Professional Summary:

A results-driven professional with over three decades of experience spanning telecommunications, executive sales management, and digital entrepreneurship. His career is defined by a consistent role as a serial early adopter of new technologies, from developing precursors to the mobile network to recent intensive study in AI implementation. His core value proposition is a natural creative problem-solving ability that allows him to understand complex business objectives, identify unseen opportunities, and architect effective, technology-driven solutions that drive growth. With a proven track record of leading high-performing sales teams and building a successful digital agency from the ground up, he is uniquely positioned to acquire new customers for complex, high-value solutions.

Serial Innovator & Sales Architect:

30+ years of executive sales, digital entrepreneurship, and AI implementation expertise, delivering technology-driven solutions for complex business growth.

Key Competencies and Skills

Business & Technical

Sales & Business Development

Technical & Digital Acumen

Leadership & Strategy

Customer Acquisition 

Digital Marketing Strategy

Business Management

Consultative Selling

Marketing Automation

Big-Picture Vision

Long-Term Relationship Building

Business Systems Analysis

Creative Problem Solving

Sales Management

Web Development

Process Development

Sales Forecasting

Cloud Platforms (G Suite, M365)

Staff Management & Training

 

AI Implementation Concepts

Financial Control

Practical & Physical Skill

Commercial, Construction, Labouring work

Farm, Rural and Animals

Other Skills and Qualifications

Forklift Driving 

  • Humes Concrete: (3yrs) Loading and unloading large concrete pipes and precast concrete installations.
  • Te Papa: (8mths) Lifting and installing large precast concrete wall panels for the building construction and moving panels and building material around the multi-story Te Papa construction site.
  • BJ Ball: (3yrs)Loading and unloading pallets of fine cut-sheet paper. Stacking and picking pallets from 5 tare racking systems.

Experience in various general labouring jobs on small to large construction sites.

Working with animals and livestock, (cattle, sheep, horses, dogs)

  • Moving livestock
  • Feeding out
  • Docking lambs
  • Birthing Calves
  • Nursing sick livestock
  • Basic horse care and feeding

Dog exercising and obedience training (domestic pets not farm working dogs) 

  • Qualifications and experience in obedience training and dog behavioural psychology. 
  • Established and still manage the largest dog walking group in the Eastern Bay of Plenty (Whakatane

Full trained and competent coffee barista. Coffee shop owner/operator

Ground maintenance. – Basic ground based arborist work, skilled at hedge trimming and rose pruning, competent with plant propagation and grape pruning. 

Clearing farmland of gorse, blackberries and noxious weeds.

Competent in hospitality, hygiene, food prep, cooking and serving meals. 

Font counter customer service

Timber Construction – Basic building skills, including decks, garden boxes, fences, outdoor tables and gazebos.

Managing stock grazing and movement, managing pastures using electric tape and fencing systems. Moving cattle on farmland and public roads.

.

Concrete work – Experienced with  concrete construction, boxing and basic form building for  paths, car park pads, paved areas, garden boxes mowing strips

Basic chainsaw work clearing fallen trees. Log splitting and firewood cutting and stacking. 

Process Development

Property Repairs and Maintenance – Including  electrical, plumbing, and drainage.

 

Staff Management & Training

 

AI Implementation Concepts

Financial Control

Professional Experience

Business Management and Leadership

Digital Services Manager

Ngati Awa Social & Health Services Trust

Whakatane, NZ

10 Month Contract

2023

  • Led the strategic upgrade of the internal Microsoft SharePoint enterprise system, architecting new hubs and sites to improve process efficiencies for leadership teams.
  • Provided comprehensive website support and digital services, applying technical expertise to solve organizational challenges within a community-focused health services environment.

Digital Marketing Consultant

Self Employed Contractor

Wairarapa 

10 Month Contract

2020 / 2022

I year contract

  • Digital Marketing Leader
  • Kimbolton Sculpture and Art Festival ( 6 Month Contract Oct 2020 – March 2021)

Founder & Managing Director

Real Digital Ltd

Wellington, NZ

14 Years Business Ownership

2004 – 2018

  • Founded, grew, and managed a full-service digital agency for 14 years, securing and retaining a portfolio of 250 ongoing clients through long-term relationship building.
  • Assumed direct responsibility for all aspects of business management, including customer acquisition, sales, staff management (10 employees), and financial control.
  • Maintained a competitive edge through constant upskilling in emerging technologies, including web development, online advertising, marketing automation, and digital strategy.

