Meet productivity and life coach, Michal McCracken from Space & Grace.
Michal’s aim is to help women achieve their personal and professional goals with confidence.
Michal also loves animals and her first business was a dog daycare. Michal’s next business moved her work online, supporting and teaching people to train their own dogs. However, overtime Michal noticed that it wasn’t just the pets who needed help. Their owners also needed support, and so, Michal pivoted into life coaching and Space & Grace was found.
Now, let’s listen to this interview with Michal McCracken…
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In this interview I talk with Dan Mikkelsen, the founder of Bicycle Junction
Dan worked as an apprentice chef in Copenhagen during the late 90’s. It was in this city he discovered a love for the messenger biking and the cargo bike. After returning home and working in the industry as a chef, Dan was faced with a new problem to solve. How to ride his bike and transport his newborn child at the same time.
Dan reached out to Christiania Bikes , a firm Denmark, to see if he could buy a bike and have it delivered to Wellington, New Zealand. They said, Yes, you can buy a bike, but, you have to buy four! And so, Bicycle Junction was born.
Bicycle Junction is more than just a shop. It’s a community centred around helping people to ride bikes. Dan has combined is enthusiasm for bikes and his experience as a chef to create a bikery.
What’s a bikery? I hear you say. Why it’s a place to hang out with like minded souls, breath bike, talk bike, eat and be merry.
Now, let’s listen to this interview with Dan Mikkelsen…
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Meet Jenny Fearnley...
Jenny is the director and designer at Peachey Interiors Ltd
Jenny is originally from the UK. After finishing further education, followed by a quick holiday to New Zealand, Jenny discovered a love for Wellington.
Fast forward 16 years, Jenny’s still here with a family of 6. Her partner Daimon, two children, a dog and her Interior Design business, Peachey Interiors.
Now, let’s listen to this interview with Jenny Fearnley…
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Meet Jennifer Young...
Jen describes herself as a recovered-admitted-lawyer-turned-Workplace-Wellbeing-Specialist, Life & Resilience Coach, Facilitator, Mental Health Advocate, Youth Leadership Development Advisor and Writer.
After university, Jennifer moved to Wellington and took up a role in Leadership Development.
During this time, she struggled with the transition from study to work. This was compounded by the fact that her initial workplace had a bullying environment. Over time Jen vowed that she never wanted another person to have this same experience and Intentional Generations was created.
Now, let’s listen to this interview with Jennifer Young…
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Meet James Bennie...
James is currently the Business Growth Manager at WellingtonNZ, helping local businesses grow and Wellington prosper.
Being an entrepreneur at heart with a passion for helping businesses, you’ll also find James’ insightful content on the Raw Mentor social media channels.
Before WellingtonNZ, James helped create and sell two businesses.
James took over the family business, a training company for New Zealand’s Hospitality industry. Today this business is known as HospoTrain. In 2017 James was recognised for his hard work by being presented a Felix Award for Outstanding Hospitality Professionals.
James’ second business is a lifestyle clothing brand for those who love fishing. James and his co-founder, Felix Wenzel, felt that they needed a brand of clothing to wear that showed their passion for surfcast fishing. Billabong just wasn’t cutting it for them and Slacktide was born.
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Meet Melissa Gollan...
Mel is the sole founder of the world disrupting FinTech Startup, RIP Global. During her past career in sales, Mel learned to loathe expenses. Keeping track, sorting, submitting and looking for missing receipts turned into the pain point that made her think, ‘there must be a better way?’ RIP Global is a contactless payment and expensing system, boasting 100% compliance while enabling customers to never handle receipts again.
Mel has successfully raised several rounds of funding from investors in New Zealand and the United States. She has big goals to take RIP Global world wide. Her US venture capital investors are certainly a great indication of RIP Global’s potential and Mel’s largest customer to date just happens to be the New Zealand Government.
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Meet Lotty Roberts.
Through her business, ‘Mind U’, Lotty helps both companies and individuals use mindfulness to navigate change.
She also hosts The Vulnerability Effect podcast. Interviewing people, sharing their stories of vulnerability with the purpose of showing how vulnerability can be a point of strength and connection.
Lotty is originally from Suffolk in the UK, but after 16 years, now calls Wellington home. Her past career focused on implementing transformation and leadership in the corporate world.
In 2018 Lotty endured a spell of burn out, took some time off to think and ‘Mind U’ was created. Oh, yes, Lotty has also worked her way through the challenge of recovering from a double hip replacement.
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Meet Joel Bouzaid.
