Leaders Getting Coffee with Bruce Cotterill

The farming sector is in a cyclical boomtime at the moment and we’re all hoping it will continue forever. But we’re not hearing a lot from our farmers as the election date nears. So who better to talk to about that than the host of the most popular farming programme on New Zealand radio. Jamie MacKay is the host of The Country. He’s a quintessential Kiwi bloke. He grew up farming in northern Southland, is a mad keen rugby man and managed to make a living from farming – firstly as a farmer in his own right for over a decade and subsequently with his own radio show which enables him to talk about farming all day. He talks openly about the tough times, and how Rogernomics forced farmers out of business in the 1980’s and 1990’s, including his own brushes with financial uncertainty. MacKay’s career has also given him a decent shot at the business of business. His entry into broadcasting came when he purchased a radio station from Radio New Zealand in the 1990’s. He turned 4ZG into Hokonui Gold and added a farming…

With the election campaign in full swing, it’s a pleasure to host Finance Minister and Deputy Leader of the National Party, Nicola Willis, for Episode 72 of Leaders Getting Coffee. When former Finance Minister Steven Joyce resigned from Parliament in the aftermath of the 2017 election, his departure created an opportunity for a relative unknown to enter Parliament from the not-so-lofty position of 48 on the National Party list. Her name was Nicola Willis. She had just lost the Wellington Central electorate contest to another future Finance Minister, Grant Robertson. At the time, she was largely unknown to most New Zealanders. But she’d already completed a political apprenticeship that most new MPs could only dream of, working first as a policy adviser to Bill English and subsequently as a senior adviser to Prime Minister John Key. For the next five years, she had to bide her time in Opposition. It was a period that gave her the opportunity to learn the parliamentary ropes, take on a wide range of portfolios…

In episode 71of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is one of New Zealand’s younger government ministers, Simeon Brown. He was inspired by his grandfather who worked to support the local community and later, his mother who led the local residents association. That led to him taking an early interest in politics, and while still at school he occupied roles as secretary and treasurer alongside his mother and subsequently a seat on the Manurewa Local Board while still at university. But national politics soon beckoned, and at the age of just 23 he ran the National party campaign for the Manurewa seat, losing to Labour’s Louisa Wall on that occasion. Three years later, in 2017 he was better prepared and won the safe National seat of Pakuranga, taking over the stronghold previously held by long time MP Maurice Williamson. But that meant six years in opposition, a period he used to build his knowledge of our parliamentary process and a work ethic that would serve him well later. When a National Party led government…

In episode 70 of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is Alex Martelli, a young innovator who is changing the way people buy real estate. She’s a born and bred Aucklander who spent her entire schooling and university years in the city. But somewhere in there a desire for travel was instilled, and she spent 11 years traveling the world and working with some of the biggest real estate brands. She admits that her first break was a result of being in the right place at the right time. But she’s a hard worker and that first opportunity led to an international real estate career that many would crave. Her experiences in Sydney, London and Hong Kong formed a desire to innovate and bring her learnings back to the residential property market in New Zealand. Once back, she founded Martelli Buyers Agents, an agency directly focussed on working exclusively with the buyers of residential real estate. She’s now three years in and her business is growing faster than the market. Early on, she was told that her ideas would never…

In episode 69 of Leaders Getting Coffee our guest is one of New Zealand’s most successful business CEO’s, Sir Ralph Norris. An everyday upbringing in Auckland’s suburb of Mt Roskill, laid the foundations for the humble and softly spoken manner that typifies Sir Ralph Norris. But don’t let that humility fool you. He was an active youngster and clearly bright enough to further his education. However, like many of the time, the family fortunes didn’t enable university study. But he certainly made up for it when opportunity came calling. His banking career started in the IT department of the ASB Bank, where he was a beneficiary of the bank’s training relationship with IBM and his own curiosity about technology. The IBM training filled in what he’d missed at university and he became instrumental in enabling the massive change that went through the banking system over the following two decades. He speaks of starting with mainframe computers that occupied their own air-conditioned rooms, and he leads us through the…

In Episode 68 of Leaders Getting Coffee, our guest is former All Black captain and New Zealand First candidate, Taine Randell. He was appointed captain of the Otago NPC rugby team in 1995 at the age of 19 and All Blacks captain by the time he was 23. Taine Randell says he was lucky, but to plenty of observers, he was a young man with something special about the way he played and the way he led others. He grew up in the Hawkes bay, and after many years in Dunedin and then London, he and his family have been back there for the last 18 years. Despite hanging up his professional rugby boots some twenty years ago, he’s still coaching and even occasionally playing the game that he loves. But business has been his focus since returning home, and he’s built and sold a family owned business as well as working in governance roles to support local businesses and the region at large. Earlier this year Taine Randell announced his decision to enter politics and he’ll be contesting this year’s general election as a NZ…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 67, our guest is Amelia Linzey, Group CEO of Engineering firm Beca. Amelia Linzey has broken the mould in more ways than most of us. Firstly, if we think of large-scale infrastructure engineering as a ‘mans world’, then she has truly broken that particular glass ceiling. But her other main attribute is stickability. In an environment where change is rapid and people move jobs with regularity and ease, she’s been with the same company for thirty years. She grew up on Auckland’s North Shore, studied geography, and after a brief stint in Council planning, she joined the engineering firm that has been her home ever since. She’s a highly qualified and well regarded planner and social impact specialist. And she worked “on the tools” gradually leading larger projects for over 25 years, before the CEO suite came calling. During the Leaders Getting Coffee Podcast Amelia speaks about that wonderful career that shows no sign of slowing down just yet. She is open about the challenges…

