Two of the North Shore’s leading business people were inducted in to the North Harbour Business Hall of Fame at a special luncheon held at the North Harbour Stadium on Thursday 8 August. They were Jolie Hodson and Martin Cooper. Since 2015, the North Harbour Club has administered the Business Hall of Fame. The first laureates were inducted in 2004 when the Hall of Fame was part of North Shore City Council’s business unit, Enterprise North Shore. The 2024 North Harbour Business Hall of Fame Luncheon was emceed by media personality Samantha Hayes who interviewed the guest speaker, former New Zealand Prime Minister Sir John Key. The event was sponsored by Milford Asset Management (long time sponsors of the Business Hall of Fame) and Golf Warehouse and drew a large crowd of 250 people.
Jolie Hodson – CEO, Spark
Takapuna resident Jolie Hodson has a strong track record of business and giving back to her community. Jolie is CEO of Spark. Her business career has spanned roles across both Australia and New Zealand. Jolie attended Westlake Girls before going on to complete a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Auckland.
Jolie’s first job was on the audit team at Deloitte, becoming a partner after eight years. She then decided to take a step out of consulting and challenge herself with a career in the corporate sector, taking on a role in the finance division of brewing giant Lion Nathan in Australia. One of her biggest career opportunities came at Lion, just weeks before going on maternity leave with her second child. This was a shift out of finance and into broader commercial leadership. She progressed to become Finance Director for Lion's Australian beer, spirits and wine business.
After 12 successful years at Lion, Jolie headed home to New Zealand to become CFO of Telecom in 2013. At Telecom she played a pivotal role within the leadership team in one of New Zealand's most notable corporate turnaround stories. She was there through the brand change to Spark and took on the role of Spark Digital CEO in 2016, before stepping into the top job of CEO and joining the Spark board as an Executive Director in 2019.
Under Jolie's leadership, Spark has continued to transform from its traditional telco routes to a much broader digital services business, with significant investments being made into high tech solutions and nationally significant digital infrastructure.
During her career, Jolie has always maintained a steadfast focus on paying back the opportunities that she has been afforded. She is passionate about supporting women in business, and is a member of Global Women, a Champion for Change, and a founder of OnBeingBold.
“The giving back part is important to me,” explained Jolie, in a recent MoneyTalks Podcast. “I’ve had people that really helped me in my career. And so things like OnBeingBold, where we come together to really help women in business, that is one of those areas. But also through our [Spark] foundation, as that digital equity side is really important to me as well.”
OnBeingBold is an organisation which aims to inspire women in the corporate world by bringing them together for events to hear from different leaders and network. She is also involved with a group focused on inspiring Year 13 girls, an initiative that has since expanded its ambitions with a goal to increase multicultural and Pacifica representation now a feature of its strategy.
Jolie is a member of the Climate Leaders Coalition steering committee, including two years as the convenor, uniting New Zealand businesses that account for 32% of the country’s GDP to raise the bar on business leadership on climate action. The coalition has worked together to reduce emissions by 3.6 million tonnes since 2018.
In 2016, Jolie was awarded CFO of the Year and in 2022, CEO of the Year in the Deloitte Top 200 Business Awards. In 2024, Jolie was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business, governance and women.
In accepting her induction into the North Harbour Business Hall of Fame, Jolie Hodson credited her career success to the encouragement of many mentors, the collaboration of her peers, the support of her team, and the unwavering love and patience of her husband Gareth, son Sam, daughter Emma and her wider family.
Martin Cooper – Managing Director, Harcourts Cooper & Co.
Not too many people on the North Shore would not know of Martin Cooper and his well-used phrase – “The North Shore, what a great place to live.” Martin is the founder and driving force behind the successful Harcourts Cooper & Co business, is the face of their TV commercials and promotion, and is well-known for giving back to the community.
Martin Cooper first moved to the North Shore from the South Island in 1996. He grew up in Queenstown and attributes much of his success to the role models he had growing up, his parents Warren and Lorraine. They served as Mayor and Mayoress of Queenstown for three terms, and his father Warren was the MP for Otago for 24 years and a cabinet minister in the Muldoon and Bolger governments.
Martin says growing up he learned the value of honesty, hard work and caring for people within the community. He excelled as a snow skier before rugby and real estate became passions when the family moved to live in Dunedin. Martin played for the Dunedin Rugby Club, establishing a liking for teamwork, rugby and the community. It was in Dunedin that he had his first foray into real estate, establishing his business Cooper and Co. Real Estate in 1991. Martin grew that company from a zero to 25% market share in five short years, before making the decision to move to North Shore in 1996.
Since that move, Harcourt's Cooper and Co. Real Estate has become a household name north of the Harbour Bridge, renowned for selling a large number of homes while supporting their community. The business has grown to encompass 20 offices and a team of close to 500 people and is now responsible for selling one in three homes across the North Harbour region. Martin’s business has become a leader in the Harcourts Group, one of New Zealand's most trusted real estate brands. He is proud that Harcourts Cooper & Co has been the number one real estate franchise in the Harcourts International Group for 12 consecutive years and has won numerous awards and accolades for community support.
Martin firmly believes that all businesses have a social responsibility to support the community where they both work and live. This is something that Martin is indeed a champion at. The Harcourt's Cooper and Co brand is pretty much a fixture at community events, with all agents and team members encouraged to get involved. Martin himself is an accomplished presenter and auctioneer and is well-known for livening up charity events with his larger-than-life personality.
Harcourt's Cooper and Co supports local schools, bowling clubs, sporting events, the arts and mental health. Martin has enjoyed sponsoring North Harbour Rugby, North Shore Rugby, North Harbour Referees and more recently the Northcote and Silverdale rugby clubs. Harcourt's Cooper and Co also has a designated community relations team to help support these organisations.
While it is the brand that often leads the way, Martin also plays a big part personally in his community, serving on the board of North Harbour Rugby for six years, and as a board member of Breast Cancer Cure for the past 12 years.
Martin was the recipient of a Paul Harris Fellow Award, the highest form of recognition from Rotary for outstanding contribution to the community.
Martin Cooper is a very proud partner, parent and grandparent alongside his partner Kim. Between them, they have six children and now ten grandchildren.
In accepting his induction into the North Harbour Business Hall of Fame, Martin reflected on being grateful to be running a successful business and being fully engaged in both family life and his community, saying he very much looks forward to many, many more years of support and engagement in that beloved community.
The full list of North Harbour Business Laureates – 2004: Geoff Smale, Jim Smale, Ralph Roberts, Sir Stephen Tindall; 2005: Sir David Levene (Lifetime Achievement Award); Sir Graeme Avery; Sir Peter Maire; 2006: Diane Foreman, Peter Menzies; 2007: Ian Calderwood; 2008: David Charlesworth; 2009: Colin Harvey; 2010: Jan Dawson, Gary Monk; 2016: Paul Blackwell and Liz Blackwell, John Spooner, Annette Presley; 2017: Bill Speedy, Eric Faesenkloet, Paul Byrnes; 2018: Ken Noble, David McAlpine, Steve Newman; 2019: Greg Smale, Carmel Fisher, Guy Haddleton and Sue Haddleton; Garth Barfoot; Bob Jago, Craig Heatley; The Alison Brothers (Ewan & Alexander), Walter Gill and Simon Gundry, Ann Tod, Aidan Bennett, Sir Stephen Tindall (Lifetime Achievement Award); 2023: Naomi Ballantyne, Kerry Dines, Ian Jackson, Hugh Stedman; 2024: Jolie Hodson, Martin Cooper.
For further information visit: northharbourclub.co.nz
