Stuff That Matters Now

The second in our series of annual 'State of the Nation' interviews with acclaimed Newsroom journalist and deep thinker, Rod Oram. It's always fun to sit down with him and discuss what is percolating away inside his magnificent thinkery. Rod invariably has a range of topics that he wants to expand on, and this year is no different. If you want to get up to date on what's going on in our world, and...

Lou James of Pinc & Steel is one of those modest women who cannot fathom why I, or anyone else, would want to interview her for a podcast. This amazing woman has created, from scratch, a cancer rehab foundation that brings strength, hope and movement back to cancer sufferers around the world via her specialist physio techniques. As if I'd need another good reason to interview her! This podcast bro...

There are many facets to Kiwi-raised American, Steven Moe. Despite interviewing several hundred people for his own impact-inspired weekly podcast, Seeds, he's not shared much of his own story and journey with his listeners. So here it is! Fellow EHF fellow Ian Harvey asks the question 'Who is Steven Moe?' and riffs with him about his transition to living a purpose-led impactful life. We credit Ste...

From action man - to not - in the blink of an eye. Hamish Ramsden has just released his first book on Amazon 'Dog's Getting Fat' which is an intimate view into the world of a tetraplegic. I felt very privileged to get the chance to interview Hamish, who is a very humble, and private chap, as we explored what his life has been like since he dislocated his neck. This podcast brought to your ears wit...

From workaholic, to mother, and then GM of The Mind Lab & Tech Futures Lab, Fee Webby has evolved into a wonderfully reflective and balanced manager in a vibrant education-based organisation. Fee is a real force of nature, helping people learn new skills in our rapidly evolving digital world. This podcast brought to your ears with the support of Te Awanga Estate.

Our very first scholarship recipient at Collective Intelligence was this fella - James McCarthy of Cradle. We've had the good fortune to watch him grow into an incredibly thoughtful, respected, serial tech entrepreneur, with two successful companies under his belt. He's fun, insightful, and a pain in the…at times, and we love him just the same! The world needs more entrepreneurs like James, who se...

This episode was always going to be a challenge for me! I had to be on my toes when interviewing biotech entrepreneur and scientist-on-a-mission, Veronica, about her work developing a sustainable alternative to plastic that's derived from outback Australian bees. 'Speak to me like a Labrador' was my message to her. The world has real hope when people like Veronica step up to the plate. This podcas...

Anō te pai, te āhua reka o te noho tahi ki tēnei tuawahine me tana mōhio ki te ahurea Māori, me te whakarongo anō ki a ia, mōnā i whakamahi i te mōhio hei oranga mō tana whānau whānui. Ko Riana Manuel te kanohi o tō tātou āpōpōtanga i Aotearoa-New Zealand, mā te whakakotahi i ngā tikanga me ngā hua hauora o nāianei. Ka mutu, kāore he painga i a ia mō te whakakatakata! What a blast it was to sit do...

I love interviews like this where I just ask questions and learn so much about subjects that are fascinating. Not many people have impacted on my world as much as Jules Matthews. I was very dismissive of her work some eight years ago when she introduced me to regenerative agriculture, to the point of being rude (who me?!). But I finally got it, and this podcast reveals just how bloody smart she is...

Sue Johnston was one of the first facilitators to join the Collective Intelligence team nearly 10 years ago, and she's been a huge influence on our community ever since. Her love of human development has seen her training with renowned expert in this field, Bréne Brown, and developing her own Life Star wellbeing tool, aimed at helping people get better balance in their lives. Oh, and as our teams...

From opera diva in Europe, to founding 'Project Prima Volta' (which introduces 30 local teenagers to performance opera each year), to producing an annual opera in the Bay - this all takes energy, vision and lots of passion. Something that Hawke's Bay-raised soprano and Collective Intelligence member alumna, Anna Pierard, has in bucketloads! This podcast brought to your ears with the support of Te...

"A self-proclaimed, recovering narcissist" might seem a bit harsh, but that's how Hugh Signal describes himself. When Hugh started his scholarship journey with us, I remember his life was about making money and not much else. Seldom have I witnessed someone evolve from this point so quickly, to become an empathetic and highly-effective leader. I was delighted to sit down with Hugh and explore wher...