We’re half way through the year and “dry July” is underway. So what better time to talk about health, nutrition and diet? In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 66, our guest is Professor Caryn Zinn, Professor of Nutrition at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Her story starts in South Africa, where she was born, and her early University studies were conducted in Cape Town. Upon graduation, she moved to New Zealand for what she thought would be a period of time. But it was to become her life. Her first job here was as a public health dietician in Whangarei, but academia called and a Master’s degree focusing on Sports Nutrition and a PhD centred on weight loss followed. A chance engagement in 2014, challenged her conventional nutrition paradigm, and she developed her own nutrition philosophy in light of the emerging science on insulin resistance and metabolic health. Her journey endured multiple challenges from the change resistant establishment, but her conviction ensured that she prevailed. She is now…

In episode 65 of the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, our guest is the veteran Political Journalist Barry Soper. Barry Soper is our most seasoned, and arguably most respected political correspondent. He’s covered the premierships of twelve Prime Ministers, all of them very different, across five decades. It’s a story worthy of a book, and his newly released political memoir entitled “One Last Question, Prime Minister” doesn’t disappoint. But his life could have been so different. When he pulled out of Police College in his late teens, his mother had a job lined up for him, as a tractor salesman. But an accidental conversation with a correspondent from the local paper, changed his trajectory and his fortunes and a lifetime in journalism was born. He went on to work with many of the provincial newspapers across the country, and after an OE full of stories that only a man of his experience can tell, he returned to a broadcasting career that continues to this day. On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Barry…

What does it take to help build world champions? In Episode 64 of Leaders Getting Coffee, Bruce Cotterill sits down with David Abercrombie – former All Blacks physiotherapist, former CEO of Yachting New Zealand, and one of the people who has worked behind the scenes of some of New Zealand's greatest sporting achievements. Over a Physiotherapy career spanning more than three decades, David has treated elite athletes across rugby, sailing, basketball and Olympic sport. He was part of the All Blacks environment during one of the most successful eras in New Zealand rugby and worked alongside some of the country's most iconic sporting figures. He was on the spot for, Michael Jones injured knee, Zinzan Brooke’s famous dropped goal, and he kept Sir Peter Blake’s elbows working in San Diego. Four medals in one day’s sailing at the Rio Olympics remains a special memory. Born in Scotland and raised on Auckland's North Shore, David's journey took him from a young physiotherapist helping establish North Harbour Rugby's…

In episode 63 of the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, our guest is the Founder of Orion Health, Ian McCrae. He is regarded by many as one of the early “heroes” of the New Zealand tech sector, but Ian McCrae refers to himself as simply a passionate engineering entrepreneur, and he remains committed to his mission to leverage technology in order to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare for every person. After an undistinguished high school education, he found his way at Auckland University where he graduated with an engineering degree and a Masters. Along the way he took a break to hitchhike around the world, a journey that saw him in London during the sharemarket crash and in Iran during the revolution, a period which enhanced his already substantial levels of resilience. Back in New Zealand, his Masters thesis led him to Antarctica where he modelled the ice shelf flows long before it was cool to do so. A series of jobs in the tech space led him to decide that the health sector was where the…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 62, our guest is Caroline Harvie-Teare, who is the CEO of Venues Otautahi in Christchurch, home of the new One New Zealand Stadium. She started life as a farm girl,but moved to the city as a youngster and became a heart and soul champion for the city of Christchurch. The farm girl lingered though as her passion for horses took her to eventing success. That start reflects a toughness that has been reflected in every challenge she has taken on. When the earthquakes hit her city her job in the events industry was under threat. So she stepped up to join the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, doing her bit to help her city repair itself. Her success there led her to Christchurch International Airport as the city tried to recover its lost sparkle and resultant loss of tourists. Her return to Venues Otautahi, the city’s main events hub, just a week before the first of the Covid 19 enforced lockdowns, provided another challenging chapter to a career that had already had it’s…

