Karl Budge is a strategic sports leader who has played a key role building the ASB Classic, WTA, Australian Open and FIFA brands globally. Karl is about to bring one of the most exciting surf events New Zealand has ever had, the Corona Piha Pro. I know you will enjoy this interview, so be sure to subscribe and share this podcast with your network. …

Ezel Kokcu is a serial entrepreneur on to her third startup Passphere; an analytics registration platform for large scale events and theme parks. Ezel also co-founded STQRY; an exploration app for museums and cultural sites. She raised over $7 million in VC funding, and had over 800 customers on the books before selling the company in 2016. I know …

Nick Hyland and his business partner Jacksen Love are two amazing entrepreneurs taking on the world of last-mile transport through Flamingo Scooters. In the face of major competition from global companies like Lime and Uber, Flamingo Scooters already have over 1,200 scooters across 3 major cities in New Zealand. I know you will enjoy this interview…

Greig Brebner is the founder of BLUNT Umbrellas, a New Zealand company that has disrupted the umbrella category, by creating better performing and longer lasting umbrella. Greig is still deeply involved in the day to day running of the company, he is passionate about creating a better product, and he is always on the lookout for new ideas and impro…

Grant Difford founded Waking Giants in 2011, and this creative agency is growing from strength to strength. Grant talks to me about his massive ambition, the hard times that shaped his leadership and how he is keeping one eye on creativity and the other on entrepreneurship. I know you will enjoy this interview, so be sure to subscribe and share thi…

Jon Bostock has consistently succeeded at the toughest challenges presented by companies both large and small. Over the course of nearly a decade at General Electric, he reinvented the company’s sprawling appliances division, devising ways to grow share and profitability, all the while competing against an ever-increasing number of entrants. In 201…

As co-founder of two highly successful NZ start-ups – James Robinson has run the Marketing, IT and Finance teams of both businesses. With revenues exceeding 100 million, My Food Bag has changed the landscape of the online retail food sector. I know you will enjoy this interview, so be sure to subscribe and share this podcast with your network. Stay…

Catherine Wood is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ark Investment Management which runs $7.4 billion in assets. From Tesla to the latest innovators in healthcare, Cathie Wood always keeps her eye on the disruptors. In 2018, Cathie was recognised in Bloomberg’s Top 50 list of leaders who have defined global business. Cathie has spoken all …

Tony Falkenstein is the Founder and CEO of Just Life Group. This Auckland based entrepreneur's story is filled with wins and losses and an array of business ventures from fax machines, to watches to sunglasses and water coolers. This episode will challenge your mindset around failure and help you consider what you are prepared to lose when it all g…

This week I am speaking with Ben Forman the co-founder of Wrestler. Wrestler are a creative agency specialising in human centred storytelling.They have worked with the likes of Allbirds, Singapore Airlines, NZ Post and Kiwibank. From creating parody rap videos in high school Ben has come along way having been named this year on the Forbes Asia 30 U…

This we dive into the world of Mike Van De Elzen an internationally renowned chef and restaurateur. Mike started his career in the food industry at the age of 14 cleaning dishes, and over the last 30 plus years of his career has run and owned some of Auckland’s landmark restaurants. You are in for an interesting story this week and whether you are …

Pat Macfie is a creative leader who has just finished up as the Global Director of Media at Xero, ranked by Forbes as the Worlds Most Innovative Growth Companies. Pat has built up a reputation of building high performing global creative teams and has partnered with several premium global brands across his career. Pat is passionate about his culture…

Welcome to Episode 30 and the launch of Season 3 of Ground Breaking Podcast. This week I am speaking to Pablo Kraus the Managing Director of Ecostore. Ecostore was initially founded on being an environmentally friendly brand but have evolved into a full health and wellbeing brand. This year they were voted New Zealand's most authentic brand beating…

Welcome to another episode of Ground Breaking podcast. Did you know Only 4% of NZX 50 CEOs are women, that’s crazy and Alexia Hilbertidou is on mission to get more women to the boardroom table. Alexia founded GirlBoss New Zealand, an organisation that empowers the next generation of female changemakers. In just a few years, Girl Boss has over 10,50…

