Keran McKenzie

Keran is your typical can do kiwi bloke who grew up in small town NZ spending school holidays working on farms & as a builders labourer. After 7 years in tertiary education Keran turned his back on doing things the traditional way and forged an education in the university of life. Never going anywhere without God on his side, Keran has lived from one adventure to another.

* Published author
* International speaker
* Successful business owner
* Popular blogger on social media, technology, marketing and business
* Father, husband, Jesus follower

* Personal challenge for 2010: Participate in the 2010 Transsyberia Rally

Name
Keran McKenzie
known online as Mr K (Twitter: @oo00_Mr_K_00oo )

Business Interests
Right now I actually have no business interests outside my full time employment with Yellow Pages Group. My core focuses at the moment are family, faith and fun. I still work in the online space however playing with a few side projects in the web and online technology areas. Am currently working with some talented iPhone lads on my first iPhone application (it'll be a guitar tuner - so I know Dwayne's gonna want a copy of the app!)

Who am I? (Describe yourself in 140 characters- note not words)
One crazily passionate guy who loves a challenge almost as much as he loves his daughter (who can be a challenge at times) & wife. (well okay probably not, the wife & daughter are my ALL, challenges are .. just challenges!)

24/7 - my obsessions
At this point I should be saying God - being a "good" christian and all that. Faith should be my obsession. So on top of faith & family, if it's a gadget, electronic device, Apple device or ... if it's a tin box with four wheels and an engine (actually doesn't need four wheels), that'll be me. My favourite blog is www.autoblog.com, followed by gizmodo.com & engadget.com - cars are and always have been a passion for me. Of course I wouldn't be where I am if I wasn't equally passionate about the web & all it can be for businesses today. I built my first commercial website 15 years ago - and haven't looked back.

My BHAG for 2010
It's become know as Rally Challenge 2010 & it is one hell of a big challenge. I want to participate in the Transsyberia Rallye 2010 - that is a rally that runs from Moscow to Ulaanbaatar (that's the capital of Mongolia). It's 6,200k's over 14 days. One of the toughest motorsports events around (although less likely to kill you than the Dakar rally). I want to do this without spending a single $ of my own (I don't have any to spend anyway), and raise a decent chunk of change for Make-A-Wish Foundation (NZ).

My biggest mistake
Not learning from my mistakes - which happens some times. I've made my share of mistakes (some with a number of zero's attached), but I don't dwell on them. Life is too short for that. We all screw up, get over it, move on. There is another adventure (and probably more mistakes) just around the corner.

How I used the learning’s
Fuel for the fire. Mistakes are often coupled with apologies, and I hate that 'sick in the gut' feeling you get when you have to apologies for really screwing up. So I have a little prayer I pray "God, whatever it is I'm learning here, help me learn it, cause I sure as hell don't want to go back through this again!"  These things fuel me to get better & improve at what I do & how I do it.

My source of pride
My daughter - she might be only two but she is an immense source of pride for me. Funny really. See I failed high school, failed University, failed Polytechnic, was told I'd be NOTHING without a degree. But I'm a published author, I've spoken at conferences internationally, I've run successful websites, I've managed successful businesses & I'm now helping shape the future of internet and mobile solutions here in NZ - but all of that is nothing, compared to a smile & hug from my little girl. She's my pride, she's my reason.

Is balance possible?
Totally! I was talking to a friend the other day and he'd been looking at my online portfolio (http://www.keranmckenzie.com/) and he knows I'm involved in church (media tech advisor, small group leader & worship leader), he knows about this crazy Rally Challenge & he knows how much time I spend with my wife & daughter. "How do you do it?" he asked. I feel I could do more, I still find time to read, watch TV and hang out in the garden at home.  Balance is possible - but you must get your priorities right. I have to make time for projects, just like I have to be prepared to walk away from any project when my little girl wants her Daddy.

How did you come up with this outlandish BHAG? What was the spark?
I was standing in a book shop looking at books with rich, famous people who had done some of these crazy things like, ride a motor bike from London to New York "The long way round". I got to thinking, can the normal guy do these things? The guy who's struggling to pay the mortgage, the guy who's paying his taxes and doing things the hard way?
I passed the idea off, but it wouldn't go away. I started thinking about my network and how I could leverage that. I know people, who know people, who .... how far could I push it? Could I find the right people and TALK my way into a TV Documentary, vehicles, logistics and more?

The idea was born not long after that ... and I've only hit one NO so far.

2 Myths in business
That you need a degree to get a 'real' job. Sadly this is encouraged but some businesses and HR companies. Companies need to place importance on degrees, but don't live and die by them when looking to employ. Some of the best people you can find to work with you in business, will come from the most unexpected backgrounds.
That working people 10+ hours a day, 5+ days a week is good. It's not and more companies overseas are starting to see this. I know a number of highly efficient companies who are now moving to 4 day weeks. I think this is something New Zealand companies need to embrace more. People really are only effective in their jobs for 30 to 35 hours a week, most people know this but sadly New Zealand still has a culture of "working" means in the office by 7:30am and leaving work at 6pm.  I like the idea of the French 35 hour working week, and I love the idea of businesses who cherish staff to be flexible around hours - after all, your staff are the KEY to your business.

