Business Is Boring

This week on Business is Boring, Billie Jo Hohepa-Ropiha tells Simon Pound about inventing the sewer-safe wet wipe alternative BDÉT.There is a big problem lurking in our sewer pipes. Flushed wet wipes, even the supposedly flushable ones, are major contributors to ‘fatbergs’ – huge clumps of wipes and other stuff flushed down toilets that are blocking sewers and generally grossing people out everywhere.What if you were able to put something onto regular toilet paper that would make it function like a wet wipe, but without all the problems? That was the brainwave Billie Jo Hohepa-Ropiha had nearly 20 years ago. After building a successful journalism career, she studied for an MBA, studying around work and family commitments, then launched not one but two bathroom products – BDÉT, the flushable toilet paper wet wipe alternative foam, as well as Kiwee, a toilet lid lifting device.To talk entrepreneurship and finding opportunity in places not everyone wants to talk about, Bille Jo Hohepa-Ropiha joined Business is Boring for a chat.Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly every morning, thousands of people around New Zealand and the world start their day with a workout led by a mum of four boys from her Christchurch lounge. Lisa Fong leads these short, sharp 20 minute workouts over Facebook Live on her iPhone. The friendly, inclusive approach to accessible workouts at only $10 a month has seen business boom. Lisa Fong’s Move it Mama is now a worldwide success, with a great community behind it – just the kind of positive realness we could all do with a bit more of. Lisa joined Business is Boring over Zoom from Christchurch this week to talk fitness, the journey, lifting people up and the importance of keeping it real.Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duane Mutu is the founder and CEO of LetsPlay.Live. Esports are big business, with the number of people playing competitively and the number of spectators watching them play on a wild growth curve. With admission to big events, national sports associations and scholarships available for esporting phenoms to universities and colleges, esports are now recognised as sports.The money involved is massive – with billion dollar companies being built on the periphery, the industry is already way bigger than Hollywood. One part of that industry is LetsPlay.Live (LPL). It’s the biggest esports competition and broadcast platform in Australasia, with more than 400,000 members in its community, and it’s all run production studio in the base of the Sky Tower. Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Blair Turnbull, CEO of Tower Insurance.One of the things we get asked for on this podcast is to hear from people involved in business who aren’t necessarily all-or-nothing entrepreneurs. So this year we’re sharing a few more stories of people doing interesting, big and different things in business. This week's guest is one such example – someone who recently returned home to New Zealand to take on the CEO role at one of our big listed insurance companies.Blair Turnbull had a big role at ASB before heading overseas and working with Aviva – an insurer out of London with 30 million-plus customers. Blair led digital, retail and innovation functions, rising to be looking after 15 million customers before being shoulder-tapped to come back home to run Tower.To learn a bit about how the insurance game works, what it takes to grow into a CEO role, and what innovation is coming our way in insurance, Blair Turnbull joined Business is Boring for a chat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Christine Langdon, CEO of The Good Registry.Giving gifts can be hard. And when you think about all the unwanted gifts that are given every year, you’re suddenly looking at a big waste problem. What if people were instead able to give people the ability to pick a charity of their choice to give those gift dollars to instead? That was the thought that started The Good Registry, a social enterprise that helps people and companies give people the gift of giving. It supports a diverse roster of worthy local causes, and has so far helped channel more than half a million dollars that might have otherwise been spent on Favourites and Instant Kiwis.Co-founder and CEO, Christine Langdon, left a successful career in corporate communications to pursue the business. She joined us via Zoom from Wellington to discuss the journey, how it is going and how a business to do good can do well. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Hongi Luo, brand director at TikTok.In terms of cultural reach and impact, the biggest tech app in the world right now may well be TikTok. It’s where music companies are trying to break acts, it’s where memes are emerging, it’s where a lot of people find their news and information. It’s wildly varied, and it’s kind of beautiful how so many people are able to create, share and enjoy their eccentricities, enthusiasms and interests without conforming to one style or expectation.It’s one of the world’s biggest brands right now, and as brand director, New Zealander Hongi Luo is helming some of its biggest music and cultural activations, like live-streaming the Brit Awards red carpet and partnering with huge stars. Hailing from Auckland, she was part of the small team establishing Uber in NZ and Australia, before helping launch an agency in Singapore and heading to London to work with TikTok. To talk about being part of such massive growth companies, finding new ways for creativity to grow, and life right now in London, Hongi Luo joined