Seeds

This is the audio of part of the opening session at the virtual Impact Unconference held on 24 April 2020 where I shared about the context in which the conference was happening and asked some questions about 'what next'.  Full video of opening session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnL6mWDLHCE&t=1s Videos of the IU:  https://www.impactunconference.nz/videos For more videos and interviews visit w...

Michael is New Zealand's premier speaking coach.  We find out a lot about speaking in this interview - why we fear it and what can help.  You will want to listen in on our conversation as I learned so much from his observations.  We also hear about his early years (including in an orphanage) and leaving school very young and what led to being the speaker coach for people like Lilia Tarawa (over 9...

Jenny has spent decades working in Philanthropy in New Zealand. In this interview we hear about her childhood and some of the influences that shaped her, becoming a teacher, travelling overseas and what she learned in India, the work she did with organisations involved in Philanthropy including working with Sir Roy Mckenzie on setting up his personal foundation, being involved in the creation of P...

Glenn has had a variety of roles in social services and is currently helping ex prisoners with accomodation with The Salvation Army in Addington, and prior to that working with Stepping Stone with community mental health recovery.  In this interview we find out about those initiatives but also hear about his cancer journey - from feeling a soreness on his tongue to having surgery just a few days a...

Ursula Cheer is the Dean of the Canterbury Law School.  In this interview we find out about her life and the fact that she has really had three careers out of her law degree: as a lawyer, as an academic and working at Parliament - including as a speech writer for Geoffrey Palmer.  We also find out about legal education now - and what it might look like in the future.  I really enjoyed hearing abou...

Announcing the first New Zealand Virtual Impact Unconference  on 24 April 2020.  Collaboration is our future.  This unconference wants to get us out of silos and encourage discussion and cross fertilisation across specialties.  Website: www.impactunconference.nz   The short version of its origins are simple:  We were going to do an in person unconference in May 2020 in Christchurch for 300+.  Plan...

Shamubeel is one of New Zealand's leading economists so this interview provides a fascinating insight into COVID-19 from an economic impact perspective.  But we end up talking about a whole lot more than that - like what the crisis is revealing about us as humans and what it is that we might build the future on.  Hint, it involves resilience, cooperation, learning from each other and taking care o...

Tamara is a flautist, composer, dancer and much more - in this interview we talk about her love of music and how that began as well as her band Mundi.  We hear about her early days as well as getting the chance to hear her play some different flutes for us (also released as a separate stand alone episode earlier).  I met Tamara at TedX Christchurch so it shows how volunteering for something can le...

The headlines are dominating on the topic of Coronavirus / COVID-19 and I just woke up remembering that I interviewed one of the world leading experts on infectious diseases last year: Professor David Murdoch.  So I pulled out the part of his interview where we discussed viruses, diseases and antibiotics and am putting it out as a shorter episode here.  We obviously did not know about COVID-19 at...

Chris switched career in his early 40s and in this interview we find out about what led him to do that.  We also hear about his family dynamics growing up (with a Father who left to work in Saudi Arabia) and the impact that had on them, and how he ended up in New Zealand.   He now works helping people to find their purpose and in particular coaches people about building Winning Habits.  I really e...

Brett is a generalist with a deep interest in many areas.  While practising as a GP he has done a lot of research into psychotherapy and the connection between life events, stress and a person's health and 'somatisation' - the expression in physical symptoms of psychological distress.  In this interview we talk about that but also about his family's history (including someone who was at the signin...

In this conversation we hear about Raphael's life and his background.  That starts out with finding more about his childhood and what he studied at University, the chance meeting at a Startup Weekend which led to a new venture and saw him working on creating Amy, an AI powered maths tutor?  I really enjoyed this conversation and am sure you will too.   Learn more about Amy and try her out -  https...

