Seeds

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 learn about that organisation.

Japan New Zealand Business Council https://www.jnzbc.com

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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 inspiring quotes on this particular episode - it was great to welcome this self described "enthusiastic human" onto the show!

Website: www.beadandproceed.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridget-williams-76156670/

Bead and Proceed Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beadandproceed/?hl=en

Email: [email protected]

SDGs: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs

More interviews at www.theseeds.nz

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 Nemawashi and the Ringi system of decision making.

Video of the talk is here: http://theseeds.nz/meanwhile/

Other resources at www.theseeds.nz

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 and why she focusses on organisations creating positive impact. We also chat about her decision to switch to a 4 day work week, as well as the impact of her family history on what she does today. This is one of those wide ranging interviews with a key player in Christchurch who is focussed on helping people doing good to communicate that most effectively. Ngātahi Communications: https://www.ngatahi.co.nz Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ngatahicomms/ Email: [email protected] Other organisations mentioned in this interview: https://www.heiwhakapikimauri.co.nz https://www.switchedongroup.co.nz/ https://www.braveheartchch.org/

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.growgood.co

Andrew Davies, CEO of B Labs Australia and New Zealand https://bcorporation.com.au/about-b-lab

Michelle Sharp, CEO of Kilmarnock Enterprises https://www.kilmarnock.co.nz

Belinda Mathers from Enviro-Mark https://www.enviro-mark.com/home

Sam Davies from Trineo https://www.trineo.com

Kath Row from Eagle Protect https://eagleprotect.co.nz

Impact Assessment site: https://bimpactassessment.net

The Impact Report Andrew mentioned is an audio book read out for seeds, and links to it, here: http://seeds.libsyn.com/structuring-for-impact-audiobook

Michelle has been on this podcast telling her life story before (twice) here http://seeds.libsyn.com/michelle-sharp-on-kilmarnock-and-social-enterprises and here https://seeds.libsyn.com/michelle-sharp-on-the-issues-with-funding-social-enterprises-and-creating-a-great-work-culture

Tim Jones has also been on three times, and his life story is here: http://seeds.libsyn.com/tim-jones-on-b-corps and a discussion with another former guest, Mark Ambundo, is here: http://seeds.libsyn.com/tim-mark-discuss-everything

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, working in the movie industry, we talk about that and more along the way. What shines through in this interview is a clear sense of identity and resulting purpose which places an emphasis on people and community over profits. For me, having worked with many social enterprises and other companies what home is doing is significant as it foreshadows the future I think more companies will embrace - including time frames that allow for 100 year business plans, a focus on employment and care for people who work at a company and a desire to actually do some good through the business of the company itself - in this case, providing homes (not just houses) to many in New Zealand. This is one of my favourite interviews so far and as it is the 112th one, that is saying something.

Website: https://builtbyhome.com

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 people and animals involved, moving from being a milk production company to becoming an IT company - oh, and landmines in the garden and lions by the African road as a child in Rhodesia. Yes, this interview has all that and a lot more as Glen shares honestly about his struggles and future hopes.

Happy Cow Milk: https://www.happycowmilk.co.nz

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happycowmilkco/

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 previous of what sort of topics it is going to cover as well.

Website: https://davesewell.nz

The book is being published in September 2019 Safe Leadership – Beating Stress to Drive Performance which is a culmination of his research, experience and observations in leadership over the last 20 years. The link to find out more about the book is www.davesewell.nz/safe-leadership/

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://www.hayleymareelittcounsellor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hayleymareelittcounsellor/

[email protected]