This is a thank you to all the mentors out there, all the people who give their time, who understand that our success in life is not determined by what we achieve individually but through how we learn from our experiences to move, to connect, to care, to inspire a fellow human being. It is the actions and generosity of humanity that has taught me the greatest attributes for building my dream.

When I started as a speaker I would meet speakers who would say the likes of “I don’t get out of bed for less than…” a few years later they were asking “how do you get so busy”, I got busy through putting value on opportunity, through working with passion and knowing that when we do, excellence (in all aspects of the word) looks after itself.

In 2016 I was asked to speak at a school, it was the morning after a 1am landing into Auckland, I had another talk that day, the organiser had really grilled me on what to say… there were a whole range of perceived reasons to say NO, but I focused on the opportunity to move, to connect, to care, to inspire and said YES, I did it and it was AWESOME!

Long story short, I’ve just arrived home from speaking in Amsterdam, my first European talk, the furthest I’ve spoken from where it all began at home on the Shore, speaking at the home of one of the most recognised companies in the world ‘Heineken’ … this was a direct result of that school talk that I could have said NO to. In the audience that morning was an Dutchman, who was about to return home, to take over a management position at Heineken. For his conference he would need a speaker to further inspire resilience and innovation, the value of that morning has now exceeded all expectations.

Our opportunities should not be blocked by our perception, rather we should adapt our perception to see that within everything is an opportunity, an opportunity that will arise when we look for the value (beyond the dollar), and work with passion. It is my mentors that taught me this, my mentors all of whom’s success I admire the most.