling with personally. I want the people know that I'm not just a health and fitness expert on my pedestal.I’m also passionate. People are paying for my service, I’m investing in people, I’m passionate about what I do.Remember to follow through with your ‘why’.Q8 HAS YOUR VISION ALWAYS BEEN CLEAR AND HOW HAS IT EVOLVED?The only thing that’s changed is how I’m helping them. Personal training has almost become personal development. My vision is evolving and getting grander as I go on. Helping more and more people, employing more personal trainers, moving into my own space and eventually running seminars, masterminds and workshops.With Kaizen Fitness we’re developing a community to be the one stop shop for personal training, physiotherapy, business and personal development.Q9 WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY IF YOU HAD TO START AGAIN FROM SCRATCH?So to be honest, I wouldn’t do anything different. My journey hasn’t been the fastest or the most profitable. But on that first day walking into the gym, I’d install more confidence in my ability. I’m offering a service that I genuinely believe in and it positively impacts my clients lives.I say that I don’t have anything to change, because it’s about the journey. If I had changed something, then maybe I wouldn’t be wh

Welcome to episode 7 of The Wellington Hustle Interview Project. Today I head down to the BizDojo in Wellington to talk to Christine Langdon, co-founder of The Good Registry.Christine describes herself as a person with a passion for trying new things, meeting new people and a creator of good change in the world.Originally starting her career as a journalist, Christine moved into communications, gravitating towards social impact work. In June 2017, Christine left her permanent job as a communications manager without a plan. After a month or so of reflection, an idea started to form. A social giving platform, to replace gift-giving with donations to a good cause.Q1 WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?I left my job with Z Energy at the end of June 2017, had the idea for The Good Registry in August and we launched that November.I have two co-founders. Tracy Bridges and Sue McCabe. When I told Sue about The Good Registry idea, she loved it and offered to help. I'm not sure if Tracy volunteered or if I twisted her arm.The Good Registry is a way for people to donate to their favourite charities without having to dig into their own pockets. Instead of receiving unwanted gifts, that money goes to a good cause. Money is not wasted when it goes to charity. And you get the joy of giving from the experience.We have 65 charity partners. We've been very conscious to choose a mixture of national and local charities. Currently, most of the donations are going to SPCA. People do like animals. Other popular charities are Kids Can, Mental Health Foundation and in terms of local charities, Wellington Free Ambulance. Many people have used or know somebody who has used the Wellington Free Ambulance. People do like to give to causes close to their own heart.I try not to play favourites, but for Christmas last year, I chose the Common Unity Project Aotearoa. It's a wonderful program based out in The Hutt. It started as a community garden providing organic nutritious lunches for children in low decile schools. It's expanded to create volunteering or employment at Rimutaka Prison. Growing produce, cooking then selling nourishing meals to the community.So far we have raised $320,000 of donations, replacing about 8,000 gifts, allowing thousands of people to experience giving and how good it feels.Of course every donation made through us supports the environment. We're taking all of the waste out of the unnecessary consumer purchases, manufactured on the other side of the world, shipped to New Zealand, packaged and wrapped. We're taking all of that out and just sending the money straight to charity.I get excited about the waste we're reducing as well as the charitable impacts. To think that people are rethinking consumerism around gift-giving or consumerism overall. There's an incredible amount of waste going into recycling. Of which a lot never gets recycled and just goes to landfill.For the waste that is recycled, there's still energy consumption. If you were given a gift that you wanted or needed, that's cool. But if not, there are still environmental impacts. If we can replace those gifts with donations instead then we're doing a lot of good for the environment.Q2 HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?By just continuing to stay conscious of why we're doing this. Why it's important to the three of us. Keep on going, finding our way, not sitting back and feeling like a failure. Knowing that this is a chance to try something different.But also being realistic. In the early stages, there wasn't time to stop and think. We just had to keep going. In August we decided that by building a gift-giving platform, it should be finished for Christmas. It should be launched in November, giving people time to discover and use it.So the question became can we do this in three months? Yes, The Good Registry launched within three months with 60 charities signed up along with a crowdfunding campaign and all needed to create a social enterprise.Q3 WAS THERE A TIME YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?There was a time when I learned what the phrase 'cold feet' was. I didn't know it was a real thing. It was during a conversation with a lady who had been through a similar journey, where my feet literally went cold. My body tensed up and my breathing stopped. It was a reality check about the challenges we were taking on.I often enter things with a lot of optimism. But being told some really hard facts about the challenges of working with charities was grounding. Charity resources are generally really stretched. I was optimistic about how much energy charities have to help launch and grow our platform. It turned out to be true. The charities appreciate all that you do for them. But they can't always help promote as much that would be ideal.Both Sue and I already had a good understanding of charities across New Zealand. We ruthlessly white boarded our target key charities who we'd like to get on board. We wanted to make sure that we had charities that people would expect to see on the platform. When users come to sacrifice their Christmas gifts, they want it to be for charities they know. We also wanted charities who already had reach to help get the word out about The Good Registry.We also ran a crowdfunding campaign through Pledgeme to allowed some people to buy the chance to choose some smaller local charities to go on the platform.We were also warned about the cost of the technology. We'd already seen that. Our website costs were already blowing out. She made it clear that it wouldn't be the end of it, taking up more than we could ever imagine. This also ended up being true.Q4 WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?A lot of people warned about spending too much money on technology. Just build a minimum viable product.We overspent building our initial website to discover that it wasn't quite what we needed. It hasn't been thrown out, but instead now runs adjacent to another.The original website offered gift registries. This allows people to choose charities for their friends and family to donate to in place of Birthday or Christmas gifts.After that first Christmas, we discovered that corporates were also interested in The Good Registry. They wanted to replace the gifts they would normally send out to clients or employees. This didn't work using our registry structure. That's when we created gift cards.It wasn't viable to keep adding to our original bespoke website. So we used the eCommerce platform, Shopify to very cheaply built the gift cards. That's now our main platform.Now charities are set up as products on our eCommerce platform. People can choose their favourite and then purchase gift cards for that charity. This works okay, but we'd love to build a bespoke platform again. Integrating the gift cards and registries while providing the ideal experience for our customers. Those redeeming gift cards could be prompted to pledge their birthday via the registry.We co-founders funded The Good Registry to start with. I was comfortable with that. I didn't go to university. I saw this as the money I would have spent if I had. Instead, I used it to help build our website. Then I've been working pro bono for The Good Registry for the last two years.There's a lot of generous people helping us in lots of different ways. The BizDojo provides us with a free desk in their co-working space. Deloitte helps with all our financial services pro bono, which is incredible. We get free legal support from Duncan Cotteril. Many others like the good that we're trying to create in the world who contribute services or time. It makes a huge difference.Over the last couple of months, I've started to reduce my hours. The Good Registry is becoming self-sustaining. So