Deb has spent the past 20 years working with owner managers of NZ SMEs and family businesses in a variety of roles as advisor, director, owner, and facilitator. She is a founding faculty member of The Icehouse Growth programmes and has been involved in the development, design and delivery of the Owner Manager business growth programmes for SMEs from all sectors and industries since 2001.

Deb’s passion and interest lies with supporting, enabling and challenging SME owner managers reach their own and their business potential. She is a co-author of the book “Changing gears: How to take your kiwi business from the kitchen table to the board table.”

Deb is a part owner and Chair of BioCell Corporation (her family business) and sits on the Board of Directors or Advisory Boards of a number of businesses including Resero Group, Onguard, and Forrest Wines. She also works with government in a variety of roles including NZTE’s Better By Design, the Small Business Council (SBC) and the Australia and New Zealand Electronic Invoicing Board(ANZEIB).

BA
The University of Otago

MA (Honours)
The University of Auckland

PhD
The University of Auckland

Snr Lecturer, Department of Management, and International Business, The University of Auckland Business School.