Entrepreneur and philanthropist Annette Presley rose to prominence as co-founder of Slingshot, one of New Zealand’s earliest internet providers. Annette flourished in the tech world, and over several decades formed and grew several multi-million dollar companies. In tech, communications, energy and fashion, employing and mentoring thousands of people along the way.
Once described as Auckland University of Technology’s most successful drop-out, Annette famously sued Telecom and won. She was also a judge on hit TV show Dragons’ Den. Beyond broadcasting and the boardroom. Annette has championed a variety of causes with a focus on women’s empowerment, education and child welfare. Her latest philanthropic endeavour is The Annette Presley Dream Foundation. Which aims to empower women, uplift youth, and support community groups across Aotearoa.
I was a happy child, always wanting to be more, do more and create more. Then something happened that changed my life. I was about 10 when I had my tonsils removed without any anaesthetic, but at the time, no one knew. After the operation, I kept saying, ‘spaceship, spaceship’, because I’d seen the lights when I was on the operating table. When you’re in extreme pain, you don’t recall things clearly, but I do remember those lights.
From then, I went from being confident and outgoing to anxious and unsure of myself. For years, my mother took me to doctors who put me on all kinds of medication. One doctor even told my mother I’d never be normal. I’m so lucky Mum didn’t believe the doctors – she said no more medication, and she helped me become the person I knew I could be.
McAuley Girls’ High School changed the trajectory of my life because the nuns had a commitment to helping every girl become the best she could be.
One nun in particular, Sister Mary, totally saw me. She also taught Christian Living but I’m not Catholic, so I’d debate everything from no sex before marriage, contraception to divorce. Yet still I got straight As for that class. Years later I asked Sister Mary why I had done so well. She said, ‘We can’t tell the girls what to believe in, but when you questioned everything, they had to defend their beliefs. That changed the learning process and many of the girls started to believe because of it.’ Although that had not been my goal, Sister Mary – may God rest her soul – was very pleased.
My grandmother was my shining light, because I had challenges when I was young.
Although I’ve since met countless young women who make my life look like a dream, my parents had me very young and my home life was difficult. I lived in South Auckland and a lot of my friends and the people around me were in gangs. I ran away quite often but my grandmother was always there for me. She said, ‘You can be anything you want to be, but you have to go out there and let people see who you are.’ If it wasn’t for my grandmother, I don’t know where I’d have ended up. But because she saw me and loved me unconditionally, she pulled me through.
That belief my grandmother instilled in me is where my entrepreneurial mindset comes from, and that drive to dream big saw me co-found Slingshot in 2000.
I already had a thick skin, but this amplified it because being in a male-dominated industry was tough. We were up against some big players. We were challenged every day by Telecom, and we ended up taking them to court. Even though many people told me it was a mistake, I trusted my gut and did it anyway. I was scared, but I’m really proud of myself because winning that court case benefited all New Zealanders.
Every life has building blocks and bridges. Every day we make choices, and sometimes one single decision can change our entire life, but you have to understand where you want to be.
My first charity Elicit was all about helping girls, inspiring them by creating vision boards to find their a-ha moment. Because if you write down what you want to be, then visualise it by committing it to paper. You can work towards your dream, even if people tell you it’s impossible. But I’d tell those girls, with the right resources and one person who believes in you anything is possible. Through Elicit I saw some terrible situations; girls living in cars, or being sexually abused at home. The pain some people endure is horrific, but I’d say to them, take those obstacles, take the bad stuff, that anger, energy and emotion, and use it as fuel to become who you want to be, because that’s what I did.
My two children are my greatest achievement and the centre of my life and always will be.
They’re 24 and 28 now, and I’m really proud of the adults they’ve become. Today they tell me they love me and appreciate me. The other day my daughter said she was proud of me for the help I give others through my new foundation and I almost cried.
Even though I fronted the ads for Slingshot, Dragon’s Den was a roller coaster.
Yes, I’m a businesswoman, a mother, a friend – I am many things – but I am not a television star, and doing that show was like being thrown into a pond full of piranhas. If you came into the Dragon’s Den and you had your sunglasses on your head or you were talking on a cell phone, Sir Bob Jones – God rest his soul – would annihilate you. He was an inspirational man, and I’m so grateful for that experience, but he was also very complicated.
I had the great privilege to race from Auckland to Fiji aboard Lion NZ in an international sailing race and it was the experience of a lifetime.
There were 18 of us on board and we hot-bunked it, with four hours on, four hours off in the middle of the ocean. Then a storm came up – we were all woken in the middle of the night to change the sails. But I wasn’t harnessed in and my girlfriend, who was running the boat, grabbed me and pushed me downstairs, because if you fall off a boat in a storm in the middle of the ocean, there’s little chance of survival. I was definitely outside my comfort zone on that trip, but it’s through those tough experiences that we grow. You can’t see the stars without walking through darkness, and our boat
came third in that race.
Walking and sailing are two of my peaceful places.
I also meditate because my mother was a yoga teacher and through her I found meditation. At around 20 and going through a bit of a tough time, so I went to an ashram in Ponsonby. I meditated there every week for a month and through that I found myself again.
The Annette Presley Dream Foundation aims to change the face of not-for-profits in New Zealand and we believe we can do it one life at a time.
Over the past couple of decades, I’ve been quietly continuing my philanthropic work because I’ve seen first-hand how tough it is for charities at the moment. There are fewer and fewer places for them to turn to for funding but their communities still need them. That was a big driver to starting my foundation. I want it to be a beacon of hope for our country’s charitable sector.
We’re aiming to make the biggest impact by supporting grassroots community groups and individuals who need it the most.
And if we lift up one person, we lift the people around them, their families and their wider communities. I’d also like to challenge other entrepreneurs and people who are in a position to give to do the