In episode 61 of the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, our guest is Former Blackcap and Broadcaster Mark Richardson. There are many elements to the Mark Richarson story. The cricketer who bloomed late. The accidental broadcaster who seemed a natural behind the microphone. And now the Investment Advisor, charting a new path in yet another career. Even as a boy, Mark Richardson dreamed of playing for the Black Caps. His early years saw him on the pitch as a bowler and over time he transformed himself into a batsman, and then again into an opening batsman. The dream didn’t come true until he was 29, but the story of how he got there is a testament to his determination and resilience. He was honest enough to hang up the cricket bat when he was mentally burned out, despite the fact that he probably could have gone on. But he didn’t sit idle for long. The opportunity to broadcast the game he loved opened a door to a twenty year broadcasting career that included “The Crowd Goes Wild”, “The Block NZ”, “The Project”…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 60, our guest is The Right Honourable David Seymour, Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand and Leader of the Act Party. To many of us, it seems like David Seymour has been in the public eye for so long that we feel like we know him. And yet, as it turns out, we know very little. He grew up in a Whangarei family, with working parents and a personal ambition shaped partly by a mother who suffered from a disability. As a youngster he was exposed to business and voluntary work, all of which drove a unique work ethic and a passion for the freedoms his generation took for granted. He left the family home for life as a boarder at Auckland Grammar and soon he was at Auckland University studying for degrees in Engineering and Philosophy. He had to work his way through university to make ends meet and talks of forty hour weeks bookended by lectures and assignments. His early career focussed on engineering until the opportunity came to work for a Canadian think tank and a new career…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 59, our guest is Lisa King, the inspirational founder of Eat My Lunch and more recently alcohol free cocktail brand, Free AF. She was born in Hong Kong and moved to New Zealand at the age of two. Her hardworking parents instilled a passion for education and an enthusiasm for entrepreneurial flair. Lisa King didn’t waste that business oriented zest for life. A couple of university degrees provided her ticket to her dream jobs, in big corporate organisations that could show her the world. The New Zealand Daily Board sent her to the Philippines, Unilever took her to the UK and the arrival of her first child brought her home. Roles in the heart of FMCG business followed at Bluebird, Cadbury and eventually back to the newly named Fonterra. But a need to do something with purpose was stirring and, inspired by an advertisement for shoes – buy one get one free – she set up a school lunch programme that followed that same model. If sponsors would pay for a school lunch, her team…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 58, our guest Sharon Zollner, Chief Economist at ANZ Bank. At a time when the economic recovery in New Zealand is threatened, yet again, by a major international shock, we thought it was worthwhile to host one of the Country’s leading economists on Leaders Getting Coffee. And we weren’t disappointed. This week’s guest is one of the most entertaining economists we could wish to speak to. A self-confessed geeky kid, and cricket tragic, Sharon Zollner grew up in rural Canterbury in a farming family near Methven. She excelled at school, particularly it seems in English and Mathematics, capabilities which influenced her decision to study English Literature and Economics. She left Canterbury University with a Masters in Commerce and majors in Economics and English Literature, and headed to the New Zealand Reserve Bank to start what has become an amazingly successful career. A stint with Norway’s central bank followed, where her work included developing a macro economic model for…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 57 part 2, we continue out chat with The Right Honourable Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand. Following on from last week, we get deeper into his past two years as Prime Minister, the recent India Free Trade Agreement, and whether he would work another term alongside coalition partners Winston Peters and David Seymour. There is no escaping Christopher Luxon’s aspiration for New Zealand nor his passion for the role that he now occupies. He’s driven by outcomes rather than slogans and that reflects in his attitude about the election campaign ahead. And if he could flick a switch, what’s the one thing he would like to change? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 57, our guest is The Right Honourable Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand. A typical Kiwi upbringing was a hallmark of young Christopher Luxon’s life. The oldest of three brothers, he grew up in Christchurch and later Auckland, with working parents and a work ethic that was obvious early. He was a sports mad kid, but it didn’t stop there. Walking home one afternoon he decided to cold call the neighbourhood homes to see if he could sell his services as a window cleaner. A business was born. It’s owner-operator just 14 years old. He returned to his hometown of Christchurch for his university studies before his corporate career took hold. Starting as a management trainee with global consumer goods giant Unilever, it was a company and a career that took him around the world. He worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA before his eventual appointment as President and CEO of Unilever Canada. In 2011, he returned to New Zealand for a senior executive role at…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 56, our guest is the founder and CEO of Resonate Health, James Whittaker. James started life in the UK and began his career in one of that country’s most iconic companies, British Airways. The story of how he became an entrepreneur on the other side of the world is both entertaining and inspiring. He came to New Zealand with his young family as tourists, and they returned a year later with the intention of settling and staying. He continued his corporate career in New Zealand, working with Private Equity to turnaround the fortunes of a company specialising in hearing aids. But he thought of a better way, and after a couple of false starts, Resonate Health NZ was born. Resonate brings a totally new approach to the business of hearing loss, and with an ageing population, the possibilities seem endless. From a startup in 2022 to 31 hearing studios today, the business is on a mammoth growth curve. At its centre is world class technology and a driven