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World changing Kiwi

As a child, Mark Inglis wanted to be one of two things, either a professional motorbike rider or a mountaineer. He chose the latter and first started climbing at age 12. He went on to qualify as a search and rescue mountaineer, based at Aoraki Mt Cook, a role which he describes as a dream job. Mt Cook is also where he met and married his wife Anne who worked at one of the hotels. Life was going well until November of 1982 when an incident Mark refers to as his ‘hiccup’ occurred. 

“I definitely call it a hiccup, it’s another life away, really, but it’s still pretty clear. I had paired up with a new search and rescue teammate and we decided to do the east ridge of Aoraki, Mt Cook. The ice conditions were terrible and the climb took us a lot longer than normal, when we got to the middle peak we realised that the weather report that we’d had was like 12 hours out. It was blowing a gale. The wind in the New Zealand mountains will happily kill you, either with hypothermia or it just blows you straight off. The only place to get away from it that day was in a little crevasse, so we crawled into that thinking that we’d be there for a few hours or overnight at the most.”

The pair ended up in the ice cave for thirteen and a half days, or 324 hours, before rescuers could get to them. Both men suffered frostbite on their feet and ended up losing both their legs several inches below the knees. After several months in hospital, they were fitted with prosthetics which Mark admits were fairly basic back then. 

“Our first feet were still wooden wrapped in leather. It took years before we got plastic nylon feet and then it wasn’t until after the Paralympics in 2000 that I got my very first set of carbon fibre feet. The very first time I stepped on them and walked on them I thought, oh, imagine what I could have done if you’d, if you’d given me these 18 years ago.”

2023 Kea World Class New Zealand Award winner Mark Inglis, ONZM
Mark Inglis, ONZM accepting his 2023 WCNZ Award

Despite his experience Mark went back to Mt Cook and worked as a duty ranger but got frustrated watching all his friends climb, he applied to be an ambulance officer but was turned down because of his legs and eventually decided to go back to University where he earned a first class honours degree in human biochemistry.

After graduating Mark got into winemaking, working for Montanna and also took up cycling, something which he could do with his legs and that put less pressure on his stumps than other activities. It was through cycling that Mark first represented New Zealand on the world stage – bringing home New Zealand’s first Paralympic cycling medal at the Sydney 2000 Games, an opportunity which opened more doors for him.

“Following the games I had an opportunity to go to Cambodia. And to work with the School of Prosthetics over there, it was really interesting, and it sowed the seeds for the whole concept of Limbs4All for my wife Anne and I.”

The Games also started Mark thinking that if he could compete on an Olympic level, then he should be able to climb again. Over the next few years, he trained hard first climbing Aoraki Mt Cook, then summiting Cho Oyu, the sixth-highest mountain in the world, and one of his personal favourite climbs, before tackling Everest in 2006.

“Everest isn’t the hardest climb you’re ever going to do, but it’s still Everest, for a mountaineer it’s like the World Cup. I had friends who all had total faith that I would do it. One of them, Russell always tried to keep a space on one of his expeditions to Everest for Inglis, because he knew I’d turn up. And when your friends have that faith in you you have to repay that by stepping up and so in 2006 that is what I did.”

Mark became the first double amputee to summit Everest and raised $70,000 USD at the same time which went to rebuild a limb centre in Cambodia. With the funds that were left over, Mark and Anne launched Limbs4All, a project which has taken up much of his focus over the last 10 years. 

“Limbs for All is about creating an inclusive opportunity for everyone. In a place like Cambodia or Nepal, people are truly disabled, because there’s no access to resources, your disability should never define your life but it does if you can’t get around it. We didn’t want to build infrastructure where we had to keep pumping funds into it so what we do is partner with chosen charities like Exceed in Cambodia and The Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre in Nepal.” 

“In Cambodia our biggest project is what we call Limbs for All Kids Exceed, we work with 115 disabled children in rural areas and we provide them everything that they need to get to school, from prosthetics and medical help right through to iPads for learning. In Nepal we discovered that prosthetics are quite well advanced, but they have a very high rate of spinal injuries per head of capita, and these people really struggle. So we work to provide rough terrain wheelchairs, for those who can’t get around and since we started we’ve helped provide around 250 of these.”

