Seeds

Dr Duncan Webb is the Labour MP for Christchurch Central and introduced a private Members' Bill which has been selected and is likely going to change Director Duties in a significant way. In this interview we spend a long time discussing the origins of the change, what it will mean, the process to have it passed and whether there could be changes before it is passed.  We also jump back in time to...

This is the audio version of an opinion piece I wrote for Stuff yesterday.  It relates to proposed changes to the Companies Act regarding Director Duties.  Could the changes be strengthened so NZ becomes a world leader? Please consider re-sharing this to spread the word about the changes proposed.  This is a post that will bring up an image in social media: NZ Duties of Directors set for major cha...

Matthew has been involved in a wide variety of tech start-ups and in this episode we start with learning about his early years and how those experiences influenced him.  We also talk about the Edmund Hillary Fellowship as well as his new venture Alimentary and the work they are doing - it was pretty fun for the podcast to be the first time Matthew has spoken about this new initiative publicly.  If...

Savva Kerdemelidis has seen a need and is trying to solve it, in this case it relates to his NZ charity Crowd Funded Cures, whose mission is to use pay for success contracts to make drug development more affordable by repurposing off-patent medicines. In this conversation we talk about this but also about his childhood, his Grandfather's experiences in Siberia, growing up in New Zealand, when we g...

I had a conversation with Tim Jones for his "Purpose Fuelled Performance" podcast recently and this is our wide ranging discussion on such a variety of topics I am calling it 'The Random Episode' - though the consistent theme is purpose.  Tim was on episode 2 of Seeds so I really enjoyed jumping over onto his podcast and I have a feeling this could become a fun regular feature every once in a whil...

Sophie-Claire has led a fascinating life and we hear about growing up in Mauritius, her thoughts on language and decolonisation, her work as a cultural anthropologist and cultural strategist.  In this wide ranging interview we talked about a huge variety of topics - if you enjoy it then check out some of the hundreds of other interviews in the back catalogue at www.theseeds.nz      

In this interview with Jo we talk a lot about fundraising for purpose led organisations but we also learn about her life story and what led her to start Strategic Grants, the terminology we use in the "not for profit" space, positions of power between Charities and the Grant Makers, key tips for writing fundraising applications and more.  If you enjoy this then check out some of the hundreds of ot...

Peter shares in this conversation about solar energy and we also learn about his life story.  Solagri Energy is the business he co-founded and is a distributed energy business passionate about helping New Zealand agriculture transition to a green energy future.  Thanks to Jacob Varghese for the suggestion of talking.  If you enjoy this then check out the hundreds of others in the back catalogue at...

This is the audio version of a Stuff opinion piece that I wrote this week called " The bottom line is not enough, companies should be required to have a purpose ".     Linked In post which has a lot of comments to check out...what do you think?  Let me know there: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/steven-moe-0b3b008a_the-bottom-line-is-not-enough-companies-activity-6836527083515183104-hbda   The Stuf...

This is a wide ranging interview with Sam Stubbs - the best type of interview!   Before we talk about Simplicity we get into the background to Sam and his life and learn about his childhood, the impact of stuttering as a young boy, what it motivated him to do (speak in front of crowds), his work as as an investment banker, the role of the Christchurch earthquakes in a shift of thinking and his tra...

Robett has fit in a lot into his life - from medal winning professional snowboarder to successful multi-exit media and tech entrepreneur, investor and global Kiwi we dive back into his past to learn what has influenced him and motivates him today to keep going.  From an early Fiji childhood to being a teenager in Aranui and the challenge from a guidance counsellor that he would end up stacking box...

Garry Moore served three terms as Christchurch Mayor and in this episode we hear about his childhood then really have a very eclectic conversation - as expected!  We jump all through his life to learn about what has shaped him, the influence of people who called him to be more than he was, the impact of generosity shown by others and his thoughts on a wide range of issues such as Water, Community...

