Seeds

Answering the question "what's for dinner?" is at the core of what Elise Hilliam co-founded MenuAid to address.  In this conversation we hear about her background and influences and what led her to become an entrepreneur and the plans for the future of MenuAid.  We covered a lot including the power of recipes and how food and community interconnect.  I really enjoyed our conversation and if you do...

Thanks to our speakers at the Impact Call last Friday, we had a really amazing in-depth session on these topics which you can listen to here: • From 4:24, Kate Frykberg shared reflections on her journey: "Missteps and learning: personal experiences of Pākehā organisations wanting to support Māori aspirations and learnings along the way…"  Site: Kate Frykberg • From 18:53, Sue Barker shared about h...

Barry Coates has had a fascinating life journey and in this conversation he shares about his background and what has led him to found Mindful Money, which focusses on helping Kiwis invest ethically.  We discuss the work they do and the seminars, programs and awards run.  We also talk about his early years, work in the United States and England and his time as an MP.  If you enjoy this then subscri...

Wendy Hoddinott shares her life journey in this episode and what has led her to focus on colloborative design of our shared spaces, as well as working on heritage related projects.  We also talk about the Gather Foundation which is a charity she founded which has a unique focus using its Place Cadets program: "Gather Foundation empowers Ōtautahi's tamariki and rangatahi to co-design outdoor enviro...

This is the audio of our conversation with four founders of tech companies which was part of Tech Week 2022.  Thanks to Hannah, Elliot, Chris, Jack and Aislinn for being part of this! Very often we just hear the glamorous part of the journey of Founders of tech start-ups. In this zoom session we heard some of the other parts too - no sugar coating, no glitz, just the reality of being an entreprene...

In the latest Impact Call for April 2022 we heard from: 00:00 - Introduction to call 05:09 - Kirsten Patterson on IOD 15:52 - Maria English on Impact Lab 27:22 - Ros Rice on Community Networks Aotearoa 44:38 - Final thoughts 46:13 - End Kirsten Patterson (KP) is the Chief Executive of the Institute of Directors of New Zealand (IOD) – was great to hear more about this organisation that has 10,000 m...

Nicola Patrick has led an interesting life and in this episode we hear all about her journey.  We have a bunch of diversions along the way to talk about social enterprise, growing up in Takaka, working for the Ākina Foundation, rights of rivers and a lot more too.  We also focus in on an upcoming Expo that Thrive Whanganui are coordinating - you can find out more about it at their Facebook page be...

The 300th episode!  Thanks everyone for helping get to this point - in this one it's a bit different as I am in conversation with Andy Dickson who interviewed me for his podcast, 'Down to Earth Conversations' which he called "Law, Seeds and Maximum Impact".  We talk about my background and history and I share some of my journey - hope you enjoy this!!   Check out his podcast: https://www.downtoear...

In this conversation with Michelle Berriman we hear about her purpose driven work, her fascinating background and what has led her to New Zealand.  We also talk about a report that the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand have just released prepared over two years on giving, wills and bequests (downloadable here ) called 'New Zealand's Willpower'.   Her bio: Michelle has been causing disruption an...

Stephanie Defregger is a photographer who captures stories and the essense of a person through her photos.  In this interview we discuss her background and growing up in Munich, her move to New Zealand and her work as a photographer.  We particularly discuss storytelling and the role of photos as well as the significance of certain 'thin places' where each of us feel connection and grounding.  I r...

Each month I host an "Impact Call" by zoom - this is the audio of the latest one featuring some amazing speakers about what they are currenty up to! If you'd like to join the more than 650 that get notifications about upcoming calls and news as well let me know by email to steven@theseeds.nz ... Our speakers are: - Sue McCabe the CE of Philanthropy New Zealand  | Tōpūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa wi...

Am curious - what advice would you give a new grad starting out in your role? Am really pleased to have Sophie Tremewan join our team this month to share in our focus on purpose driven organisations, getting legal structures right, draft contracts where they are legally safeguarded and help them raise capital from investors. Sophie is also becoming a property law expert through her work with Judit...

