The youngest of 12, Conor English needed some resilience as he grew up in a farming family in the small township of Dipton, Southland. Since then, he has had a varied professional career from farming, selling vacuum cleaners, being a CEO, working in the Beehive, listing companies on the NZX, doing projects in Rwanda, Kazakhstan; exporting goat embryos to China, selling horse meat to Russia, and being an Independent Advisor to the Reserve Bank on monetary policy, amongst other things.
Conor is a believer in enjoying every day. A self-described very amateur poet with absolutely no musical talent, Conor has some experience with life’s transitions and the grit and resilience required to navigate them.
After a routine doctor’s appointment, out of the blue, the father of six was diagnosed with Prostate cancer. Further tests identified that unfortunately it spread outside of his prostate to be a very real threat to his life. At first the challenges seemed insurmountable, but using some simple techniques, he was able to make progress.
Conor will canvas resilience and transitions in business and life, in the context of some key global trends that will likely impact New Zealand. He tells the very personal story of his ‘Inconvenient Truth’ as he deals with cancer.
Covid-19 has seen the rule book thrown out when it comes to fiscal, monetary and immigration policy and has a huge global impact on how we work and relate as countries and individuals. This requires us to adapt and transition to a post-COVID world - just as Conor has to transition to a post-cancer world. Conor brings insights from his personal journey that give a perspective of how to build resilience and transition through whatever gets thrown at you in life and business.
Conor doesn’t see himself as anything special. Everyone has something to deal with in their lives, careers or businesses. He threads together personal and other experiences to provide some handy hints on how to navigate through choppy waters and enjoy doing it!
This year Conor was our keynote speaker on the topic of “Disruption”. Conor’s presentation was engaging and relevant to our farmer clients whilst also challenging their thinking throughout t ... keep reading PGG Wrightson
