Waikato Business News November/December 2019

CONFERENCE, EVENTS AND VENUES
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS November/December 2019
47
Soda showcase fuels
entrepreneurial fire
One year of hard work and determination
for several Soda Inc graduates was
celebrated by more than 200 people who
left with a fire in their belly and a drive to
fulfil their entrepreneurial dreams.
The Soda Inc Ambition
Showcase – powered by
ASB Bank – saw entrepreneurs
from all over New
Zealand and as far as Australia
come together for an evening of
storytelling.
The evening was kicked off
with MC Sacha Coburn singing
happy birthday to Soda
as the not-for-profit turned 10
Richard Odgers and Colin Young from ASB.
Rachel Adams, Ricky Jack and Luke Taylor.
Dorenda Britten and Vaughan Fergusson.
this year.
Soda CE Erin Wansbrough
then shared some of the Soda
origin story saying that the
Soda team wanted to honour
their past as it guided them into
the future.
“Part of that past is our
namesake, Mary Jane Innes.
In 1900, Mary Jane Innes
launched a soda-bottling factory
on the corner of Victoria
and Bridge Streets in Hamilton.
“She laid the foundations,
not only for today’s brewery
but, also for the soft-drink giant
that became Oasis Industries in
1979. Oasis Industries, who
after various name and ownership
changes, are now the
largest bottlers in New Zealand.
You might have heard of
them… Coca Cola Amatil NZ!
“Mary Jane Innes is the
beating heart that fuels the team
at Soda. The tenacity required
to achieve what she achieved as
a businesswoman in the 1900s
underpins our culture, ethos
and purpose.
“Soda endeavours to continue
honouring Mary Jane’s
success through supporting and
nurturing like-minded entrepreneurs,”
Erin said.
The crowd then heard from
serial entrepreneur Samuel
Junghenn, the founder and head
strategist of Think Big Online,
who spoke about the 10 biggest
mistakes he had made in business.
“As an entrepreneur you are
always striving to get to that
point of success, but like my
mum said, ‘it’s not about the
destination, it’s the journey’.
That’s been the biggest lesson
for me. You’re never going to
reach the destination of success,
it’s about the journey,” he
said.
Following Samuel were four
of Soda’s clients and alumni.
Lisette du Plessis, founder
of Magpie, spoke about her
crowdfunding publishing
startup business, highlighting
her love for books.
Du Plessis said she had been
a publisher for 10 years before
she decided to revolutionise the
industry with own publishing
company who publish “books
that matter”.
Stefan Roesch, co-founder
of FilmQuest, said he was the
first person in the world to
complete a PhD in film tourism
and that’s how his startup came
about.
“FilmQuest provides a platform
for movie lovers who
want to explore the world's
iconic film locations, discover
the best film tourism experiences
and read about film-inspired
travel stories.”
Roesch said the Soda Lift
programme had enabled Film-
Quest to set their sights on taking
their business to the world.
“We want to make Film-
Quest available to everyone
and that means bringing on
Graduates with ASB and Soda_Richard Odgers, Wes Moir, Anna Latū, Georgia Latū,
Erin Wansbrough, Simone Stewart, Stefan Roesch, Tony Brunton and Michael Briggs.
board the 80 million film tourism
lovers that are already out
there right now searching for
the spot where John Snow and
Daenerys Targaryen had that
conversation on that cliff. We
will be calling on all of you film
lovers to join with us to capture
the magic.”
Soda alumni Andrew
Bishop, founder of Findatruckload,
then spoke about his success
since finishing the Soda
Lift programme in 2013 and
the lessons he has carried with
him since.
“The three big things Soda
taught me that helped my business
take off were: Find your
why, hire great people and realise
that change is the only constant
in life,” he said.
Bishop said Findatruckload
had just turned 10 years old
and now employed 23 staff
throughout New Zealand, just
hit $10 million in revenue,
delivered 97,000 loads, worked
with 1600 carriers and had
1500 customers.
Georgia Tiatia Fa’atoese
Latū, co-founder of Pōtiki Poi,
finished the Soda client stories
by challenging the crowd to be
more inclusive in their business.
“Sometimes as a younger
business owner I am overlooked
based on my age. We
have had meetings where Mum
and I have been ignored and
only my Uncle Jess has been
listened to because of our gender.
“I think, far out, because
I’m 13, female and Māori I am
going to have to really shake
things up with some dinosaurs
and represent rangatahi Māori
Jiabao Zhao (Bao), Callum Macdonald,
Namrah Siddiqui Carpio, Chun Ho Tse (Leo).
Georgia Tiatia Fa’atoese Latu¯, Eliot
Jessep and Anna Tiatia Fa’atoese Latu¯.
even more.”
Vaughan Fergusson,
founder of Vend, stepped up to
the podium to share his entrepreneurial
journey and wowed
the crowd with the amazing
things he has done, all in the
name of his mum.
“My mum sparked the passion
I have for what I do and
I wouldn’t have done any of it
without her,” he said.
The showcase was wrapped
up by ASB commercial regional
manager Richard Odgers.
“To get to success, we need
a fire in our belly to spark a
desire to do something – that’s
ambition, that’s what this
showcase is about, and after
those speeches I have a fire in
my belly,” Odgers said.
Soda team: Kyra Piccione, Angela Smith, Rachel
Adams, Erin Wansbrough and Anna Devcich.
Samuel Junghenn and Stefan Roesch.