About us

My love of DIY started very early when watching my father build homes in England. I was mixing concrete and laying bricks by the time I was 10! I gained more DIY skills through renovating my first home, a 100 year old English terraced house, and have continued the DIY theme in my current NZ home, saving thousands on tradie bills along the way.

​I’ve broadened my practical skills and technical abilities working in science but I’ve also been an IT trainer, a teacher, a lecturer and even a recruit trainer in the military.

Whilst taking time out to raise my family, I joined Auckland Central Community Shed. I became their Coordinator and, after seeing how few women had woodworking skills compared to men, I founded WomenzShed. To gain further skills and experience, I studied carpentry where I spent a year building a house, and then time in the construction industry as a remedials manager.

​Sharing what I know has always been important to me. So with a passion to help other women experience the satisfaction of building, fixing and creating things, we’ve created NZ’s first space where women together can learn to do this.

My first degree involved 3D design, wood, metals and plastics. I’ve always loved making things. If you sew, working with wood is the same principle, cutting up materials and putting them together.

My second degree was in furniture making and design after which I taught woodwork to women. I then learnt carpentry and joinery, which set me up to jump straight into a building apprenticeship when I arrived in New Zealand 19 years ago. For 10 years I was an eco builder, building from natural materials, rammed earth and mud brick.  Before returning to England in 2023 I project managed more conventional residential building projects.

I am passionate about supporting women to be confident with power tools, to do jobs around their homes, make things from wood, or enter the building industry, if the desire is there. Whilst no longer instructing in person, I remain a WomenzShed trustee and advisor.

I’m a spatial designer by training and have worked in architecture & design for some years before realizing I missed using my hands and knowing how things were made. I’d always loved being in the workshop at uni and also loved experiencing design and making under the same roof when I worked for a furniture designer.

During the first lockdown, I designed a tiny house for my partner and, realizing I would need more building skills, started working for a tiny house cabinet maker. That year I also started having woodworking dates with two other women makers where we would borrow each other’s tools, ideas, support and empower each other to create and make. The three of us now happily work as makers so I’m definitely grateful for what bringing women together around making can do!

Having previously gained a bachelor’s in English and history and trained as a teacher, I changed my mind after attending a woodworking course.  I’ve now been working in carpentry since 2020, having first completed my level 3 qualification, and am now working towards finishing my level 4.   I’m really keen to help other women upskill, and hopefully encourage others to get out in the field with me.