Claire Williamson’s heart belongs in rural New Zealand. This live wire wears many hats, from her 9-5 as a mortgage broker, co-hosting the Rural Women NZ podcast Black Heels and Tractor Wheels, to her passion for creating delightfully colourful 100% wool coats under the label Velma and Beverley (named after her grandmothers).
She recently joined the board of Rural Women NZ, and governance and leadership in the primary sectors is where she sees her involvement in agriculture long-term.
Growing up on a small sheep and beef farm in northern King Country, south of the Kawhia Harbour, Claire studied towards a double degree in Sport and Leisure and English and French, never dreaming she’d end up making a career as a mortgage advisor.
Now a director and shareholder of My Mortgage, the pull to agriculture, in particular supporting women in rural communities, has never left her. Her skills in building and managing relationships have been pivotal to succeeding in all her different roles.
I love her no nonsense, get shit done attitude, and how she’s successfully managed to add so many strings to her bow by saying yes to every opportunity. The future looks bright for our industry with people like Claire advocating for agriculture.
Describe yourself in 3 words?
Playful, bright, hard-out
What inspires you?
Achievements, impact, other people doing shit they’re passionate about and give a fuck about. People who are open and excited to learn and grow, those people inspire me.
Best advice you’ve ever received?
It’s probably to take every opportunity that feels right and work out how to be really, really good at it later. That’s what’s helped me achieve what I’ve achieved. Have an open mind and that growth mindset. Richard Branson said it, I mean he didn’t personally give me that advice, but I read it!
Biggest learning in business?
Solve the problem first, and I always keep what’s in it for the customer at the front of mind. It’s always about the customer. Every successful business is asking that question, what’s in it for the customer, every single day.
The other one is around making sure you validate something before you go and spend a whole lot of money. With Velma + Beverley I pre-sold the coats to fund the purchase of my fabric, for example.
What does success look like for you?
Being in control of your time, and your impact. If I think about me as successful it would be having fun, making money and making a difference. Those things are front of mind. If I’m doing those three things every day then I would call myself successful. I believe that making money allows you to make more of a difference, and have more of an impact.
Dream way to spend a day?
Probably spending time across a bunch of projects and having an impact in every space. Managing a project and moving it forward, then podcasting, because I love to talk to people about their lives and stories. Living in a space where I can go for a walk in the bush or on a farm, finished with a sunset on a hill overlooking lambs and sheep – somewhere with a beautiful view - really good food, and a nice place to rest my head at the end of the day.
I think I have a massive opportunity to make a difference and I’d be really bored if I didn’t have work – so yes, I include work in my perfect day!
What are you reading/listening to?
Obviously, the Black Heels and Tractor Wheels podcast! I love Diary of a CEO, they’re really long but really good, and The School of Greatness.
In terms of books, I recently started reading fiction again. My go to is historical fiction and books with a twist, like Jodi Picoult. I also love reading about farming in New Zealand in the early 1900s in a fictional context.
Someone I like to follow on LinkedIn for her content is Alicia McKay.
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