Pushing The Limits

Take a glimpse into the life of a modern day Maori leader, warrior, speaker and executive. In this interview we delve into the ancient wisdom of the Maori people and look at the some of the solutions for modern day dilemmas that arise from these teachings. We discuss the lost generation of Maori who were forbidden to learn their own language and culture and who were told just to "get on in the Pakeha world" and  and the consequences of that colonisation call still apparent in today's world.  Ngahihi shares his journey back to his roots and his culture and what triggered it for him. Ngahihi o te ra Bidois has a Marketing Business degree, a post graduate diploma secondary teacher’s qualification, a tourism qualification and a Masters in Education with honours. He is the National Speakers Association New Zealand (Auckland) 2007 Master of Ceremonies of the Year and the 2007 Bright Star Speaker of the Year, 2008 Inspirational Speaker of the Year, 2008 Speaker of the Year and 2009 Master of Ceremonies of the Year. Hr  hashelped many Business Leaders, Educational Leaders, Sports Leaders and Community Leaders to increase their spheres of influence. He has presented in various countries including Malaysia, Singapore, America, England as well as conferences and seminars throughout New Zealand. Applying Ancient Wisdom from his indigenous culture Ngahihi offers pieces of wisdom in an inspiring and informing manner. Ngahihi believes the most important resource in many organisations are their people. If people feel valued and are appropriately developed their continued contribution is priceless. One of our Maori proverbs outlines this: He aha te mea nui? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the most important thing? It is people, people, people. I help organisations to develop their people

Jo was the Chief Executive of the Ministry for Women until September 2016. One of the youngest Chief Executives ever appointed in the New Zealand Public Service, she has invested her time and energy in advancing the cause of the vulnerable in society, spearheading some of the most difficult issues of our time, including child abuse, child poverty, family violence and vulnerable women. She has established effective working relationships with Ministers, Government agencies, NGOs, Māori organisations, iwi, Pacific communities and the business sector. Formerly the Deputy Children's Commissioner, author of the Government's Green Paper on Vulnerable Children, director of a number of NGOs, she has a Doctorate in Public Policy and works internationally on advancing development in the Pacific as a director of Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA). In 2016 she was a finalist in the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards and in 2014 was one of three recipients of a Westpac Leaders Fellowship. Jo is the proud mother of two and referees their Saturday morning sport, bakes cupcakes and sews Guide badges onto blankets. In this interivew we discuss her recent Tedx talk on addressing the gender pay gap NZ. We discuss domestic violence, poverty and the roles of women in today's world.  

Grant is passionate about igniting the talent and passions of aspiring Kiwi professionals in their career. By day he is a career consultant at Massey Universities Wellington campus, building students skills and confidence to move into their dream roles. By night, he helps aspiring professionals through his own online career consultancy firm Sparked, sharing best practice career development resources, tools and tips. Grant has trained and coached thousands of individuals in areas such as finding career direction, personal marketing, standing out to employers in CVs and interviews, using LinkedIn and effective job hunting. He shares his knowledge from his background of over 15 years in executive coaching, training and marketing, having held management positions in the corporate, not for profit and tertiary sectors. Grant was recently awarded the Distinguished Alumni award from Otago Polytechnic for his work in career development and in the community. He is a strong believer that great careers don’t happen by accident and that it is essential to get the best quality career advice. Hence, he is a professional member of the Career Development Association of New Zealand, is a certified StrengthsFinder coach and holds degrees in career practice, marketing and psychology.

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between those who just achieve moderately in life and those who do extraordinary things that others think impossible? Lisa reflects on what it takes to be a champion, to achieve greatness and to be extraordinary. What it will cost?  An inspirational and motivating talk to make you want to reach beyond your comfort zone, to risk failure in the pursuit of success.  

Phil Kingsley Jones is a Welsh legend. Comedian, Entertainer, Rugby Coach, Sports Agent and Manager, Business development manager, Author, Speaker,  Coal Miner and Pie seller all describe this lovable rogue. Born in the Valleys of Wales he became an internationally acclaimed comedian touring with some of the biggest acts of the 70's and 80's from the likes of the Beach Boys, to Neil Sedaka to Cliff Richards to Lionel Ritchie and the Comodores to Dr Hook and Frankie Valli, you name them Phil worked with them. In the 1980's Phil fell in love with a Kiwi girl and moved to New Zealand where he went back to his early passion Rugby, later becoming a coach and Sport Manager. He was Manager to the legend that was Jonah Lomu who was one of the first Rugby professionals. Jonah was like a son to Phil and we hear of Jonahs early career and how special this man was. In this interview Phil shares his life philosophy, his wicked sense of humour and gives an open and candid insight into the roller coaster ride that has been his life so far. All with a very welsh chuckle.

