1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,640 A really rough rundown. Basically, my background's in business, but my heart's in conservation and the environment. 2 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:14,640 And I found out that this plant, manuka, you might have heard of manuka honey in the States. It's quite big. 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:20,640 But the honey comes from the nectar and the flowers, which is produced. 4 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,840 Sorry, I'm talking quietly. We had just had the in-laws arrive and they're sleeping next door. 5 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:25,840 We're fine. 6 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:32,080 But the essential oil, which is distilled from the leaves, steam distillation kind of style, 7 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,080 has these powerful healing compounds called triketones. 8 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,080 And that's just for one type of this plant. 9 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,080 Triketones? 10 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,080 Triketones. 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,080 Alright, you're talking to the right guy. I know what you're talking about. 12 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:52,080 Awesome. But then as you analyse the manuka from different parts of the country, 13 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:57,320 the same plant, just growing in different environments, it has all these different phytochemicals, 14 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:04,320 like sesquiterpenes and various terpenoids and stuff. And they have really, really high value uses. 15 00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:10,320 Triketones, for example, are 30 times more antibacterial than tea tree oil, for example. 16 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:18,820 And so I thought, well, I could combine the business skill with the potential to help the environment by building this business. 17 00:01:18,820 --> 00:01:26,320 Because if we create a demand for native plant extracts, then we can give farmers another reason to plant native forest on their land. 18 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:33,320 And then that brings back the birds, that brings back the seed pollinators, cleans the waterways, prevents erosion, has all that lovely effect. 19 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:38,820 So I started doing that. And I'll admit, it was my first business. So I was definitely on a big learning curve. 20 00:01:38,820 --> 00:01:46,320 And then fast forward a few years, and I had been doing my marketing, just writing blogs for people, 21 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:52,820 building websites, essentially contracting and consulting. And that was paying my way as I built this business. 22 00:01:52,820 --> 00:01:58,320 And then lockdowns hit in 2020. And my Manuka Essentials was considered non-essential. 23 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:05,820 So we had to close shop and it was not, it went to zero overnight. It came back later after the world opened back up. 24 00:02:05,820 --> 00:02:11,820 But during that time, I had a bunch of clients that wanted to do more work with me. 25 00:02:11,820 --> 00:02:15,820 And they wanted me to build an agency. And I didn't really want a marketing agency. 26 00:02:15,820 --> 00:02:22,820 But I decided, well, this is a really good opportunity. We've got these big contracts that people want to give us. 27 00:02:22,820 --> 00:02:28,820 And I've got team members that want to work for me, who I know are good workers. So why not? So I did that. 28 00:02:28,820 --> 00:02:35,820 But with my heart in the business world, I said, look, five percent of our revenue is going to go to a separate bank account. 29 00:02:35,820 --> 00:02:40,320 And we're going to use that revenue to pay for our team to do free work for environmental groups. 30 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:46,320 So we did that. We did that for about two years. Started another business for some reason in that time. 31 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:57,820 And then that eventually evolved into this coaching that I do now, which is the reason for coaching is because I can I enjoyed training my team more than I actually enjoyed doing the client work. 32 00:02:57,820 --> 00:03:05,320 And I enjoyed giving my clients strategies more than anything else. And so I figured, well, rather than doing that stuff for free, why don't I be paid for it? 33 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:18,320 But during that time, in 2020, we started a charity called the Reforestation Fund, which the idea was for us to give money to conservation in a way that's really high impact, that's good return on your investment. 34 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,320 It's actually a lot harder than it seems. So we'll do that for other clients. 