Carson Hart, Chief Executive of XSEED Worldwide, says Mark’s passion for helping those with a disability has helped thousands of people around the world. 

“Mark has contributed an awful lot to our organisation and to other organisations like us. His passion for people with disability, especially those with amputations is boundless, like everything Mark does, it’s boundless. Unlike most people, he really understands what it’s like to be without limbs and he really helps folks who are struggling at the beginning of their rehabilitation to see what’s possible.”

In 2003 Mark and Naked Rower, Rob Hamill took a roadshow through New Zealand, and in 17 weeks spoke to 135 schools and around 60, 000 kids. This was the start of Mark’s speaking career and these days he spends a lot of time in India working with corporate clients talking about how to tackle change and the role that a positive attitude plays in business culture.

Jason Fletcher is a long term friend of Marks who has worked with him on a number of projects to increase accessibility for those living with disabilities. He says what sets Mark apart is his drive and determination to really make a difference.

“If he can’t find, convince, or coerce someone into getting a task done, he’ll just simply do it himself. He has this uncanny ability to do almost anything and he never gives up.”

Mark says his days of climbing are over now, and while he admits that he would love to tackle Everest again, he knows he would be a bit too slow and there would probably be a divorce involved. However, he says he’s excited about what lies ahead.

“When people ask me what am I most proud of? It’s hands down my family, it’s Anne and my children, being able to raise them and see them succeed. Outside of that is it a career in science? Is it having one of my wines take out the sparkling wine of the world? Was it climbing Cho Oyo or Everest? Or a Silver medal at the Paralympics? All these things sort of merge into one, and become like a wave, you know that no matter how good something behind you is, there’s probably something better coming along. 

“In New Zealand, we are a real thought leader when it comes to attitudes to disabilities and the way we view inclusiveness, and I think we have a responsibility to continue to share that with the world. The next challenge is really the intellectual challenges of change. I think Covid really woke everyone up to how we approach change. I always say to people I’ll never be the equal of an able bodied mountaineer, but I can be equal or greater to any mountain. I implore people, when a mountain is put in front of them, choose to be greater than that mountain.”

Filed Under: World changing Kiwi

For as long as Brianne West can remember she has always been passionate about the environment and animals. Her earliest memory involves ‘saving’ worms from puddles after it had rained.

“I have always thought that the world is this most amazing, awe inspiring place that we don’t respect or pay enough attention to. And if more people knew how amazing it was, then they’d look after it better.”

Her desire to create change never left her and was the driving force behind her starting her own solid beauty bar company out of her kitchen while she was still at Canterbury University studying biochemistry. 

“I had previously started a cosmetics company, just a regular one and it did ok, but after a year and a half of selling products I realised it wasn’t the money making side of things that was attractive to me, it was the creative side, and the running of a business. All my life I have believed that business is the way to change things, because business is the largest lever we have if we want to solve some of the social and environmental problems we are facing and we haven’t yet engaged that lever in the way we could have.”

2023 Kea World Class New Zealand Award winner Brianne West accepting award on the night
Brianne West accepting her 2023 Kea WCNZ Award

Brianne’s company Sorbet, (later renamed Ethique) wanted to rid the world of a million plastic bottles. One of her early investors and mentors Brian Person first met Brianne on an entrepreneurship program for students and remembers right from the start she was convincing.

“She was telling us all about the business she had started in her home kitchen, but what really got our attention was she, she sort of sat back at one point and said, I really want to tell you about my vision. And Breanne told us that her vision was to rid the world of plastic bottles. And we were completely blown away. We couldn’t quite believe what we were hearing. But it wasn’t so much that she had this real purpose to her business intentions, and it wasn’t so much the scale and the aspiration of the vision. It was that she had the courage to say it. She actually said out loud, “I want to rid the world of plastic bottles.”

Along with her plan to rid the world of plastic bottles, Brianne says she also wanted her company to do good in other ways, essentially operating as what is now known as B-corp. 

