For many people, Coronavirus has been at least a change of pace and at most a life changer, whether that be a new job, or even moving back to New Zealand.

Faced with the prospect of not having her usual drumbeat of work, Tiffany Hardy did not let losing her job stop her. She spent time reading and thinking about what she wanted to do with her career, before rapidly deciding to set up her own business mid-crisis.

Reading our book club book, The Squiggly Career, was a game changer – it sparked the passion in Tiffany to use her skills more to help people. The book is based on the idea that we don’t work our way up the career ladder any more, instead we squiggle our way around.

“I have had quite a squiggly career, working in radio, TV, the travel industry and in production, so it’s been quite the squiggly ride,” Tiffany said.

After reading the “Super Strengths” chapter of the Squiggly Career it really made her think and assess things. Not only did it get her to figure out her super strengths, but it pointed out that the ones that are most important are not necessarily your strongest strengths, but the ones that you enjoy the most and that make you happy.

Brooke Dennis is one of many expat New Zealanders in London who have had to diversify their businesses over recent weeks. She’s one of the brains behind The Scrub Hub – an initiative created to provide scrubs to doctors when suppliers couldn’t meet demand.

For Brooke, COVID-19 has meant she can’t run the business, she set up only six months ago to provide a space for textile making. However, instead of wallowing in this she looked at what she could do to help.

The chance to do something to help came by way of a friend asking Brooke if she could sew some scrubs for one doctor. That one doctor’s request turned into creating hundreds of PPE-type scrubs for consultants across London. The scrubs are not certified PPE but instead are used by consultants and the like, who wanted to be easily identifiable and not be in their usual clothes for work.

Quality is not compromised. Brooke set out a standard for quality and craftsmanship – volunteers had to be very good sewers. She also uses cotton, because it’s better for the environment, as well as being comfortable and breathable.

Joined the Board: May 2020

Role: Finance & Revenue Director

Length of time with the network: 6 years

Rachel is a qualified finance professional who currently works as a senior Mergers & Acquisitions Professional at Royal Mail Group. Her role sees her leading the execution of the North American growth strategy through the acquisition of companies in the US, as well as producing strategic insight for the board on key structural matters.

Rachel moved to London in 2011 on a supposed two-year secondment with PwC. However, like many kiwis she stayed on and moved around various finance roles within PwC, before venturing into Private Equity, where she evaluated investment opportunities and helped grow and improve the financial performance of the investments. 

Her broad experience within finance spans mergers and acquisitions, private equity investment and portfolio management, valuation, financial analysis and business planning, structuring and taxation. 

Rachel is a great believer in the power of the network to help further Kiwi women’s careers and is passionate about helping the network grow and provide further opportunities Kiwis in London. She will be overseeing the finance function and is excited to be utilising her valuable skills in both financial oversight and investment. 

Brought up in Auckland, Rachel studied at the University of Auckland while also pursuing an initial career as a professional athlete, representing New Zealand in Badminton at the Commonwealth Games and qualifying for the Olympics in Beijing. She now spends less time on the court and more time running around after her husband and 2 year old daughter.

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