BNI 16 June 2015
I live on a large lifestyle property 35 km from town with one or 800 cows 300 sheep 5 dogs who are not allowed to sleep in front of the fire or on our bed like one very spoilt cat.
24 years ago after my two children had gone off to school I decide that isolation was not for me.
After working in a bank pre children I missed the company of others so I started on my path in the hosp trade, little did I realise that this was going to become my passion in life.
I spent 4years at Puddleducks on the square a few other cafes in between. The next stop was out at Tui Dairy company running staff cafe and internal catering. When Tui closed I went to Wharareta to learn about functions and cafe for couple of years.
After 10 years Im then decide I needed to do it for myself rather than others. I was going to reinvent the wheel and own my own cafe. So in March 1999 I purchased NNJ Cafe opp Hospital. My story begins from there I was lucky in the beginning, I didn`t appear to have to go looking for work it came to me.
As my empire got bigger with the running of the Cafe at Ezibuy to renting premises in McGregor St for the overflow of the cafe prep work to doing more and more corporate work. we grew to a staff of 15 fulltimers but after 4 yrs I got out of Ezibuy and with the down turn in the economy I lost a lot of my government work, departments closed or spending was cut our catering work got smaller. I now have 4 Full timers at the Catering and 3 at the Cafe but can find up to extra 20 when we need as we did for the Ohekea function.