Too many blokes hurts business: Nash
When Dion Nash retired from professional cricket in 2002, one of his biggest fears was stepping from relevance into obscurity.
But after a seven-year stint split between vodka company 42 Below and global spirits giant Bacardi, Nash put his ‘‘street cred, if I had any’’ on the line with the launch of his own skincare company, Triumph & Disaster.
That experience of having to step away and come back was what he would draw on when ‘‘representing the blokes’’ as a keynote speaker at this year’s Women of Influence Forum.
‘‘Sometimes when women re-enter the workforce having had babies it’s an enforced change, sort of like what happened to me in sport. You have to retire; you can’t play forever,’’ he said.
‘‘When you step away, the biggest fear is that you are going to become irrelevant, and you have to believe in yourself and invest that time and energy to move sideways in order to go forward again.’’
Nash established Triumph & Disaster in 2011, having left corporate life with Bacardi not really knowing what he wanted to do.
At one of his last meetings for Bacardi in New York, however, a guy started using lip balm and hand cream.
Nobody batted an eyelid, Nash said, and having used moisturiser while playing cricket, he thought there was a business there.
Six years later, the Auckland-based company has expanded to 25 products stocked in 500 stores across New Zealand, Australia, Asia, the United States and Europe. Nash has his sights on it becoming a truly global, unisex brand.
‘‘Men have evolved really quickly from conversations we had from six years ago, [when] we were getting a bit of razz for a few things, to today, [when] we never get any razz.’’
Nash said he was ‘‘very aware’’ of having too many blokes around at Triumph & Disaster and that diversity in the workplace added value, depth, understanding and nuance to a business.
This meant cultural diversity as well, particularly for a company that sold internationally.
‘‘New Zealand is a diverse nation and we need all of that influence if we’re going to represent and become a true representation of New Zealand and do our best on the international stage.’’
Nash said his upcoming Women of Influence talk attracted the most attention from men he had ever had before a speech. A few had questioned why he was speaking, but along with his story of finding success, he believed his marriage to former international netballer Bernice Mene had taught him a lot.
‘‘One of the things about having a strong wife and someone who’s achieved a lot as well is you have to have an equal footing in that relationship,’’ he said.
‘‘That means working at it and understanding each other and respecting each other’s’ achievements.’’
Hear more from Dion Nash at the 2017 Women of Influence Forum on September 7. Tickets are available at womenofinfluence.co.nz