35 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:26,820 But we just rebranded that this week to a charity is now called Conservation Amplified. 36 00:03:26,820 --> 00:03:37,320 And so we decided that the barriers to helping nature are gaining more awareness. So people knowing what is needed and caring about it and funding. 37 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:43,320 And we've been focused on funding for four years when we realized that actually most people we spoke to weren't aware of, 38 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:52,820 yes, the problems, but just how many awesome solutions there are that are being done right now that with a little bit more attention and a little bit more money could really scale up our environmental good. 39 00:03:52,820 --> 00:04:00,320 And so, yeah, we literally just rebranded yesterday after four years. So that's a bit of a yarn, but that's how I got to here. 40 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:06,320 Right. And I'd say obviously you can see by our part of our banner there, this is the water project. 41 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:20,320 And First Class Business has been trying to partner, well, has been working with the water project to help bring water to Africa and to areas that are obviously suffering from, you know, 42 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:25,820 whatever issues they're having with lack of water. And obviously this is part of our same thing. 43 00:04:25,820 --> 00:04:29,820 So we completely understand where you're coming from with that. 44 00:04:29,820 --> 00:04:36,820 And obviously we should Godspeed and hope that they were able to continue forward on that as we continue. 45 00:04:36,820 --> 00:04:41,320 Thank you. Yeah, cheers. And it's so cool that you support the water project. 46 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:46,820 I was looking at your website and prep for the call and I was quite impressed by that. 47 00:04:46,820 --> 00:04:52,820 And especially how you said business is a vehicle to, you know, to do what you want to bring the change you want into the world. 48 00:04:52,820 --> 00:04:56,820 That's so true. Yep, absolutely. 49 00:04:56,820 --> 00:05:10,320 So I appreciate that. So obviously, so this whole discussion basically is very, it's rather preliminary only because it's more or less to kind of get a feel for how we can interact. 50 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:26,320 But, you know, obviously you're gauging us, we're gauging you, kind of get to see where we fit. And the intent obviously is for at least for first class business to be able to build this community of people who are, you know, they know what they want to do. 51 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:37,820 And they're looking to expand their horizons, if you will, not necessarily necessarily with knowledge, but obviously being able to network and be able to provide more of the connections, 52 00:05:37,820 --> 00:05:51,820 because you know very well that, you know, the most important thing is people. I mean, people just move the world and you have these people that are just amazing talents and are able to do things that you say, how could, how was that even possible? 53 00:05:51,820 --> 00:06:03,820 It's because of the, you know, the intellect that people have and the drive to do something and the ability to look for innovation and look for solutions where typically we don't see that. 54 00:06:03,820 --> 00:06:11,820 And again, I really appreciate the fact that you're willing to join with us and definitely wanted to give you a chance to kind of sound off. 55 00:06:11,820 --> 00:06:29,820 So I was going to ask the question then, what is, what's your plan kind of looking forward from for those that you do work with and what do you plan to do with, you know, in the near future, obviously, you know, however long you want to go? 56 00:06:29,820 --> 00:06:37,820 Yeah, awesome. So I, sorry, I just realized it's recording. This is just like a pre-check, right? 57 00:06:37,820 --> 00:06:43,820 Okay, this is more for us to see if we like the vibe, right? 58 00:06:43,820 --> 00:06:51,820 Yeah, it's really to help us to use it for training purposes as well as for our own podcast and stuff like that. 59 00:06:51,820 --> 00:06:58,820 But eventually we will have a more formal discussion that would probably be a little longer than maybe, you know, 20 minutes. 60 00:06:58,820 --> 00:07:09,820 Okay, cool. Awesome. Yeah, I know you said that I just, I saw the recording sign and I was like, oh no, I hope this isn't an episode. This is not my home in the background. 61 00:07:09,820 --> 00:07:12,820 Oh, you don't have a grand piano in your back. 62 00:07:12,820 --> 00:07:16,820 I don't know how to play piano. 63 00:07:16,820 --> 00:07:18,820 Maybe one day. 64 00:07:18,820 --> 00:07:24,820 Well, this is actually my office. So just so you know, this is my office. You see all the stuff around the back. 65 00:07:24,820 --> 00:07:35,820 I have an office next door, but then when parents moved in, so just for their hair on holiday, so I thought I'd move into a bedroom and put the ground on. 66 00:07:35,820 --> 00:07:40,820 But to answer your question, what is my next steps? 