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Jason Paris on One NZ’s Partnership with Elon Musk & SpaceX, Warriors vs. Referees & Fatherhood

December 11, 2024 / 01:38:44

This episode features Jason Paris, CEO of One NZ, discussing his career journey, management style, and personal experiences. Key topics include his transition from VodaPhone to One NZ, his thoughts on parenting, and his relationship with his mother.

Paris reflects on his six-year tenure at One NZ, celebrating his anniversary and sharing insights about his previous roles at Spark, TVNZ, and McDonald's. He emphasizes the importance of relationships in his career and how they have opened doors for him.

The conversation touches on his upbringing in Southland, New Zealand, and the influence of his mother, who raised him as a single parent. Paris shares how her strength and support shaped his outlook on life and parenting.

He also discusses his management style, which prioritizes open communication and accessibility, and his commitment to being a hands-on father. Paris expresses pride in his children's achievements and the values he instills in them.

Finally, the episode covers his thoughts on the future of One NZ, including the partnership with SpaceX for satellite connectivity, and his views on the challenges and opportunities in the telecommunications industry.

TL;DR

Jason Paris discusses his career, parenting, and the One NZ rebrand, highlighting personal experiences and management philosophy.

Episode

1:38:44

00:00:06

Jason Paris welcome to my podcast thanks

00:00:08

very much for having me Dom he and um

00:00:10

congratulations today uh the day that

00:00:11

we're recording this is your sixth

00:00:13

anniversary at 1 inz it is yeah so it's

00:00:16

gone super fast uh more gray hair uh a

00:00:21

little little bit more experienced I

00:00:23

feel like You' you've been Rocking The

00:00:25

Silver Fox look since your 30s you yeah

00:00:28

it's been it has been while and uh the

00:00:31

beauty of going gray early is people say

00:00:33

you haven't aged so uh yeah so I've I've

00:00:36

rocked The Silver Fox like for for a

00:00:37

while oh you do I think you look um I'm

00:00:39

not just pissing in your pocket here to

00:00:41

get on the right side of you early in

00:00:42

the podcast but um you turned 50 last

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week I I think you're you're looking

00:00:45

great maybe it's the dimples that give

00:00:47

you that oh thank you youthful is this

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the longest job you've had in your

00:00:51

corporate uh career no the one before

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this it was seven years but I've been in

00:00:55

the Talco industry now for kind of what

00:00:58

that means 15 so longest industry uh

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I've uh I've been in where was the

00:01:03

previous one was that spark yeah so it

00:01:06

took a took a job actually not with vone

00:01:08

New Zealand but to move across to London

00:01:10

with my family and then at the last

00:01:12

minute it changed and I got told I was

00:01:13

CEO of New Zealand for voone way back

00:01:16

then and so um our plans quickly

00:01:18

reversed and uh and we stayed in ALA

00:01:22

which has been you know given what

00:01:24

happened the last few years and Co Etc

00:01:26

was was a blessing in the in the scheme

00:01:28

of things yeah so um

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yeah let's run through your your career

00:01:32

so it's one and Z for the last six years

00:01:33

spark before that um let's go backwards

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uh so I had a brief stunt at media works

00:01:39

and TV um and then before that was

00:01:42

tvnz and then uh before that was noia uh

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and then before that was McDonald's uh

00:01:50

back in New Zealand so I

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had just four years uh in London uh

00:01:55

working with noia um and the rest of

00:01:57

those jobs were uh were were were in New

00:01:59

Zealand and so mainly kind of tech

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industry stuff is uh what I've been what

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I've been in um and I'd include media in

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that as well because when I kind of came

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into the media industry in

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2007 um you know technology was starting

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to play a bigger part in uh in that

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industry too geez it's not a bad CV is

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it from for a kid from Southland with um

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outy education yeah done you've done all

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right I've been pretty lucky and the the

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cool thing about it is uh I haven't had

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to apply for two many of those those

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roles proactively of been shoulder

00:02:33

tapped for whatever reason uh I think

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that's one of the beauties of the New

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Zealand Marketplace is that you know

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it's a bit of a village and so um the

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relationships that you have often you

00:02:43

know create create doors in fact my very

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first job um was on the way back from a

00:02:48

rugby trip to the West Coast and the

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rugby manager of the Southland team was

00:02:52

the rugby manager of Trust Bank

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Southland and he said what are you

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thinking about doing you want to come

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and work for me and so um that was my uh

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my Pivot into uh into working into

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working life although I also got uh

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declined for teachers training College

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just before that too so it was kind of a

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a forc a forced move because the

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teaching industry didn't want me way

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back in ' 92 GE what they do for some

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male teachers now also I saw the car

00:03:17

when you pulled up today and pod lab not

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many school teachers driving cars like

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that yeah I'm pretty lucky that's uh

00:03:22

yeah it's a it's a nice car saved up for

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two or three years for that one and um

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yeah it's uh kind of uh my little treat

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oh good on you good on you what would

00:03:31

you say your it's not a mesera or a two

00:03:33

sports car though it's a it's a good SUV

00:03:36

though it is it's a it's a sensible car

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for for a man of your vintage okay

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that's very nice um what would you say

00:03:41

your top five um like career Greatest

00:03:44

Hits are like surely the the transition

00:03:45

from vone to 1 andz the Rebrand is one

00:03:47

of them yeah vone to uh 1 andz um

00:03:51

Telecom to spark um oh you were part of

00:03:54

that yeah yeah read that uh I said this

00:03:57

ain't your first radio no no um

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uh coming up with and and launching tvnz

00:04:02

on demand uh so that was a big a big

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kind of industry move I'd say pretty

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important asset for tvnz uh back

00:04:10

then um I didn't have anything to do

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with this but when we were when I was at

00:04:14

media Works uh the way that the team

00:04:18

handled the Christ Church canbury

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earthquakes earthquakes and then the

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Japanese tsunami afterwards um I was

00:04:24

just delivering pizzas to The Newsroom

00:04:26

it was really Mark Jennings that was

00:04:27

leading it but I was really proud of the

00:04:29

culture that we built

00:04:30

uh around around that time and they kind

00:04:32

of do a lot with a little uh mentality

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and then uh probably some of the product

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Innovation that we did at McDonald's way

00:04:40

back in the day I remember coming up

00:04:41

with the chicken MC cheese uh when I was

00:04:44

in my uh yes yes yes and um uh so yeah

00:04:48

there's a there's there's a few there's

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a few things from a professional

