Hi, I’m Heather and this is my life so far.
I’m a born and bred Kiwi. And proud of it.
I was born in Henderson, Auckland in March of 1988 (during Cyclone Bola). Yes that does technically make me a ‘bogan’, but for anyone who has seen Outrageous Fortune or Westside they know it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
I am one of five kids so grew up with a lot of noise and even more unconditional love.
My family re-located to Snells Beach (about an hour north of Auckland) when I was still a baby and then moved in to Warkworth where I lived from the age of 6 to the age of 17 (nearly 18).
Growing up in small town New Zealand in the 90’s wasn’t so bad. There was always somewhere to play – outside or inside, not a lot to spend money on and everything was within walking distance. And the music was pretty cool too, not to mention the fashion.
I attended Warkworth Primary School and Mahurangi College where I completed 7th Form (or what’s now known as year 13).
Back then, I was known as a Chappell (which is my Maiden name). We were slightly famous in Warkworth as four of us completed our secondary school education at Mahurangi College. All of us except for the youngest of the Chappell’s who moved from Warkworth to Whangaparaoa and finished school there.
My ‘work life’ started as a fresh faced 14 year old in 2002 when I got an after school job as a ‘checkout chick’ at the local New World supermarket. While working for New World I learnt a lot about what it’s like to work as part of a team, how to handle cash and developed the work ethic I still have to this day.
Once I had finished School I headed for the Waikato to embark on my tertiary study and become a ‘grown up’.
I studied a Bachelor of Media Arts at Wintec with a major in Communications which I graduated in 2008. I then proceeded to study and complete the National Diploma of Journalism in 2010.
While I was studying I worked in bars in Hamilton. I was offered my first ‘hospo’ job when I had just turned 18 (so only just old enough to drink legally). I stayed at this job for my first year then moved on to be a bar tender at one of the student bars in Hamilton where I worked for the following two years.
Once I had finished my Degree I decided to work full time in Hospitality while I decided what I was going to do as my career and how I was going to use my degree.
I got a job at Smith & McKenzie as part of the opening front of house team in February 2009. I had never worked in a restaurant before so it was quite new to me but I was young and willing to learn. I stayed working for Smith & McKenzie while I did my Journalism course in 2010.
I didn’t really know exactly what I was going to do when I finished that course but I was still enjoying hospitality, Smith & McKenzie had full time work for me, I had just met Matt and was in love with him.
So I stayed at Smiths and worked my way up to become Restaurant Manager. I have been the Restaurant Manager at Smith & McKenzie for over three years now. Currently, I manage a team of about 20 young people (mostly students) and one of my main jobs is front of house training.
I do use the skills I learnt in both my degree and diploma in my current position but still have the desire to write in some capacity at some stage in the future.
Since meeting in 2010 me and Matt have moved in together, adopted a cat Baz (who is now four years old and named after a basil plant), got engaged in 2012 and then married in 2013, travelled New Zealand, then the world and at the start of 2015 we bought a house.
I’m a happy, bubbly person who has a passion for crafts, baking and camping. I’m also pretty sarcastic, which I find hilarious… Others don’t really get it, which is their loss.
And that’s pretty much me.
Arrivederci!
Heather