entrepreneur determined to…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 55, our guest is the former National Party Minister, Speaker of the House and Ambassador to London, Sir Lockwood Smith. Sir Lockwood Smith is one of those people you feel you know before meeting him. He first stepped into the public gaze as a television presenter of science programmes aimed at school age children. What started as a university holiday job delivered some early name recognition, helping him to win a seat in the old first part the post political system. He grew up on the family farm that he still runs today. He learned the ropes early and developed the skills necessary to run the farm before leaving school. A Bachelors and Masters degree (with honours) in Agricultural Science put the theory alongside the practical skills he’d already developed. At first, he followed what most of us would observe as an academic career, lecturing at Massey University and wining a scholarship to attend the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, at the University of Adelaide, where…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 54, our guest is the CEO of realestate.co.nz, Sarah Wood. As the real estate market starts to show some long awaited green shoots, it’s timely to have a discussion about the real estate market. As the leader of New Zealand’s only dedicated real estate portal company, Sarah Wood is uniquely positioned to share her insights into the changes in the market. Her early life was as one of 6 children in a farming family. That’s where she learned the value of hard work and the need to earn her own money. She completed a diploma in advertising and a university degree in marketing, all while learning the ropes in retail business before heading for the media sector with the Company then known as Wilson & Horton. Thereafter, the FMCG world came calling and she led a range of projects across some of the major brands at Goodman Fielder. As her husband’s medical career started to take off, she then found herself in the USA for seven years and she talks of a different way of life and new…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 53, our guest is the former CEO of both Auckland International Airport and Spark New Zealand, Simon Moutter. Simon Moutter is one of New Zealand’s best CEO’s of recent times, with a track record of growth and transformation that few can match. As you listen to Simon tell his story, one of the things that strikes you is how logical every step seemed to be. He started his own business as a young man working within New Plymouth’s energy sector, but moved on to run power stations and eventually lead the power company he worked with. But it was at Telecom, where he was to make his mark. As he describes it, stepping backwards to go forwards, he quickly rose up the ranks to become the COO in Theresa Gattung’s well established leadership team. When Gattung departed, rather than push himself for the top job, he assisted the new CEO with the transition and left to run Auckland International Airport, a move that saw one of New Zealand’s most important infrastructural assets refocus…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 52, our guest is one of the original partners of advertising agency Colenso and the founder of the Dressmart Outlet stores and man’s brand, Rodd & Gunn, Gary Gwynne. Gary enjoyed the freedom of life as an only child in pre-sixties Otago. That freedom created a mindset that believed anything was possible and authority was to be avoided. Fresh out of Otago Boys High School and with an Otago University bachelor’s degree in his toolkit, a young Gwynne headed for the up-and-coming business of advertising, with a goffer’s job organised through the contacts of his father, who was a radio announcer at the time. Three short years at the so-called “university of marketing”, Nestle, followed. But it wasn’t long before he was asked to return to ad- land, with a company named Colenso. There he stayed for sixteen years, becoming a partner and ultimately joint Managing Director alongside the legendary Roger McDonnell. But he left all that and mid-career, became an entrepreneur. During the…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 51, our guest is the founder of one of our most influential public relations firms, Deborah Pead. Deborah was born in the UK, grew up in South Africa and moved to New Zealand with her young family in the mid 1990’s. She’s earned her resilience the hard way and has thrived despite a bomb blast at her employer’s flagship store, a gun held at her head, and a house fire that robbed her of family mementoes and possessions. But this one woman force of nature shone through it all to build a new life for her family in New Zealand and an influential firm that specialised in creating brands and building reputations. With a psychology degree in her toolkit, a young Deborah Pead stumbled into the PR business managing publicity for a suburban department store. Her impact was immediate and resulted in a move to head office where she continued to build her expertise and her influence. That influence eventually saw the establishment her own business in Johannesburg. But the violence was…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 50, our guest is the Mayor of Auckland, Wayne Brown. Wayne Brown is probably New Zealand’s most colourful and best qualified city Mayors. His has been a fascinating life, with experiences ranging from building a mine in Australia to chairing not one but three of our District Health Boards. He grew up in Auckland and went to Auckland Grammar which he says he didn’t particularly enjoy. But an engineering degree from Auckland University set him on a course that would take him around the world and back to New Zealand where his fifty years in business and politics has seen him make a substantial impact. Along the way, he established his own engineering firm and he was good enough at surfing to participate in competitions and good enough at rugby to play on Eden Park. Engineering turned into property development and following a move to the north of Auckland, he developed subdivisions and built factories, apartments and commercial buildings. He developed a reputation for ‘sorting…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 49, our guest is Sky Television’s sports commentator Tony Johnson. As you might imagine, we’re talking sport, but we’re also chatting about the country’s