Welcome to My Net Worth, our regular column on the lives and motivations of our country’s top business, legal and political people in their own words. 

Agnes Naera (Ngāpuhi) is chief executive of Global Women, a New Zealand collective of influential female leaders promoting inclusion and diversity in society. She has had more than 15 years’ experience in the education sector, including as director of student, business and community partnerships at AUT, where she fostered collaboration between the sectors and played a key leadership role in advancing Māori and Pasifika aspirations. In her work, she takes inspiration from the words of the great Ngāpuhi leader Sir James Hēnare (1911-1989): "He tāwhiti ke tō koutou haerenga, ki te kore haere tōnu. He tino nui rawa ō koutou mahi, kia kore mahi tōnu. (We have come too far not to go further, we have done too much not to do more)."

When I was young, I wanted to be a nun. We weren’t even Catholic, but from an early age, I had an idea that I wanted to do good.

I grew up in Glen Innes, but every holiday we’d go to my grandparents in the Hokianga, which I think of as home. In Auckland, everything was done in English, and in the Hokianga, everything was done in the Māori way. It was only later in my life that I realised how privileged I was to experience the best of both worlds. 

We were all expected to go to university but I didn’t conform. I went to Auckland University for six months after I left school and didn’t like it; I didn’t want to do law. 

Instead, I went overseas to London and Singapore with some friends and worked in bars, before we based ourselves in Australia. Between the ages of probably 20 and 28, I just had a really good time.

I went back to study social work at AUT as an adult student because I became a single mum. My son Tony was about three then, and that was a turning point for me. I realised you don’t need to be clever, you just need to work hard. That’s when I got involved in student politics and started working part-time in student services.

A lot of people have been really generous to me and it’s taught me that you get what you give. I really do believe that. 

Agnes Naera at her graduation in 2010.  

I’m proud of having had the opportunity to mentor and support Māori students – to walk alongside them while they studied and to stand on stage with them when they graduated. Some of them were unlikely to have gone on to complete a PhD, yet they did.

My best business advice is to always know who’s in the room. It is really important that you know who you’re talking to, and not just who they are on LinkedIn. Before I met NZX chief executive Mark Peterson, I spent hours researching him. You need to be able to connect with people’s head and their heart, to look at who they are and what matters to them. 

You should never underestimate how much personal development is needed for leadership. No one wakes up a gold medallist; you’ve got to keep training. 

You always need something good in front of you when things get tough. At the end of every year, for as long as I can remember, our whānau go to my brother’s farm and we eat and drink together and I always look forward to that.

I usually get the train into work. I don’t spend time on my phone. I use the journey to take a breath and do some people-watching.

I love to cook. My nieces and nephews will say, “Aunty Ag, you are the best trifle and pancake maker.” Baking is something I’ve always been quite good at. My grandmother taught us to bake without recipes.

I love jostling around in second-hand shops and recycle boutiques. More and more the idea of buying new things just doesn’t appeal to me. I recently bought a couch from a hospice shop and got the cushions recovered and did a bit of sanding and varnish on it. It sits proudly in my dining room now.

As told to Jacqui Loates-Haver.
This interview has been edited for clarity.