I was still enjoying school, but my education came to an abrupt end midway through my seventh-form year, when I was singled out in front of my peers, not for my academic potential, but for being mediocre. While the intent may have been to somehow focus harder on my grades, it had the very opposite effect. I went home believing I was not good enough to go to university, and that my best option now was to leave school and get a job. I heard the local community newspaper was hiring and I somehow managed to convince the editor to take me on as a cadet reporter. I thrived in this new training ground, covering everything from protests against closing our hospital, to council elections, and all the local issues in between. I began to realise very early on that if you wanted to be part of making the big decisions for your community, you needed to be prepared to stand up and put yourself forward. After six months of journalism school in Auckland, I returned home with a promotion to the regional newspaper, where I managed to work my way up to editor of the rural pages—a news round that would help me to establish a strong network of contacts and build relationships that eventually led me to setting up a business. 