Out Of The Comfort Zone Interview with Daniel Mee Hakuba Snow Sports School

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Andrew McCombe:

Hey guys, Andrew McCombe here, from Outlier TV, where we celebrate difference to make a difference. As we share inspiring stories of ordinary people, doing extraordinary things with their businesses and all their lives today, I’m going to be speaking with Daniel Mee.

He’s the founder of Hakuba Snow Sports school, and I’m going to get him out of his comfort zone so that you can get to know him a little better before our full Outlier TV episode is released in the next few days. Okay, let’s go and meet Dan. Welcome to Outlier. (Thank you, Andrew. Great to be here.)

We are going to put you out of your comfort zone. It’s customary on Outlier that we have all of our experts.

We put them out of their comfort zone in a way to prelude your full interview, which the viewers can see in a couple of days. I’m gonna help them get to know you a bit better before then. (Brilliant looking forward to it.)

So technically it’s 10 questions in three minutes, but I’ve got more questions in that, and it’s going to take longer than three minutes, but what I want you to do is answer the question, whatever comes to mind. Okay? You ready? Is the worst day skiing better than the best day at work?

Daniel Mee:

Skiing’s fun. Okay. Working is something we do for money.

Andrew McCombe:

Okay. In your case, your work is your passion. So that’s a good thing. So what’s your favourite ski field, and why?

Daniel Mee:

Tahoe in North America. And it’s a very extreme sort of mountain. Very steep, good snow.

Andrew McCombe:

Awesome. Being the owner of a ski school, have you ever studied at the last minute for an exam?

Daniel Mee:

Always. I used to write the answers on toilet paper and take them to the exams with me. (I never heard that one.) Yeah. (You ever been suspended from school?) Yes, I have. (And have you ever failed your exams?) Yes, I have.

Andrew McCombe:

Interesting. So what would you say to your ski school students who might do this themselves in a lesson?

Daniel Mee:

Ah, you’re always going to fail, but then you’ll become good.

It’s just practice and perseverance. (There’s still hope.) There’s still hope.

Andrew McCombe:

Okay. Have you ever represented your country at sport?

Daniel Mee:

No, but, Japan, my second country, I’ve represented them in cricket. (Yeah. Well done. Did you get any runs?) I got a few. Got the most wickets in the tournament. (Did you, you still bowling leggies?) No. No, just verbally mediums.

Andrew McCombe:

Is it true, you trained with Kung Fu Panda, and he nicknamed you the ginger Ninja.

Daniel Mee:

That’s correct. The ginger Ninja. When I had my first son, I was having a ginger here, and he’ll be a real ginger, first ginger Japanese. (Yeah. That’d be funny. He’d be an outlaw.)

Andrew McCombe:

Do you prefer New Zealand or Japan?

Daniel Mee:

No, either,

They’re both great. And they both have pluses and minuses, but they look very similar. They’re both long islands with big mountains, and yeah, they’re almost mirrors of each other. (Which one’s better for skiing?) Japan. (Why?) Snow. Quality of snow.

Andrew McCombe:

Okay. Fish and chips or ramen noodles?

Daniel Mee:

Fish and chips. Yeah.

Andrew McCombe:

Okay. Is it true that fish and chips taste better when there’re someone else’s, or is that an urban myth?

Daniel Mee:

Definitely taste better when there’re someone else’s. (I remember those days.)

Andrew McCombe:

Are all redheads angry? And if so, why?

Daniel Mee:

We definitely run hotter, I think, than other people. I think, because redheads, we came on sort of, there’s a documentary on this, redheads are coming from a low light situation, like Scandinavia, because read heads absorb vitamin D better than any other type of people. So that’s why Vikings and that are very strong. And so maybe we’re angry because we’ve always had not much Sun. Just like gloomy, shitty weather all the time. So maybe that’s in our genes. Just bottled up, angry people. (I’m putting my sunnies on again. Cause this is really bright, but were you born in a low light environment?)

Dunedin? It’s a tropical paradise. I don’t know what you’re talking about. (Has it ever seen the Sun?) Yeah. Occasionally.

Andrew McCombe:

Okay. I want you to describe the colour red to someone who’s blind?

Daniel Mee:

No, that’s got to be your favourite colour.

Andrew McCombe:

What if you’ve never seen colour, though? What would you say, is that an angry colour?