us on Zoom this week for a chat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Simon Coley, co-founder of All Good and Karma Drinks.Bananas are one of the most popular grocery items in New Zealand – we buy enough of them to eat 18kg each per year. But for years bananas were also a symbol of the kind of capitalism that saw companies exploit workers, overthrow governments and farm mono-crops until they failed. That’s why Simon Coley and a few old friends got together and started All Good, to start bringing in bananas that were fair trade. These bananas have been a hit, capturing 7% of the market, showing people will pay a little more for something a lot better for the world and workers. And this has led to a wave of other fair trade bananas, which has to be a good thing. This month All Good is upping the ante by going carbon zero, offsetting emissions with permanent Amazon rainforest protected plantings. But the really amazing thing about this is that All Good bananas is only part of what the company does in the space. Along with All Good, Coley also co-founded Karma Drinks, whose work with growers of cola nuts in Sierra Leone is helping a community grow equitably, and expanding around the world. To learn about changing some of the grocery mainstays for the better, purpose led business and his entrepreneur’s journey, he joins for a chat in this week’s episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business Is Boring is taking a break over the summer holidays. We'll be back in the new year, but until then we're we're republishing some of our favourite interviews of 2020. This week: Simon talks with bestselling author Stacy Gregg.First released September 3, 2020.Stacy Gregg’s first job in media was as a secretary, a job she was fired from before being rehired as a staff writer. She went on to specialise in fashion writing, ultimately starting and selling a pioneering media title before sidestepping into a different field entirely – writing children’s books.Her specialty in that field was stories about ponies and horses, and her books – in series like Pony Club Secrets and standalone titles like The Princess and the Foal – have now found a large audience both here and overseas.It took a lot of time and business savvy to build and maintain that audience, in the process becoming one of New Zealand’s most successful international writers. To talk about the work that goes into being a bestselling author and the business of books, Stacy Gregg joined Simon Pound for this episode of Business is Boring.Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business Is Boring is taking a break over the summer holidays. We'll be back in the new year, but until then we're we're republishing some of our favourite interviews of 2020. This week: Simon talks with Scottie Chapman from Spring Sheep Milk Co.First released July 16, 2020.New Zealand is famous all around the world for sheep, and for milk. But what it hasn’t been so well known for is sheep milk, but this week on the podcast we’re meeting a man out to change that.That’s right, sheep milk. It’s an alternative milk on the rise across SE Asia. It’s easier to digest than cow’s milk and has a way lower environmental impact than dairy. And although it might sound like it would take a lot of sheep to get volume up, with some selective breeding and some kiwi smarts Spring Sheep Milk Co have found a way to make this  primary product into high value exports.And it’s not the first time that company’s CEO has pulled that off. Scottie Chapman had his first big success with Old Mout cider, the brand he started that led huge category growth, making cider a supermarket mainstay. That business was sold to DB and Heineken, and it’s gone on to be one of the biggest ciders in the world. And you know what? When he started that journey people told him cider wasn’t popular. He proved them wrong, and will he also be right about sheep milk?To talk the journey, what sheep milk is used for and why sheep make a lot more sense for the world than ever more cows, Scottie Chapman joined us for a half hour chat.Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business Is Boring is taking a break over the summer holidays. We'll be back in the new year, but until then we're we're republishing some of our favourite interviews of 2020. This week: Simon talks with Rachel Taulelei, CEO of Kono. First released June 4, 2020.While the full and lasting effects of Covid-19 are still to play out, and things are looking pretty fractious, there are some companies making the very best out of the current situation. One of these is Kono.Demand for New Zealand produce overseas is currently up. Our country's careful and healthy management of the pandemic has shone a light on our products internationally as people want high quality food and beverage, made with Papatuanuku in mind.That is exactly what Kono does. It's a whānau-owned Māori food and beverage business led by CEO Rachel Taulelei. They sell food, wine and produce brands all around the globe, from wines you know like Tohu, to Annie’s fruit bars.Before this role, Taulelei founded Yellow Brick Road, a company selling the best seafood to top hospitality operators, and was NZ Trade Commissioner in Los Angeles. Today she is on the prime minister’s Business Advisory Council, and you might have seen her on one of the Conversations on Covid-19 that the PM was running. To talk about what being whānau owned means and her hopes for the rebuild post-Covid-19, Taulelei joined us on the podcast.Business is Boring is presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices