Andrew Young, Chief Executive of the Cancer Society’s Auckland Northland division join's Paul Spain to discuss his learnings over 20 years of leadership and governance in the business and charity sector. Andrew shares his journey, driven by personal loss and a commitment to reducing cancer’s impact. Listen and learn from a key New Zealand leader, p…

Julia Grace is an international speaker, educator, author and award-winning recording artist. In this episode Julia shares personal stories of overcoming mental health challenges and turning them into teachable moments. With practical tips for creating a support system, navigating workplace challenges, and the value of facing feedback constructivel…

Serge Van Dam is a renowned figure in New Zealand’s tech startup scene, with a diverse background in FinTech, PropertyTech, AI, and SaaS. Recognized as a fintech thought leader, Serge also invests in promising Kiwi software ventures, earning the Arch Angel Award for his substantial impact on the startup ecosystem. In the episode, Serge shares his p…

Sometimes I find myself in the throes of writing agony. I don’t like the term writers’ block because it implies a certain impermanence. But what is vernacularly referred to as writers’ block, is part and parcel of the creative act itself. Anyone who’s tried to do something creative for an extended period of time can vouch for this. No one can exact…

On this episode host Paul Spain is joined by Mitchell Pham, a Vietnamese-New Zealand Tech innovator and Strategic Advisor. Mitchell shares his remarkable journey from escaping Vietnam as a refugee to becoming a prominent entrepreneur and reflects on the pivotal moments that shaped his approach to business, including navigating crises, building resi…

I came across a novel that used food as tool for reflection into the life and mind of a few characters. Rachel Khong’s first novel Goodbye Vitamin, is about a woman who moves back home to care for her father, who has started to develop Alzheimer’s. And Khong meditates on this family by refocusing on their daily activities. From cooking to eating, t…

Misti Landtroop is the managing director for Palo Alto Networks in New Zealand, a key global cyber security leader. Misti has spent over 20 years in key leadership roles ranging from early stage start-ups through to Fortune 100 companies, including over a decade at Microsoft. Listen as Misti shares her insights on leadership, career challenges, and…

In this episode Stew Darling, founder of Unstoppable Force, shares invaluable insights drawn from his military intelligence background and leadership expertise. From strategic interviewing techniques to the significance of resilience in high-stakes environments, Stew provides thought-provoking perspectives on decision-making, leadership, and person…

Jamie Hunt, founder of Pressio, co founder of 2XU and professional triathlete, shares his journey from athlete to entrepreneur. Discover how Jamie's unwavering passion for retail, ethical business practices, and innovative product development have propelled his ventures to international success.By Paul Spain

In August, West Virginia University announced that it would be dissolving its Department of World Languages, Literature and Linguistics. And a couple months after that, my school Middlebury College, chose to eliminate a faculty position in its creative writing department. As someone studying English Literature, and who cares deeply about the future…

Join host Paul Spain in conversation with digital marketing innovator, Ben Guerin, co-founder of the international agency Topham Guerin. Listen as they dive into the challenges and successes of agency growth, the power of social media marketing, and the emergence of platforms like TikTok. Ben shares insights on leveraging data, reaching new markets…

I read Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land when it first came out in November of 2020. That time was filled with rampant polarization, multiple quaratines, alternative realities, an insurrection, and politics that was so messy it was near impossible to find any hope and see America as this Promised Land that Obama wrote about. Thinking about the …

Last November, I had Alexander Chee on the show. And in preparation for his interview, I read The Best American Essays 2022. I came across an essay titled “Ghosts.” This essay stood out from the rest of the anthology because it seemed to have 9 iterations. When I read further, I was baffled at the idea that a writer had used Artificial Intelligence…

About 6 months into my first year of college, I found myself soliloquizing to some friends about the beauties of suburban life. It struck me immediately that I was longing for a world that I found profoundly boring for 18 years, and had swore to never replicate. I was going to live my big life in cities. Yet the pleasures of driving around open roa…

As part of this mini series on the past and future of the music industry, I wanted to speak to another person who’s been a force in the industry for years. I came across an article in The Nation that was called The End of the Music Business. This piece presented the history of a century in recorded music that began with pre-war 78-rpm gramophone re…

In this episode, Paul Spain is joined by Michael Rebelo, CEO of Publicis Group in Australia and New Zealand. Michael takes us on a journey through his fascinating career, from his time in London's advertising industry to his current role with Publicis Group. Join us as we delve into the challenges and opportunities of marketing and digital transfor…

In 2019, I went to New York City for 24 hours. I told my high school teachers I was sick, postponed two tests, and asked for an extension on a project; all because Jerome Lowenthal had agreed to give me a piano lesson at the Juilliard School. On a cold New York Winter Night, I went to his studio and he heard me play Bach and Beethoven. We went on f…