Caroline shares some of her life with us on this podcast episode and we get to hear about what it is like to be an immigrant to a country like New Zealand.  She reflects on the influence of her Grandfather who moved to Malaysia with nothing and how that has shaped her attitudes.  We then get into her career, work as a lawyer, joining Fisher & Paykel and how she got involved in health tech startups...

Jay shares about finding identity in this interview - from meeting his birth Father age 42 we learn about his journey of discovering his whakapapa, his spiritual life and his relationship back with kaupapa Māori.  What is nature and what is nurture?  We really went all over with this interview and covered many unusual topics that you might not expect.  We even finish with Jay sharing a song!  I re...

Some excerpts to give a flavour of the next interview, a deep dive discussion with Jay Matenga.  We cover identity, spirituality, whakapapa and more.  He also shares with us a reinterpreted song.  Be watching out for the full interview out next.   www.theseeds.nz  

Toni has had a fascinating life living in multiple countries and experienced being a Kiwi overseas herself.  Now leading Kea New Zealand she has taken that background and used it with the work they do connecting Kiwis who live overseas.  But we start talking about her childhood growing up on a Deer Farm, early years working in Radio and a whole lot more.  If you enjoy this then you might want to c...

This is a very short summary of a talk I heard recently at the Institute of Directors event at the start of May 2021.  Colin Meyer from the UK shared about purpose and business and gave some practical ideas for how to define purpose and provided a framework for this.   The book mentioned: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/prosperity-9780198824008?cc=gb&lang=en   Conference summary: https://t...

Anna Judge shares with us in this episode about founding Our Little Village and her experience creating that charity. The charity came from her experience with child birth and the challenges she faced as a mother. With the support of her family and guidance of a doctor, she made it through the challenges but was the experience inspired to start Our Little Village, the name for which is inspired fr...

Yoseph is one of the co-founders of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and was the first CEO as well.  In this interview we talk about his childhood in Ethiopia, moving around Africa as a young person, studying in the United States and how he ended up in New Zealand. We also talk about the origins of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and the programme which brings into New Zealand entrepreneurs and investo...

Jezza founded Makingtrax to make a difference and in this short excerpt we hear from him about some of his journey - if you don't go away feeling inspired by this then I will be very surprised!   Check him out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/makingtrax.co.nz/   Website: https://www.makingtrax.co.nz/   Email: Jezza Williams  

In this interview we hear from Adrian Palmer about his life and growing up, with his high school friends forming the band Supra which became ZED, what it was like to top charts and travel the World, returning to New Zealand and the origins of the Addington Coffee Coop.  We also discuss Common Good Coffee which has been developed with Kind Cafe and Crave Cafe in Auckland.  We also discuss how they...

Some interviews go deeper than others and this is one of those - Elle Archer has had a very interesting life and she shares about her early years, being adopted, the role her parents played in her life, leaving school at age 14, lifelong learning and doing, making access to education accessible and te ao Māori. We also talk about Ako Ōtautahi Learning City Christchurch festival.  I really enjoyed...

Rick has had a truly fascinating life, helping the Chatham Island Black Robins survive through 9 summers of work there, having a childhood lived in a variety of countries, working on creating a permaculture farm and co-founding Xtreme Zero Waste.  We talk about all that and a lot more in this discussion - shout out to Craig Fisher for connecting us.  If you enjoy this check out more at www.theseed...

Charlie has had a fascinating life as a fashion photographer, running a contemporary art gallery in New York and travelling the world - what she saw on those trips led to her setting up Hello Future to work with adolescent refugees.  But we start the conversation learning about Charlie's early years in Taiwan and what it was like to be sent aged 11 to the United States without being able to speak...

To celebrate the 250th episode of seeds podcast this is a short talk I gave at the High School that I went to for about 60 Year 13 students reflecting on 15 things that I wish I had known when I was their age.  Hope you enjoy this as it is applicable to me today still.  For more information and interviews check out www.theseeds.nz What I wish someone had told me when I was 17 sitting in your seat...