Tell us about yourself. Where are you originally from?
I was born in Mosgiel where my parents had settled for a couple of years but as soon as I was born my grandmother summoned us back to the Pa and her farm at Dannevirke. We were there for three years until Nannie died and my parents separated and we moved to Woodville.
How long have you lived in Palmerston North?
My mother remarried in 1963, and we moved to Ashhurst. Isabel and I moved to Hawkes Bay in 1974 to 1977 and Wellington 2006 to 2016 but apart from that we have always been in Palmerston North.
Where did you train?
Palmerston North Teachers College then odd pieces of post-graduate study at Massey ahead of an MBA graduating in 1994.
Tell us about your career.
I only taught full time for two years and from that time I changed jobs a lot with an average tenure of 3-4 years. I changed roles driven by challenge and opportunities to learn and change. I ranged from Kitchen Design to Retail Management to Sales Manager but settled for 10 years when we operated the Stable Restaurant. During this time, I had been doing part time study at Massey mostly in Business Studies and Management so when we sold the restaurant, I started in management at the PSIS.
I had also started in governance including school boards and when Tomorrow's Schools came along, I took the opportunity to establish an Education Service business in partnership with others which was (and still is) highly successful nationally. However, in 1993 I took up my first CEO role at the Palmerston North Enterprise Board largely driven by an academic interest in economic development I had been studying. CEO roles in Enable NZ and Sweetline followed culminating in 10 years leading the Building and Construction ITO.
This took us to Wellington, but our intention was always to return to Palmerston North when I retired which we did in mid 2016.
What is your favourite part about living in Palmerston North?
That it's an easy city to live in along with the people and the place. We walk between 5km and 7km every day and prowl all over the streets of the city. We particularly love walking the walkways around the river. People here truly know each other and interact with a genuine friendliness. The place is full of memories and our personal history. The majority of our children and grandchildren are here.
What do you do for fun?
I am an avid reader so there is always a whisper on my shoulder to stop doing the tasks that I am on and get back to reading that current book!
I am happiest engaging with friends and family
What is something that most people don’t know about you?
I have been on a mission for decades to rehabilitate my Tupuna, Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna, within the local consciousness. He was genuinely an important character in our story as people of Manawatū. After he conducted the sale of Te Ahu a Tūranga he isolated himself in disappointment at the outcome and was not engaged with the rapidly growing European arrivals. As a result, Te Hirawanui was largely forgotten.
When I was a child being raised by a sole parent European mother in Woodville a group of kaumatua and kuia would pick me up in big old cars and bring me on hikoi to the Manawatū and tell me about the people and places. Te Hirawanui was always at the heart of the stories, so I have carried him with me for most of my life.
Any projects in the pipeline?
Setting about retiring properly! When I retired, I was already busy with governance on the side and took on more once “retired” from full time work. So most of the past 10 years I have been on 9 – 11 Boards. Chairing the Rangitāne o Manawatū Investment Trust, for example has kept me busy. I started giving roles up seriously two years ago and will finish two busy roles at the end of this year.
That will get me down to two Board roles!
What Palmerstonians (living or dead) do you most admire?
I admire a lot of Palmerstonians!
For example, during the 9 years I was on the Central Energy Trust I was constantly blown away by the many people out there doing such amazing things in our community. I am also conscious of many in the community who were the hard working and high-profile contributors in the 70s through the 90s. I encounter the older versions of them today with genuine respect and fondness.
