All I want for Christmas is - a chance

With the end of the school and university year, there will be a lot of young people around New Zealand looking for that stepping stone to kick start their working life.

When I think back to the series of events that led to me starting Orca I often consider the mixture of hard work and some luck that combined to get me to where I am today.

I left school knowing I was going to be a professional triathlete - it was that simple. But that plan came crashing down when I suffered a career ending injury.

All of a sudden I was an ex-athlete with very little experience at anything else, and definitely no tertiary education. I knew that I still loved triathlon, and so I decided I would become a swim coach.

To get a start I took a cleaning job at a pool. Not glamorous, but it got me in the door. From there I was able to start coaching swim squads, and it was during that period that the idea of making my own wetsuits started percolating.

I also realised that I had an entrepreneurial spirit and wanted to build my own business, rather than work for someone else.

I've always found that my drive to succeed comes naturally, and you definitely need that drive to have the guts to take the first steps, and then to keep you going to make your business work.

Obviously running a business isn't for everyone - but the willingness to do what it takes to get a start, and then prove yourself is equally important in my books.

When I'm looking at hiring people, their experience is definitely important, but I also really want to know what drives them, and often that can be seen in what they do outside of work. It's also important to look at the culture of the business, and what skills people bring with them.

One of the most important things I've learnt over time is the type of people I need to have around me to complement my strengths.

So if you are out there thinking "what I am going to do" or "how can a make start", ask yourself what you are great at, and what you are passionate about. Then work towards that goal and don't get distracted.

It might mean doing something in the short term you may not like, in order to get to the bigger opportunities. You need to work hard, and smart, and have a good mix of integrity and humility so you can work with people and always improve in everything you do.