Meet our 40 Under 40

Business leader
Dan Teo, BE(Hons), MEMgt

Dan Teo, chief executive of management advisory company Radically Consulting, offers a piece of wisdom to anyone thinking of starting a business: don’t go it alone.

The University of Auckland alumnus started Radically in 2018 with business partner Edwin Dando. Together they’ve gone through good times and bad.

On the upside was the satisfaction of winning several large customers and making more than $8 million in revenue just a few years into the company’s life.
The reverse was seeing their income dry up within a couple of weeks post-Covid.
“I don’t know that Radically would be as successful if I hadn’t had a great business partner in Edwin,” says Dan.

Today, Auckland-based Radically has a customer base that includes Fonterra, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Bankwest and Mazda. With more than 30 full-time staff across Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney, where Dan is located, the firm’s reach extends throughout Australia and New Zealand.

“Our purpose is to connect humanity and high performance in organisations – typically larger corporates – to modernise the way they work and operate.”

He came to management consultancy via a background in software engineering after doing an Engineering degree and Master of Engineering Management. “I quickly learned I loved working with people more than I did with code.”

He also loved solving complex business challenges to help organisations win in the market.

“Basically, what we do in consulting is apply the same critical thinking and methodical approach to diagnosing business challenges, then come up with a logical plan to address them.”

Disruptor and innovator
James Palmer, BA, LLB

Two companies set up by University of Auckland alumnus James Palmer and backed by the likes of Stephen Tindall are out to help struggling households by disrupting the affordable housing market. And at the stroke of a pen, the government has given James’s ambitions a big boost.

The political science and law graduate is founder and chief executive of Community Finance and Community Housing Funding Agency (CHFA). The former manages money that the latter channels to social-housing providers to support the 21,000 Aotearoa households struggling to put a roof over their heads.

Earlier this year the government committed $150 million to CHFA to lend at below-market interest rates to community-housing providers for home-building and rent subsidies.

James says that will allow CHFA, the government, philanthropists, banks and KiwiSaver providers to “come together, pool resources and provide loans at a much lower cost than banks to these charities”.

It is the pinnacle of his organisations’ achievements to date.

“We’ve notched up a number of firsts when it comes to impact investing – raising hundreds of millions of dollars for charities, bringing different sectors together and helping enact policy change from government.

“But the day we learned we had secured that support, 28 February, is one we won’t forget. My team and our backers, including such amazing Kiwis as Anna Stuck and the Tindalls, Lindsays and Edgars, have a lofty goal of helping tackle and beat our affordable housing crisis.”

James concedes that ultimate goal will take billions of dollars, but it is “entirely necessary for the sake of our people and the next generation”.

Entrepreneur
Jordan Rondel, BCom

Jordan Rondel has learnt a lot about business over the years. But first and foremost among her strategies are trusting her intuition and being herself.

Jordan is the creator of The Caker, a phenomenally popular cult cake company specialising in luxury made-to-order cakes and do-it-yourself cake mixes. She has also published numerous recipe books and was a judge on The Great Kiwi Bake Off.

Born in Aotearoa to an Irish mother and French father, Jordan traces her love of baking to childhood trips to Paris visiting her grandparents. Owning a cake business, however, was never on the cards for the 36-year-old, who graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in marketing and international business.

In hindsight though, she says her degree “turned out to be a pretty spot-on choice”, giving her “the tools to think strategically and communicate effectively”.

The Caker began as a side hustle selling made to order custom cakes while Jordan was still a student at the University of Auckland. A few years later, after opening a shop on Auckland’s Karangahape Road, the business branched out and added luxury cake mixes to its repertoire.

In 2019, Jordan moved to Los Angeles where The Caker’s client list grew to include celebrities such as Pamela Anderson, Flea and Miley Cyrus. Last year after more than a decade of success, Jordan made the tough decision to sell the business.

Now she has a new project on the go, blending beauty and emotional wellness. Aimed at Gen Z, her goal is “to create another beloved brand that resonates deeply with people”.

