Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Rob Teina from Supreme Plumbing.

Social media has become an important tool for all small businesses to get their name out to potential clients easily and affordably, but some businesses lend themselves to aesthetically pleasing Instagram feeds a lot more than others. Unfortunately for the plumbing industry, work often isn’t very glamorous.

But Rob Teina from Supreme Plumbing in Auckland has worked out the formula to keep people interested in his business, growing an audience of more than 4,000 on the Supreme Plumbing Instagram. Sharing everything from his tradition of giving the truck a wash ahead of the working week, taking “the bossman” – one of his young children – for a pastry and a cuppa mid-morning or exposing what good and bad workmanship looks like on site, Teina has grown a huge following from his staff of 10.

He hit the headlines earlier this year with a series of cash giveaways to help businesses needing a hand over lockdown, a period he spent on the road a lot as an essential worker.

To chat about building his business and brand, learning a trade from apprenticeship up, and cultivating the mindset and conditions for growth, Rob Teina joined us on Business is Boring.

Either download this episode, have a listen or via Spotify, subscribe through iTunes (RSS feed).