You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Meet David Barrett
Job:
Owner/Director of Thorvald.
Job description:
Management and Sales & Marketing.
Work background:
I have started and owned several businesses in various industries including in construction, retail, food manufacturing, hospitality and horticulture.
Favourite part of job:
Watching the business develop and grow, and working through the challenges of different periods of that growth and the seasons. I also love watching the sheep flock grow. Julie our shepherd, Francis our head cheesemaker and myself make a great team and bring together completely different skills which is what you need to make great results.
Least favourite part of job:
Paperwork and waiting for the cheese to mature.
What I am working on now:
Expanding our production capacity and thinking about how we can tackle export. Also gearing up for increased milk production which in turn means more cheese and yoghurt I need to find markets for.
A (humorous) story about a job that went badly and what you learned:
I bought a horticultural business once growing capsicums in glasshouses. I had zero growing experience and never realised just how much work was involved. When I look back at all the mistakes I made, I laugh – how could I have been so green (excuse the pun). Fortunately, I didn’t lose too much money and we went on to bigger and better things in produce, so it all worked out but it taught me to never to be afraid of having a go at something and to always keep going, even when it’s really tough.
Qualifications:
Just life experience. I don’t have any formal qualifications.
Interests outside work:
Food and wine, squash, travel, watching movies and reading books.