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Jason Paris welcome to my podcast thanks very much for having me Dom he and um congratulations today uh the day that
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we're recording this is your sixth anniversary at 1 inz it is yeah so it's
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gone super fast uh more gray hair uh a little little bit more experienced I feel like You' you've been Rocking The
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Silver Fox look since your 30s you yeah it's been it has been while and uh the
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beauty of going gray early is people say you haven't aged so uh yeah so I've I've
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rocked The Silver Fox like for for a while oh you do I think you look um I'm
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not just pissing in your pocket here to get on the right side of you early in the podcast but um you turned 50 last
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week I I think you're you're looking great maybe it's the dimples that give
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you that oh thank you youthful is this the longest job you've had in your corporate uh career no the one before
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this it was seven years but I've been in the Talco industry now for kind of what
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that means 15 so longest industry uh I've uh I've been in where was the previous one was that spark yeah so it
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took a took a job actually not with vone New Zealand but to move across to London
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with my family and then at the last minute it changed and I got told I was CEO of New Zealand for voone way back
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then and so um our plans quickly reversed and uh and we stayed in ALA which has been you know given what
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happened the last few years and Co Etc was was a blessing in the in the scheme of things yeah so um
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yeah let's run through your your career so it's one and Z for the last six years
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spark before that um let's go backwards uh so I had a brief stunt at media works
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and TV um and then before that was tvnz and then uh before that was noia uh and then before that was McDonald's uh
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back in New Zealand so I had just four years uh in London uh working with noia um and the rest of
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those jobs were uh were were were in New Zealand and so mainly kind of tech industry stuff is uh what I've been what
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I've been in um and I'd include media in that as well because when I kind of came
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into the media industry in 2007 um you know technology was starting to play a bigger part in uh in that
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industry too geez it's not a bad CV is it from for a kid from Southland with um
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outy education yeah done you've done all right I've been pretty lucky and the the
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cool thing about it is uh I haven't had to apply for two many of those those
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roles proactively of been shoulder tapped for whatever reason uh I think that's one of the beauties of the New
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Zealand Marketplace is that you know it's a bit of a village and so um the relationships that you have often you
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know create create doors in fact my very first job um was on the way back from a
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rugby trip to the West Coast and the rugby manager of the Southland team was the rugby manager of Trust Bank
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Southland and he said what are you thinking about doing you want to come and work for me and so um that was my uh
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my Pivot into uh into working into working life although I also got uh declined for teachers training College
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just before that too so it was kind of a a forc a forced move because the teaching industry didn't want me way
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back in ' 92 GE what they do for some male teachers now also I saw the car when you pulled up today and pod lab not
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many school teachers driving cars like that yeah I'm pretty lucky that's uh
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yeah it's a it's a nice car saved up for two or three years for that one and um
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yeah it's uh kind of uh my little treat oh good on you good on you what would
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you say your it's not a mesera or a two sports car though it's a it's a good SUV
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though it is it's a it's a sensible car for for a man of your vintage okay
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that's very nice um what would you say your top five um like career Greatest
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Hits are like surely the the transition from vone to 1 andz the Rebrand is one of them yeah vone to uh 1 andz um
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Telecom to spark um oh you were part of that yeah yeah read that uh I said this ain't your first radio no no um
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uh coming up with and and launching tvnz on demand uh so that was a big a big kind of industry move I'd say pretty
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important asset for tvnz uh back then um I didn't have anything to do with this but when we were when I was at
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media Works uh the way that the team handled the Christ Church canbury earthquakes earthquakes and then the
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Japanese tsunami afterwards um I was just delivering pizzas to The Newsroom it was really Mark Jennings that was
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leading it but I was really proud of the culture that we built uh around around that time and they kind
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of do a lot with a little uh mentality and then uh probably some of the product Innovation that we did at McDonald's way
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back in the day I remember coming up with the chicken MC cheese uh when I was in my uh yes yes yes and um uh so yeah
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there's a there's there's a few there's a few things from a professional
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perspective that I'm proud of and hopefully uh there's more to come what
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what about um career uh greater shits uh the McDonald's Place met yeah so that
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was a shocker uh what's the story there so uh the advertising agency put a bunch
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of um faces in front of me and pictures and we were the sponsor of um the small whites uh um which is the New Zealand
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football kind of campaign and I I I thought that they were all signed off and uh and they had the rights to them
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and of course I chose the one with the maie Queen's grandson on it which is very bad to be eating food off anyone
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from mdom 1.2 million trat placemats went out and that had to be uh had to be reprinted so
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wasn't uh wasn't a stellar moment in my uh in my in my career so I remember that
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one luckily my boss was uh pretty supportive did you did you have to make a phone call to him to let him that must
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been a fun fun conversation 1.2 million true have to be have to be recalled so yeah it wasn't a that wasn't that wasn't
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great um low lights are any uh any structural change when you're having hard conversations about Job losses that
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that's the worst that keeps you um keeps you up at night um yeah those will be
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the things that that are the most kind of draining and then you have to remember that you're making the decision
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and having the conversation but it's much worse for the person that you're
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having the conversation with too actually I'm I'm not surprised you said
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that cuz from um from my research and from what I know about your management style um yeah you like you're a real
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open door kind of guy um so yeah something like um McDonald's placemates it's it's it's a bit of money lost it's
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a stupid mistake but um yeah I'm not surprised that you said that about the people yeah it's the worst and uh you
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know unfortunately with me what you see is what you get I'm the same person at
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home as I am at uh as I am at work and uh anything that impacts people or if I feel like I've let them down in any way
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whether it's family or friends and we and and sometimes you get those things
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wrong and those are the things that you beat yourself up about the most yeah hey
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Will um dig deep into your into your management style and your theories and things um but first of all let's go the
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way back so um Jason Paris who is he kid from Southland yeah proud southlander uh
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born in in vagle uh solo mom she was young uh 16 and then uh my father uh he left straight away and didn't didn't
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come back so I've he was never a part of my life until um he actually died and we
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went to his funeral in uh in Christ Church had no had no connection with him my mom's an incredible woman very strong
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uh a really privileged to have a young grandmother now in fact she was just up in the weekend playing shooting Hoops
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with uh her grand her grandchildren so that's cool but at the time um Sodom mom
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16 uh domestic purposes benefit uh kind of life been her teenage years been taken away from her by having a young
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young child you know what a of sacrifice were you were you an only child yeah so
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Mom uh didn't you know my father left straight away didn't come back and then
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for whatever reason um mom didn't have a relationship that uh stuck to a point
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where she would have another another child and so it ended up being basically me and her and then uh my grandparents
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so her mom and dad uh who um who kind of you know brought me up so freezing worker stock uh right through my family
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so my grandparents freezing workers my uncle my mom ended up after I got to the school age where she could go and uh be
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at the freezing Works in fact she just retired last year from uh from Alliance freezing Works where she was a me
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inspector for a number of years yeah so if you're if you've just turned 50 she
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must be 66 yeah what are your um yeah what are your recollection of those years cuz you you and I are similar age
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and um you I remember when my mom and dad broke I was I was from pal mom and dad broke up when I was about 10 and um