67 00:07:40,820 --> 00:07:48,820 So I firstly, I really do align with the fact that podcasting is about building relationships and sharing stories. 68 00:07:48,820 --> 00:08:00,820 So I'm all about like, yes, I want to create some content with you guys, but also I want to see if this is a relationship that we can extend and make into something awesome. 69 00:08:00,820 --> 00:08:07,820 I've been going on a few podcasts here and there and some of the people that host are just the most interesting people, honestly. 70 00:08:07,820 --> 00:08:14,820 But for my business, what do I want? The charity is the main one. We're launching a podcast next week, actually. 71 00:08:14,820 --> 00:08:23,820 It's called People Helping Nature, and we've got about eight interviews, including one with my partner and I, so seven guests lined up. 72 00:08:23,820 --> 00:08:34,820 So at the moment, we're quite focused on building that. The idea being that there's all these awesome things happening in the environment and they aren't really being spoken about. 73 00:08:34,820 --> 00:08:39,820 So that's obviously not income generating. That's just to give back and just to help. 74 00:08:39,820 --> 00:08:50,820 So we spend a lot of time on that, and we're aiming to go on the road and travel and do podcasts, broadcasts as we go and make it into a bit of a community around that. 75 00:08:50,820 --> 00:09:00,820 For Paste and Publish, which is the business that pays for it all, I'm intentionally keeping it quite small for now, quite boutique, but very high quality. 76 00:09:00,820 --> 00:09:09,820 So working with B2B services that maybe they're at that point where they want to grow through marketing, but they're not at that point where they've got a full internal team. 77 00:09:09,820 --> 00:09:21,820 And they may be hiring agencies, but they don't know how to manage the agencies, and you need to show up as the right client to get the best results. 78 00:09:21,820 --> 00:09:30,820 So I can help them to do that, or if they've got internal staff, I can train and upskill them mostly around content production and content marketing and promotion. 79 00:09:30,820 --> 00:09:43,820 So really, I'm just keeping it small and fun and really high quality. At the moment, I used to have an agency and we got up to about nine people and it just wasn't what I wanted to show up in the world. 80 00:09:43,820 --> 00:09:54,820 So for the next few years, that's kind of the goal. We might make that larger and something more substantial in the future, but it's quite nice just making it comfortable for now. 81 00:09:54,820 --> 00:10:03,820 Right. Are you looking to keep the kind of centralized within New Zealand, or are you possibly looking to expand beyond there as well? 82 00:10:03,820 --> 00:10:08,820 No, we've got customers in America and some other countries, mostly in New Zealand. 83 00:10:08,820 --> 00:10:16,820 But as long as someone speaks English, and because obviously I speak English, I can't really speak, I can speak a bit of German, but that's about it. 84 00:10:16,820 --> 00:10:27,820 But yeah, anywhere in the world, really. The main thing is that they genuinely are wanting to serve their customers and do a good job for them. 85 00:10:27,820 --> 00:10:36,820 They are B2B and provide services and they want to grow and they value lasting solutions over shiny objects and want to invest in that growth. 86 00:10:36,820 --> 00:10:43,820 Most people that talk to me about marketing, I actually turn them away and say, hey, you should just go and sell them to your customers. 87 00:10:43,820 --> 00:10:52,820 So I'm quite picky about who I deal with as far as taking them on, because as you know, once you bring on a client, you've actually got to serve them every day. 88 00:10:52,820 --> 00:10:56,820 So you want to make sure that you get really suitable relationships. 89 00:10:56,820 --> 00:11:11,820 Absolutely. Yeah, I can understand where you're coming from, because this is the way that the vision pros works, or I should say first class business works, is that we like to, we don't just bring on everybody, 90 00:11:11,820 --> 00:11:23,820 because you have to be very careful, very cautious, because some people just don't have the right mindset, if you will, for coming in and understanding. 91 00:11:23,820 --> 00:11:36,820 Because if you're not willing to change, if you don't have that humility, and then you know very well that that person is just not, they're going to, no, and then, and you're at an impasse, and you can't, you can't progress with that. 92 00:11:36,820 --> 00:11:42,820 You need to have the ability to interact and sometimes you have to say some hard stuff. 93 00:11:42,820 --> 00:11:50,820 And if, you know, you're going to be crossed as the consultant, if they don't want to hear that, I mean, why are you hiring type of thing? 94 00:11:50,820 --> 00:11:58,820 Why just say, no, you need to, you need to reevaluate yourself first, and then you can start looking to making some changes later on. 95 00:11:58,820 --> 00:12:01,820 So I completely agree with what you're saying. 