John left high school with no formal qualifications and undertook several labouring jobs in New Zealand and Australia before discovering a passion for working in the timber Industry.  He trained as a timber machinist in the early 1990s and went on to work in a range of wood manufacturing operations in both the Wairarapa and Rotorua as a tradesman and operational leader.

In the late 1990s, John joined Waiariki Institiute of Technology in Rotorua as a teacher of wood processing to industry and full-time students. Over a period of 18 years with Waiariki (and Toi Ohomai) he progressed through a number of roles within tertiary education as tutor/programme leader/academic advisor/site manager/acting director of school (and more).

Most recently John worked as a Contract Moderator and Contract Assessor to Competenz, and as Academic Manager for a Rotorua PTE before joining Hanga-Aro-Rau in January 2022 as a Quality Assurance Specialist.