Mark Richardson says he’s gone through some “dark times” after suddenly losing his broadcasting career early last year – but is now “a happier person than ever” after turning his hand to investment advising.
Richardson became a mainstay of national TV and radio when his career as a professional cricketer finished in 2005. In the years since, he’s commentated cricket for Sky Sport, hosted shows like The Crowd Goes Wild, The AM Show and The Block NZ, and been an announcer on radio.
But in March 2023, when talkback station Today FM went up in flames after just a year on air, he was suddenly without a regular broadcasting gig for the first time in nearly two decades.
“I had some dark times because a lot of it was out of my control, and you blame yourself. I don’t like to fail... one of my motivators is a fear of failure.
“I had enough bites of the cherry – I could’ve made one of them a lifelong job, couldn’t I?
“My role models in broadcasting were guys like Paul Henry and Mike Hosking. These guys killed it... I fell quite short of where they were.”
After Today FM’s closure, Richardson says his first instinct was to stay in broadcasting. But he said it soon became clear that for someone like him – “a 52-year-old white male with centre-right views” – there weren’t many places left.
“My agent said, ‘we’ll find something’... And then she got back to me saying ‘you know what, this is tough, this is quite serious’. And it really hit both of us like a sledgehammer.”
After weighing up his options, Richardson undertook a test with a human resources company to help him discover what line of work he’d most be suited to.
The test found he was a perfect fit for military service. But what was even more “staggering”, Richardson says, was that the test found he was “least suited” to sports and media. He says in retrospect, that makes sense.
“I was a very stressy cricket player and I was a very stressy broadcaster,” he told Real Life.
Mark Richardson found he was "least suited" to sports and broadcasting.
“That’s why I think I burnt out quickly in cricket and in broadcasting. I was a big preparer and I had the ability to make it look like it didn’t show, but I used to get very, very nervous and a lot of anxiety. I just had the ability to, when the red light went on, somehow push play.”
Having dusted off his Bachelor of Commerce, Richardson is now an investment advisor with Forsyth Barr. He says it’s a “challenge”, but he’s really enjoying it.
“I’ve always had an interest in that sort of thing,” he told Cowan.
“It was over a year ago that it all [losing my job at Today FM] happened, and it was for the better. I’m a happier person than I’ve ever been right now. I’ve got a new challenge in life and I’ve made a completely different change.”
Richardson says one of the requirements of his new job is to network, which he says sometimes makes him “a little bit shy”. But he says it has plenty of crossover with his sports career, which has helped him hit the ground running.
“Investing people’s money is very, very close to, playing an innings in cricket. We’re risk managers,” he explained.
“It’s about playing the shots at the right time... In sport and batting, you need a good defence, you need to be well organised.
“It’s no different when it comes to investment and portfolio construction and management. You need a good solid base to build from, and you need to know when you take a chance and when you don’t.”
Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world. Tune in Sundays from 7.30pm on Newstalk ZB or listen to the latest full interview here.
