Seeds

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:/...

This one is powerful - today we hear from Abdigani Ali and Osman Ahmed, who was one of those shot in the attacks in Christchurch in March 2019.  I was due to interview Abdigani Ali about his initiative, the Canterbury Resilience Foundation, and Osman Ahmed came along as well from the Canterbury Muslim Community Trust, so I just decided to interview both of them.  This is rare as normally I only ta...

David is Dean of the University of Otago, Christchurch.  His main research has been into infectious diseases and in this interview we discuss that research, his time spent living in remote Nepal for two years as well as the role of antibiotics and breakthroughs he is searching for. Link: https://www.otago.ac.nz/christchurch/index.html He is the co-leader of The Infection Group, the co-director of...

Tech for Good? This is a panel discussion on that topic recorded just one week ago.  We joined forces with Ian Wells (many thanks to you) from  Canterbury Tech  and hosted a Techweek 2019 session in the Parry Field Lawyers boardoom considering "Tech for Good" and what legal structures are best: charity? Company? Social Enterprise? Something else? After an intro from Kris Morrison (Partner at Parry...

Emily practised as a lawyer for many years and now assists both law firms and lawyers with thinking deeply about the work they do, and why they do it.  This interview was recorded live in front of an audience of more than 100.  We talk a lot about a commonly used word: "balance", and whether that is achievable, or not.  We also talk about the idea that "your work is your love made visible" and how...

This breakout session at the Philanthropy Summit 2019 deals with a very topical issue: The future of business in the "human economy" - but what is meant by that term and how does it all fit with social enterprise?  In this session we got to hear from three leading experts each offering a unique perspective and insight on the state of play in Aotearoa, New Zealand.  First is Louise Aitken the CEO o...

The Philanthropy Summit 2019 was held for the last three days (15-17 May) at Te Papa with 500 attending.  To celebrate getting to 30,000 listens of seeds podcast thought it would be great to release a session I was involved in about impact investing.  I helped out with facilitating the Q&A time for this breakout session where close to 100 attended - recorded it all so that those not in the room co...

Harv founded Collective Intelligence and in this interview we find out what that is and how it works.  We also learn about his childhood, his family being torn apart by a murder trial, the impact of partial deafness, what it was like working as a Shepherd and then a farmer and his fluency in reading people's body language in groups.  This is one of those interviews I love because we had so many di...

Oliver founded Medsalv 18 months ago and in this interview we hear about his entrepreneurial journey.  We also find out a lot about the medical industry and single use devices and the amount of waste which goes to landfills.  UCE and it's programmes for encouraging entrepreneurs is also discussed.  Medsalv is a fantastic business approaching things in a unique way that combines profit and purpose...