Seeds

Lord Thomas was called to the bar in 1969 and after a long and distinguished career became Chief Justice of England and Wales between 2013 and 2017.  In this interview we talk about his early career and what led him to that role and what he is involved in today and what it is like being a peer in the House of Lords.  We also talk about the place of the Judiciary and role of the Judge.  He was the ...

Mahsa is an expert in Artificial Intelligence working as a senior lecturer at AUT.  In this interview we talk about her background and childhood in Iran and what first got her interested in computers (at age 7) as well as machine translation and AI.  We also discuss how she ended up in New Zealand (by chance), what her first impressions were, why she founded She# as a networking platform for women...

Jason is Director of Strategic Foresight at KnowledgeWorks where he works as a futurist.  He visited New Zealand for The Future of Learning Conference held 30 September - 1 October 2019.  In this interview we talk about Jason's childhood, the role of his Grandmother in his life, falling in love with education, his first job as a tattoo artist, the role of serendipity and luck, and his becoming a f...

Audio of entire day held on 21 September 2019 of the main stage speakers at Impact Summit 2019 hosted by UCE (University of Canterbury Centre for Entrepreneurship) .  The speakers were fantastic and it was a great day of insight and learning.   This is an extremely long episode so how can you listen to what you want to hear?  You can jump to hear the session you want by navigating to the following...

Longdy was trafficked age 8 from Cambodia to Thailand and forced to beg on the streets.  He had contracted polio as a young child and lost the use of his legs which was the reason he was targeted for trafficking to earn money as a beggar.   In this interview we hear Longdy's unique perspective on life which results from the circumstances of a childhood that none of us can imagine.  Modern day slav...

Ben is the Executive Director of the AI Forum and in this interview we discuss his background and journey to settle in New Zealand.  We then talk in depth about artificial intelligence - what is it and what might it mean for the future of New Zealand?  We also discuss a lot of the content in the new report "Towards Our Intelligent Future – An AI Roadmap for New Zealand" that has just been released...

Clive founded Mates Social Media  and in this interview we talk about the power of social media and marketing - what works, what doesn't?   We also talk about Clive's background and what it was like to be born in New Zealand yet have very strong links back to India where his parents were from.  What is it that forms your identity when you have a background like that and what is it like to grow up...

Zahra arrived in New Zealand as a 12 year old Afghan refugee who spoke no English.  In this interview we hear about what her childhood was like, being a refugee, coping with bullying when you don't speak the language, reshaping identity when you arrive in a new country, what it is like to transition into a place that was so different and the impact of the March shootings.  We also discuss her deci...

Natasha is a doing her PHD in organisational psychology at Canterbury University on belonging and community.  In this wide ranging interview we talk about her childhood and what shaped her, as well as why she has such an interest in deepening relationships.  We start off with a poem she wrote and that really sets the tone for what follows. This is the 125th interview so if you enjoy it, check out...

Do you remember being 11?  In this episode we talk with Shanna about what her views of the world are.  It's good to get these reminders from time to time and also to hear about what children are learning about and what they think of the world and what the future might look like for her generation.  Shanna was one of the original people interviewed back in episode 5 for seeds podcast.  We also talk...

David is an edu-agitator who has explored what education is for many years through his work on Liberatory Design.  In this interview we hear a lot about David's childhood and his own education and how that has shaped the person he has become today and what he does.  We also talk about the school he co-founded - the East Bay School for Boys ( https://eastbayschoolforboys.tumblr.com) . This is one o...

Reflecting on the intersection between our creative lives and the power of vulnerability.  The full text of this is here:  http://theseeds.nz/creativity-vulnerability-give-it-all-give-it-now/ www.theseeds.nz   steven@theseeds.nz   Inspiration from a variety of sources including Theodore Roosevelt, Vincent Van Gogh, Brene Brown and Annie Dillard.    

Darren has worked for many years in the NGO sector and now assists organisations to maximize social impact through Direct Impact Group.  In this interview we talk about his childhood and early years and career before he joined an NGO.  We focus in particular on governance and impact and how you go about maximising social impact.  We also discuss what he has observed over the years of working as th...

Bill Murphy is the founder of Enterprise Angels and of the Purpose Capital Impact Fund.  In this episode we talk a lot about entrepreneurs, start-ups and impact investing.  However, we also talk about Bill's life and what has led him to what he does today.  If you enjoy this check out earlier episodes as there are more than 100 in the back catalogue.  Video of the session after this with about 20+...

This is a short presentation in Melbourne at the Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (CLAANZ) annual conference.  The topic was looking at private enterprise and business in the context of how they relate to charities so I shared some reflections on what is going on right now in the world and the fact that there may be a paradigm shift occurring.   A lot of this thinking comes fro...

Ian was the ambassador to Japan at the time of both the Christchurch and Tohoku earthquakes of 2011.  In this interview we hear all about his childhood and what led him to the diplomatic service.  We also find out about what he loves most about Japan and what it is actually like to be a representative of a country.  These days Ian is involved in the Japan New Zealand Business Council so we also le...

Bridget cares about the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and founded social enterprise Bead and Proceed to highlight them.  In this interview we find out about the SDGs as well as her own life story and journey including her work with the Student Volunteer Army, Global Shapers, working as a lawyer and time on the TV show, What Now.  For some reason we also discuss a lot of memorable and ins...

A short reflection.   The text of this is here . What do you think? www.theseeds.nz   Photo from Pixabay by suetot:  https://pixabay.com/photos/barcelona-sagrada-familia-spain-3960591/  

Japanese decision making - how is it different?  What can we learn?  This is a short little presentation at the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce on doing business in Japan.  I lived in Tokyo and Osaka for 5 years and worked two of those years within a very large Japanese trading house so this episode contains some of the key things I learned.  In particular, I talk about the concepts of Ne...

Hannah is a communications consultant and wordsmith who helps organisations focussed on impact to communicate their stories. She founded Ngātahi Communications and in this interview we find out about her childhood growing up on a remote high country farm, her early love of writing and stories, a special relationship with her great-grandfather, studying communication, the impact of the earthquakes...

This is a live panel discussion recorded 17 July 2019 in Christchurch at an event to answer questions about B Corps.  In it we hear from 6 different people about their experiences either working for B Corps or looking to become one, as well as from Andrew Davies from B Labs Australia and New Zealand.  The panellists are: Tim Jones, from Grow Good (Tim hosted and organised the event)  https://www.g...

Israel has a clear sense of identity and purpose and we talk about what led to his co-founding the building company, home, which has a real focus on people and community and is an impact driven company.  From his earliest years as a child growing up in the cult his Grandfather founded (now called Gloriavale) to time in the United States and Australia, working at PWC and co-founding IT companies, w...

Glen's start-up Happy Cow Milk failed.  That failure resulted in an outpouring of support - so he started again.  In this interview we talk about his dreams and what went wrong, what happens when you admit defeat but then get even more support, the value of transparency in business, the impact of pursuing your dream on your family, the corporatization of farming today and what it means for the peo...

Dave has been studying leadership and the key elements that make up a good leader.  As well as that his focus is to understand stress and what that does to leaders, in both good and bad ways.  In this interview we talk about his origins in Scotland, what brought him to New Zealand, his entrepreneurial journey and his work today.  Dave has a new book coming out later this year so we get a bit of a...

Hayley-Maree is a counsellor and in this interview we talk about change, personal growth, addiction and moving forward in life.  We also find out about her early years growing up on a farm where race horses were raised, overcoming trauma and grief and becoming a counsellor.  We also chat about Aroha and Love after the events that have impacted Christchurch in the last 10 years.   Website:  https:/...