“I believe that business should be run ethically, but it was tricky because back then there really wasn’t a baseline. I was very idealistic and I was surrounded by people who told me it couldn’t be done, a lot of people would say ‘oh, you can’t do that because it doesn’t work financially and business is first and foremost is about profit, which is a notion I reject. So I was sort of working it out as I went along.” 

In the decade since Ethique launched Brianne has travelled the globe (after overcoming a fear of flying) speaking to businesses to promote the use of more ethical products. Ethique COO Tristan Roberts says Brianne’s honesty and direct nature are something that’s lacking in business and a trait which has allowed her to get global companies to sit up and listen. 

“She’s travelled the world talking to different people, talking to businesses, trying to convince them to change and the reasons why, and she’s been able to do that. She’s been at the forefront of change for some big companies in the UK and the US. She’s led their sustainability mission, the reason they have big sustainability walls of product now is because of her, because of Ethique.”

Brian says Brianne’s conviction that business is an important part of change is what makes her such a successful mentor. He says she doesn’t just list her values on a website, she lives them every day. 

“Not only is she creating an ethical mission driven businesses and brands herself. But then she’s supporting other people to do the same thing. And this is having a significant impact on the country, on the world, and on promoting New Zealand on the global stage.”

Now Brianne says she’s getting ready to take on the soft drinks industry with her new start up ‘Incrediballs.’

“I want Incrediballs to disrupt the drinks industry in the same way Ethique disrupted the beauty industry. So instead of buying a bottle of flavoured water you just take your regular water and drop an Incrediball in and you’ve got a fizzy cola flavoured drink that’s exactly the same. We will have different flavours and functions and I can see real applications for it on places like Air New Zealand, no need to carry plastic bottles of drinks, I am also working on a very exciting charitable arm for the company, which will have the potential to solve nutritional issues and provide clean, safe water in places where that’s not a reality, which I’m very excited about. 

She’s also launched an online platform ‘Business but Better’ which aims to help the next generation of purpose led entrepreneurs both in New Zealand and around the world. 

“Business but Better allows me to share what I have learnt with a wider group of people, I can’t start every purpose led business but I can help those who want to start their own. I have done a lot of mentoring in the past and I find that often at the really early stage people have an idea, but they’re sort of scared to take the next step, and I think a lot of that fear comes from not knowing what to do next or how to do it. I didn’t know, I had no idea really how to start a business but I didn’t care, people would say ‘oh no you can’t do that, and I would reply well that’s how I am doing it.’ I don’t think I have that inbuilt fear of failure that many people have, I don’t like failure, I am very competitive but I just don’t let that fear of failure stop me. I have failed more times than I’ve ever succeeded. If what I have learnt can help someone else then that can only be a good thing.”

“I think New Zealander entrepreneurs are uniquely positioned in a couple of different many of our competitor countries, and people always expect Kiwi to be kind and nice, which is lovely when you travel. But the other aspect is that I think we are determined to prove ourselves because we are a smaller country which is relatively isolated. We seem to do a lot of big things here because people seem driven to do big things. There’s this massive entrepreneurial ecosystem, we are quite a forward thinking, innovative place.”

Filed Under: World changing Kiwi

As a young boy Cris says he always remembers being interested in the way things worked, he would pull apart lawnmowers just to put them back together again. In high school a teacher introduced him to biology which led to his love of science and medicine. After completing a medical degree he realised his real passion lay in research and embarked on a PHD in molecular immunology at University of Auckland. Cris says he was lucky enough to be one of the last generations of people who could discover a gene.

“We named the gene CG1 – after myself and fellow scientist Geoff Christensen who was working with me at the time. Finding a gene that you can put a name on and then progressively working out what it does is an amazing thing. That was in the early 90s. In the early 2000s, I was very lucky to be in the first generation of people to analyse whole genomes in this field called genomics.”

Cris went overseas to continue his work, doing research at both Melbourne University in Australia and Cambridge University in the UK, it was during his time at Cambridge that he discovered his love of bioinformatics, the science of analysing massive amounts of data and applying that data to human disease and understanding how that may lead to therapies. 