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there was only one other kid in my class Craig who had like like a was from a broken home it was such a rare thing um
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yeah was it like embarrassing did you did you feel like you you know you didn't fit in or you felt different no
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not at all actually uh and uh I think there were a few broken homes um or actually I noticed some kids that
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were in homes that weren't broken that I wouldn't have want to been a part of
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either you know some some pretty tough situations that could find themselves in um well they found themselves in back
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then and still find themselves in today so to be honest although we didn't have
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a lot I didn't realize it at all you know um we moved moved a bit again you know social welfare housing all that
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type of type of thing but uh I never feel like I never remember feeling that I was missing out on anything and
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actually also most importantly that I couldn't do anything that I put my mind
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to either if you my mom's kind of Dred to me if you work hard you give it your
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best then you can achieve achieve anything and so it's only kind of now uh when I have you know privilege to have a
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nice car they didn't realize we didn't have a nice car but um at at you know food on the table bed
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loving environment a mom that believed in supported in me um and and actually I was I was lucky I had a lot of positive
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positive role models my grand parents I mentioned my uncle but also School teachers um Sports coaches so it was a
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tough tough environment in Nago and Southland but um I was surrounded by a bunch of great people and did you have
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like a chip on your shoulder about your dad or anything how how did your mom sort of address that no not at all
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uh the probably the biggest chip on my shoulder was when we I had children myself and uh I realized that there are
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little moments that you know uh and the is a kind of a generalization that maybe
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your dad teaches you back a back a trailer and that's like you know something that you would say now
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nowadays or put a um a hook on a on a um uh on a fishing fishing line I hadn't
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been taught any of those traditional dad uh dad thing so I'm having to YouTube
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them and teach and teach myself because I want to pass them on to my kids both my boys and and my daughter to pick a
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trailer and to and to fish um Etc when I went met my um my wife uh ra she wondered why I hadn't um sort out to
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reconnect with my father uh and I'd never really contemplated it um and probably the
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reason was I didn't feel like I'd missed anything uh and so it wasn't really until um I
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started having we had our children where I was like maybe I did miss miss miss miss something
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but it didn't wasn't enough Drive of me to reconnect then uh then either uh my
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grandparents lived in the same house for would have mean 20 to 25 years after I was born and so he had plenty of time to
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and neag was a small place even though he moved to uh to Christ Church if he wanted to find me he could have so
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probably the only probably sadness is you know if if um you're dead with a with a kid uh it's probably when you're
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17 you can make an excuse that you might be a little bit immature and and not prepared to stick around but yet hope
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when you're 37 or or 47 that you might have some reflection and go actually you
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might want to reconnect with uh with your child um unfortunately he didn't he
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didn't want to yeah you you got no anger about that no because sort of Indi to it
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yeah and I um he I you know I refer to him as my father he's not my not my dad
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um your dad's a t I've got firm views on this having um You' been involved in a
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family adoption and stuff like a dad's a title that's got to be earned yeah
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correct and so that's just not how um how I how I see him um you know un unfortunately he passed away uh mom
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found out about it we went to his funeral to pay our respects but also uh find out about health history right he
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died uh quite young and so um we want to know if there's anything that I need to
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watch out for or our kids needed to watch out for that was a kind of a nice moment though because there um uh by all
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accounts and this is a whole the the story of his funeral was a uh a podcast in itself but I found out I had five
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half Brothers I didn't know uh that existed and we all found out about each other at the funeral and so younger than
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you I'm assuming yeah I'm the eldest so I went to the funeral his this funeral
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was opened by someone who said I'm Robert eldest son and [ __ ] my wife didn't say that
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she' had about two two big bottles of Spates by that point she was like he's
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not the eldest son and I'm like shut up we're only here to pay our respects we
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don't want to k a scene uh but over time uh over that funeral um a scene was
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created because people started to find out because um my uncle so my father's
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brother turned up and uh and he was from Vago and uh and he mentioned someone and
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then everyone at the funeral started to find out about uh me and then all of us found out about another set another two
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boys so there was I like three sort of three family groups yeah yeah so he had uh six boys to three different women so
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oh my God oh my God that's a that's a lot to take in yeah how many years ago
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was this the funeral uh about what would it been I'd say five five years ago five
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years ago now and um it's also when I found out about my connection to nahu which I didn't know existed at that time
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and it set me on a journey to mly for my kids to just see if the connection with
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that side of the family was something that would be meaningful um for them so um we've just started taking some gentle
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baby steps along along that Journey but yeah man that was a pretty mind-blowing experience where you find out well each
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you all find out you got five half Brothers did know exist all at the same time at a funeral so it's a it's a lot
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to unpack it is a lot to unpack it's a lot yeah you need a lot of space to to
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well and have you got a relationship now with um your half Brothers uh no not really no like uh social media
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relationship MH you know so uh lots of um happy birthdays congratulations that kind of that kind
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of stuff it's a lot of extra free phones to hand out is it it is and like I said
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to I said to re like I don't get to spend enough time with my family and my closest mates that I've you know known
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since I was 5 years old uh let alone a whole bunch of other people to um build a relationship but you know that might
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change when I have more time they're really good people uh I really enjoyed uh catching up uh catching up with them
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and um yeah and who and who knows but uh yeah all of us I think were taken by surprise and have just kind of socially
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stayed in contact and G how do we even deal with that yeah and and what do you know about your your father like was was
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he a good dad to some of the other kids not really no so well that must be pleasing in a way yeah yeah like I think
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uh I don't I think he was a father not a dad again like that that that point and
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don't want to speak too ill of the of the Dead um there was a big funeral so
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clearly he had a lot of friends uh and uh and people who liked him yeah um he was very social uh big drink
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big smoker and died of lung cancer um the interesting thing was people would come up to were coming up to me at
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the funeral and would say I uh you know was so sorry we didn't acknowledge you
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and I and I said oh it is what it is he would say it is what it is and then I'd
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say something else and theyd go he would say that and then they tell you about and I said oh I'm Sports mad he was
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Sports mad you know people and New Zealand is a sports mad and a lot of people say it is what it is
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but people you know kind of grabbing or gravitating onto things that uh were a connection uh and also you know I
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probably have they said I had some mannerisms and some ways of talking or whatever that uh that reminded um them
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of of him so without a doubt like when you have a child you are you know 50% 50% you shake it up into a cocktail mix
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and that's what you get so I'm going to I'm going to have a bit of uh a bit of
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connection with him but don't no regrets no no like there's no I've never never
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been a point in my life at all where I've uh regretted not um not reaching out earlier and uh and connecting with
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them I think that speaks volumes about your mom and the job she did so you never felt like there was um like a gap
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or a hole there and did you did you when when did you have an appreciation of just how how badass she was and what a
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good job she did she you know CU your kids are 16 now right same your kids are the same sort of age as what your mom
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was when she had you you're still a kid at that age yeah like did you did you
