Hi, I’m Robert Tighe (pronounced ‘tie’), an award winning New Zealand ghostwriter
Here’s a little bit about what I do and why I do it.
I’ve kept it short (ish) because it’s not about me.
It’s about you.
You want to tell better stories.
I’m here to help.
I’ve been working with words for over 20 years.
I’m a proud Irishman, originally from Galway in the west of Ireland.
I moved to New Zealand in 2004 and I’m lucky enough to call this beautiful part of the world home.
1. What I do
I help business leaders and organisations find, write and tell better stories.
Previously, I was the New Zealand Country Editor for The Red Bulletin (Red Bull’s global adventure lifestyle magazine) and an award-winning freelance journalist for various newspapers and magazines including:
ESPN.com, Metro, New Zealand Geographic, Sky Sport The Magazine, Herald on Sunday, and the Sunday Star Times.
I was also the ghostwriter behind Zero to 60, the life story of Tony Quinn, a Scottish entrepreneur who made his fortune selling pet food in Australia.
The book went to number one on the NZ non-fiction bestseller list in 2016 and opened my eyes to the fact that most entrepreneurs and business leaders have incredible stories and lessons to share about how and why they built their businesses.
My mission is to make it easy for you to tell stories that define who you are and what you stand for.
When I’m not writing or chasing after my three crazy kids, I’m proud to call myself a running fool. I love exploring the hills and forests of Aotearoa to run long-distance trail races.
I ran my first road marathon in Iceland in 2003 and since then I’ve competed in lots of trail running events in New Zealand.
2. Why I Do What I Do
When I was 13, my mother gave me a typewriter.
Unusual present for a teenager you might think. I know I certainly did.
But in hindsight, it wasn’t just a present.
It was a nudge, a hint, a clue my mother left on my bedroom desk to help me join the dots between my love for reading and writing and the manual, physical act of creating the words, sentences and paragraphs that made up the stories I surrounded myself with growing up.
My mother recognised my love for stories was something worth nurturing, that it could lead somewhere.
Not me.
Like many young fellas I dreamed of playing sport for a living when I grew up.
But around the same time my Mum gave me the typewriter, I slowly started to accept I wasn’t the best player on my street.
And I clearly wasn’t good enough to play any sport professionally.
But I thought maybe, just maybe I could write about sport instead.
I taught myself how to touch type on the typewriter my mother gave me, a skill that came in handy when I got a summer job at the local newspaper.
I also volunteered as the Sports Editor for my school magazine.
And I was committed to a career as a writer, or at least as committed as any 17-year-old can be.
3. The Lost Years
When I finished school, I went to university to study English & Politics where I got distracted by Cigarettes & Alcohol.
In college, I came to associate writing with lectures and exams and gave up on my dreams of being a journalist.
After I graduated from university I spent a few aimless years working in sales, insurance and recruitment, all the time ignoring this gut feeling I should be writing.
Every Sunday I got this knot in my stomach that got worse as the day went on.
It was the Sunday terrors, that horrible dread of going back to work on a Monday morning to a job I hated.
The Lost Years as I call them now were tough at the time but they were also some of the most important and formative years of my life.
It was only when I sat down to write my own story that I realised while I was working in jobs I hated, I was learning skills that would prove invaluable in journalism.
Skills like how to make cold calls; how to ask questions; and how to figure out what makes people tick.
In my late 20’s, I finally listened to my gut and quit my job as a recruitment consultant to become a freelance writer.
I convinced the editor of my local paper to give me a shot as a rookie Sports Reporter. I didn’t have any experience or qualifications.
But I could touch type and I knew a lot about sports.
That was enough.
Fast forward to today and I’m still working as a writer and still loving it.
I’ve got a knack for turning thoughts and ideas into compelling content and a proven track record for delivering quality, easy-to-read stories, books and articles on time.
4. The Days of our Lives
I’ve been working with words for over 20 years now and I feel privileged to tell other people’s stories for a living.
‘How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.’ Annie Dillard
I help people reflect on what they’ve done with their days to better explain what they do with their lives. To map out the journey they’ve been on to get to where they are now.
I’m convinced that reflecting on and sharing our stories can help people live better lives.
Knowing our stories helps us to know ourselves.
Even if you never share one of your stories with the world, reflecting on your journey to where you are now is a great exercise in self-awareness.
And if you do decide to share your stories, they can help you to build trust, build powerful personal brands and ultimately build better businesses. Stories can inspire and influence your audience — whether that’s an audience of one, a new client, or a roomful of strangers.
It might be your board of directors, a pitch or presentation, or your very own TED talk.
What will you do with the rest of your day? With the rest of your life? Why not start by reflecting on one simple, but head-scratchingly complex question:
What’s your story?
P.S. This is an example of the Origin Stories I write for my clients.
If you want to work
with a writer who is…
Experienced I’ve been working with words and telling stories for over 20 years.
Persuasive I write captivating content that connects with customers.
Professional I’ve never missed a deadline and delivered clean copy on time.
Efficient I’m a fast, versatile and adaptable writer who gets the job done.
…then we should talk.
Book a Story Strategy Call