Leadership is not a job title you are given at 40. It is a set of habits you start building now.
The Business South Emerging Leadership Academy brings two small cohorts together with five people who have built genuinely interesting careers and asks them to talk honestly. Not the polished version. The real one, including the parts that did not work.
Limited spaces - register now.
Choose your series:
Secondary School Series | 16 to 18 year olds | 2pm-3pm - for senior secondary students across Otago and Southland. Five 60 minute sessions:
| Date |
Time |
Presenter |
| Thursday 14 January |
2pm-3pm |
Sophie Wiltshier |
| Wednesday 20 January |
2pm-3pm |
Amos Breyfogle |
| Thursday 21 January |
2pm-3pm |
Yvette Shum |
| Wednesday 27 January |
2pm-3pm |
Tony Pleace |
| Thursday 28 January |
2pm-3pm |
Kim Cadzow |
Tertiary Students, Graduates & Young Professionals Series: more info here
How it works:
Format: Five 60-minute sessions per cohort, online. Small groups, conversational, with a light structure. These are discussions, not lectures.
Cost: There is no cost to participants.
Selection: We have limited places in each series, so register today. We are looking for curiosity, willingness to contribute, and people who will make the most of the room. You do not need a leadership title, a CV, or a particular set of grades.
You need to be available for, and commit to attending, every session.
Your speakers:
Sophie Wiltshier: Sophie helps people with big ideas turn them into real businesses. She works at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment supporting innovative companies across Aotearoa, sits on the board of Startup Queenstown Lakes, and previously led the innovation and growth team at Northland Inc. Her career has taken her from Te Tai Tokerau to the southern lakes, always working alongside founders and innovators.
Amos Breyfogle: Advanced manufacturing, 3D printing and product development. Co-founder of Pivot Innovation, board member of Advanced Manufacturing Aotearoa, and leader of a Queenstown based accelerator helping founders build physical products. He has worked with hundreds of companies worldwide, from startups to major manufacturers. Before that, six years on the professional paintball circuit in Europe, which taught him a good deal about high stakes environments and about committing years to something with no guarantee of payoff.
Yvette Shum: Yvette grew up in Dunedin and built a career in visual effects and postproduction across London, Singapore and Shanghai before deciding to come home. She founded Coralcone, a sustainable period care company, developing it through the Startup Dunedin incubator and taking it from concept to market. She will talk about international careers, returning to a small city on purpose, and what it takes to start something on your own.
Tony Pleace: Digital Intelligence Capability Owner at Telstra, with close to two decades in the technology industry. Tony leads the development of digital intelligence strategy using AI, data and automation, and is co-founder of Pick a Path, a platform built to help people navigate a changing job market. He chairs the AI Working Group at Business South. He will talk about what is happening to work, and how to position yourself in it.
Kim Cadzow: Three-time New Zealand national cycling champion and Olympian. Kim took up cycling at 19 and was on the New Zealand team at the Paris Olympics three years later, finishing seventh in the world in the time trial. She raced at the highest level in Europe for teams including Jumbo-Visma and EF Education-Oatly, with a sixth place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and three Grand Tours to her name. In 2026 she made the decision to step away from professional sport. She will talk about ambition, sustained pressure, and the underrated skill of knowing when to change direction.