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Rob Teina has built a solid social media following that’s helped his company grow (Photo: Supplied)
Rob Teina has built a solid social media following that’s helped his company grow (Photo: Supplied)

PodcastsJuly 2, 2020

How social media built a community around this Auckland plumber

Business is Boring host
Rob Teina has built a solid social media following that’s helped his company grow (Photo: Supplied)
Rob Teina has built a solid social media following that’s helped his company grow (Photo: Supplied)

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.

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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).

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Froth Technologies

PodcastsJune 25, 2020

The start-up boosting New Zealand’s craft beer culture with locally-grown yeast

Business is Boring host
Froth Technologies

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 Simon Cooke and Ryan Carville, founders of yeast company Froth Technologies.

A lot goes into making good beer. Fresh hops, malt, and water are all mixed by talented brewers who know the craft like the back of their hand. But one key ingredient that’s often overlooked by keen beer drinkers is the yeast.

Until recently, despite the booming local craft brewing scene, almost all yeast used was imported from a very small group of commercialised strains.  The yeast being used didn’t even scrape the surface of the astounding variety of yeasts available, and their potential use in creating new, interesting beers.

Last year Wellington craft professionals Simon Cooke and Ryan Carville set out to change the scope of yeasts available for New Zealand brewers. And after a successful crowdfund last year, their company, Froth Technologies, is working with leading-edge technology and science to bring local yeast to the people.

To talk about their business journey and the world of brewing and yeast, Cooke and Carville joined Simon Pound on Business is Boring.

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