After co-founding a bioinformatics company which became one of the first to be listed on the Tokyo stock exchange, he returned to New Zealand and Auckland University to continue his work. He has also worked with New Zealand’s Crown Research Institute ESR – where he took on the role of acting chair. 

ESR CEO Peter Lennox says Cris is a real team player who focuses on working to create connections which allow people in different fields to share their knowledge with each other and also encourages companies and people to think about the future. 

“At ESR, He helped us think about artificial intelligence way before Chat, GPT and others. He made us think ‘what does that mean for us, what does it mean for the communities we work with?’ That then spilled into DNA sovereignty and the work that he does there especially with our iwi. He is passionate about being careful to protect rights but also to ensure groups of people are not left behind, and that was something that he was thinking about way before anyone else.”

2023 Kea World Class New Zealand Award winner Cristin Print
Cristin Print accepting his 2023 Kea WCNZ Award

Peter says Cris’s work on his bioinformatics company means he is not just focused on the science but also has a strong understanding of the commercial side and what it means for companies like ESR. 

“We’ve got a number of commercial products that have been very successful throughout the world. And a lot of that’s been because of Cris and our board supporting what we’re doing. He is well recognised internationally, but in New Zealand there is a quiet confidence about what he does and he has real insight that provides confidence for companies like ESR to have the foresight to prosper.”

Cris says he views science as the ultimate team sport and all his achievements have been because of the amazing people he has alongside him. 

“I think we’re very lucky in New Zealand, although we’re critically limited in resources for research and resources for clinical care, we’ve got this real number eight fencing wire mentality, we’re also very good partners and collaborators. We’ve got this deliberate focus on working with people internationally that puts us in good stead. But also just in New Zealand being able to firstly being able to work at the industry level with Māori and Pacific people, but secondly at the level of working in a group where you’re interacting between the clinic and the basic lab, interacting between mathematicians and data scientists and of course working with these amazing students at the university who come up with ideas that are way smarter than anything I could ever have thought of, it’s just incredible.”

“Nothing happens without togetherness in science. In New Zealand, The togetherness needs to be international. We’re at the end of the world. And all of our success is predicated on maintaining these close international connections.”

Cris’ Auckland University colleague, John Fraser says Cris is a wonderful friend, and his ability to collaborate and really listen to people is what makes him stand out as a leader. 

“His personal attributes are quite rare in combination. He is somebody who is very intelligent, highly collaborative and always looks at the positive side of things. He is very good at engaging other people with his ideas without being too overbearing and, above all, he doesn’t care who gets the credit. He’s been able to bring people along on some pretty complex ideas, for example the national approach to how we handle genomics.”

Much of Cris’ work is thanks to advances in technology and he says now is a really exciting time to be part of the field with so many things happening so quickly. However he warns that while it’s exciting to move forward he is also committed to making sure that scientists listen to the community they are working with and for. 

“The science we do today is driving the clinical therapies of tomorrow, and if some groups are excluded from that science for reasons such as poor data sovereignty this will mean that our science and our future medicine becomes increasingly inequitable. I think New Zealand definitely stands out on the world stage in terms of working with indigenous people in the genomics and the gene sequencing area. We are learning from Māori and from Pacific people, how to govern data, how to keep data safe, how to work productively in large teams. I I think Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) is one of the strongest gifts when it comes to a new angle to look at bioinformatics and how you analyse DNA sequences. We’re very lucky in New Zealand to have that and it needs to be driven by strong leadership from Māori and Pacific people, and I hope that’s what we’ll be seeing over the next few years.

When he’s not looking for the next genetic breakthrough, Cris enjoys spending time with his wife Adele and their three boys. He is also a keen mountain biker, who originally took up the sport as a way to spend time with his sons but now finds himself pestering them to join him on the trails. He says he finds the next generation of young people really inspiring and can’t wait to see where they take genomics in the future. 