for a day or two a week, I'm able to work as a communications consultant. For my clients, this means fully managing their communication function. Helping them communicate opportunities to their stakeholders. Working on their messaging and why, who they want to influence and the impact their communications should have. Then writing the communications and tailoring it for the different channels.I'm consulting with companies focusing on social impact. I want to do work that connects with my heart. It's gotta be fun, with good people making a positive difference in the world. One company I consult for works with sustainable energy development through aid programs in the Pacific. That's fantastic.Q5 WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?I love seeing the good in other people. When children choose to create a registry with us for their birthdays. That they donate to a charity instead of receiving gifts connects with me.I'm also really inspired by businesses who are walking the walk. That they are no longer giving staff and customers unwanted gifts. Instead of using that money to donate to a good cause. I get excited to see how much good there is in the world. We are just giving people a simple way to tap into that.We've seen parents register their children's first birthdays. The child isn't gonna know any different. The parents are going to be saved a lot of stress and clutter in the house.We're seeing children choosing to do it themselves. Some as young as seven. At that age, they're becoming aware and identify as a child who cares. It's a nice experience for them. I don't know if we'll have many children choose to do it year after year. But even if they do it once, it's good to understand the importance of giving instead of getting. That celebrating their life can also include celebrating other causes.Q6 CAN YOU DESCRIBE A BREAKTHROUGH THAT YOU'RE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF?The big breakthrough that I'm proud of was learning very quickly that the registry model didn't give us the impact we wanted. Seeing the gift card opportunity and figuring out how to cheaply build that functionality in. It's completely transformed the impact that we're able to have.The first Christmas we raised, maybe $20,000. Last Christmas we raised well over $100,000. That's because of the businesses using gift cards.Meaningless gifting at the moment is in the business space. Employers can't possibly give all of their staff the same gift and for them to be happy or use it. Even when businesses

Meet Cathy De Jongh, a Human Resources veteran of 20 years.Cathy now runs a practice helping Human Resource Leaders have a more strategic approach to structuring their workforce and organisation.Cathy sees herself as an HR Architect. She works with a high-level view of organisational team structures, fine-tuning their workforce, ensuring maximum efficiency. Cathy guides her client organisations to focus on being strategic, matching company goals with their ideal future workforce.As well as being a people strategist, facilitator, mentor and speaker, Cathy is also in the process of writing a book. 'Making the Shift' will be out November 2020 and is based around Cathy's passion for a more strategic Human Resources world.Now, let's listen to the conversation with Cathy for a dose of setbacks, challenges and aha moments...Q1 WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?Right from the start, I joined the Thought Leaders Business School. This has helped me shape, develop and grow my practice. It also has a great community of people to interact with and learn from.Selling myself ended up being a particular personal difficulty. In the beginning, it felt quite yucky. That surprised me. In my role as an HR manager, I often had people approaching and selling themselves to me. Now it's me doing the selling.My approach to selling is to observe and help. What value can I add to this organisation? How can I help them? That's a different proposition. I'm learning to change my mindset around selling and to get more comfortable doing it.I was a public servant for 20 years. I classed myself as an internal consultant then. I worked in big organisations, connecting with people and working out how I can help them. But this is quite different.Over time I'm getting more and more used to selling. It's becoming something that I enjoy. I know what I'm offering can help them.Q2 HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?It's taken me longer to grow my practice than I imagined. Working out my place in the market and where I can add value.Currently, I'm helping a really small agency with their workforce strategy. This is giving me real insights into the needs of different kinds of companies. Originally I imagined that I'd work with bigger organisations, helping up-skill their workforce planning. But this small agency has nobody skilled in workforce planning and needs help. They know they need to do something different. They just don't know how to go about it. This is where I can really add value.In terms of setbacks, you just have to keep ongoing. Have faith that something will eventuate and the world will provide.Q3 WAS THERE A TIME YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?Yes, there have been times. Sometimes I think that I should just get a job. People leaving their HR positions generally move into contracting. Everybody I know seems to be doing it. They all suggest "Why don't you just talk to So in So about a role". And sometimes I feel that I should. There's nothing wrong with contract roles. I imagine that I'll move in and out of them as my practice evolves.There's a person who I really admire based here in New Zealand, Lisa O'Neil. She's really motivational with lots of energy. Lisa encouraged me to create a mojo playlist of songs that I love. So, on days when I just can't be bothered, I play my mojo playlist. It really lifts my mood.It's the simple things that help, like telling myself a different story. If I'm calling people up to do business, I have to have conviction and engage at the right energetic level.Q4 WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?I'm currently developing a lot of intellectual property (IP) and I'm working on a book. One trap is that I can spend all day reading and thinking. I do really enjoy that. But, it is all about having balance and discipline.I can be a workaholic. Now that I run my own practice, I must ensure that I don't work every day. My work boundaries have been taken away and I now need to learn when to restrain myself.I'm now focused on my health and wellbeing. Starting and ending my week differently. I take my daughter to work on a Monday morning. I'll go for a long walk around the harbour and think about the week. I really enjoy that. Then to end the week, I spend Friday afternoon in a yoga studio. I'm a fond believer of shaping what your life looks like, creating a routine and living a life by design.Q5 WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?It's often the people who I work with. I've been lucky to work with some inspiring leaders. Working with motivated people who have a strong vision. Mostly I work alongside senior leaders and I'm inspired by supporting organisations making a difference. With my background in human resources, I can help develop their people and better the organisations' chances of making that difference.Over the years I've helped a lot of different people with their careers. They might start at an entry-level role and 10 years later I'll see them to a director role. I enjoy helping people harness their potential and watching them find success with their careers. That's my 'Why'.Q6 CAN YOU DESCRIBE A BREAKTHROUGH THAT YOU'RE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF?I've always wanted to write a book. So I spent this last year testing different ideas.I need to be careful and choose a topic that I'm still interested in. After writing a book I'll then have to promote and talk about it for the next year. Some authors write books on past experiences. But by the time they finish, they're ready to move on.I recently hired a booth at the HRNZ Expo to display my theories and to receive feedback.My breakthrough was how well people connected with my ideas. It's great to know that I'm producing something that's going to be useful for others. And not just something that I'm interested in.The book is about helping HR functions to move from being operational to more strategic. Research says an HR function that's 20% more strategic goes from being typical to a high-performing function. While discussing my theories with the HR Leaders, they all nodded. We can be more strategic, but there's so much that gets in the way. It was really helpful to test my ideas on this topic and discuss possible solutions. I really believe it's something that will make a difference to these organisations.The book will be used together with my program, Making the Shift. I facilitate discussions with HR leadership teams so they can make the shift to be