00:04:51

perspective that I'm proud of and

00:04:53

hopefully uh there's more to come what

00:04:56

what about um career uh greater shits uh

00:04:59

the McDonald's Place met yeah so that

00:05:01

was a shocker uh what's the story there

00:05:05

so uh the advertising agency put a bunch

00:05:09

of um faces in front of me and pictures

00:05:12

and we were the sponsor of um the small

00:05:15

whites uh um which is the New Zealand

00:05:19

football kind of campaign and I I I

00:05:23

thought that they were all signed off

00:05:25

and uh and they had the rights to them

00:05:28

and of course I chose the one with the

00:05:30

maie Queen's grandson on it which is

00:05:34

very bad to be eating food off anyone

00:05:37

from mdom 1.2

00:05:39

million trat placemats went out and that

00:05:43

had to be uh had to be reprinted so

00:05:46

wasn't uh wasn't a stellar moment in my

00:05:49

uh in my in my career so I remember that

00:05:51

one luckily my boss was uh pretty

00:05:53

supportive did you did you have to make

00:05:55

a phone call to him to let him that must

00:05:57

been a fun fun conversation 1.2 million

00:05:59

true have to be have to be recalled so

00:06:02

yeah it wasn't a that wasn't that wasn't

00:06:04

great um low lights are any uh any

00:06:07

structural change when you're having

00:06:08

hard conversations about Job losses that

00:06:10

that's the worst that keeps you um keeps

00:06:12

you up at night um yeah those will be

00:06:16

the things that that are the most kind

00:06:18

of draining and then you have to

00:06:19

remember that you're making the decision

00:06:21

and having the conversation but it's

00:06:23

much worse for the person that you're

00:06:24

having the conversation with too

00:06:25

actually I'm I'm not surprised you said

00:06:27

that cuz from um from my research and

00:06:28

from what I know about your management

00:06:29

style um yeah you like you're a real

00:06:32

open door kind of guy um so yeah

00:06:36

something like um McDonald's placemates

00:06:38

it's it's it's a bit of money lost it's

00:06:40

a stupid mistake but um yeah I'm not

00:06:42

surprised that you said that about the

00:06:43

people yeah it's the worst and uh you

00:06:46

know unfortunately with me what you see

00:06:48

is what you get I'm the same person at

00:06:49

home as I am at uh as I am at work and

00:06:53

uh anything that impacts people or if I

00:06:55

feel like I've let them down in any way

00:06:56

whether it's family or friends and we

00:06:59

and and sometimes you get those things

00:07:01

wrong and those are the things that you

00:07:02

beat yourself up about the most yeah hey

00:07:05

Will um dig deep into your into your

00:07:06

management style and your theories and

00:07:08

things um but first of all let's go the

00:07:09

way back so um Jason Paris who is he kid

00:07:12

from Southland yeah proud southlander uh

00:07:15

born in in vagle uh solo mom she was

00:07:18

young uh 16 and then uh my father uh he

00:07:23

left straight away and didn't didn't

00:07:26

come back so I've he was never a part of

00:07:28

my life until um he actually died and we

00:07:31

went to his funeral in uh in Christ

00:07:33

Church had no had no connection with him

00:07:36

my mom's an incredible woman very strong

00:07:38

uh a really privileged to have a young

00:07:40

grandmother now in fact she was just up

00:07:42

in the weekend playing shooting Hoops

00:07:44

with uh her grand her grandchildren so

00:07:47

that's cool but at the time um Sodom mom

00:07:50

16 uh domestic purposes benefit uh kind

00:07:53

of life been her teenage years been

00:07:56

taken away from her by having a young

00:07:58

young child you know what a of sacrifice

00:08:00

were you were you an only child yeah so

00:08:03

Mom uh didn't you know my father left

00:08:05

straight away didn't come back and then

00:08:08

for whatever reason um mom didn't have a

00:08:11

relationship that uh stuck to a point

00:08:14

where she would have another another

00:08:17

child and so it ended up being basically

00:08:21

me and her and then uh my grandparents

00:08:23

so her mom and dad uh who um who kind of

00:08:28

you know brought me up so freezing

00:08:30

worker stock uh right through my family

00:08:32

so my grandparents freezing workers my

00:08:34

uncle my mom ended up after I got to the

00:08:38

school age where she could go and uh be

00:08:40

at the freezing Works in fact she just

00:08:42

retired last year from uh from Alliance

00:08:44

freezing Works where she was a me

00:08:45

inspector for a number of years yeah so

00:08:47

if you're if you've just turned 50 she

00:08:48

must be 66 yeah what are your um yeah

00:08:52

what are your recollection of those

00:08:53

years cuz you you and I are similar age

00:08:55

and um you I remember when my mom and

00:08:58

dad broke I was I was from pal mom and

00:08:59

dad broke up when I was about 10 and um

00:09:01

there was only one other kid in my class

00:09:03

Craig who had like like a was from a

00:09:05

broken home it was such a rare thing um

00:09:08

yeah was it like embarrassing did you

00:09:10

did you feel like you you know you

00:09:12

didn't fit in or you felt different no

00:09:15

not at all actually uh and

00:09:19

uh I think there were a few broken homes

00:09:22

um or actually I noticed some kids that

00:09:24

were in homes that weren't broken that I

00:09:26

wouldn't have want to been a part of

00:09:27

either you know some some pretty tough

00:09:29

situations that could find themselves in

00:09:32

um well they found themselves in back

00:09:33

then and still find themselves in today

00:09:35

so to be honest although we didn't have

00:09:37

a lot I didn't realize it at all you

00:09:40

know um we moved moved a bit again you

00:09:43

know social welfare housing all that

00:09:44

type of type of thing but uh I never

00:09:48

feel like I never remember feeling that

00:09:51

I was missing out on anything and

00:09:54

actually also most importantly that I

00:09:55

couldn't do anything that I put my mind

00:09:57

to either if you my mom's kind of Dred

00:09:59

to me if you work hard you give it your

00:10:01

best then you can achieve achieve

00:10:03

anything and so it's only kind of now uh

00:10:08

when I have you know privilege to have a

00:10:10

nice car they didn't realize we didn't

00:10:12

have a nice car but

00:10:15

um at at you know food on the table bed

00:10:20

loving environment a mom that believed

00:10:23

in supported in me um and and actually I

00:10:26

was I was lucky I had a lot of positive

00:10:28

positive role models my grand parents I

00:10:29

mentioned my uncle but also School

00:10:31

teachers um Sports coaches so it was a

00:10:35

tough tough environment in Nago and

00:10:37

Southland but um I was surrounded by a

00:10:39

bunch of great people and did you have

00:10:41

like a chip on your shoulder about your

00:10:43

dad or anything how how did your mom

00:10:45

sort of address that no not at all

00:10:48

uh the probably the biggest chip on my

00:10:50

shoulder was when we I had children

00:10:53

myself and uh I realized that there are

00:10:56

little moments that you know uh and the

00:10:59

is a kind of a generalization that maybe

00:11:02

your dad teaches you back a back a

00:11:04

trailer and that's like you know

00:11:06

something that you would say now

00:11:07

nowadays or put a um a hook on a on a um

00:11:10

uh on a fishing fishing line I hadn't

00:11:13

been taught any of those traditional dad

00:11:16

uh dad thing so I'm having to YouTube

00:11:18

them and teach and teach myself because

00:11:20

I want to pass them on to my kids both

00:11:22

my boys and and my daughter to pick a

00:11:24

trailer and to and to fish um Etc when I

00:11:28

went met my um my wife uh ra she

00:11:32

wondered why I hadn't um sort out to

00:11:37

reconnect with my

00:11:39

father uh and I'd never really

00:11:41

contemplated it um and probably the

00:11:45

reason was I didn't feel like I'd missed

00:11:47

anything uh

00:11:50

and so it wasn't really until um I

00:11:53

started having we had our children where

00:11:56

I was like maybe I did miss miss miss

00:11:58

miss something

00:12:00

but it didn't wasn't enough Drive of me

00:12:03

to reconnect then uh then either uh my

00:12:07

grandparents lived in the same house for

00:12:11

would have mean 20 to 25 years after I

00:12:14

was born and so he had plenty of time to

00:12:17

and neag was a small place even though

00:12:19

he moved to uh to Christ Church if he

00:12:20

wanted to find me he could have so

00:12:23

probably the only probably sadness is

00:12:25

you know if if um you're dead with a

00:12:28

with a kid uh it's probably when you're

00:12:30

17 you can make an excuse that you might

00:12:32

be a little bit immature and and not

00:12:35

prepared to stick around but yet hope

00:12:37

when you're 37 or or 47 that you might

00:12:40

have some reflection and go actually you

00:12:42

might want to reconnect with uh with

00:12:44

your child um unfortunately he didn't he

00:12:47

didn't want to yeah you you got no anger

00:12:50

about that no because sort of Indi to it

00:12:54

yeah and I um he I you know I refer to

00:12:57

him as my father he's not my not my dad

00:12:59

um your dad's a t I've got firm views on

00:13:02

this having um You' been involved in a

00:13:04

family adoption and stuff like a dad's a

00:13:06

title that's got to be earned yeah

00:13:07

correct and so that's just not how um

00:13:11

how I how I see him um you know un

00:13:14

unfortunately he passed away uh mom

00:13:16

found out about it we went to his

00:13:18

funeral to pay our respects but also uh

00:13:21

find out about health history right he

00:13:22

died uh quite young and so um we want to

00:13:25

know if there's anything that I need to

00:13:26

watch out for or our kids needed to

00:13:28

watch out for that was a kind of a nice

00:13:30

moment though because there um uh by all

00:13:33

accounts and this is a whole the the

00:13:35

story of his funeral was a uh a podcast

00:13:38

in itself but I found out I had five

00:13:40

half Brothers I didn't know uh that

00:13:43

existed and we all found out about each

00:13:46

other at the funeral and so younger than

00:13:50

you I'm assuming yeah I'm the eldest so

00:13:52

I went to the funeral his this funeral

00:13:55

was opened by someone who said I'm

00:13:58

Robert eldest

00:14:00

son and [ __ ] my wife didn't say that

00:14:03

she' had about two two big bottles of

00:14:05

Spates by that point she was like he's

00:14:08

not the eldest son and I'm like shut up

00:14:10

we're only here to pay our respects we

00:14:12

don't want to k a scene uh but over time

00:14:15

uh over that funeral um a scene was

00:14:17

created because people started to find

00:14:19

out because um my uncle so my father's

00:14:23

brother turned up and uh and he was from

00:14:26

Vago and uh and he mentioned someone and

00:14:29

then everyone at the funeral started to

00:14:31

find out about uh me and then all of us

00:14:35

found out about another set another two

00:14:37

boys so there was I like three sort of

00:14:39

three family groups yeah yeah so he had

00:14:44

uh six boys to three different women so

00:14:49

oh my God oh my God that's a that's a

00:14:53

lot to take in yeah how many years ago

00:14:55

was this the funeral uh about what would

00:14:57

it been I'd say five five years ago five

00:15:01

years ago now and um it's also when I

00:15:03

found out about my connection to nahu

00:15:05

which I didn't know existed at that time

00:15:06

and it set me on a journey to mly for my

00:15:09

kids to just see if the connection with

00:15:12

that side of the family was something

00:15:14

that would be meaningful um for them so

00:15:16

um we've just started taking some gentle

00:15:19

baby steps along along that Journey but

00:15:22

yeah man that was a pretty mind-blowing

00:15:24

experience where you find out well each

00:15:27

you all find out you got five half

00:15:28

Brothers did know exist all at the same

00:15:30

time at a funeral so it's a it's a lot

00:15:33

to unpack it is a lot to unpack it's a

00:15:35

lot yeah you need a lot of space to to

00:15:38

well and have you got a relationship now

00:15:39

with um your half Brothers uh no not

00:15:42

really no like uh social media

00:15:45

relationship MH you know

00:15:47

so uh lots of um happy birthdays

00:15:51

congratulations that kind of that kind

00:15:52

of stuff it's a lot of extra free phones

00:15:54

to hand out is it it is and like I said

00:15:57

to I said to re like I don't get to

00:15:59

spend enough time with my family and my

00:16:02

closest mates that I've you know known

00:16:04

since I was 5 years old uh let alone a

00:16:07

whole bunch of other people to um build

00:16:09

a relationship but you know that might

00:16:11

change when I have more time they're

00:16:12

really good people uh I really enjoyed

00:16:15

uh catching up uh catching up with them

00:16:17

and

00:16:19

um yeah and who and who knows but uh

00:16:23

yeah all of us I think were taken by

00:16:25

surprise and have just kind of socially

00:16:27

stayed in contact and G how do we even

00:16:28

deal with that yeah and and what do you

00:16:30

know about your your father like was was

00:16:33

he a good dad to some of the other kids

00:16:35

not really no so well that must be

00:16:36

pleasing in a way yeah yeah like I think

00:16:39

uh I don't I think he was a father not a

00:16:41

dad again like that that that point and

00:16:44

don't want to speak too ill of the of

00:16:46

the Dead um there was a big funeral so

00:16:49

clearly he had a lot of friends uh and

00:16:52

uh and people who liked him yeah um he

00:16:56

was very social uh big drink

00:16:59

big smoker and died of lung cancer

00:17:03

um the interesting thing was people

00:17:06

would come up to were coming up to me at

00:17:07

the funeral and would say I uh you know

00:17:11

was so sorry we didn't acknowledge you

00:17:13

and I and I said oh it is what it is he

00:17:15

would say it is what it is and then I'd

00:17:17

say something else and theyd go he would

00:17:19

say that and then they tell you about

00:17:21

and I said oh I'm Sports mad he was

00:17:23

Sports mad you know

00:17:25

people and New Zealand is a sports mad

00:17:28

and a lot of people say it is what it is

00:17:29

but people you know kind of grabbing or

00:17:31

gravitating onto things that uh were a

00:17:34

connection uh and also you know I

00:17:37

probably have they said I had some

00:17:38

mannerisms and some ways of talking or

00:17:42

whatever that uh that reminded um them

00:17:46

of of him so without a doubt like when