“I love working with PhD students. I especially love working with young, enthusiastic medical students. Every now and again When I come off my mountain bike and end up in A&E, or one of my children goes to A&E, I see one of those medical students and it’s so cool to watch them in their environment. I guess in all of my work, I feel I’m always learning and one of the real joys is watching people who are working with me really succeeding and really progressing and becoming better than I am, it makes me really excited for what the future holds.”

Filed Under: World changing Kiwi

Kea World Class New Zealand Supreme Award winner Maia Nuku

Award presented by

The University of Auckland New Zealand logo

SUPREME AWARD WINNER

Dr Maia Nuku, Ngāi Tai

Maia was born in the UK, to English and Māori parents and is now based in New York where she holds the position of Curator of Oceanic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the first indigenous Pacific person to ever hold a curatorial position there. She is recognised globally as one of the leaders in her field and regularly connects with other museums to offer advice and inspiration. A lifetime of advocating for Māori and Pacific people has seen her significantly increase global understanding of Māori and Pacific art. 

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Kea World Class New Zealand Friend of New Zealand Award winners Eric and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom

Award presented by

Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment logo

FRIEND OF NEW ZEALAND AWARD WINNERS

Eric and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom

Eric and Emeline moved to New Zealand in 2017 and launched Spacebase, a consultancy focused on creating sustainable and fair access to space and focused on building a valid space industry in New Zealand. They are also the co-founders of International Space Consultants, which sees them working with partners around the world to develop space systems to satisfy humanity’s needs on Earth while opening the solar system for exploration and development for all.

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Kea World Class New Zealand Award winner Dr. Natasha Anu Anandaraja

Award presented by

Kea charity partner

Starship Foundation logo

WORLD CLASS AWARD WINNER

Dr Natasha Anu Anandaraja

Anu is an educator, paediatrician, and public health practitioner. She is the founder of Equity Now, a platform for women to speak about discrimination in the healthcare system, and the founder of Covid Courage, a not-for-profit organisation created to provide PPE to frontline healthcare workers and address inequities during the Covid-19 response in New York. Most recently she launched her NGO Women Together Global, which connects women across boundaries of geography and culture, to transfer knowledge and skills.

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Kea World Class New Zealand Award winner Joanne McEachan

Award presented by

Kerridge and Partners logo

WORLD CLASS AWARD WINNER

Joanne McEachan, Ngāi Tahu Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha

Jo is an author, speaker and entrepreneur with more than 35 years of experience in the education sector. In 2012 she moved to the US, where she launched her company ‘The Learner First’ which champions a systemic approach to merging academic, social and emotional learning in schools. She also co-founded the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning global initiative and established the Kia Kotahi Ako Charitable Trust, dedicated to addressing the most critical challenges facing our planet, from education to climate change and beyond.

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Kea World Class New Zealand Award winner Mark Inglis

Award presented by

Wētē Workshop logo

WORLD CLASS AWARD WINNER

Mark Inglis, ONZM

Mark is a mountaineer, researcher, winemaker and motivational speaker. He is the first Paralympian to bring home a cycling medal, winning Silver at the Sydney games in 2000. In addition to being a goodwill ambassador for the Everest Rescue Trust, he is also the founder of Limbs 4 All. He splits his time between New Zealand India and Cambodia where he advocates for the rights of people living with a disability and consults with top business leaders and executives on business changes and challenges and the role attitude plays in a company.

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Kea World Class New Zealand Award winner Brianne West

Award presented by

Kea Connect logo

WORLD CLASS AWARD WINNER

Brianne West

Brianne is an Environmentalist and Social Entrepreneur and the founder of Ethique – a regenerative beauty brand she started in her kitchen. To date, Ethique has prevented more than 6 million plastic bottles from ending up in landfill. She has travelled the globe working with companies in the US, UK, Australia and Canada to help them develop sustainability strategies and bring more sustainable products to their range. She is a strong believer that business is an important instrument when it comes to global change and that Kiwi businesses have a unique role to play.