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ever an appreciation growing up that about your mom or when did that come suppose when you're growing up you
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don't really think about it do you well you know also you know you're teenager
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you're a bit of a [ __ ] too you're not thinking you're thinking about yourself
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versus you know think about your own teenage years you know um luckily our kids are a little bit different and um
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and great and great kids I I think was really when we had our own children and realized how difficult it is to bring up
00:19:07
uh bring up a kid that I appreciate and then also now that I'm you know of this
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of this age putting kids aside just the relationship that I've got with with Mom
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with Mom now and thinking about um how difficult it must have been to be in her situation uh and the sacrifices that she
00:19:28
that she made but it's it's a it was I know I've use that word a lot it's a privilege like I
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got given leadership at a very early age like probably three years old to do stuff right jobs around the house or
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responsibility and that was three four five six uh a lot of change in my life which means I actually I love change I
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love Industries and jobs and life that is free flowing doesn't that doesn't uh
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doesn't stress me stress me out out at all um and also I have a sense of I suppose
00:20:01
of positivity that um if you put your mind to something you've got people even just one person
00:20:09
in your life that believes in you and sees that you've got potential and tells
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you've got potential the world as your oyster so from that background um it's
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given me a hugely positive view on life and potential of anyone from anywhere across AC Ross the country uh and so you
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know um it's another gift that mom's given me wow that's awesome yeah and it's it's
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awesome that she's still um young enough that you know you can tell her these
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things and she knows how appreciated she is and what an awesome job she did and she's got a Toy Boy and Barry who's 64
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and uh Barry and Grandad Barry's uh he's been around for 20 years so the
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entire uh entire uh childhood of our of our kids and so he is the grandfather um
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and he's a great man so um yeah we're lucky to have him in uh in our lives as
00:21:01
as well and maybe if they'd met earlier then there might have been another another child but they met later in life
00:21:07
and um and that's great and uh you know they are they partners in crime do you
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know um just one more question about your dad do you know if he like follow followed your career from afar or
00:21:16
anything like that no at all uh because he he must have been well you lived in the same town a while you were growing
00:21:22
up no no so he he moved so from what I understand is uh he moved from inago to Christ Church pretty much straight away
00:21:30
and didn't uh and didn't come back and um and if he did come back to inago to
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see his parents or um his brothers and sisters didn't uh didn't seek me out uh and so yeah it was never like Mom
00:21:46
mom never ever uh described him in a negative way like um I it was only when I was much older that I started asking
00:21:55
mom a little bit about about him that you know told me a little bit about what he's like and she's kept me connected
00:22:02
with his brothers and sisters um so my uncles and aunties but they were more like not proper uncles and aunties but
00:22:09
kind of um friends older friends of Ms Etc and they've told me a few stories
00:22:14
along the way as uh as well um I knew he was a good athlete good longdistance runner uh but you know um I'd give him a
00:22:23
break when he was 17 I wouldn't have G I don't give him a break when he was you
00:22:27
know 47 yeah yeah do you forgive him it's a good question well I'm not sure I've got
00:22:36
anything to forgive him for because I don't feel like I've missed out on
00:22:40
anything um yeah I'd like to I'd like to think that he if he had his time again would
00:22:52
regret not being a dead to me but I don't know yeah I definitely would but it's not
00:23:00
like um yeah it seems sad like a waste of a life in a way CU it seems like it's
00:23:05
not just a mistake he made with you it's a mistake he made repeatedly with yeah I
00:23:08
can't speak I can't speak for my um half brothers and the fact that they were all
00:23:14
at his funeral and um uh and were there and uh opened up uh I think he it's it's
00:23:22
clearly he improved uh over over time uh so so that's so that's great but um yeah he
00:23:32
just he didn't play that role in in uh in in my life so yeah like bottom line
00:23:37
is I do forgive him because there's nothing to forgive um but there's some
00:23:42
regret I think there yeah well thanks for sharing that I I appreciate it is it hard to talk about now or not really uh
00:23:49
no not really I think you know that question you just asked then do I forgive him it kind of struck an emotional cord
00:23:56
because it made me more reflective of the life I've the relationship I've got with my own
00:24:03
children and how much I value value that so it makes me sad that someone that uh
00:24:12
you know was my father didn't value that that's the sad part I think and
00:24:19
um but I can't change that now so yeah move on yeah cuz you're um you're you're
00:24:25
you're very very much a Hands-On Deb um I I saw a LinkedIn post a couple of weeks ago um about you being invited
00:24:32
some to some starlink launch in the States but it clashes with what is it like your daughter's prize giving or it
00:24:37
was her year six graduation bro do it do it by FaceTime go go go over to the styling thing like you've been a really
00:24:44
good dad you haven't missed anything important you know come on I think go to
00:24:49
The Styling thing I think that's uh that is one of the um results of uh not having a uh a dad in my life
00:24:59
and and my wife uh has unlocked this is I'm chasing to be the greatest dead and I and I and I and I I'll never think
00:25:10
it's going to be good enough you know so you want to do more and more and more
00:25:13
and more and more and uh and I beat myself up about about stuff I'm getting better at it um I don't think that the
00:25:21
year six graduation versus the Starlin and SpaceX launch that was a deliberate decision because I was you know I and um
00:25:29
I talked to my daughter and I said you know how this year six graduation you know how big a deal it is I didn't put
00:25:36
any pressure because I'm about to not go and meet Elon Musk and go and watch this
00:25:40
rocket launch she said Dad it's the biggest moment in my life and at that point it was done there are going to be
00:25:46
plenty more rocket launchers hopefully plenty more opportunities to go to space X but I'm never going to get that year
00:25:53
six graduation back but don't get me wrong I don't go to every single thing
00:25:58
that she would like me to go to so uh she had Athletics day two weeks ago uh I couldn't get to it I know that other
00:26:06
moms and dads uh were there so it's not every single event that I that I get to
00:26:11
but it's the ones that either really are really important to me uh or really
00:26:16
important to her or the or the two boys uh and I'm proud to say that I haven't
00:26:21
haven't missed that moment a moment and um and I'm proud that actually I've
00:26:24
worked for organizations and I've been in teams that have uh supported me to
00:26:29
make it happen and and I would uh I would I would them good on you I I think that's admirable but Devil's Advocate it
00:26:37
would be very easy for you to say listen my dad didn't come to any of my things
00:26:40
and I turned out fine yeah I know but so I think it's actually more of a that's
00:26:45
why I made that observation I think it's more of potentially me driving it like
00:26:50
don't get me wrong I think when my daughter was doing her dance and doing her songs and I was yeah know I think it
00:26:57
was lovely for her to see my smiling face but selfishly it was even more lovely for me to see her smiling her
00:27:03
smiling face and I wouldn't want want have want to be anywhere else than that
00:27:07
than that that that moment but you're right um I don't necessarily think that uh
00:27:15
going to those events is a requirement to demonstrate your love and your commitment to your to
00:27:22
your child because there are a whole bunch of people in in New Zealand that love their kids uh as much as I love
00:27:31
mine but don't have the flexibility I've that I've got to be able to make make
00:27:35
those decisions yeah and uh and their kids as you said are going to be super fine uh because of it yeah one of the
00:27:43
advantages of getting to the the age that you and I are at now is you realize just um how precious time is and how
00:27:48
fast things go so the these moments are going to be gone in the blink of an eye like your kids are going to be growing
00:27:53
up before you know it and you're going to be like where the [ __ ] did the time
00:27:55
go so it's good that you're um you can be present be in the moment and recognize that stuff real time my boss
00:28:01
said to me cuz I'm really emotional about uh Sam uh he's got another year
00:28:06
and then he goes to University or does whatever he wants to do and um I was talking to my boss and said man I'm
00:28:13
feeling really emotional about him potentially moving out of home and she said that's not the worst part because
00:28:19
if they go to university they get a whole bunch of holidays and they've got no money so they're going to come and
00:28:24
see you when they start working uh they've got a bit of money they get four weeks off guess how many of those weeks
00:28:30
they want to spend with Mom and Dad none unless you pay for them so that's was
00:28:35
even more upsetting so I am very conscious that uh you know you don't you don't get those uh those moments back
00:28:43
and and um but not just with your uh with your kids with uh friends with with your
00:28:50
partner you know um with your mom I remember uh just last week I I I drove into the driveway and I just had this
00:29:00
big really strong uh feeling of missing my grandfather who I would call periodically and just check in and and
00:29:08
say good day so I all those moments are kind of a nice reminder that uh they're
00:29:12
important ones not to miss yeah how long has your granddad been gone oh he would be 20 years now amazing yeah
00:29:24
you just had this feeling out of out of the B out of the blue yeah it's funny
00:29:28
that but I think I think that's the um yeah the ultimate tribute to like a family member that's passed out that 20
00:29:33
years on you know they still hold a space in your heart I think that's really cool no I think that's the right
00:29:39
way to look at it right if you uh if you miss them just so it shows how much you
00:29:43
valued and loved them uh and how much the impact they had on you when they were alive 100% what about what about ra
00:29:50
so your wife ra um you've been married like 20 years yes what's the meat cute
00:29:54
so you met you met in Queenstown yeah so love it first s it was for me I remember
00:30:01
I remember her uh I actually said this to her I said remember when we met each other on the 27th of December and you we
00:30:07
were walking down the kind of Court this Courtyard or Mall strip and we our eyes
00:30:13
locked and that connection and she's like what she had no idea she was with a
00:30:20
group of friends girls I was with a group of friends boys and um uh I saw her and thought uh my God
00:30:29
and uh she didn't even notice me and then later that night we ended up being
00:30:35
in the same uh bar and we got there first uh there was a table not similar to this there was four of us here there
00:30:43
was nowhere else for the girls to sit they looked everywhere to go somewhere else apart from sit with us and then
00:30:49
they came in and then we were like WP and um uh she was from ockland I was from Vago uh we were having quite a bit
00:30:56
of ban about the North versus South I said to her uh can I get you a drink and she said uh well I'm from Oakland so of
00:31:05
course uh I only drink Ballinger and I was like okay is it some RTD I didn't
00:31:11
know what Ballinger was so I went to the bar not knowing that she was joking and
