Hitting the ‘refresh’ button
The Jafas are rolling out of Auckland in search of tranquillity in the regions. Heather McCarron reports.
Richie Fullard remembers the moment it hit him – he no longer worked in radio. He was in overalls, sitting on the side of the road in the pouring rain at 3am, waiting for the all-clear to remove a body from a vehicle.
That was three years ago. After 20-plus years working in radio, he’d become a funeral director. His former career had included top roles such as network operations manager for RadioLIVE, and executive producer for More FM Breakfast – overseeing the likes of Marc Ellis. It was a job he enjoyed, and over the years his passion hadn’t diminished. But the decision to leave was about hitting ‘‘refresh’’ – to see what life held next.
It’s a story that’s becoming increasingly common, and the the Auckland housing market is a driving factor. Cashed-up sellers are flocking to the regions, capitalising not just on their properties, but on an opportunity. Working from home, starting a new business, or retraining in a new industry. And there’s no shortage of people taking the plunge.
Fullard’s new path began with a move to Rotorua, where he’d taken up another management role in radio. He was approaching 40, his wife had just had their second child, and after they sold their Auckland property, their living costs were lower. The funeral industry had always interested him, but he felt he’d always been too young or didn’t have the avenue to do it.
‘‘You can’t leave school and go train in it like you can in radio land. It was one of those things that I’d parked for a long time.’’
He was pondering his future when a job ad for a local funeral director popped up. He applied, and got it.
The move puzzled many of his former colleagues. But for Fullard, it was about ‘‘giving back’’ – a yearning triggered by the Christchurch earthquakes. He and his family were living in the garden city when it crumbled.
‘‘There were so many people working tirelessly and with commitment to a greater good, and I’m running around playing the radio guy. I’d always been in a take-take-take type of environment . . . whether it’s taking people’s time or marketing spend. This was an opportunity to get rid of all that tangible stuff like the car and laptop, and start thriving off the intangible.’’
Last year, Fullard became the funeral home’s general manager. He doubts he would have been able to chase the funeral dream if he’d stayed in Auckland. He thinks the salary drop and being on-call 24/7, with a commute to factor in, would have made it too hard.
Less than an hour north, the Jafas are rolling in. Andrew Coker, chief executive of Priority One – the economic development agency for Tauranga – comes across ‘‘one or two’’ Aucklanders every week looking for change, and opportunity. Priority One’s ‘Wish You Were Working Here’ website is laden with case studies of lifestyle and career changes, and Coker agrees the Auckland housing market is a key factor.
Economic analysis shows far higher growth in entrepreneurial activity in Tauranga than the rest of the country. Between 2013 and 2015, the number of jobs in the region grew by an average of 3.5 per cent a year, compared with growth of 2 per cent nationally and 2.4 per cent in Auckland.
Coker believes starting something new is far more achievable in the regions. ‘‘It’s easy to network, it’s easy to get around, it’s easy to have that balance of lifestyle mixed with work. And I think that’s the difference. We’re just not faced with that same level of challenge here.’’
Auckland Transport employee Tony Wadsworth likes cats. That’s a good thing, because he’s about to be surrounded by about 60 of them on a daily basis. The project manager is currently packing up his soon-to-be-former North Shore home as he prepares to take ownership of his in-laws’ cattery in Te Puna, western Bay of Plenty.
He’s waving goodbye to a job he enjoyed and says the projects he was working on would have led to another two to three years of very fulfilling work.
‘‘But the reason I wasn’t feeling very fulfilled was not because of what I did for a living,’’ Wadsworth explains. ‘‘It was more around everything that was required to make that happen.’’
That included an hour-long bus ride at both ends of the day, and he would often not arrive home until 7pm. He’d help out with the kids’ evening routines, then his wife Debbie would be off to bed an hour later, ready to rise at 2.30am for her job. Wadsworth found himself sitting alone in front of the TV five nights a week, wondering if there was more to life. So, last year, when Debbie’s parents asked the couple if they’d like to swap corporate for cattery, the timing seemed right.
