Business in Between

This week on Business in Between we hear from Cassie Roma.

The American-born kiwi is an award-winning global thought leader in creative ideation, media, brand strategy, digital innovation, and executive leadership.

She's also an author, brand ambassador, storyteller, broadcaster, emcee, and keynote speaker.

For over 20 years Cassie held high-flying marketing roles at big-name businesses including Air New Zealand, ANZ Bank, The Warehouse Group, Mighty River Power and NZME (New Zealand’s leading newspaper, radio, and digital media corporation).

After leaving the corporate world, Cassie became a household name thanks to her appearances on The Apprentice Aotearoa and Celebrity Treasure Island, and went out on her own, launching CR & Co and relocating the States.

But she’s back in New Zealand and brings business lessons to us, all underpinned by kindness and her love of connecting with people across ideas, channels, and communities.

We're also super stoked to have Cassie on the books of B2B Speakers, so if you like what you hear in this episode, and would love her at your function or event, flick us a message by going to B2B Speakers – Podcast, Speakers & MCs.

Finally, there's still an exciting opportunity available to sponsor this channel, if this interests you, please get in touch.

Follow and subscribe to this Business in Between channel in your podcast app. We’ve got big plans to grow this space, so following, liking, subscribing and all that stuff means the world to us.

Enjoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the latest episode of Accidental Business Owners.

It's a podcast about business, life, mindset, relationships and the inside story of a pretty wild last five years.

This is the ninth episode in the series, but they all stand alone – so you don’t have to go back to the start.

In this one, we're talking about building the Between Two Beers empire.

We talk about what success means to us, what the plans are for the business next year - and for the next five, what’s holding us back - and why Steve thinks we’ve had a successful year, and why Di thinks we could have done better!

There's still an exciting opportunity available to sponsor this show. If this interests you, please get in touch.

Lastly, please follow and subscribe to this Business in Between channel in your podcast app.

Enjoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim Brown had been a dream guest for us since we started the Between Two Beers podcast in 2019 – and he didn’t disappoint when we recorded with him at the end of 2023.

This is one of our favourite episodes and we left this original recording feeling incredibly inspired.

Tim was a professional footballer who played 112 times for the Wellington Phoenix and earned 30 caps for the All Whites.

But at the same time, he was forming an idea for a woollen, environmentally friendly, sustainable shoe.

That idea became Allbirds, and nine years after co-founding the company it went public on the Nasdaq with a valuation close to $4 billion US dollars.

In this episode we talk about the realities of being the CEO of a billion-dollar company, all the most interesting steps on his journey from a Wellington flat to worldwide footwear industry leader, partnering with Leonardo di Caprio and meeting Barack Obama, the challenges the company faced in 2023 and why he stepped down as co-CEO.

Since recording this in 2023, Tim’s co-founder Joey Zwillinger has followed in his footsteps, with a team of executives with more traditional footwear and retail roles steering a restructure at Allbirds.

Meanwhile Tim has also joined Icehouse Ventures as a Venture Partner focusing on US businesses and has became a minority shareholder at Auckland FC, the newest professional football franchise in New Zealand where his sporting insights will be invaluable.

For this episode of Business in Between we pick up our conversation with Tim after he had retired from football at the age of 31 to pursue a master’s degree in management at the London Business School.

There's an exciting opportunity available to sponsor this channel, if this interests you, please get in touch.

Follow and subscribe to this Business in Between channel in your podcast app. We’ve got big plans to grow this space, so following, liking, subscribing and all that stuff means the world to us.

Enjoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to episode 8 of our new show: Accidental Business Owners.

It's a podcast about business, life, mindset, relationships and the inside story of a pretty wild last five years.

This is the eighth episode in the series, but they all stand alone – so you don’t have to go back to the start.

In this one, we're talking money.

One of our long-time listeners messaged us asking us if we could talk about what the financial change has looked like across the different chapters in our podcast business.

So we did.

We talk about how podcasts make money, how ours didn't for the first three years, how our contracts have changed over time and why we needed a crash course on GST.

There's still an exciting opportunity available to sponsor this show. If this interests you, please get in touch.

Lastly, please follow and subscribe to this Business in Between channel in your podcast app.

Enjoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the latest episode of Business in Between... it's our new series, on our new podcast channel, that features long-form chats with NZ's most interesting business minds.

This week we hear the incredible story of how a Kiwi entrepreneur turned an idea for a fitness goal setting app into a global business with customers in over 150 countries and revenue exceeding $80 million a year.

It’s the story of Adam El-Agez and his app called The Conqueror.

Adam started his fitness goal setting app in 2012 after 10 years of being an entrepreneur with limited success.

The idea was relatively simple, instead of ‘just’ going for a run, walk, a ride or swim, you’re working towards a virtual fitness goal, immersed in community and with a tangible race medal delivered on completion.

Over six years and hundreds of thousands of dollars later the app was floundering.

All the signs were pointing to giving up all together and he even started getting his CV together and applying for jobs.

Then, in 2019 he met Raul, a “marketing guy”, online.

In a bizarre series of events, he ended up hiring Raul, who lived in Romania, to run the digital marketing with immediate results. Raul started growing sales and from an annual revenue of under $100k they grew to $2m in the first year.

The next year they did $40m and $75m in the following two, having secured licensing agreements with franchises like The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Star Wars and Harry Potter.

The business has now expanded globally with around 70 staff in 6 countries with customers in over 150 countries.