00:31:15
said can I have a Spates and a Ballinger thank you and he said are you sure we want a Ballinger and I said yep and he
00:31:22
goes once I open it I can't take it back and I thought it must be like one of
00:31:28
those $10 rtds and I looked back at Rach and I was like yeah she's worth the 10
00:31:31
bucks and he came back and I remember him saying that's $100 and I was like what do you mean he go I said what' I
00:31:41
just buy he said you just bought the most expensive bottle in the bar I said I don't want it take it back he goes
00:31:48
I've opened it so I said have you got anything by the glass which is your cheapest and so uh I got poured one
00:31:56
glass of Ballinger one glass of the cheapest bubbles told this table what had happened we did a blind taste test
00:32:03
with Rachel and she got it wrong she CH she chose the cheap one as the expensive
00:32:09
Ballinger in her defense she' never tasted Ballinger herself at that point in her life so she had nothing to
00:32:13
Benchmark it against but it's a joke within our um yeah within our our friends and family that uh we both got
00:32:20
kind of suck it in that suck it in that night and the rest is history yeah and she's um she's phenomenal right she's
00:32:25
like a Harvard educated lawyer is she a partner in a law firm yeah so and an author I always say she should be the
00:32:33
one doing these having these conversations she is so much more impressive than I am in every facet
00:32:41
she's not she's so she'll hate me for say this she slightly uncoordinated but
00:32:45
that's her only yes perfect in every other way so we always joked hopefully the kids get my coordination and
00:32:52
everything else uh everything else about her um but yeah she uh she's a lawyer um
00:32:59
she was a partner in at bgal for uh I think she was the youngest partner or one of the youngest Partners made up
00:33:06
partner for 10 years and uh but I always wanted to write and so um with each child um when
00:33:15
she took uh don't say it's time off because it's not like time off when
00:33:18
you're maternity leave but when she was wasn't working at work and was working
00:33:23
at home bringing the bringing the kids up she wrote a screenplay with her sister
00:33:28
um she wrote a play she wrote A Child a children's book and so she's always been
00:33:32
quite creative and uh always wanted to be a writer so when I got the job offer to go to voone um in London she resigned
00:33:41
from her law firm and that was going to be the time where she was going to write
00:33:45
um in Europe and then that changed but she' resigned from her partnership um
00:33:50
and so we stayed in New Zealand but she started to started to think about writing but it was
00:33:55
only uh what would have been kind of 18 months ago two years ago now that she decided
00:34:02
to commit to it and enrolled herself at the um uh at ockland University on the Master's creative writing course and uh
00:34:11
she won the Phoenix prize um a year ago because the the new Phoenix prize Winer was uh announced last night and then um
00:34:19
her book got picked up by haset um the global publisher and it goes on sale in April and the US the Australian and the
00:34:28
New Zealand Market um next year and also her book's been picked up by stampede as
00:34:36
a Netflix series so amazing I know incredible What's um so it's a novel I
00:34:42
joke that it's so she's writing about all the ways that she's thought about
00:34:47
killing me so it's a psychological Thriller like a howto guy it's a psychological
00:34:54
Thriller uh and um I remember uh we were having a conversation and she said to me you know I could kill you and
00:35:03
no one would ever find out and I was like what what have I done so I've always say publicly if I ever go missing
00:35:10
something happens to me and they go well that was a surprise look at ra it wasn't
00:35:14
a surprise I've misstepped too many times and uh I've been I've been taken
00:35:17
out well she won't be able to use anything that's um that's on the book SL
00:35:21
Netflix series exactly so like I'm really I'm really proud of her I read a
00:35:26
lot of that genre and and um uh and I've read uh her script her her book now probably 30 times and all
00:35:34
its different variations Etc there was only two days where she didn't talk to
00:35:38
me because of some of the feedback that I uh I gave her because you know you think about you're pouring your heart
00:35:43
and soul out on it and I've got a very limited vocabulary and so when I'm
00:35:49
trying to find words to describe how I can help make the book better sometimes I can be a little less sophisticated
00:35:56
than I would like like to be but uh you need to check jpt have another sentence for it it's a bit
00:36:03
[ __ ] and so she's done a phenomenal job and um the book is book is amazing and
00:36:09
uh yeah and uh and she's um it's a two book deal that she was uh signed up for
00:36:14
so she's about I think 25% through um her next her next book her next book now
00:36:22
that's incredible yeah wow it's incredible you and yeah and a and a a grad from Harvard with the Masters in
00:36:28
law where she graduated first her dissertation at Harvard was published in the Wall Street Journal like uh you know
00:36:36
she is she's a super and an amazing mom great friend like I'm very privileged
00:36:42
[ __ ] you're proud aren't you ah so proud like seriously and you know and uh but
00:36:48
it's she not everything that she's doing and the kids are doing she's just uh an
00:36:52
incredible human being she's just a special person really what say say selfless yeah her first thought was
00:37:02
about everyone else before herself not like that's just you know similar to my
00:37:06
mom actually uh they they say you you marry someone like your mother yeah yeah and um uh and her parents are the same
00:37:15
um Liz and jock incredible people um you know who were amazing parents to her as
00:37:20
well and I think that's the the values that they installed in all of um all the
00:37:25
kids that they had so uh yeah super super impressive and her her um uh her brother's uh got a very successful
00:37:33
career in finance uh he's got his own fund that uh he's raised money for and lots of
00:37:39
investors are trusting him in um and then uh her sister Bridget is the country manager of zero so um very
00:37:47
successful uh family they're all um High Achievers but are fantastic people first
00:37:53
yeah and yeah you guys are um Power couple like both um both big jobs so how do you yeah what's the um what's the
00:38:01
home calendar like how have you got like a white board is it a Blackboard is it a
00:38:04
just a like a Google Calendar like how do you how do you make things work with your various commitments yeah it's
00:38:09
pretty chaotic I would say both uh ra and I would say that the thing um that we sacrifice the most uh is our own
00:38:18
relationship even though it's super strong and full of love uh and also our uh prioritizing ourselves so so I'd
00:38:28
definitely like to go to the gym a little bit more or um you know spend more me time but um we prioritize our
00:38:38
kids um our work our friends our family and then we'll kind of get to us and uh
00:38:48
and ourselves when we can and often you you never get to them I I think that's
00:38:53
the same for a lot of people uh so I'm not saying that we're unusual in in any
00:38:58
way but it's something we talk about because you know when the kids leave home uh we don't want to look at each
00:39:05
other and go who the hell are you that happens a lot yeah and so that's something you got to actively work out
00:39:11
right you want to make sure that you continue to fall in love with each other as you change inevitably from when you
00:39:19
when you first when you first met so um we do and uh and so I think that it's
00:39:25
healthy to kind of talk about that and and make and make that time for the relationship what what are your big
00:39:31
arguments about is it kid related or you you she's a lawyer you wouldn't
00:39:36
want to argue with her right you're I yeah no though you know you're on a
00:39:40
hiding to nothing yeah I'm just yes yes dear and uh yeah so like seriously we
00:39:48
don't we don't have massive big arguments I think probably the the the biggest challenges that that we have um
00:39:56
is how do you ensure um it's probably more about actually the the challenges of uh of kind of just
00:40:06
life and chaos and and busyness and communication more than anything else I can be a bit useless and not telling her
00:40:12
what's happening when it's uh when it's busy and that's probably the biggest
00:40:16
thing bro I'm I'm exactly the same you know um you know when your kids in
00:40:21
particular boys get home from school and it's hard to get more than a grunt or a
00:40:24
one or two we answer out of them I'm the same in relationships like if I'm busy
00:40:27
with other stuff it's the communication the first thing that lapses for me and I
00:40:30
know it's I know it's a work on yeah it's hard though he it is yeah and also
00:40:35
I'm sure I've told her something and I and I haven't so that's the that's the
00:40:39
biggest issue and it was in my head I just didn't uh I just didn't say it you
00:40:43
need to push harder gas lier I definitely told you this I definitely told you no she's got a uh yeah she's
00:40:49
got a memory yeah well that's great so so um yes so your son's 17 now yeah so
00:40:55
uh Sam's 17 uh ockland grandar um great kid uh Will's 13 again fantastic kid he's in um in third form
00:41:05
Auckland grammar and then uh our daughter in year six going into year seven bum bum bum you know so they
00:41:11
they're growing up growing up fast but um yeah uh really I'm really really
00:41:16
proud of them good manners good values uh and all we say to them is be the best you can be all I care about is the
00:41:24
effort effort Mark the outcome will be what it will be and they'll find what
00:41:29
they love at some point in time and who knew what they wanted to be or very few people at 17 or 13 or or 11 I just want
00:41:36
them to try lots of things and be good people and open doors and have good manners and and uh and give it their
00:41:43
best and and uh and if they do that I'm sure it'll work out fine yeah that's
00:41:47
bloody great oh well done that's cool you've got a few more years before
00:41:51
you're in empty Nea yeah we we have yeah I thought it'd be exciting having one of
00:41:55
your kids leave home especially if there's a couple of back UPS no I'm going to be be emal I'm going to be a
00:42:01
mess it will be horrific yeah really why oh I just love them so much and I just seriously
00:42:09
uh I just I and I when Sam uh turned 17 uh I told him a story uh of when he was born the day he was born I don't
00:42:20
know but I got a cab right back from the um hospital and uh the cab driver could
00:42:25
see that I was really chuffed and uh he said what are you smiling about and I said I've had my first son first child
00:42:31
and he's a boy and he said oh funnily enough it's my son's birthday this
00:42:35
weekend and he's 21 and he said can I just tell you it gets better and better
00:42:39
and better and I said to Sam it does like I didn't want you to grow up when you were three and when you were seven
00:42:45
and when you were 10 and when I when you were 13 I was like nothing's going to be
00:42:49
better than this but it does and so just so proud of having my relationship with
00:42:55
him and the kids it's amazing special yeah you haven't obviously gone through
00:42:59
the mount difficulty phase yet of the there's got that's got to come no yeah
00:43:03
like not all like you know of course they always misstep and they do naughty things and I've pushing boundaries
00:43:09
pushing boundaries or I've found them they you know snuck out the bedroom window to see their friends and vaping
00:43:15
the school bag all that none of them are Vaped really well done yeah I used to work for smoke free way back uh when I
00:43:22
was when I was at school kind of advocating uh my grandma um she passed away of um emia Emma whatever it is and
00:43:30
um so I've uh yeah but so uh I've kind of installed that installed that into
00:43:35
them uh the probably biggest issue is um addiction to devices which you know as being in the industry I'm in um it's a
00:43:43
it's a challenge I'm trying to navigate through at home as as well as for the
00:43:46
industry oh it's it's tough like um I I've stopped looking at my screen time
00:43:51
my weekly screen time because it's alarming it is and you can justify so much of it as um working like I'm
00:43:56
working it's a it's a work tool but no a lot of it is a lot of it is Mindless
00:44:00
scrolling no yeah I find that myself you know I I'm going okay I'll just uh you
00:44:05
know I just wind down and look at a couple things on Instagram and it's 9:45
00:44:10
and then all of a sudden it's 11:00 what I just lost an hour looking at funny pet
00:44:18
videos and like what the hell where did that where did that go and you can see you know hopefully my brain is a bit
00:44:24
more developed than a 13-year-old or a 17-year-old but yeah you can see uh that you know they are developed to keep you
