In May, 2009, Jenni Powell and her now husband, Dave, arrived in Queenstown during a gap year.
Originally from the Wirral peninsula, Liverpool, the couple arrived in the resort in a campervan to visit Jenni’s cousin, who was living in Fernhill.
"We just went out on to her deck on the first night in Queenstown and we were just blown away," she says.
"We thought, ‘god, it’s just paradise, isn’t it?"’
Jenni, 38, had previously gone to uni in Swansea, in south Wales, where she attained a double-degree in English literature and psychology, and had plans to complete a further year of study, and become a teacher.
But by the time the couple got back to the UK, the global financial crisis was biting.
She got a job working for the Department of Work and Pensions, in Liverpool, looking after new unemployment benefit claims.
"It was just not the life we wanted, after we’d experienced more," she says.
"So at that point we decided ... we were going to get a two-year working holiday visa, move to New Zealand, and live in Queenstown forever."
In May, 2011, they arrived in a relocatable rental car, initially to Wānaka, where they intended to settle.
"We had to drop the car back over here, so we drove over the Crown Range, stopped at the viewpoint at the top there, overlooking Queenstown, and, literally, I was tearing up, going ‘this is my home’."
Dave picked up work as a lifeguard at the Queenstown Events Centre, where he stayed till they got residency, after which he started doing his mechanics apprenticeship through GWD Toyota Queenstown, only moving to Queenstown Motor Group this year.
Jenni, meantime, initially got a contract job for Maui, based at Queenstown Airport, through the Rugby World Cup, then worked in reservations and sales for Southern Discoveries, where she realised she had a passion for the latter.
She stayed with the company till 2016, eventually becoming NZ sales manager, before taking on a business development role at VisitorPoint, responsible for tourism brochure distribution all over the country, and later became its general manager, a role she held through Covid.
"It was really hard, because I am an empathetic person and we had to go through so many restructures.
"It basically took everything out of me."
Simultaneously, Jenni was the chair for NZ Backpacker and Youth Adventure Tourism Association, another industry heavily hit by the pandemic.
As soon as she got VisitorPoint profitable again, she decided she needed a break.
"I don’t know if I would say I had a mid-life crisis, but I bought a campervan and thought, ‘I’m getting away from all of this massive decision-making and stress’.
"I just went travelling for five weeks."
She’d emailed all her VisitorPoint contacts letting them know she was moving on, including Both Brains, an outsourced IT company they used.
Its managing director Ryan Howard responded, suggesting the pair, who’d known each other six years, could work well together.
"I was like, ‘are you joking? I can’t even turn off my phone, what am I going to do in tech?"’
After mulling it over, she thought she could add some value.
"I can’t understand what anyone’s talking about when they talk about IT, and that’s exactly our customers."
She joined the team in February, 2021, as GM, after which Both Brains, which started in Auckland 11 years ago, decided to set up an office here.
Jenni’s now building a community.
Now a mentor, through Business Mentors NZ, this year, she almost accidentally also launched Queenstown Women in Tech, inspired, in part, by her own experiences.
While tourism’s highly visible, when she moved into the tech industry she didn’t have any networks, didn’t know how to meet anyone, or how the industry works.
As the regional coordinator for this year’s Tech Week, held here in May, she decided to run a ‘women in tech’ event, expecting about 20 people to turn up.
"I got 120 RSVPs.
"All of these women are sitting at home, working remotely, hidden in the community."
A second, sold-out event was held last month, and another one’s planned for October.
"I feel like it’s actually community-building ... and you know that saying, ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’."
She’s also involved in TechWomen, which has just started a chapter in Queenstown.
About 20 women have already signed up to the free organisation — Jenni notes that’s more than is involved in Dunedin or Christchurch.
Queenstown, she says, is very much her home — she and Dave still live in Fernhill, and still marvel at the view every day.
But mostly, she’s grateful she’s found "find the stuff that lights you up" here.
"It’s just been really cool to see my career change and still be awesome and still be fun.
"I love it here and I just feel like there are just so many opportunities, if you want them."
