In high school, a guidance counsellor asked what I wanted to do with my life. I told her the truth — I didn't really know, but I wanted to make it to New York, and I wanted to retire by 40. She laughed, and said no one from Rangiora had ever made it to New York. I've been proving that wrong ever since.
I was born in Rangiora, Canterbury — the oldest of six. My dad's a Kiwi, my mum's American. Early on they moved us to California chasing a better life, after Dad had an accident that meant he could never work again. We came back to New Zealand a couple of years later, and Dad taught us the one thing that's stuck with me my whole life: work hard, and don't waste time. I've got memories of sitting in front of the TV as a kid — but never idle. We'd pack and assemble parts for other companies while we watched, turning downtime into money. That habit never left me.
At sixteen we moved back to California. I finished school there, moved out on my own at seventeen, and put myself through college — until I dropped out after a lecturer told me we were there to memorise, not to think. That didn't sit right with me. So I chased a different dream: music. I got signed, toured the States, and was getting ready to release an album. Music was going to be the whole thing.
Then I landed in Kansas City, and everything changed. I met my wife, Kristin. We had our first son. I was working in marketing and finance in the mortgage industry when the 2008 crash pulled the floor out. So I did what I could — bartended at night, served tables in the morning, running on three or four hours' sleep with a newborn at home. Everyone still needed a drink, and behind that bar is where I really learned to sell, and more importantly, to listen.
That's where I met the man who changed my life. He offered me a job in New York City — oil, banking and philanthropy — and for the next few years I learned everything I could under him, travelling the country setting up events and businesses. We had our second child, a daughter, while we were living in New York. Goal number one: done.
Then Kristin and I made the biggest call of all — we came home to New Zealand to raise our kids. That's when Paramount came along. We took Paramount Plumbing Supplies from a couple of thousand dollars of stock to a nationwide business, and grew it until a larger player bought us out. Somewhere in that journey, I fell in love with business itself.
Since then I've been building and backing others. Koha Homes started in lockdown, out of a few empty sections and a dream. Crafted Bathroom Renovations grew from that. Summit Distribution began inside Paramount importing good spirits and has become its own company. And Lead Head came the way the good ones usually do — I met someone with real potential, saw what the brand could be, and we've been building it into an international name ever since.
Here's what actually drives me. Kristin and I both grew up without money — I've got plenty of memories of eating oatmeal and doing whatever it took to get by. Clawing our way to financial freedom taught us exactly how hard that climb is, and how much difference the right person in your corner makes. So that's the goal now: partner with as many good people as we can — coaching them, backing them, sitting down with their accountant and their numbers — and help them get where we got.
I'm a big believer that if you say your goals out loud and chase them, you'll get there. Two goals down. Now I just want to help other people reach theirs.