The Mina Amso Show

Lisa O'Neill is a kiwi Keynote Speaker, Author of Energy: Get, Guard it, Give it & Everything You Want along side other books. She's one of New Zealand’s leading Energy Experts. Known for her unapologetically blunt style, she teaches audiences how to stop living a "default life," manage their energy like a CEO, and become the main character of their own story. What Lisa explains◽️ Why "Energy...

Justin Flitter is the Founder of AI New Zealand and the New Zealand Tech Marketers Group. He serves on the Board of Business Mentors New Zealand, helps organize TEDxAuckland, and is the country’s leading authority on integrating practical AI workflows into enterprise and SMBs. What Justin explains◽️ The difference between AI Assistants and "AI Agents" (your new digital colleagues)◽️ Ho...

The future of business in NZ is changing fast. AI, customer behaviour, marketing, education, and trust are all shifting at once, and most New Zealand businesses are not prepared. In this Notes From The Executive montage episode, three respected New Zealand thinkers break down the future of business NZ leaders need to understand heading into 2026. These are not theories. These are signals already p...

This special montage episode features three of New Zealand’s top business minds: Marisa Fong (co-founder of Madison Recruitment, sold for $30M+), Lisa O'Neill (Energy Expert & Author), and Rich Ellis (Executive Health & Mindset Coach).Together, they reveal the brutal truth about entrepreneurial burnout. They discuss the cognitive collapse of "decision fatigue," why the concept of balance p...

If you’re a NZ Business founder heading into 2026, staying small, comfortable and indecisive will kill your dream – you have to think bigger, commit to one path. Three top entrepreneurs tell us why Big Thinking in New Zealand is Hard. They say founders move too slow. Kiwis think too small. Optionality kills. Comfort kills. Tall poppy cuts ambition. Learn More From Mahesh Muralidhar https://youtu.b...

If you are starting a business in New Zealand in 2026, this episode is compulsory viewing. The rules have changed. What worked ten years ago will not work today. This montage brings together three of Aotearoa’s top founders to break down the critical mistakes that kill most early-stage Kiwi businesses before they ever get off the ground. Thanks Episode Partner Hibiscus Jetski Hire https://hibiscus...

Founder resilience isn’t luck. This episode shows how founders stay resilient with practical resilient leadership habits, mindset shifts, and tools you can use this week. Apply it now: daily practices, decision frameworks, and stories from David Downs. David Downs is the CEO of New Zealand Story , former Microsoft executive, best-selling author, and cancer-survivor-turned health advocate. He helps...

Thinking about starting a service business in New Zealand? In this video, we sit down with Angela McLachlan, founder of Sort My House, a service that help people sort their mess into tidy spaces, to share how she turned her passion for organising into one of NZ’s leading home organisation brands. You’ll learn: ◽️09:48 How to find your first customers ◽️13:55 Pricing and marketing strategies that...

Jurgen Kolb is a marine biologist turned entrepreneur who built an award-winning jet ski business that sits in the top 10 percent on TripAdvisor with more than 320 Google reviews. Episode Partner:👉🏻 Hibiscus Jet Ski Hire: 🔥 Enter to WIN Fee Jet Ski Rides 🔥https://tinyurl.com/bdej898hWhat [Guest] explains◽️Best Entrepreneurship tips for those wanting to start a business in 2026◽️How to win bu...

Michal Garvey Founder of Foodprint - New Zealand’s award winning food rescue app, how it helps cafes and retailers cut food waste in NZ, turn surplus food into revenue, and win new customers. What Michal explains ◽️ The exact app launch strategy that got Foodprint 1000 users by 3pm on day one and 10,000 users in 21 days ◽️ What objections Michal gets from cafes and eateries and how she deals wit...

Steve Ballantyne is the Founder of Brand IQ helping prominent national brands like Serko, Speedy Signs and Purex build their brand story in NZ. He shares how he clawed his way out of two big business disasters, one of them was $1.5M. Steve is the brother of Mike Ballantyne, the founder of a travel firm that was sold for $85M. Episode Partner: Hibiscus Jet Ski Hire: https://hibiscusjetskihire.co.nz...

Fran Bellingham, Founder of Virtual Marketers, is an expert in taking new ideas, products and campaigns to market. With a 25-year background across advertising, media and marketing including TradeMe in New Zealand and the UK, she breaks down the myths costing owners time and money and shows the metrics that actually move revenue. 💬 What's one marketing lesson you wish you'd known before l...

