Our People

The sixth generation of a Hawke’s Bay farming family is bringing style to an historic landscape.

Two of Valda Poletti’s ancestors arrived from England, settled on land near New Plymouth and burned the bush and forest to make way for pastures of ryegrass and clover. Valda has done precisely the opposite.

Boutique owner Karan Gregory has an eye for business based on experience earned, not learned.

A Rotorua falconer takes flight, spreading his love for Aotearoa’s native birds of prey.

A sewing teacher with a superhero-like enthusiasm for saving the planet packs a heap of personality into her tiny house.

At a time when many young Māori were heading to Australia, Brisbane-born and raised Jeremy Tātere MacLeod bucked the trend by moving to Hastings to immerse himself in Māori culture.

Summer holidays for a Hamilton family mean a beach on the wild Waikato west coast with a small dog called Rosie and a retro caravan called Roxanne.

An Eye for Detail with Not Just Events owner Sheree Stevens

From bridal shows, wine and food festivals and book launches to marathons, cycle races and sporting events, Not Just Events owner Sheree Stevens (or Sheree Haugh if she’s at home) has organised them all, with a focus on local, personal flavour.

Marie Pourcel wakes each morning to goats bleating outside her tiny home in Burkes Pass. It feels like a million miles from the apartment and office job she left behind in France’s fourth-largest city.

A 2 billion year old organism is the hot new food trend, and a gourmet business opportunity.

A walker recovering from illness took the chance to clean up his local area. Both are now in good health.

A secondary school art teacher scolded his students for being “plum puddings” and told them to get on with their art. One of them took this admonition to heart, his words inspiring her since.

When her life went off-script, writer Lauren Keenan did something new – 52 of them, in fact, in only 52 weeks. Her new book, The 52 Week Project, covers her discoveries as she writes new chapters for herself.

They moved to the country to live off the land. But it took a few odd years to find the right animal for their block.

A lifetime love affair with apparel enters a new phase with the collector becoming the creator.

Four young entrepreneurs want to promote and protect the country's native environment while growing their sparkling drink empire.

They live off-grid in a log cabin, drive an electric car, and measure their progress in toilets. Meet a pair of earth nerds living their great adventure.

This Whāngārei-based maternity activewear brand reached 14 on the Deloitte Fast 50 list within five years of shipping its first bras.

A conductor and a violinist find a soothing new tempo inside a Central Otago triangle.

Kellie Hollingsworth wasn’t interested in cars, let alone restoring them. But then a shabby old Toyota stole her heart.

A New Plymouth mum pours her heart into a global movement, bettering the planet one toy at a time.

A jolly delicious business born from an art project is reinventing a Kiwi classic.

Once a builder, now a baker — a Hastings entrepreneur hasn’t let life’s hurdles get in the way of nourishing himself (and others) along the way.

Marlborough-based artist Nicolas Dillon’s coffee-table book of drawings and paintings of New Zealand birds represents his lifetime love affair with the natural world.

Richard Thompson and Laurel Stowell have grown their dream home, and a village to go with it.

Lawyer Precious Clark takes a lead role in helping Pākehā identify with Māori culture in a way that adds value personally and professionally.

Lisa Scott has always been afraid of heights or, to be more precise, falling. Now she’s attempting to overcome that fear.

Two Waitaki families farming in partnership for more than 50 years have developed a bird-loving business out of a crop sown on a wing and a prayer.

Banana-passion vines stand no chance against a Golden Bay man’s infectious vision.

Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Hinemoa Elder shares the sayings of her ancestors for use in the modern world.

Kelly Wilson spent two years camping on mountain ranges, deserts and plains across the globe observing the behaviour of wild horses for her new book, Wild Horses of the World.

Mary Biggs started with Le Cordon Bleu, detoured into lemon cordial and is now back to basics with a country cooking school, sharing the bounty of her beloved farm.

Nature gets away with quite a bit in this otherwise formal country garden.

Two old mates with a shared goal are shaking up New Zealand’s plant-based milk market.