more strategic. Helping them see what can be focused on, what should be stopped and what capabilities they may need to make the difference.Q7 HAS YOUR VISION ALWAYS BEEN CLEAR AND HOW HAS IT EVOLVED?No, but it will continue to evolve.For my next book, I'll be exploring the change of perspective. This fits moving from an operational to a strategic mindset. It's all about looking at things differently.My vision has changed in terms of realising that I can add value to smaller organisations. That's something I hadn't contemplated earlier. As I talk to more people, learning about their issues, my thinking has evolved.Q8 WHAT IS BRAND TO YOU AND ITS IMPORTANCE?When you set up a business based on your name, the brand is connected with your reputation.For me, it's the reputation that I've built up over the years and what I'm known for.I'm still learning about brand through the Thought Leaders Business School.I find it a little weird associating my business brand with my name. I'm still getting used to it. Think about your brand as the persona you're creating. That helps separates it from yourself.One of the founders of Thought Leaders Business School, Matt Church, he has a strong brand around the name Matt Church. But he says if you knew him personally, you would call him Matthew. The Matt Church brand is what he's creating.Also, think about what's out in the world about you. Some of it you have put out there yourself. But mostly it's what other people think about you or have experienced with you that counts. It's a real balance weather you control your brand or it controls you.Q9 WHAT HAVE YOU IMPLEMENTED BRAND WISE? WHAT'S HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT?If your a Thought Leader then sharing your knowledge and personality will impact your brand over time. This allows people to get an appreciation for who you are.I quite often meet with the people I'm connected with on LinkedIn. They often comment on my posts, even from months ago. Sometimes it does feel like I'm posting content into a black hole. So it's nice when in conversation a person complements me on the content I'm sharing.When writing, I'm conscious of creating articles that people will find useful. As the number of my connections grow, the broader range of people I have to share my ideas with.Q10 DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR OTHERS STRIVING TO IMPROVE THEIR BRAND?Be purposeful, but also be light. Know that it will evolve and don't be afraid of that. People don't take as much notice of you as you may think.You're in charge, it is your identity, don't feel constrained.In the space that I work, we quite often talk about the reputation of your organisation in terms of being able to attract people. It's all about attraction and retention. It's surprising how little people think about that.What new employees experience on day one and what they experience every day is the culture and its values. There are the spoken aspirational values and then there's actually what people experience. There's something of value to what new people to your organisation experience on their first week. It's always interesting to ask them what they've seen. Before they become indoctrinated into the organisation.CONNECT WITH CATHYIf you have enjoyed this article and want to start a conversation with Cathy, you can reach out by:Website: cathydejongh.co.nzLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cathy-de-jongh-nzPlease don’t forget to tell Cathy that I sent you.

Are you interested in exercising your ‘getting out of your comfort zone’ muscle…?For episode 5 of the Wellington Hustle Interview Project we meet Chris Desmond. Chris is the founder and host of the ‘Uncomfortable is Ok’ podcast. A show with over 200 interviews, discussing the uncomfortable. Chris will tell you that living in a world with comfort at every turn is not helpful. By choosing to stay comfortable, we are significantly restricting our potential to do great things. Getting good at doing really uncomfortable and scary stuff can help make life exciting. Chris also works as a physiotherapist, resilience trainer and coach, and is also just a 36 year old kiwi dude with family and dog.Q1 WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?I enjoy my work as a physiotherapist, but it's not the long game. I don't want to be sitting in a clinic for the rest of my life. I have been running a podcast for three and a half years now. It started with me trying a few different things, looking for a creative outlet, I tried an online business, did a Masters of Management. One of my papers was called Innovation and New Ventures. It got me brainstorming lots of different ideas and exploring my creativity. A friend suggested, “Hey, why don't you start a podcast?”. I thought it was a great idea.At the time I was also interested in getting better at doing hard stuff. People talk about manifesting dreams. It’s really hard work and most give up. So I decided to interview people about how they take on and overcome challenges. I found talking about their journey and the practicality of doing the hard work fascinating.I convinced a couple of my mates to be interviewed. Next I showed up at a Shameless Soapbox event in Wellington and asked for people interested in being interviewed. I got a couple of takers. Then it started to snowball with recommendations and introductions. It was super uncomfortable for me to start with, which was the whole point.From episode 15 to 20 is when I started to talk to people that I didn't really know. In a bookstore I browsed through a book and found a professional surfer who battled with leukaemia called Matt Scorringe. Google is amazing. I searched for Matt and flicked him a message about the podcast and asked for an interview. He said” Yes!”It was uncomfortable. I was jumping into the unknown. I just had to think, “What's the worst that can happen here? Someone that I don't know says no.”I interviewed Laura Langman recently. She’s the captain of the Silver Ferns. She was introduced by a mutual friend. I don't think I would have interviewed Laura without AJ’s introduction.I talked with James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, a New York Times bestselling book that sold millions. I think it was just serendipitous with him. He was marketing his book and I was on his mailing list. Even though I felt James was way out of my league, I sent him a message asking if he would be happy to record answers to three questions. James replied, “Yes, but don’t you want to do a full interview?”It's often cooler interviewing regular people. It's more of a conversation. People often ask me to send through the interview questions beforehand. But I haven't really enjoyed this process nearly as much. I know what I'm going to ask next, so I'm not listening to the interviewee so well. Someone asked for my questions recently. I replied with “I don't have any. Here’s the topics that I'd like to talk about”. I've never had anyone say no to that.Q2 HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?I found technology around the recording, audio editing and setting up long distance based interviews challenging. I use Zoom now and it’s super easy. When I started I was using multiple apps and sometimes struggling to get them to talk with eachother. When a guest updated their particular app sometimes it would all break. I spent too many hours on Google trying to fix technical difficulties. This was the least interesting part of the process for me. And also super frustrating.I've lost a couple of interviews and messed up the recording. I had to go back to them and say, “Hey, I stuffed up here, can we record again?”I've also released some awkward audio. I’ve just warned the listeners that the audio isn’t as crisp as it usually is and to listen a little harder. Generally listeners have responded that they don't mind the audio quality. Even though it wasn’t great, it made them focus on the conversation and get more from it.Q3 WAS THERE A TIME YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?I've never seriously considered giving up for good. When my son was born three months early, it was pretty stressful. He was in hospital for 99 days. I had this marvellous plan to stockpile several months worth of interviews and release them when he arrived. We hadn’t been to our first anti-natal class when he arrived. It really threw a spanner in the works. I took a couple of weeks off from the podcast. I realised that I wanted to keep going with it, it was something I really wanted to do. But, I needed to rethink my process.I changed from two to one episode per week. An interview one week, a solo episode the next. It took the pressure off. It was a time of introspection. The material for solo episodes was there, I just had to spew it forth. I also hired a podcast editor at that time. I needed to free up time and I didn’t enjoy the editing.Yes, that was the toughest time for me to keep going. After my son had been around for six months I revisited the schedule and decide what I wanted to do with