highways, the Sounds murders and Prostate Cancer. Like many young sports mad kids of his time, Tony Johnson lay awake in the wee small hours, listening under the bed covers to radio commentaries of the All Blacks playing on the other side of the world. There, to the tones of commentator Bob Irvine, a love of radio was born. He grew up in the idyllic surroundings of the Marlborough Sounds, and as his father drove his delivery vessel around the famous waterways, those peninsulas and islands became his playground. A Radio New Zealand cadet programme launched the young Johnson in an industry that would see him become a household name. He talks of lucky breaks leading to opportunities, but one gets the impression that his modesty is underplaying the impact he was making, even at a young age. After four years overseas working as…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 48, our guest is the Deputy Leader of the Act Party and Minister of Internal Affairs, Brooke Van Velden. A young Brooke Van Velden walked into a pub with a group of friends to celebrate a concert they’d just given. In doing so they stumbled across a get together of Act Party members and a relationship that was to change her life was born. Van Velden is now the Minister of workplace relations and the Minister of Internal Affairs as well as deputy leader of the Act Party. She tells the story of her grandfather’s journey to New Zealand after world war two and of a comfortable upbringing in Auckland. Her shyness at school was eventually overcome when the school’s choir master worked out that she could sing. The music department became her hangout and a shy schoolgirl became a confident performer, a skill that was to suit her forthcoming political career. That political career started in the back office of the Act Party as she worked behind the scenes on a signature policy, the…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 47, our guest is the Mayor of Hutt City, Campbell Barry. At the time of his election, and at the age of just 28, Campbell Barry was the youngest ever Mayor of a major city in New Zealand. He’s a local boy who has never moved that far away from home. He grew up in Wainuiomata and went to the local high school where he was the First XV captain and Deputy Head Boy. He still lives there today. On leaving school Campbell soon found himself elected to the Wainuiomata Community Board at the age of just 19, and so began an early local government political career. Two terms as a Councillor at Hutt City followed before, in what he says was a decision made out of frustration, and he threw his hat into the ring for the Mayoralty. A trusting public voted him in and, it seems, they have benefitted from doing so. Those six years as Mayor have seen him focus on one of Wellington’s biggest issues, water infrastructure, where they’ve increased new pipeline installation tenfold during his…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 46, our guest is Shamubeel Eaqub, Chief Economist at Simplicity. Shamubeel Eaqub came to prominence in New Zealand as a sought-after economist explaining his complicated world in simple terms to readers and viewers through the New Zealand media. At the time he was the Principal Economist at the NZ Institute of Economic Research. How he came to that position, from an immigrant boy at age 10 is a worthy story in itself. But this discussion is so much more. A typical Kiwi upbringing followed his arrival, and as a soccer mad kid he found his way quickly. He studied economics at Lincoln University in Canterbury and then launched a career that has seen this passionate economist make a massive contribution to his adopted country. During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Shamubeel talks to Bruce Cotterill about his journey, new jobs in foreign cities and eventually success. But it is the study of the local and global economy that makes this story compulsive listening. The…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 45, our guest is Andrew Stone, former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand and one of New Zealand’s most influential advisors to CEOs. Andrew Stone is steeped in advertising. He makes it his business to understand businesses and the consumers they seek to attract. And he’s good at doing so. So much so, he’s led some of New Zealand’s most influential advertising agencies at a time when they’ve been at their peak, with some of our biggest companies and even bigger campaigns. He cut his teeth in the advertising business with some of the best advertising agencies of the time. He learned the trade with Colenso in New Zealand and Saatchi & Saatchi in London before returning to New Zealand and eventually leading Saatchi’s in his home country. Along the way there’s been plenty of lessons; lessons that he proudly shares with experienced CEO’s and young people starting out. There’s a family man in there too, and you sense that the dinner table conversations over the years have left…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 44, our guest is Dr. David Teece, one of New Zealand’s most successful entrepreneurs and a highly decorated university academic. David Teece left New Zealand as a young man having completed his Master’s degree at the University of Canterbury. His destination was the University of Pennsylvania where he would study for a second Master's degree and ultimately a PhD in Economics. That was the start of an amazing career in academia, one which included some of the top universities in the world. He taught at Pennsylvania and then Oxford and Stanford, before a professorship at the age of just 32 took him to University of California, Berkeley. That career has seen David Teece ranked as the worlds most cited scholar in the combined fields of business and management and Accenture’s list of the world’s Top 50 business intellectuals. But his career as an entrepreneur, managed in parallel with his academic career is where his success and influence are equally prevalent. He has built not…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 43, our guest is the CEO of the Breast Cancer Foundation of New Zealand, Ah-Leen Rayner. It would seem that a career in the creative arts would suit the skills and interests of Ah-Leen Rayner. And indeed she headed off, after what she admits was an unspectacular school life, to pursue an Arts degree. But it was anthropology, the study of humanity, that captured her attention. You get the sense that it still does. That study led to an early career in sales, selling to supermarkets. But that was before she was captured by global conglomerate 3M, a company she worked with for 17 years. Her tenure there included a period during which she was responsible for one of the Company’s biggest products. The Post It Note. Next came a six-year stint in the blokey environment of Kiwirail, where she was responsible for creating tourism opportunities out of what was predominantly a freight network. She calls it ‘creating an asset that connected our scenery with an international audience.’