We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Paul Newnham. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Paul below.
Hi Paul, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience largely comes from a lifetime of unique experiences, combined with a desire to know myself better. At the age of 7, I was sent to a boarding school in the South of India, in a place called Ooty, in the region known as the Nilgiris – most commonly known for tea plantations. My parents were working in the nearby country of Bangladesh. The age of 7 is extremely young to be separated from one’s family unit, and my journey of self-discovery and building resilience really began there, when I didn’t have much choice but to completely learn a new way of existing in, and relating to, the new world I found myself in. By age 17, after living back with my family unit in Blantyre, Malawi for a short time, I was once again separated from them, returning to my home country Australia to complete my schooling. I had learned multiple coping mechanisms throughout those 10 years, many of which stayed with me for years to come. I won’t unpack my entire therapeutic process as that is a book in itself! However, I will share that building resilience comes from being exposed to the rawness of life. It isn’t something you can uncover or learn in a quick minute. It comes from experiencing life’s challenges, recognising it is challenging, evaluating your response to the situation, modifying your response (if it is unhealthy or needs to change), then choosing to move forward and make the best of whatever comes next. Building resilience also helps if you have a strong support network around you, who can hold you accountable when needed, stand beside you when you need champions, and celebrate when you succeed.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a strategic innovator and executive leader with demonstrated expertise in driving teams, connecting people, sustainability and development and delivering impressive global solutions to complex community challenges at scale.
Passionate and dynamic, with twenty five [25]+ years of proven expertise in Sustainability, Food Systems, Non-Profit Management, Communications, Campaigning and Advocacy, this is delivered through consistent and competitive methodologies, strong network development, superior client service and executive presence.
Born in Melbourne, and then raised in Bangladesh, India, Malawi and Australia, I have spent my entire life immersing myself in cultures around the world. My unusual upbringing taught me to think differently, to see the world via threads of connectedness, and the joy that can be found in the smallest of spaces where love and life can flourish. Embracing my unique worldview and striving for a life of adventure and purpose, is at the essence of who I am.
Often described as a powerhouse of strategic and creative innovation and ideation, I am a visionary who equally values action. I am passionate about pushing boundaries, breaking down silos and interrupting existing thinking and frameworks, to build highly effective solutions that generate sustainable, positive change.
I am an innovator with strong leadership skills, consistently delivering results through executive oversight of the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) Advocacy Hub, uniting the Private Sector, UN agencies, NGOs and Civil Society to strengthen efforts towards ending world hunger by 2030.
As an inspirational visionary I possess the ability to pioneer creative ideas whilst staying faithful to the core mission. My expertise lies in successful global projects delivery, including the establishment of the Chefs’ Manifesto network with over 1500 chefs across 93 countries, with a strong focus on driving food systems transformation.
My extensive knowledge of the Not-for-profit sector and vast experience in managing complex stakeholder relationships is complemented by my work with communities in Africa, Asia, The Middle East, Europe and The Americas.
A skilled communicator, with a narrative that entices people to get on board, I start movements that make global impact and change. I possess strong business acumen, and exceptional advocacy skills, with the ability to build deeply engaging relationships and influence decision makers, improve practices, drive change, and deliver impactful solutions to complex problems alongside communities around the world.
I launched a Podcast recently called Future Fork to bring to the world some of the great people I have met and engaged with, learnt from shaping the future in bold, unconventional ways. Future Fork is a show that explores the world of sustainable food systems and how we can secure long-term sustainability for the future.
Personally, I have been married to the same gifted, generous, gorgeous, intelligent, and fabulous woman since I was 22 years old and we share four amazing (almost all) adult children together, who join us on our many adventures, and teach me daily not to sweat the small stuff! Life would not be the same without the gift of my wonderful family.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Resilience – The ability to get back up and keep going. As well as my childhood, I further learned this quality and skill in the Australian Army whilst doing unit running; I learned how to break down tasks and work through them and to get back up when my head said quit. We would frequently set out on runs and marches that spanned many kilometres, whilst carrying many kilos of gear plus weapons. It wasn’t easy to overcome, but I found a way to trick my brain into seeing only the next hill, versus the overall distance. Still today, I can set out on a run with minimal training and keep going right to the end. Only ever focus on the next milestone, the next corner, the next hurdle, the next road.
Pausing – this is something I am still practicing daily, but I believe it is so critical for people to learn. Too often we don’t pause and consider our responses. Instead, we jump in with an idea, concept or thought, or speak over someone else showing we weren’t really listening in the first place. I think this comes from a place of wanting to prove ourselves to others and be validated. I do this often still, despite a desire to change, and have seen and learnt how important a pause is and can be to enable measured replies and also space for people to be heard.
Life is Grey – Growing up we often like to look for definitive answers and truths, but I have found over my life more and more, the ‘grey’ or in-between spaces. As I work around the world, I see so many cultures and world views that are all different and yet work and don’t work all at once. Life isn’t black and white. It is grey, pink, blue, yellow… you get it. Life is complicated and there is no ‘one way’.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
My biggest area of growth has been a deeply personal transformation. I recently attended a retreat for people who experienced childhood trauma. I never thought I would do anything like this as I didn’t think I needed it. As a former ‘alpha’ male, this was not on my radar at all. My wife pretty much laid it out that I had to go though, so I did, albeit not very willingly! Without oversharing too much, sometimes we don’t know what we need until we are doing it, trusting those who know us best.
This retreat provided the space for me to learn so much about my patterns of behaviour, both as a husband, father, son, friend, and a leader. In the space of a week, I learned about my childhood experiences, their impacts – positive and negative – my coping strategies, stress responses, and how I had then shaped the world around me to reflect what I could cope with and control. Not only has all of that provided huge personal and professional growth – I view leadership very differently now – but it has also given me a freedom within myself. I have made peace with my experiences, stopped fighting myself and trying to prove I am worthy, forgiven myself for who I became during times when I was triggered by traumatic childhood experiences, and healed a lot of damage done because of what was done to me. It’s a daily choice to show up and be this more self-aware, vulnerable, version of myself, but I choose him every day and am forever grateful for the champions who stand with me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sdg2advocacyhub.org/
- Podcast: futureforkpodcast.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulnewnham/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulnewnham/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulnewnham
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKyTwQ_V3dl7DwT8yMKPyGA?app=desktop
