PASSIONS & SPECIALITIES

SPEAKING• I can talk the hind leg off a donkey and make you laugh all at the same

time – speaking to groups and sharing war stories, tips, tricks and how to beat the odds is what I really enjoy doing.

• Here is what one person said about my speaking:• (Some people -like my wife say: ‘Shut Up Gavin – That’s Enough.’)• ….Very pleased to let you know that of the 18 presenters over the week

you were our most popular presenter for the program with an 89% excellent score for your presentation. I was similarly impressed by your presentation… .

• If you want me to speak to your team, then get in touch – I’m a sucker for a good pitch.

WRITING• Nothing gets me out of bed in the morning like having a writing task – I

LOVE putting ideas onto paper and crafting the words and finding ways to get the inner man standing there stark naked, for the entire world to see.

• I’ve written a couple of books and I have a hundred more ideas sitting in the waiting room of my mind waiting to jump out and run all over the paper.

• If you are feeling in a generous benevolent mood hop over to Amazon and give your entire town a copy of one of my books as a Holiday Present – any holiday will do: ‘Squirrel Appreciation Day’, for example, which falls every January the 21st.

MAKING CLIENTS HAPPY• Making Clients Happy – clichéd, I know and you are all probably saying: –

“yeah yeah yeah, pull the other one buddy” but it’s like a gambling addiction – you make your client happy and it gives you an endorphin boost and you walk around with a silly grin on your dial for the rest of the day.

• Give us a chance and not only get the happiness injection yourself but share that with us too.

INFORMATION• I can absorb information at lightning speed – I read at 800 words minute –

down from 1,500 wpm when I was young fresh and my eyes hadn’t fallen out of their sockets. That means I can get up to speed really, really quickly whatever’s on the table.

CHINA• I’ve spent half a life time in China and watched it grow from where it was

to where it is now – a serious plank in the world’s power structure. I’ve written books, built businesses, advised governments, held company’s hands, created strategies, met a zillion seriously interesting people, and mentored all sorts of people on China – I get China and I get how to make China happen for you. I also love China with a passion – even the warts and the freckles and the funny walk.

ENTREPRENEUR• I’ve been in my own business since I was a little nipper of 19 years old – a

fish and chip shop right next to a meat processing works in New Zealand – and now, at the grand old age of a ‘certain age’ I am still in business for myself – I’ve made and lost a couple of dollars (missed the number of millions of that little nugget of information) – have had a staff of 450 and have had companies with way less staff than 450. I know what it is to succeed and I know what it is to fail. I know potholes intimately and I know the winning post.

COMMUNICATOR• I am good communicator – I can get ideas across and I can listen to your

ideas and come up with plans. Cunning plans. Wonderful plans. I can write – whether books, blogs, exposes, editorials or explanations for why I was speeding to the judge. Or even the occasional birthday card and apology for forgetting my wedding anniversary.

TECHNOLOGY• I love technology – I love the creative space. I love the way the world is

moving. I’m an optimist – one of these days the world is going to be a paradise and it’s my job to help that happen by doing my utter best every minute of the day.

INVESTMENT• I’ve raised a billion dollars once (yep! that’s a Billion with a B) – and then I

hadn’t raised a billion dollars. One day you are the bird who sings happily on the perch and the next day you are the sheet of newspaper at the bottom of the cage - ‘Thank You’ Mr Corrupt Official for ruining that little payday. I have put together hugely big multi-100’s of millions of dollars funding platforms and investments and worked with multi-squillion dollar rich listers and gained their trust and their respect (even if not always their investment).

IDEAS• I’m all about ideas – sometimes I have ten new ideas before breakfast.

Not an ideas factory – more like an ideas atom bomb – well, at least a bunker buster if not the full 10 kilotons.

ME• I never give up.

• I truly never give up – it’s not in my DNA.

• I’m exceedingly happy to be alive every single day that I open my eyes.

PEOPLE• I’m genuinely grateful for every single experience in my life – the good, the bad

and the indifferent.

• I like people – people are the most wonderful things about this planet. And some of them aren’t.

• I care deeply about people and believe that world needs a bloody great kick in the backside because we bomb, burn and kill people/kids and little puppies. We don’t feed everyone on the planet but throw away mountains of wasted food. 1% of the planet lives like sybarites and too many of the rest of us 99% wear ragged clothes and barefooted shoes because of our greed and our collective heartlessness. We discriminate because of the color of our coats or our beliefs or lack thereof.

THE WORLD• There world could be a lot better if we all pulled together and tried. Time

to change the world. Time to start being nice.

INTEGRITY.

• I would rather die than compromise my integrity.

NEVER GIVE UP• Did I say I never give up?