Cycle of Success

 

Publisher Wendy Pye has always done it her way – often to the surprise of men around her

Walking from her apartment in New York’s Manhattan to her company’s nearby American headquarters, Kiwi publishing maven Wendy Pye found herself lingering, as usual, in front of the Ferrari showroom. But this time it wasn’t the luxury cars that caught the self-confessed petrol head’s attention, it was the bicycles. A keen cyclist, she was particularly drawn to a limited edition model featuring Formula 1-derived technology and a kid leather seat. Hauling her girlfriend inside, she noticed the suavely dressed salesman give her the onceover before signalling his assistant to attend to her. As she expected, the young man was polite but dismissive, enquiring as to whether she had ever visited a Ferrari showroom before.
“There’s still this perception that women don’t know much about certain subjects or have a lot of their own money to spend,” she reflects, now back in Sunshine Books’ premises in Auckland’s Ellerslie. “In New Zealand, it’s far worse. When I walk into a car showroom here, they always send over a junior salesperson and the first thing he or she does is show me the boot. But I couldn’t care less how many groceries I can get in there, I’m interested in the size of the motor. I like to be able to take off quickly at the lights!”
Back at the Ferrari showroom, the sales assistant’s nonchalant expression gave way to one of pure glee when she told him she’d take the bike – one of just 2,000 in the world – and paid in cash. The founder, owner and director of the Wendy Pye Group prides herself on paying for everything upfront – of course, as one of the nation’s wealthiest women in her own right (the National Business Review’s 2010 ‘Rich List’ estimated her personal wealth at $70 million), it’s easier for her than most.
Initially intending to ride the bike around Central Park – just a few blocks from her 55th Street apartment – Wendy changed her mind when a friend told her she’d most likely be hit over the head and mugged. Instead, she arranged for it to be sent to the home she and husband Donald share in Auckland’s semi-rural Whitford.
“It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your life,” she enthuses, eyes twinkling. “It’s the ultimate bike and a fantastic celebration of Italian design.”
No doubt, she’ll make quite a sight: a tall, sensible-looking woman in her late sixties zipping through the city streets on her racy red bicycle. There’s also little doubt she’ll relish the attention.
Wendy has made a long and ultra-successful career out of confounding other people’s expectations. Born and raised in outback Western Australia, she moved to Auckland in her early twenties to be with Donald and landed a job with now-defunct publisher New Zealand News. She spent 22 years with the company, pioneering sales of its children’s books in the United States and eventually managing its magazine division. Then, one seemingly ordinary day in 1985, she was told she was no longer needed, given five minutes to clear her desk and escorted off the premises. She claims she still doesn’t know the real reason why – although she recognises now it was the best thing that could have happened to her. 
Within 24 hours, she’d decided to set up a rival education publishing company, determined to show her ex-employers she could do a better job than they could. It’s fair to say she’s succeeded. The Wendy Pye Group now exports its books and digital learning materials to 10 countries, including the US, Great Britain, China, Japan, Korea and Australia and is, Wendy proudly points out, the largest deliverer of online educational products in the world. Renowned for its innovation and quality content, the company is currently working with US media powerhouses including Disney and Sesame Street to develop programmes for interactive Smart TVs.
“It’s a pioneering project New Zealand should be very proud of,” she says. “We don’t just have talented film and TV crews in the entertainment sector.”
Designed to improved the literacy and numeracy skills of children aged five to 12, the company’s ‘Sunshine Books’ and ‘Galaxy Kids’ series include more than 1,800 titles with worldwide sales topping 218 million. Developed by a team of education experts, authors, illustrators and, in the case of multimedia resources, animators, they are ubiquitous in primary school classrooms in New Zealand and overseas. Many books, particularly those by popular authors such as Joy Cowley, have become international bestsellers. Clearly graded, they enable children to learn at their own pace and track their progress.
In more recent years, the company has focused on developing digital resources such as interactive CD ROMS and online content. Its Sunshine Online programme, for example, features more than 300 animated titles linked to more than 1,000 interactive activities and games as well as teacher resources. Children can work independently, in groups or as a class using an interactive whiteboard.
“We call today’s children ‘digital natives’ because they’ve grown up in the digital sphere,” Wendy says. “They’re comfortable with sophisticated technology but they tend to have short attention spans. We’ve done a lot of research internationally on how children learn, and found that technology can make a huge difference. We’re confident we’ve perfected the right techniques and can teach any child to read.” She pauses and smiles as if allowing time for her full meaning to register before continuing. “That’s a very powerful thing to be able to say. We’re enabling and inspiring children around the world, including in some very underprivileged areas, to lead more meaningful lives. Every day we hear of a new success story. Again, that’s something New Zealand should be proud of. We don’t recognise success enough here, much less celebrate it.”
The company’s digital resources have been particularly well received in the US, which Wendy believes has a more effective, forward-thinking education system.
“In America, government bodies and private enterprise work co-operatively to provide the best solutions,” she says. “Here, it’s a different story. People go on and on about poor levels of literacy and numeracy, particularly in certain sectors, but they don’t take responsibility. They expect the government to sort things out and are suspicious of private enterprise.”
