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Meet the family: Pete Morris, Wellington Studio Director

Pete Morris has been hustling hard over the last few months with the Wellington crew to launch our latest social enterprise, the Creative Studio, with the goal of offering first time employment to the young people in Aotearoa.
We had a yarn to him about what gets him up in the morning, what his favourite food around Wellington is, and his favourite font. Have a geez below!

How did you first get involved with Zeal? 

Pete: Working as a Creative Director for a Branding and Design agency in Australia and also a Youth Pastor at my local church, I recognised an opportunity to bring these two world’s together, combining my passion for creativity with my heart for young people. I found out about Zeal through some friends, so I flew to Wellington to check’em out. I was excited by what I saw and the opportunity to contribute to a mission that was so aligned to my own! 6 months later (July 2016) my wife, Reilly, and I had moved to Welly and we’ve been #livinthedream ever since! 

What does your typical day at Zeal look like? 

Pete: While there’s no typical day at Zeal, there’s a typical start to one and it usually involves coffee (my order – a Burnie Mac. Essentially, just a long macchiato. However, as they’re really hot and can easily burn the inexperienced drinker, I’m trying to introduce the ‘Burnie Mac’ to my local coffee drinking community as more than an excellent homage to the late, great Bernie Mac, but also a safer, alternative name, that both describes the beverage and also gives adequate warning to the consumer about the cup’s lava-like contents. Join my mission #ibackburniemac
After a Burnie Mac or two, every day is different. Some days it’s everyone in the office, heads together, dreaming’ and scheming about how to best support young people and some days it’s a fun guessing game about how long we think the non-descript item of food we found down the side of the couch has been there. Each day’s unique and has it’s own challenges but I love it, because it doesn’t matter what you’re working on or doing, at 3.30pm when a bunch of awesome young people flood through the doors to hang out and share about their day, there’s no place I’d rather be!

What do you do in your spare time? 

Pete: My spare time (when I get it!) is spent working on my personal creative projects! I’ve always got a few on the go and although some feel like they’ll never ever get finished, I enjoy keeping myself busy. I enjoy learning new creative mediums and finding unique ways to use them! I also enjoy tinkering around with motorcycles. 

What’s some of your favourite stuff to do in Wellington? 

Pete: Eat food and drink coffee. With so many food and coffee spots around Wellington, you’re never short on options. I’m forever searching for the best donut, pie or fried chicken. 
Top of the ‘Pete Eats’ list at the moment – 
  • Donut (Boston Cream) 
  • Little Dough Co.
  • Pie (Philly Cheese Steak Pie)
  • 5 Boroughs
  • Fried Chicken (Poppers) 
  • Lucky’s Chicken, Courtney Place
Got a hot tip? please send all your food suggestions to pete@zeal.nz.

What are some epic moments you’ve had during your time at Zeal? 

Pete: Road trips and camps are always a highlight! From the epic car karaoke, jumping into freezing lakes together and of course the early morning wake up calls from none-other than yaboi Stan, it’s a real good time. Going on rad adventures with our young people is always exhausting but so, so fun! 

What’s some advice you would pass on to someone wanting to work with youth? 

Pete: Know your why. Young people are MEANT to be challenging, they are discovering who they are and the boundaries that surround them. It’s in pushing these ‘boundaries’ that they learn who they really are! So expect it and learn to love it! Journeying alongside a young person and helping them discover their own identity is sometimes really hard, but always so worth it. 

What are you most excited about in your future? 

Pete: Buying another motorcycle.
 

What’s your favourite font? 

Pete: Always changing. Right now it’s a typeface called Maax. Got some rad style-sets and a decent rounded option too. Verrrrry nice. 🙂

Read more from Zeal Wellington:

“Time and time again we have seen that employment can be a catalyst to shift fringe young people from low-confidence and disinterest to self belief and social connectedness.”


“Be willing to fight 24 hours of the day, 365 days of the year for those who feel unheard, unloved and ignored. Be brave. This can be a tonne of fun. And believe in yourself.”