96 00:12:01,820 --> 00:12:07,820 And I'd add to that, that if we aren't having fun in business, we're not doing our best work. 97 00:12:07,820 --> 00:12:10,820 And if we're not doing our best work, we're not saving our clients well. 98 00:12:10,820 --> 00:12:16,820 And if our clients aren't showing up properly, due to no fault of our own, we can't have fun and do our best job for them. 99 00:12:16,820 --> 00:12:20,820 So it's just as much as it's for them as it's for us. 100 00:12:20,820 --> 00:12:24,820 But I'd love to know, where are you looking to grow first class business? 101 00:12:24,820 --> 00:12:27,820 Like, what's on the cards for you guys? 102 00:12:27,820 --> 00:12:31,820 So we are in the process. We're actually through this same thing. 103 00:12:31,820 --> 00:12:45,820 We're going through this huge metamorphosis because we're going through and we're ramping up a lot of the contacts we have to really expand the, what we have as a, what we call the power launch. 104 00:12:45,820 --> 00:12:57,820 And the power launch is an entire process of evaluating clients and having the clients themselves really making those hard questions, 105 00:12:57,820 --> 00:13:02,820 saying, you know, looking introspectively and saying, what is it that I'm really trying to do here? 106 00:13:02,820 --> 00:13:10,820 You know, if you don't have a clear vision of what you want to do, then how can you ever expect to reach your destination, right? 107 00:13:10,820 --> 00:13:16,820 And so this is one of the things where we're looking at that and we're saying, OK, if we're really looking at this thing as a long term relationship, 108 00:13:16,820 --> 00:13:19,820 then we definitely need to be able to be on the same page. 109 00:13:19,820 --> 00:13:29,820 We have to be able to interact in a way that both are able to gain that understanding necessary to say, this is what we want to do with you. 110 00:13:29,820 --> 00:13:33,820 Are you along for the ride or you really just say it's not really worth it for me? 111 00:13:33,820 --> 00:13:36,820 And that's really where we're coming from. 112 00:13:36,820 --> 00:13:37,820 Awesome. 113 00:13:37,820 --> 00:13:42,820 Yeah. So I'll close. I guess I'll close with the question. 114 00:13:42,820 --> 00:13:47,820 What was your worst leadership experience? 115 00:13:47,820 --> 00:13:53,820 Oh, for me, me as the leader or me as the follower? 116 00:13:53,820 --> 00:13:57,820 Well, I'll let you interpret that. How's that? 117 00:13:57,820 --> 00:14:06,820 OK, well, when I first got out of uni, I had this boss and he was an interesting character. 118 00:14:06,820 --> 00:14:10,820 Let's put it that way. He was it was a really weird situation. 119 00:14:10,820 --> 00:14:17,820 It was my dad's business partner, but he was he was the one that always worked 80 hours a week when you could do it in 40. 120 00:14:17,820 --> 00:14:24,820 But he also brought in most of the revenue for the business because he was outselling all the time and he took me under his wing. 121 00:14:24,820 --> 00:14:28,820 But everything had to be exactly his way. 122 00:14:28,820 --> 00:14:33,820 And I'm not one to follow rules. We had a lot of clashes. 123 00:14:33,820 --> 00:14:40,820 But there was this road trip we went on and his brother was the one that's out there partying all night. 124 00:14:40,820 --> 00:14:46,820 And then he meets the decision maker and they have this great time and they become best friends and they give him the business. 125 00:14:46,820 --> 00:14:53,820 And this other brother's like, you know, the one that will then be at the boardroom at 7am knocking on the door with a 100 page proposal. 126 00:14:53,820 --> 00:15:00,820 And so, you know, I was jumping between the two brothers who technically had the same authority in the company. 127 00:15:00,820 --> 00:15:08,820 But I'd go from one and he'd say, all right, let's just go out for a nice lunch and we'll meet the customer and we'll get the business because we're nice people. 128 00:15:08,820 --> 00:15:13,820 And then I talked to the next the other brother like this and he said, no, no, no, you can't do that. 129 00:15:13,820 --> 00:15:17,820 You need this 100 page form that needs to be signed and dotted on 10 different pages. 130 00:15:17,820 --> 00:15:22,820 And I'm not this isn't coming out as well as it happened in the time. 131 00:15:22,820 --> 00:15:29,820 But it was quite funny how many misunderstandings there were between going from two completely opposite sets of expectations on a weekly basis. 132 00:15:29,820 --> 00:15:33,820 Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. 133 00:15:33,820 --> 00:15:38,820 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. 134 00:15:38,820 --> 00:15:40,820 This is going to get more and more fun. 135 00:15:40,820 --> 00:15:42,820 We'll have more and more engagement as well. 136 00:15:42,820 --> 00:15:44,820 We'll invite people to participate in the show. 137 00:15:44,820 --> 00:15:46,820 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. 138 00:15:46,820 --> 00:16:00,820 Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a vision for yourself.