00:44:33
addtive yeah I heard a podcast that's saying it's um sort of yeah the screen
00:44:38
and the way it looks and feels and sounds is based on like slot machines yes yes um yeah yeah but and the the Met
00:44:44
algorithms are so good like I get see so many videos of dogs that look like mine an hour is nothing mate I know I it
00:44:52
feels like it's always listening to you as well right like and I just like all
00:44:56
of a sudden you know um uh I turned 50 and I'm getting uh you know gut health
00:45:05
bloating 50y old ads on social media and I'm like are you trying to tell me something here you know whatever it is
00:45:12
so magnesium supplements for me yeah yeah ex it's good though it's helpful it
00:45:17
um hey let's talk about your the career stuff so um so you left school you went
00:45:22
to University for 3 months so what happened there so I applied for teacher in college and uh got rejected and then
00:45:31
um coming back from a South and rugby trip uh and then went to um Trust Bank Southland and but
00:45:41
I always thought that I would want to go to university because I had a a view in
00:45:46
my head that um if you wanted to get a big job um whatever the industry was and I wasn't too sure that you needed to
00:45:54
have a a degree and so was basically saving money up to uh not take up to take on too much debt when to go to go
00:46:03
to university and I my best mate is um uh was actually a year younger uh than me and and then my other best mate was
00:46:13
two years uh two years younger than me and so we were uh thinking about all going together and so uh we all worked
00:46:23
um for a period of time in inago before we went to kind of University in the same in the same year uh I was
00:46:32
um the year before I went to University I took a job that was paying more than the bank in radio sales so I uh started
00:46:41
being a radio sales sales guy and um then left to go to university and then 3 months after uh I was at University the
00:46:51
radio station manager turned up at my flat and said hey um we've missed you uh will double your salary and if you
00:47:00
come back so um I called I was doing a double major in marketing and information science back then like
00:47:07
technology and I remember I called the careers advisor um at the ataga University and I said hey look I've just
00:47:14
got this job offer but I'm really enjoying this information science thing and I remember she said to me there's no
00:47:20
money in Tech take the job so uh I took the job and the rest is history and that
00:47:26
kind of that that created uh I suppose my set me on my career of kind of sales and
00:47:33
marketing so people come through the ranks you know and finance or operations um uh my my my background is in has been
00:47:44
in sales and marketing so I just progressively moved from inago uh to Wellington uh and then to uh
00:47:52
Auckland after I met my uh after I met ra and uh have been kind of a sales and marketing background ever since yeah and
00:47:59
I suppose once you get that um that opportunity and you start getting a bit of career momentum like the degree thing
00:48:04
becomes less less important but like if you look at jobs now on say SE or zel or
00:48:08
whatever like most of them say you know the you entry level requirement is a as a degree and whatever it happens to be
00:48:15
so how did you get like the um marketing manager job at McDonald's without a
00:48:18
degree uh I just applied for it yeah they didn't they didn't ask they just
00:48:22
assumed no so it wasn't a requirement to be honest and um my boss now uh well my
00:48:28
boss back then and suu's another good mate good mate of mine and kind of uh I
00:48:35
I my viewers once you get the interview once you get the foot on the door um the qualifications don't necessarily
00:48:44
really really matter um in my view unless you're a doctor you know you got something who's A's a who's a specialist
00:48:50
this guy's got a good attitude do my brain operation but uh when you're coming through the ranks and sales of
00:48:55
marketing and he just took a he could took a chance on me a crack and that was my kind of first Big Marketing role was
00:49:02
um wasn't McDonald's up until then um uh I was kind of a sales and marketer and
00:49:08
um and so yeah he uh he took my he took his first big first big punt and then it started it wasn't really
00:49:18
McDonald's role but the Nokia role the tvnz role the media media Works role the
00:49:26
Telecom role uh even um possibly the uh the vhone role having a degree never came up I
00:49:38
think people probably just assumed um or it gets to the point where you've got so much experience it just
00:49:44
doesn't matter doesn't matter but the I did have a chip on my shoulder about it
00:49:48
uh and when I was at tvnz my boss Rick Alis I talked to him about it openly and um
00:49:57
he said [ __ ] I didn't know that you didn't have a degree and he said I never
00:50:02
would have thought um you know you're smart you're articulate you can you know
00:50:07
you're structured in the way that you think and and uh and right but that was
00:50:12
created basically on four years of work experience While others had four years of structured structured learning and so
00:50:19
as we just said before like R and I are the complete opposite ends of the education Spectrum masters from Harvard
00:50:27
no University degree so uh tvnz and Rick funded me to do a business course at at
00:50:34
Harvard I think it was in 2008 and um I went across there and there were people from all around the
00:50:42
world and within 24 hours I was like I'm as good as them like I can have conversations about the case studies I
00:50:52
can get the uh the concepts of the models I can uh debate uh with them I can ideate and that was a it was a really
00:51:03
big um psychological moment for me in my career where I realized um that I didn't have that I
00:51:13
wasn't smart you know I didn't have an issue with not being smart enough to be
00:51:18
able to um you know be the CEO of a of of an organ of an organization and so uh it was probably an impediment or a
00:51:28
hurdle that I was putting on myself versus others were putting on me at that at that point in time and um I never
00:51:35
never really never really came up from that from that point because as you said your experience your track record New
00:51:40
Zealand's a village people know what you're doing good or bad every day um
00:51:47
and if your track record is is good and and you're doing what you said you do
00:51:50
and you're showing up well then then opportunities open up for you yeah 100%
00:51:55
um yeah do you think are you familiar with impostor syndrome yes yeah do you feel like um you were sort of
00:52:01
experiencing that when you went to see Rick Ellis oh absolutely is there a degree of that and I think it's still
00:52:06
there's still a degree of that in me now I'm still waiting for yeah I still
00:52:12
seriously I I would say uh at least every month if not every week I go how the hell did someone like
00:52:21
me get here like it's just bizarre I'm waiting for someone to tap me on the
00:52:26
shoulder and go how the hell did you get here and I'll go I know I know yeah you
00:52:30
game's up uh you got me you got me uh I I just genuinely uh cannot believe how lucky I
00:52:38
am that uh and that's every job like you know I said an giving me the crack at
00:52:44
McDonald's Murray giving me the crack at uh Trust Bank Southland um the radio station manager
00:52:52
picking meic out of uh out of University um Alis uh just you know grabbing me out of London and then
00:53:00
sending me to Harvard um Simon Musa uh giving me the opportunity to do the Telecom to Spark
00:53:08
Run two-thirds of their of their of their business like it's just it's absolutely incredible uh that these
00:53:14
people have yeah um given me the given me the opportunities that uh that they have and you don't want to let them
00:53:23
down uh yeah and I've you know that I think I've got the impostor syndrome as
00:53:27
a dead you know never going to be good enough I've got the impostor syndrome as
00:53:32
um um as part of the team as well that never going to be good enough and that drives
00:53:37
me I think it's quite um it shouldn't be but I think it's quite Brave or
00:53:41
courageous of you to to admit that because um you imposter syndrome or yeah yeah well I mean I feel like there's a
00:53:48
degree of um you know you're supposed to have people fake it till you make it um
00:53:54
you know um but I think I think most of us I've had heaps of ORS on the podcast and
00:53:58
they all admit the same thing like the first day they turned up you know so they'll have a killer super season or
00:54:02
whatever and then turn up to the or training they be like [ __ ] I don't belong here um I think it's it's really
00:54:07
refreshing to admit that yeah especially six years under the desk that's that's
00:54:11
true you know uh and and hopefully you can use it as a driver um versus uh yeah versus feeling
00:54:21
uncertain so uh yeah but it's it's there it's there every day I just I just go how the hell
00:54:29
did this happen uh and how do I uh you know work hard enough to make sure that the music doesn't stop is that
00:54:38
exhausting uh yeah like the CEO roles are oh actually any industry like they're tiring they're 20 247 and and
00:54:47
I've purposefully decided that my role as a CEO is a 247 role because I want to
00:54:53
be as accessible to as many people as possible on every social media platform too you know I every conversation I have
00:55:02
with anyone I always give them out my personal email address and I tell them that I'm your personal account manager
00:55:08
and I'm your personal account manager too Dom and um uh because uh I want them to know that I
00:55:16
take the role that we play in their lives really really seriously one two it's the best way for me to know what's
00:55:22
happening in the business good and bad um and uh and three I think it's my job
00:55:28
like everyone in the organization should be the the best sales and service person
00:55:31
that they that they can be but that means you know Friday nights Saturdays Sundays I'll be checking my phone
00:55:39
because if I get an email it means the shit's at the fan a customer has a massive issue in their business or in
00:55:44
their life for them at that point in time and um they've tried as much as they possibly can and and they haven't
00:55:51
got what they needed to and so I I'm in a position to be able to help yeah you're you're very active on LinkedIn
00:55:56
and I've seen um like a couple of comments where there's been you've put
00:56:00
up a post about something completely unrelated and someone will write a comment bitching about some data r or
00:56:05
whatever it happens to be and then you'll respond with your email address so how does your email work does it get
00:56:10
directed to a PA and then they goes directly to me so I read every single apart from for one holiday um I'll read
00:56:19
every single email that uh that comes through I'll respond to every single email personally but then
00:56:26
uh I have a team of about four or five people they don't just support me they
00:56:31
triage the most gnarly uh issues that come through the business uh some of which come to me and then they will
00:56:38
account manage them in to make sure that they get they get fixed because New Zealand is a good good people um and if
00:56:44
when that gets to me we've normally you know pissed them off to a point where
00:56:48
the it's the last straw and they go you need to know what's happening in your
00:56:53
organization so uh I'll send uh three emails out to our customer base a year I
00:56:59
have done that since I started uh I used to get about a thousand emails back I'd
00:57:06
read all of them um within 24 hours respond within 48 hours and then this team would help fix them and um and
00:57:15
address them that that email volume's at least halved now so um I always put my
00:57:22
personal email address at the bottom always say if you got anything that I can help with let me know uh so I'll
00:57:28
probably get 500 emails I would say half of them are now compliments they would go you know what you're doing a much
00:57:34
better job than you were well done uh and then the other half uh actually you're still doing a pretty shitty job I
00:57:40
need you to fix need you to fix this er um but again you know it's a it's a it's
00:57:45
a calculated investment because I know I've talked to thousands of our customers over a year and so I know
00:57:55
pretty well what is going on in our business and where we're up to scratch and where and where we're not and what
00:58:01
we need to focus on and uh and do so it's a it's a it's an investment that um
00:58:06
that is a really smart one because it's the only way that you know what's really
00:58:10
happening in your business is by talking to as many customers as you as you can yeah and that's a very um conscious and
00:58:15
deliberate decision I guess to be a visible CEO yeah um where did that stem from did you get the idea from anyone
00:58:22
else or the inspiration or is this just you as a person no it's just me like you
00:58:25