the podcast. There’s so many fascinating people out there, I decided to go back to weekly interviews. I'm never going to be able to talk to enough of them with fortnightly interviews. I've released over 260 episodes now.Sometimes I have an amazing interview. But it’s only received reasonably well, some good feedback, less downloads than I expected. Then I’ll release an episode with a solid conversation, nothing special and it goes crazy. So attaching my subjective opinion doesn't always equate to how people receive it. Something I've learned over the process. I shouldn't put my opinions on what everyone else enjoys. Sometimes I learn things as well when I release an episode that I’m not 100% sure about and it does well. That’s cool, let's pull on that thread a little bit more and see what happens.Q4 WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?Chasing faster growth for the podcast, thinking “I want this to explode.” It’s only just now, after a three and a half year process, that I've actually started offering coaching around the concepts learned from the podcast. Now I want the coaching to grow faster also.I explored loads of growth hacks, but nothing really beats putting in the hard work. I’ve just been a bit impatient and want to be further along than I am, instead of enjoying the process. I feel this is something from a societal perspective. We live in a time with gratification at our fingertips. I can buy a book on Amazon and within seconds it’s on my Kindle. I can click a button on my phone and 20 minutes later some dude on a scooter shows up with a burger.Society is set up at the moment where we are sold the idea of comfort. Everything is made to be easier, keeping us in our comfort zone. That's not where life is fulfilling. It makes it challenging to take the hard option. But that's where growth and the exciting stuff lies. Because we're primed to be comfortable so often, we don't train ourselves to deal with discomfort.Working on challenging projects has the potential to change our lives forever. I guess that’s what I'm doing with the podcast in terms of the people I speak with, the ideas we discuss and the opportunities that then present themselves. My growth from running the podcast has been massive. I'm a guy in my mid-thirties. You become more self-aware at this age. Though, I don't know if I'd be in the same position now, if I didn't run the podcast. It's accelerated things.I've talked with many people who have challenged my worldview. With the background of a science-based degree, I was looking for black or white, but really everything's just different shades of grey. So now I'm a lot more open to the worldview of others. I ask the question “what strategies do you use to approach uncomfortable situations?” I now have all of these strategies that I can put in place whenever I face ‘hard stuff’. It's pretty awesome actually and I'm writing a book on the subject now.So the growth has been massive for my confidence. Realising that other people don't care about what you're doing, as much as you care about it. They’re not agonising in their heads over everything that you do. Let go of what other people think. If you have a cool idea then give it a go. As opposed to doing nothing because of what some people may think. You’re just holding yourself back from experiencing something potentially interesting.Q5 WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?The way that I think about motivation has changed over time. Anyone can watch a Gary Vaynerchuk YouTube video. He's awesome and he'll fire you up for half a day or so. But it's like throwing a bit of kindling on the fire as opposed to a big bit of timber that’l do a long burn.So, there are three different aspects of motivation, internal motivation, external motivation and social motivation.Internal motivation comes back to self-awareness. “What do I enjoy doing?”. For me it’s connecting, having interesting conversations and discussing interesting ideas with people. I love learning, teaching, being creative and being in control of the process. The podcast gives me all of that.External motivation is probably a little bit more narcissistic. I want to have an impact and to change the world for the better. I can do that as a physio, seeing one person at a time. Or for more impact I can host a podcast, coaching people to get out of their own way. Helping them get better at doing ‘the hard stuff’ that's going to make life exciting for them. And from that they’ll start some cool stuff that's going to have a positive impact on the world. Creating a ripple effect that upscales the impact that I have.Social motivation. When I started the podcast the social motivation was to help people. Helping peopl

In this interview I talk with Gillian Brookes, the founder of My Kids Village.Gillian describes herself as a social entrepreneur. She’s also a human resourses professional. Gillian’s passion project is to fix the disconnect between full-time working parents and the traditional 9-5 workplace.My Kids Village is an online platform for parents to easily find local childcare options.Gillian fondly calls My Kids Village a sticky plaster. Put in place while she educates New Zealand’s companies on the benefits for a flexible work environment.WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?To make parents' lives easier, particularly working parents. There’s a big disconnect between school and work life. Those systems were never designed to co-exist. I kept hearing from parents with older kids, “Enjoy the last year of daycare, it's all about to get really hard." School for working parents is a logistical nightmare. You need to figure out before- and after-school care. Then there’s the school holidays. I wondered why it's left to the parents to solve this problem. It impacts so many Kiwi families. Everybody is dealing with exactly the same challenge and yet we treat it like it's a private problem. That annoys me.We're not going to change the education or the employment system overnight. That's the bigger game. In the meantime, My Kids Village helps parents by showing them the local childcare options available. Parents can just literally go to My Kids Village, click search, select the area they live in, and then type of provider that they need.My Kids Village is a social enterprise. A business with a social goal at our core. Not a profit motive. Social enterprise is similar to a charity in that it's mission driven. My Kids Village wasn’t set up as a charity to avoid lengthy legislation and constraints. I wanted to just to get going and solve the problem. I personally funded the initial build of the website. One of the unique things about My Kids Village is that we don't charge for prominent profiles. This levels the playing field between the community based not-for-profits and the large providers with huge marketing budgets. Sam and I are motivated to give visibility to those providers that wouldn't otherwise have it.Sam is my partner at My Kids Village. She found the site as she approached the end of her parental leave and was searching for childcare. With a background in sales and marketing, she has really helped improve My Kids Village. We've now launched across the whole country and started blogging. The blog has been very important for increasing our traffic. Posting useful content means that parents keep returning to the site. We have amazing support from Nettl, our web provider. They understand we’re a community project.HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?When parents or providers don’t have much interest in what we are doing, it's disappointing.Some providers have waiting lists for their childcare centres. Even though there's no cost to join My Kids Village, there's no point in them even investing the time.I realise that I shouldn’t be going for one hundred percent coverage here. If I can get to a tipping point with enough providers to become a really valuable hub, with high visibility, then they will sign up anyway. I'm not at that tipping point yet. There are now providers on My Kids Village who have signed up that we never contacted. That is great.One of the core problems that needs solving is irregular child care. Think holiday programs. They’re not constant. It doesn't become part of your day to day routine like after school clubs or an early learning childcare. With these, once set up, they stay in place for a long time. You don’t have to think about them. Holiday programs can be a bit of a logistical nightmare.So, setbacks are mainly from expectations not being met. There are loads of those. For example, you write a blog, and you think, "I really like this one." Sometimes the post gets lots of traction. Other times it doesn’t. I'm learning to hold it a bit lighter, not to take everything personally. The experimental mindset really helps. When something doesn’t happen as expected I just tell myself, "Oh, that was an interesting lesson.”Another big thing, don't say, "should." Try and ban the word "should." Either say "I could," or "what if." That kind of language is much more helpful. “Should" just makes me feel bad about the things I'm not doing, adding to guilt. No parent with small children needs more guilt in their life.WAS THERE A TIME THAT YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?Yes, but never for very long. Just five-minute frustrations such as, ‘’Damn, why is this so hard?’’