Adam’s story – and the growth of his company – is insane.

We talk about navigating a cyberattack, how they built their Facebook community with 378,000 people in it, and why they were spending $250,000 a day on marketing.

This story will blow your mind - and it’s the first time it’s been told.

Come for the storytelling and stay for Adam’s brilliant business lessons at the end. This is an ep not to be missed.

There's an exciting opportunity available to sponsor this channel, if this interests you, please get in touch.

Follow and subscribe to this Business in Between channel in your podcast app. We’ve got big plans to grow this space, so following, liking, subscribing and all that stuff means the world to us.

Enjoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to episode 7 of our new show: Accidental Business Owners.

It's a podcast about business, life, mindset, relationships and the inside story of a pretty wild last 12 months.

This is the seventh episode in the series, but they all stand alone – so you don’t have to go back to the start.

In this episode we talk about the struggle of managing friendship and business, and the tools we use to try to bring some balance to our lives.  

There's still an exciting opportunity available to sponsor this show. If this interests you, please get in touch.

Lastly, please follow and subscribe to this Business in Between channel in your podcast app.

Enjoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the latest episode of Business in Between... it's our new series, on our new podcast channel, that features long-form chats with NZ's most interesting business minds.

This week we're dipping back into our Between Two Beers archives and getting business lessons from Steve Dunstan.

Steve is the co-founder of Huffer, one of New Zealand’s most loved fashion brands. He started the company as a 21-year-old and over 20 years grew it into a multi-faceted business with stores across New Zealand and in Australia.

Since recording this episode back in 2023 Steve has taken a back seat in the operational running of Huffer but remains a minority shareholder while he looks at new and exciting opportunities.

But in this episode we talk about the humble beginnings of the Huffer story, the Orlando Bloom moment in front of 200,000 people in Wellington, taking on America, hitting rock bottom and nearly losing it all and the 10-year salvage mission that got the brand back to where it is today. 

Steve is a Kiwi icon, a thoughtful, humble, optimistic winner, who’s epic story of business success is as entertaining as it is inspiring. 

There's an exciting opportunity available to sponsor this channel, if this interests you, please get in touch.

Follow and subscribe to this Business in Between channel in your podcast app. We’ve got big plans to grow this space, so following, liking, subscribing and all that stuff means the world to us.

Enjoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to episode 6 of our new show: Accidental Business Owners.

It's a podcast about business, life, mindset, relationships and the inside story of a pretty wild last 12 months.

This is the sixth episode in the series, but they all stand alone – so you don’t have to go back to the start.

In this episode we talk about receiving an email from the Prime Minister's Office, asking if we'd have Christopher Luxon on our Between Two Beers Podcast.

It got us thinking long and hard about who we are, as a brand, as a business and as a podcast and we detail the spin it put us in, the decision we reached and why.

Lastly, before we get into it - there's a really exciting opportunity available to sponsor this show. I could be talking about your business right now. If this interests you, please get in touch.

Also, please follow and subscribe to this Business in Between channel in your podcast app. We’ve got big plans to grow this space, so following, liking, subscribing and all that stuff means the world to us.

Enjoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to episode 5 of our new show: Accidental Business Owners.

It's a podcast about business, life, mindset, relationships and the inside story of a pretty wild last 12 months.

This is the fifth episode in the series, but they are all standalone – so you don’t have to go back to the start and follow along.

My name is Steve Holloway and alongside my best mate Seamus Marten, we started a podcast called Between Two Beers nearly five years ago in my Hamilton garage.

In quite a surreal series of events, it’s turned into our fulltime job – and along with the podcast we’ve also started two side businesses.

In November last year, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with what my new world was looking like, and so I connected with a business and mindset coach who specializes in helping Accidental Business Owners find their way.

Her name is Di Foster – and as you'll soon discover, she’s a bit of a weapon.

In this episode the theme is ‘The Price You Pay’, and we talk about some of the unexpected impacts owning a business has had on our personal lives.

Lastly, before we get into it - there's a really exciting opportunity available to sponsor this show. I could be talking about your business right now. If this interests you, please get in touch.

Also, please follow and subscribe to this Business in Between channel in your podcast app. We’ve got big plans to grow this space, so following, liking, subscribing and all that stuff means the world to us.

Enjoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to episode 4 of our new show: Accidental Business Owners.

It's a podcast about business, life, mindset, relationships and the inside story of a pretty wild last 12 months.

This is the fourth episode in the series, but they all stand alone – so you don’t have to go back to the start.

My name is Steve Holloway and alongside my best mate Seamus Marten, we started a podcast called Between Two Beers nearly five years ago in my Hamilton garage.

In quite a surreal series of events, it’s turned into our fulltime job – and along with the podcast we’ve also started two side businesses.

In November last year, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with what my new world was looking like, and so I connected with a business and mindset coach who specializes in helping Accidental Business Owners find their way.

Her name is Di Foster – and as you'll soon discover, she’s a bit of a weapon.

In this episode the theme is ‘why haven’t you done it already?’, and in the back half Seamus gets pretty open about some of his pre-podcast business struggles, the story he’s been telling himself and how he’s going to change it.

Lastly, before we get into it - there's a really exciting opportunity available to sponsor this show. I could be talking about your business right now. If this interests you, please get in touch.

Also, please follow and subscribe to this Business in Between channel in your podcast app. We’ve got big plans to grow this space, so following, liking, subscribing and all that stuff means the world to us.

Enjoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.