know just uh um I like people get my energy from them uh I like yeah you know I like uh
00:58:34
hearing from our customers it helps us make decisions helps me drive change through the
00:58:40
organization uh I feel like if I uh if I engage and I can acknowledge and say sorry if a customer and there are very
00:58:50
few of them now that's a dick I can call them out too and go you know what disagree with that I think you're being
00:58:57
unfair when you have a crack at a team member or where you're criticizing Us in
00:59:00
this in this way I can only to be honest I can only think of a handful of times where I've had to do that and stick up
00:59:06
stick up for my team but I think um you know by being visible and uh and apologizing and getting things sorted
00:59:14
also gives you permission to draw a line on the sand and go well no hold on a minute don't agree with that don't agree
00:59:19
with your post your posture or your position or your criticism of us and and sorry but uh you know we won't be moving
00:59:25
forward on that one so that's fine too yeah well a lot a lot of time people just want to be heard don't they they do
00:59:31
yeah yeah but um I know good for doing that oh there was a thing on L you LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago as well
00:59:36
about you um U making a very public stand um what happened you banned banned a couple of customers from one of your
00:59:42
stores what happened there yeah so this has been a problem that's been growing
00:59:46
in retail for uh all Industries for quite some time so you know everyone will be familiar with the smash and
00:59:54
grabs that Michael jewers you know the ram raids and that kind of stuff and uh man that's a terrifying horrific
01:00:05
experience and can I as I said on LinkedIn a few a few weeks ago these are grandmothers grandfathers uncles
01:00:15
aunties moms dads Sons daughters cousins Friends new zealanders just like you or
01:00:23
me trying to do a job to help people that do not need to put up with that type of crap right um now we're lucky
01:00:33
that the ram raids that have impacted our retail stores have been at night um people come in what they don't know is
01:00:40
that all of our devices are are safe they can't get to and they think that the devices that are in our retail
01:00:44
stores will work they're not they're dummy devices right you can use them but
01:00:48
you disconnect them they're dummy devices you can't put a SIM card into them you can't use them um so when they
01:00:55
do Ram raid they don't there's nothing of value that they that they take but in
01:00:59
this instance um you know Society is getting more problematic we've got people coming into our retail stores
01:01:06
trying to intimidate being aggressive swearing now I know they're stressed it's tough Economic Times we've come
01:01:13
through Co come through a recession all that kind of stuff but it's just um but everyone's dealing with
01:01:20
issues in their life and you can't take it out on our on our people and so um um
01:01:26
this was an instance where someone was changing uh over a phone and they had forgotten their Apple ID it's not our
01:01:34
job to change over their phone for them but our our um uh our salesperson was doing them a favor by trying to help
01:01:43
them migrate all their photos and data but you need your Apple ID to be able to make it happen and they'd forgotten it
01:01:50
and it wasn't working and so they lost it and was punching them and beating them up and then someone else came in
01:01:57
and they took a swing at them and then they were abusing people and Etc and um and one of them had to go to hospital
01:02:05
and just I was just pissed off I was like this is not good enough it's unacceptable and so we've just we've
01:02:11
kicked them off the network and they'll never be allowed back and um that's a
01:02:16
big move right that we'd take in very rare instances but I'm sorry if uh if
01:02:22
that's what you're going to do then we don't want you part of our um part of
01:02:26
the team so uh yeah so they will never be a one New Zealand customer uh ever ever
01:02:34
again and um they can find another TCO to uh to connect with yeah to me that doesn't that doesn't feel like a huge
01:02:40
move like that's outrageous behavior like it's incredibly poor form like how
01:02:45
how traumatic for the staff members involved oh massively and and actually I think you know we when we're supporting
01:02:51
them and I I talked to them on the day and then um the week after uh but you just don't know how you're going to feel
01:02:57
and uh and and then they came back into store and of course they're feeling it
01:03:01
apprehensive because no one expect someone to take a swing at you or try to beat the [ __ ] out of you when you're
01:03:07
trying to help them no and that happened and and uh it was UN like it was they didn't couldn't predict that this person
01:03:14
was clearly like up until that point was getting agitated and frustrated but frustrated about the device not of them
01:03:20
and then lost it uh and so who's next they'll be they'll be thinking so you
01:03:25
know um it is it is rare but uh yeah I just wanted to draw a line on the sand and
01:03:31
say it's unacceptable and and this type of behavior ever increases over Christmas which is why I did it I you
01:03:37
know s timely reminder now as people get stressed uh over that kind of busy Christmas or New Year period just
01:03:43
remember that everyone's just trying to do a job they're trying to navigate
01:03:46
through life they're trying to help you and support you and they don't deserve
01:03:51
um you know you taking your anger out on them yeah good on you yeah um and why the brand the Rebrand from um vone to
01:03:58
one NZ yeah a bunch of reasons um first one is uh it's a brand that we didn't
01:04:04
own voter phone and we were paying tens of millions of dollars overseas for and that money is better re being reinvested
01:04:12
back into into New Zealand um majority of that money is been reinvested into SpaceX into our partnership with them
01:04:19
and that'll be a GameChanger you know um getting your uh backup connectivity from
01:04:24
space uh instead of on the ground in in New Zealand so that's one uh two uh look
01:04:32
the the V phone brand in New Zealand started off with a HS and a roar it was the leader in mobility and then when I
01:04:40
started six years ago man I get used to get a lot of crap at barbecues people would go your service isn't great I've
01:04:47
had a really shitty experience I couldn't recommend you and new zealanders have got long memories and so
01:04:53
over the next kind of three or four years so told two years ago we'd invested so much in our Network and our
01:04:59
and you know the best network in the country our service we'd back ourselves
01:05:03
to have the best service results in the country people have long memories um but
01:05:08
I remembered from the spark Telecom to spark change new zealanders will give you another chance especially if you do
01:05:14
a bit of a Rebrand they'll go oh maybe something is different there and so the
01:05:19
Rebrand was also a reconsideration moment so people to go give us another give us another try and so uh we did a a
01:05:27
Rebrand to have a bit of a refresh there and then the third thing is we felt that
01:05:32
in terms of a position uh we felt that there was a an opportunity for a New Zealand Talco to
01:05:39
stand more for this country and more for New Zealand than any other so um like two degrees is trying to stand for Price
01:05:48
spark I think was standing for kind of Partnerships like Spotify and we wanted to stand for the best of New Zealand and
01:05:54
we felt that there was a kind of a a brand positioning so saving money that can be re reinvested a reconsideration
01:06:02
moment so convince people to give us a second go um and then that and then that positioning so those were the three
01:06:08
three big reasons and thankfully uh the team did a much better job of my telecom
01:06:15
to spark uh project and and and all three of them have paid off not that the Telecom to spark one didn't yeah I was
01:06:21
going to say that was that was fine wasn't it yeah it was good just it takes
01:06:24
a while for these names wash out there but eventually you just forget about it and look ultimately you're right it's
01:06:29
not the name it's the actions so as long as you don't completely screw up the
01:06:35
name Choice it's really the actions that you take what other names were on the
01:06:39
short list well my favorite uh the one that I was advocating for they that they dismissed I I really liked
01:06:47
Spirit but uh it got dismissed because Spirit of New Zealand uh the boat you know and a good M of mine Bruce runs
01:06:53
that and I would have had a had a conversation and go hey thought about doing a partnership with a with a TCO
01:06:59
um yeah and so there were five names um I can't remember the others and uh and
01:07:05
that was the one that the team went with and then it just it just goes as I said it's really not the name
01:07:11
it's is your network good is your service good is your pricing good have you got good people have you got good
01:07:17
Partnerships uh and if you nail those things that's more important than the name yeah and and names names of um
01:07:23
Brands always sound weird in the beginning uh um yeah I remember I was at media WIS when um uh Mark Weldon who was
01:07:29
the CEO turned the news into newshub yeah and everyone was like newshub what looks like PornHub what is it but after
01:07:35
a while it just becomes a a thing yeah you guys did I think a good job with this um or your team didn't and they got
01:07:40
you involved with it um a Tik Tok where you're reading out messages um just basically people sh [ __ ] yeah me
01:07:47
tweets [ __ ] on the name Ki kiwis love that self-deprecating sort of humor eh yeah there was an embarrassing like
01:07:53
my my kids were like oh my d Ed you're so cringe you know um cuz I think uh they one of them was something about
01:08:04
420 and they were like and they were pissed themselves cuz I didn't realize that 420 was the name for a drug
01:08:10
whatever it is and so yeah so there was lots of things that not only uh were funny because people were taking the
01:08:17
piss about the name but it also funny because uh it showed my naivity in a whole bunch of areas and well you
01:08:23
mentioned um the um SpaceX thing before is that that that's the same as the um
01:08:27
the Starling thing yeah so how did that come about uh by the way as as a trail Runner this is so exciting yeah you know
01:08:33
it is so uh we've been working with um with starlink Broadband for quite some
01:08:39
time so and it already came into its own off the back of cyclone Gabriel because
01:08:46
we could uh when power was out um when fiber was out we could deploy the starlink Broadband satellite dishes we
01:08:58
did it for the New Zealand Defense Force we did it for the airports where we could get Wi-Fi connectivity connected
01:09:03
to a generator because when you lose connectivity it's your Lifeline you can't tell people that you need help you
01:09:11
can't tell people that you're safe you can't tell them where you are and you
01:09:17
massive anxiety for people that love you and also the people that you love and so
01:09:24
uh I talked to the team about um spacex's starlink to mobile service and so uh how was that progressing and we'
01:09:35
had a conversation with them but the price that they had quoted us was massive way like so expensive there
01:09:44
was no way that we could afford it and so I decided that I'd like to have a cracket convincing them that they should
01:09:51
give us a better deal and so we basically did a pitch to them and said look 60 million sheep 5 million people
01:10:00
uh it's the same population as Alabama and the US um you know we're a rugged
01:10:06
country of explorers we're a perfect test case for this technology we're fast
01:10:12
adopters of Technology we've got a partnership with you on starlink broadband uh we've just had a massive
01:10:21
Cyclone uh that's devastated parts of the country we had floods in a major city this is going to be a life Cher um
01:10:29
40% of um Altera doesn't have coverage uh we love fishing you know uh we'd love to partner
01:10:39
with you we're really bloody easy um and so we pitched them and uh and they said
01:10:46
yes and so we signed the deal uh and it happen so quickly actually that um it was only about a month before we
01:10:58
were changing from voone to one and so the team decided to make it as part of the kind of launch day at the at the
01:11:06
kind of last last minute and um uh yeah we announced at the same time as a good example of the money that we were saving
01:11:15
by rebranding being invested back into into New Zealand and you know you asked me
01:11:20
before about proud moments in my career this is probably going to be up there if not the number one just
01:11:30
because if we can help save one life through this technology it'll be uh it'll be worth it and um it's amazing
01:11:39
you know uh we're doing all the all the testing now but uh you have a a a smartphone compatible smartphone in your
01:11:48