…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 42, our guest is Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Spoonley, of Massey University. Paul Spoonley is a career academic with a remarkable ability to explain complex matters in very straight-forward terms. But that straight forward manner is less surprising when we hear about someone who spent five years working in the freezing works,and later started writing his PhD thesis on that topic before abandoning it under pressure from the industry. And so a career in academia followed, and the independent thinker shows through in Spoonley’s discussion and in his attitude to the future of the country. If only the politicians would listen. Drawing heavily from his recent presentation entitled “The future of New Zealand: Demography as Desitny” Professor Spoonley conducts a wide-ranging discussion on the make-up of New Zealand and the challenges for our growing population. We learn that Auckland’s population is set to grow by up to 700,000 people in the next 13 years, and we discuss…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 41, our guest is real estate’s Martin Cooper, the principal of Harcourts Cooper & Co. Most will know him as the man on television shouting “the North Shore, what a great place to live.” But Martin Cooper’s story started in Queenstown where he grew up and where he admits to taking the magnificent landscape around him for granted. He was not the most committed student, but he enjoyed sports and the outdoors adventures that his natural surroundings offered. His father was a cabinet minister, and his work saw the family move to Mosgiel in Dunedin while Martin was at high school. Upon finishing school, and a couple of jobs that saw him away from home a lot, his desire to play senior rugby resulted in him returning to Dunedin and looking for a regular and local job. That search led him to real estate, a business naturally suited to his energetic and charismatic personality. He found it tough at first, but after three years, he decided it was to be his career. Despite the recession…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 40, our guest is Lawyer turned Novelist, Rachel Paris. Success is a recurring theme in the life of Rachel Paris. With degrees from Auckland University in Economics and Law, and the Law Society’s prize for the top law student under her wing, she joined one of the country’s most prestigious law firms, Bell Gully. A spectacular law career in New Zealand and around the world followed. Along the way she completed her Master of Law degree at one of the world’s most prestigious law schools, Harvard Law. Her dissertation there was cited as ‘influential’ by the Wall Street Journal. After her Kiwi OE via a law firm in London, she returned to New Zealand, quickly becoming a Partner back at Bell Gully where, she became an expert in Banking and Finance law in the free lending days before the GFC, and she oversaw much of the post-crash restructuring that became the aftermath of those heady days. Uniquely, she put that career aside and left the law partnership, as her family moved to…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 39, our guest is the brains behind the four day week, and Founder of Perpetual Guardian, Andrew Barnes. Andrew Barnes survived the hurly burly of London’s investment banking world in the 1980’s, the result of which saw him sent to Australia to manage the exposures held downunder by his banking masters in the UK. He moved to Australia for a month and stayed for twenty years. After returning briefly to the UK in the mid 2000’s, the GFC saw him head to New Zealand and a unique opportunity with the business that became Perpetual Guardian. During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Andrew Barnes speaks to Bruce Cotterill about the lessons he’s learned from a highly varied career and how re-defining risk led to his ability to make better investment decisions. Barnes came to prominence a few years back when his book, “The Four Day Week”, was launched during the covid lockdowns. Born of an article in the Economist, and time to think on a long flight, the concept of a four day working…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 38, our guest is the Executive Director of the New Zealand Initiative, Dr Oliver Hartwich. Oliver Hartwich was born in West Germany and talks of growing up in the 1980’s in a country shaped by the two World Wars that had until that point defined it. As Europe reshapes its defence strategies in response to the Ukraine crisis, his surprisingly frank conversation about his youth offers a stark reminder of the long-term impacts of war. But it is as an economist, specialising in thinking about government strategy, that he has made his career. That career has seen him working in the House of Lords and in think tanks in the UK, Australia, and ultimately, for the last twelve years, in his adopted home in New Zealand. During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Dr Hartwich speaks to Bruce Cotterill about the state of New Zealand, a country which he says has so much going in its favour, and yet continuously fails to live up to its potential. Using the extensive research base of the NZ…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 37, our guest is Emeritus Professor of Health at Auckland University Medical School, Des Gorman. An Otahuhu schoolboy who applied to enrol at Auckland Medical School, because his friend was applying, turned that accidental decision into one of the most distinguished medical careers in New Zealand. That medical career nearly went off the rails when his disillusionment resulted in a change of career and a change of life, leading to seven years in the Australian navy. He credits those years in the military with the development of leadership and people