Humanitarian
Dr John Nuukai Ward, MBChB

Dr John Nuukai Ward is a specialist sport and exercise physician who works with elite athletes in Australia. He is also dedicated to improving health services for Pacific and Indigenous communities in Queensland.

“I think my upbringing in rural New Zealand has shaped my personality,” says John, who grew up in Kaitaia.

“Having family members in less fortunate situations and with poor health outcomes has driven me to want to make an impact.”

As the current chief medical officer for Surfing Australia, John covered the 2024 Paris Olympics in Teahupo‘o, Tahiti. He is also the chief medical officer for the Dolphins NRL team, the Gold Coast doctor for swimmers at the Queensland Academy of Sport, and the Toa Sāmoa rugby league team’s doctor.

John, who is of Sāmoan background and grew up in a predominantly Māori community, has a strong commitment to helping Pacific and Indigenous populations. Following the completion of his specialty training, he is now planning on working with Pacific and Indigenous health clinics in South East Queensland.

“My goal is to make a difference in communities that are less fortunate. I am now in a position of privilege and want to give back to these people,” he says.

And despite living in Australia for a decade, Aotearoa is never far from his mind.

“I was given advice when I was training at Kaitaia Hospital to go out and succeed in the world and then bring the knowledge and skills home. This is something my wife and I are planning in the future, when the time is right.”

Influencer and changemaker
Jen Jones, BProp, MEngSt

Jen Jones came to the University of Auckland wanting to be an architect. A Bachelor of Property and a Master of Engineering Studies later, she is building a multidisciplinary community of designers.

Since 2023, Jen has been getting Auckland Design Week (ADW) off the ground, intending it to be an annual event that brings together industry, emerging talent and the wider public. ADW, which has been staged for the past two years, aims to “celebrate and strengthen” Aotearoa’s creative sector.

“I always knew I’d work for myself, but if you’d told me it would be running a design event, I definitely would have laughed,” says Jen, who is self-funding ADW while contracting as a programme manager at Auckland Airport.

“What started as a back-of-an-envelope idea has quickly grown into New Zealand’s largest multidisciplinary design event. I’m most proud of the community it’s built,” she says.

She acknowledges it’s a risky venture, but she’s determined to see it through without outside investment. A business adviser is helping her shape and scale both ADW and a complementary tech start-up, and he brings “both rigour and belief – and that has been a game-changer”, she says.

“I’m also inspired by women who make brave decisions in complex environments – whether in design, business or leadership – especially those balancing ambition with family life.”

As Jen also is, with two children aged three and five. And although she has plenty on her plate, she is continuing her studies.

“My one non-negotiable is my weekly philosophy class,” she says.

Performer
Ayesha Green, GradDipArts, MFA

For Ayesha Green (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, Kāi Tahu), being an artist means there’s little distinction between work and life. Art is always on her mind – a tool to “wrestle with complicated ideas about our reality”.

“Being an artist isn’t really a nine-to-five job, where you might go home, switch off and pursue hobbies – it permeates my every waking moment,” she says.

Raised in Hamilton, Ayesha earned a Bachelor of Media Arts from the Waikato Institute of Technology before graduating from the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts in 2014 with a Master of Fine Arts. In 2016, she returned to complete a Graduate Diploma in Arts, specialising in museums and cultural heritage.

“Through my masters degree, I had learnt the language – art as a visual language – but I hadn’t figured out what I wanted to say in that language,” she says.

“I decided to return to university, as I had some pressing questions around various socio-political issues within New Zealand nationhood, and I wanted answers and some direction about how to seek those answers.”

Today, her practice spans drawing, painting and sculpture, with much of her work focused on “mātauraka Māori, nation-building and the relationship between empire and Indigeneity”. She’s been exhibited widely in Aotearoa, and has completed artist residencies in Brazil, Rarotonga and New York – the latter as recipient of the prestigious Harriet Friedlander Residency.

Ultimately, she says she feels lucky to be absorbed in such a rewarding field.

“The industry I work in is so dynamic and so interesting that if I’m not physically in the studio working, I’m doing something art related.”