First impressions Nurture Change’s talent shortlist
The Nurture Change retreat attracted entries from gifted people, says Zac de Silva.
We had hundreds of entries for the four Nurture Change scholarships being given away in conjunction with Fairfax. There was a huge variety of entries and some fascinating reading – thank you to all of those who took the time to enter and share their story with Steve Pirie (my Nurture Change business partner) and I.
We have finalised a shortlist of 12 companies and people, which is three per scholarship category. It was really difficult and we got down to a top 25 and then ‘‘whittle them down’’ to a top 12.
We wish the following 12 people the best of luck in their quest to be in Fiji at the November 2-6 Nurture Change where there will be a great line-up of speakers, learning, networking and fun (and chill time).
The winners will be agreed over the next few days and published next week. So the shortlist is (in no particular order) …
INNOVATION CATEGORY
James Crow of Nice Blocks and Little Island Creamery After getting bored trying to make ethical energy drinks with his mate Tommy, these guys cracked their mission to create a better summer treat for their families. It has gone quite a bit better than their humble initial aims, we suggest. These guys cut no corners with ingredients or their team. If you have not tried a Nice Block or Little Island (coconut icecream and dairy-alternative coconut milks), we suggest you do and perhaps you will never look back. Gene Turner of Law Hawk Gene is one of those disruptive types in the law and procurement industry. He wants to change the way lawyers work, first in New Zealand and then overseas. His software, Law Hawk, provides advanced online automated legal documents to lawyers and procurement professionals and his plans are to make access to some types of legal services a lot more affordable via Law Hawk. Early days for his business but we look forward to watching where Gene ends up in the future. Marina Hirst Tristram of Tasman Bay Food It looks like innovation is part of the culture at Tasman Bay Food with their team of over 50 people from factory floor through to board level constantly trying to improve things. In 2015 they won the NZ Food Awards Business Innovation and Export Innovation categories, and 2014 the Frozen category. Export sales seem to be going through the roof. They live to create new products for consumers around the world. Which parent has not bought ‘‘Juicies’’ for their kids?
EDUCATION CATEGORY
Anya Anderson of Red Seed. Red Seed offer an innovative software as a service training solution to retailers that changes behaviour in their frontline people, and has increased the bottom line of customers on average 11 per cent over three years (very impressive). Based in Christchurch and now also in Sydney, Anya has some big aims to go global and knows that at Nurture Change, she would learn from some of the best around and have the time to work on her business. Diana Beaufort of Reds Hairdressing Diana runs her hair salon, which has won awards for both business achievements and creative work, since opening in 1993 (that is 23 years in business – impressive in itself!). Diana has trained more than 50 hairdressers and plenty of past team members now own their own salons. Diana has an innovative streak as well and we expect she is a lady with exciting things up her sleeve. Charlie Phillips of Queenstown Resort College We love what Charlie and his team have created. QRC is a leading tourism and hospitality management college with campuses in Queenstown and Paihia (what great locations to learn and be inspired in). With its residential courses, it has some great value-adds and care to help students succeed to the maximum. We were impressed at the way QRC has adapted its educational model to benefit ‘‘youth at risk’’ also.
UNDER 25 CATEGORY
Tom Kroch of Enablr We were impressed with the number of major risks Tom has taken to get his business, Enablr, to where it is today. Enablr is a consulting business that helps retailers increase their revenue through sales and sales management training. Tom has achieved a lot for an under 25-yearold. He runs a group of likeminded people wanting to take their businesses to the next level and in addition, he has some innovative ways of holding people accountable. Sebastian L. Dennis of Perx Technologies Sebastian is a smart, driven guy who was previously involved with successful local e-com start up Storbie and is now head of content and digital marketing at Perx Technologies in Singapore. We were impressed with how much Sebastian had achieved for an under-25 and with the fact he was living and working overseas in a successful company going places, furthering his abilities. Ryan Everton of Globelet At 20, while at Otago law school, Ryan started Globelet. Four years on, Ryan has built a thriving business that eliminates disposable cups from major events across Australasia. He has built reusable washing systems to eliminate waste and a closed loop local recycling facility in Christchurch (it would be fascinating to see its set up!). What a great way to drink wine and beer from a super cool Globelet cup. Ryan has big aims to be eliminating disposable waste way beyond major events. Great progress in four years Ryan. We look forward to seeing what you can achieve in 2020.
GENERAL CATEGORY
Geoff Cranko of Strategy Design and Advertising. Geoff has done a great job of building Strategy over the past 14 years. They now have five offices (including in Sydney and Tokyo) and a team of more than 100 people at this service design led advertising agency. Geoff has guaranteed that if he were lucky enough to attend Nurture Change, it would benefit the entire Strategy team for future generations – that really resonates with us. Gareth Berry of Unleashed Software Gareth is a passionate CEO and believer of Unleashed’s potential as a game changer for SMEs through powerful, real-time inventory management. I personally have some of my business coaching clients on Unleashed and it is a really valuable tool helping them to run better businesses. From humble beginnings in the Massey University eCentre, it now has 1920 customers in 80 countries, 52 staff across New Zealand, the US, Australia and, most recently, the UK. This year the Huffington Post highlighted them as a top 10 tool for small business. Impressive, and where will Unleashed Software end up? Brent Edwards of Go Hockey Brent has launched a business model to sell hockey gear to Kiwis in an affordable way whilst having a fantastic range. We were impressed with the many different sales approaches that Brent uses in his business and his grass-roots hockey passion and obvious drive in servicing the needs of the hockey community in New Zealand. He even helps players and clubs get scholarships towards their cost of equipment.