skills, valuable capabilities that many in the medical sector don’t develop, and that he says added greatly to his career when he later returned to medicine. Ultimately Professor Des Gorman became the Head of the Auckland University Medical School and he was enlisted to multiple government appointments where he has been an instrumental member of the various teams working to improve our health system, including ten years as the…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 36, our guest is TVNZ CEO, Jodi O’Donnell. She took over as the CEO of TVNZ just a few months before having to front the announcement of the company’s disastrous financial result, a process that ultimately led to a restructuring programme that included the loss of loved TV shows such as Fair Go and Sunday. Despite her baptism of fire, Jodi O’Donnell is remarkably open about discussing those early days in the job she has now occupied for a little over a year. And she seems comfortable in taking on the challenge ahead. And so she should be. O’Donnell has been at the flagship state owned television company for almost her entire career, twenty five years in total. Refreshingly, she comes from the sales and marketing side of the TV business, a commercial upbringing that sees her unapologetically focussed on the customers, both advertisers and viewers. During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Jodi covers topics such as the government ownership model, the importance of winning…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 35, our guest is Olympic High Jump champion, Hamish Kerr. He describes himself as too tall for a runner. So it was just as well that a young Hamish Kerr scuttled down to the High Jump enclosure after his 800 metre race ended. There he found a natural ability and reduced competition; a combination that saw him develop a passion for this highly technical event at a remarkably young age. Hamish Kerr’s is the classic Kiwi story. After winning the NZ Secondary Schools title for Auckland Grammar School, he headed off to Massey University and forgot about athletics for a couple of years. But the passion still burned, and an opportunity to attend the World University Games rekindled a love affair with the sport through which he would become a world an Olympic champion. With his degree completed, he moved to Christchurch to follow the coaching and worked part time in a hardware store while he worked on the physical and mental techniques that would make him successful. On the Leaders…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 34, our guest is Foodstuffs CEO, Chris Quin. The supermarket industry is never far from the headlines. Whether we’re talking about grocery prices, retail crime or allegations of monopoly pricing, the supermarket is front and centre. But they are also massive businesses playing a critical role in our daily lives and our communities. Chris Quin is the CEO of Foodstuffs North Island, the largest grocery business in New Zealand. His leadership experiences have seen him through an outstanding career that includes over two decades at Telecom/Spark, before joining the grocery giant. He grew up in a family that moved around a lot but ultimately settled in Wellington where he attended St Pat’s Silverstream College near Wellington, where he became Head Boy. An accounting degree from Victoria University followed, while working part time at a supermarket (what else?) to pay his way through his studies. During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast Chris Quin speaks passionately about the…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 33, our guest is Australian rugby referee Angus Gardner. When a back injury forced a young Angus Gardner to give up contact sports at the age of 15, he thought his involvement in the game he loved was at an end. But thanks to a dedicated school teacher who suggested he take up refereeing as a way to stay involved in the sport, that injury created a pathway that would see him become one of the world’s leading rugby referees. Angus Gardner is Australia’s leading rugby referee having officiated in 49 test matches and 118 super rugby matches. Those matches include the 2018 Super Rugby final between the Crusaders and the Lions, the same year in which he received the World Rugby Referee of the year award, and the semi-final at the 2023 Rugby World Cup between New Zealand and Argentina. With a Bachelors of Property Economics, with honours, under his arm, his career started in property development while he balanced a flourishing refereeing career throughout his twenties and early…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 32, our guest is Kiwibank CEO, Steve Jurkovich. Banks play an important role in the economy and our everyday lives. And yet, it’s the first time we’ve had a bank CEO as our guest on the podcast. And he doesn’t disappoint. From growing up in Paeroa and Auckland’s North Shore, and a boyhood dominated by sports at Glenfield College, we hear of a fast moving career supported by the mentorship of some of New Zealand’s most well-known business leaders. After leaving school, Steve started at Teachers training college, before deciding to pursue a law degree at Otago University instead. Upon graduating he spent a few years practicing law, but the business of banking beckoned and a move to ASB settled him into a long and enjoyable career. Steve is a passionate leader with a heavy emphasis on purpose, in particular the need for Kiwibank to make a real difference to the lives of New Zealanders. And he believes in the value of a common vision for the country he cares deeply about. During…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 31, our guest is The Right Honourable Winston Peters. Deputy Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Winston Peters has confirmed that he is keen to run again in the 2026 election, citing the need to finish the job they’ve started. The New Zealand First leader will be 81 when the next election comes around, but he spoke about legendary American investor Warren Buffet, among others, as testament to his belief that age and experience should be viewed as a positive. Blessed with an encyclopaedic knowledge of New Zealand politics that can only come with 45 years of parliamentary life, Peters’ insight into how we can improve the country’s economic fortunes should be compulsory listening. Speaking candidly with Bruce Cotterill on episode 31 of the