00:17:49

you have a child you are you know 50%

00:17:53

50% you shake it up into a cocktail mix

00:17:55

and that's what you get so I'm going to

00:17:57

I'm going to have a bit of uh a bit of

00:17:59

connection with him but don't no regrets

00:18:02

no no like there's no I've never never

00:18:04

been a point in my life at all where

00:18:07

I've uh regretted not um not reaching

00:18:12

out earlier and uh and connecting with

00:18:14

them I think that speaks volumes about

00:18:16

your mom and the job she did so you

00:18:19

never felt like there was um like a gap

00:18:21

or a hole there and did you did you when

00:18:23

when did you have an appreciation of

00:18:25

just how how badass she was and what a

00:18:27

good job she did she you know CU your

00:18:29

kids are 16 now right same your kids are

00:18:31

the same sort of age as what your mom

00:18:32

was when she had you you're still a kid

00:18:34

at that age yeah like did you did you

00:18:36

ever an appreciation growing up that

00:18:38

about your mom or when did that

00:18:41

come suppose when you're growing up you

00:18:43

don't really think about it do you well

00:18:44

you know also you know you're teenager

00:18:46

you're a bit of a [ __ ] too you're not

00:18:47

thinking you're thinking about yourself

00:18:48

versus you know think about your own

00:18:51

teenage years you know um luckily our

00:18:53

kids are a little bit different and um

00:18:56

and great and great kids I I think was

00:18:59

really when we had our own children and

00:19:03

realized how difficult it is to bring up

00:19:07

uh bring up a kid that I appreciate and

00:19:10

then also now that I'm you know of this

00:19:13

of this age putting kids aside just the

00:19:16

relationship that I've got with with Mom

00:19:18

with Mom now and thinking about um how

00:19:22

difficult it must have been to be in her

00:19:25

situation uh and the sacrifices that she

00:19:28

that she made

00:19:31

but it's it's a it was I know I've use

00:19:34

that word a lot it's a privilege like I

00:19:36

got given leadership at a very early age

00:19:38

like probably three years old to do

00:19:40

stuff right jobs around the house or

00:19:42

responsibility and that was three four

00:19:45

five six uh a lot of change in my life

00:19:47

which means I actually I love change I

00:19:50

love Industries and jobs and life that

00:19:53

is free flowing doesn't that doesn't uh

00:19:56

doesn't stress me stress me out out at

00:19:58

all

00:19:59

um and also I have a sense of I suppose

00:20:01

of positivity that

00:20:03

um if you put your mind to something

00:20:07

you've got people even just one person

00:20:09

in your life that believes in you and

00:20:11

sees that you've got potential and tells

00:20:13

you've got potential the world as your

00:20:14

oyster so from that background um it's

00:20:20

given me a hugely positive view on life

00:20:25

and potential of anyone from anywhere

00:20:28

across AC Ross the country uh and so you

00:20:30

know um it's another gift that mom's

00:20:33

given

00:20:34

me wow that's awesome yeah and it's it's

00:20:37

awesome that she's still um young enough

00:20:39

that you know you can tell her these

00:20:40

things and she knows how appreciated she

00:20:42

is and what an awesome job she did and

00:20:44

she's got a Toy Boy and Barry who's 64

00:20:47

and uh Barry and Grandad Barry's uh he's

00:20:50

been around for 20 years so the

00:20:52

entire uh entire uh childhood of our of

00:20:55

our kids and so he is the grandfather um

00:20:57

and he's a great man so um yeah we're

00:21:00

lucky to have him in uh in our lives as

00:21:01

as well and maybe if they'd met earlier

00:21:04

then there might have been another

00:21:05

another child but they met later in life

00:21:07

and um and that's great and uh you know

00:21:09

they are they partners in crime do you

00:21:11

know um just one more question about

00:21:13

your dad do you know if he like follow

00:21:15

followed your career from afar or

00:21:16

anything like that no at all uh because

00:21:20

he he must have been well you lived in

00:21:21

the same town a while you were growing

00:21:22

up no no so he he moved so from what I

00:21:26

understand is uh he moved from inago to

00:21:29

Christ Church pretty much straight away

00:21:30

and didn't uh and didn't come back and

00:21:33

um and if he did come back to inago to

00:21:36

see his parents or um his brothers and

00:21:39

sisters didn't uh didn't seek me

00:21:41

out uh and so yeah it was never like Mom

00:21:46

mom never ever uh described him in a

00:21:49

negative way like um I it was only when

00:21:52

I was much older that I started asking

00:21:55

mom a little bit about about him that

00:21:58

you know told me a little bit about what

00:21:59

he's like and she's kept me connected

00:22:02

with his brothers and sisters um so my

00:22:05

uncles and aunties but they were more

00:22:06

like not proper uncles and aunties but

00:22:09

kind of um friends older friends of Ms

00:22:12

Etc and they've told me a few stories

00:22:14

along the way as uh as well um I knew he

00:22:17

was a good athlete good longdistance

00:22:19

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

00:22:25

don't give him a break when he was you

00:22:27

know 47 yeah yeah do you forgive

00:22:31

him it's a good

00:22:34

question well I'm not sure I've got

00:22:36

anything to forgive him for because I

00:22:37

don't feel like I've missed out on

00:22:40

anything

00:22:45

um yeah I'd like to I'd like to think

00:22:48

that he if he had his time again would

00:22:52

regret not being a dead to me but I

00:22:58

don't know

00:22:58

yeah I definitely would but it's not

00:23:00

like um yeah it seems sad like a waste

00:23:02

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

00:23:06

a mistake he made repeatedly with yeah I

00:23:08

can't speak I can't speak for my um half

00:23:11

brothers and the fact that they were all

00:23:14

at his funeral and um uh and were there

00:23:18

and uh opened up uh I think he it's it's

00:23:22

clearly he improved uh over over time uh

00:23:26

so

00:23:28

so that's so that's great but um yeah he

00:23:32

just he didn't play that role in in uh

00:23:34

in in my life so yeah like bottom line

00:23:37

is I do forgive him because there's

00:23:39

nothing to forgive um but there's some

00:23:42

regret I think there yeah well thanks

00:23:45

for sharing that I I appreciate it is it

00:23:47

hard to talk about now or not really uh

00:23:49

no not really I think you know that

00:23:51

question you just asked then do I

00:23:52

forgive

00:23:53

him it kind of struck an emotional cord

00:23:56

because it made

00:23:58

me more reflective of the life I've the

00:24:02

relationship I've got with my own

00:24:03

children and how much I value value that

00:24:06

so it makes me sad that someone that uh

00:24:12

you know was my father didn't value that

00:24:16

that's the sad part I think and

00:24:19

um but I can't change that now so yeah

00:24:22

move on yeah cuz you're um you're you're

00:24:25

you're very very much a Hands-On Deb um

00:24:28

I I saw a LinkedIn post a couple of

00:24:30

weeks ago um about you being invited

00:24:32

some to some starlink launch in the

00:24:33

States but it clashes with what is it

00:24:35

like your daughter's prize giving or it

00:24:37

was her year six graduation bro do it do

00:24:40

it by FaceTime go go go over to the

00:24:42

styling thing like you've been a really

00:24:44

good dad you haven't missed anything

00:24:46

important you know come on I think go to

00:24:49

The Styling thing I think that's uh that

00:24:51

is one of the um results of uh not

00:24:55

having a uh a dad in my life

00:24:59

and and my wife uh has unlocked this

00:25:05

is I'm chasing to be the greatest dead

00:25:08

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

00:25:12

you want to do more and more and more

00:25:13

and more and more and uh and I beat

00:25:16

myself up about about stuff I'm getting

00:25:19

better at it um I don't think that the

00:25:21

year six graduation versus the Starlin

00:25:23

and SpaceX launch that was a deliberate

00:25:26

decision because I was you know I and um

00:25:29

I talked to my daughter and I said you

00:25:32

know how this year six graduation you

00:25:34

know how big a deal it is I didn't put

00:25:36

any pressure because I'm about to not go

00:25:38

and meet Elon Musk and go and watch this

00:25:40

rocket launch she said Dad it's the

00:25:43

biggest moment in my life and at that

00:25:45

point it was done there are going to be

00:25:46

plenty more rocket launchers hopefully

00:25:49

plenty more opportunities to go to space

00:25:51

X but I'm never going to get that year

00:25:53

six graduation back but don't get me

00:25:55

wrong I don't go to every single thing

00:25:58

that she would like me to go to so uh

00:26:00

she had Athletics day two weeks ago uh I

00:26:04

couldn't get to it I know that other

00:26:06

moms and dads uh were there so it's not

00:26:09

every single event that I that I get to

00:26:11

but it's the ones that either really are

00:26:13

really important to me uh or really

00:26:16

important to her or the or the two boys

00:26:19

uh and I'm proud to say that I haven't

00:26:21

haven't missed that moment a moment and

00:26:23

um and I'm proud that actually I've

00:26:24

worked for organizations and I've been

00:26:27

in teams that have uh supported me to

00:26:29

make it happen and and I would uh I

00:26:32

would I would them good on you I I think

00:26:35

that's admirable but Devil's Advocate it

00:26:37

would be very easy for you to say listen

00:26:38

my dad didn't come to any of my things

00:26:40

and I turned out fine yeah I know but so

00:26:43

I think it's actually more of a that's

00:26:45

why I made that observation I think it's

00:26:47

more of potentially me driving it like

00:26:50

don't get me wrong I think when my

00:26:52

daughter was doing her dance and doing

00:26:54

her songs and I was yeah know I think it

00:26:57

was lovely for her to see my smiling

00:26:59

face but selfishly it was even more

00:27:01

lovely for me to see her smiling her

00:27:03

smiling face and I wouldn't want want

00:27:04

have want to be anywhere else than that

00:27:07

than that that that moment but you're

00:27:09

right

00:27:11

um I don't necessarily think that uh

00:27:15

going to those

00:27:17

events is a requirement to demonstrate

00:27:20

your love and your commitment to your to

00:27:22

your child because there are a whole

00:27:25

bunch of people in in New Zealand that

00:27:28

love their kids uh as much as I love

00:27:31

mine but don't have the flexibility I've

00:27:33

that I've got to be able to make make

00:27:35

those decisions yeah and uh and their

00:27:37

kids as you said are going to be super

00:27:40

fine uh because of it yeah one of the

00:27:43

advantages of getting to the the age

00:27:45

that you and I are at now is you realize

00:27:46

just um how precious time is and how

00:27:48

fast things go so the these moments are

00:27:50

going to be gone in the blink of an eye

00:27:52

like your kids are going to be growing

00:27:53

up before you know it and you're going

00:27:54

to be like where the [ __ ] did the time

00:27:55

go so it's good that you're um you can

00:27:57

be present be in the moment and

00:27:59

recognize that stuff real time my boss

00:28:01

said to me cuz I'm really emotional

00:28:03

about uh Sam uh he's got another year

00:28:06

and then he goes to University or does

00:28:08

whatever he wants to do and um I was

00:28:11

talking to my boss and said man I'm

00:28:13

feeling really emotional about him

00:28:15

potentially moving out of home and she

00:28:18

said that's not the worst part because

00:28:19

if they go to university they get a

00:28:21

whole bunch of holidays and they've got

00:28:23

no money so they're going to come and

00:28:24

see you when they start working uh

00:28:26

they've got a bit of money they get four

00:28:28

weeks off guess how many of those weeks

00:28:30

they want to spend with Mom and Dad none

00:28:32

unless you pay for them so that's was

00:28:35

even more upsetting so I am very

00:28:38

conscious that uh you know you don't you

00:28:41

don't get those uh those moments back

00:28:43

and and um but not just with your uh

00:28:46

with your

00:28:47

kids with uh friends with with your

00:28:50

partner you know um with your mom I

00:28:53

remember uh just last week I I I drove

00:28:57

into the driveway and I just had this

00:29:00

big really strong uh feeling of missing

00:29:04

my grandfather who I would call

00:29:06

periodically and just check in and and

00:29:08

say good day so I all those moments are

00:29:10

kind of a nice reminder that uh they're

00:29:12

important ones not to

00:29:14

miss yeah how long has your granddad

00:29:16

been

00:29:17

gone

00:29:20

oh he would be 20 years now amazing yeah

00:29:24

you just had this feeling out of out of

00:29:26

the B out of the blue yeah it's funny

00:29:28

that but I think I think that's the um

00:29:30

yeah the ultimate tribute to like a

00:29:31

family member that's passed out that 20

00:29:33

years on you know they still hold a

00:29:36

space in your heart I think that's

00:29:37

really cool no I think that's the right

00:29:39

way to look at it right if you uh if you

00:29:41

miss them just so it shows how much you

00:29:43

valued and loved them uh and how much

00:29:45

the impact they had on you when they

00:29:47

were alive 100% what about what about ra

00:29:50

so your wife ra um you've been married

00:29:52

like 20 years yes what's the meat cute

00:29:54

so you met you met in Queenstown yeah so

00:29:57

love it first s it was for me I remember

00:30:01

I remember her uh I actually said this

00:30:03

to her I said remember when we met each

00:30:05

other on the 27th of December and you we

00:30:07

were walking down the kind of Court this

00:30:10

Courtyard or Mall strip and we our eyes

00:30:13

locked and that connection and she's

00:30:16

like what she had no idea she was with a

00:30:20

group of friends girls I was with a

00:30:22

group of friends boys and

00:30:25

um uh I saw her and thought uh my God

00:30:29

and uh she didn't even notice me and

00:30:32

then later that night we ended up being

00:30:35

in the same uh bar and we got there

00:30:39

first uh there was a table not similar

00:30:41

to this there was four of us here there

00:30:43

was nowhere else for the girls to sit

00:30:45

they looked everywhere to go somewhere

00:30:47

else apart from sit with us and then

00:30:49

they came in and then we were like WP