Raesha Ismail has grown up with multiple identities and we discuss her life story on this episode.  Born in New Zealand but with strong connections back to India and being a Muslim has meant many rich cultural influences on her journey.  What is it like to grow up in Christchurch?  And what are the type of questions we should be asking others we meet who might not fit a neat box?  We also talk abo...

James Stewart founded Gemelli Consulting to work on impact focussed projects.  In this interview he shares his personal journey, from being challenged about how he would use his privilege early in his life and the change that resulted ad led to seeking out purpose.  We also talk about his unusual business model – profits get given away.  Finally we talk about a white paper he has just released whi...

In this converation with the Christchurch City Missioner Matthew Mark, we find out about his background and motivations as well as the work they do with the homeless and others in need.  That is a lot more people than you might think.   Matthew also shares about his own background and why this work is so important to him, and how we can support what they do.   Christchurch City Mission: Christchur...

This is a very short 5 minute excerpt of the conversation with Nobuko Okamoto about Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using gold - we reflected on what it might mean for each of us and our lives and parts that might be broken.   "The thing that strikes me about this technique of Kintsugi is that if we think about our lives, so often there are broken parts in our lives - and it...

Nobuko is an artist who uses the Japanese method of Kintsugi to repair broken pottery.  In this interview we talk about the process of doing that but also what it represents about us as humans as well.  We also go into her background and life in Japan, being a professional snowboarder and what brought her to New Zealand as a teenager and then later in life as well.  If you have any broken items of...

Sid is part of the founding team of Neighbourhoods, which is focussed on the role of reputation in an online world.  Before we talk about that initiative we dive into his past growing up in India, joining the banking system, abandoning that for several years including time at the Ghandi Ashram, thinking about the true meaning of wealth, finding that distributed ledger technology could be used to m...

Nicola has recently been appointed as CEO of the Ākina Foundation so in this interview we find out all about the work they are doing in the area of impact.  They have done a lot and continue provide many resources for those interested in the intersection of purpose, profit and business.  We also hear about her life story and journeys across the world and in other roles.  If you enjoy this then che...

Joy co-founded One Mother to Another which is an amazing initiative providing handwritten notes and gifts to Mothers and carers in Hospitals going through a difficult time with a sick child.  Their aim is to bridge the gap between 2 strangers and offer understanding  and  acknowledgement of their difficulty but mostly put a smile on their face and let them know they are cared about.  Before we tal...

Welcome to the audio version of the White Paper that you can download here: " The Decentralised Revolution: Understanding the potential of Blockchain, DeFi, Crypto, DAOs, NFTs and the Metaverse to drive innovation, creativity and new paradigms ". You can download the paper here: https://theseeds.nz/the-decentralised-revolution-white-paper/   Know anyone who might like to see a copy? Sparked by the...

This is a short story I wrote to encourage us when we lose sight of the value of what we are doing.   The printed version is at The Empty Square here: https://www.theemptysquare.org/stories/the-apple-tree Thank you Julie Holck and Simon Glinvad Nielsen for publishing this and other writing.  Check out their site for a lot of great content. If you like this then would you consider sharing it with s...

Oonagh Browne is an expert in Chocolate and Cacao.  In this conversation we hear about her childhood in Ireland, her moving to different parts of the world, her feeling on arriving in New Zealand, first experiences with making chocolate and why she started The Cacao Ambassador.  We find out a lot about chocolate and cacao as well!  Find out more about her work here https://www.thecacaoambassador.c...

Oonagh is an expert on Chocolate and Cacao.  In this conversation we hear about this topic as a preview of the full episode which will come out next.   Find out more about her work here https://www.thecacaoambassador.com/

Kirsty Allott is an expert in human resources, personality and job satisfaction.  In this interview we talk about all of that and more but start with her background and love of dance.  We then talk about psychology and her own career transition which was sparked by a manager asking if she was happy.  Since then she has worked in human resources and helping people with their careers and navigating...