If you keep up with academic chatter in English literature, there’s a debate going around about the versatility of English degrees, and of the fairly insular nature of literary criticism that comes out of academia. A piece in the New Yorker earlier this year, titled The End of the English Major, prompted me to do some thinking about the world of li…

In this episode, Paul Spain chats with Adrian Palmer, general manager of Common Good Coffee and Joyya Collective. Adrian shares his journey of using business as a force for good and building connections globally. Discover the secrets behind their community coffee business, the challenges they face, and their dedication to a better world, where busi…

Imagine writing a history of the world from the perspective of a small California town that spans less than 30 sq. miles. That’s exactly what Malcolm Harris did. His new book Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and The World was published earlier this year by Little Brown and Company. This is a sweeping historical account of the foundin…

I’ve been interested in this genre of “abstract hip hop” for a while now. The classification has existed for many years, usually referring to rappers and artists who make perhaps more esoteric music than mainstream hip-hop artists. Kenny Segal has been a consistent presence over the past decade or so, and received several accolades for his producti…

Paul Spain is joined by Vaughan Fergusson - Founder of Vend, a thriving POS business, which was acquired for US$350 million. He is also co-founder and trustee of The Pam Fergusson Charitable Trust, which teaches kids to innovate with programs like OMGTech! and Institute of Awesome. Join us as we learn from Vaughan's experiences as an inventor, inno…

Richard Conway, founder and CEO of Pure SEO, shares insights into scaling a business and the significance of inflection points in business growth. Richard stresses the importance of comprehending the lifetime value of customers. He emphasizes the need for leveraging technology to enhance efficiency, offer better value to customers, and remain ahead…

Indian politics has always been a beast I’ve been afraid of broaching both on the show and in my personal conversations. There are countless nuances that are often difficult for listeners outside the country—including myself—to understand. And the debate is so fluid and rampant that it’s easy for opinions to be misconstrued and cast-aside. A conver…

Paul Spain is joined by Lindsay Zwart, Chief Enterprise Director at Vodafone New Zealand. Lindsay shares her career journey, leadership skills, and challenges in implementing change in a large organization. Lindsay also discusses the importance of company culture, feedback, career development plans, and networking to grow in a role and prepare for …

Ian McCrae, founder and former CEO of Orion Health, shares his journey to creating one of the leading providers of health care software. Ian reflects on the challenges they faced in their growth, including transitioning to a larger team, establishing credibility, and bidding for large international tenders.…

Dr. Paul Woodfield, a senior lecturer at Auckland University of Technology, discusses his background and research in entrepreneurship and innovation in family businesses, traditional industries, and science for technological innovation. He talks about his own family's history in the wine industry and the importance of family businesses in New Zeala…

Paul Spain is joined by Cecilia and James Robinson, co-founders of My Food Bag which they grew to be worth over $100m in under 3-years, and more recently launching innovative healthcare start-up Tend Health. The Robinson Duo have a proven track record for start ups and high growth business.By Paul Spain

On today’s episode we have poet Elisa Gabbert. Elisa is the author of six collections of poetry and essays. Her two latest books are the essay collection The Unreality of Memory published by FSG Originals and the poetry collection, Normal Distance, published by Soft Skull Press. The Unreality of Memory is a collection that reckons with disasters la…

Paul Spain is joined by Julian Smith, head of Global Marketing at Rockit Global. Julian shares what it's like to work with some of New Zealand's leading brands and his recent success with Rockit Global.By Paul Spain

Queenstown business owner Matt Wong has a background in wildlife conservation before stepping into tourism as manager of i-SITE visiting centre in Queenstown. Matt also managed Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters a mix of aviation, tourism and the film industry and more recently owning and managing iFLY Indoor Skydiving NZ in Queenstown. Matt shares…

Ed was Chief Executive of WestJet in Canada. During Ed's leadership, WestJet was acquired in a deal worth over $6 Billion. Other highlights in his career include launching a disruptive travel business for Richard Branson, senior roles at Air New Zealand and running Airways New Zealand.By Paul Spain

Alexander Chee is the author of two novels, Edinburgh, and The Queen of the Night and one collection of essays called How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. He was also the editor for the 2022 edition of The Best American Essays Anthology, which was just published by HarperCollins. Alexander has the uncanny ability to methodically examine his own …

Entrepreneur, Author, CEO and ONZM Tony Falkenstein, joins host Paul Spain, sharing lessons from his immense wealth of knowledge and experiences, both the ups and the downs of his business adventures.By Paul Spain

