Updated April 3rd 2026, from my home in Auckland, New Zealand.
Making education the most connected industry
My main goal this year is to increase my emotional resilience to match the intensity of my work life. Joining a gym and increasing daily meditation to 15mins have made a positive impact. So is reading books like The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary.
Adam Walmsley and I are continuing to grow EdTechNZ and EdTech Jobs NZ while working our business development roles at startups (Thinkladder for me and LearnCoach for Adam). I was also recently elected as one of the nine founding board members of the Global EdTech Alliance of Alliances, representing the Asia-Pacific region. I can’t wait to see what I can learn and contribute in the role.
As Adam and I learn what the industry needs, we make it. Two things we’ve made this year that people in education technology have found useful:
1. EdTech events calendar: New Zealand & Australia
2. The EdTech playbook for how to do business with the New Zealand Government
Colouring books
It’s exciting to see my fiancée Sierra Truong’s fantasy colouring books for adults starting to get some real traction. She just had her best month of sales ever by a multiple of four, with 206 books sold in the month of March, following the release of her seventh and latest book Midnight Oracle. The salesperson in me is very proud, but the artist in me is tickled pink.
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