Sir Ray Avery GNZM is a New Zealand philanthropist, inventor, scientist and entrepreneur. More about him further below. Sir Ray Avery shares how he went from the streets to knighthood — and the mindset that built an empire. He reveals 50 years worth of business insights around:- how he comes up with genius ideas- how he gets to be successful in business- how he gets up when he badly knocked in bus...

Luke Kemeys is an Accountant runs two successful podcasts - Keep the Change (financial literacy) and Next Advisory (business-focused). He's helped 100,000+ Kiwis improve their financial literacy and built a thriving accounting practice. He has recorded over 1,300 podcast episodes reaching 50,000 Kiwis weekly, attracting clients who pay $10-23K, and generating nearly six figures from speaking o...

Natalie Ferguson paid $100K at 23 to escape a controlling relationship - then used that experience to build a customer research framework that validated a billion-dollar investment platform. This is her exact process. She has a gift of finding and solving complex problems. She helped change the financial habits of nearly 200,000 customers with her last startup, ⁠Hatch⁠. Now, she’s focused on the g...

Mahesh Muralidhar is a New Zealand-based entrepreneur and startup ecosystem builder who gained prominence as the Head of People Operations at Canva during its explosive growth phase to now having a $42 billion valuation. Mahesh founded Phase One, a venture firm focused on nurturing early-stage New Zealand founders, though he's currently paused that to focus on a broader mission of accelerating New...

Elon Musk became the first trillionaire last month. Here's why that matters more than you think. In the last 5 weeks, AI companies spent more money than entire countries. Here's what that means for your job. I'm talking with Frances Valentine, Founder of AcademyEx, who tracks every major AI development. She was here 6 weeks ago. The fact she's back this soon should terrify you. We&...

One year. Over 40 guests. Hundreds of hours. And a podcast that started with zero budget now ranking top 10 next to global giants like Alex Hormozi. Mina Amso is the host of Notes From the Executive, a top 10 business podcast on Apple Podcasts New Zealand. With a background in journalism and a gift for authentic conversation, she interviews kiwi founders, leaders, and changemakers about the real s...

Former New Zealand Army officer Ellen Ford (PhD) reveals flexible work strategies from “Work School Hours” to lift profits and productivity, business tips on time management and self-improvement.   ABOUT THE EPISODE Ellen Ford—ex–NZ Army officer, leadership PhD, TEDx speaker, and author of “Work School Hours” - shares a pragmatic blueprint for flexible work that raises productivity, profits, and e...

Steven Zinsli knows what startup mistakes are like. He launched his first startup business at 22, later starting Extraordinary, a fast-growing company transforming employee benefits across New Zealand and Australia. In this Episode, Steven shares:⬜ Early startup mistakes and lessons learned.⬜ How Extraordinary evolved and succeeded.⬜ Building networks and a personal brand.⬜ Advice for aspiring...

Easy Crypto co-founder Janine Grainge started the fintech company in late 2017. Within four years, she’d scaled it to over 250k users and more than NZD $2 billion in trades, smashing big goals in record time. Janine talks about how to start a business with no money, how an entrepreneur mindset work, and how her fintech story shaped how New Zealand do cypto. This fintech startup story started as a...

Richard Conway is the founder of Pure SEO, one of New Zealand’s top digital agencies. From $200 and a dream, he built a multimillion-dollar business and is now leading his company into an era of AI-driven search and zero-click marketing. In this episode, Richard reveals how Shopify’s ChatGPT integration lets people shop directly with AI potentially making traditional websites not needed. He shares...

Dr. Gail Pearson is an nationally respected anesthetist-turned-nutrigenomics advocate with over 30 years of experience in traditional medicine. She served as a specialist anesthesiologist in Auckland, New Zealand, where she gained a reputation for clinical excellence and leadership. Dr. Pearson held senior roles such as serving on the board of one of Auckland’s largest private hospitals and chaire...

Marisa Fong is a pioneering entrepreneur who transformed the recruitment industry in New Zealand. She co-founded Madison Recruitment and scaled it from a two-person startup into a 100-strong enterprise, all without a college degree. In this episode, she explains:◽️How being underestimated became her biggest edge◽️Sales-first strategies that built a national business◽️Why recurring revenue is no...

Scott Wilson is a New Zealand-based digital marketing strategist and expert and the founder of Digital Influence, a Christchurch-based marketing agency in New Zealand. Episode Sponsor: ⁠ @academyex ⁠  https://shorturl.at/JLutF He explains: ◽️ How sending this item helped grab attention of high-ticket clients every time  ◽️ Why most digital agencies are selling you the wrong thing, and how to spo...