00:30:51

and um uh she was from ockland I was

00:30:54

from Vago uh we were having quite a bit

00:30:56

of ban about the North versus South I

00:30:59

said to her uh can I get you a drink and

00:31:02

she said uh well I'm from Oakland so of

00:31:05

course uh I only drink Ballinger and I

00:31:08

was like okay is it some RTD I didn't

00:31:11

know what Ballinger was so I went to the

00:31:12

bar not knowing that she was joking and

00:31:15

said can I have a Spates and a Ballinger

00:31:17

thank you and he said are you sure we

00:31:19

want a Ballinger and I said yep and he

00:31:22

goes once I open it I can't take it back

00:31:26

and I thought it must be like one of

00:31:28

those $10 rtds and I looked back at Rach

00:31:30

and I was like yeah she's worth the 10

00:31:31

bucks and he came back and I remember

00:31:34

him saying that's $100 and I was like

00:31:39

what do you mean he go I said what' I

00:31:41

just buy he said you just bought the

00:31:42

most expensive bottle in the bar I said

00:31:45

I don't want it take it back he goes

00:31:48

I've opened it so I said have you got

00:31:50

anything by the glass which is your

00:31:52

cheapest and so uh I got poured one

00:31:56

glass of Ballinger one glass of the

00:31:58

cheapest bubbles told this table what

00:32:01

had happened we did a blind taste test

00:32:03

with Rachel and she got it wrong she CH

00:32:06

she chose the cheap one as the expensive

00:32:09

Ballinger in her defense she' never

00:32:11

tasted Ballinger herself at that point

00:32:12

in her life so she had nothing to

00:32:13

Benchmark it against but it's a joke

00:32:15

within our um yeah within our our

00:32:18

friends and family that uh we both got

00:32:20

kind of suck it in that suck it in that

00:32:21

night and the rest is history yeah and

00:32:23

she's um she's phenomenal right she's

00:32:25

like a Harvard educated lawyer is she a

00:32:28

partner in a law firm yeah so and an

00:32:30

author I always say she should be the

00:32:33

one doing these having these

00:32:35

conversations she is so much more

00:32:37

impressive than I am in every facet

00:32:41

she's not she's so she'll hate me for

00:32:43

say this she slightly uncoordinated but

00:32:45

that's her only yes perfect in every

00:32:48

other way so we always joked hopefully

00:32:51

the kids get my coordination and

00:32:52

everything else uh everything else about

00:32:54

her um but yeah she uh she's a lawyer um

00:32:59

she was a partner in at bgal for uh I

00:33:02

think she was the youngest partner or

00:33:04

one of the youngest Partners made up

00:33:06

partner for 10

00:33:07

years and uh but I always wanted to

00:33:10

write and so um with each child um when

00:33:15

she took uh don't say it's time off

00:33:17

because it's not like time off when

00:33:18

you're maternity leave but when she was

00:33:21

wasn't working at work and was working

00:33:23

at home bringing the bringing the kids

00:33:25

up she wrote a screenplay with her

00:33:27

sister

00:33:28

um she wrote a play she wrote A Child a

00:33:30

children's book and so she's always been

00:33:32

quite creative and uh always wanted to

00:33:34

be a writer so when I got the job offer

00:33:37

to go to voone um in London she resigned

00:33:41

from her law firm and that was going to

00:33:43

be the time where she was going to write

00:33:45

um in Europe and then that changed but

00:33:48

she' resigned from her partnership um

00:33:50

and so we stayed in New Zealand but she

00:33:52

started to started to think about

00:33:54

writing but it was

00:33:55

only uh

00:33:58

what would have been kind of 18 months

00:34:00

ago two years ago now that she decided

00:34:02

to commit to it and enrolled herself at

00:34:04

the um uh at ockland University on the

00:34:08

Master's creative writing course and uh

00:34:11

she won the Phoenix prize um a year ago

00:34:14

because the the new Phoenix prize Winer

00:34:15

was uh announced last night and then um

00:34:19

her book got picked up by haset um the

00:34:22

global publisher and it goes on sale in

00:34:25

April and the US the Australian and the

00:34:28

New Zealand Market um next year and also

00:34:33

her book's been picked up by stampede as

00:34:36

a Netflix series so amazing I know

00:34:39

incredible What's um so it's a novel I

00:34:42

joke that it's so she's writing about

00:34:45

all the ways that she's thought about

00:34:47

killing

00:34:48

me so it's a psychological Thriller like

00:34:52

a howto guy it's a psychological

00:34:54

Thriller uh and um I remember

00:34:58

uh we were having a conversation and she

00:34:59

said to me you know I could kill you and

00:35:03

no one would ever find out and I was

00:35:05

like what what have I done so I've

00:35:07

always say publicly if I ever go missing

00:35:10

something happens to me and they go well

00:35:11

that was a surprise look at ra it wasn't

00:35:14

a surprise I've misstepped too many

00:35:16

times and uh I've been I've been taken

00:35:17

out well she won't be able to use

00:35:19

anything that's um that's on the book SL

00:35:21

Netflix series exactly so like I'm

00:35:24

really I'm really proud of her I read a

00:35:26

lot of that genre and and

00:35:29

um uh and I've read uh her script her

00:35:32

her book now probably 30 times and all

00:35:34

its different variations Etc there was

00:35:36

only two days where she didn't talk to

00:35:38

me because of some of the feedback that

00:35:40

I uh I gave her because you know you

00:35:42

think about you're pouring your heart

00:35:43

and soul out on it and I've got a very

00:35:46

limited vocabulary and so when I'm

00:35:49

trying to find words to describe how I

00:35:52

can help make the book better sometimes

00:35:54

I can be a little less sophisticated

00:35:56

than I would like like to be but uh you

00:35:59

need to check jpt have another sentence

00:36:01

for it it's a bit

00:36:03

[ __ ] and so she's done a phenomenal job

00:36:06

and um the book is book is amazing and

00:36:09

uh yeah and uh and she's um it's a two

00:36:12

book deal that she was uh signed up for

00:36:14

so she's about I think 25% through um

00:36:18

her next her next book her next book now

00:36:22

that's incredible yeah wow it's

00:36:23

incredible you and yeah and a and a a

00:36:26

grad from Harvard with the Masters in

00:36:28

law where she graduated first her

00:36:30

dissertation at Harvard was published in

00:36:32

the Wall Street Journal like uh you know

00:36:36

she is she's a super and an amazing mom

00:36:38

great friend like I'm very privileged

00:36:42

[ __ ] you're proud aren't you ah so proud

00:36:45

like seriously and you know and uh but

00:36:48

it's she not everything that she's doing

00:36:50

and the kids are doing she's just uh an

00:36:52

incredible human being she's just a

00:36:55

special person really what say

00:36:58

say

00:37:00

selfless yeah her first thought was

00:37:02

about everyone else before herself not

00:37:04

like that's just you know similar to my

00:37:06

mom actually uh they they say you you

00:37:09

marry someone like your mother yeah yeah

00:37:11

and um uh and her parents are the same

00:37:15

um Liz and jock incredible people um you

00:37:18

know who were amazing parents to her as

00:37:20

well and I think that's the the values

00:37:22

that they installed in all of um all the

00:37:25

kids that they had so uh yeah super

00:37:28

super impressive and her her um uh her

00:37:31

brother's uh got a very successful

00:37:33

career in

00:37:34

finance uh he's got his own fund that uh

00:37:38

he's raised money for and lots of

00:37:39

investors are trusting him in um and

00:37:42

then uh her sister Bridget is the

00:37:44

country manager of zero so um very

00:37:47

successful uh family they're all um High

00:37:50

Achievers but are fantastic people first

00:37:53

yeah and yeah you guys are um Power

00:37:56

couple like both um both big jobs so how

00:37:59

do you yeah what's the um what's the

00:38:01

home calendar like how have you got like

00:38:02

a white board is it a Blackboard is it a

00:38:04

just a like a Google Calendar like how

00:38:06

do you how do you make things work with

00:38:07

your various commitments yeah it's

00:38:09

pretty chaotic I would say both uh ra

00:38:12

and I would say that the thing um that

00:38:14

we sacrifice the most uh is our own

00:38:18

relationship even though it's super

00:38:21

strong and full of love uh and also our

00:38:25

uh prioritizing ourselves so so I'd

00:38:28

definitely like to go to the gym a

00:38:31

little bit more or um you know spend

00:38:34

more me time but um we prioritize our

00:38:38

kids um our work our friends our family

00:38:44

and then we'll kind of get to us and uh

00:38:48

and ourselves when we can and often you

00:38:51

you never get to them I I think that's

00:38:53

the same for a lot of people uh so I'm

00:38:56

not saying that we're unusual in in any

00:38:58

way but it's something we talk about

00:39:00

because you know when the kids leave

00:39:03

home uh we don't want to look at each

00:39:05

other and go who the hell are you that

00:39:08

happens a lot yeah and so that's

00:39:10

something you got to actively work out

00:39:11

right you want to make sure that you

00:39:14

continue to fall in love with each other

00:39:17

as you change inevitably from when you

00:39:19

when you first when you first met so um

00:39:22

we do and uh and so I think that it's

00:39:25

healthy to kind of talk about that and

00:39:27

and make and make that time for the

00:39:28

relationship what what are your big

00:39:31

arguments about is it kid related

00:39:33

or you you she's a lawyer you wouldn't

00:39:36

want to argue with her right you're I

00:39:38

yeah no though you know you're on a

00:39:40

hiding to nothing yeah I'm just yes yes

00:39:44

dear and uh yeah so like seriously we

00:39:48

don't we don't have massive big

00:39:50

arguments I think probably the the the

00:39:53

biggest challenges that that we have um

00:39:56

is how do you

00:39:58

ensure

00:40:00

um it's probably more about actually the

00:40:04

the challenges of uh of kind of just

00:40:06

life and chaos and and busyness and

00:40:09

communication more than anything else I

00:40:10

can be a bit useless and not telling her

00:40:12

what's happening when it's uh when it's

00:40:14

busy and that's probably the biggest

00:40:16

thing bro I'm I'm exactly the same you

00:40:19

know um you know when your kids in

00:40:21

particular boys get home from school and

00:40:22

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

00:40:26

same in relationships like if I'm busy

00:40:27

with other stuff it's the communication

00:40:29

the first thing that lapses for me and I

00:40:30

know it's I know it's a work on yeah

00:40:32

it's hard though he it is yeah and also

00:40:35

I'm sure I've told her something and I

00:40:37

and I haven't so that's the that's the

00:40:39

biggest issue and it was in my head I

00:40:41

just didn't uh I just didn't say it you

00:40:43

need to push harder gas lier I

00:40:45

definitely told you this I definitely

00:40:47

told you no she's got a uh yeah she's

00:40:49

got a memory yeah well that's great so

00:40:51

so um yes so your son's 17 now yeah so

00:40:55

uh Sam's 17 uh ockland grandar

00:40:57

um great kid uh Will's 13 again

00:41:01

fantastic kid he's in um in third form

00:41:05

Auckland grammar and then uh our

00:41:07

daughter in year six going into year

00:41:08

seven bum bum bum you know so they

00:41:11

they're growing up growing up fast but

00:41:14

um yeah uh really I'm really really

00:41:16

proud of them good manners good values

00:41:20

uh and all we say to them is be the best

00:41:22

you can be all I care about is the

00:41:24

effort effort Mark the outcome will be

00:41:27

what it will be and they'll find what

00:41:29

they love at some point in time and who

00:41:32

knew what they wanted to be or very few

00:41:34

people at 17 or 13 or or 11 I just want

00:41:36

them to try lots of things and be good

00:41:38

people and open doors and have good

00:41:40

manners and and uh and give it their

00:41:43

best and and uh and if they do that I'm

00:41:45

sure it'll work out fine yeah that's

00:41:47

bloody great oh well done that's cool

00:41:50

you've got a few more years before

00:41:51

you're in empty Nea yeah we we have yeah

00:41:54

I thought it'd be exciting having one of

00:41:55

your kids leave home especially if

00:41:56

there's a couple of back UPS no I'm

00:41:58

going to be be emal I'm going to be a

00:42:01

mess it will

00:42:02

be horrific yeah really why oh I just

00:42:06

love them so much and I just seriously

00:42:09

uh I just I and I when Sam uh turned

00:42:14

17 uh I told him a story uh of when he

00:42:17

was born the day he was born I don't

00:42:20

know but I got a cab right back from the

00:42:22

um hospital and uh the cab driver could

00:42:25

see that I was really chuffed and uh he

00:42:28

said what are you smiling about and I

00:42:29

said I've had my first son first child

00:42:31

and he's a boy and he said oh funnily

00:42:33

enough it's my son's birthday this

00:42:35

weekend and he's 21 and he said can I

00:42:37

just tell you it gets better and better

00:42:39

and better and I said to Sam it does

00:42:42

like I didn't want you to grow up when

00:42:43

you were three and when you were seven

00:42:45

and when you were 10 and when I when you

00:42:46

were 13 I was like nothing's going to be

00:42:49

better than this but it does and so just

00:42:53

so proud of having my relationship with

00:42:55

him and the kids it's amazing special

00:42:57

yeah you haven't obviously gone through

00:42:59

the mount difficulty phase yet of the

00:43:01

there's got that's got to come no yeah

00:43:03

like not all like you know of course

00:43:05

they always misstep and they do naughty

00:43:07

things and I've pushing boundaries

00:43:09

pushing boundaries or I've found them

00:43:11

they you know snuck out the bedroom

00:43:13

window to see their friends and vaping

00:43:15

the school bag all that none of them are

00:43:17

Vaped really well done yeah I used to

00:43:19

work for smoke free way back uh when I

00:43:22

was when I was at school kind of

00:43:23

advocating uh my grandma um she passed

00:43:26

away of um emia Emma whatever it is and

00:43:30

um so I've uh yeah but so uh I've kind

00:43:33

of installed that installed that into

00:43:35

them uh the probably biggest issue is um

00:43:38

addiction to devices which you know as

00:43:40

being in the industry I'm in um it's a

00:43:43

it's a challenge I'm trying to navigate

00:43:44

through at home as as well as for the

