Hold onto your jandals, Dave Mair is on the show talking about why Japan is so good at what it does and how Kiwi companies can connect and work more effectively with Japanese business partners. He has some great anecdotes from his time in Japan and how he took that learning back to Aotearoa New Zealand to generate great success at Skellerup. We all know of Skellerup as the iconic NZ maker of Red Bands gumboots - another iconic NZ footwear, as well as their groundbreaking rubber products used throughout the dairy industry. 

Subscribe to our list so you never miss an episode of Jandals in Japan 

If you enjoyed this episode and it inspired you in some way, we’d love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Head over to Apple Podcasts to leave a review and we’d love it if you would come and say hi (or Kia Ora or Konnichi Wa!) over on @jandalsinjapan on Instagram.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• How Dave went from Judo obsessed to working at Panasonic in Japan
• The Japanese business insights and learnings from meeting “Mr Sano” for lunch once a week, bringing that wisdom back to NZ and implementing it to transform NZ business
• Where Kiwi businesses most often fail when it comes to Japan - and it’s not a market entry problem!! 
• Dave’s top advice for first timers heading to Japan on business
• Dave’s analysis of Jandals in Japan, how lucky are we?

About Dave

Finding his way to Japan to learn Judo, David Mair started working at Panasonic. After returning to New Zealand he worked at Interlock and started to use the concepts of “kaizen” and “kaitaku” to make incremental improvements. Now the CEO of Skellerup Group, Dave is also a former executive director of The a2 Milk Company, Deloitte Top 200 Chief Executive Officer of the Year for 2021 and winner of the INFINZ Leadership Award in 2022. 

Connect with Dave

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mair-029b6113b/ 

Connect with Jayne and Catherine

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jandals-in-japan-podcast/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jandalsinjapan/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jandalsinjapan 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwdbd0QSHSLlOSPcpceHOcA