“We planned from there. It was big, it was scary and it was hairy. Let’s do this,” he said.
The pair called on their community members and active-wear company LSKD to come together and raise funds to break the record.
“We’ve a very close relationship with our customers, and we like to get out there and do stuff with them,” McRae said.
“Aleisha has been in this 100-person group chat, motivating the troops and connecting people.”
Two Dudes and LSKD NZ raised more than $103,000 for Movember.
Connecting men during the fundraising process through what he called “shoulder-to-shoulder” conversations was important.
“Blokes often bond by doing an activity together. Anything that encourages the shoulder-to-shoulder activity has been the key way we have been able to get dudes out there doing stuff together.”
Participants undertook various fundraising efforts during the past month, Tappin said.
“A girl named Emma is running from Auckland to Wellington while raising money along the way.
“We’ve got a guy named Rob who is doing 30 half-ironmans in 30 days. One man named Corey Choat ran 152km in 24 hours.”
Tappin and McRae said the fundraising process was important because it aligned with the business plan to encourage men to take better care of themselves.
“Everything we do is ‘how do we make dudes feel better and change men’s mental health one bathroom at a time’,” they said.
“One of the pillars the business is built on is for men to take care of themselves physically and mentally, so you can turn up and be the best version of yourself for your friends and family.
“To be able to stand there and say we made men’s health history and donated $100,000 to fund lifesaving work is pretty bloody cool.”
Movember New Zealand manager Robert Dunne told the Herald that, when teams like LSKD and Two Dudes got behind Movember, they brought people together in a way that genuinely shifted the dial.
“Building momentum, celebrating every win, and carrying the message of men’s health into communities we couldn’t reach on our own.
“That’s how change happens, and we can’t thank them enough.”
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.