The power of ping pong

Michelle: "[The Leadership Network] has been a massive influence on my career and my decision making.”

When Michelle McCarthy moved to Taipei last September to take up a trade director role with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), it wasn’t her first time in the city.

Her connection to Taiwan goes back to 2008, when she and a fellow representative table tennis player from New Zealand spent the university summer in Taichung sharpening their skills.

More than a decade later, an Asia New Zealand Foundation Leadership Network Hui in Taipei helped shape her decision to apply for the trade role.

Now based in the city, Michelle leads a small NZTE team of three business development managers and an office manager, working alongside New Zealand diplomats.

Their work focuses on New Zealand’s established strengths in food and beverage, while building new opportunities in areas like technology, services and clean energy.

Michelle and her team at NZTE in Taiwan

As the Asia New Zealand Foundation Leadership Network marks its 20th anniversary, Michelle’s journey shows what investment in Asia-focused talent can look like in practice.

Michelle first got involved with the network while she was studying international management and Japanese at the University of Waikato – and playing representative table tennis.

“One of my table tennis teammates said, ‘I’m going to meet these people who are coming to campus about something called an Asia New Zealand Young Leaders Network – why don’t you come along?’ I ended up unexpectedly interviewing for this network that I didn’t really know anything about going into the conversation.”

Soon after, she was in Wellington for an induction hui with 30 other young New Zealanders, raising money for UNICEF and dreaming up fundraising ideas.

Michelle and her teammate set up a table in Courtenay Place, challenging passers-by to a game to 11: win, and you’d walk away with $100.

“We managed to survive and didn’t lose any games,” she says.

Over the following years, the network grew, and Michelle stayed closely involved.

The Leadership Network's 2020 Mentorship Hui

She helped organise the five‑year reunion in Tauranga, later served on the Leadership Network Advisory Board, and credits the network with giving her an early, practical 101 in governance, as well as a set of friendships that still anchor her life.

“Most of my best friends now are from the network,” she says.

“It’s been a massive influence on my career and my decision making.”

Michelle’s Asia story, though, began long before networking events, hui and advisory boards.

She grew up in Lower Hutt, which has a sister-city relationship with Minoh, near Osaka.

When she was ten, a young Japanese woman came to live with her family for a year, working at the council alongside Michelle’s dad.

“I think ten is quite a formative age,” Michelle says.

“She became my best friend. She would teach me Japanese songs and cook us Japanese food, and I just thought, wow, this is pretty cool, being exposed to this other part of the world.”

That year led to Japanese at high school, an exchange to Japan, and eventually to international management and Japanese at Waikato.

For young New Zealanders looking towards Asia, Michelle’s message is simple: take the opportunities, even before you feel ready.

“There are so many opportunities for young people these days in New Zealand to travel to Asia or have work, sporting and cultural experiences in Asia,” she says.

“Seek out the opportunities and then say yes to anything, even if you’re not 100 percent sure of it, because there’ll always be some learning that comes from it.”

Scholarships, she argues, are still an under‑used gateway.

In 2016, Michelle moved to Taiwan to undertake an intensive Chinese language course at National Taiwan University

Winning a Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia allowed her to spend a year in Taipei in 2016, studying intensive Chinese at National Taiwan University, which later helped set her up for her trade career.

“A lot of people don’t realise there are so many scholarships out there for young New Zealanders,” she says.

“That’s really been what’s allowed me to take a lot of these opportunities.”

Her second piece of advice is about people.

When she moved to Japan on a working‑holiday visa, with no job lined up, she arrived with a list of names and a willingness to ask.

“I called them up and said, ‘Can I take you for a coffee?’ People are more than happy to talk to you and try to help you,” she says.

“Reach out, ask for advice, and those conversations will lead to opportunities.”

From where she sits in Taipei, Michelle sees New Zealand and Taiwan as complementary partners.

New Zealand is one of only two developed economies with a ratified free trade agreement with Taiwan, she says, and the island’s fast‑growing, premium consumer market is an ideal match for high‑quality Kiwi exports.

Beyond milk powder and meat, she’s excited about growing geothermal, tech, and services exports.

Michelle during her time in Taiwan studying Mandarin

She also sees opportunities in New Zealand businesses partnering with Taiwan’s advanced manufacturing and indigenous communities.

Life on the ground is more down‑to‑earth: moving apartments after discovering a 7‑Eleven build directly beneath their bedroom, introducing her husband to the realities of culture shock, hiking green hills that remind her of Wellington, and eating outstanding vegan cuisine for $5 to $10 a meal.

“Ultimately, to get growth you have to take opportunities,” she says.

“There are always sacrifices, but this is a pretty special place to be making them.”

 The Asia New Zealand Foundation Leadership Network equips the next generation of Kiwi leaders to excel in Asia. We provide members with the connections, knowledge and confidence to lead New Zealand’s future relationship with the region.