Daniel Mee:

It’s hot, hot, angry. (It’s fast.) Yeah, definitely fast, fast, hot, angry, volatile. (Ooh, Jesus. Okay.)

Andrew McCombe:

Ever come to class with toilet paper in your nostrils and blood dripping out your nose. And if so, why?

Daniel Mee:

When I first started my business, I was under a lot of stress, and I started getting bleeding noses. And at that stage of the development and business, I was still having to go and teach. So I’d get these bleeding noses just before I was going to teach. So I’d have to go and meet with customers.

Andrew McCombe:

Interesting, nice marketing. Um, what’s your definition of work ethic?

Daniel Mee:

Be professional. Be on time. Time is money. Time is so important. Punctuality, for me, is key and be professional. Do your job, be on time and do your job.

Andrew McCombe:

Have you ever lost any staff because of your language, your bad language?

Daniel Mee:

Maybe. Yeah. I’m pretty straight up. We had one guy that came to training one year, and then he went home after the training, and then he didn’t turn up the next day. He just disappeared. We don’t even know what happened. Just packed his stuff. His room was empty. So maybe he didn’t like what I had to say.

Andrew McCombe:

Okay. What’s your favourite party trick?

Daniel Mee:

Jungle fire. (Yeah. What is that?) That’s a tough one. You need to get on the urban dictionary to check that one out. Yeah.

Andrew McCombe:

Say jungle and fire. I guess it’s for the viewers. It’s up to their imagination. Yeah.

Daniel Mee:

Yeah. Jungle fire. it’s a type of manscaping, you might say. (Hazard reduction, burning.) Yeah. Definitely. Definitely. Controlling things.

Andrew McCombe:

Okay. So what’s the favourite part of your job as a CEO of a ski school?

Daniel Mee:

I think it’s the challenge of making everything run smoothly. I like the challenge of pleasing the staff, to please the customer, and then seeing happy people enjoying what I do. So I suppose that challenge to me is making things run well. So customers get the good inexperience.

Andrew McCombe:

Speaking of customers. Have you ever lost your call with a customer?

Daniel Mee:

Many times. Yeah. I think it’s a myth that customer’s always right. You get asshole customers as well. It’s a business. if you’re running a business, don’t always think the customer’s always right. (You don’t have to put up with it.) No, I don’t think so. Yeah. So I’ve lost my ragged customers many times. They were rude to me or rude to my staff. They’ll get it back, you know?

Andrew McCombe:

Fair enough. I agree, mate. If you could only choose one song to play every time you walked into the room for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Daniel Mee:

Wow, that’s a tough one. Um, one song. What’s that one? “A little darkness, My Old Friend.”

Andrew McCombe:

Okay. So who’s your celebrity body double?

Daniel Mee:

Prince Harry.

Andrew McCombe:

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

Daniel Mee:

Well, you got to go for your first pet and your street and name, it’d be Buffy Forbury.

Andrew McCombe:

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Daniel Mee:

People not being on time. Punctuality. (Biggest fear?) Well, failing a suppose? I don’t like it. I’m not scared of failing. Biggest fear? Probably letting down my kids, whether it be dying early or I think that would be my biggest fear leaving my kids.

Andrew McCombe:

If fear was a person, what would you like to say to them?

Daniel Mee:

Well, I can’t say that. (What were you going to say?) just, “F” off, you’re not welcome here. There’s no need to be scared. Fear is natural, and fear keeps you on your edge, but we can beat fear through knowledge.

Andrew McCombe:

If I told you 10 years ago, you’d have one of the best, if not the best ski schools in Japan, if not the world, what would you have said?

Daniel Mee:

Yeah, “Maybe.”

Andrew McCombe:

Fantastic. So last question. Why should we watch your upcoming outlier episode?

Daniel Mee:

Well, I think you can see that you can succeed in business in many ways. And I just hope people can enjoy life. Like I do. You know, maybe you can learn something. Life’s not always about working. You want to find something. My work’s not like work; I enjoy what I do. So I hope people can see that you don’t need to follow the straight line all the time. You go and try something that you like and make that your life. Work to live, not live to work, or something like that.

Andrew McCombe:

Fantastic. Well, mate, I look forward to it.

Daniel Mee:

Yeah. Thank you.

Andrew McCombe:

Well, there it is. We’ve now learned a little bit more about Daniel Mee.

 

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