Fiona Smith is the General Manager, Customer Operations for Trustpower and she is passionate about her role: her customers’ experiences, her team members’ wellbeing and performance, and the exciting possibilities offered by technology. Fiona leads a cross-functional, multi-site team of 420 people, delivering a customer experience that leverages multiple channels. She is responsible for all…
Meet Claire Rogers, the director of Sun Media, the family publishing and media company that was launched in 2000. A lot has changed over the last 18 years. They started off with a 50,000 circulation, the massive increase in population in the region has seen that circulation now grow to 67,500. SunLive was launched 10…
Gillian Houser came to Tauranga in 2015 to be close to her family and was fortunate to be introduced by Tauranga Chamber of Commerce to BayVenues. There she was given the opportunity to focus on something she is passionate about – the challenge of sourcing, negotiating, promoting and presenting events across a variety of industries….
Stacey Jones is the co-ordinator behind the Groundswell Festival of Innovation. After such a great response to the inaugural event last year it’s happening again this month from August 27 – Sept 2nd. There are over 45 events this year, so it has taken a fair amount of brain space and organisation to make sure…
As Chief Executive of Tourism Bay of Plenty, Kristin Dunne finds it rewarding to know what a difference she can make to the local economy, and community by growing the tourism sector in the Bay of Plenty. The Bay of Plenty is her product and she is a huge fan of it! Last year, after…
A life worth living is one that is lived outside of the box. That is definitely true for Managing Director, Caroline Dafoe, who has launched the Sports Education Trust, the charitable parent company of the United World Sports Academy which is scheduled to open February 2019 in Tauranga and in other locations within New Zealand….
Gail Christie was balancing bringing up her two sons on her own while working as a radiographer back in 2000 when she met Paul Christie, who later became her husband. Shortly after this she developed serious RSI and was struggling to continue to perform ultrasounds so she and Paul decided to look at alternative businesses….
“I’ve hit the jackpot!” That’s what Jenny Rudd, editor and co-publisher at UNO Magazine, says about her role. “It ticks every box on the dream job list: fulfilling, enlightening, fun, exciting, rewarding, glam, interesting, worthwhile – I could bore you forever with effusive enthusiasm for my beloved magazine.” Her burning love for UNO started when she…
The University of Waikato will open its new Tauranga CBD campus in Durham Street in 2019. Christa George’s role as Associate Director of the Tauranga Campus Development, is to ensure that when it opens it is a fully functional campus that delivers a quality University of Waikato student experience. In essence it’s a role that…
Committee member Kim Ancell moved to Tauranga just under a year ago and she has shared with us how she is going about building her own business. How do you balance work and life responsibilities? I block out time for myself in any given day/week. I make this non-negotiable Kim time. Allowing myself to enjoy this time is still…