There are more cranes in Auckland at the moment than any city in the United States and with Auckland’s population set to increase to over 4 million people, the property industry is set to become even more competitive. This week I am speaking to Kiri Barfoot who serves as Director of Barfoot & Thompson. . Kiri joined Barfoot & Thompson in 1991 and r…

The dating app world is growing remarkably, at least a third of marriages last year started with online dating. Leigh Isaacson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Dig Dates, which is a pet technology company that runs Dig - The Dog Person's Dating App. Leigh and her sister Casey found a market in the booming pet industry, infusing the passion and commitme…

This week I speak to Aidan Kenealy the Director of Hole in One Ventures. Aidan co-founded EMGN.com in January 2014, EMGN quickly became one of the fastest growing websites in history, attracting over 30 million unique users per day by the end of its first year. By December 2015 the site was ranked in the top 10 US mobile websites and in the top 500…

Pic Picot is the CEO and Founder of Pic's Peanut Butter has gone from operating out of his garage to running a multi-million-dollar factory which sees more than 20 thousand jars a day exported. But before peanut butter, Pic had started probably more businesses than years I have been alive. Pic had a chat to me about his journey, what he has learnt …

The Thankyou story belongs to three kids from Melbourne who started out with nothing more than a belief in their ability to change the world. Driven, resourceful, humble and determined, those are just some of the words that came to mind after my interview with Daniel Flynn the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Thankyou. Thankyou, is a social ente…

Jake Millar is the Co-Founder and CEO of Unfiltered and is just as passionate as me about learning everything he can from some of the most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders out there. Unfiltered, offers video interviews with many of the world's leading entrepreneurs and business leaders, and has attracted 27 million video views and he h…

Michael Libes or “Luni” as he is more well known, is the Founder and Managing Director of Fledge. Luni is a US based serial entrepreneur, impact investor and an ecosystem builder. After watching graduates struggle to launch their mission-driven businesses, Luni founded Fledge, the Conscious Company accelerator. Each year Fledge runs a program with …

A New Year and a new season. I am super excited by what we have in store on Ground Breaking Podcast for Season Two. To kick off 2019 I wanted to share my interview with Ryan Sanders. Ryan was climbing the career ladder in a well-paid corporate job for the Royal Bank of Scotland when he realised something was missing and in 2007 after a year of plan…

I love doing an interview that changes the way I look at business and life. Nicholas Marchesi and Lucas Patchett Co-Founded Orange Sky Laundry in 2014. One day they had a crazy idea to throw a washing machine and a dryer in the back of a van and go and help out the homeless by doing their washing. In just four years they have: 27 vans across Austra…

Welcome to episode 19 of Ground Breaking Podcast. My guest this week, is Guy Ryan, the CEO and Founder of Inspiring Stories. Guy is an entrepreneur and a leader. He has built numerous ventures, both for-profit and charitable, and has built an impressive track record of programmes and partnerships that have helped support more than 6,000 young New Z…

Motion Sickness is an independent creative agency based in Auckland, New Zealand, shaking up the industry. This week Sam Stuchbury the Founder and Creative Director at Motion Sickness and 2018 Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list-maker, shares his thoughts on his journey from a tiny Dunedin flat to producing quality content for the who’s who of high-profil…

Robett Hollis is a passionately driven Entrepreneur. He founded a media business called FRONTSIDE, one of NZ's leading Content Consultancy & Video Production Agencies which in February 2018 officially joined forces with Saatchi&Saatchi. This company now sits (100%) under Publicis Groupe - The 3rd Largest Communications Company in the World with 80,…

Lisa Ison and Johanna Cotter are two amazing entrepreneurs who have a depth of digital expertise and have rapidly grown their business, Digital Commons. Digital Commons operates in both New Zealand and Australia with a team specialising in online and mobile media. I hope you enjoy this episode, be sure to subscribe and share it with your network. S…

New Zealand’s farming sector adopts new technology more quickly than many other countries around the world. Our emerging start-up ecosystem has been able to iterate quickly on-farm and is often driven by deep domain knowledge. Craig Piggott, the Founder and CEO of Halter, is one entrepreneur helping farmers embrace the digital revolution. Halter’s …

