A Rotorua couple have been inundated with feedback and requests to give motivational talks after their first international speaking engagements.
Marsella and Wiremu (Lee) Edmonds arrived back in Rotorua on Thursday after a 10-day trip to South Africa. They spoke at the Focus on Forest Engineering conference in front of 350 delegates as well as Bell Equipment's head office and factory. The company is a world leader in forestry equipment. In total, they spoke to about 800 people.
"We didn't want to go all that way and have no one understand or be motivated to change, but we were approached immediately after every presentation," Mrs Edmonds said.
"They had been motivated to the point where they were totally committed and it was going to be their duty to ensure there were changes."
The talk is titled "Stand in the Gap" and is a principles and values-based presentation to encourage leadership.
The couple's eldest son, Robert Ruri-Epapara, was killed in a forestry accident in March 2013. The talk includes details of their son's death and has been delivered to more than 8000 people across New Zealand and is now crossing industries.
"We've been asked to do more international presentations - we'll go wherever we're requested to go to share our story."
A coroner's inquest into five forestry deaths, including Mr Ruri-Epapara's, will resume on Wednesday, November 26. It is expected to take two weeks.