Russell Green:

I was the president of the Auckland branch of the MTA , so I was taking the Capricorn rep around and introducing him to the Members and then eventually I joined, because I thought yeah it was too good to be true. I don't want to miss out. A couple of years later we had our first dinner, or afternoon session, and it was 23 Members. Back then, you know, 23 Members, and now we got thousands.

I see Capricorn as certainly giving power to the smaller Member. So here I am in Puhoi River Motors, just a one-man band and I get the same buying power as, you know, the bigger workshops and the power of Capricorn and the value of it is really important certainly to the smaller Members. I was lucky enough to be on the board and then get elected and then becoming Chairman, I think being the Chairman is certainly right up there with all my other accomplishments. It's really cool.

I've just come off being the president of Auckland MTA so I still had a bit of fire and brimstone in me. So, it was the next step up, you know, from a Member perspective being able to make a difference, you know, and make the decisions. And those decisions I made at the board table were really relevant to me as a hands-on mechanic and still working for a living, you know. And really great to be a grassroots Member putting stuff back in at a higher level.

You go to a convention, you don't get much more of a warm, fuzzy feeling than being there with all the Members from around Australia and New Zealand and you just make friends for life. Like, I just recently been to Sydney and caught up with a few, yeah, it's a really good community.

So, congratulations to the team that's got us here now. And look, it will just keep going from strength to strength, I’m sure.