00:43:46

industry oh it's it's tough like um I

00:43:50

I've stopped looking at my screen time

00:43:51

my weekly screen time because it's

00:43:53

alarming it is and you can justify so

00:43:55

much of it as um working like I'm

00:43:56

working it's a it's a work tool but no a

00:43:59

lot of it is a lot of it is Mindless

00:44:00

scrolling no yeah I find that myself you

00:44:03

know I I'm going okay I'll just uh you

00:44:05

know I just wind down and look at a

00:44:08

couple things on Instagram and it's 9:45

00:44:10

and then all of a sudden it's 11:00 what

00:44:13

I just lost an hour looking at funny pet

00:44:18

videos and like what the hell where did

00:44:21

that where did that go and you can see

00:44:23

you know hopefully my brain is a bit

00:44:24

more developed than a 13-year-old or a

00:44:26

17-year-old but yeah you can see uh that

00:44:30

you know they are developed to keep you

00:44:33

addtive yeah I heard a podcast that's

00:44:36

saying it's um sort of yeah the screen

00:44:38

and the way it looks and feels and

00:44:39

sounds is based on like slot machines

00:44:42

yes yes um yeah yeah but and the the Met

00:44:44

algorithms are so good like I get see so

00:44:46

many videos of dogs that look like

00:44:49

mine an hour is nothing mate I know I it

00:44:52

feels like it's always listening to you

00:44:54

as well right like and I just like all

00:44:56

of a sudden you know um uh I turned 50

00:45:00

and I'm getting uh you know gut health

00:45:05

bloating 50y old ads on social media and

00:45:09

I'm like are you trying to tell me

00:45:11

something here you know whatever it is

00:45:12

so magnesium supplements for me yeah

00:45:15

yeah ex it's good though it's helpful it

00:45:17

um hey let's talk about your the career

00:45:18

stuff so um so you left school you went

00:45:22

to University for 3 months so what

00:45:24

happened there so I applied for teacher

00:45:27

in college and uh got rejected and then

00:45:31

um coming back from a South and rugby

00:45:33

trip uh and then went to um Trust Bank

00:45:38

Southland and but

00:45:41

I always thought that I would want to go

00:45:43

to university because I had a a view in

00:45:46

my head that um if you wanted to get a

00:45:50

big job um whatever the industry was and

00:45:53

I wasn't too sure that you needed to

00:45:54

have a a degree and so was basically

00:45:57

saving money up to uh not take up to

00:46:02

take on too much debt when to go to go

00:46:03

to university and I my best mate is um

00:46:08

uh was actually a year younger uh than

00:46:11

me and and then my other best mate was

00:46:13

two years uh two years younger than me

00:46:16

and so we were uh thinking about all

00:46:18

going together and so uh we all worked

00:46:23

um for a period of time in inago before

00:46:25

we went to kind of University in the

00:46:27

same in the same year uh I was

00:46:32

um the year before I went to University

00:46:35

I took a job that was paying more than

00:46:37

the bank in radio sales so I uh started

00:46:41

being a radio sales sales guy and um

00:46:44

then left to go to university and then 3

00:46:47

months after uh I was at University the

00:46:51

radio station manager turned up at my

00:46:53

flat and said hey um we've missed you

00:46:57

uh will double your salary and if you

00:47:00

come back so um I called I was doing a

00:47:03

double major in marketing and

00:47:05

information science back then like

00:47:07

technology and I remember I called the

00:47:09

careers advisor um at the ataga

00:47:12

University and I said hey look I've just

00:47:14

got this job offer but I'm really

00:47:17

enjoying this information science thing

00:47:19

and I remember she said to me there's no

00:47:20

money in Tech take the job so uh I took

00:47:24

the job and the rest is history and that

00:47:26

kind of

00:47:27

that that created uh I suppose my set me

00:47:32

on my career of kind of sales and

00:47:33

marketing so people come through the

00:47:36

ranks you know and finance or operations

00:47:40

um uh my my my background is in has been

00:47:44

in sales and marketing so I just

00:47:45

progressively moved from

00:47:48

inago uh to Wellington uh and then to uh

00:47:52

Auckland after I met my uh after I met

00:47:54

ra and uh have been kind of a sales and

00:47:57

marketing background ever since yeah and

00:47:59

I suppose once you get that um that

00:48:00

opportunity and you start getting a bit

00:48:02

of career momentum like the degree thing

00:48:04

becomes less less important but like if

00:48:06

you look at jobs now on say SE or zel or

00:48:08

whatever like most of them say you know

00:48:10

the you entry level requirement is a as

00:48:13

a degree and whatever it happens to be

00:48:15

so how did you get like the um marketing

00:48:17

manager job at McDonald's without a

00:48:18

degree uh I just applied for it yeah

00:48:21

they didn't they didn't ask they just

00:48:22

assumed no so it wasn't a requirement to

00:48:25

be honest and um my boss now uh well my

00:48:28

boss back then and suu's another good

00:48:30

mate good mate of mine and kind of uh I

00:48:35

I my viewers once you get the interview

00:48:37

once you get the foot on the

00:48:38

door

00:48:41

um the qualifications don't necessarily

00:48:44

really really matter um in my view

00:48:46

unless you're a doctor you know you got

00:48:48

something who's A's a who's a specialist

00:48:50

this guy's got a good attitude do my

00:48:52

brain operation but uh when you're

00:48:54

coming through the ranks and sales of

00:48:55

marketing and he just took a he could

00:48:57

took a chance on me a crack and that was

00:48:59

my kind of first Big Marketing role was

00:49:02

um wasn't McDonald's up until then um uh

00:49:06

I was kind of a sales and marketer and

00:49:08

um and so yeah he uh he took my he took

00:49:11

his first big first big punt and

00:49:15

then it started it wasn't really

00:49:18

McDonald's role but the Nokia role the

00:49:22

tvnz role the media media Works role the

00:49:26

Telecom

00:49:28

role uh even um possibly the uh the

00:49:33

vhone

00:49:34

role having a degree never came up I

00:49:38

think people probably just

00:49:40

assumed um or it gets to the point where

00:49:42

you've got so much experience it just

00:49:44

doesn't matter doesn't matter but the I

00:49:46

did have a chip on my shoulder about it

00:49:48

uh and when I was at tvnz my boss Rick

00:49:52

Alis I talked to him about it openly and

00:49:55

um

00:49:57

he said [ __ ] I didn't know that you

00:50:00

didn't have a degree and he said I never

00:50:02

would have thought um you know you're

00:50:05

smart you're articulate you can you know

00:50:07

you're structured in the way that you

00:50:09

think and and uh and right but that was

00:50:12

created basically on four years of work

00:50:15

experience While others had four years

00:50:16

of structured structured learning and so

00:50:19

as we just said before like R and I are

00:50:22

the complete opposite ends of the

00:50:23

education Spectrum masters from Harvard

00:50:27

no University degree so uh tvnz and Rick

00:50:31

funded me to do a business course at at

00:50:34

Harvard I think it was in

00:50:36

2008 and um I went across there and

00:50:40

there were people from all around the

00:50:42

world and within 24 hours I was like I'm

00:50:48

as good as them like I can have

00:50:50

conversations about the case studies I

00:50:52

can get the uh the concepts of the

00:50:55

models I can uh debate uh with them I

00:50:59

can

00:51:00

ideate and that was a it was a really

00:51:03

big um psychological moment for me in my

00:51:07

career where I

00:51:10

realized um that I didn't have that I

00:51:13

wasn't smart you know I didn't have an

00:51:15

issue with not being smart enough to be

00:51:18

able to um you know be the CEO of a of

00:51:22

of an organ of an organization and

00:51:24

so uh it was probably an impediment or a

00:51:28

hurdle that I was putting on myself

00:51:29

versus others were putting on me at that

00:51:32

at that point in time and um I never

00:51:35

never really never really came up from

00:51:36

that from that point because as you said

00:51:38

your experience your track record New

00:51:40

Zealand's a village people know what

00:51:43

you're doing good or bad every day um

00:51:47

and if your track record is is good and

00:51:49

and you're doing what you said you do

00:51:50

and you're showing up well then then

00:51:52

opportunities open up for you yeah 100%

00:51:55

um yeah do you think are you familiar

00:51:57

with impostor syndrome yes yeah do you

00:51:59

feel like um you were sort of

00:52:01

experiencing that when you went to see

00:52:02

Rick Ellis oh absolutely is there a

00:52:04

degree of that and I think it's still

00:52:06

there's still a degree of that in me now

00:52:09

I'm still waiting for yeah I still

00:52:12

seriously I I would

00:52:14

say uh at least every month if not every

00:52:17

week I go how the hell did someone like

00:52:21

me get here like it's just bizarre I'm

00:52:24

waiting for someone to tap me on the

00:52:26

shoulder and go how the hell did you get

00:52:27

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

00:52:34

I just

00:52:35

genuinely uh cannot believe how lucky I

00:52:38

am that uh and that's every job like you

00:52:42

know I said an giving me the crack at

00:52:44

McDonald's Murray giving me the crack at

00:52:47

uh Trust Bank

00:52:48

Southland um the radio station manager

00:52:52

picking meic out of uh out of

00:52:55

University um Alis uh just you know

00:52:58

grabbing me out of London and then

00:53:00

sending me to

00:53:01

Harvard um Simon Musa uh giving me the

00:53:05

opportunity to do the Telecom to Spark

00:53:08

Run two-thirds of their of their of

00:53:10

their business like it's just it's

00:53:12

absolutely incredible uh that these

00:53:14

people have yeah um given me the given

00:53:18

me the opportunities that uh that they

00:53:20

have and you don't want to let them

00:53:23

down uh yeah and I've you know that I

00:53:26

think I've got the impostor syndrome as

00:53:27

a dead you know never going to be good

00:53:29

enough I've got the impostor syndrome as

00:53:32

um um as part of the team as well that

00:53:34

never going to be good enough and that

00:53:36

drives

00:53:37

me I think it's quite um it shouldn't be

00:53:39

but I think it's quite Brave or

00:53:41

courageous of you to to admit that

00:53:43

because um you imposter syndrome or yeah

00:53:45

yeah well I mean I feel like there's a

00:53:48

degree of um you know you're supposed to

00:53:50

have people fake it till you make it um

00:53:54

you know um but I think I think most of

00:53:56

us

00:53:57

I've had heaps of ORS on the podcast and

00:53:58

they all admit the same thing like the

00:53:59

first day they turned up you know so

00:54:01

they'll have a killer super season or

00:54:02

whatever and then turn up to the or

00:54:03

training they be like [ __ ] I don't

00:54:04

belong here um I think it's it's really

00:54:07

refreshing to admit that yeah especially

00:54:09

six years under the desk that's that's

00:54:11

true you know uh and and hopefully you

00:54:13

can use it as a driver um

00:54:17

versus uh yeah versus feeling

00:54:21

uncertain so

00:54:24

uh yeah but it's it's there it's there

00:54:26

every day I just I just go how the hell

00:54:29

did this happen uh and how do I uh you

00:54:33

know work hard enough to make sure that

00:54:35

the music doesn't stop is that

00:54:38

exhausting uh yeah like the CEO roles

00:54:41

are oh actually any industry like

00:54:44

they're tiring they're 20 247 and and

00:54:47

I've purposefully decided that my role

00:54:50

as a CEO is a 247 role because I want to

00:54:53

be as accessible to as many people as

00:54:55

possible on every social media platform

00:54:58

too you know I every conversation I have

00:55:02

with anyone I always give them out my

00:55:04

personal email address and I tell them

00:55:06

that I'm your personal account manager

00:55:08

and I'm your personal account manager

00:55:09

too Dom and um uh

00:55:13

because uh I want them to know that I

00:55:16

take the role that we play in their

00:55:17

lives really really seriously one two

00:55:20

it's the best way for me to know what's

00:55:22

happening in the business good and bad

00:55:24

um and uh and three I think it's my job

00:55:28

like everyone in the organization should

00:55:29

be the the best sales and service person

00:55:31

that they that they can be but that

00:55:33

means you know Friday nights Saturdays

00:55:37

Sundays I'll be checking my phone

00:55:39

because if I get an email it means the

00:55:40

shit's at the fan a customer has a

00:55:43

massive issue in their business or in

00:55:44

their life for them at that point in

00:55:47

time and um they've tried as much as

00:55:49

they possibly can and and they haven't

00:55:51

got what they needed to and so I I'm in

00:55:53

a position to be able to help yeah

00:55:55

you're you're very active on LinkedIn

00:55:56

and I've seen um like a couple of

00:55:58

comments where there's been you've put

00:56:00

up a post about something completely

00:56:02

unrelated and someone will write a

00:56:03

comment bitching about some data r or

00:56:05

whatever it happens to be and then

00:56:07

you'll respond with your email address

00:56:08

so how does your email work does it get

00:56:10

directed to a PA and then they goes

00:56:13

directly to me so I read every single

00:56:16

apart from for one holiday um I'll read

00:56:19

every single email that uh that comes

00:56:21

through I'll respond to every single

00:56:24

email personally but then

00:56:26

uh I have a team of about four or five

00:56:29

people they don't just support me they

00:56:31

triage the most gnarly uh issues that

00:56:34

come through the business uh some of

00:56:36

which come to me and then they will

00:56:38

account manage them in to make sure that

00:56:39

they get they get fixed because New

00:56:41

Zealand is a good good people um and if

00:56:44

when that gets to me we've normally you

00:56:47

know pissed them off to a point where

00:56:48

the it's the last straw and they go you

00:56:51

need to know what's happening in your

00:56:53

organization so uh I'll send uh three

00:56:56

emails out to our customer base a year I

00:56:59

have done that since I started uh I used

00:57:03

to get about a thousand emails back I'd

00:57:06

read all of them um within 24 hours

00:57:09

respond within 48 hours and then this

00:57:12

team would help fix them and um and

00:57:15