podcast, Leaders Getting Coffee, Mr Peters canvassed a wide range of issues including the election of President elect Trump, the importance of small countries at the United Nations, and the examples set by other small nations such as…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 30, our guest is New Zealand Country Manager for Xero, Bridget Snelling. Bridget completed her law degree at Auckland University before settling into the traditional first job of graduate lawyer at one of the city’s prestige law firms. Then everything changed. To everyone’s surprise she left the law after only a couple of years and hasn’t looked back. A career that has included a stint at one of the country’s premier Public Relations firms led to seven years at TVNZ where she handled multiple roles before eventually moving to ANZ bank and becoming the head of Brand Marketing and Business Marketing. She moved to Xero as Marketing Manager four years later. The Xero story is one of New Zealand’s great business start-up successes and there is no doubt that Bridget sees her role as something of a privilege. With over 3,000 New Zealand based staff, it’s a massive leadership challenge with people with varied needs and a fast-moving industry. Bridget talks to Bruce Cotterill about…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 29, our guest is business leader Sir Robert McLeod. Rob grew up near Gisborne on the East Coast of New Zealand and over the last forty years has become one of New Zealand’s most influential business leaders of our time. His career started as a tax specialist at KPMG and subsequently Arthur Andersen before he settled into the firm then known as Ernst & Young. There he became the Chair of the New Zealand Partnership, and subsequently CEO before later becoming CEO of EY Australia. His influence across government policy grew as he took on appointments across a wide range of government appointed taskforces and commissions including Tertiary Education, Justice and an organisational review of the Inland Revenue Department. Most notable was his appointment in 2020 to the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission and in 2001 to the Chair of the New Zealand Tax Review, in what became known as the McLeod tax review. His ability to stride both sides of the pollical spectrum is summed up…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 28, our guest is the former ACT Party Member of Parliament and NZCPR Founder, Dr. Muriel Newman. Dr. Newman moved to New Zealand with her family as a young girl, and brought with her an approach to her education typified by her desire not to let her parents down. That education led to a career teaching in New Zealand and subsequently the USA, before returning to New Zealand to bring up her young children. Her work as a part of Sir Michael Hill’s Whangarei team led to a position as President of the local Chamber of Commerce and subsequently as a founding member of the ACT party. After nine years as an MP, she founded the New Zealand Centre for Political Research an independent public policy think tank that provides research-based analysis and commentary on matters of national interest. NZCPR is guided by a firm belief that informed citizens are at the heart of a well-functioning democracy. During the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, she speaks to Bruce Cotterill about the…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 27 we take a close up look at how governments and local authorities spend our tax and rates money. Our guest for this quest is Jordan Williams, co-founder of The Taxpayers Union, a purpose driven organisation established over ten years ago with a view to campaigning for better value for money from government spending. Jordan graduated from law school at Victoria University and spent his first five years working in the law firm founded by former Act Party MP, Stephen Franks. We hear how he ‘picked up the bug’ of defending taxpayer dollars and the vision that led to the creation of The Taxpayers Union. Former Prime Minister Sir Bill English has described the Union as follows: “One of the principal tools for restoring value for money for the taxpayer is transparency. The Taxpayers’ Union has been remarkably successful simply by exposing the actions of government to the hard light of day”. We’d all like to think that such transparency results in better politicians, better…

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 26, we are back into the topic of education, this time with an entrepreneurial CEO with a vision for a better world through education. Dr. Jamie Beaton is the 29 year old co-founder of Crimson Education Group. He has carried a passion for education, borne of an entrepreneurial mother who hung her own university degrees, three of them, in his bedroom when he was a small boy. He went on to excel at Kings College in Auckland, before leaving our shores to study at Harvard University in the USA. Now, some ten years later he has a double degree from that most esteemed of universities, as well as eight other university degrees from the who’s who of prestigious education, including Stanford, Yale, Princeton and Oxford. His own entrepreneurial efforts led to the creation of Crimson Education, an organisation that supports high school students to gain offers to the world’s most competitive universities, including those he has attended. Crimson Education now has a network of over…

Hard on the heels of the Paris Olympics, our guest for Leaders Getting Coffee episode 25, is Nigel Avery, Chef de Mission of our Olympic team. Inspired as a seven year old watching John Walker’s Olympic Gold medal race in 1976, Avery set his sights on going to the Olympic games. He became one of those most unique New Zealanders who went on to represent the country in three very different sports, namely Track & Field athletics, where he was a national champion, bobsled racing, and Weightlifting where he won two Commonwealth Games gold medals and five medals in total. And yes, although he didn’t get onto the podium, one of his own sporting highlights is that he did get represent his country at the Olympic Games. Nigel Avery talks about his own sporting career, including the highs of Commonwealth gold and the frustrations of missing Olympic selection, and how those highs and lows influenced his approach to the role he now plays. We hear about the appointments process to becoming Chef de Mission and the high…