As a teenager I didn’t know what it was I wanted to be or what I was supposed to do, so I decided very early on to lead a full life and do things to the best of my ability. This philosophy has stood me in good stead in various occupations in various locations around the world.

Like many New Zealanders I left home in my early 20’s to see the world and have been fortunate to live in a number of different places (London, Rome, Egypt, Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Marlborough Sounds, Hong Kong, Brisbane and now, the Sunshine Coast) and to have travelled to many more.

I worked for many years in the entertainment industry – as a stage manager and set designer in the theatre, as a lighting designer in the business presentation industry and for nine years in my own business, Connections Event Management, which specialised in producing theatrical styled events for the corporate sector.

In 1999 I joined Outward Bound New Zealand as an instructor and have been passionate about personal development work ever since. After almost five years as the Deputy Director for OBNZ I moved to Outward Bound Hong Kong as Director. While this did not work out as planned it gave me a good opportunity to see how another OB school operates and in an Asian context.

My interest in the outdoors was fostered at an early age by my father, a passionate ‘greenie’ and skiing enthusiast, who took me on tramps in to the hills, and out on the ocean – one of my earliest adventures was at age 7 when he and I were ‘shipwrecked’ on an island.

My first work in the outdoors was as a ski patroller at sixteen and before joining Outward Bound I worked as a freelance guide and rock climbing instructor in Australia. My other outdoor interests include cycling, mountain biking, paddling, mountaineering (expeditions to three 8000 metre peaks: Everest, Makalu and Shishapangma), sailing (including co-building a 40 foot racing catamaran), tramping (or bushwalking for the Aussies!) and recently I have become interested in geocaching too!.

I have a long-term partner and together we have shared many adventures, and I have a daughter who has recently moved to back to Britain where she grew up.

Over the last few years I have been further developing my interest in working in personal development and have gained certificates in Life Coaching, Training & Assessment, NLP and Business

Thank you
Mark