Nicci Richards wears many hats. When she’s out on her Taranaki dairy farm, it’s something warm or practical. For her role as a volunteer firefighter in the nearby town of Ōkato, it’s a protective helmet. But when she dons her hot pink top hat – that’s when sweet magic begins. Words Sara Faull,  Photos Jane Dove Juneau.

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Nicci who lived on a dairy farm in Stratford, Taranaki. As the second child of six (and the eldest daughter) she learned early on to be a ‘helper’. Each weekday morning, she was responsible for getting her siblings ready for school while her parents were out milking the cows.

Nicci loved to dream and every spare moment she could, she would lose herself in a book, where she could be anyone, do anything and go everywhere. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland were her favourites … and she had visions of herself in a pink top hat with her tuxedo tails waving behind her, as she strode the length of her very own chocolate-making factory.

As soon as the pink house, with its chocolate-themed interior went online, people lined up to come and stay.

Nicci had so many dreams, she found it hard to sit still in class and was easily bored. Her teachers despaired. Eventually she was diagnosed as having ADHD. Kids teased her for her daydreams and adults mocked her for not facing reality. But her nana used to listen to her dreams of living in a world she created for herself. Nothing was impossible, her nana agreed, and no dream was unreachable if you wanted it enough.

Nicci Richards is now 53 and she is living testimony for how to create a life of magic and serendipity. Wife, mother, grandmother, chocolate maker/seller/teacher, firefighter, dairy farmer, market convenor, B&B host and recently part of the local council’s events and venues team.

It is a life grounded in her ‘helper’ roles and sense of community. These are the anchor ropes that tether her magical and creative side, because when she dons her hot pink top hat and tails, she becomes, as the locals have called her, The Chocolate Lady. ‘I can be having a dull day with lack of sleep and being worked hard on the dairy farm. I can check my calendar and see that I have a chocolate party coming up and it’s like a switch flips,’ she beams.

Nicci hosts chocolate parties for children, hen do’s, or for anyone who wants to have a go at creating sweet treats. ‘I put on my tux, add my pink top hat and magically transform into The Chocolate Lady, with my sole mission to put a smile on the faces of my guests. To turn their day into the best day ever. This is the real me!’ she affirms.

Nicci then goes on to explain how another little-girl dream of living in a gingerbread house came to be. ‘My second marriage led me to going from a mum of three to a mum of six. We had two houses on the dairy farm and after the children moved out, my darling husband Miles (who has always been so supportive) and I decided we could use the house both for chocolate making and guest accommodation on Airbnb,’ she reveals. Nicci painted the house a bright pink, Resene Scrumptious, and plans to decorate the exterior in the future with sweets and candy canes to make it more ‘gingerbready’. As soon as the pink house, with its chocolate-themed interior went online, people lined up to come and stay.

‘I’ve had people from all around the world wanting to bring their families, to show them life can be as much about having fun as it is about being real. I’ve had children come to me on the last day of their stay crying because they didn’t want to leave. I’ve had families return year after year and still love it here. There is no television and only books, games, the outdoors and their imaginations to play with,’ Nicci explains.

What is inspirational about the life that Nicci has crafted, is the joyous way she respects her roles as both ‘helper’ and ‘creator’. It is almost as magical as chocolate melting into a ‘community’ shaped mould that is a multifaceted shape, uniquely her own.

In 2021, for example, when founder of the local Te Rūrū market (in the nearby town of Ōkato), Rachael Ruakere, wanted to hand the reins over to someone else, it was Nicci, and fellow locals Su Hammond and Taryn Hart, who stepped up. They decided to name themselves The Secret Society of Marketeers and set about expanding the place where locals gather and share what they are growing, making and crafting. Every few weeks, the three women convene over a convivial glass of red wine and dream up future themes and fun events. And this is where, most Wednesday afternoons, you will find Nicci in hot pink top hat and tails, selling her chocolate treats.

But in typical, imaginative Nicci fashion, it is not the usual stall she is selling from but a bright pink ambulance for ‘chocolate emergencies’. ‘The fact that I worked in emergency services led me to the idea of an ambulance,’ explains Nicci. ‘I found “Amber” on Trade Me and just had to have her. She had to be bright pink with a fun logo. The heartbeat seems to sum me up perfectly. I live from the heart and dream from heart over head.’

When she dons her hot pink top hat and tails, she becomes, as the locals have called her, The Chocolate Lady.

If there is a moral to Nicci Richards’ story, it is to never limit your potential, no matter what the well-meaning say and that there is commercial power in the magic of imaginings. Nicci describes it like this: ‘I am happiest when I can perform all my roles and give 100 per cent to each activity as I am doing it. I think that – as well as having the support of a wonderfully understanding husband and children – being ADHD allows me to do this.’

Having several income streams is also no bad thing. ‘It is a way to keep control of my financial security as having a mortgage is the closest thing I ever want to being an adult,’ she laughs. ‘The term I recently heard that describes how I live my work, is to have a “Portfolio Career”. I like that,’ she beams.

As a mother and grandmother, Nicci wishes for her own children and grandchildren to follow their dreams. To be people the world can admire and respect. ‘To be kind but to be confident enough in themselves to become whoever and whatever they choose to be,’ she enthuses. And of course, as she, herself does every day, to believe in magic and eat lots of chocolate confectionery!