ABOUT

BLUEOCEAN

Roland Leemans is the CEO and Co-Founder of BlueOcean Consulting and is a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD). He is the author of Evolution By Design™, a business framework to shift organisations from Product to Customer to deliver sustainable growth.

A lifelong learner, Roland began his journey with a Bachelor's in Commercial Engineering and a Master's in Business at the University of Brussels, continuing his education through many Executive programmes at Harvard Business School.

For over 25 years, Roland has developed an extensive skill set in helping clients with developing and implementing strategy and business transformation centred around customer value creation. He has worked as a consultant for PwC, run several businesses, advised boards, and consulted with many companies worldwide.

Roland is a regular speaker at the University of Waikato Business School, industry events and leads a range of NZTE Regional Business Partners workshops on strategy, customer experience, and digital transformation.

Jo grew up in the sunshine of Zimbabwe surrounded by a very large and loving family. She spent half her time in the African bush where her mother and stepfather designed, built and very successfully ran a safari lodge on the shores of Lake Kariba in the Matusadona National Park, and the other half of her time in Harare with her father who was a company director.   

Having grown up immersed in the tourism industry, it was a natural segue for Jo to begin her career in the largest tourism group in Zimbabwe where she spent the first ten years of her profession honing her business management, marketing and event management skills working for the Managing Director and Marketing Director of Zimbabwe Sun Hotels, Lodges & Casinos. 

Things unfortunately became very unstable and quite dangerous in Zimbabwe, particularly for those with young families.  In January 2002, Jo, her husband Gary and two small children moved to New Zealand. She worked for several years for the Radio Network before joining our team in 2007.  

Jo’s skill set lies in people management, project management and sales, with an enormous passion for tourism, her clients and the success of their organisation.   

Dale grew up in Southern England, where his parent’s engineering firm gave him an early taste of the ups and downs of mid-sized family business. 

The 3rd year of Dale’s degree in International Management year proved transformational. A year-long internship at Munich’s most prominent B2B marketing agency exposed Dale to working with global businesses like Hewlett Packard and Symantec. 

Dale followed his heart and moved to the other side of the world, where his career really began. What began as a marketing role on the marine industry soon evolved into regional sales and management, which laid the foundations for further growth in the B2B SaaS sector; always spanning the disciplines of sales and marketing. 

After 5 years in Australia, Aotearoa was calling.  Dale joined BlueOcean in 2017 and has come to realise his passion for aligning sales and marketing in B2B organisations. His innate sense of curiosity helps him orientate himself and his client teams to complex industries, while his roots in family-business and passion for people see him devoted to empowering his clients to succeed. 

Carmen is a road-tested marketer with a deep appreciation of solid value propositions and a flair for communications that convert.

With experience across the whole customer journey from strategy, to digital marketing and right through to customer engagement, Carmen sees every touchpoint as an opportunity to create value for customers.

To quote Carmen, "If you're looking for a marketer who's committed to creating real value, building meaningful connections, and driving positive change - both in your business and in the world at large - I'm your gal."

Growing up in the small rural town of Marton, Shannon enjoyed the quintessential Kiwi upbringing. An open-door policy on Dad’s tool shed nurtured a “make anything you can imagine, with what you’ve got on hand” attitude that first fostered Shannon’s problem-solving skills through a desire to create. 

After a 3-year multicultural experience, living in South-East Asia as a teenager, Shannon naturally took to the Wellingtonian lifestyle, in pursuit of an Honours Degree in Graphic Design. 

Joining BlueOcean in 2014, Shannon puts his hands to all things ‘creative and design’. From designing award-winning websites, to developing brands and advertisements that set businesses on a growth path, and producing winning sales proposals that secure economic stimulus for New Zealand. Shannon continues to develop an ever-green creative toolbox. 

Now, as father with his own tool shed, Shannon fosters an environment of creativity for the next generation. 

Jay was born and raised in Gujarat, in the colourful country of India. He took a journey towards technological challenges and advances to provide digital solutions for everyday people.  

Jay opted for a degree in management from Gujarat University. During this time Jay got exposure to computer science and programming. After experiencing coding challenges and the kick he felt in solving them, he soon followed up his bachelor’s degree with a full 3-year course in Masters of Computer Applications. 

After years of working in his home town, he started venturing overseas. In September 2008 an opportunity came knocking in New Zealand. Ever since, Jay has been with BlueOcean. He moved over with his new wife and they have since had a daughter, living happily in Papamoa since Day 1.  

A man of few words, Jay is mostly found engrossed in his monitor; his mind whirring at a million miles an hour to crack codes and solve problems. Jay lets his work do all the talking; proclaiming his skill and ability in a way he would be far too humble to say himself.     

His motto is: Get the best possible outcome with whatever resources given. 

Initially from Portsmouth, U.K, Shane has travelled the world extensively from childhood, variously living in Scotland, Hong Kong, and Singapore among other places before returning to his hometown to complete a B.A with Honours in Design and Media.

From there Shane landed a role at American Express, where he again picked up a life of travel, liaising with partner companies across Northern Europe managing foreign exchange systems before migrating to New Zealand, launching his own foreign exchange company in Auckland, building experience in commerce and marketing. Shane joined BlueOcean in 2015.

Outside of the office, Shane is working towards his private pilot’s license, finding that controlling complex, rapidly-moving parts in three dimensions is not unlike successful project management: forward planning and a calm attitude work wonders.