Souhila Abdelazziz shares with us some of her journey, what it was like growing up in Algeria, the decision to move to New Zealand, being a new immigrant, the importance of attitude to all circumstances, the impact of the shootings in Christchurch and founding The Metamorphosis Path Academy.  I enjoyed hearing about Souhila's journey and am sure you will as well. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com...

Scott founded ' I Have a Dream NZ ' and in this interview we learn all about the impact it is having on the lives of kids through a programme that helps children from low income communities reach their education and career goals by providing a long term programme of mentoring, tutoring, and enrichment.   And by long term, he means long term - the people involved commit to supporting and being invo...

This is the sequel to the first episode - suggest you listen to that before this.  Many thanks to Colin Meurk who I interviewed for this episode. This is the paper co-authored by Colin mentioned in the interview called:  "How to Put Nature into Our Neighbourhoods: Application of Low Impact Urban Design and Development (LIUDD) Principles, with a Biodiversity Focus, for New Zealand Developers and Ho...

This is an untold story of Christchurch.  Yes, that's all you are getting - you'll need to listen to the episode to find out more.  Be watching out for Part 2 with the conclusion. Connect via email steven@theseeds.nz   For the video mentioned in the episode and more interviews visit www.theseeds.nz Video of rabbits: https://youtu.be/y79CWoUg7XQ

Brett has lived most of his life on ships.  With his wife he raised his 5 children travelling between remote and isolated communities bringing health care and medical supplies to them.  In this interview we find out about his origins on a Kiwi fruit farm in New Zealand, what led him to a life on ships and some of the work YWAM Ships do today reaching out to the remote communities of the South Paci...

This one is a bit different as it is a mash up with two former guests - Sarah and Peter discuss genetic engineering, food supplies and the future (without me being in the interview).  The two of them have different views on genetic engineering which came out in the interviews I had with each of them.  So I invited them back to interview each other and this is the result! Peter's interview:  https:...

Jessica Trybus  believes that education should be about fun and uses technology to achieve that.  She is the Founder and Chief Games Officer of Simcoach Games which is a company whose mission is to create fun video games that inspire youth and connect them to relevant career paths.   In this interview we talk about her early years and what shaped her into the person she is today, which includes ta...

I read Dare to Lead over the Christmas break and wrote down notes and reflections which make up this book review.  If you enjoy this then is there someone else who would appreciate being sent a link to this episode? Full text is written out here: https://theseeds.nz/dare-to-lead-book-review/ Earlier episode on Creativity and Vulnerability mentioned in this episode regarding critics and being in th...

Gavin is an experienced Process Engineer who has worked for many years in the water and wastewater engineering industry.  In this interview we talk about his life and what led him to work in that area as well as some practical steps he and his family have taken to put environmental sustainability into practice.  Since recording the interview Gavin has changed jobs and now works at Brickhouse Techn...

This is the audio of the first planning meeting for the Impact Unconference 2020 to be held in Christchurch in May next year.  In it I explain the background behind what the event will be and why it is being held.   Even if you only listen to the first 5 minutes you will get a sense of what this will be.  The reason for releasing the audio of an initial planning meeting like this is so that others...

Nathan Seaward left a successful career as an airline pilot to start something new as a personal coach - in this interview we find out why.  We also discover his life story growing up in New Zealand and what led him to explore overseas and become a pilot.  This also contains the short 2 minute extract I did with him on "heads or tails" and how to make decisions.  Nathan is also a podcaster (The Na...

Glenn never expected the sore on his tongue to be cancer - in this short excerpt of an upcoming interview we hear from him about this and his encouragement to get things checked... it just might save your life.  This was recorded 4 days before Glenn went in to have part of his tongue removed - fortunately he is recovering and the cancer had not spread. For more interviews check out www.theseeds.nz

Last night I had the privilege of interviewing Jezza Williams and hearing some of his story.  This was recorded in front of a live audience of about 120 in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and was a Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce "Next Generation" event.  The interview is relatively short as it was one of several things that evening - but we covered a lot!  Be watching out in 2020 for a...