SHIFT Profile – Maria Noon

SHIFT Consultant Profile: Maria Noon

Maria Noon never dreamed of becoming a lawyer. But a tough work ethic and a willingness to leave her comfort zone led the way. She shares more about her career, as well as her love for basketball, flat whites and old school love songs.

I grew up in Papakura and left school to work at the YMCA, it seemed like the perfect job for me at the time.  We taught children’s gymnastics, basketball and badminton during term time, and in the holidays we had hundreds of kids at our holiday programme. It was a great place for the community. We played basketball in the downtime – given my love of that sport, it was a dream first job for me.

After a few years, I realised I wanted a different challenge. My younger sister was earning twice as much as me then working in an office, so I thought I would give “office work” a go.  Fortunately for me, I ended up in a law firm in town working as a Word Processing Operator. That was back in the day when someone would be on a dictaphone and you’d be typing out whatever they were saying into a legal document. It was a great gig because shifts were either 7-1 or 1-7, so if you were a young mum like me, you either got all the time in the morning with your kids, or all the afternoon. I loved this job.

I still had no real appreciation of the value of a formal education but I had learnt the importance of a strong work ethic from my Dad. Working in a law firm, you’re exposed to people with a great education and a strong work ethic.  I was working for really smart people who were very good to me.  The women lawyers were very inspiring – they were intelligent, smart, lots of fun and good people.  I wondered if I could do what they were doing.  They encouraged me to do a law degree and probably in doing so, changed the course of my life and that of my whānau.

Looking back, it was a pretty crazy time. My husband Sam and I had two children by then. Our daughter was 13 and our son was 4. Trying to work part time and do a full time law degree was tough!  But I’m glad I did, it really helped me stretch myself, hopefully provided some inspiration to our kids and meant that we’ve had opportunities that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. I wouldn’t have succeeded without the support of my husband who did a lot of the heavy lifting in our whare during that time.

What do you love about what you do?

I love learning and being challenged and you get that everyday working in the law.  I also get to meet and work with all sorts of awesome people which I love.  I’ve been fortunate with the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had, it’s been amazing. Also, I think many people grow up wanting to give their kids more opportunities than they had – becoming a lawyer has given us different opportunities and more choice in life.

What’s it like working at SHIFT?

SHIFT has been a godsend.

Before joining I’d been out of the law for 4 years. I left it to do an HR gig because that was something else I wanted to do, and then I took another year off to do a full immersion te reo course with my daughter. After that I had to decide whether to go back to HR or law.

At that stage, I realised I didn’t want a 40, 50, 60 hour a week job anymore. I’m a mum, a wife, a daughter, a grandma, an aunty, a friend and a sister. And you can’t play all those roles when you’re working full on in a really intense job.

I’d worked with some people who had worked with Prue and had heard a lot of good things. So it was perfect timing.

There seems to be a real mindset at SHIFT that if this works for you, you’re probably going to work better, be happier and be more effective, which I think is very true.

The flexibility is amazing. My husband and I had our kids young so we didn’t do a lot of travelling. Now we’re trying to do A LOT. I can work for 3 months or 6 months and then organise some travel when the contract ends. SHIFT gives me the freedom to do that which I’m so grateful for.

Also, because I worked full time while the kids were young, I’m one of those mums that has this guilt about not being there enough. We lived in Manukau and I took the train into work for nearly 20 years. My husband did all the drop offs and pick ups and I always felt like that ‘bad mum’.

Now I can look after my grandies during the week at certain hours. My daughter’s just started an HR business so it means I can support her, but I still get the intellectual stimulation and challenge that I enjoy from working in a legal role. It’s a gift.

One of the things I love the most about SHIFT is the camaraderie. Prue and the team make such a great effort. We have loads of seminars and different events, and it’s just so nice to catch up with people and have a chat and share experiences. I’ve met some really awesome women.

You mentioned you did a Te Reo full immersion course? What was that like?

It was an amazing experience and also harder than I expected. I went in thinking I wanted to learn the Te Reo Maori but I learnt so much more. There were so many amazing young people in our roopu (including my daughter), I was in awe of their commitment, strength, knowledge and abilities.  I found it hard to keep up!  I’d like to be able to say I’m fluent but it’s going to take a lot longer than I thought. I learnt a lot and have so much more to learn, so yeah, still on that waka.

What else do you get up to outside work?

Lately, just watching the Olympics and wishing I was 40 years younger! We had a work function one night but my husband and I were up at 3am to watch the basketball between France and Germany. Amazing game.

Best book/podcast/show you have recently indulged in?  

Auē by Becky Manawatu. It was such an emotional read. And I realised as I read it, that I had thought, which I will never think again, why don’t these women get out and make life better for themselves and their kids? And then I read the book and thought, that’s why.

Favourite Restaurant or Café and any menu recommendations? 

We live out at Beachlands – it’s awesome, a 35 minute ferry ride to town and close to the beach. Phil at Coffee Collective makes the best coffee out here. But, whenever I’m in town, I always go see Anita at Dizengoff in Ponsonby.

Favourite way to unwind?  

Listening to my husband play his guitar and sing whilst having a glass of wine. He’s an amazing singer and it’s kind of a fall in love all over again feeling everytime he plays. He sings all sorts of songs, lots of old school. We’ve been together 41 years.