Joel is a facilitator of growth and student of hard conversations. He helps people see their possibility, remove their limiting beliefs and guides them to become empowered, confident leaders.
Joel started his career as an International Operations Manager for Full On in Italy. Next, he Co-Founded a Health Facility with his brother. Now Joel is a keynote speaker and coaches culture development and leadership for large organisations across New Zealand.
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Meet Kerene Strochnetter.
Kerene is in the business of bringing the practice of mindfulness to corporate leadership. Making the inwards cool. Kerene's career spans being a registered nurse, teacher, coach, consultant and now a business owner. Her company, Mindful at Work, helps change the way people think and behave in business. Or as Kerene likes to put it, "stopping people from being such $#&^holes in the workplace".
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Meet Digby Scott, the corporate rebel.
An Australian adventurer, husband, father and developer of leaders looking to bring change to the world.
Originally a Charted Accountant, Digby felt the world had more to offer, turned to travel, headed to Canada and spent a season working at a ski resort. He then followed this up by talking his way onto a commercial salmon boat with no experience. He finally settled back into the corporate world as a professional recruiter in London.
This is when Digby found his passion. Development of people, development of culture, development of organisations. Getting the best out of people and helping them grow towards a new future.
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Personal Trainer and Founder of Kaizen Fitness… Jordan Berry
Jordan is passionate about taking the holistic approach to personal training. He have you doing more than serious reps at the gym. Mental health and growth is a big part of Kaizen Fitness. Working out Why, What and Where you want to be. Then helping you put in place habits and goals to get you there.
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Christine describes herself as person with a passion for trying new things, meeting new people and a creator of good change in the world.
Originally starting her career as a journalist, Christine moved into communications, gravitating towards social impact work. In June 2017, Christine left her permanent job as a communications manager without a plan. After a month or so of reflection an idea started to form. A social giving platform, to replace gift giving with donations to a good cause.
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Meet Cathy De Jongh, a Human Resources veteran of 20 years based in Wellington, New Zealand.
Cathy now runs her own practice helping Human Resource Leaders have a more strategic approach to structuring their workforce and organisation. Cathy sees herself as an HR Architect. She works with a high level view of organisational team structures, fine tuning their workforce, ensuring maximum efficiency.
Cathy guides her client organisations to really focus on being strategic, matching company goals with their ideal future workforce.
As well as being a people strategist, facilitator, mentor and speaker, Cathy is also in the process of writing a book. ‘Making the Shift’ will be out November 2020 and is based around Cathy’s passion for a more strategic Human Resources world.
Cathy answers the Wellington Hustle interview project questions about her vision, setbacks, wanting to give up, traps, inspiration/motivation and breakthroughs.
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Chris is the founder and host of the ‘Uncomfortable is Ok’ podcast. A show with over 200 interviews, discussing the uncomfortable.
Chris will tell you that living in a world with comfort at every turn is not helpful. By choosing to stay comfortable, we are significantly restricting our potential to do great things. Getting good at doing really uncomfortable and scary stuff can help make life exciting.
Chris also works as a physiotherapist, resilience trainer and coach, and is also just a 36 year old kiwi dude with family and dog.
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Gillian describes herself as a social entrepreneur. She’s also a human resourses professional and the founder of My Kids Village.
Gillian’s passion project is to fix the disconnect between full-time working parents and the traditional 9-5 workplace.
My Kids Village is an online platform for parents to easily find local childcare options. Gillian fondly calls My Kids Village a sticky plaster. Put in place while she educates New Zealand’s companies on the benefits for a flexible work environment.
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Felix is a founder of a company named Opoly. A tech startup with its sites set on disrupting Real Estate investing in New Zealand with the help of Blockchain technology and Crowd Funding. Not only is Felix part of Wellington’s startup scene, but he also co-organises one of the largest local meetup groups boasting 1200 members, Blockchain NZ.
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Stevo will tell you that he’s no entrepreneur. But Stevo’s the director of Ocular. A company that he started 14 years ago, now boasting a staff of fifteen, including Boris, Ocular’s Embassadog.
Their website says “We don't work for clients, we work with partners.”
Ocular is the guide, helping partners discover or refine their particular voice, story or brand. Effectively connecting those partners to their customers using video, web and print.
“We’re not smart, not fancy, not cool. We’re honest”
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Getrude describes herself as a social serial entrepreneur. Others have described her as ‘a vibrant bundle of African energy’.
Getrude’s latest passion is an empowerment conference with a big goal. HerStory, a social change project, aims to host 1000 conferences to empower, connect and create community for 1 million women world wide.
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