Founder / Managing Director

Sales Toolbox

Wellington, NZ

10 Month Contract

2000 – 2004

  • Sales coach and Trainer to SME Business owners 

Owner Operator

Zoom Coffee Kiosk

Wellington, NZ

14 Years Business Ownership

2004 – 2018

  • Running a retail central city coffee outlet.
  • Coffee Barista 

Regional Manager - Executive Team

BJ Ball Papers Ltd

Wellington, NZ

14 Years Business Ownership

2004 – 2018

  • Directed a sales team of four responsible for average monthly sales of $1M of cut-sheet fine paper to the local Wellington printing industry.
  • Contributed regionally to monthly sales budget of $3M-$4M in the cut-sheet sector nationally.
  • Supported national sales and account management in the Wellington region for National reel based paper sector sales revenue of **100M annually.
  • Managed a large-scale fine paper warehouse facility with 22 staff, undertaking all forecasting, purchasing and analysis, while overseeing an inventory of over 4,000 SKUs valued at $5M.
  • Played a key role in the company’s executive leadership team, responsible for strategic functions including sales forecasting and forward buying of US/Euro currency.

Sales & Management Roles - Securacopy / Horizon Homes 1990 - 2000

 Securacopy & Horizon Homes – Wellington, NZ 

Progressed rapidly through a series of sales and management positions, starting in commission only roles acquiring new customer acquisition through to senior account management positions across diverse industries and business sectors.

Account Manager / Sales Manager / Branch Manager

Securacopy (BlueStar Print Group)

Wellington, NZ

14 Years Business Ownership

1995 – 2000

  • Responsible for account management and customer relationship of the company’s largest client, the New Zealand Correspondence School, which was the largest on-demand digital printing contract in New Zealand throughout this period.
  • Contributed to the acquisition and onboarding of  Securacopy’s second largest customer, Wellington University, followed by our third largest customer, University of Auckland the next year,
  • Had direct responsibility for the account management and customer relationships of two of the three largest variable digital printing contracts in New Zealand during this time.
    • The New Zealand Correspondence School, located in Lower Hutt, and Wellington University. 
    • The other contract with the University of Auckland was managed by the Auckland Branch Manager
  • Changed direction from Sales Management to Operations Management while at Securacopy (which was a subsidiary of BlueStar Print Group) in order to navigate an observed barrier and perceived hurdle in the traditional path of transitioning to a senior management role from within the organisation. 
  • As Operations Manager at Securacop I was directly involved in the planning and implementation, and accountable for achieving an ISO-9002 accreditation for the operation, which at that period was the largest digital printing facility in New Zealand.
  • Regularly managed and supervised three full time around the clock work shifts, often seven days per week, for periods of 4-6 weeks at a time. This was required to supply the extra production capacity to fulfill orders for variable digitally printed workbooks and study material to Wellington University before the start of each university semester.

Account Manager / Sales Manager / Operations Manager

Horizon Homes

Hastings – Kapiti – Lower Hutt

Full Time Positons

1990 – 1995

  • Gained a great deal of experience in sales working for Horizon Homes in Hastings starting a commission only position selling contracts to build new residential homes in the Hawkes Bay region.

    • The process of working long hours, six days per week as a young newlywed surviving on my wife’s modest income as a first year intern pharmacist, for three months before acquiring a client and making my first sale, was an invaluable journey, which along with the study and sales courses I completed during that period taught me a huge amount and set the foundation for a lot of my future success in sales.
    • A year after starting my sales career my sales manager and I both relocated to the Kapiti Coast to open the first branch of Horizon Homes out of Hawkes Bay., followed by the second branch in Lower Hutt the following year, which I managed for the rest of my term with the company.
    • The objective for opening branches and having a presence in the Wellington region was to tap into the buoyant growth in new home building marketing at that time. Our personal goal as a team was to “knock Beazley Homes off their perch” as the longstanding number one home building company in the Wellington area. At the time Beasley Homes regularly built more than 1000 new homes each year.  We achieved our goal and built more homes than Beasely’s in our third year in the region.

Account Manager / Sales Manager / Operations Manager

NZPO Radio Section / NZ Radio Frequence Service

Napier, NZ

Full Time Positons

1980 – 1990

    • Established a strong technical foundation working on telecommunications networks, including involvement in the early development of remote radio systems—a direct precursor to the modern mobile telephone network.
    • Established his lifelong identity as an early adopter of new and transformative technologies from the very start of his career.

Education & Certifications

  • Microsoft Cloud Certification (2013)
  • Multiple Google Certifications (2007 – 2018)
  • NZCE (Telecommunications) (1991)
  • First Class Radiotelegraph Operator’s Certificate (1985)
    NZ Radio Technician Certificate (1983)

Rick Wallace

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