From Hamilton to Miami: How Essential Talent Took New Zealand's Best to the Global Stage
Essential Talent's journey from a humble living room in Hamilton to the global stage, featuring Gilbert Enoka's powerful keynote for Tenneco's leadership event in Miami.
It’s not every day you open your inbox and see an email from one of the biggest companies in the US. Even better when they’re an absolute pleasure to deal with—including the big guy himself, Jim Voss, who, by the way, is an excellent speaker in his own right.
For us at Essential Talent, this was a moment we’d been waiting for. We’ve always wanted to share our incredible New Zealand speakers with the world, and this week, we did just that.
Tenneco—a global giant turning over billions—needed someone to set the tone for a major leadership event in Miami. And who better than Gilbert Enoka? The legendary mental performance coach, best known for his work with the All Blacks, delivered a keynote to 400 of Tenneco’s top leaders, leaving them on their feet by the end. The response was nothing short of phenomenal.
We were so grateful Gilbert could do this for us, our client absolutely loved the presentation, and their leaders were on their feet at the end—exactly what we love to see.
It’s a proud moment for us. We started this business out of our living room in Hamilton—just me and my son Ben —and now, we’re expanding into Australia (that’s already underway!) and now the US.
We’ve always built this business on relationships, quality speakers, and one simple rule: no dickheads. And it’s working.
Like many businesses, we found 2024 to be one of our most challenging years ever. But we used that time to build for the future, and this moment is proof of that work paying off.
We have a long way to go, but we’re here to make an impact. We’re here to shake things up and put New Zealand talent on the world stage. And with speakers like Gilbert Enoka leading the charge, this is just the beginning. Of course as always, we're here to superserve YOU!
Check out Gilbert Enoka's Profile
