CEO of Xero
Growing up in Hawke’s Bay, tech entrepreneur Rod Drury had a stutter that dogged him into corporate life in his twenties. “I couldn’t use the phone or anything.” says Drury, of his first job at accountants Ernst & Young. At 27, he took a course to master his stutter, practising his new knowledge by talking as much as possible. These days he addresses 1000 people a week, as the salesman and chief executive for Xero. “That’s why I really enjoy public speaking, because it’s terrifying. It’s very satisfying to do it.”