Founder resilience isn’t luck. This episode shows how founders stay resilient with practical resilient leadership habits, mindset shifts, and tools you can use this week. Apply it now: daily practices, decision frameworks, and stories from David Downs.

David Downs is the CEO of New Zealand Story, former Microsoft executive, best-selling author, and cancer-survivor-turned health advocate. He helps Kiwi companies scale their global impact through brand storytelling and practical leadership, and serves across innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives in Aotearoa.

What David explains

Founder resilience isn’t luck. This episode shows how founders stay resilient with practical resilient leadership habits, mindset shifts, and tools you can use this week.David Downs is the CEO of New Zealand Story, former Microsoft executive, best-selling author, and cancer-survivor-turned health advocate.

What David explains:

◽️True Resilience vs. "Macho" Resistance

◽️ The Science of Storytelling in Business

◽️ The "Kiwi Paradox" in Business

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Timestamps

00:00 - Intro: The power of storytelling

04:46 - Impact: How New Zealand is seen by the world

06:22 - David Down’s Story and Cancer Diagnosis

09:23 - What is resilience? (It’s not about being tough)

11:00 - Why positive thinking is science, not "Woo Woo"

12:28 - The "Green Traffic Light" mindset (A lesson on luck)

16:36 - How to handle bad days: "Recreational Moaning"

18:03 - Hedonic Adaptation: The science of bouncing back

19:35 - The GROW Framework for solving any problem

21:51 - Kiwi Business: Great at starting, struggling to scale

24:31 - Tall Poppy Syndrome: Why we struggle to celebrate success

31:27 - Why people buy stories, not spreadsheets

34:39 - Inside "New Zealand Story": Branding a nation

35:57 - The Fern Mark: Leveraging NZ’s reputation

40:43 - How a terminal illness creates a "more intense" version of you

FOLLOW David New Zealand Story: https://www.nzstory.govt.nz/

FOLLOW ME linkin.bio/minaamso

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