David Downs is a man with a wild CV: he quit university to become a comedian, helped build the New Zealand comedy scene, co-founded The Classic and even wrote a few books.

Then somehow pivoted into tech, ended up working for Microsoft, running the show across Southeast Asia. And now he is the chairman of The Icehouse and works in government helping shape how the world sees New Zealand.

But there is so much for to his story than the wild career:

A few years ago, David was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. What started as feeling a bit run down turned into being told he had less than a year to live… and that there was no treatment options left in New Zealand.

And that’s where things take a pretty wild turn.

Through a random LinkedIn message, he ends up getting access to a cutting-edge treatment in Boston. Problem is… it costs about a million US dollars.

So in this episode, we get into all of it.

We also talk about what he’s doing now to help bring that same life-saving treatment to New Zealand, so other Kiwis don’t have to go through what he did.

There’s a lot in this one, laughter and tears. It’s heavy in parts, but also funny, honest, and genuinely inspiring. All told by a man with an incredible ability of telling a great story.

David’s one of those people who’s been through something huge… and instead of just moving on, he’s decided to use it to help others.

It was the first time we met. I thoroughly enjoyed his company and I think you will too.

Check out the work being done at the Malaghan Institute: https://www.malaghan.org.nz/

Donate here: https://donate.malaghan.org.nz/event/go-the-distance/home

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Dr. Dan Plews is a sports scientist, endurance coach, and one of the fastest age group IronMan athletes on the planet. And these days you’ll find him with his shirt off at one of those Hyrox events.

You may not know the name, but you definitely know some of his clients- Dame Lisa Carrington, Emma Twigg, Eric Murray, Hamish Bond and Team NZ to name a few. Actually, it was double Olympic gold medallist Eric Murray who messaged me suggesting Dr Dan as a podcast guest.

Athletes and teams that Dr Dan Plews have worked with have collectively won over 30 Olympic and world titles.

In this episode as well as learning more about this low-key legend, some of the stuff we look at includes:

* Lessons from coaching Olympic and world champion athletes

* The biggest mistakes everyday athletes make.

* Longevity in sport - how to stay competitive into your 40s and beyond. Why, at 43, he believes he is still nowhere near done.

And so much more!

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Massive thanks to my long-term podcast sponsors, Generate.

Generate is an award-winning KiwiSaver provider with a track record of delivering strong long-term returns for their clients- you can see their latest returns for yourself on their website.

I became a client when they came on board as the show sponsor and it’s been a gamechanger for me personally. I wish I had been introduced to Generate years earlier.

You can book a no obligation chat with one of their awesome KiwiSaver advisers at generatekiwisaver.co.nz/dom

The issuer of the scheme is Generate Investment Management Limited. To see their Product disclosure statement see generatekiwisaver.co.nz/pds

Past performance does not guarantee future returns.

And just a reminder — everyone’s situation is different, so I recommend getting expert advice before making any financial decisions.

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Helene Barron is an elite trail runner, a high-performance physiotherapist, a coach, a wife, a mum, a daughter, a sister, a legend and now a survivor- after being diagnosed with tongue cancer.

In early 2023 Helene was on top of the world: she’d just finished top 5 at the Tarawera 100 Miler, one of the toughest tunning races in the country.

Life was good: Career, family, everything was lining up.

And then, just weeks later…everything changed. Helene became one of the 77 New Zealanders every day who get told they have cancer.

In this episode, we get into:

+ The moment she discovered something wasn’t right: a tiny sore that turned out to be aggressive cancer

+ The phone call that no one ever wants to receive

+ Recording goodbye messages for her kids before surgery

+ What it’s really like going through six weeks of radiation

+ And how she found the strength to keep moving forward when everything felt uncertain

We also talk about resilience, perspective, and why she lives by one simple rule now: don’t drop the glass balls (I’d never heard this theory before but I love it- I hope you will too)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.