Bachelor of Science in Geology with an endorsement in Environmental Science
Master of Business Management*
Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer, Reach and Teach Language Services Ltd
* Now offered as the Master of Business.
Cameron’s journey with UC started with earth sciences studies, due to his love for the great outdoors. Throughout his undergraduate years, however, Cameron’s involvement in competitions, clubs and scholarship awards had him discover his other passion for entrepreneurship and marketing.
"I realised I wanted to be involved in business, specifically early-stage tech startups, and bring brilliant ideas to life. So I finished my Bachelor of Science and enrolled for a Master of Business Management," he says.
Wanting to make the most of any opportunity that came around, Cameron took part in a number of extra-curricular activities at UC. Including winning a 'Make a Video' Engineering competition and being runner-up in a 24-hour song writing competition, Cameron was also a part of UC Ultimate Club, UC Football Club, and was previously a President of Arise Church (formally known as Huge!).
In 2013, Cameron entered the entré 85K Challenge, where students pitch a business idea for funding. Cameron was a finalist with his product design for a bicycle helmet with a built-in bike lock, and won two UC Innovators’ Summer Start-Up Scholarships towards creating his first startup company, Helm’s Deep.
The Master of Business Management provided exactly the leverage Cameron wanted to gain more business knowledge and experience.
"The scope of classes, such as entrepreneurship, marketing, accounting, economics, finance and business research methods, give you a great taster as to what you naturally gravitate towards, and help you define your value proposition to future employers and businesses. This made sure I mostly stuck to ideation, strategy, presenting and marketing – my current strengths."
As part of the programme, Cameron had the opportunity to complete an internship with local company Banqer, which provides online learning tools for financial literacy in schools. Cameron was in charge of their sales and marketing.
"We grew from approximately 1,500 students using Banqer to well over 19,000," he says. "My role included delivering talks, exhibiting at educational conferences, interacting with teachers every day, social media management, organising competitions, creating videos, visiting classrooms, and writing a project thesis on “Edutech Adoption and Retention” to supplement my degree."
His experiences lead on to a number of amazing roles after he graduated his master’s, including consultancy roles for trusts, non-profits and enterprise organisations; app products management; and co-founding One Great Gift, that allows users to share gift ideas and receive funding.
Needless to say, Cameron loves the extensive startup atmosphere and opportunities available in Christchurch.
"I dig Christchurch. Loads of potential, great startup scene, and plenty of places around to adventure," he says. "The opportunity to be a part of some great startups, flatting experiences, and any time there are a lot of engineers around, there is the opportunity to make some cool things happen."
His current focus is with his new startup company Reach and Teach Language Services, involving product development, finances, strategising and meeting with clients.
"The varied and flexible nature of my work means I am constantly getting excited and inspired by new ideas and expanding my connections," he says.
As such, Cameron intends to dedicate his future career to "philanthropic pursuits", with plans to one day open a chain of supermarkets that are more accessible to lower socio-economic areas.
After all of his accomplishments, Cameron is eager to recommend the MBM to other future entrepreneurs.
"Do you want to be ready for the future and help build it? This is for you."
