Welcome to the year's most memorable quotes and advice from BusinessDesk’s My Net Worth series. We’ve combed through all our revealing conversations with New Zealand’s top business and legal minds and chosen the standout thoughts.
Resilience is something that is built over time. You go through life and you learn by your mistakes as much as your successes. And your failures are not a bad thing, if you learn a lesson out of them, but you have to fail forward.
– Earl Gasparich (below), CEO, Metlifecare
One thing I’ve learned is that businesses need to be careful that they don't convince themselves they are more complicated or complex than anyone else and therefore put hurdles in place to drive improvement.
– Carrie Hurihanganui (below), CEO, Auckland Airport
Becoming a judge was a little bit out of the blue ... Saying I “enjoyed” it is probably not the right word. It was satisfying, it was challenging. I think the moment you start enjoying sending someone to prison, you should give it up. It’s an unusual type of profession.
– Paul Heath KC (below), arbitrator and lawyer, Bankside Chambers, Auckland
(Image: Bankside Chambers)
My favourite part about business? The intersection of people and money. I never understand people who say they don't read the business pages, or the business section online, or they don't get it all. What could be more fascinating than the intersection of people and money?
– Theresa Gattung (below), entrepreneur and philanthropist
I do a bit of DIY. I won’t oversell my ability – I’m not afraid to have a go, but I wouldn’t stretch to, say, building a shed; that’s not going to happen. But getting out and fixing things is a good contrast from being in the office. If I had my perfect job, it probably wouldn’t be sitting at a desk.
– Mark Ryland (below), CEO, Milford Asset Management
There are many New Zealanders I admire – Sir Michael Hill and Graeme Hart, to name two – but I really only know of them. I think one of the most terrible things you can do is meet your heroes, so the people who have been most inspirational for me are my mum and my wife, Charlotte.
– Kenyon Clarke (below), founder, Du Val Group
At Potatoes NZ, no one's ever unhappy to meet us. No one dislikes potatoes. And it's nice to be in an industry where you bring joy to people because you feed them.
– Chris Claridge (below), CEO, Potatoes NZ
Healthcare can be quite competitive. I would have assumed it would have been a little bit more collegial, but there are a lot of people who have a vested interest in protecting the status quo ... Healthcare needs really strong leaders entering the sector, not just in the public sphere but in the private sphere, too, to drive change.
– James Robinson (below), co-founder and co-CEO, Tend Health
I think if you just follow the dots, sometimes you get to the perfectly wrong answer.
– Catherine McGrath (below), chief executive, Westpac
(Image: NZME)
I have four sisters. Our parents split up when I was eight. You don't get away with anything when you're being brought up by five women. Intuition became a normal part of life, which has helped me a lot in my business career.
– Brien Cree (below), managing director, Radius Care
My parents taught me as a woman to be independent, follow my passion and work hard – but never forget about joy as well. As adults – and I certainly have been guilty of this from time to time – you can work really hard, but you always need to fight for your joy as well.
– Michele Wilson (below), chief executive, AWWA
(Image: NUKU)
You spend so much time at work that you need a passion for what you do. If you don’t have that, go and find something else. I tell anyone who joins our business to find out whether this is the place for them. If it isn’t, the best thing they can do is leave as soon as possible.
– Mark Callander (below), chief executive, 2degrees
I have no favourite food, because, where to start? I have travelled the world and people tell me all about "the food in San Francisco", "the food in London". The food in NZ is exemplary ... Your local cafe serves far better food than half the restaurants in any of the large cities around the world.
– Charlotte Lockhart (below), managing director, 4 Day Week Global
The best advice I was ever given was from Arjun Waney, who co-founded Roka [restaurant in London]. He said, “Earn your money before you spend it.” He ingrained in me about being penny-wise and pound-foolish. No matter how much or how little money you've got, you should always know exactly what your pennies are.
– Nic Watt (below), chef and restaurateur
(Image: NZME)
There's only been a count-on-my-hands number of days where it's, like, oh my God, I don't want to face the day.
– Karen Walker (below), fashion designer