pocket uh and what compatible means is while we doing all the testing um and you're you can see the
01:11:54
sky uh then you'll be able to uh get a connection with the satellite traveling
01:12:03
500 km above you in space uh traveling at 27,000 km an hour and sequence and a constellation with
01:12:13
others first by text um and that's when we have about 300 satellites up that uh
01:12:20
you'll be able to do text service we need over a thousand before you can do voice service
01:12:25
and then no matter where you are in New Zealand you'll have coverage because of
01:12:32
satellites and the uh in space as long as you can see the see the sky and you have a compatible uh smart smartphone
01:12:40
it's insane it's an absolute Game Changer right oh no it's it is it's um
01:12:45
it's going to be it's going to be amazing and so we uh we're doing all the
01:12:48
testing at the moment across uh all parts of New Zealand load testing customer experience testing device
01:12:55
testing location testing so it's working uh when you see the sky it's working in
01:13:01
buildings when you're close to Windows but we you know just like any um any coverage that you've got uh in an
01:13:09
elevator you don't get coverage uh in a mine you don't get coverage underwater
01:13:14
you don't get coverage um and we just need to see where this um the satellite
01:13:19
coverage will uh will reach so yeah it's cool so while the negotiations were
01:13:23
going on were you were you worried that conversations were going on with your opposition or anything like that or yeah
01:13:29
like you never know um and that's why you have to move fast uh and I think that's one of the
01:13:37
advantages that uh we we do have um is that we'll move quickly that we're easy
01:13:44
to partner with um that we had you know a lot of ambition in terms of what this could do for the country
01:13:52
and how we could be a test case for them for the world um and then we signed up to a period of
01:14:00
exclusivity uh with them as well to make sure that um you know we could we could
01:14:04
get it for a a period of time to kind of create a strategic Advantage for us the
01:14:09
only thing I would say is uh when the voice service goes live we are going to make sure that everyone can access this
01:14:18
uh the 111 service regardless of which TCO you're with so although I'd love
01:14:23
personally everyone to be with one New Zealand if you are with 2° if you are with spark and you are somewhere remote
01:14:31
once our um voice service Launches on the starlink SpaceX service if you need Emergency Services you'll be able to um
01:14:38
you'll be able to get help no matter what TCO you're with where it's a kind
01:14:41
of a gift gift to New Zealand from a health and safety perspective I don't want anyone getting in trouble just
01:14:46
because they haven't chosen the right TCO provider yeah it feels like that's
01:14:49
probably the responsible thing to do right oh yeah that's the right thing that's why I'm going to be really proud
01:14:54
that uh we're leading this and there are other satellite providers um SpaceX and Elon Musk are
01:15:00
way ahead of probably you know they're years ahead of um of anyone else and um
01:15:06
I love the fact that you know um when we make a big move like this everyone tries
01:15:10
to play catchup I think uh competition is good right oh absolutely it's necessary otherwise nothing nothing
01:15:16
nothing gets changed nothing gets done did did you have any direct dealings with um Elon Musk I've only I've had two
01:15:23
uh email conversations with them um one was on the on the deal um uh the other one was when we did
01:15:30
our uh our launch um video and uh we sent it through to them for approval and he said I love it uh you've just taken
01:15:39
stock footage of a Russian rocket not a SpaceX rocket cuz you can you oh my god excuse me so can you please change
01:15:48
that out so uh that was a uh that was a a slight a slight M uh and then the um that's like the
01:15:57
McDonald's placement it's all over again yeah and then the third third thing
01:16:00
which wasn't uh was indirect is when we um when we started doing our testing in
01:16:04
New Zealand he um he messaged saying cool on uh on X so yeah but um you know uh regardless of whether you agree uh
01:16:16
with his politics or his views uh on life in general he is a technology genius and um you know uh the intent of
01:16:25
saving humanity and prolonging humanity and giving as many people access to this
01:16:31
amazing technology as possible you know what's not to love about that oh yeah I
01:16:34
mean yeah I know he's polarizing but the guy's an absolute genius like he's he
01:16:38
he's got goals and plans to change the world like he's already looking at Life
01:16:42
on Mars and things like that and you just think of the impact that Tesla's had on the um on the E car market if it
01:16:46
wasn't for Tesla we we wouldn't have um pollster or byd No Ex we probably still
01:16:51
just have like Priuses driving around which is why competition is good right and um you know and and again I'm we I'm
01:16:58
proud We were the uh we're the second TCO in the world and the and the a first
01:17:02
in the southern hemisphere to partner with SpaceX and starlink from little old little old New Zealand uh that's New
01:17:09
Zealand at its best so I love that stuff right and that kind of can do attitude and um new zealanders are good people uh
01:17:16
we're bold we're Brave we're cheeky we'll ask you know what's the worst that
01:17:20
can happen just get a know and more than often in the not it pays off and it did
01:17:24
it did in l as well and uh and I think you know New Zealand does its best we do deals like that more and more yeah
01:17:31
that's a ballsy move eh it's very Brash yeah but it is seriously New Zealand at
01:17:35
its best and that's a one of the things I am a little bit um you know I get on
01:17:40
my Soap Box about is there's and you know we were talking before this is an amazing country you know and uh and it's
01:17:49
we have to remind ourselves uh of that it's to to live and work in New Zealand
01:17:53
the greatest country on the planet it and it's our job to kind of keep it that
01:17:57
way but you hear this negativity from some parts of the country and some groups I just dismiss it you replace it
01:18:05
with positivity you need more positivity more good news stories you know more Innovation more bold moves more big
01:18:12
plays uh more Innovation more Partnerships that's that's when we've always been at our best when we when we
01:18:20
do that right so um we need to see more of it and I I do feel like starting to get some green shoots of of
01:18:28
our mojo back which will be fantastic yeah well there's always going to be the
01:18:32
you know the winders of society isn't there that's always going to that's
01:18:35
always going to be there unfortunately but um J how are you doing for time we haven't even talked about the W yet oh I
01:18:40
know my favorite my favorite topic and uh speaking about social media Dom yeah that's whenever there's a Warriors game
01:18:48
my wife now confiscates my mobile phone uh that's also a perfect example of why
01:18:54
you shouldn't be on social media after you've had a glass of wine uh it's also
01:18:58
a perfect example of uh I am me 100% of the time right doesn't matter and I've
01:19:04
got to remind myself uh at times that uh at all the at all times I'm Jason Paris
01:19:11
the dad but I'm also Jason I'm Jason Paris the warrior supporter I'm also
01:19:15
Jason Paris the CEO of uh of one of one New Zealand so um and I look I'm not I'm
01:19:21
not that guy who's the screaming parent from the side of the sports field or uh at a game um abusing refs or
01:19:34
players at all um I was just as a fan I was really frustrated because I I feel I
01:19:39
feel like that um sometimes uh the New Zealand teams especially the Warriors Warriors and any sportting competition
01:19:46
get a um yeah don't get consistency at times yeah so this was this was a tweet
01:19:52
you wrote in the 2023 season um what was it yeah was there backlash do you get in trouble no I I haven't had to
01:19:58
buy a beer in New Zealand since so that's been good I got a lot of support like a massive amount of support because
01:20:04
you you watching them they they go to the banket for just about every single but anyway I don't want to get you R up
01:20:10
with it don't no but like at the the end of the day um refs are human and they
01:20:16
are just trying to do their best and all of us make mistakes and so what I was asking for was consistency and I think
01:20:24
um yeah the way that uh I communicated if I had my time again um I'd probably
01:20:29
say it in a different in a different way to get a different to get a better outcome yeah but um you know it it just
01:20:36
demonstrated again hopefully you know uh how proud I am to be a part of uh the team that supports the the Warriors the
01:20:43
they're a fantastic Club fantastic organization uh I don't know if you've
01:20:47
met cam George but man he's a he's amazing Andrew Webster what a leader I've had him on the podcast amazing guy
01:20:54
yeah just a phenomenal guy right and um again just great values good people great work ethic I love what the club
01:21:02
stands for five teams next year um female teams going to going to be launching um so feel like we're building
01:21:11
some momentum to win our first ever Premiership yeah and so that TW do you get in trouble with anyone like who who
01:21:17
tells the CEO off yeah well no one really but you know the NRL were a bit pissed off saying you know you can't you
01:21:24
you can't criticize uh you can't criticize our ref so I had a conversation with them and said yeah
01:21:29
that wasn't the that wasn't the atttention behind it uh it was to get you know a uh a fear uh a fear go for uh
01:21:36
the the one New Zealand one New Zealand Warriors um so I got a um I got a request from the NRL to be a Facebook
01:21:43
friend after that so I think we've made it we're good we're good um yeah so so
01:21:48
vone and now one have been um God you've been sponsoring the Warriors for is it
01:21:51
the longest partnership in the enl it is yeah what's the what's the ROI for you
01:21:56
guys it must be a huge expense uh well no actually it's um yeah it's pretty
01:22:00
good it's pretty good value like I'm I can't say the exact number because
01:22:04
they've got a lot of lot of sponsorships and a lot of commercial commercial Partners but look I think it's a it's
01:22:11
a it's a fair amount to pay for a long-term sponsorship where you get the good with the bad and
01:22:21
increasingly more of the good so they're a heartbreaking team aren't they
01:22:26
they are but the most loyal fan base yeah um the team behind it do an incredible job for the fans you know
01:22:35
sell out crowds uh they take the game throughout the country their values and ethics are
01:22:43
again New Zealand at its best hard work Innovation honesty trust you know um recruiting good people first across you
01:22:53
know every part of the organiz ation so yeah and and then you have years like the last couple with the up thew
01:23:03
momentum you know making the finals sellout crowds playing really well scoring spectacular tries fantastic
01:23:11
defense attracting you know huge Talent from Australia where we had to previously pay over the odds and now we
01:23:18
pay you know Market rates for um yeah we're in a really good really good shape
01:23:24
actually so it's a fantastic sponsorship where I'd like to think that we get
01:23:30
amazing value for money and so to the Warriers because you know we amplify their brand and use our platforms to do
01:23:35
that do that too so yeah whenever it comes up for Renewal like you're a massive fan booy like we've established
01:23:41
that when whenever it comes up for Renewal do you come up against some resistance from people on the team like
01:23:46
oh let's go no no not at all and I've I've said to cam if uh if I had my uh my
01:23:50
time I'd sign sign a 100-year contract uh that's not my job it's probably past
01:23:55
my past my DF past my DFA yeah but you know um like no we always compar to other sponsorships that are available in
01:24:04
the market and uh and how much you'd pay pay for them and it's it's great value
01:24:08
for money um and it's not really a sponsorship but it really is a partnership it's it's uh it's a
01:24:14
friendship even you know we've got each other's back after 20 25 years and if
01:24:19
it's not 100 I hope it's another another 25 and there'll be good times in bed and
01:24:23
I think that's why the fans of New Zealand respect us as well it's why it's
01:24:26
often called the one New Zealand Warriors people no matter you know who are fans or the media are happy to give
01:24:31
us the attribution because because of the the loyalty and other thing I would say is that the game is going from
01:24:37
strength to strength you know the NRL they are so Innovative the way that they've sped the game up the way they
01:24:44
packaged the game up the way they test and trial rules and and keep the game you know the the the ball and play and
01:24:51
play more other sports codes I think have got a lot to learn from the to be honest oh even the way they handled the
