Patricia comes from a varied background, both personal and professional. Born and raised in Switzerland for the first 15 years of her life, she embarked on a world tour with her family, encompassing Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia, and a short stint in New Zealand, which lasted 3 years. She returned to Ireland to finish her Leaving Certificate (equivalent to NCEA L3), and decided that rather go to University, she’d rather start working straight away, and moved back to Geneva. She completed a 3-year Commercial Certificate and worked for various firms during that time, growing from an office junior to Senior Admin positions, mainly with SGS and McKinsey & Company.
In the meantime, her family had moved back to New Zealand and Patricia travelled there regularly to visit them, and fell in love all over again with this astonishing country. After 10 years in Geneva, Patricia decided it was time to move again, this time to the Land of the Long White Cloud, where she still is, almost 20 years later. Arriving in Auckland, Patricia worked for the Irish Tourist Board and then became the Irish Honorary Consul’s Personal Assistant. She left the job to have her son, and moved to the Waikato where life is lived at a gentler pace than Auckland. She worked on and off part-time while he was growing up and when he started primary school, Patricia decided to draw on her love of languages and became a private French tutor, teaching adults and children alike. She further developed her Administrative career, firstly as Personal Assistant to the CEO of Wintec and Personal Assistant to one of Deloitte’s partners.
Her son now at boarding school, Patricia decided to extend her language skills and enrolled in a Community Interpreting course which she completed last year. She has been working casually (French not being in great demand in this country) in a number of environments, including Court, Hospital, Immigration, Police, Mental Health and Education, as well as providing translation services. Patricia enjoys flexibility and when she was approached by Infinite Possibilities to help out in a casual capacity, she agreed immediately. She was later offered a permanent part-time position, and enjoys the variety of her work, as no two days are the same. She enjoys the calm of a small practice and working with people with strong values and good work ethics.
Patricia’s primary focus is her son, and when he is home form boarding school (most weekends and holidays), she likes to spend time with him and tries to minimise social activities as much as possible so the two can “chill out” together and catch up on family and school news. Her other focus is Creative Fibre (Guild of Spinners, Weavers & Dyers) for whom she is Treasurer and thrives on being involved with a group of women (and men) who are incredibly talented and creative and a true inspiration for her own work. Patricia is establishing a studio, and she hopes to master the art of weaving before long, while doing a correspondence course in Spinning and in Colour. Other than that, Patricia enjoys good company, good food, good wine, books and movies.