address them that that email volume's at

00:57:19

least halved now so um I always put my

00:57:22

personal email address at the bottom

00:57:23

always say if you got anything that I

00:57:25

can help with let me know uh so I'll

00:57:28

probably get 500 emails I would say half

00:57:30

of them are now compliments they would

00:57:32

go you know what you're doing a much

00:57:34

better job than you were well done uh

00:57:37

and then the other half uh actually

00:57:38

you're still doing a pretty shitty job I

00:57:40

need you to fix need you to fix this er

00:57:43

um but again you know it's a it's a it's

00:57:45

a calculated investment because I know

00:57:49

I've talked to thousands of our

00:57:51

customers over a year and so I know

00:57:55

pretty well what is going on in our

00:57:57

business and where we're up to scratch

00:57:59

and where and where we're not and what

00:58:01

we need to focus on and uh and do so

00:58:04

it's a it's a it's an investment that um

00:58:06

that is a really smart one because it's

00:58:08

the only way that you know what's really

00:58:10

happening in your business is by talking

00:58:11

to as many customers as you as you can

00:58:13

yeah and that's a very um conscious and

00:58:15

deliberate decision I guess to be a

00:58:17

visible CEO yeah um where did that stem

00:58:21

from did you get the idea from anyone

00:58:22

else or the inspiration or is this just

00:58:23

you as a person no it's just me like you

00:58:25

know just uh um I like people get my

00:58:27

energy from

00:58:29

them uh I like yeah you know I like uh

00:58:34

hearing from our customers it helps us

00:58:36

make decisions helps me drive change

00:58:38

through the

00:58:40

organization uh I feel like if I uh if I

00:58:44

engage and I can acknowledge and say

00:58:47

sorry if a customer and there are very

00:58:50

few of them now that's a dick I can call

00:58:52

them out too and go you know what

00:58:54

disagree with that I think you're being

00:58:57

unfair when you have a crack at a team

00:58:58

member or where you're criticizing Us in

00:59:00

this in this way I can only to be honest

00:59:03

I can only think of a handful of times

00:59:04

where I've had to do that and stick up

00:59:06

stick up for my team but I think um you

00:59:09

know by being visible and uh and

00:59:11

apologizing and getting things sorted

00:59:14

also gives you permission to draw a line

00:59:16

on the sand and go well no hold on a

00:59:17

minute don't agree with that don't agree

00:59:19

with your post your posture or your

00:59:21

position or your criticism of us and and

00:59:23

sorry but uh you know we won't be moving

00:59:25

forward on that one so that's fine too

00:59:28

yeah well a lot a lot of time people

00:59:29

just want to be heard don't they they do

00:59:31

yeah yeah but um I know good for doing

00:59:34

that oh there was a thing on L you

00:59:35

LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago as well

00:59:36

about you um U making a very public

00:59:39

stand um what happened you banned banned

00:59:41

a couple of customers from one of your

00:59:42

stores what happened there yeah so this

00:59:44

has been a problem that's been growing

00:59:46

in retail for uh all Industries for

00:59:50

quite some time so you know everyone

00:59:52

will be familiar with the smash and

00:59:54

grabs that Michael jewers you know the

00:59:57

ram raids and that kind of stuff

01:00:00

and uh man that's a terrifying horrific

01:00:05

experience and can I as I said on

01:00:08

LinkedIn a few a few weeks ago these

01:00:12

are grandmothers grandfathers uncles

01:00:15

aunties moms dads Sons daughters cousins

01:00:20

Friends new zealanders just like you or

01:00:23

me trying to do a job to help people

01:00:26

that do not need to put up with that

01:00:29

type of crap right um now we're lucky

01:00:33

that the ram raids that have impacted

01:00:34

our retail stores have been at night um

01:00:37

people come in what they don't know is

01:00:40

that all of our devices are are safe

01:00:41

they can't get to and they think that

01:00:42

the devices that are in our retail

01:00:44

stores will work they're not they're

01:00:46

dummy devices right you can use them but

01:00:48

you disconnect them they're dummy

01:00:50

devices you can't put a SIM card into

01:00:52

them you can't use them um so when they

01:00:55

do Ram raid they don't there's nothing

01:00:56

of value that they that they take but in

01:00:59

this instance um you know Society is

01:01:02

getting more problematic we've got

01:01:04

people coming into our retail stores

01:01:06

trying to intimidate being aggressive

01:01:08

swearing now I know they're stressed

01:01:11

it's tough Economic Times we've come

01:01:13

through Co come through a

01:01:15

recession all that kind of stuff but

01:01:17

it's just um but everyone's dealing with

01:01:20

issues in their life and you can't take

01:01:23

it out on our on our people and so um um

01:01:26

this was an instance where someone was

01:01:28

changing uh over a phone and they had

01:01:32

forgotten their Apple ID it's not our

01:01:34

job to change over their phone for them

01:01:37

but our our um uh our salesperson was

01:01:41

doing them a favor by trying to help

01:01:43

them migrate all their photos and data

01:01:45

but you need your Apple ID to be able to

01:01:48

make it happen and they'd forgotten it

01:01:50

and it wasn't working and so they lost

01:01:52

it and was punching them and beating

01:01:55

them up and then someone else came in

01:01:57

and they took a swing at them and then

01:01:58

they were abusing people and Etc and um

01:02:03

and one of them had to go to hospital

01:02:05

and just I was just pissed off I was

01:02:07

like this is not good enough it's

01:02:09

unacceptable and so we've just we've

01:02:11

kicked them off the network and they'll

01:02:12

never be allowed back and um that's a

01:02:16

big move right that we'd take in very

01:02:19

rare instances but I'm sorry if uh if

01:02:22

that's what you're going to do then we

01:02:24

don't want you part of our um part of

01:02:26

the

01:02:27

team so uh yeah so they will never be a

01:02:31

one New Zealand customer uh ever ever

01:02:34

again and um they can find another TCO

01:02:36

to uh to connect with yeah to me that

01:02:39

doesn't that doesn't feel like a huge

01:02:40

move like that's outrageous behavior

01:02:43

like it's incredibly poor form like how

01:02:45

how traumatic for the staff members

01:02:47

involved oh massively and and actually I

01:02:49

think you know we when we're supporting

01:02:51

them and I I talked to them on the day

01:02:53

and then um the week after uh but you

01:02:56

just don't know how you're going to feel

01:02:57

and uh and and then they came back into

01:03:00

store and of course they're feeling it

01:03:01

apprehensive because no one expect

01:03:04

someone to take a swing at you or try to

01:03:06

beat the [ __ ] out of you when you're

01:03:07

trying to help them no and that happened

01:03:09

and and uh it was UN like it was they

01:03:12

didn't couldn't predict that this person

01:03:14

was clearly like up until that point was

01:03:16

getting agitated and frustrated but

01:03:18

frustrated about the device not of them

01:03:20

and then lost it uh and so who's next

01:03:23

they'll be they'll be thinking so you

01:03:25

know

01:03:26

um it is it is rare but uh yeah I just

01:03:30

wanted to draw a line on the sand and

01:03:31

say it's unacceptable and and this type

01:03:34

of behavior ever increases over

01:03:35

Christmas which is why I did it I you

01:03:37

know s timely reminder now as people get

01:03:40

stressed uh over that kind of busy

01:03:42

Christmas or New Year period just

01:03:43

remember that everyone's just trying to

01:03:45

do a job they're trying to navigate

01:03:46

through life they're trying to help you

01:03:48

and support you and they don't deserve

01:03:51

um you know you taking your anger out on

01:03:52

them yeah good on you yeah um and why

01:03:55

the brand the Rebrand from um vone to

01:03:58

one NZ yeah a bunch of reasons um first

01:04:01

one is uh it's a brand that we didn't

01:04:04

own voter phone and we were paying tens

01:04:07

of millions of dollars overseas for and

01:04:09

that money is better re being reinvested

01:04:12

back into into New Zealand um majority

01:04:15

of that money is been reinvested into

01:04:17

SpaceX into our partnership with them

01:04:19

and that'll be a GameChanger you know um

01:04:22

getting your uh backup connectivity from

01:04:24

space uh instead of on the ground in in

01:04:27

New Zealand so that's one uh two uh look

01:04:32

the the V phone brand in New Zealand

01:04:35

started off with a HS and a roar it was

01:04:37

the leader in mobility and then when I

01:04:40

started six years ago man I get used to

01:04:42

get a lot of crap at barbecues people

01:04:44

would go your service isn't great I've

01:04:47

had a really shitty experience I

01:04:48

couldn't recommend you and new

01:04:49

zealanders have got long memories and so

01:04:53

over the next kind of three or four

01:04:54

years so told two years ago we'd

01:04:57

invested so much in our Network and our

01:04:59

and you know the best network in the

01:05:00

country our service we'd back ourselves

01:05:03

to have the best service results in the

01:05:04

country people have long memories um but

01:05:08

I remembered from the spark Telecom to

01:05:10

spark change new zealanders will give

01:05:12

you another chance especially if you do

01:05:14

a bit of a Rebrand they'll go oh maybe

01:05:17

something is different there and so the

01:05:19

Rebrand was also a reconsideration

01:05:20

moment so people to go give us another

01:05:24

give us another try and so uh we did a a

01:05:27

Rebrand to have a bit of a refresh there

01:05:29

and then the third thing is we felt that

01:05:32

in terms of a

01:05:34

position uh we felt that there was a an

01:05:37

opportunity for a New Zealand Talco to

01:05:39

stand more for this country and more for

01:05:42

New Zealand than any other so um like

01:05:45

two degrees is trying to stand for Price

01:05:48

spark I think was standing for kind of

01:05:50

Partnerships like Spotify and we wanted

01:05:53

to stand for the best of New Zealand and

01:05:54

we felt that there was a kind of a a

01:05:56

brand positioning so saving money that

01:05:58

can be re reinvested a reconsideration

01:06:02

moment so convince people to give us a

01:06:04

second go um and then that and then that

01:06:07

positioning so those were the three

01:06:08

three big reasons and thankfully uh the

01:06:12

team did a much better job of my telecom

01:06:15

to spark uh project and and and all

01:06:19

three of them have paid off not that the

01:06:20

Telecom to spark one didn't yeah I was

01:06:21

going to say that was that was fine

01:06:23

wasn't it yeah it was good just it takes

01:06:24

a while for these names wash out there

01:06:26

but eventually you just forget about it

01:06:27

and look ultimately you're right it's

01:06:29

not the name it's the actions so as long

01:06:32

as you don't completely screw up the

01:06:35

name Choice it's really the actions that

01:06:37

you take what other names were on the

01:06:39

short list well my favorite uh the one

01:06:42

that I was advocating for they that they

01:06:44

dismissed I I really liked

01:06:47

Spirit but uh it got dismissed because

01:06:49

Spirit of New Zealand uh the boat you

01:06:52

know and a good M of mine Bruce runs

01:06:53

that and I would have had a had a

01:06:54

conversation and go hey thought about

01:06:56

doing a partnership with a with a TCO

01:06:59

um yeah and so there were five names um

01:07:03

I can't remember the others and uh and

01:07:05

that was the one that the team went with

01:07:07

and then it just it just

01:07:08

goes as I said it's really not the name

01:07:11

it's is your network good is your

01:07:13

service good is your pricing good have

01:07:16

you got good people have you got good

01:07:17

Partnerships uh and if you nail those

01:07:19

things that's more important than the

01:07:21

name yeah and and names names of um

01:07:23

Brands always sound weird in the

01:07:24

beginning uh um yeah I remember I was at

01:07:27

media WIS when um uh Mark Weldon who was

01:07:29

the CEO turned the news into newshub

01:07:32

yeah and everyone was like newshub what

01:07:33

looks like PornHub what is it but after

01:07:35

a while it just becomes a a thing yeah

01:07:37

you guys did I think a good job with

01:07:38

this um or your team didn't and they got

01:07:40

you involved with it um a Tik Tok where

01:07:43

you're reading out messages um just

01:07:45

basically people sh [ __ ] yeah me

01:07:47

tweets [ __ ] on the name Ki kiwis

01:07:49

love that self-deprecating sort of humor

01:07:50

eh yeah there was an embarrassing like

01:07:53

my my kids were like oh my d Ed you're

01:07:56

so cringe you know um cuz I think uh

01:08:01

they one of them was something about

01:08:04

420 and they were like and they were

01:08:06

pissed themselves cuz I didn't realize

01:08:08

that 420 was the name for a drug

01:08:10

whatever it is and so yeah so there was

01:08:12

lots of things that not only uh were

01:08:15

funny because people were taking the

01:08:17

piss about the name but it also funny

01:08:19

because uh it showed my naivity in a

01:08:21

whole bunch of areas and well you

01:08:23

mentioned um the um SpaceX thing before

01:08:25

is that that that's the same as the um

01:08:27

the Starling thing yeah so how did that

01:08:29

come about uh by the way as as a trail

01:08:31

Runner this is so exciting yeah you know

01:08:33

it is so uh we've been working with um

01:08:36

with starlink Broadband for quite some

01:08:39

time so and it already came into its own

01:08:43

off the back of cyclone Gabriel because

01:08:46

we could uh when power was out um when

01:08:51

fiber was out we could deploy the

01:08:54

starlink Broadband satellite dishes we

01:08:58

did it for the New Zealand Defense Force

01:08:59

we did it for the airports where we

01:09:01

could get Wi-Fi connectivity connected

01:09:03

to a

01:09:05

generator because when you lose

01:09:07

connectivity it's your Lifeline you

01:09:10

can't tell people that you need help you

01:09:11

can't tell people that you're safe you

01:09:13

can't tell them where you are and you

01:09:17

massive anxiety for people that love you

01:09:20

and also the people that you love and so

01:09:24

uh I talked to the team about um

01:09:28

spacex's starlink to mobile service and

01:09:32

so uh how was that progressing and we'