. Particularly when this isn't the only thing that I'm doing. That's the biggest challenge. If I didn't need an income and I could just spend all my time on My Kids Village. That would be amazing. But that's not my reality. I work and I’m a parent. So I practice resetting my expectations and just being a bit kinder to myself.WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?My Kids Village is my passion project. While discussing with friends what I've learned from running a social enterprise, I described it as a cycle of traction, slump, repeat. The trick for me is learning how to get out the slump and back to traction faster. Being an extrovert, I find having a good old chat helps me tune back into my motivation. Then identifying just one task and focusing on it. That's really important. I’m now better at asking for help or discussing my ideas with other people.WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?Making sure that the domestic role that women traditionally held is valued. I think this is the core of the whole problem. The only way to solve this is at a national level is by recognising the challenge that every family has to deal with on their own. It needs to be acknowledged that the work and education systems weren't designed to fit. Now, predominantly it's working mums who are left with ‘’the childcare nightmare.’’ That's the story I hear consistently while talking to parents in this situation. I don't want this to be the experience of my kids. I want it to have shifted dramatically by the time they have their families.That's the goal. More gender equality. Gender shouldn't determine your role and economic potential. I feel lucky. My husband's an awesome feminist. I would love for everybody to have that kind of situation.So when I have my overwhelmed moments of, "Oh, that's a bit too hard. What did I start this for?" Then I reconsider and realise that this is really important. If I don't do it, if I don't just keep trying, I'll never know if I could have helped be part of the conversation.CAN YOU DESCRIBE A BREAKTHROUGH THAT YOU'RE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF?There are two.The first was launching My Kids Village and having it transform from an idea to reality. Within the first week I had providers signing up. That was such an amazing experience.The second breakthrough was building a partnership with Playcentre. They really understand the challenges parents have today. Our values really are in alignment. Forming partnerships are important for building shared understanding of the problems that we are solving.I have no delusions that it's going to be solved by a single person or organisation. I often describe My Kids Village as a sticking plaster over the bigger problem. I ultimately want it to shift gears from finding providers for daycare, to "Here are all your options for your kids” - in a much more positive context.By a long stretch we are not there yet. I gave up my job a few months ago for exactly that reason. I'm now working with organisations to design and build flexible workplaces. That's part of the solution. How do we encourage more employers to recognise the value they’re losing by being too rigid in the way they expect people to engage with delivering their job. Because employment is very input focused, the transaction is based on hours served for money. Actually, that's part of the bigger problem too. That's not a situation unique to New Zealand. I can’t change the legislation overnight. I can use my skills as an HR professional, supporting businesses to be more flexible in how they engage with their workforce.There are some high profile companies with the four-day working week. The Perpetual Guardian pioneered it in New Zealand. Then Microsoft Japan, trialed it for a month and saw a 40% productivity increase. Who isn’t interested in that?! That's the conversation I'm having with my clients. The four-day working week came from New Zealand and we're not doing anything with it. I'd love it if we did. When talking to clients about the flexible work place, I say "Standing still on this is actually moving backwards". Employee’s expectations are shifting. It’s not as if we’re shutting up shop on Fridays. Instead of 40 hours of contracted weekly hours, it's 32. The idea is that to get that extra eight hours away from the workplace, you've got to find ways of delivering and being more productive.In my experience, people know their jobs really well. They can see what’s getting in the way. Give them permission to rip it out and design it in the way that they know will work better, they will do that for you. Especially if it means that they get a day off. That's the incentive. So it's brilliant, and the results are stunning and not just in productivity, but it reduces stress also.So if I can build My Kids Village as well as building a more flexible working practice, then it gives me a cohesive story.WHAT DO YOU SEE AS BEING YOUR BIGGEST LESSON?Progress, not perfection. I think anyone who knows me will probably laugh. They’ll say, ‘’She's not a perfectionist.’’ And they're right. I'm not. But letting go and focusing on what I can do, the contribution I want to make, just doing something. That's my biggest lesson.WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY IF YOU HAD TO START AGAIN FROM SCRATCH?I'd have not held it too tightly. I was a bit too earnest in the early days. Telling myself, ‘’Right, you started this, crack on, it's no one else's problem.’’Asking for help and having someone to talk this stuff through with has made the biggest difference for sure. It seems that successful start-up founders have som

FELIX IS THE FOUNDER OF OPOLYA tech startup with its sites set on disrupting Real Estate investing in New Zealand using blockchain technology and crowd funding. Felix also co-organises one of the largest local meetup groups boasting 1200 members, Blockchain NZ (Wellington).While auditing software for other companies and startups, Felix felt the urge to create something of his own. So, Opoly was conceived, an app providing affordable access to property investing.WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?Traditionally, to invest in property, you have two options, cash or debt. We wanted to create a third and much more accessible way. Property investing with other people in a way similar to crowdfunding. Our goal with Opoly is to provide the lowest entry barrier for anyone to earn better amounts of interest on their savings.We want to democratise ownership of property and create a way to allow greater participation. Properties sold on our platform are split up into a thousand blocks. We call it blockifying your property. Investing in a $500,000 property will cost as little as $500.It's not a timeshare. People own a percentage of the investment property. In addition to that, they make money from rent earned.We get a property management company to look after each of these properties. They would take a small cut for doing that.In exchange for providing that service, our users don't have the usual rental property headaches. They can just sit back and watch their investments over time.A part of what we're creating with Opoly is not only a process for people to sell their property, but also a marketplace where each of the property blocks can then be exchanged after the deal has gone through.For example, if I have 100 blocks sitting on my Opoly wallet for a particular property. I could assign some or all of my blocks for somebody else to purchase.Opoly offers a way to sell your property at a lower cost than a traditional real estate agent. Our fee is 1%, as opposed to the general average being around 3 to 4 %. Essentially, we want give somebody selling their property more flexibility. For example, a $1 million property listed on the platform would have a crowdfunding deadline. Once the deadline expires, if there has been $750,000 raised and the seller didn't achieve their $1 million goal, they could still choose to accept amount raised and keep the difference. In this case, the 25% or the 250 blocks they would retain, and they could then sell later on if they wanted.Opoly isn’t live yet. We've still developing the platform. Right now, we have a minimum viable product. To go live with Opoly, we first need to acquire a crowdfunding license. The FMA (Financial Markets Authority) in New Zealand are the ones are responsible for issuing that. We’re currently going through the application process and will have a crowdfunding license by the end of the year (2019), if not very early next year (2020). It involves paying a fee to get the license, prove that our process is rigorous and proving that our technology is secure.Because