He began studying marketing and international business at the Wellington School of Business and Government and was able to enjoy some of the best mountain biking New Zealand has to offer in his study breaks.

“I applied the same goal-oriented approach I had taken with my sporting career to my university study. That really helped me push though the challenges study presented to someone who had gone straight into a professional sporting career from high school and was beginning tertiary studies a decade later,” he says.

Cam graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in 2018 and went on to combine his love of mountain biking with his education to become co-owner of Trail-Pro, a company that builds trails and bike tracks.

He’s also giving back to others as an ambassador for the University’s mountain biking programme, an initiative designed to attract recreational and performance riders to the capital for an outstanding tertiary and riding experience.

Some of the students on the programme live in shared accommodation at Helen Lowry Hall in Karori, which features an impressive mountain bike storage and workshop and is close to some of the capital’s best bike trails.

Cam is loving the contact with students on the programme.

“I think the University’s spot on with its timing. In the past, mountain biking was a more fringy, rebellious thing, a bit like skateboarding, but that has changed. It’s a widely recognised and endorsed sport, and if you are a mountain biker who is educated, you can take that into your work, either directly as I have or as a way to build relationships and rapport in the workplace more quickly.”

“What sets Wellington apart from other cities for mountain biking is the cultural element—you can start your ride at a café in the CBD, head out on the trails, and end up back in the central city, or end your work or study day by hitting all these trails on your commute home.”

Cam sees the benefits every day of the study he undertook.

“I apply those marketing and business principles I learned to building long-term relationships with customers, to communicating with my colleagues, and to having a more strategic perspective.”