Colin | Richmond, Marlborough

“We’ve been doing some work in the heritage space recently, and that’s brought us in contact with a number of local iwi, and I’ve just found it really valuable working with them, to understand their cultural philosophy.

I just found it a real learning experience, and sometimes it’s that unknown of what that working with iwi entails, it sort of makes you uncomfortable but I’ve learned that it’s actually a really fantastic opportunity for more of us in New Zealand to understand how that relationship can add value.

So what I’ve learned from that experience is my views are not always right, and that sometimes to embrace other important views, it’s better to slow down in the right direction, than to keep trying to go at pace to finish something. I think that pause for reflection, and the openness to others, other perspectives, is vital. 

When we came into this world, we didn’t have any perceptions of anything, and so our perceptions have been built through our life experiences, and some of those life experiences may not have been the right ones at any particular point in life, so you can’t be sure of what your attitudes and opinions are and how relevant they are, in a progressive new society. So the best way to address that is to be open.

I was born in Liberia, West Africa, and my folks came out from England when I was five, and I grew up most of my years in Auckland, but I’ve spent most of my career out of Auckland. I’m part of a company called Business Lab, and we do engagement and collaboration, hence the reason why we were working with local iwi on taonga tuku iho, which is the Māori term for what we call heritage. I have a very fond relationship with Marlborough, helping them with their Smart+Connected program.”