Hey! Todd here, I'm a business partner and head up sales & marketing here at Árbol (along with many other hats as we grow).

An Australian native by the way of a passport and a childhood surrounded by the beaches and tropical rain forests of Cairns, but before I knew it the mountains were calling, soon enough I was a kiwi, my life shaped by the pursuit of powder snow & hero dirt. 

A jack of most and master of some, a one-time Downhill MTB national round winner, marathon runner, powder hunting ski tourer, hard enduro dirt bike enthusiast, want to be rally racer, qualified web developer, the guy you call with any and all tech issues, published photographer, writer and film maker who has chased mountain bikers all around NZ & the world.

In between all this I was also chasing the stoke of skiing and the outdoors with Adam and the crew at Momentum Sports, I learnt so much in this time. Sourcing and selling gear throughout NZ specialist retailers, this role included marketing, branding, staff management, logistics, costings, demo days, IT, setting up retail stores, and hundreds of thousands of miles clocked up on the road and in the air, everywhere from factories in Hangzhou, China to London for sales meetings, Denver for trade shows and many a late nights at the Powderkeg in Ohakune, and everywhere in between. 

In 2015 while catching a ride on the Munich underground, on the way back from ISPO (the world's largest snow sports trade show), we overheard a conversation from an elated & eclectic crew talking about a special 'new' brand - Picture Organic Clothing.

The next day we meet the owners. Something about the All Blacks was mentioned and the negotiations to bring the brand to NZ were complete, this changed my life.

Picture from France is a blend of the ethics of Patagonia with the edginess of Burton.

It taught me about the real-world impact of doing better, what buying and producing products with ethical factories and workforces, recycled and reclaimed materials, reducing the impact of pollution, calling out 'sustainable' and green washing products and companies, they also taught me it's a journey, no one’s perfect, and good things and change take time, and that actions speak louder than words. 

They founded the company at the start of 2008 GFC, and in 2016, when we brought the brand to NZ, it had just followed back to back bad snow seasons, with stores over stocked with gear, we had numerous door's closed in our face, and many saying no one wanted recycled or ethical gear, but we didn't back down, we believed in it, so we doubled down and it wasn't long before it became one of the largest selling outerwear brands in NZ, replacing unethical product and forcing other brands to do and better. That reinforced my belief, build a great product with a great team & ethos, and people will support you.

I also like to think I have a grounding in common sense, I've successfully changed a Subaru Legacy gearbox after watching a YouTube video (prior to that my most mechanical feat was changing the engine oil), built and flown my own drones since 2013, and like all good kiwi have a love hate relationship with DIY, I've spent countless hours on the end of a sander, impact driver and paint brush renovating a 115 year old earthquake damaged Christchurch Villa, all while cringing at the cold, mold, rot, high power bills and condensation on the windows. 

Once fully renovated (with Marcus's help) this Villa was my first foray in to realty - successfully marketing and selling the home privately.


Before 2022 and Marcus sharing his wisdom of high performance and Passive House standards in layman's terms. I would have happily purchased a new built NZ Code home and falsely assumed like many, it would be energy efficient, warm, dry, healthy and crafted to a high standard, after all we are a first country with a building code, and plenty of the industry is telling us that their builds meet those standards, but you only know what you know, right. 

That said, a list of broken bones and ligaments a mile long from skiing, DH mountain biking, and most recently hard enduro dirt bikes, probably say otherwise about common sense and certain parts of my skill set, but while recovering from a long term relationship ending along with a fractured neck (trampoline..) it gave me an opportunity to reevaluate my future and purpose.

Why am I mentioning all this? Well, I feel that all roads in my life have led to here, to Árbol, a culminating of my skills and experiences being put to full use and chance to work alongside my family (Marcus is a great mate but also my brother-in-law, Chloe my sister & Hendrix my nephew), and help many more great kiwis like you, along the way.

Now that I know better, my priority number one has been to remove the jargon, geekiness, and over complexity riff in the high performance sector, and stamp out the lies elsewhere in residential building market, and focus on what matters to you, your comfort - delivering a truly warmer, drier, healthier home, with reduced maintenance, environmentally friendlier material and construction choices, that benefit you, our team and all kiwis.

Last week for instance, I updated the some coding and UX on our website to make it a little easier to navigate, started implementing our new project management software to improve our build efficiency, shot and edited a few videos for our socials, snapped a few photos and wrote an article for an upcoming magazine piece, worked on some renders, guided new clients through the process of purchasing their dream home and educated numerous more on the benefits of The Árbol Difference, chased up building consents (two issued this week!), helped our graduate architect with quotes for tiling, wardrobes, insulation choices, engineering documents, kitchen designs, and even worked on another article calling out others in the industry for greenwashing and false claims of warm, dry and healthy homes, you know the ones, built to NZ code with toxic material choices, but you can add solar to roof, so that's fine, right!...

You'll find my side kick of 11 years - Frank, always nearby

Of course, I'm not perfect, far from it, in the world of climate change, I still find it hard to give up my love of fast cars, my 2 stroke enduro dirt bike, or a Heli ski day but, it doesn't mean that I don't care about the environment.

I think the focus has been way too in depth on carbon emissions, but it's just not tangible for the average person to grasp a problem of that enormity (not my opinion, it’s scientific fact) and often pushed aside as a myth or 'fake news' for this reason - Meanwhile we all recognise pollution, having lived in Christchurch during the late 90’s through to 2021 I saw it pre and post the clean air act and now living Arrowtown you will know what I mean, that disgusting thick smog from archaic fire places and diesel furnaces, it makes you cough while out for a gentle walk, let alone running up a hill, so let's improve building standards so you don't need nasty heating sources and future generations don’t need dependence on the Huntly coal plant to power the grid.

While we are at it we should focus on those hypocritical tourist bashing 'kiwis' who dump rubbish in neighbourhood forests and road sides – who wants to live like that.

By building better products that people love to use and buy, and an improved education of basic responsibilities, it will indirectly benefit the reduction in carbon emissions and pollution.

PS. I'm also the first on the list when funds allow me to get a Rivian R1T and Stark Varg, the future is electrifying. Hint hint, nudge nudge ;).

My motto is simple. Learn and be better every day.

Like adventure sports?
You can find more of my work at https://www.theperfectline.co.nz