01:09:35

had a conversation with them but the

01:09:37

price that they had quoted us

01:09:41

was massive way like so expensive there

01:09:44

was no way that we could afford it and

01:09:47

so I decided that I'd like to have a

01:09:49

cracket convincing them that they should

01:09:51

give us a better deal and so we

01:09:54

basically did a pitch to them and said

01:09:56

look 60 million sheep 5 million people

01:10:00

uh it's the same population as Alabama

01:10:02

and the US um you know we're a rugged

01:10:06

country of explorers we're a perfect

01:10:09

test case for this technology we're fast

01:10:12

adopters of Technology we've got a

01:10:15

partnership with you on starlink

01:10:18

broadband uh we've just had a massive

01:10:21

Cyclone uh that's devastated parts of

01:10:23

the country we had floods in a major

01:10:26

city this is going to be a life Cher um

01:10:29

40% of um Altera doesn't have coverage

01:10:34

uh we love

01:10:36

fishing you know uh we'd love to partner

01:10:39

with you we're really bloody easy um and

01:10:43

so we pitched them and uh and they said

01:10:46

yes and so we signed the deal uh

01:10:51

and it happen so quickly actually that

01:10:54

um it was only about a month before we

01:10:58

were changing from voone to one and so

01:11:02

the team decided to make it as part of

01:11:04

the kind of launch day at the at the

01:11:06

kind of last last minute and um uh yeah

01:11:10

we announced at the same time as a good

01:11:12

example of the money that we were saving

01:11:15

by rebranding being invested back into

01:11:17

into New Zealand and you know you asked

01:11:19

me

01:11:20

before about proud moments in my career

01:11:24

this is probably going to

01:11:26

be up there if not the number one just

01:11:30

because if we can help save one life

01:11:33

through this technology it'll be uh

01:11:35

it'll be worth it and um it's amazing

01:11:39

you know uh we're doing all the all the

01:11:41

testing now but uh you have a a a

01:11:45

smartphone compatible smartphone in your

01:11:48

pocket uh and what compatible means is

01:11:50

while we doing all the

01:11:52

testing um and you're you can see the

01:11:54

sky

01:11:56

uh then you'll be able to uh get a

01:12:00

connection with the satellite traveling

01:12:03

500 km above you in

01:12:06

space uh traveling at 27,000 km an hour

01:12:11

and sequence and a constellation with

01:12:13

others first by text um and that's when

01:12:17

we have about 300 satellites up that uh

01:12:20

you'll be able to do text service we

01:12:22

need over a thousand before you can do

01:12:24

voice service

01:12:25

and then no matter where you are in New

01:12:28

Zealand you'll have coverage because of

01:12:32

satellites and the uh in space as long

01:12:35

as you can see the see the sky and you

01:12:38

have a compatible uh smart smartphone

01:12:40

it's insane it's an absolute Game

01:12:42

Changer right oh no it's it is it's um

01:12:45

it's going to be it's going to be

01:12:46

amazing and so we uh we're doing all the

01:12:48

testing at the moment across uh all

01:12:50

parts of New Zealand load testing

01:12:53

customer experience testing device

01:12:55

testing location testing so it's working

01:12:59

uh when you see the sky it's working in

01:13:01

buildings when you're close to Windows

01:13:04

but we you know just like any um any

01:13:07

coverage that you've got uh in an

01:13:09

elevator you don't get coverage uh in a

01:13:12

mine you don't get coverage underwater

01:13:14

you don't get coverage um and we just

01:13:16

need to see where this um the satellite

01:13:19

coverage will uh will reach so yeah it's

01:13:21

cool so while the negotiations were

01:13:23

going on were you were you worried that

01:13:25

conversations were going on with your

01:13:27

opposition or anything like that or yeah

01:13:29

like you never know um and that's why

01:13:32

you have to move

01:13:33

fast uh and I think that's one of the

01:13:37

advantages that uh we we do have um is

01:13:42

that we'll move quickly that we're easy

01:13:44

to partner

01:13:45

with um that we had you know a lot of

01:13:48

ambition in terms

01:13:50

of what this could do for the country

01:13:52

and how we could be a test case for them

01:13:54

for the world

01:13:56

um and then we signed up to a period of

01:14:00

exclusivity uh with them as well to make

01:14:02

sure that um you know we could we could

01:14:04

get it for a a period of time to kind of

01:14:06

create a strategic Advantage for us the

01:14:09

only thing I would say is uh when the

01:14:12

voice service goes live we are going to

01:14:14

make sure that everyone can access this

01:14:18

uh the 111 service regardless of which

01:14:21

TCO you're with so although I'd love

01:14:23

personally everyone to be with one New

01:14:25

Zealand if you are with 2° if you are

01:14:28

with spark and you are somewhere remote

01:14:31

once our um voice service Launches on

01:14:34

the starlink SpaceX service if you need

01:14:36

Emergency Services you'll be able to um

01:14:38

you'll be able to get help no matter

01:14:40

what TCO you're with where it's a kind

01:14:41

of a gift gift to New Zealand from a

01:14:43

health and safety perspective I don't

01:14:44

want anyone getting in trouble just

01:14:46

because they haven't chosen the right

01:14:47

TCO provider yeah it feels like that's

01:14:49

probably the responsible thing to do

01:14:50

right oh yeah that's the right thing

01:14:51

that's why I'm going to be really proud

01:14:54

that uh we're leading this and there are

01:14:55

other satellite

01:14:57

providers um SpaceX and Elon Musk are

01:15:00

way ahead of probably you know they're

01:15:02

years ahead of um of anyone else and um

01:15:06

I love the fact that you know um when we

01:15:08

make a big move like this everyone tries

01:15:10

to play catchup I think uh competition

01:15:12

is good right oh absolutely it's

01:15:14

necessary otherwise nothing nothing

01:15:16

nothing gets changed nothing gets done

01:15:18

did did you have any direct dealings

01:15:19

with um Elon Musk I've only I've had two

01:15:23

uh email conversations with them um one

01:15:25

was on the on the

01:15:27

deal um uh the other one was when we did

01:15:30

our uh our launch um video and uh we

01:15:35

sent it through to them for approval and

01:15:37

he said I love it uh you've just taken

01:15:39

stock footage of a Russian rocket not a

01:15:42

SpaceX rocket cuz you can you oh my

01:15:45

god excuse me so can you please change

01:15:48

that out so uh that was a uh that was a

01:15:51

a slight a slight M uh

01:15:55

and then the um that's like the

01:15:57

McDonald's placement it's all over again

01:15:58

yeah and then the third third thing

01:16:00

which wasn't uh was indirect is when we

01:16:02

um when we started doing our testing in

01:16:04

New Zealand he um he messaged saying

01:16:07

cool on uh on X so yeah but um you know

01:16:13

uh regardless of whether you agree uh

01:16:16

with his politics or his views uh on

01:16:19

life in general he is a technology

01:16:21

genius and um you know uh the intent of

01:16:25

saving humanity and prolonging humanity

01:16:29

and giving as many people access to this

01:16:31

amazing technology as possible you know

01:16:33

what's not to love about that oh yeah I

01:16:34

mean yeah I know he's polarizing but the

01:16:36

guy's an absolute genius like he's he

01:16:38

he's got goals and plans to change the

01:16:40

world like he's already looking at Life

01:16:42

on Mars and things like that and you

01:16:43

just think of the impact that Tesla's

01:16:45

had on the um on the E car market if it

01:16:46

wasn't for Tesla we we wouldn't have um

01:16:49

pollster or byd No Ex we probably still

01:16:51

just have like Priuses driving around

01:16:53

which is why competition is good right

01:16:55

and um you know and and again I'm we I'm

01:16:58

proud We were the uh we're the second

01:16:59

TCO in the world and the and the a first

01:17:02

in the southern hemisphere to partner

01:17:04

with SpaceX and starlink from little old

01:17:06

little old New Zealand uh that's New

01:17:09

Zealand at its best so I love that stuff

01:17:11

right and that kind of can do attitude

01:17:13

and um new zealanders are good people uh

01:17:16

we're bold we're Brave we're cheeky

01:17:18

we'll ask you know what's the worst that

01:17:20

can happen just get a know and more than

01:17:22

often in the not it pays off and it did

01:17:24

it did in l as well and uh and I think

01:17:27

you know New Zealand does its best we do

01:17:29

deals like that more and more yeah

01:17:31

that's a ballsy move eh it's very Brash

01:17:33

yeah but it is seriously New Zealand at

01:17:35

its best and that's a one of the things

01:17:37

I am a little bit um you know I get on

01:17:40

my Soap Box about is there's and you

01:17:43

know we were talking before this is an

01:17:45

amazing country you know and uh and it's

01:17:49

we have to remind ourselves uh of that

01:17:51

it's to to live and work in New Zealand

01:17:53

the greatest country on the planet it

01:17:55

and it's our job to kind of keep it that

01:17:57

way but you hear this negativity from

01:17:59

some parts of the country and some

01:18:02

groups I just dismiss it you replace it

01:18:05

with positivity you need more positivity

01:18:08

more good news stories you know more

01:18:09

Innovation more bold moves more big

01:18:12

plays uh more Innovation more

01:18:16

Partnerships that's that's when we've

01:18:18

always been at our best when we when we

01:18:20

do that right so um we need to see more

01:18:23

of it and I I do feel like

01:18:25

starting to get some green shoots of of

01:18:28

our mojo back which will be fantastic

01:18:31

yeah well there's always going to be the

01:18:32

you know the winders of society isn't

01:18:33

there that's always going to that's

01:18:35

always going to be there unfortunately

01:18:36

but um J how are you doing for time we

01:18:38

haven't even talked about the W yet oh I

01:18:40

know my favorite my favorite topic and

01:18:42

uh speaking about social media Dom yeah

01:18:46

that's whenever there's a Warriors game

01:18:48

my wife now confiscates my mobile phone

01:18:51

uh that's also a perfect example of why

01:18:54

you shouldn't be on social media after

01:18:55

you've had a glass of wine uh it's also

01:18:58

a perfect example of uh I am me 100% of

01:19:02

the time right doesn't matter and I've

01:19:04

got to remind myself uh at times that uh

01:19:08

at all the at all times I'm Jason Paris

01:19:11

the dad but I'm also Jason I'm Jason

01:19:13

Paris the warrior supporter I'm also

01:19:15

Jason Paris the CEO of uh of one of one

01:19:17

New Zealand so um and I look I'm not I'm

01:19:21

not that guy who's the screaming

01:19:25

parent from the side of the sports field

01:19:29

or uh at a game um abusing refs or

01:19:34

players at all um I was just as a fan I

01:19:37

was really frustrated because I I feel I

01:19:39

feel like that um sometimes uh the New

01:19:43

Zealand teams especially the Warriors

01:19:44

Warriors and any sportting competition

01:19:46

get a um yeah don't get consistency at

01:19:50

times yeah so this was this was a tweet

01:19:52

you wrote in the 2023 season um

01:19:55

what was it yeah was there backlash do

01:19:56

you get in trouble no I I haven't had to

01:19:58

buy a beer in New Zealand since so

01:20:01

that's been good I got a lot of support

01:20:03

like a massive amount of support because

01:20:04

you you watching them they they go to

01:20:06

the banket for just about every single

01:20:08

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

01:20:12

of the day um refs are human and they

01:20:16

are just trying to do their best and all

01:20:19

of us make mistakes and so what I was

01:20:22

asking for was consistency and I think

01:20:24

um yeah the way that uh I communicated

01:20:27

if I had my time again um I'd probably

01:20:29

say it in a different in a different way

01:20:32

to get a different to get a better

01:20:33

outcome yeah but um you know it it just

01:20:36

demonstrated again hopefully you know uh

01:20:39

how proud I am to be a part of uh the

01:20:41

team that supports the the Warriors the

01:20:43

they're a fantastic Club fantastic

01:20:45

organization uh I don't know if you've

01:20:47

met cam George but man he's a he's

01:20:49

amazing Andrew Webster what a leader

01:20:52

I've had him on the podcast amazing guy

01:20:54

yeah just a phenomenal guy right and um

01:20:56

again just great values good people

01:21:00

great work ethic I love what the club

01:21:02

stands for five teams next year um

01:21:06

female teams going to going to be

01:21:08

launching um so feel like we're building

01:21:11

some momentum to win our first ever

01:21:13

Premiership yeah and so that TW do you

01:21:16

get in trouble with anyone like who who

01:21:17

tells the CEO off yeah well no one

01:21:20

really but you know the NRL were a bit

01:21:22

pissed off saying you know you can't you

01:21:24

you can't criticize uh you can't

01:21:26

criticize our ref so I had a

01:21:28

conversation with them and said yeah

01:21:29

that wasn't the that wasn't the

01:21:30

atttention behind it uh it was to get

01:21:33

you know a uh a fear uh a fear go for uh

01:21:36

the the one New Zealand one New Zealand

01:21:38

Warriors um so I got a um I got a

01:21:41

request from the NRL to be a Facebook

01:21:43

friend after that so I think we've made

01:21:45

it we're good we're good um yeah so so

01:21:48

vone and now one have been um God you've

01:21:50

been sponsoring the Warriors for is it

01:21:51

the longest partnership in the enl it is

01:21:54

yeah what's the what's the ROI for you

01:21:56

guys it must be a huge expense uh well

01:21:58

no actually it's um yeah it's pretty

01:22:00

good it's pretty good value like I'm I

01:22:02

can't say the exact number because

01:22:04

they've got a lot of lot of sponsorships

01:22:05

and a lot of commercial commercial

01:22:07

Partners but look I think it's a it's

01:22:11

a it's a fair amount to pay

01:22:14

for a long-term sponsorship where you

01:22:17

get the good with the bad and

01:22:21

increasingly more of the good so

01:22:25

they're a heartbreaking team aren't they

01:22:26

they are but the most loyal fan base

01:22:29

yeah um the team behind it do an

01:22:32

incredible job for the fans you know

01:22:35

sell out

01:22:37

crowds uh they take the game throughout

01:22:40

the

01:22:40

country their values and ethics are

01:22:43

again New Zealand at its best hard work

01:22:46

Innovation honesty trust you know um

01:22:51

recruiting good people first across you

01:22:53

know every part of the organiz ation so

01:22:57

yeah and and then you have years like

01:23:00

the last couple with the up thew

01:23:03

momentum you know making the finals

01:23:05

sellout crowds playing really well

01:23:08

scoring spectacular tries fantastic

01:23:11

defense attracting you know huge Talent

01:23:14

from Australia where we had to

01:23:15

previously pay over the odds and now we

01:23:18

pay you know Market rates for um yeah

01:23:22

we're in a really good really good shape

01:23:24

actually so it's a fantastic sponsorship

01:23:28

where I'd like to think that we get

01:23:30

amazing value for money and so to the

01:23:32

Warriers because you know we amplify

01:23:34

their brand and use our platforms to do

01:23:35

that do that too so yeah whenever it

01:23:38

comes up for Renewal like you're a

01:23:39

massive fan booy like we've established

01:23:41

that when whenever it comes up for

01:23:42

Renewal do you come up against some

01:23:44

resistance from people on the team like

01:23:46

oh let's go no no not at all and I've

01:23:48

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

01:23:53

uh that's not my job it's probably past

01:23:55

my past my DF past my DFA yeah but you

01:23:59

know um like no we always compar to

01:24:02

other sponsorships that are available in

01:24:04

the market and uh and how much you'd pay

01:24:06

pay for them and it's it's great value

01:24:08

for money um and it's not really a

01:24:11

sponsorship but it really is a

01:24:13

partnership it's it's uh it's a

01:24:14

friendship even you know we've got each

01:24:16

other's back after 20 25 years and if

01:24:19

it's not 100 I hope it's another another

01:24:20

25 and there'll be good times in bed and

01:24:23

I think that's why the fans of New

01:24:24

Zealand respect us as well it's why it's

01:24:26

often called the one New Zealand

01:24:27

Warriors people no matter you know who

01:24:30

are fans or the media are happy to give

01:24:31

us the attribution because because of

01:24:34

the the loyalty and other thing I would

01:24:35

say is that the game is going from

01:24:37

strength to strength you know the

01:24:40

NRL they are so Innovative the way that

01:24:43

they've sped the game up the way they

01:24:44

packaged the game up the way they test

01:24:46

and trial rules and and keep the game

01:24:49

you know the the the ball and play and

01:24:51

play more other sports codes I think

01:24:53

have got a lot to learn from the to be

01:24:54

honest oh even the way they handled the

01:24:57

pandemic as well and yeah played on it

01:24:59

was um yeah really Innovative and what

01:25:00

to sacrifice the Warriors you know away

01:25:02

from their families for two three three

01:25:05

years so yeah and um I'm excited I'm

01:25:08

going to Vegas so as you mentioned I'm

01:25:10

I've just turned 50 there are nine boys

01:25:14

from

01:25:16

inago uh going to Vegas for their for

01:25:20

their 50th birthdays so Vegas watch out

01:25:24

sounds like um yeah The Hangover all

01:25:26

over again yeah the the Tigers in the

01:25:28

room The Benchmark is everyone who gets

01:25:31

on the plane has to get back on it home

01:25:34

so uh that's the Benchmark as long as we

01:25:36

get back on that plane then I think

01:25:39

everyone will be everyone will be fine

01:25:40

yeah ideally with a full set of teeth as

01:25:42