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Kea World Class New Zealand Award winner Cristin Print

Award presented by

Air New Zealand logo

WORLD CLASS AWARD WINNER

Prof. Cristin Print

After studying genomics at the University of Auckland Cris worked in both Australia and the UK, he also co-founded a bioinformatics company which was one of the first to be listed on the Tokyo stock exchange. In 2005 he returned to the University of Auckland where he leads a cross-disciplinary research team of clinicians, biologists and data scientists. He is a global expert in his field and frequently collaborates with his international peers. Cristin also sits across numerous boards and is a champion for data sovereignty for indigenous people.

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With thanks to our valued Kea partners

Filed Under: World changing Kiwi

Sara has had 25 years of global leadership and commercial experience with world-leading companies and emerging technologies. She was instrumental ​in the growth of​ Microsoft’s augmented reality platform Hololens​;​​ led the China market entry for LinkedIn​, ​scaled Pandora’s Music Maker venture and expanded Twitch beyond video games​. Throughout her career she’s been instrumental in building new creator economies, entering new markets, and scaling businesses at rapid pace.

During this webinar, Sara discusses her journey into the tech industry from an English and journalism background, how she approaches opportunities and risks, and the value of trusting your gut instinct.

This webinar is a must for anyone who is keen to learn how to spot new consumer opportunities, disrupt traditional markets, rapidly scale their business, or is weighing up a pivotal choice in their career. Be inspired by a Kiwi who has received multiple industry awards and recognitions, including Billboard Most Powerful Women Executives in Music 2022 and Esports Executive of the Year 2019.

Listen to the webinar below.

About Kea’s WCNZ speaker series:

The aim of Kea’s speaker series is to highlight the incredible stories of our World Class New Zealanders and inspire other Kiwi to push the boundaries of their own business goals and expectations. Our World Class community are keen to use their insights and learnings to help others achieve the same heights of success that they have experienced.

Filed Under: Businesses going global, World changing Kiwi

Rebecca Scown (middle) with some of the Kiwi contingent who attended the Coronation

Rebecca Scown, CEO YES Charity  

How did you come to be involved in the coronation? I run the YES Charity, which supports disadvantaged youth through sport here in the UK. Children and youth is a cause King Charles III cares very strongly about supporting. 

What significance does this event hold for you and why/ how does it feel to be one of a small number of Kiwi included in the event? To be representing NZ alongside such accomplished kiwis has really humbled me. As a NZLr I’ve always felt very strong ties to the UK and understand the significance of this once in a lifetime event. 

What was your favourite part of the event? I felt really proud and really enjoyed being there alongside fellow kiwis. The boys in their beautiful  kākahu ensured we had a lot of celebrity traction and interesting conversations with so many renowned people.

What would you like to share with other global Kiwi about this day? Being a kiwi on the global stage at events such as this you can feel how positive people are about NZ and NZls and our global contribution.

What part of this event will stick in your memory/ will be a story you will tell over and over again to friends and family? After winning 2 Olympic medals I didn’t think I could have such a momentous moment again but the coronation has been an equally inspiring, surreal and special moment. If I have to choose one thing though, it really was a goosebump moment when we all said God Save the King.

Craig Fenton (Front, right) waiting to go through security to enter Westminster Abbey

Craig Fenton, UK New Zealander of the Year 

How did you come to be involved in the coronation? I got a very cryptic call from the New Zealand High Commissioner about an opportunity which needed to be discussed live, and was blown away when it turned out to be an invitation to join the Prime Minister’s delegation at the Coronation.  I’m told I was invited due to my work with Kiwi businesses and expats via institutions like Kea, NZTE and MFAT, for which I was honoured this year by the New Zealand Society with the UK New Zealander of the Year Award (thanks Hon. Clarence Tan!).  

What significance does this event hold for you and why/ how does it feel to be one of a small number of Kiwi included in the event? The royal family has always been part of what it means to me to be Kiwi.  I remember clearly the first time the Prince of Wales, and his then wife Princess Diana, visited New Zealand with their first born frolicking on the lawn of the Governor General’s house in Auckland in 1983.  I also had deep respect for Queen Elizabeth II.  Seeing the Coronation of her successor is truly a once in a lifetime experience and somehow completed a loop for me that started with that early visit by then Prince Charles to Auckland when I was a schoolboy.  It was also a real privilege to be in the company of the other Kiwis who attended, including our own Kīngitanga – a great group and I was very proud of how New Zealand showed up and played such a prominent role in the event.