we're leveraging blockchain technology, there's a little bit of education involved. Blockchain technology has proven itself to be more secure than traditional systems. Look at Bitcoin as an example, it has lasted ten years already as an alternative financial system. We are using very similar technology for recording the ownership of our properties. We're using the second-largest cryptocurrency or a public blockchain system, called Ethereum.Ethereum has something exciting and unique called smart contracts. Every time somebody buys or sells one of our property blocks, the transaction is recorded to the Ethereum blockchain. The transaction can be looked up. It's self-auditing because it's being verified by computers all over the world.Ethereum smart contracts can't be compromised because transaction logged is incentivised. Every ledger has the incentive to report the absolute truth of all transactions because they get paid for it. If somebody tried to include a fake transaction or update, their attempt would not be included in the blockchain, and they wouldn't be paid for it. They would actually be losing economic value for doing this.HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?In the beginning, there was a real focus on just the technology itself. This hindered the ability to focus on the business itself. We have our MVP (Minimum Viable Product), but there’s still so much to do to get Opoly to the market as a live product.I wouldn't say so much it's been a setback, just a realisation of the importance to focus on the big picture. And not just the really cool tech stuff, which we enjoy the most. We’re careful with what we focus on and where we put our time.Recently I've been learning about the financial and regulatory laws here in New Zealand. I'm learning about what a crowdfunding license is and things that you need to do to get it. It's a whole list of things I had no idea about previously. A whole new focus area for me.When I’m really determined to succeed, I’ll find myself doing things that aren't necessarily my strengths. But I’ll go through them anyway in order to make sure my goal is met.WAS THERE A TIME THAT YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?I would say there has never been a time where I've wanted to give up. But that's because there’s nothing I'd rather be working on right now. I feel passionate about what we're trying to do with Opoly.So, no, I can't say that I have had that feeling of wanting to give up. There have definitely been times when it's felt difficult. But usually, this is something that I use as fuel. I just carrying on and go through it anyway.I have struggled when my technological expertise wasn't up to standard to complete a task. So I sought to find people who had that experience and got them on board. The people I approached really saw the vision and joined Opoly with the same level of passion and enthusiasm as me.WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?I listen to YouTube personalities. People like Gary Vaynerchuk and Ryan Serhant.Ryan Serhant is from the TV show, Million Dollar Listing New York. And he's very much a hustler and salesman. He sells property and has great advice on presenting yourself in public and speaking engagements.Gary Vaynerchuk is a social media influencer with a lot of great advice on how to spread your brand online. I think he's demonstrated that quite successfully. So I like to emulate some of the things that he's doing.I listen to the Joe Rogan podcast and David Goggins is somebody that I've been listening to for motivation.I look at all of these people as if they were mentors. Even though I've never met them, I think they share a lot of valuable knowledge that anyone in the startup world could benefit from.CAN YOU DESCRIBE A BREAKTHROUGH THAT YOU'RE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF?Finding a group of people who have the same vision and passion as me for Opoly. The people involved so far have been the reason why I’ve been able to continue. I would say that's been the biggest breakthrough. I’ve learned that networking is extremely important. I met all of these people through either networking or working with them previously. There are meetups where you can find like-minded people. It's all about being open to meeting new people and getting yourself out there.I co-founded the Blockchain Wellington meetup. We have just past 1300 members and we’re one of the bigger meetups in Wellington. There's a lot of tech geeks in Wellington working on nerdy stuff.I should plug the Blockchain Association of New Zealand that was recently set up. They're working towards educating businesses and government on blockchain technology, implications for use and its future.HAS YOUR VISION ALWAYS BEEN CLEAR AND HOW IS IT EVOLVED?It's always been clear that Opoly would be a way to enable greater access for people to invest in property on their own.I actually came up with the name Opoly by looking up what is the opposite of a monopoly. And one word that came up was ‘polyopoly’. So originally, I was thinking of calling the app ’polyopoly’. I realised that might be a bit of a mouthful. So I shortened it to Opoly.One of our biggest motivations is interest rates in New Zealand. Even just recently, they have been cut by a half percent. So, the base rate now is 0.25%.Essentially, if we can create a solution where anyone with spare savings can just download an app and invest that into property, we feel pretty confident that in most cases, this could be a great alternative to grow your savings.WHAT HAVE YOU IMPLEMENTED FOR YOUR BRAND? WHAT WAS THE IMPACT?Brand to me is connecting with an audience and creating a point of difference where people can resonate with you. It's about having something that's clear to your audience.We've been implementing an awareness campaign. We joined the New Zealand Blockchain Association. A lot of New Zealand companies have joined. We were able to get recognised by these businesses as an early adopter of blockchain technology.DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR OTHERS STRIVING TO IMPROVE THEIR BRAND?In the end, it all comes down to getting your brand out there. Just go out there as much as possible and talk to as many people as you can about what you do and why. Connect with your audience or potential users as well. Ask them what it is they're looking for. If it resonates with you, then use that feedback and incorporate it into your brand.CONNECT WITH FELIXIf you have enjoyed this article and want to start a conversation with Felix, reach out by:Website: opoly.one
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/felix-watkins/
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STEVO WILL TELL YOU THAT HE’S NO ENTREPRENEUR. BUT……Stevo’s the director of Ocular. A company that he started 14 years ago, now boasting a staff of 15, including Boris, Ocular’s Embassadog.Their website says “We don't work for clients, we work with partners.”Ocular is the guide, helping partners discover or refine their particular voice, story or brand. Effectively connecting those partners to their customers using video, web and print.“We’re not smart, not fancy, not cool. We’re honest”It all started when Stevo asked his flatmate Paul, “How do we make a video?” Paul answered “We need a camera and a computer” So they bought them. This launched Ocular into film making and their first project, a video about Wellington. It didn’t make them rich, but it ended up being great way to meet people from the city and hone their craft.WHAT WAS YOUR VISION WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR VENTURE?My vision was to make a video about Wellington and sell it. I trained as an engineer, so I’m very pragmatic. We were working out of a tiny room in our flat and needed enough money to pay the rent and survive. I was doing a lot of website work at that time. So I had other income.The retailers we approached were surprised when we bought them the finished DVD. Apparently most people would never stick-it-out and deliver the finished product.I had this nebulous thought that eventually the internet will be the way we get served all our media. I kept thinking “man, we've got to really be across this.” I was aware that technology was changing so quickly. The vision was that we’re on the wave, paddling in. Now we’ve got the choice, fall off the back or go on face and have a crack at it. I think we're still doing that. But now the waves are bigger and the sets are a little bit shittier.There's way more confusion now. People talking about ‘the next big thing’ without thinking about why or if it even should be.At the start videos weren't really going on websites. Internet connections were slow. There was YouTube, but it was pretty painful watching anything and it was low resolution. I could see video and websites would end up in the same place. If your website, magazine and video are all made by different people, generally they won’t be talking to each other. Big agencies would have a brand manager. But the smaller places with