Between Two Beers Podcast

Five years ago Paddy Gower came on Between Two Beers over a lockdown video call, sitting between about seven craft beers.

He’s back on Hambassadors, and he’s now off the drink completely. We talk about what giving up drinking and the Newshub redundancy did to him, why election night is “the Everest” of live TV (this is his seventh), and what he’s hearing from Kiwis on the campaign trail.

He also gets the challenge of explaining the overhang like we’re ten years old. Plus a question from Jason Pine, and Paddy’s case for the Phoenix in Saturday’s Kiwi derby.

Before that: Kane Williamson spent a full day in the studio before his episode drops on Sunday night, then refused to leave the golf sim. Our flight to Christchurch circled for 40 minutes before getting diverted to Wellington. We emceed a golf day with a hole-in-one stunt that got the whole room checking under their seats, and hosted a live Q&A for Apollo Projects’ 25th birthday with the Reflections team. Rowan Simpson beat us at golf too.

Also: Between Two Bits (Auckland FC v Wellington Phoenix), a first wedding anniversary on What’s the Occasion, and a look back at our episode with Dame Catriona Williams.
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NZ showjumper and eventer Catriona Williams broke her neck in a fall from a horse and became tetraplegic. Fourteen months into her marriage, she told her husband Sam to leave. He stayed, and 23 years on she calls herself lucky, not inspirational.

Through her charity CatWalk she has helped raise $28 million for spinal cord research. She has hand-cycled to Everest Base Camp, been made a dame and stood up again.

In 2021 a second accident broke her neck again. Before surgery she signed a form saying she might not survive it, and her answer was “it’s okay.” Now she’s preparing to hand-cycle 3,000 miles across America, and her goal is to one day dance with Sam.

Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ’s most trusted connection platform.

Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers Clothing.
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Is your business a pet or livestock? Rowan Simpson, employee #3 at Trade Me and an early Xero investor, sits down with Steve, Seamus and business coach Di Foster to pick apart the business behind Between Two Beers.

What’s really holding it back, where it could grow, and what should we stop doing?

Rowan covers constraints, the three engines every business runs on, the AI hire great teams will soon make, thinking beyond New Zealand, the three ways to get paid, and why deciding really means saying no.

Rowan is the author of How to be Wrong: a crash course in startup success, and was the first investor in Vend.

This episode is proudly sponsored by Xero - one platform for accounting, payroll, payments and reporting, so your business stays in control as it grows. Start your free trial by searching Xero today. Terms apply.
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As a teenager, Brad Iles was a world schools golf champion, and Michael Campbell called him one of the best talents to come out of New Zealand in a long time.

At 20, he fell off the back of a golf cart in the US, suffered a life-threatening head injury and woke from a coma to be told he might never play again.

Within 18 months he was leading the Australian PGA alongside Cambo, with his dad on the bag. Seven years on tour followed, then he booked a flight home and never went back.

This is the story of starting again: a minimum-wage warehouse job in Queenstown, glassy to shareholder in a five-venue hospitality group, and the inflatable park that sparked the golf simulator business he runs today.

In this episode:
14 houses by age 14, and how having no friends made him a golfer
His dad’s chart: scratch by 16
Why Kiwis flush it on the range and Americans out-golf them on the course
Hearing your handicap from the sound of the strike
Life on tour: 100 cheeseburgers, a shank through a hotel door, and why it gets lonely
The putt for a quarter of a million dollars
Sleep seizures 24 years on, losing his licence, and what the bus taught him about slowing down
His best parenting advice: let them be kids

Between Two Beers is proudly brought to you by One New Zealand. We believe that One NZ connects New Zealand, while Between Two Beers connects New Zealanders. And together, we are NZ’s most trusted connection platform.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We reflect on Becki Ross' beautiful send-off at Lake Karāpiro, hearing her mum mention Between Two Beers in her speech, and what happens for guests long after the mics go off.

Plus: the post about a “90s childhood” street that struck a chord, and why who you live next to might matter more than the house you buy.

Char spends two days off-grid with Ladies Who Venture with Gemma McCaw. A five-year-old who out-lasted her big brothers in the Hanmer Springs cold plunge. What poker teaches you about business. And Sammy’s once-a-year birthday coffee.

We also catch up with Suzanne McFadden, lead interviewer for Reflections, our private family documentaries. She talks about the 50-year marriage that still had a secret, the Swiss farmer who sang to his mother on camera, and the one thing almost everyone says matters most. Find out more at reflections.life.

And a tease for next week: a guest with more than 100 games for the All Blacks, telling parts of his story for the first time.
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