Her Magazine is New Zealand’s only women’s business lifestyle magazine! Her Magazine highlights the achievements of successful and rising New Zealand businesswomen. Her Magazine encourages a healthy work/life balance.
Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/67815
those days you really had no say. I vowed that I would never send my children to boarding school and we haven't! Mind you, I also said I would never send them to a private school and we did send our first son to Scots College. Our second son, however, is in his last year at Wellington High School and doing really well. Q: Was going to Woodford a good decision? A: It's hard to know. I certainly learnt survival skills and I had marvellous opportunities to indulge my love of singing, music, drama and languages. And like all schools there was the occasional teacher who made a difference: the young social studies teacher whose mission was to encourage us to think, and the history teacher who told me I was good at thinking long term, but that I had a "somewhat pompous" writing style! Q: Where are you based now and what do you love most about it? A: In Wellington. My mother was born and brought up in Wellington and I used to think it was a dismal place when we came to visit our grandparents. But in my 7th form year a group of us came down for the Wellington Arts Festival and I fell in love with the place. When I returned after completing an AFS year in the United States, my parents lined up all sorts of jobs in Wanganui to fill in the six months until university started. But I headed straight for Wellington and have lived here happily ever after! Q: Achieving that all important work/life balance is difficult for someone in a position such as yours as so much is required outside the usual 9-5 workday. How do you ensure you make time for yourself? A: What's a 9-5 workday? I don't think I've ever had that luxury! I love my job, but outside work I enjoy family life. I have two gorgeous sons and a husband who deserve my attention, even if they do have to make sure I'm concentrating on what they're saying! I sing in a choir, Cantoris, which transports me into a different world, we have lovely friends we spend time with and I've just taken up tramping again. I achieved my first goal, at Easter, of walking the Tongariro Crossing and will shortly complete the Tora walk. We're about to enter a new era as our second son leaves for France on AFS in September. I'll face that when it happens! Q: How important is it to have a supportive and encouraging partner? A: Because we have children it has been a life-saver. I couldn't have done any of my last three jobs without the support my husband has willingly given. He has the remarkable ability to put one foot down after the other and just keep going. Q: What is the most challenging element of being a figure in the public eye? A: As a naturally exuberant person – curbing that tendency! I still have to work on this sometimes but I'm growing into the role. Q: What is the best piece of advice you've been given? By whom was it given? A: My grandfather said, "It's not doing what you love that's important, it's about loving what you do." When I was younger I used to think he was mad (and he was proud to be called Gaga), but realistically there are very few people who know exactly what they want to do when they grow up. If you love what you do and exude that enthusiasm you're a big part of the way there. www.bankomb.org.nz Victoria University's MBA programme has been training business professionals for nearly 30 years. In New Zealand, and around the world, its graduates hold senior leadership roles in commerce, the public sector and society. The programme is globally accredited and designed for the information age. It produces innovative thinkers with balanced skills and the ability to integrate theory and practice in many managerial situations. Find out more about how a Victoria MBA can advance your career at: www.victoria.ac.nz/mba Nothing draws an employer's eye like an MBA from Victoria University of Wellington. It's more than a qualification. It's a transformational journey for those wanting to enhance their leadership skills. To appreciate how an MBA from Victoria will influence your career, talk to one of our graduates. Better still, talk to us. Just call (04) 463 5367, visit www.victoria.ac.nz/mba or email mba@vuw.ac.nz Get the amongst best. www.hermagazine.co.nz | 31