tight budgets may not be as cohesive. So that was my vision. Cohesive channels.The essence of brand is not just the ‘look and feel’. It's actually what do you stand for? Your values and how you live them.You can do that so much with a video. The style, whether it's a documentary or acted. You choose how it's coloured, how the shots are composed, the music. If it's an interview you choose the questions, how you build rapport or not, the way you ask the questions.I still really stand by this. It's really a struggle for someone who doesn't know a brand to come in and make a video for that brand. We're not really disrupting that much. We do pivot like any other businesses do. If you stagnate and do things the same way, others will pass you by. You’ll miss the boat and not be offering better value.HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH EARLY SETBACKS?Oh God, constant setbacks, cashflow is the biggest one. It's probably the number one stress that pops its head up all the time.We’ll do a big project, but then that means that we don’t get paid for a while. We do lots of small projects, people don't pay and then we’re short on cash. There have been periods when this has happened. There was once an enormous setback. We produced a TV show that had been pretty well received. We went to make a second season. We worked with producer in another city who screwed us out of quite a lot of money and stole our ideas.There’s always setbacks in business. Generally I would say I’m a pessimist, but I’m actually quite optimistic. Maybe the middle ground is being a ‘realist’. Don’t count your chickens. Don’t assume just because a piece of work has been promised that it will actually turn into a contract and the money will appear.I’ve got a lot better and make sure that we don’t put all our eggs into one basket now. It’s why our services are varied and that we have a wide range of clients. Now we only work after being paid a deposit. If no deposit, then the payment terms are pretty close. We’re not going to wait two months before being paid. Work spanning over multiple months must have regular payments. Just to make sure we’re not wearing extra months of work. Maybe we could handle loosing a month of work, but not two or three.I generally try to solve the client’s problems for them. Sometimes that puts us out to do it. But that speaks to our values. We want to help them out. There was an expression a few years ago… ‘brand butlering’. It’s when we’re available with the right solution just when they need us. Some companies get that, think we’re fantastic, play it forward with more work. Others take it for granted. Don’t see that we wear the costs and that they never really had the right to demand that extra work in the first place.WAS THERE A TIME THAT YOU WANTED TO GIVE UP?Yes… pretty much every day ;)Look, I’ve got a youngest family. So it's always a desire to spend a lot more time with them or not spend any time with them. Starting a small business you're optimistic. You think wow, this is going to be so great, I can really create my lifestyle. Maybe some people achieve that. But when you’re very hands-on in a small business, the phone's never off. Even when you're not at work.With websites in particular, any hour, day or night, something can go wrong. It's completely out of your control, hacks or internet outages. Generally hacks can be prevented by increasing security. But there’s not much you can do if a bulldozer digs up a power cable outside the server centre.Advancing technology helps with more ways to keep websites online. If a hosting server has problems, the website will just keep running from another server centre.Are times when I want to exit? Yes, definitely. The cool thing about Ocular now is that I probably could exit. I've got a really cool management team. We’ve recently looked at Ocular’s structure, position, vision and values. We’ve got people in place who are congruous of what Ocular’s trying to achieve. If I did walk away, they would only have a week or two of pain, before they work it all out.WERE THERE ANY TRAPS THAT YOU FELL INTO?Optimism is one of the big ones.Lots of people have ideas. Not that many people can execute their ideas or deliver them to a customer base willing to pay.There's been two businesses that we've built technology in exchange for a share. One is still operating. The other one wasn’t launched unfortunately. We weren’t involved with the marketing. I would probably be a bit more controlling about that now. Marketing is such a large discipline now. I wouldn’t do it internally because we wouldn’t be doing the project justice. We have digital marketing partners who we’d use instead.Other traps? A lot of it comes to cash flow. For a long time I didn’t have any debt. That was a real struggle. We were paying for things from the next project being delivered. Having some more financial knowledge or an accountant with a focus on business development would have helped. We would have to win new work to pay for new equipment. Sometimes you can’t wait for the new project. You actually needed the equipment in order to win that project. This involves getting loans or overdrafts. We’ve realised that we didn’t necessarily need to own. Sometimes we should hire, depending on what we need to achieve.When we moved into this space it was a really big commitment. I'm guaranteeing the rent for three years for a really expensive, but beautiful, office on the beach.We've got more than enough space and really good heating. The previous office wasn't comfortable. It was ridiculous. We actually bought blankets for the team. So this office has cooling in the summer and heating for the winter. That's a huge thing because if our people are unhappy then that's what they focus on, not their work.People make the business really important. Who don’t just get their work done, but also think about other things.One of the guys has been pushing me really hard on this new technology. I just don't understand it, but it's a new infrastructure system for how the internet will work. It's the bare minimum that we should be offering to clients. He'll drive and make sure we can do that in the next year.WHAT INSPIRES AND MOTIVATES YOU?It's a very hard question because it does change. Our business values are Accountability, Communications, Trust and Fun. We have some posters up in the office that summarises our values relatively well.‘Don't be a dick.’ - That talks to Trust, Accountability and Communications.‘Make epic stuff.’ - Which is about aspiration. We shouldn’t be just making stuff, it should be epic.‘Get shit done.’ - Really important and the most business orientated. Being able to start and then finish projects is pretty valuable.CAN YOU DESCRIBE A BREAKTHROUGH THAT YOU'RE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF?The first TV series that I made, a professional wrestling show. It was thirteen episodes, made for very little money. We had a really good crew of people, who pulled together to get it done. We pushed the TV network to get us the show, we pushed for sponsorship. Brute force really. We filmed it all over three days. We converted a warehouse in New Town into a wrestling arena. Shipped the crowd in and filmed the wrestling matches. Anyone could get to in watch. Even the landlord of the building was in the front row. Forever enshrined holding up a ‘Kill I’m’ sign. We made up all the signs for the crowd.Technology's moved on so much now. We had to shoot these wrestling matches, but they had to be under 60 Minutes of tape. We had four cameras all running tape. We had piles of tape. Now it's all digital, hard drives, you can film for hours.I think the achievement of actually delivering 13 episodes was a big push for a small team. We had one editor, myself, four cameramen and a sound engineer at home slapping his chest to record Folly. Really a seat-of-the-pants. But we got it made and it looked good.We rebranded and

