Harbour to Horizon Podcast

Discover analysis, opinions and expertise from both academia and industry on issues directly affecting New Zealand businesses, industries and communities. The Business School’s Harbour to Horizon podcast series explores contemporary organisational and business challenges through conversations with New Zealand industry leaders and academic experts. Each episode features an in-depth discussion with organisational representatives and Business School academics, providing practical insights into how today's organisations are navigating current challenges and opportunities.

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What if one of the biggest business ideas began with one of parenting's most common frustrations?

When Kate Ricketts struggled to help her autistic son through repeated head lice treatments, she didn't just search for another solution – she invented one. That personal challenge became iSpyNits, an award-winning New Zealand innovation now expanding into international markets.

In this episode, Kate joins Susie Nordqvist alongside University of Auckland Business School academic Dr Wender Martin to discuss the entrepreneurial journey behind transforming a garage prototype into a regulated medical device sold across New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. Together they explore the realities of building a start-up, securing investment, navigating regulation, learning from failure, scaling a business, and the invaluable role universities play in fostering innovation.

This is an honest conversation about resilience, entrepreneurship, and why some of the world's best ideas begin by solving a problem close to home.

What does it take to lead one of New Zealand's most iconic venues, where every major event is expected to be flawless and every decision is played out on the national stage?

In this episode, Eden Park CEO Nick Sautner joins Susie Nordqvist alongside University of Auckland Business School Deputy Dean Professor Andrew Patterson to explore the leadership behind managing New Zealand's national stadium. From overseeing a workforce of thousands on event days to creating unforgettable experiences for millions of visitors, Nick shares the lessons that have shaped his career – from professional sport and personal setbacks to leading one of the country's most recognised brands.

Together they discuss values-based leadership, building high-performing teams, lifelong learning, resilience in the face of redundancy, innovation in the events industry, and why strong relationships remain the foundation of exceptional leadership. Nick also offers fascinating insights into balancing commercial success with community responsibility, and what it really takes to operate a venue that has become synonymous with New Zealand's greatest sporting and entertainment moments.

This is an inspiring conversation about purpose, perseverance, and leading with values in one of the most visible leadership roles in the country.

Behind every successful campaign, brand and customer experience sits a decision, and the best ones are rarely made on instinct alone.Organisations today have more customer data than ever, but having data and knowing what to do with it are very different things. Vanessa Hargraves brings her experience in marketing analytics to explore how businesses turn information into insight that people can act on, and how they do it in a way that customers can trust.

In this episode, Vanessa joins Susie Nordqvist alongside University of Auckland Business School academic Dr Shameek Sinha to unpack the relationship between analytics and creativity. Together they discuss how to tell a genuinely useful insight from an interesting piece of data, what makes analysis persuasive to people without a data background, why storytelling matters, and how responsible use of data can strengthen customer relationships. They also look ahead to the impact of AI on the role of the marketer, what human capabilities will remain valuable, and what advice emerging marketers should hear as they enter a data-rich profession.

This is a thoughtful conversation about curiosity, judgement and trust, and about why the future of marketing depends on asking the right questions, not just collecting more answers.  

What happens when a business built on evidence, not hype,has to market some of the most technical products in healthcare?

Fiona Cresswell never set out to be a marketer. Trained as a physiologist and working as a sleep scientist, she was recruited into research at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare — only to be offered a "temporary" marketing role that turned into a career spanning two decades. What started as a team of seven has grown, under her leadership, into a function supporting a business that now sells into markets around the world. 

In this episode, Fiona joins Susie alongside University of Auckland Business School academic Patrick Dodd to discuss what it really takes to market highly regulated medical technology: the years-long path from clinical evidence to a claim you're legally allowed to make, the discipline required to resist marketing "shiny objects" in a B2B world, and the balancing act of building one global brand across vastly different cultures and regulatory regimes. They also dig into F&P's pandemic-era pivot, the cautious, principles-led approach to AI in a business that can't afford to get it wrong, and designing products for an aging population where usability can be the difference between a product working or not. This is a candid conversation about clinical credibility, stakeholder buy-in, and why in business-to-business marketing, evidence — not virality — is the real currency.