Paul Rangiwahia is an artist on a mission. For years Paul's works have sparked intrigue and discussion for their quirkiness, their kiwiana style but now Paul has produced a very special piece of work called "The Mental W.O.F" which provides viewers with a daily dose of wellbeing. Made up of a set of 45 rules that Paul tries to live his life by, wisdom and principles to live a happy and fulfilled life. This artwork has gone viral and is encouraging and inspiring people all around the globe but Paul's journey to developing this set of principles has been through the school of hard knocks when two years ago his business failed and he was made bankrupt. He hit rock bottom before rediscovering his real passion for art and making this apparent disaster, which saw him lose his family home and everything he had worked for, into a turning point for good in his life. The Mental W.O.F was his start back to wellness and now he shares through his works and his speaking, his experiences and what is really important in life. You can see the Mental W.O.F or get your inspiring copy at www.paulrangiwahia.com

Lisa Tamati professional Adventure Athlete, Author and Fitness & Mindset Coach explains in this educational short podcast why you need to build a little more functional muscle and why that will help you burn fat. She dispels the myths of the fat burning zone and slow steady cardio workouts, and calories in calories out. Please like, subscribe and share this podcast with your networks and help us get the word out. You can also find us on itunes under "Pushing the Limits"

Mikki Williden has a Phd in nutrition and is an endurance athlete. she is passionate about maintaining good health and wellbeing through a whole food approach to nutrition, regular exercise, and a focus on optimising lifestyle factors that influence our ability to cope with the demands of everyday life. She is a Registered Nutritionist and Research Associate at AUT University. Mikki's by line is eat real food, enjoy real health she has worked with a vast number of people with different health and performance goals. She has a regular column in Bite Magazine, which is part of the New Zealand Herald and Kiwi Trail Runner magazine. She is also a Research Associate at AUT University, Auckland, teaching public health and sports performance nutritio and is part of the Human Potential Centre researching the effects of low carbohydrate, high fat diets on health and performance outcomes for adults, children and athletes.

Maz Quinn is New Zealand's best known and most successful surfer. A four-time winner of New Zealand's national surfing championships, and winner of the 1996 Billabong Pro-Junior Series, Quinn comes from a surfing mad family - his younger brother Jay and sister Holly have both won national titles, his mother is an advocate for Women's surfing and his father was a national official. During the 1990s, Quinn took part in the World Qualifying Series and in 1999 Maz became the first New Zealander to win a WQS event and in 2001 he became the first New Zealander ever to qualify for the World Championship Tour, in doing so becoming one of the world's top 44 ranked male surfers. In 2009, Quinn helped to stage the Quiksilver Maz Quinn King of the Groms, a national surfing event for youth. In this interview Lisa finds out from Maz what it's like to be on the world tour, what the pressures are like, how hard it is to qualify, the setbacks and successes along the way, how it feels to surf alongside legends of the sport like Kelly Slater and how he faces up to his fears when surfing the big waves. Maz opens up about how his parents guidance put him early in his life on the right road and what life has been like after the lights went down and the circus of the tour was over. He talks about women in surfing, the state of the tour now and what surfing holds for the future and hones insights from his sport for life.

Phillip Balmer has had more than 33 years of experience in the health sector with 20 years at the senior management or executive level and 15 years of that involved with commissioning or redesigning health care facilities. He is a strong strategic leader and is brilliant at leading change, he is very people-focused.  His goal is to develop an engaged workforce who are empowered and capable to drive and manage change. In his current role he has responsiblity for 7500 employees and a 1.5 billion dollar budget.  The role also includes overall responsibility of CMDHB hospital services. The combined size of Manukau Health Park and Middlemore Hospital makes it one of the largest emergency, ambulatory and inpatient facilities in Australasia. They also provide tertiary services in orthoplastics trauma, burns, and spinal services. Past roles include being Chief Operating Officer for the Bay Of Plenty District Health boad, Chief Operating Officer for the Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports medicine Hospital and many more roles. In this interview we look at the state of the Health system in New Zealand, what the future holds, how he hopes to improve the collaboration between hospital services and community based primary health organisations and his new project setting up NZ's best rehabilitation centre. We discuss managements styles and his approach to leadership, some of the major challenges the health sector faces in future. and much more.