01:24:57
pandemic as well and yeah played on it was um yeah really Innovative and what to sacrifice the Warriors you know away
01:25:02
from their families for two three three years so yeah and um I'm excited I'm
01:25:08
going to Vegas so as you mentioned I'm I've just turned 50 there are nine boys
01:25:14
from inago uh going to Vegas for their for their 50th birthdays so Vegas watch out
01:25:24
sounds like um yeah The Hangover all over again yeah the the Tigers in the room The Benchmark is everyone who gets
01:25:31
on the plane has to get back on it home so uh that's the Benchmark as long as we
01:25:36
get back on that plane then I think everyone will be everyone will be fine yeah ideally with a full set of teeth as
01:25:42
well yeah yeah no facial tattoos oh what about the stadium in chist church so you guys are um signed a
01:25:48
10e sponsorship deal that yeah so if we do sponsorships um we're either big or
01:25:54
nothing right so we're naming right or we're nothing we don't like to you you
01:25:58
go big or go home on that stuff which is why we're quite particular about uh
01:26:03
about where we invest and uh like the team down there um they' done such an amazing such an amazing job I don't know
01:26:13
if you've seen it but it's going up it's on time on budget the Design's
01:26:18
spectacular uh can cantabrians love it the South Island loves it um yeah I I think increasingly when uh
01:26:28
big acts come to New Zealand they'll go to ockland and and in CHR church so that's that's exciting we wanted an
01:26:35
anchor Point um in the South Island to demonstrate that we're just're not an
01:26:39
ockland Centric brand you know uh we're about the mainlanders uh as well and so
01:26:46
we're putting a lot of Technology into the stadium to uh to help help help enable it and it's going to be a
01:26:51
fantastic partnership and of course we've got Partnerships with Live Nation so we bring with the biggest artists
01:26:58
part Partnerships with uh one New Zealand Warriors as well so hopefully with the sport and with the um with the
01:27:04
music act uh you know we'll have uh all facets kind of locked up yeah you guys
01:27:09
do a great job I I was um in breakfast radio when um vone came on board as the sponsor for the New Zealand Music Awards
01:27:15
yes so it was sort of every year the the awards were on it was like average average average vone came on board
01:27:20
amazing amazing amazing and then with the sponsorship ended yeah back to average again yeah so when we do it we
01:27:26
want to do do it yeah um what do you want to do next like bigger role smaller role like you're still like on the way
01:27:33
up you think I hope so yeah um uh it's I I just again I love New Zealand so my preference is to continue to live
01:27:46
and work work here uh I wouldn't want to move if we had to move overseas until
01:27:52
after my daughter finished high school so she's 11 so bit of a stunt there uh I
01:27:58
don't want to overstay my welcome at one New Zealand either though you know so
01:28:02
how do you know when the time's right yeah I don't know this uh um it's not
01:28:06
right yet but maybe I'll just know so I get up every morning and I'm super
01:28:11
excited the again it's a fast fast changing industry uh generative and autonomous AI is exploding and we're at
01:28:21
the Forefront of that as well so that I'm always learned learning and developing so that's quite cool I can
01:28:25
see massive opportunities for our customers and for our business and that if um if my owners just said hey
01:28:34
JP uh it's just status quo just run the business don't change a thing don't
01:28:39
touch a thing that would definitely be time to leave I I'd get bored within about 10 seconds they're not like that
01:28:46
though they are super ambitious and uh and Keen for us to accelerate that would be one and then I suppose if another big
01:28:52
opportunity came up to do something cool that would be meaningful and impactful for New
01:28:57
Zealand uh then I'd have a I'd have a look I'd have a look at it definitely
01:29:02
wouldn't be politics I get asked that that was going to be my next thing it yeah like after I did I did want that I
01:29:08
had a thought after after watching like the career careers of um key and luxen no no no no I always every time I see
01:29:15
why would you want it I'm pleased you said that every time I see a pol politician I uh thank them for their
01:29:20
sacrifice it is because man like it's not just a sacrifice that you see it's a
01:29:27
sacrifice that you don't that you don't see you know the scrutiny they come
01:29:30
under at a cafe or in their social lives the the time that they spend away from their homes the documentation they have
01:29:40
to read the hours they have to uh put in the significance of the decisions that they have to uh have to make uh I'm also
01:29:50
not sure that I'm thick skinned enough to take the you know crap the cop the
01:29:55
criticism that that they get even if you get into government you know that 50% of
01:29:59
the country didn't vote for you so that's quite hard right you imagine walking not that you imagine walking
01:30:04
through and going knowing 50% in this room didn't back you you know it's
01:30:09
pretty it's a pretty hard thing to get you to get your get your head around and
01:30:13
then you know again also family uh social media is brutal the impact on kids um you know family all
01:30:23
that kind of stuff it's um and then what I've convinced myself is that if you are in a business
01:30:29
that can make positive impact at scale you can do great things for New Zealand still even
01:30:36
if you're not necessarily in politics running a running a portfolio and so you
01:30:41
know this this deal with um SpaceX I think will do more for New Zealand's telecommunications
01:30:49
infrastructure that a government policy ever could uh and we're funding it so
01:30:53
there's no cost to the taxpayer so that's pretty amazing um and you know
01:30:58
hopefully what we do with autonomous a um AI will be another big thing that that New Zealand will will be benefit
01:31:06
from so I also probably don't see you know don't see the need to move into
01:31:12
politics to make a a big positive impact on on New Zealand but you know what's
01:31:16
next I don't know I hope it's just within my control and that uh that I don't you know get that tap on the
01:31:23
shoulder going what are you doing here and I go yeah I know and then I'm off
01:31:27
you're the bad shoulder tap yeah yeah exactly also yeah um yeah politics I yeah with your skeletons in the closet I
01:31:33
don't know if you could if you'd be F prime minister do you want to talk about
01:31:36
the um exactly the McDonald's incident at the sevens where was this were you at
01:31:42
McDonald's at the time or was this post no post McDonald's this may have been
01:31:46
Prem McDonald's um how old were you like in your 20s 30s early 20s in your defense those um Hotel doors do slam
01:31:54
alarmingly quick don't they yeah so uh this was Wellington sevens as we were all dressed up Mexican
01:32:02
theme it was the day one of two days uh as people drunk way too much and needed something to soak it up so I
01:32:12
didn't wake up with The Hangover the next morning bought McDonald's uh for whatever reason took
01:32:18
all my clothes off in the hotel room was we eating my was eating my McDonald's
01:32:22
nude and and then was like oh I know I'm going to wake up feeling really rough in
01:32:26
the morning and I'm going to feel even worse if I can smell that kind of Old
01:32:31
McDonald smell how do I get rid of this and so I I was like in my drunken State going I'll uh put the bag outside my
01:32:43
room and then as I put the bag outside my room I heard a click and it was like 3: in the morning and I was like oh my
01:32:53
God God I've got a McDonald's bag and I'm nude and so then I was like there
01:32:59
must be uh some like kind of uh closet with towels or something in it and so I started in
01:33:07
my drunken State trying doors which would have been other people's hotel room doors and I then was like oh my God
01:33:16
I went down the next floor thinking well the you know the the closet with the laundry might be on the next floor down
01:33:20
trying doors on the next floor down until I gave up and then I had to get a reception with a McDonald's bag in front
01:33:29
of me the door dings open unfortunately there's like 10 people in reception even
01:33:34
at 3:00 in the morning plus reception staff and the beauty of it is the guy just looked up from reception and said
01:33:42
what room he' seen it before every weekend he was like what room I said in my room he
01:33:49
grabbed and he unfortunately had to come up with me cuz I had to describe what was in my room to cuz I didn't have ID
01:33:56
clearly and uh describe in the room and the elevator was a mirrored one so there
01:34:03
was nowhere to hide my body from him and I remember the music the left elevator was like and I was just like oh my God
01:34:14
sobered me up real sobered me up real quick so uh yeah there there are a few stories uh like that which as you've
01:34:25
said I'm pretty glad that uh yeah social media wasn't as prevalent when I was
01:34:30
young and people hadn't haven't gotten any photos luckily so um Vegas next year
01:34:34
um un's to bed each night yeah Andy's to bed and that's that's my Benchmark
01:34:40
that's my Benchmark do not get locked out of my hotel room naked yeah oh that's great it's a great story I I've
01:34:46
had unfortunately a true one yeah have you had a similar situation s similar thing yeah s similar thing it's and yeah
01:34:52
andies ever since but those doors like what how did that shut so quickly I know exactly and I'll never forget that sound
01:34:58
of the clarck uh and I'll never forget but as I said you know that what room
01:35:02
it's clearly something that happens regularly you know every damn weekend for hotel every damn weekend um C finish
01:35:10
with any any regrets any regrets uh yeah there's a like when I was a teenager you know I mentioned
01:35:24
before you know you're too cool for school I remember um being a 16year old and one moment being a little bit
01:35:31
disrespectful to my grandmother it was only once but I remember her telling me off and I remember look at you I'm now
01:35:38
15 and it was when I was 16 so any moment like that where um I felt that I was disrespectful no matter what age or
01:35:50
not as caring or didn't rep represent myself uh in the way that I would like to
01:35:56
that's probably my biggest my biggest regret it's it's all those human moments
01:36:01
more than anything else nothing really work related you know like the jokes about the um the tra the the place met
01:36:07
reprints all that kind of stuff you know disting but in the scheme of things it's
01:36:13
it's any moment where I um I hurt I hurt someone that's the stuff that uh I'd
01:36:19
regret I reckon that says a lot about your character you know three and a half decades later you still yeah that's the
01:36:24
first thing that comes to mind it is and I I remember it and I can remember that
01:36:28
I can remember that feeling of letting down my grandmother now yeah are you proud of
01:36:34
yourself yeah I think I am like I I know I'm a good person like Steve Hansen um
01:36:41
one of my favorite quotes of his is the mirror never lies and so like I know I'm not perfect
01:36:48
by any stretch but I know that I try and be the best that I can be and and I try
01:36:54
not to beat myself up when I let myself uh let myself down so um yeah I'm proud
01:37:01
I'm the thing I'm probably most proud of is my children and feel like um I had a
01:37:06
part to play in uh bringing them up with with good values and and being and being good good
01:37:13
kids I'm proud of the relationships that I've got I'm proud of my good
01:37:17
friend uh and you know um hopefully the people that I've had the opportunity to
01:37:22
work with or be friends with or or talk to um have found that a you know a positive
01:37:29
engagement and um yeah so I'm proud of the I'm proud of again probably proud of
01:37:34
the human stuff as much as anything well Jason Paris this has been a lot of fun today it's been great you're a unique
01:37:41
CEO and it's been um fantastic to sit down with you and pick your brains yeah
01:37:45
thank you I uh yeah thanks for having me um really really enjoyed it and as always these type of
01:37:49
conversations uh you learn as much you know through the conversation uh when you're talking about stuff as uh
01:37:57
as you think you're trying to help others with as well so feels like a you know thank you for having me on uh um
01:38:03
every time I get a kind of request from someone who I see as a famous New Zealander kind of like yourself I go
01:38:09
what me you know so um bit surreal bit surreal being here but uh thanks for the opportunity yeah and that's been great I
01:38:17
feel feel bad now for stretching you up and getting you to tell the McDonald's
01:38:19
story it was it was lwh hanging fruit and I didn't need to go there no you're
01:38:23
a great you're a great New Zealander and um yeah thank you so much for being on
01:38:26
the podcast no thanks for your time Che