Recently, we had the honor of speaking with Zoe Dzapasi, an 18-year-old student at Victoria University of Wellington, who shared her incredible journey of growth, self-discovery, and advocacy. Despite moving to New Zealand from Zimbabwe at 18 months old, Zoe has maintained a strong connection to her roots while navigating the challenges of belonging in a new country.

During our conversation, Zoe opened up about encountering racism as a teen and how it shaped her view on identity and resilience. Her TED Talk, where she addressed the expectations placed on her as a black girl, became a powerful platform for expressing her experiences. 

Zoe’s passion for storytelling doesn’t stop there—she founded the board game "Ngano," inspired by Zimbabwean folklore. She’s also part of Create Happy Media, a youth-driven content platform where collaboration and youth empowerment take center stage.

As a recent member of the Y25 cohort, Zoe continues to advocate for young girls, helping them find their voices and amplify their stories. Her journey is a reminder to all of us that the power of storytelling and believing in ourselves can create real change.

We all remember 2020, it was the year when everyone's lives changed. for some people it was terrible, for others they found a silver lining and for a majority it was OH NO!! Our guest this week found lock down a pivotal moment in his life. It was during lock down that Alex Witt decided to start running, this all came from the fact that he looked in the mirror and did not like what he saw.

Alex speaks to us this week about this journey, how it has changed him not just physically but his attitude to life. BUT we also touch on how Alex was lost, like most people, with what to do with his life when he was done with school. Time away working through some gap years and the love for running helped him on the path that he is on now.

This is a fabulous listen for ANYONE that thinks they can't make a change in their live. Alex's piece of knowledge will get you to rethink that way of thinking.

Enjoy

Prajesh and Tane

Abbie Wood talks to us about how creating and selling bracelets at her grannie's market was her first step into realising that she had a creative brain but also a mindset that would foster the idea of creating value through her own enterprise as she got older. We speak to Abbie about her company, Grow Easy, that she started as a project while at school and is still running today and how that has been a success through the help of her family, her mentors and just people that have been kind to her with both time and advice.

We delve into her idea for the Together Collective, another creation that Abbie wanted to bring to life to highlight the talents of creative young people in a centralised platform. Amongst this we also speak about being student, the reality of being away from home and capturing the essence of traversing all the worlds that Abbie lives in.

Abbie leaves us all with a beautiful piece of knowledge which will get you all thinking!

Enjoy

Prajesh and Tane

Elisa Harley, our guest this week speaks to us passionately about her business idea, how it came about, where it is now and what the future may hold. In this chat we learn about the amazing opportunities through networking and just asking strangers for help has led to. We also pick up the importance of having a tribe of people around you that are experts in various fields to help you grow.

Elisa, also speaks to us about the reality of being a final year high school student, navigating that balancing act and the reality of burnout. This conversation is filled with so much energy and real talk. We know you will all get something from it.

Look out for Elisa's Enivo Pots at a plant nursery near you soon!

Enjoy

Prajesh and Tane

Game on! Meet our next guest, Zeena Khan: Leader, Speaker & Author.

Zeena is a dynamic individual of Chinese, Fijian, and Indian descent, from South Auckland she moved to Wellington 5yrs ago, seeking adventure & opportunity to lean in with curiosity.

A champion of lifelong learning with a multifaceted background, Zeena also has an artistic side, having published her first poetry book in 2020, which helped her through challenging times.

In this podcast, Zeena reflects on her passion for empowering others, why she typed emails in CAPITAL (letters) early in her leadership career, and the powerful impact a quote from her late father went onto shape her life. We also delve in to just being yourself is the best gift you can give yourself!

Feel free to connect with Zee on LinkedIn or www.drivepdt.com

Enjoy

Prajesh and Tane

This week's guest is well known in Edutech for changing the face of education. A key learning from his mother when he was young has been instrumental in Jamie Beaton lifting the perceived barriers that young people have in New Zealand to be able to study in some of the Top Universities in North America.

In this really inspiring conversation we talk about what is the motivation for Jamie to keep studying while running a large global company. We look back to how Crimson Education started, its goal and how it has gone from strength to strength. We also talk about the challenges of disrupting the norm and embracing leadership as the company has grown.

Jamie also shares his passions with us, what he does in his down time and also why he wants to change the way education, especially in New Zealand, is delivered.

Once again another episode filled with wisdom, learnings and a few laughs.

Enjoy
Prajesh and Tane

Growing up, our guest this week thought that working in the health industry was what she was destined for. However, after one year of dabbling in this space, she pivoted from health to tech. This change opened up opportunities galore for our guest Magdeline Huang.

With her role as a software engineer now, Magdeline speaks to us about how delving into tech unlocked a whole new world for her. We also explore her love for content creation - how she took something that was a hobby to now creating amazing content on YouTube. One of her videos went viral which was something she did not expect! We talk about her winning idea

All in all this is an episode that is once again full of outstanding growth and wisdom.

Enjoy

Prajesh and Tane

Growing up in the tiny, yet populous, nation of Singapore our guest this week had no intention of leaving his home country to study. He comes from a family that is very closely connected and a country that seems to have it all (on first glance)

However, our guest this week talks to us about how his mindset changed has he went through National Service and engaged in conversations that got him thinking about more than just staying in Singapore. It is through these conversations and wisdom from his seniors and his family members Irfaan Ariffin decided to spread his wings and found himself studying in New Zealand.

This conversation is an epic tale of this journey but more about how Irfaan has used his time in New Zealand to very quickly realise the importance of advocacy and how by being involved, not just being a bystander, you can make an impact. We speak about his advocacy roles, we speak about his National Service time and also the motivation for his study.

We have a great chat about the love for politics and how this has led Irfaan to host a radio show called the Political Pulse where he has spoken to a number of MP's and local councillors about various issues.

Once again we end the episode with a beautiful piece of knowledge

Enjoy
Prajesh and Tane

Have you ever wanted to know what you need to do to be successful? 

On this week's episode we have Kale Panaho talk about how he fostered a success mindset to help him get to where he is now. In this conversation we touch on Kale's journey on his Māori identity, we speak about how it all started with Kale training to be a personal trainer, studying biochem then how his circle of influence led

There are fantastic insights into Kale's simple habits that are non-negotiables to ensure that he turns up being the best version of himself everyday.

We both took away lots that we can implement into our daily lives, and we know you will as well!

Subscribe to Kale's newsletter for very easy to digest weekly tips https://themethod.beehiiv.com/

Enjoy

Prajesh and Tane

On this week's episode we are treated to Shaniyah Munroe sharing her story with us.

As someone that realised that she was academically able, she was worried about the cost of attending University. However, Shaniyah talks to us about how a scholarship from Victoria University of Wellington and First Foundation changed her life trajectory. We speak about the impact that her mentor had on her journey through her studies and how powerful that has been for her.

We also talk about how Shaniyah has navigated challenges as she embraced tertiary study. The reality of being in classrooms that were very different from Mana College. It is a fantastic conversation with lots of lightbulb moments. A special mention has to be made to Shaniyah's mother for being her inspiration allowing her to become the young person that she is.

Enjoy

Prajesh and Tane