While I have embarrasment attached to this I couldn’t tell the WHY story without mention of a show that ran in the UK, 1975 – 1994, called ‘Jim’ll Fix it’. The appalling truth of the presenter is well documented – I still get nervous watching the Louis Theroux documentary ‘When Loius met Jimmy’ (something didn’t seem quite right). When I found out the truth, I’m sure like many of my generation, I was distraught. It was as if part of your upbringing had been a complete dirty untruth. I’m still amazed at the experiences that occurred but I’m sure most participants wish their dream had come to life via somebody else.

Having grown up on American TV shows of the late seventies and eighties I’d always dreamt of going to the USA. When first in higher education I got introduced to BUNAC (British Universities North America Club) and was able to experience the states via working at Camp Androscoggin, Wayne, Maine. It was life changing for no other reason you got your ‘place’ in the world. I learnt 2 HUGE lessons ‘You will waste too much time in life waiting for the applause of others’ and ‘You will give need to give many times without chance of reciprocal action’…….maybe a forerunner of ‘Pay it Forwards’

I started my career late in the eighties I was captivated by a show called ‘Troubleshooter’ (1990), featuring ICI chairman Sir John Harvey Jones (I ended up doing an MBA at The University of Bradford where he was chancellor). Famously, Sir John visited The Morgan motor Co. (amongst others) and strongly suggested some fundamental changes in work practice – a classic to this day! His ideas were never always warmly received but were always pragamatic and with the benefit of the business at heart.

Many years before a good idea was ‘bastardised’ in ‘Undercover Boss’ the BBC made a series, in the late ‘90’s, called ‘Back to the Floor’. Senior leaders featured, reality TV style, working in the grass roots of their business. Dino Adriano, CEO of UK supermarket chain Sainsburys, was the subject of one episode and his demeanour, weak action and poor presence is oft attributed to the reason he lost his job. I was on the steps of the Sainsburys head office, in London, when the board returned having announced his ‘departure’ to the city.

At the time I was studying for my MBA (early ’00’s) Channel 4, in the UK, started a series giving people the opportunity to have life transformations. Format was to take an individual and place them in a ‘related’ environment to their usual occupation and have them compete, after 4 weeks, with 3 others who’d been training for years in that space. Examples were burger van proprietor to chef, punk musician to orchestra composer and ferry steward to ocean racing yacht captain. Each individual realsied they could do more with their lives.

I started travelling when I was 16 and had long had the desire to live and work somewhere longer term. Fast forward early 30’s and as I ‘wrestled’ with Australian immigration I came to NZ as a plan B. 17 years later, and as  a citizen, I continue to explore life choices here.

In early 2008 I stumbled across a film (originally a documentary series) that captivated me for it’s 3 hour duration. Not only had I existed in these environments for some time, part of my MBA motivation was to appeal to the ‘great and good’ within them. By 2014 I finally realsied that I could no longer work in these ‘toxic’ spaces and I had far more value to give to smaller/medium business.

Motorhead were the first major music influence in my life. I had the opportunity to meet founder, front man and the Rock n Rock ‘Godfather’, Lemmy, in Sydney in 2011 (a moment in my life!). Lemmy passed in 2015 and in 2018 I got to visit his favourite bar, now shrine, ‘The Rainbow’ on Sunset in LA. By his own admissions he wanted to known as an authentic and honest man – I aspire to the same!