What was your favourite part of the event? Being part of history in Westminster Abbey in the company of so many amazing people, not the least, my fellow Kiwi delegates all of whom I admire deeply.  A sensory overload from start to finish punctuated by truly surreal interludes like discussing with Emma Thompson whether Armadillo exist in New Zealand and a chatting to Lionel Richie about our Korowai (he has one too!).

What would you like to share with other global Kiwi about this day? Though we are all proudly Kiwi, and we have together built a Nation that recognizes and embraces the grievances of the Crown’s arrival in Aotearoa, the amalgamation of two people is what makes us who we are today.  As a descendant of Maori on one side and Scottish immigrants on the other, this feeling of a mixed Whakapapa runs especially deep.  It was especially poignant to share the occasion with our own Kīngitanga and other Kaumatua. 

5. What part of this event will stick in your memory / will be a story you will tell over and over again to friends and family? Seeing the moment King Charles III was Crowned, sharing that moment with such awesome Kiwi country people, and the surreal and unexpected meetings with people like Emma Thompson, Ant & Dec, Lionel Richie and Nick Cave. I’m deeply grateful to the Prime Minister for the opportunity, and to Jemma Jackson from MFAT for her incredible support throughout.

Sarah Smart and British actress Emma Thompson

Sarah Smart, The Collective, UK and Europe

How did you come to be involved in the coronation? I was fortunate to get an invite as a Kea World Class New Zealander, and the leader of a successful kiwi owned dairy business shaking up dairy in the UK with delicious yoghurt that’s better for people and the planet.

What significance does this event hold for you and why/ how does it feel to be one of a small number of Kiwi included in the event? It is a huge privilege and honour to be part of the New Zealand delegation for such a historic occasion. I am humbled as a leader of a Kiwi business that is pathing the way in innovative, premium and sustainable dairy, up against big global players and showing you can do dairy differently. I am also passionate about showcasing New Zealand on the international stage and the immense opportunities for Kiwi and New Zealand businesses in the UK. The timing of the UK NZ FTA coming into effect at the end of the month is also significant given the timing of this event and celebrating our special UK NZ relationship. Personally I have also enjoyed many royal events over recent years since relocating to the UK with my family. The whole family attended the jubilee celebrations in St James Park as well as the funeral processions for the Queen at Windsor. But to be invited to the Abbey for the Coronation is something I would have never dreamed of. It is a once in a lifetime experience!

What was your favourite part of the event? Soaking up the atmosphere at Westminster Abbey. I could not wipe the smile off my face from the moment we entered the gates to proceed through security. Inside the Abbey the atmosphere was celebratory, upbeat and excited. Everywhere you looked there was someone of significance from Lionel Ritchie, Katy Perry, to Emma Thompson, Lords / Lady’s, royalty and politicians from all over the world, as well as incredible sportspeople like our very own Richie McCaw. I was literally rubbing shoulders with Nick Cave and Rushi Sunak! Everyone was relaxed, friendly and happy to have a chat and photo. It was truly surreal! 

What would you like to share with other global Kiwi about this day? As Kiwi we are so highly revered on the international stage. The males in our delegation were wearing Korowai which attracted a lot of attention, questions and requests for pics. Everyone loved them and loved our New Zealand stories.  It reminded me of how much we can really punch above our weight on the global stage. 

What part of this event will stick in your memory/ will be a story you will tell over and over again to friends and family? Chatting to Emma Thompson about Bill Baileys Armadillo! Being seated so close to the procession where all the royal regalia entered the Abbey and seeing the crowns, orb, spectre so close. We could almost reach out and touch them. They were amazing! Seeing all the royal family close up – they really do look so regal, they just sparkle! The moment the King was crowned and everyone shouted ‘God save the King’, it was the most significant historic moment I have experienced first hand, and I will never forget it!

Filed Under: Global Kiwi, World changing Kiwi

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