This episode I spoke with Chloe van Dyke the Founder and CEO of CHIA. CHIA aims to produce innovative nutrient rich options and encourages adventure. Chloe is involved in all aspects of the business from production through to sales. The brand is now widely distributed throughout New Zealand and is recognised as a leader in the beverage industry in …

This was my first time meeting someone who has been recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. This episode I speak to Sharndre Kushor, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Crimson Education. Sharndre along with her Co-Founder Jamie Beaton have turned a small Auckland based start-up in a global education company operating in 25 countries and v…

You are in for an awesome episode, as I speak to Vaughan Rowsell, the founder of Vend, a New Zealand high-growth tech success story, and founder of OMGTech! a charitable initiative to help kids into careers with future technology. Vaughan was EY's Tech Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014 and is a sought after speaker on numerous topics from startups, …

The United States accounts for more than 50% of the total skateboarding market and skateboarding is now a $4.8 billion dollar industry. Now imagine being 12 and getting the chance to appear on “Shark Tank” to pitch your skateboard business. And then imagine that Sir Richard Branson offers you $65,000 for a 20-percent stake in your company.This was …

Welcome to another amazing episode of Ground Breaking Podcast. Did you know... 2.7 Zettabytes of data exist in the digital universe today 149, 513 emails are sent every minute. 3,3 million (undoubtedly extremely insightful) Facebook posts are created every minute. 3.8 Google million searches are performed each minute. Each minute, 65,972 Instagram …

As careers go Anna Guenther is not doing half bad, with stints working for the New Zealand Government, MIT and a Masters in Entrepreneurship with a focus on crowdfunding. Anna is currently co-founder and Chief Bubble Blower of PledgeMe, New Zealand's first crowdfunding platform. Over five years PledgeMe has had over $15 million pledged and over 1,1…

This week's episode saw me speak with Ben Reynolds the Co-Founder and CEO of Spalk. Spalk's offices are based out of the Icehouse and I was amazed by the number of significant businesses that have been connected with this Trust. Spalk’s technology allows broadcasters and content owners to offer hundreds of different audio commentary options alongsi…

Welcome to another amazing episode of Ground Breaking Podcast. When it comes to the recruitment process and landing the ideal hire it can seem like a daunting and nearly impossible task. This week I am talking with Dale Clareburt the founder and CEO of a high-growth kiwi tech company called Weirdly. Dale describes herself as a business Leader, a HR…

I'm super excited this week as I got to meet a princess. Well the Slime Princess. Katharina Weischede is twelve and passionate about slime and putting smiles on peoples faces. Katharina runs a physical and an online store and has expanded to sell Slime Princess merchandise. She has built an awesome brand and is well worth following on Instragram. I…

Hi everyone, Welcome to another week and another episode of Ground Breaking Podcast. This week I speak with Ashutosh Sharma, the CEO and Founder of Sparx Exchange. In a world of AR, VR, cryptocurrency, blockchain and the ecommerce frontier, Ash Sharma is working on some of the products for tomorrow. I was so glad to find some time with Ash who trav…

Welcome to epsiode 4 of Ground Breaking Podcast. This week I interviewed Will Hewitt the Managing Director of Ventworks. Will started his career in Nelson, while he was still attending school. He co-founded ThnkBot with his long-term mentor and friend Daniel Farley. ThnkBot produced educational robot kits. From robots to wireless sensing products, …

Welcome to our next episode, this week we are talking with Deanna Yang the Chief Cookie Officer of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar. If you have never tried one of Deanna’s cookies, can I encourage you to jump online and order a pack today, YUM! Deanna dreamt of opening her own Milk & Cookie shop since she was 8 years old. Deanna talks with me about the…

Welcome to our first episode, this week we are talking with Rees Vinsen the Founder and CEO of Adduco Media. Rees talks with me about starting his business at the age of 15-years-old. The incredibly hard transition from taking an idea and turning it into a real world business; all with no business experience and no capital. He shares his recipe for…

Welcome to Ground Breaking Podcast. I have a passion for business and when I started to work on my first business idea I thought I should learn as much as possible from those already blazing a trail ahead of me. Each week I'll connect with young entrepreneurs making an impact on the next generation of business. Guests will share the stories behind …