I take great joy in watching from the sidelines as our past Koru Scholars, like Sian Paterson (who was one of our first), go on to grow and evolve themselves, their causes and ideas. Sian cut short an OE to return to Aotearoa with a burning idea and found an outstanding educational space in Greytown - Blue School. What a journey! You'll be inspired... This podcast brought to your ears with the sup...

From a tough, black-shirt-wearing kid growing up in Masterton, to an accomplished CEO of a successful tech company operating on the world stage, the life of Dave Blackwell is a fascinating journey. His courage in sharing a little-known part of his life as an addict, and his exploration of it in this episode is truly admirable. I feel very privileged to have been a part of this conversation. Dave n...

For those who live in the middle million (Manawatū), my great mate Margaret Kouvelis is a well-loved and well-known dash of colour and courage for her many roles across education, retail, the rural sector and local government. I was dying to break my post-lockdown pod drought and this chat with Margaret about her work founding Talent Central (connecting youth with employment opportunities) was rea...

I was keen to chat with Tim Myers after I heard how he had responded with an open heart and great leadership to the challenges of the COVID-lockdown. As the CEO of Norwood, a company with some 400+ staff operating throughout Aotearoa, what he has done has been life-changing - for both the business and those who work within it. If, after listening in, you'd like to be involved in Tim's initiative,...

This interview with Liana Poutu was recorded not long after COVID-lockdown to get her take on Taranaki iwi community checkpoints. Her story was nothing like what was portrayed with respect to 'roadblocks' in many media outlets, illustrating the benefit of getting such information first-hand. Liana represents the here-and-now of where Te Ao Māori is at in Aotearoa. I always love talking with her an...

What does it take, as a young fella, to drive into a valley with a car boot-load of your possessions, and then just a few short years later scoop the prize for producing the best red wine in the world? This is the story I wanted to dig into with Rod McDonald of Te Awanga Estate, our podcast sponsor. He's a modest bugger and keeps things very close to his chest, so I thought I'd have a battle on my...

The top benefit of being a podcaster? You get the chance to learn a whole bunch of stuff whilst talking to cool people! Double Denim's 'ace lady' Anna Dean fits right into this league. Gender intelligence is not one of my strong points, and Anna was generous and patient in bringing me (a little bit) up to speed on this important subject. Even though this interview was conducted pre-lockdown, it's...

In this podcast resource you'll hear Ian McDougall, founder of Business Genetics and our Episode 16 guest, share with Harv of Collective Intelligence the results of some astounding research he's done with Gen Z'ers. Using a select group of early-stage leaders/execs, Ian identified 8 factors seen as essential 'effectiveness' skills (agility, ambiguity, emotional intelligence, failing, flexibility,...

My opening line to Rod Oram was "well, it's been interesting times since we last talked at the end of January!". Since Episode 12 Rod has biked himself around Aotearoa and we've had a virus. I promised you I'd do an annual interview with him on the state of the nation, but as Rod's spent the past month investigating the impact of Covid-19 on our economic and business spheres, the time for another...

It's not often I get the chance to sit down with a professional of such immense experience and wisdom as Ian McDougall. He's spent years working in the agency world, on the international stage of Saatchi & Saatchi and others, and his stories are rich and real. Ian generously shares insights from a new research project that his company undertook on the leadership skills Gen Z need to tackle the fut...

Until this interview, I'd never spoken to a CEO with an annual budget of $1.9 billion dollars before! The very humble Robyn Shearer heads up Aotearoa's new Wellbeing Budget - a world first that puts people above everything else. Robyn started her career as a nurse and has worked on the frontline of mental health for many years. I was intrigued to learn how she was coping with this huge role and fe...

I first met Alex when he gave a TED talk about social enterprise. I was like, 'WTF is he on about?', but there was no doubt he knew his topic and was so passionate about it. Back then he was transforming the struggling Hikurangi Trust into the Akina Foundation. Akina went on to host the Social Enterprise World Forum in Christchurch in 2017, where 1600 people came together from across the globe. Al...

Roll your sleeves up and build an awesome team to turn a provincial hospital around. How hard can it be? Yeah right! I was keen to interview Ruth Kibble in the middle of Oamaru Hospital's transformation, to learn how she's wrangled this complex beast so quickly. I got to meet her management team on the day of the interview and could sense the amount of goodwill towards their CEO, even though their...