In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 26, we are back into the topic of education, this time with an entrepreneurial CEO with a vision for a better world through education.

Dr. Jamie Beaton is the 29 year old co-founder of Crimson Education Group. He has carried a passion for education, borne of an entrepreneurial mother who hung her own university degrees, three of them, in his bedroom when he was a small boy.

He went on to excel at Kings College in Auckland, before leaving our shores to study at Harvard University in the USA. Now, some ten years later he has a double degree from that most esteemed of universities, as well as eight other university degrees from the who’s who of prestigious education, including Stanford, Yale, Princeton and Oxford.

His own entrepreneurial efforts led to the creation of Crimson Education, an organisation that supports high school students to gain offers to the world’s most competitive universities, including those he has attended. Crimson Education now has a network of over 20,000 students and with over 2,300 tutors and mentors around the world.

In this episode, Bruce Cotterill talks to Jamie about what makes the best universities and how an aspiring student should select a university. Their conversation is littered with tips and ideas for those considering studying abroad. And parents might be pleasantly surprised at the cost of doing so. If you look in the right places, it might not be as expensive as we think.

There’s also plenty of discussion about the state of the New Zealand education system, how we can improve it, and why we should.

Episode 25 of Leaders Getting Coffee is a “must listen” for any students and parents considering University as a next step, and how to maximise that opportunity. And we hear the story of a fascinating young New Zealander who lives and breathes education.

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Hard on the heels of the Paris Olympics, our guest for Leaders Getting Coffee episode 25, is Nigel Avery, Chef de Mission of our Olympic team.

Inspired as a seven year old watching John Walker’s Olympic Gold medal race in 1976, Avery set his sights on going to the Olympic games. He became one of those most unique New Zealanders who went on to represent the country in three very different sports, namely Track & Field athletics, where he was a national champion, bobsled racing, and Weightlifting where he won two Commonwealth Games gold medals and five medals in total.

And yes, although he didn’t get onto the podium, one of his own sporting highlights is that he did get represent his country at the Olympic Games.

Nigel Avery talks about his own sporting career, including the highs of Commonwealth gold and the frustrations of missing Olympic selection, and how those highs and lows influenced his approach to the role he now plays. We hear about the appointments process to becoming Chef de Mission and the high quality group of leaders and managers put in place to support the New Zealand Olympic team. And we learn about the effort that goes into making sure our athletes feel a sense of belonging in the Olympic environment.

The 2024 Paris Olympics saw New Zealand compete at our most successful games ever. A total of 20 medals, including 10 golds, was probably unexpected by most of us.

And you’ll be surprised at just how hands-on the Chef de Mission role can be, as he shares his unique perspective on the athletes that represented us, the moments of glory, and the disappointments.

There is nothing quite like sport to demonstrate success and failure. Elite sport in particular, can be brutal in it’s honesty. Bruce and Nigel chat about the fine line between first and second in Hayden Wilde’s Olympic triathlon, the celebrations of a medal winning performance and the frustration of fourth place.

And what do you think a celebrated sporting champion would do if he was Prime Minister for a day? You might be surprised.

In episode 25 of Leaders Getting Coffee we hear another great New Zealand story about an intensely competitive athlete, who became the leader of our best ever Olympic team.

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In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 24, we’re talking technology with the founder of one of New Zealand’s most innovative software engineering companies.

Like all good tech stories, this one started in a garage 14 years ago. That was when Danu Abeysuriya founded Rush Digital, a software development and engineering business that can be found working with numerous organisations in New Zealand and around the world.

Born in Sri Lanka to teaching parents, he spent his primary school years living in Zimbabwe before his father’s vision and timing led the family to New Zealand. They settled in South Auckland where Danu went to school and ultimately university. It’s a story well worth listening to.

Rush was the Company that delivered the Covid tracing app in New Zealand, at a time when people were scared and the government was under pressure. We hear about the time pressures and the wide range of issues that had to be dealt with as the mobile phone app landed in everyone’s phone, in just three months.

And then there is artificial intelligence, or AI as we now refer to it. Abeysuriya is rapidly cementing himself as one of the country’s foremost experts on the topic and we discuss the challenges, the opportunities, and the pitfalls of bringing this exciting development in technology, into every aspect of our lives.

Finally, we hear what at technology leader would do if he was Prime Minister for a day. You might be surprised.

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