Shaun Quincey, a man who’s fond of a challenge, talks to us about his achievements, why mentors matter, and his latest involvement on the board of Big Buddy.
Ask someone on the Shore whether they know Shaun Quincey, and you’re quite likely to hear “Yeah”. They’ll tell you he coaches their kid at rugby, or they’ve done surf lifesaving alongside him, or they see him every month at the Mairangi Bay Fishing Club he founded. Maybe it’s through business; they’ll tell you about the retail finance company he started and sold, or Simfuni, the company he’s built that provides back-end software to the insurance industry. Or perhaps they’ll hark back to the most famous of his exploits: “Isn’t that the guy who built a boat and rowed the Tasman?”
But if you’re one of the folks who don’t know Shaun Quincey, now is a good opportunity for us to introduce him to you. Big Buddy Mentoring Trust recently announced Shaun’s appointment as the new chair of the board of trustees. We spoke to Shaun about his achievements and what motivated him to work with Big Buddy.
First of all, what do people usually remember about you?
“The most memorable event has got to be crossing the Tasman back in 2010.”
Shaun was inspired to become the second person to row across the Tasman by his father, Colin, the first person to achieve that feat back in 1977. Colin left from Opononi, and it took him 63 days using just a sextant for coordinates to reach Marcus Beach in Queensland. Being pre-mobile communications, the people of Marcus Beach didn’t know Colin was coming. He had to convince them he had just rowed across the Tasman and wasn’t the local thief the police were looking for!
Things were a bit different 33 years later when Shaun made the crossing. The technology had improved, but it was still an extraordinary challenge for a young man to take on. Shaun was 22, straight out of university, and had yet to decide on a career. Nearly broke at the time, he lived in his brother’s garage so that every cent he made could go towards building his boat – Tasman Trespasser II – named after his father’s boat Tasman Trespasser. He also needed to raise all the rest of the funds for the journey, seeking corporate sponsors and becoming a persuasive salesman in the process!
On 20 January 2010, he left from New South Wales and rowed to Ninety Mile Beach. It was a 2,200km journey, although Shaun reckons he probably rowed 4,000km, as winds and storms took him away from the planned route. It took 54 days; he capsized twice, was hit by three cyclones, his water-making machine broke, and he even rowed into the side of a whale! At one point, he considered giving up. The boat had capsized, battering him about in the tiny sleeping cabin in the process, and it didn’t right itself for 20 minutes. Twenty minutes must seem like forever when you’re stuck underwater!
If you don’t know this incredible story, you should look in the library for Shaun’s book Tasman Trespasser II (you can also read his father’s book, Tasman Trespasser by Colin Quincey) or listen to Shaun being interviewed recently on the Between Two Beers podcast.
Big Buddy is about helping young boys in sometimes difficult situations. What kind of childhood did you have?
“I was a Navy kid. We moved house a lot, and then my parents divorced when I was six years old.”
Shaun doesn’t see this part of his story as negative; he got used to a lot of change from the many moves, and he always knew he was loved.
“The whole time I had wonderful step-parents, coaches, and teachers. Then, as I hit my teenage years and perhaps got a little bit lost, surf lifesaving became like a second family and gave me a lot of stability. They wouldn’t have realised they were having such an impact, because on the outside I looked like I was succeeding, but they really made a huge difference to me.”
Having good people around you obviously made a difference. Would you consider them as mentors?
“Where I am today is because of all the input people had into my life. People gave me a lot of their time, and their knowledge and experience. I think at the most basic level, having a mentor is just knowing there is someone who gives a damn about you. Someone who knows you and wants the best for you. Particularly when things get tough. At those times, so many of us are privileged in that we can turn to someone, somewhere and say “What the **** do I now? But not everybody has that supporter or that mentor in their life.”
Is that what motivated you to work with Big Buddy?
“I could see that one of the problems we have in this country is that if you’re a kid who doesn’t have any structure or stability, if you don’t have a good role model or somebody to learn from, then you don’t have a solid foundation for becoming the person you want to be. A lot of kids have very little in the way of social capital – no networks to ask, no one with a different idea that might change things. If those of us who have received a lot from good role models, mentors and supporters can now turn around and put some time aside to give back to others, that input can build better, more confident people.”
That positive impact will help more than just one person; it will continue to build and help others. Big Buddy wants to target young men to become better dads, sons, uncles, husbands, and partners; to become people who impact their families and communities positively, too. There are currently 490 Little Buddies (U18) and Big Buddies actively supported across New Zealand, and a waiting list of 130 boys who really want their own Big Buddy. All prospective Big Buddies are thoroughly screened to ensure the safety and appropriateness of the match.
What makes a good Big Buddy?
“It’s not about having all the answers or trying to solve every problem. Showing up for the kids is what it’s all about. Knowing someone is going to turn up to watch that special game, be there when they need to ask a question. A Big Buddy gives a little of themselves – your unique experience and wisdom – it might be some ideas about confidence, about talking to people, maybe some ideas about being smart with money.”
“The average length of a Big Buddy relationship is 3.2 years. It’s not a step-in and step-out transaction. It’s a consistent, stable influence over a reasonable period, demonstrating there are good people who’ll hang in there with you. Big Buddies often say they get more out of it than the Little Buddy. They say it helps them to become better parents themselves, and they get a new perspective from listening to their Little Buddy.”
What do you want to achieve for Big Buddy?
“That waiting list of kids needs Big Buddies, so we need to attract a bunch of suitable men to put their hands up and enter the selection process. We have a strategic framework we’re working hard to implement, too, to turn Big Buddy into a scalable resource to extend its reach, and that will continue developing from the good work of Travis Field, the previous director.”
You’ve also taken on some challenging business projects. Working with start-ups is another one?
“I’m on the board of Icehouse Ventures, where we aim to invest in brave Kiwi founders building global companies. I have some common ground there. I left the corporate world to start my own business, Genoapay, when I realised I needed to drive my own outcomes, and I didn’t have the patience to wait. Building a business was the way to do that.”
“I had learnt from organising and funding the Tasman Challenge that so much is achievable if you want it hard enough and are willing to work hard and persevere long enough to achieve it. At the same time, my experience in financial services taught me that you need to understand your risks, you need to have a plan that addresses those risks, understanding what you can manage and what you can’t, and you need to have controls measuring those things. We want to see more Kiwi business founders get successfully through those hurdles and achieve global success.”
There’s a lot on your plate. What keeps you motivated and up for a challenge?
“There’s always a new challenge because sometimes the biggest risk in life is not taking any risks at all! When I was young, long before the Tasman Challenge, one of my mentors said to me, “When are you going to do your life’s work?” It made me stop and think. Life is short, too short not to be working towards your life’s purpose. Remembering all the people who helped me along the way, and being thankful for the impact they had, makes me want to get involved and be part of making that impact on others.”
If you feel like you have something to give back, consider becoming a Big Buddy. You can find out everything that is required here: bigbuddy.org.nz/one-to-one-volunteer-mentor/
