Christchurch entreprenuer selected for Dragons Den mentorship
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RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Wool meets rugby: Norsewear open letter sparks talks with NZ Rugby
A playful jab on social media has led to talks of collaboration between New Zealand Rugby and Norsewear. Photo: Supplied / Norsewear A playful jab on social media has led to a serious yarn between New Zealand Rugby and Norsewear, after the wool clothing company called out the use of offshore-made synthetic beanies in official All Blacks merchandise. Now, the Hawke's Bay-based manufacturer is in discussions with the sporting body on a potential collaboration that could see Kiwi wool proudly adorning Kiwi rugby fans. Owner Tim Deane RNZ's told Checkpoint the open letter posted to Facebook on Thursday was prompted after feedback from rugby fans, annoyed to discover their official headwear was acrylic. "Earlier this week, we were contacted by some die-hard All Blacks fans upset that their All Blacks beanies are synthetic, offshore imports," the post read. "They told us some synthetic beanies are being used as fire starters instead of head warmers. "Doesn't it follow that our sporting legends might wear the very fabric our Kiwi identity is wrapped up in? "Wool and rugby? It's a combo that makes a whole lot of sense. "We want those cauliflower ears protected from the cold." A day later, Deane said he received a call from NZ Rugby. "They were very good-natured about it… and said the post had a number of them smiling in the New Zealand Rugby offices." "They said, look, we'd love to chat in the next couple of weeks just to see if there's anything we could work together on." Deane said the post was meant to highlight a broader issue: New Zealanders talk about supporting local wool but often buy synthetic imports. "In the case of our company, our core business is socks. Eighty percent of the socks in this country are imported, and most of them are not made of wool," he said. Deane argues that New Zealand wool products can be competitively priced. "You can buy a Norsewear Hudson beanie for $29.95," he said, noting it's cheaper than some of the official synthetic alternatives. At the time of the interview, the official All Blacks acrylic beanie retailed at $45. Beyond beanies, Norsewear has already scored a major supply contract with the New Zealand Defence Force. "All of the soldiers, sailors, and aviators will be wearing our socks," Deane said. "We supply a number of other big organisations as well." That's because, said Deane, wool's benefits go beyond national pride. "It's antimicrobial, thermoregulating, durable, and biodegradable. And it doesn't need to be more expensive than synthetics." With talks now on the table, Deane said he's optimistic. "We'll be sitting down with [New Zealand Rugby] in the next couple of weeks to see if we can cook something up." In a written statement, NZ Rugby acknowledged Norsewear's outreach: "We work with a range of amazing Kiwi-based and global businesses… but we're always up for a conversation. In keeping with the theme, NZ Rugby commercial manager Yanie Guthrie tied off the correspondence with a playful pun: "So thank ewe to Norsewear for reaching out." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- RNZ News
Christchurch entrepreneur Nicole Gaviria gets $100,000 for business helping women with eating disorders
Nicole Gaviria is on a mission to help women end binge and emotional eating. File picture. Photo: A Christchurch entrepreneur whose business idea was once backed by the King's charity for start-ups has now landed another major supporter and cash boost. Nicole Gaviria has been selected from 16,000 business owners around the world to be mentored by Dragon's Den investor and host of the Diary of a CEO podcast, Steven Bartlett. It is one of the world's most popular business podcasts, reporting 50 million monthly listeners. Gaviria is a counsellor who started up Binge Free Bestie on a mission to help women end binge and emotional eating. As part of the win she will also get $100,000. Gaviria told Checkpoint she was still in absolute shock after finding out about her success. "It's been an incredible, incredible week and I'm so excited to just see where this can go." She said the journey to get to this point had not been easy, having to let go of her first business Lulah Co, a plus-size activewear brand. "I think my journey is probably pretty similar to a lot of entrepreneurs in Aotearoa. I've built my business from the heart, I've lead with passion, but it's not been easy." Gaviria started Lulah Co with the Prince's Trust seed grant, an opportunity for people under 30 who are curious about starting a business. "I was actually living in my friend's garage at the time, I was under 30, I was curious about business and it just popped up during lockdown as an advert." From there she began the size inclusive activewear brand, with the goal of empowering women. "I wanted woman to have a safe space to explore their relationship with their body and the activewear was one way I kind of tested the waters, but what I really wanted to do was support women with eating disorders and specifically binge eating. "It was an amazing time but you know fashion in New Zealand is a pretty hard business to crack." After the end of Lulah Co and while working as a councillor, binge eating remained an issue Gaviria wanted to help people through, sparking the idea of Binge Free Bestie. "My passion for this field for eating disorders comes from my own lived experience. So I had a binge eating disorder throughout my 20s," she said. "I didn't even know that's what it was. I thought I was just like, you know, every other woman who struggles with food and eating and always struggling to be a certain shape and size." She said despite binge eating disorders being the most common of eating disorders, there were very few options when it came to treatment and support in New Zealand. "The options that we have for eating disorder treatment are a very small amount of services out there, let alone things that are publicly funded." With her business, Gaviria hopes to help tackle part of the issue. "What I'm really trying to do is create a space for these women to come to be part of a community, to feel safe to share and get some real therapeutic tools." She said her work as a councillor had helped her develop tools to help other women who were suffering from binge eating disorders. "I have the resources and I have the backing from someone who knows what they're doing in business to actually take these ideas that I have, so I've already developed a group coaching programme that guides women." "Basically I'm giving them a road map to end binge eating for good and to get out of diet culture and really find food freedom." But with the help of Bartlett, she said she hoped to take the business even further. "[With] that funding, I can take it global. I can make massive impact and I'm just so excited at the possibilities. "I'm really curious what he might suggest, but the idea is to grow this global community." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
1News
7 hours ago
- 1News
Qantas gains ruling over data hack hitting dark web
Qantas has sought to limit the spread of personal information of almost 6 million customers on the internet and the dark web after a sizeable data hack. The airline says it has obtained an interim injunction "to prevent the stolen data from being accessed, viewed, released, used, transmitted or published by anyone, including by any third parties". Meanwhile, law firm Maurice Blackburn said on Friday it has lodged a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on behalf of affected Qantas customers. Legal experts suggest the incident could lead to a class action against the carrier after compensation claims were made against Optus and Medibank following major data breaches in 2022. Qantas has emphasised that even though the personal details of 5.7 million customers were compromised via a hack in one of its offshore call centres, no credit card details, personal financial information or passport details have been accessed. ADVERTISEMENT "We want to do all we can to protect our customers' personal information and believe this [injunction] was an important next course of action," the airline said on Thursday. The names, email addresses and frequent flyer details of four million customers were exposed. The remaining 1.7 million customers had more data taken, including their names, email addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, personal or business addresses, gender and meal preferences. New Zealand-based customers who have accounts with the airline are among those affected. (Source: 1News) A statement of claim lodged in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday identified the defendant as "persons unknown". It defined them as any person or entity that carried out or aided in the cyber hack and that "communicated payment details" to the plaintiff Qantas. The carrier previously said a possible cybercriminal had contacted it about the data breach but it confirmed in the claim that no ransom has been paid. ADVERTISEMENT The airline demanded the defendant also "take all steps to immediately remove all and any of the impacted dataset ... from all accessible internet locations". It also included any publication on the "dark web". Australian Federal Police investigators were also probing the breach.