The 42-year-old is now looking forward to being his own boss, and having spent plenty of time at the cattery over the years, is confident he’ll get to know the ins and outs of the business quickly.
There will be no more commute – the cattery and house are on the same property – and the family will be better off financially. Then there’s the work itself. ‘‘Being able to sit down with 60-odd cats and pet and groom them and give them a bit of attention is quite a cool thing to do. A number of people I work with are very jealous.
‘‘I’ve been surprised by the number of people who would say things like ‘I wish they would lay me off so I could go and do something else too’. Even very driven people who are very good at what they do – there are a few who have said that to me. And I’m thinking – if you’re that unhappy with what you’re doing, why not go and find the remedy rather than wait to be pushed?’’
For some, that push is coming from a deeper place. Kasteel (Kas) Craw, and her husband Nic have a twoyear-old with cystic fibrosis – a lifethreatening disorder affecting the lungs and digestive system. Their daughter’s health challenges have prompted a complete re-evaluation of their lifestyle, and a desire to spend more quality time with Frankie and her one-year-old sister Rio. So this year, the couple sold nearly all of their possessions and bought a caravan. They plan to spend the next year living a simpler life, largely off the grid, while exploring the country.
It’s a journey a made possible in part by the so-called ‘‘halo’’ effect of Auckland. The couple own three rental apartments in Pukehina, on the east coast of Bay of Plenty, and they’ve just sold their family home in central Tauranga, where the median price has risen 39 per cent in the last year. It was a major renovation project, and after months of hard slog, they’re eager to embark on their new chapter.
‘‘The clothes and shoes were the hardest things to get rid of,’’ Kas says. ‘‘Dropping off Annah S dresses to the Sallies, that was hard. But as soon as they were gone it was like – OK that’s good.’’
The couple had initially planned to head overseas with their children, but Frankie had a bad run last year, and leaving the country didn’t seem right. ‘‘We thought ‘let’s just go and explore New Zealand instead. We’ll see what different towns have to offer – and where we might want to live next’.’’
She’s conscious that winter has landed, and won’t hesitate to pull the plug on the trip if her daughter’s health becomes compromised. But so far, both children have adapted well to the change, enjoying parking-up next to playgrounds, and making the most of the outdoors. Kas will also work towards becoming a qualified yoga instructor, while physiotherapist Nic will enjoy a bit of soul-searching before plotting his next career move.
‘‘He’s really keen for a change. He’d love to just do up houses, or work the land, or do something physical. So who knows? We’ve got no idea. It’s all completely open – which feels awesome.’’
Kas is documenting the family’s adventure on her blog, and she hopes their journey will inspire others to live a more simple life, including those making money from the property boom. ‘‘It’s easy to think, ‘oh I’m ahead now – so I can take on a new mortgage and get a really fancy house’. But the reality is, if you downsize and take the money, it can really free things up. No matter what step we’ve been at on the property ladder, we’ve always made sure our mortgage gets lower and lower’’.
It seems growing numbers are wanting a fresh start. According to CoreLogic data about 85 per cent of Auckland sellers stayed in Auckland in the mid to late 2000s. That number peaked at 88 per cent in 2011. In the final quarter of last year, only 69 per cent of Aucklanders selling and subsequently buying another property stayed local. The top four destinations were Waikato (excluding Hamilton), Tauranga, wider Bay of Plenty, and Hamilton.
The way Richie Fullard sees it, those feeling ‘‘stuck’’ should start making moves today, to fix the rut.
‘‘If that means moving out of the rat race and finding your place in the world – wherever that may be, in whatever career that you really dream about doing, then you’ve got to put these plans in place to make it happen. Otherwise someone else will be doing your job and you’ll be stuck at the Pitt St lights,’’ he says.
For Fullard, those lights are now a world away – and that’s how he likes it.
This was an opportunity to get rid of all that tangible stuff like the car and laptop, and start thriving off the intangible. Richie Fullard