Vicki’s Story: Walking with purpose

Vicki’s Story: Walking with purpose

When Vicki Eriksen talks about women, leadership and rural communities, there is an energy in her voice that’s hard to miss. She laughs easily, speaks openly, and describes herself in a way that probably captures her best.

“Someone once told me I’m warmly direct,” she says. “And I thought, I’m going to take that.”

It is a phrase that seems to fit. Vicki is thoughtful and reflective, but she is also clear about what matters to her – people, purpose, and helping other women realise they probably already have what they need.

A long road to New Zealand

Vicki’s journey to the New Zealand food and fibre sector was not a straight line. Originally from South Africa, she met her Kiwi husband while living in the UK. Two years later they moved to New Zealand and began building a life here together. Her professional career has largely been in HR, a field she has worked in for nearly three decades across a wide range of organisations.

Alongside that career she has also walked the journey of building a business with her husband and his brothers. Their company, Neat Meat, started small.

“Simon started selling meat out of the boot of our car,” she says. “And we’ve been on that journey with the business ever since.”

Although she was not always working directly in the company, she was always close to it. That experience also gave her a deeper connection to farming communities and the pride farmers take in their work.

“There’s something really special about farmers,” she says. “The pride they have in the land and the work they do. I’ve always felt a real connection to that world.”

Discovering Escalator

In 2018 Vicki heard about Escalator. At the time she had stepped away from full time work for a year to focus on her family. With three children and plenty going on at home, the year was anything but quiet. But when she saw the opportunity to apply for Escalator, something about it resonated.

“I think what struck me was that there was finally something designed specifically for women,” she says.

Through years working in HR she had coached many capable women in leadership roles. Again and again she noticed the same pattern; there were highly competent, capable women who were hesitant to back themselves in the same way their male colleagues often did.

“There was always this gap between their capability and their confidence,” she says.

But Escalator offered something different. A space designed specifically to develop women in leadership and do it in a way that recognised how women often approach leadership differently. So, Vicki applied and was accepted into the 2019 programme. Looking back now, she says it was life changing.

The moment that shifted everything

There’s one moment from the programme that Vicki still remembers clearly. During one of the sessions the group was talking about leadership development and capability. Much of her HR career had involved building systems that helped people identify and fix weaknesses. That was the framework she had always worked with. Then someone something that completely changed her perspective.

“Why are you focusing on weaknesses?” they asked. “Focus on your strengths and back fill the rest.”

The idea stopped her in her tracks.

“I actually had to leave the room,” she says. “I went to the bathroom and cried.”

For years she had been working within systems that emphasised fixing what people were not good at. Suddenly she was being asked to turn that thinking around completely. Instead of asking what needs fixing, the question became: what are you naturally good at?

“And once you know your strengths,” she says, “you build around those.”

That shift in thinking stayed with her. It changed how she approached leadership, how she worked with people, and how she thought about her own path forward.

A quieter kind of confidence

What Escalator gave Vicki was not a sudden transformation or a dramatic reinvention. Instead it brought clarity.

“I came away with a much stronger sense of where I add value,” she says.

She learned to recognise the things she does naturally well. Connecting people, thinking strategically, reading situations and understanding the dynamics around a table. And she also learned to be honest about the things she does not enjoy or doesn’t do well.

“If there’s something I don’t like doing, I’ll say that now,” she says with a smile. “Put me over here and I’ll deliver exactly what you need.”

That confidence has shaped how she works today.

Building businesses and new ideas

In the years following Escalator, Vicki continued exploring different business ideas. During the early stages of Covid she and a business partner launched a company called Comfi, focused on delivering high quality New Zealand made beds directly to customers’ homes.

It was a crowded retail market, but they approached it differently. Instead of simply selling a product, they looked carefully at every pain point customers experience when buying a bed and designed a service around solving those problems. The business grew steadily.

“We built it on the smell of an oily rag, and I am really proud of what we have managed to achieve.”

At the same time she continued following her interest in rural industries and sustainable materials, particularly strong wool. Through a small group called Wool Forward she worked alongside others in the sector to explore ways to better promote New Zealand wool. It was work she loved.

“There’s something about that rural community that always pulls me back,” she says.

Returning to the sector

Today Vicki works at Open Country Dairy, a role that has brought her back into the food and fibre sector more directly. It has also brought her back into close connection with the AWDT community. Having benefited so deeply from the programme herself, she is now focused on finding ways to give back.

“I asked, how do I help?” she says.

Part of that involves exploring ways her company can partner with AWDT and support the work they are doing with women across the sector. For Vicki, it feels like a natural continuation of the journey that began with Escalator.

Helping women see what is already there

When Vicki talks about the women she met through Escalator, she is full of admiration. Farmers. Business leaders. Board members. Mothers. Women juggling enormous responsibilities while often downplaying their own achievements.

“I remember looking around that room and thinking, you are all doing so much,” she says.

Many of the women she met were running farms, raising families, serving on boards and contributing to their communities, often all at the same time. And yet many of them still questioned their own capability. That is something Vicki wants to help change.

“I recognise myself in some of those women,” she says. “And I want to help lift them to where they already know they can go.”

The message she would share

If there’s one thing Vicki would say to other women reading her story, it is surprisingly simple.

“You already have everything you need.”

She believes we are inundated with information. Do this course, read this book, follow this programme, listen to this podcast. This results in women, especially, searching for answers outside themselves.

“Those things can help”, she says, but the real answers often sit much closer to home. “There’s a deep sense of wisdom inside all of us,” she says. “Sometimes it’s just buried under layers. And if you’re already feeling wobbly about your place in the world, it’s easy to lose sight of this innate wisdom.”

Her advice is to start paying attention to what naturally gives you energy. The things you do well. The environments where you feel most like yourself. And just as importantly, find your people.

“Go and find a group of women who really see you,” she says. “Women who will back you, support you, and also challenge you when you need it. I am incredibly lucky to have my 2019 Escalator Cohort do exactly that.”

Because in her experience, women are each other’s greatest champions. And sometimes the most powerful thing a woman can hear is simply another woman saying: “I see you. You’re good at this. Keep going.”