MY STORY

I spent many years playing small, distilling myself down, changing my views to match others, playing it safe, holding people on pedestals, looking for validation and suppressing my creativity in fear of being different or too much.

I’ve sat at tables and within boardrooms fuelled by power struggles, and felt lessened, shut down, pushed aside and intimidated to the point of walking out in tears. 

Let it be stated: this is not the flavour of Leadership you’ll find here. 

My working life began within the corporate world, where I worked in large teams and on projects, within the electricity, communication, government, and investment banking sectors of New Zealand and the UK.

On returning home to New Zealand after our overseas experience, my husband and I began our first business and employed our first team within the agricultural industry. 

I was 24 years old. And this is where the story of truly unpacking who I am here to be, began.

The steep learning curve that came our way within our first few years of our large scale farming business is now seen as a gift; it reignited a lifelong desire to know more and become more within me.

Those early years brought the constant self-doubt and debilitating anxiety and depression that I had been experiencing throughout my life to a head. 

It was time for me to step into the deep work that was required of me to facilitate the breakthroughs that were waiting within me. 

And so began my journey of Self Leadership.

The internal work that I was doing quickly helped me to identify a lack of alignment within who I was, and how I was showing up as an employer of people. 

I was not seeing myself in a Leadership role — I had simply adopted a power-based control within our business that I had been exposed to through my corporate background, and had witnessed within other leaders in our industry. I had my ego running the show… and eventually, it became unpalatable for me.

Enter: human-centred leadership. 

Through my own internal work — coaching, development programs, researching, copious amounts of reading — I gathered tools and radically shifted my mindset, helping me manage my anxiety and completely dissolve my depression. 

As I continued to deepen into the work, there was an undeniable ripple effect that transformed the way I lead others.

Power struggles dissolved.
Productivity (massively) increased.
Our relationships were fuelled with humility and our workplace with vibrancy.

We began to trust through evidence, that we would continue to attract the team that was for us.

Retention was no longer a goal from fear — our team became curious and brave, trusting in themselves and each other. An “I got you” and “I’ve got this” culture was formed.

The impact of the many ongoing relationships, mentoring and connections with our past team members continue to be immeasurable for us.

In a conscious decision to explore another path, we stepped away from our business for a few years. During this time my creativity was fully explored as I became a professional photographer, where I began to truly understand the impact of connection and the magnetism that we can have in life.

I also worked as an HR Manager for a group of companies experiencing rapid growth, where I was able to step back into a corporate space and infuse my leadership and change management style. My learnings from leading our own teams within our own business for multiple years were invaluable. My human-centred approach was felt and seen as impactful within a culturally diverse team.

My life long journey of continued development coupled with my passion for supporting others, had me completing intensive trainings and becoming a Certified Life Coach along with delving into further modalities like Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP); These skills and many more along the way, have amplified the depth of growth within my own life and leadership and in how I am able to support my clients to achieve the goals and visions that they hold for their own lives.

I am up for knowing more, so I can be more.

I choose empathy over judgement,

vulnerability over defensiveness,

inclusivity over segregation

and inquisitiveness over prejudice.

Remaining open to discovering what I don’t know so that I continually have more to learn more, is soul food for me
and if this mindset excites you; you are in the right place!