Once in a while you get musicians that evade all possible descriptors. Such is the case today’s guest AV Dummy. All I can say with certainty is that the London-based band is made up of vocalist BUCHANAN, Producer Christy Carey, Bass player Sat Chatterjee, and Drummer Jerome Johnson. They recently released their debut album titled PORNOVIOLENCE. Thi…

Kathryn Wilson joins Paul Spain, and shares insights from her journey of perseverance, passion, creativity and entrepreneurship in the fashion industry. Her story is provides current and fresh inspiration for those in business and leadership - highlighting the importance of being open-minded to learn from those around you and of pushing through the…

On today’s episode we have playwright, screenwriter, and professor Zayd Ayers Dohrn. He recently wrote and hosted the new podcast Mother Country Radicals for Crooked Media. This podcast is an audio documentary about his parents Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers who were radical activists in an organization called the Weather Underground. Dohrn chronic…

Dave Ferguson Co-founder of Nuro, joins Paul Spain to discuss his journey as a global leader and innovator achieving breakthroughs in Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles and Artificial Intelligence. In recent years the company he co-founded, Nuro has grown to attract US$2B in today's investment, and has reached a US$8.6B valuation. Dave Ferguson was anno…

On today’s episode we have novelist and Zen Buddhist Priest Ruth Ozeki. She is the author of several books, including A Tale for the Time Being which was shortlisted for the 2013 Booker Prize, and her latest novel The Book of Form and Emptiness was published by Penguin Random House in 2021 and won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2022. Ozeki also t…

On today’s episode we have novelist Emily Temple. She’s currently the managing editor at LitHub and her debut novel The Lightness was published in 2020 by Harper Collins. The Lightness is the story of three teenaged girls who find themselves at a summer meditation retreat in Colorado called “The Levitation Center.” Determined to unlock the secrets …

On today’s episode we have writer Jo Ann Beard. She is the author of the essay collection The Boys of My Youth, the novel In Zanesville, and her latest collection Festival Days was published in 2021 by Little Brown and Company. She has won several awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005. Her essay “The Fourth State of Matter” on the Univ…

On today’s episode we have writer, critic, and lecturer at Harvard University, Maggie Doherty. Maggie’s writing has appeared in several places including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Yale Review, and The Nation. She’s also the author of the book The Equivalents: A Story of Art, Female Friendship, and Liberation in the 1960s, which was pub…

On today’s inaugural episode we have poet, novelist, biographer, screenwriter, and Professor at Middlebury College, Jay Parini. Throughout his illustrious career, Parini has authored several biographies on writers including Robert Frost, John Steinbeck, and Gore Vidal. His novel about Leo Tolstoy, The Last Station, was adapted into an award winning…

Listen in to Fred Soar, Chief Executive at Soar Print as he talks with NZ Business Podcast host Paul Spain. Soar Print is a family-owned business that has been in operation for over a hundred years and has therefore learnt how to survive - and even thrive - through decades of ongoing change, reinvention, and improvement. We learn from the Soar Prin…

Paul Spain sits down with Stefan Powell of Dawn Aerospace to learn a little of what it takes to establish a new space startup in New Zealand. Stefan delves into a wide range of topics including the Aurora Spaceplane. NZ Business Podcast Podcasts NZ Gorilla Technology Gorilla Cyber SecurityBy Stefan Powell

Rod Drury (Founder, Xero) talks with Paul Spain about shaping the future of New Zealand - including initiatives and practical ideas for both business leaders and government to get moving on now. NZ Business Podcast Podcasts NZ Gorilla TechnologyBy Paul Spain

A open and wide ranging discussion with Jason Paris about life inside Vodafone NZ during the COVID-19 era, along with insights on leadership, communications, culture and of course telecommunications. NZ Business Podcast Podcasts NZ Gorilla TechnologyBy Paul Spain

Jolie Hodson (CEO, Spark NZ) leads one of the NZ's largest and strongest businesses. In this NZ Business Podcast chat we hear insights on operating and leading during challenging times. NZ Business Podcast Podcasts NZ Paul Spain Gorilla TechnologyBy Paul Spain

Chris Quin kindly shared his Saturday morning to reveal what's been happening behind the scenes at Foodstuffs NI (New World, Pak n Save, Four Square) during the #COVID19 crisis and offers advice for NZ organisations - including one (of many) reasons why laying off staff should be avoided. Websites: NZ Business Podcast Podcasts NZ Paul Spain Gorilla…

David Cunningham shares his business journey and that of The Co-operative Bank - and his challenge to business leaders to 'do good' and donate to charitable causes through The Good Registry. Gorilla Technology: www.gorillatechnology.com Podcasts NZ: www.podcasts.nz NZ Business Podcast: www.nzbusinesspodcast.com…