Meet the Team: Tyran Howell Consultant | Think Concepts

A year and a half ago, Tyran began setting aside half an hour each evening to step away from his screen and tend a row of young chilli plants in his backyard. He’d water the seedlings, scan for pests and note which varieties, such as habanero, Bird’s Eye and Carolina Reaper, were thriving. It wasn’t about becoming a master gardener; it was about swapping code and cables for fresh air and patience.

Tyran arrived in New Zealand from South Africa nine years ago with his wife, drawn by the promise of new horizons. He spent five years with the Auckland team before settling in Tauranga, where he now serves as the Spark partner liaison and consultant.

“I build trust by listening to people’s needs and pain points first,” he explains. From onboarding new clients to mapping long-term IT roadmaps, his people-first approach turns technical jargon into plain English. He still gets a kick out of simple fixes, like swapping a 100mb network switch and seeing data speeds jump overnight.

“That’s when you realise you’ve really helped,” he laughs.

Evenings and weekends belong to his family, especially his two boys. It was in World of Warcraft that he first met his wife, and now the family teams up in Roblox races or raids in Pokémon Go. “My six-year-old builds automations in Minecraft I can’t even follow,” he says with a grin. Those gaming sessions double as logic lessons, teaching problem-solving one block or boss fight at a time.

Whether he’s pruning chilli branches, tuning a network, or plotting a golf course (where he maintains a 14 handicap), Tyran believes real growth comes from curiosity, collaboration and a willingness to get your hands dirty in soil or on screen.