3 Rules I live by

• Life is for the living - get to living it
• Just ask, what's the worst they can say? - No, anything else is a bonus & you might be surprised at the answer
• Don't believe everything people tell you - believe in yourself, set your mind - go do it.

Don’t Ever... (do this to me)
Tell me I can't do something - I'll probably go out of my way to prove you wrong.

My first job
Builders labourer earning a huge wage of $10/hour which I was really happy with. I remember one day being a young teenager, I picked up a 2x4 plank too fast, it spun round and smacked my boss upside the head. Through the blood & bent glasses I was given a lesson that day - if a job is worth doing, do it right! Slow down and do it right.

I knew I was onto something when ...
I met my wife - if you are looking for some business thing here, you are outta luck.

How do you personally handle failure
I'm a believer in "grieve, let it go and move on" - I'll sit down and have a good cry (if the failure merits it) and I have a little grieving session. I get up, find a mate and have a beer & a jolly good laugh. Then move onto the next thing. I heard someone say (or I read somewhere) that real failure is not to fall down. Real failure is not falling down again. Real failure is when you fail to get up .. to fall again.

The next big thing in my life will be...
Conquering this challenge, once that's done I'll work out whats next. My wife and I have some plans we have had on hold for a while that we want to explore - there's a great big world out there & NZ is pretty small.

My secret to managing people
Talk to them. I'm a people person, I love to find the story within a person. Working with people I find their story and work with that to help them bring out the best in themselves. Find the story, find their passions, find their strengths - leverage these and bring out the best in the people around you, and bring that best into your business. Remember you employ people, not staff.

I set goals that... or I don’t set goals because....
Goals, setting and not setting.  I probably should but I don't really. I'm a futurist, I prefer to dream and see where it takes me. Having said that I guess I've set one HELL of a goal now though aye

If I had my wish I would have unlimited....
Wishes he he .. I have long dreamed of sitting in the back of a church or venue and hearing some young passionate person talk about going to set up a hospital in some country and being able to walk up to them quietly afterwards and say to them "Go fulfill the dream God has in your heart - don't worry about the money, it's taken care of".

I believe education is...
Overrated and underperforming in this country. I spent my entire child hood slipping through the cracks, the stuff I needed to know, school didn't teach me. I wasn't taught the value of $1, I wasn't taught how to save, invest or manage money. I left 7 years of tertiary education with a $42,000 debt and no degree to show for it. "You can't put a price on education" - bollocks, you can and people do every day. It's taken me 12 years to pay off that debt, 12 YEARS! It's one heck of a noose around your neck starting life, starting marriage etc.
HOWEVER, having said that, I would encourage ANYONE to pursue education in while they are young. I don't have a degree, and because of that I'm 3 points short of the required VISA points for Canada - a country my wife and I would love to live & work in one day. That's an extra hurdle I have to cross. Get an education - whatever that means for you - then get on with living life. Just because you have a degree in one subject, doesn't mean you can't work in another area.

People are often irritated when I
Turn out to know a litte more about a subject than they thought I did. I sometimes don't let on I know as much as I do (some times I don't  know much).

People admire me for...
You'd have to ask them I guess ...

My favourite charity
Make-A-Wish Foundation (NZ) is a charity that works with terminally ill kids, giving them a moment in their lives to remember for ever. A moment that can change their lives - happy memories. I'm a believer of moments in life & love the fact that Make-A-Wish help build these moments. Did you know that Make-A-Wish has been in NZ for over 20 years? And they grant around 160 wishes a year? That's 160 lives impacted and moments created. Incredible!!

Now that the recession is ending I will...
Not really make too many changes. Things have been VERY tight budget wise for us over the past 18 or so months. But that's also taught me what we can live with and without. Another year of living tightly, means more funds in the bank for tomorrow.

Parting Shot
Rally Challenge 2010 is all about leveraging networks and asking people to get involved. I'm going to have lots of opportunities for others to get involved with this project, in fact I need your help. Do you know someone at TVNZ that can help me talk to the right people about getting a "Letter of Commitment" for a TV Documentary, can you help me source vehicles? Can you help with logistics around getting vehicles to other countries. Are you an accountant or lawyer who'd like to help out - I need advice about the best ways to set up trust accounts etc so that Make-A-Wish can get all the funds we raise, in a transparent open way.

Want to see this normal Kiwi guy battle these odds and triumph? I can't do it without your help - check out http://rallychallenge2010.com and click on Getting Involved to see how you can help.