Dress for Success Auckland & Worldwide

In 2009, after eight years of grieving while sheltered at Te Wahi Ora Women's Retreat in Piha, I was ready to return to independent living by starting a paid job. I was referred to Dress for Success Auckland for a dressing appointment for my job interview. The volunteer stylist made me feel that I was the center of the universe and I felt seen and heard regarding the style of professional attires I would prefer. I felt confident and proud of who I was. I got the job and consequently bought a house to move in, thus began independent living after over eight years living at the women's retreat while I was grieving and healing from the traumatic severe head injury that put me in a 24-day coma. I continued my affiliation with Dress for Success Auckland through public speaking at their fundraising events and later their Australasian branch managers conferences in Auckland to promote their services to women returning to work by providing them with professional attires, career consultation and guidance and many more. I was part of their professional women's group (-PWG) where I learnt about managing personal finance, maintaining professional reputation, and other skills to support me continue developing and growing in the professional world. In 2012, I was elected representative of the PWG to attend the Worldwide Success Summit in Minneapolis. I took back a funded CAP-community action plan to give back to the community. I used the fund to support a Young Mums' Program in west Auckland. I organized free workshops such as Quit-Smoking and Managing Personal Finance, using the network I had acquired as a former PWG member. The CAP fund was used by the living and learning family center to buy sewing machines for the young mums to develop sewing skills. I was named local ambassador to continue volunteering and promoting Dress for Success Auckland's service in transforming women's lives. I continue giving public speaking through the platforms built by Dress for Success Auckland. Through speaking publicly about what I have learnt in the lived experience of coercive controlled intimate partner violence that led to attempted murder of me and the murder of my only child in Auckland, I hope to share the lived experience of loss and of healing. I hope to use what I have been given in the life-death-life passage to help save lives of women and children. Dress for Success Auckland is also a sponsor for my PhD research in the lived experience of bereaved parents of children murdered in intimate partner violence in Aotearoa New Zealand. It gave a designated necklace to participating bereaved mothers in my research. I hope to continue giving public speaking about coercive control in intimate partner violence and the risk of murder in such relationship when women are leaving.  My passion is to work to reduce murder in intimate partner violence and save the lives of women and children in Aotearoa NZ and the world. The most recent speaking was at Dress for Success Fundraising event: Friday lunch with Hilary Barry in 2024. I also did catwalks at Davenport Fashion Show and Celebrating Dress for Success Auckland 25th Anniversary. It has taken me to places indeed.