Getrude describes herself as a social serial entrepreneur. Others have described her as ‘a vibrant bundle of African energy’.With a life time of reinvention, Getrude has been a Systems Analyst, Project Manager, Actress, Student, Fashion Designer and Seamstress, Property Mogul, Founder and CEO of a Medical Recruitment Agency, an African Extra’s Talent Agency owner, Inspirational Speaker, Author and more.Getrude’s latest passion is an empowerment conference with a big goal. HerStory, a social change project, aims to host 1000 conferences to empower, connect and create community for 1 million women world wide.After being introduced to Getrude and learning about HerStory, inviting her to participate in the Wellington Hustle project was a no brainer. It seemed that sharing insights and inspiring entrepreneurs is what Getrude was born to do. During the interview she talked passionately for well over an hour about her whole story. As a past TEDx speaker, Getrude was definitely not short of flare.Originally from Zimbabwe, Getrude settled in Wellington, New Zealand in 2001. The HerStory Empowerment Conference was founded in 2019, and has already taken on a life of its own.What was your vision when you first started your venture?My vision is to change the world one person at a time, one woman at a time, one child at a time.It feels easy, the path of least resistance. I’m learning that less is more. I just have to be the source of inspiration.When I started, it felt I was holding a bunch of twigs, I lit a match, now I have a bonfire. HerStory is now much bigger than me, taking on a life of it’s own. All the participating women are now co-creating HerStory with me. It's not mine, its ours. I have no control over it now, it's creating itself. Even if I was to die today I know that HerStory will continue without me.The Ubuntu philosophy “We are one” is the ethos of the HerStory conference. We are cells of the same organism. There’s no you, there’s no me.The human race is like the human body. If you cut your finger, your white blood cells rush to heal it. In a week's time you can't see the scar. This is how we’re working together for HerStory.We’re creating a living legacy. Some create legacies, leaving a chunk of change when they're dead. I want to see it while I'm alive. I'm 52 today. Can you imagine what I can do in the next 40 years?How did you deal with early setbacks?When I have setbacks, I know that I'm going the wrong way. If something doesn't go according to my plan, I've learned to not resist or resent it. I just realise I’m going in the wrong way. Whenever I hit rock bottom, I know that the only way from here is up. I get excited. It's happened so many times.Life is cyclical, it comes in waves. There’s ups and downs. When you learn to ride those waves, life becomes very easy.But you have to decide how long you stay down? So you either dust yourself off and just keep going or you can stay down and wallow with it.That's not who I am. Magical things happen when you step in the direction of your dreams. You don't have to see the whole road to get there, you just have to feel that there is something there. My biggest gift, I'm a visionary. I’m shown the end picture of things very clearly.If there is something that I want, I don’t worry about the money to get it. I focus on the end picture. Then the money and the people show up.The people who’ve come into my life have helped me create everything. Being strong at visualisation. Most people struggle with this because they don’t have a clear vision. They get so caught up with “I don't have the money, skills or time”.On finishing film school I had to give a speech and before hand I’d had a premonition. I had died and my body was being lowered into the ground. My eulogy was being read, describing everything that I’d achieved in this life. One thing to stand out was that I'm to be the first African woman to write, direct and produce an Oscar award-winning screenplay.I have seen it, I have felt it and I have held that Oscar. I need to catch up with my future self. I’ve started declaring it in all my speeches. “I am the first African woman to write, direct and produce an Oscar award winning screenplay”. The first time I declared this, I was shaking. Second time, by god it felt so real. The third time, I knew that having that level of clarity, faith and belief is what does it. Everything else is just detail. But people will start with the how and kill their dreams before they start.Was there a time that you wanted to give up?When I decided to leave my husband. I was severely depressed and suicidal. I was 17 when we met. I knew I was going to get married to this guy.I thought I would die with him. We grew apart. The last five years were just absolute hell. I started having a recurring dream. When I woke up in the morning, I would feel like I am digging myself out of the grave with a teaspoon. The dream was that I had committed suicide on my balcony using my fluffy pink night robe cord to hang myself. My kids come home from school and they see me dangling on the driveway.I thought, “I could never do this to my kids”. I felt like I had actually done it. After dreaming this for the third time, I just my packed my bags. I just did not want to be here anymore. But I couldn't do that to my kids. They’re the reason why I'm still here, the reason why I live.Just before this happened, I had visited the State's to speak at a conference. On the way home I stopped off in Sydney to meet my sister's new fianće for the first time. I arrived back in Wellington airport, my sister called to say “Get the next plane back, Don has had a heart attack!”I remember sitting in ICU, next to this man I had met just met and thinking “life is just so short”. I called my husband to say “I can't do this anymore. I've got to leave. We’re not happy and I'm starting to hate you. I want to be able to come to our children's weddings and still be friends.”And he said “Getrude, I agree with you”Our divorce was so amicable. We went down to the Magistrate Court, paid $200 and a month later it was done. And we're still good friends.Were there any traps that you fell into?I'm a very trustworthy person, looking for the goodness in every one.In the creation of HerStory the biggest trap I fell into was getting so excited about all the woman wanting to participate as chairpersons. I wasn't screening them. I ended up giving one woman my New Mexico and Granda databases.We had recruited one hundred speakers when someone asked if I had protected the HerStory idea. I had started trademarking, but it was still a work in progress. She suggested that I get people to sign Non Disclosure and Non-Compete Agreements.So I sent it out the agreements and one woman refused to sign, saying that it would block her. The agreements just say not to use the HerStory conference brand elsewhere.Next thing I know she had started a conference in New Mexico called HerStory. I though, I either fight it and get sucked into negativity or let her go ahead. The people who know me in New Mexico will know it's not my conference. I sent an email to everybody in the database and now she's canceled.I had another woman, very excited, she took on Las Vegas, Miami and Manila and got everything fully sponsors immediately.I should have known. Something felt wrong when from the start. But I brushed away my intuition. Yesterday she sends me an email stating “You're welcome to come to the conference, but we've decided not to use your brand.” “I have heard certain things and I'm not sure I should be working with you.”I had to file for bankruptcy in the past and I've been through financial challenges. But we’re not charging for people to host a HerStory conference.I wasn't taking any money for it. But I think she's just seen how big this thing is, and she wants a piece of the pie.I replied to her email, “Thank you so much for letting me know. I'll make my community aware that we are no longer working together. Please honour to the arrangement with the women who are already booked to speak.”She invited me to come along also. So, I’ve already bought my tickets and I’m going to speak about the whole Ubunutu philosophy.I was going to give that speech anyway. We can meet and she can look me in the eye and know what kind of a person I am.So trust. I'm a very trusting person. And it's tripped me up a couple of times, you know.What inspires and motivates you? My children.I'm motivated to leave this planet having created a better world for them. And my grandchildren or great-grandchildren.In everything I do they are my driving force. These little beings who see the goodness in you no matter whether I succeed or fail.It's my kids and I keep imagining when my son is a hundred years old. And he has children and great-grandchildren. He shows a video of me speaking at a conference somewhere. They see this crazy little African great-great-grandmother, who packed a suitcase and travelled to the other side of the world with three kids on her own.That's my motivation.Can you describe a breakthrough that you're particularly proud of?My biggest breakthrough in life is when I became a full expression of me. And it happened when I left my husband. There are no holds barred now. This is it and I want to show up in life that way.For 27 years I held back on a lot of things. We were very different people. I could see the house build. My husband had to see the bricks. We were just wired differently. I had made decisions based on his fears and opportunities were missed because of it.So, I am being a true expression of me. I think that is my biggest breakthrough.Can you describe a breakthrough that you're particularly proud of?My biggest breakthrough in life is when I became a full expression of me. And it happened when I left my husband. There are no holds barred now. This is it and I want to show up in life that way.For 27 years I held back on a lot of things. We were very different people. I could see the house build. My husband had to see the bricks. We were just wired differently. I had made decisions based on his fears and opportunities were missed because of it.So, I am being a true expression of me. I think that is my big