The Wendy Pye Group has exported its products to the US – where New Zealand literacy materials are generally held in high regard – since the early 1980s. Her New York-based company, Award Publishing, has developed an online reading programme for the US market, which has been formally approved by the state of Texas and Wendy expects others to follow suit. Award Reading Online features the same Kiwi-created content as Sunshine Online together with teaching materials tailored to states’ individual requirements. Nine years in the development, Wendy says she never doubted the programme would be a success.
“It harnesses the best of print and technology to enable children of all abilities to achieve,” she says. “Twelve months of scientific research involving more than 1,000 children in New York City showed we could double literacy scores over a full year of learning.”
Wendy says the programme, recently featured on US news and current affairs TV series Today in America, has even proven effective for children with learning disabilities and those for whom English is a foreign language.
“In countries with large immigrant populations, such as the US and New Zealand, it’s invaluable,” she says. “The whole family can learn to read together.”
Over the past two decades, Wendy has worked with governments and education bodies throughout the APEC region on literacy-related curriculum development. These days, however, she’s an outspoken critic of the New Zealand education system, arguing that it is fundamentally flawed.
“I am devastated by the number of children who are not succeeding here – it’s tragic. We could do so much more if the government and private enterprise worked together. One of the problems is power: politicians don’t want to relinquish control or pay someone like me for resources. The trouble is [politicians] don’t always have the right priorities or adequate information on which to base their decisions.” 
She even ventures that the Ministry of Education ‘seems to see me as a threat’.
“To be honest with you, it’s a joke. I’ve submitted multiple papers and proposals backed up by conclusive research, but they don’t want to know. They fob me off with ‘Dear John’ letters, which say things like ‘thanks for your interest, but our contracts have already been fulfilled’ or they fail to respond. In doing so, they’re closing a door on our children and young adults. That would never happen in America.”
In her view, the government pays mere lip service to supporting start-up businesses and is still uncomfortable with women power.
“We have a lot of very talented people here – men and women – who receive international acclaim but are never recognised here. It’s particularly tough for women to get ahead in business and politics because there are very few powerful role models. That’s something I’d like to help change.”
The only living woman to be inducted into New Zealand’s Business Hall of Fame, Wendy has certainly made a positive start, helping set up not-for-profit organisation New Zealand Global Women in 2009. Dedicated to supporting female leaders, the organisation’s members include former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley and many of our most successful women in business and politics.
“When we get together, you can feel the energy in the room. Success really is contagious. We inspire and encourage each other.”
Wendy is adamant her criticisms are motivated by a desire to enhance opportunities for New Zealanders – not, as she realises some may suspect, by self-interest or a desire to create controversy.
“It’s election year, so it’s an ideal time to look at alternative ways of doing things. People might say I have a stake [in promoting private enterprises’ role in education] and yes, I suppose I do. I have a vested interest in not having to protect my house with razor wire and armed guards. Because if we don’t improve our children’s prospects, that’s a realistic scenario. Our prisons are full of people who lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. Women especially can play an important role in breaking that cycle of violence.”
While Wendy has amassed a none-too-small fortune from her work, it is clear her passion for education is genuine.
“Wherever I go, I’m reminded that we are making a real difference,” she reflects. “Nothing can match an experience like the one I had in the South African village where I taught children to read for many years. One day, quite out of the blue, a woman came up to me, gave me a huge hug and said, ‘thanks to you my daughter has a successful future to look forward to. She has just found work as a receptionist’.”
Wendy insists that, for her, success isn’t about power or having a large disposable income (even if you do have a predilection for fast cars): it’s about working with others to bring about positive change.
She believes her success in her self-decreed mission to “teach the world to read” stems, in large part, from her readiness to take well-calculated risks. Today, she seems both proud and amused by her reputation for rebelliousness.
“An American friend recently likened me to a pit-bull terrier that grabs hold of things and refuses to let go,” she chortles. “I made a similar impression on a reporter for the Los Angeles Times who reckoned I shoot from the hip and lip at the same time.”
Although she clearly considers New Zealand far from idyllic, she has made it her home and has no plans to leave.
“I’ve kept my Australian passport though in case they decide to kick me out,” she giggles.
Wendy doesn’t have children of her own but enjoys spending time with the junior members of her extended family.
There seems little reason to doubt she will continue to live life, as she puts it, ‘at full throttle’ – particularly if she decides to give into temptation and follow her beloved Ferrari bike with a matching car. Although, at the moment, she’s leaning towards a ‘Batwing’ Mercedes. For the record, she currently drives a Saab Convertible, which she says suits her personality perfectly.
“It’s a bit eccentric but solidly-built and really quite nice, and it takes off quickly at the lights.”      

Lorna Thornber
www.sunshinebooks.com.au

1. Always network and be kind and generous. Don’t use people for your own advantage and always give something in return. A good deed today may not pay off immediately or indeed for many years, but you will benefit – this is why I have clients who’ve been with me for more than 25 years. You’d be surprised how many businesspeople operate according to how much they think they can get from you.  

2. Be honest in all your dealings.

3. Treat everyone the way you would want to be treated.

4. Work harder than all your staff and encourage them to achieve their dreams. Having successful people around you is good for you too.

5. Be a good listener and care about your staff. They are the reason for your success.