well yeah yeah no facial

01:25:44

tattoos oh what about the stadium in

01:25:46

chist church so you guys are um signed a

01:25:48

10e sponsorship deal that yeah so if we

01:25:51

do sponsorships um we're either big or

01:25:54

nothing right so we're naming right or

01:25:57

we're nothing we don't like to you you

01:25:58

go big or go home on that stuff which is

01:26:00

why we're quite particular about uh

01:26:03

about where we invest and uh like the

01:26:08

team down there um they' done such an

01:26:10

amazing such an amazing job I don't know

01:26:13

if you've seen it but it's going up it's

01:26:14

on time on budget the Design's

01:26:18

spectacular uh can cantabrians love it

01:26:22

the South Island loves it

01:26:25

um yeah I I think increasingly when uh

01:26:28

big acts come to New Zealand they'll go

01:26:30

to ockland and and in CHR church so

01:26:33

that's that's exciting we wanted an

01:26:35

anchor Point um in the South Island to

01:26:38

demonstrate that we're just're not an

01:26:39

ockland Centric brand you know uh we're

01:26:42

about the mainlanders uh as well and so

01:26:46

we're putting a lot of Technology into

01:26:47

the stadium to uh to help help help

01:26:50

enable it and it's going to be a

01:26:51

fantastic partnership and of course

01:26:53

we've got Partnerships with Live Nation

01:26:55

so we bring with the biggest artists

01:26:58

part Partnerships with uh one New

01:26:59

Zealand Warriors as well so hopefully

01:27:02

with the sport and with the um with the

01:27:04

music act uh you know we'll have uh all

01:27:07

facets kind of locked up yeah you guys

01:27:09

do a great job I I was um in breakfast

01:27:11

radio when um vone came on board as the

01:27:14

sponsor for the New Zealand Music Awards

01:27:15

yes so it was sort of every year the the

01:27:17

awards were on it was like average

01:27:18

average average vone came on board

01:27:20

amazing amazing amazing and then with

01:27:22

the sponsorship ended yeah back to

01:27:23

average again yeah so when we do it we

01:27:26

want to do do it yeah um what do you

01:27:28

want to do next like bigger role smaller

01:27:30

role like you're still like on the way

01:27:33

up you think I hope so yeah

01:27:37

um uh it's I I just again I love New

01:27:41

Zealand

01:27:43

so my preference is to continue to live

01:27:46

and work work here uh I wouldn't want to

01:27:49

move if we had to move overseas until

01:27:52

after my daughter finished high school

01:27:54

so she's 11 so bit of a stunt there uh I

01:27:58

don't want to overstay my welcome at one

01:28:00

New Zealand either though you know so

01:28:02

how do you know when the time's right

01:28:03

yeah I don't know this uh um it's not

01:28:06

right yet but maybe I'll just know so I

01:28:09

get up every morning and I'm super

01:28:11

excited the again it's a fast fast

01:28:14

changing industry uh generative and

01:28:18

autonomous AI is exploding and we're at

01:28:21

the Forefront of that as well so that

01:28:23

I'm always learned learning and

01:28:24

developing so that's quite cool I can

01:28:25

see massive opportunities for our

01:28:27

customers and for our business and that

01:28:30

if um if my owners just said hey

01:28:34

JP uh it's just status quo just run the

01:28:38

business don't change a thing don't

01:28:39

touch a thing that would definitely be

01:28:41

time to leave I I'd get bored within

01:28:43

about 10 seconds they're not like that

01:28:46

though they are super ambitious and uh

01:28:48

and Keen for us to accelerate that would

01:28:49

be one and then I suppose if another big

01:28:52

opportunity came up to do something cool

01:28:54

that would be meaningful and impactful

01:28:56

for New

01:28:57

Zealand uh then I'd have a I'd have a

01:29:00

look I'd have a look at it definitely

01:29:02

wouldn't be politics I get asked that

01:29:04

that was going to be my next thing it

01:29:06

yeah like after I did I did want that I

01:29:08

had a thought after after watching like

01:29:09

the career careers of um key and luxen

01:29:12

no no no no I always every time I see

01:29:15

why would you want it I'm pleased you

01:29:16

said that every time I see a pol

01:29:17

politician I uh thank them for their

01:29:20

sacrifice it is because man like it's

01:29:24

not just a sacrifice that you see it's a

01:29:27

sacrifice that you don't that you don't

01:29:29

see you know the scrutiny they come

01:29:30

under at a cafe or in their social lives

01:29:34

the the time that they spend away from

01:29:37

their homes the documentation they have

01:29:40

to read the hours they have to uh put in

01:29:44

the significance of the decisions that

01:29:46

they have to uh have to make uh I'm also

01:29:50

not sure that I'm thick skinned enough

01:29:52

to take the you know crap the cop the

01:29:55

criticism that that they get even if you

01:29:57

get into government you know that 50% of

01:29:59

the country didn't vote for you so

01:30:01

that's quite hard right you imagine

01:30:02

walking not that you imagine walking

01:30:04

through and going knowing 50% in this

01:30:07

room didn't back you you know it's

01:30:09

pretty it's a pretty hard thing to get

01:30:11

you to get your get your head around and

01:30:13

then you know again also

01:30:15

family uh social media is brutal the

01:30:18

impact on kids um you know family all

01:30:23

that kind of stuff

01:30:24

it's um and then what I've convinced

01:30:26

myself is that if you are in a business

01:30:29

that can

01:30:30

make positive impact at scale you can do

01:30:34

great things for New Zealand still even

01:30:36

if you're not necessarily in politics

01:30:37

running a running a portfolio and so you

01:30:41

know this this deal with um

01:30:43

SpaceX I think will do more for New

01:30:46

Zealand's telecommunications

01:30:49

infrastructure that a government policy

01:30:51

ever could uh and we're funding it so

01:30:53

there's no cost to the taxpayer so

01:30:55

that's pretty amazing um and you know

01:30:58

hopefully what we do with autonomous a

01:31:01

um AI will be another big thing that

01:31:04

that New Zealand will will be benefit

01:31:06

from so I also probably don't see you

01:31:09

know don't see the need to move into

01:31:12

politics to make a a big positive impact

01:31:14

on on New Zealand but you know what's

01:31:16

next I don't know I hope it's just

01:31:19

within my control and that uh that I

01:31:22

don't you know get that tap on the

01:31:23

shoulder going what are you doing here

01:31:25

and I go yeah I know and then I'm off

01:31:27

you're the bad shoulder tap yeah yeah

01:31:28

exactly also yeah um yeah politics I

01:31:31

yeah with your skeletons in the closet I

01:31:33

don't know if you could if you'd be F

01:31:35

prime minister do you want to talk about

01:31:36

the um exactly the McDonald's incident

01:31:39

at the

01:31:40

sevens where was this were you at

01:31:42

McDonald's at the time or was this post

01:31:44

no post McDonald's this may have been

01:31:46

Prem McDonald's um how old were you like

01:31:49

in your 20s 30s early 20s in your

01:31:52

defense those um Hotel doors do slam

01:31:54

alarmingly quick don't they yeah so uh

01:31:57

this was Wellington

01:31:59

sevens as we were all dressed up Mexican

01:32:02

theme it was the day one of two

01:32:05

days uh as people drunk way too much and

01:32:10

needed something to soak it up so I

01:32:12

didn't wake up with The Hangover the

01:32:13

next morning bought

01:32:15

McDonald's uh for whatever reason took

01:32:18

all my clothes off in the hotel room was

01:32:20

we eating my was eating my McDonald's

01:32:22

nude and and then was like oh I know I'm

01:32:25

going to wake up feeling really rough in

01:32:26

the morning and I'm going to feel even

01:32:28

worse if I can smell that kind of Old

01:32:31

McDonald smell how do I get rid of this

01:32:35

and so I I was like in my drunken State

01:32:38

going I'll uh put the bag outside my

01:32:43

room and then as I put the bag outside

01:32:46

my room I heard a click and it was like

01:32:49

3: in the morning and I was like oh my

01:32:53

God God I've got a McDonald's bag and

01:32:56

I'm nude and so then I was like there

01:32:59

must

01:33:00

be uh

01:33:02

some like kind of uh closet with towels

01:33:05

or something in it and so I started in

01:33:07

my drunken State trying doors which

01:33:11

would have been other people's hotel

01:33:12

room doors and I then was like oh my God

01:33:16

I went down the next floor thinking well

01:33:18

the you know the the closet with the

01:33:19

laundry might be on the next floor down

01:33:20

trying doors on the next floor down

01:33:23

until I gave up and then I had to get a

01:33:25

reception with a McDonald's bag in front

01:33:29

of me the door dings open unfortunately

01:33:32

there's like 10 people in reception even

01:33:34

at 3:00 in the morning plus reception

01:33:36

staff and the beauty of it is the guy

01:33:40

just looked up from reception and said

01:33:42

what

01:33:44

room he' seen it before every weekend he

01:33:47

was like what room I said in my room he

01:33:49

grabbed and he unfortunately had to come

01:33:51

up with me cuz I had to describe what

01:33:53

was in my room to cuz I didn't have ID

01:33:56

clearly and uh describe in the room and

01:33:59

the elevator was a mirrored one so there

01:34:03

was nowhere to hide my body from him and

01:34:08

I remember the music the left elevator

01:34:10

was like and I was just like oh my God

01:34:14

sobered me up real sobered me up real

01:34:17

quick so uh yeah there there are a few

01:34:22

stories uh like that which as you've

01:34:25

said I'm pretty glad that uh yeah social

01:34:28

media wasn't as prevalent when I was

01:34:30

young and people hadn't haven't gotten

01:34:31

any photos luckily so um Vegas next year

01:34:34

um un's to bed each night yeah Andy's to

01:34:36

bed and that's that's my Benchmark

01:34:40

that's my Benchmark do not get locked

01:34:41

out of my hotel room naked yeah oh

01:34:43

that's great it's a great story I I've

01:34:46

had unfortunately a true one yeah have

01:34:48

you had a similar situation s similar

01:34:50

thing yeah s similar thing it's and yeah

01:34:52

andies ever since but those doors like

01:34:54

what how did that shut so quickly I know

01:34:56

exactly and I'll never forget that sound

01:34:58

of the clarck uh and I'll never forget

01:35:00

but as I said you know that what room

01:35:02

it's clearly something that happens

01:35:04

regularly you know every damn weekend

01:35:07

for hotel every damn weekend um C finish

01:35:10

with any any

01:35:13

regrets any

01:35:18

regrets uh yeah there's a like when I

01:35:21

was a teenager you know I mentioned

01:35:24

before you know you're too cool for

01:35:26

school I remember um being a 16year old

01:35:29

and one moment being a little bit

01:35:31

disrespectful to my grandmother it was

01:35:33

only once but I remember her telling me

01:35:36

off and I remember look at you I'm now

01:35:38

15 and it was when I was 16 so any

01:35:42

moment like that where um I felt that I

01:35:47

was disrespectful no matter what age or

01:35:50

not as caring or didn't rep represent

01:35:52

myself

01:35:54

uh in the way that I would like to

01:35:56

that's probably my biggest my biggest

01:35:58

regret it's it's all those human moments

01:36:01

more than anything else nothing really

01:36:02

work related you know like the jokes

01:36:05

about the um the tra the the place met

01:36:07

reprints all that kind of stuff you know

01:36:10

disting but in the scheme of things it's

01:36:13

it's any moment where I um I hurt I hurt

01:36:16

someone that's the stuff that uh I'd

01:36:19

regret I reckon that says a lot about

01:36:20

your character you know three and a half

01:36:22

decades later you still yeah that's the

01:36:24

first thing that comes to mind it is and

01:36:26

I I remember it and I can remember that

01:36:28

I can remember that feeling of letting

01:36:29

down my grandmother now yeah are you

01:36:32

proud of

01:36:34

yourself yeah I think I am like I I know

01:36:37

I'm a good person like Steve Hansen um

01:36:41

one of my favorite quotes of his is the

01:36:43

mirror never

01:36:44

lies and so like I know I'm not perfect

01:36:48

by any stretch but I know that I try and

01:36:50

be the best that I can be and and I try

01:36:54

not to beat myself up when I let myself

01:36:56

uh let myself down so um yeah I'm proud

01:37:01

I'm the thing I'm probably most proud of

01:37:03

is my children and feel like um I had a

01:37:06

part to play

01:37:08

in uh bringing them up with with good

01:37:11

values and and being and being good good

01:37:13

kids I'm proud of the relationships that

01:37:15

I've got I'm proud of my good

01:37:17

friend uh and you know um hopefully the

01:37:20

people that I've had the opportunity to

01:37:22

work with or

01:37:24

be friends with or or talk to um have

01:37:27

found that a you know a positive

01:37:29

engagement and um yeah so I'm proud of

01:37:33

the I'm proud of again probably proud of

01:37:34

the human stuff as much as anything well

01:37:37

Jason Paris this has been a lot of fun

01:37:39

today it's been great you're a unique

01:37:41

CEO and it's been um fantastic to sit

01:37:43

down with you and pick your brains yeah

01:37:45

thank you I uh yeah thanks for having me

01:37:47

um really really enjoyed it and as

01:37:48

always these type of

01:37:49

conversations uh you learn as much you

01:37:52

know through the conversation

01:37:54

uh when you're talking about stuff as uh

01:37:57

as you think you're trying to help

01:37:58

others with as well so feels like a you

01:38:00

know thank you for having me on uh um

01:38:03

every time I get a kind of request from

01:38:05

someone who I see as a famous New

01:38:07

Zealander kind of like yourself I go

01:38:09

what me you know so um bit surreal bit

01:38:13

surreal being here but uh thanks for the

01:38:15

opportunity yeah and that's been great I

01:38:17

feel feel bad now for stretching you up

01:38:18

and getting you to tell the McDonald's

01:38:19

story it was it was lwh hanging fruit

01:38:21

and I didn't need to go there no you're

01:38:23

a great you're a great New Zealander and

01:38:25

um yeah thank you so much for being on

01:38:26

the podcast no thanks for your time Che

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This episode stands out for the following:

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Episode Highlights

Career Highlights
Jason shares his top career moments, including the transition from Vone to 1NZ.
“The transition from Vone to 1NZ is one of my career greatest hits.”
@ 03m 45s
December 11, 2024
A Surprising Family Connection
At his father's funeral, Jason discovers he has five half-brothers he never knew about.
“Finding out I had five half-brothers was mind-blowing.”
@ 13m 40s
December 11, 2024
Forgiveness and Reflection
Reflecting on his father's absence, he finds peace in forgiveness.
“I do forgive him because there's nothing to forgive.”
@ 23m 37s
December 11, 2024
The Importance of Presence
He emphasizes the fleeting nature of time with loved ones.
“These moments are going to be gone in the blink of an eye.”
@ 27m 46s
December 11, 2024
Celebrating a Partner's Success
His wife, a Harvard-educated lawyer, is achieving great success as a writer.
“I'm very privileged to have her in my life.”
@ 36m 42s
December 11, 2024
Navigating Parenting Challenges
Discussing the difficulties of communication with children and the importance of effort in parenting.
“It's hard to get more than a grunt or a one or two we answer out of them.”
@ 40m 22s
December 11, 2024
Imposter Syndrome in Leadership
Sharing experiences of feeling unqualified despite success and the drive it creates.
“I still go, how the hell did someone like me get here?”
@ 52m 21s
December 11, 2024
Unacceptable Behavior in Retail
A retail worker faced aggression from a customer, leading to serious consequences.
“This is not good enough, it's unacceptable.”
@ 01h 02m 09s
December 11, 2024
Rebranding for a Better Future
The shift from Vfone to One NZ aims to reinvest in local technology and services.
“If we can help save one life through this technology, it’ll be worth it.”
@ 01h 11m 30s
December 11, 2024
Innovative Partnership with SpaceX
One NZ partners with SpaceX for satellite connectivity, aiming to enhance communication across New Zealand.
“New Zealand at its best, that’s what we’re doing here.”
@ 01h 17m 09s
December 11, 2024
A Unique Partnership
The sponsorship with the Warriors is more than just a deal; it's a partnership built on loyalty and shared values.
“It's not really a sponsorship but it really is a partnership.”
@ 01h 24m 11s
December 11, 2024
Reflections on Regrets
Jason Paris shares a poignant regret from his teenage years about being disrespectful to his grandmother.
“Any moment where I hurt someone, that’s the stuff that I’d regret.”
@ 01h 35m 58s
December 11, 2024

Episode Quotes

What you see is what you get; I'm the same person at home and work.
Jason Paris on One NZ’s Partnership with Elon Musk & SpaceX, Warriors vs. Referees & Fatherhood
I do forgive him because there's nothing to forgive.
Jason Paris on One NZ’s Partnership with Elon Musk & SpaceX, Warriors vs. Referees & Fatherhood
I just want them to try lots of things and be good people.
Jason Paris on One NZ’s Partnership with Elon Musk & SpaceX, Warriors vs. Referees & Fatherhood
This is not good enough, it's unacceptable.
Jason Paris on One NZ’s Partnership with Elon Musk & SpaceX, Warriors vs. Referees & Fatherhood
If we can help save one life through this technology, it’ll be worth it.
Jason Paris on One NZ’s Partnership with Elon Musk & SpaceX, Warriors vs. Referees & Fatherhood
The mirror never lies.
Jason Paris on One NZ’s Partnership with Elon Musk & SpaceX, Warriors vs. Referees & Fatherhood

Key Moments

Career Journey01:32
Fatherhood Reflections22:31
Cherished Memories29:10
Visible Leadership55:22
Life-Saving Technology1:11:30
Support for Warriors1:20:01
Consistency Requested1:20:22
Excited for Vegas1:25:08

Words per Minute Over Time

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