There are some people in life who can’t be tied down. These wild, wandering hearts seem like they’ll never stop travelling and no city could keep them. That is until they discover Wellington.
Katie Anderson is one such person. She is the executive assistant to the CEO of Te Kāhui Auaha and a proud adopted Wellingtonian. She also recently started her side-hustle as a personal stylist, Katie Andersons Ideas, serving the women of Wellington up with a curated-yet-kind eye to help them dress with more confidence.
Born in Northern Ireland, when she was two years old her parents immigrated to Malaga in Spain. Katie grew up on the Costa del Sol, spending time on the beaches, being outside and soaking up the sun. “When I was little I would pick up washed up glass, thinking they were emeralds like the one in my mother’s ring, and give them to her. Mum was always very kind” Katie laughs.
In Spain, life revolved around food: Katie’s mum prepared three-course meals every night for the family, ending in dessert, but they also ate out a lot; paella, prawns sizzling on terracotta and fresh fish.
As a kid, Katie studied at an international school but although she wanted to study art, she didn’t have the courage to put her work out there. “I was so worried about having my art judged as right or wrong, good or bad. Yes, I like ambiguity in art but I thought it would be safer to pursue languages like English Literature and Spanish and business. There was always a right or a wrong answer in those subjects” she says.
After school finished, Katie studied marketing a public relations at a Spanish speaking university in Malaga. Her first job once she’d finished was working for a large hotel resort, before she went on to pursue her main passion - travel.
Through her years roaming the globe, Katie worked in lots of different and varied jobs. She’s had times working on yachts, in mango farms in the Northern Territory of Australia and in boutique real estate. “Some people know what they want to do and that’s amazing, but I’ve never really had that. I want to try everything and have as many adventures as possible. I just haven’t found that thing yet which really makes me tick.” Katie particularly enjoyed real estate, back in Malaga, because “…it was a small company where I could do everything from marketing to accounting to dealing with the clients. I like doing jobs where I can be creative, and that job enabled me to be involved in lots of different things at once.”
After travelling through Asia and spending two years in Australia, Katie returned home. Everyone asked her whether she’d been to New Zealand. “I remember explaining to my Dad’s friends that Australia was pretty big and that I had spent most of my time travelling around there, so no, I hadn’t made it to New Zealand. It was pretty funny. Every time, their faces fell. This didn’t just happen once. It actually happened a few times. I got curious about why New Zealand was meant to be so special.” The seed was planted and Katie booked her tickets to New Zealand. Three weeks later, she arrived.
Katie’s first experience of Kiwi life was via backpacking around the country on a holiday working visa. “I travelled as much as I could” Katie remembers. She hitch-hiked, walked and quickly found that the beautiful landscape had stolen her heart.
As her visa came up, Katie looked around for ways to stay. “I was in Wanaka but I decided I’d have a better chance of staying and getting sponsored for my next visa if I moved back to Wellington, which I’d visited and loved. I was lucky and got sponsored and I love living in Wellington.”
For curious Katie, working at Te Kāhui Auaha offers a perfect challenge to her ever-inquiring mind because it is a hub for creativity. She’s involved in setting up incredible, colourful events, meeting students, writing newsletters, meeting musicians and lighting experts and generally having her fingers in lots of pies. She also can always go and explore her wilder side at the drop of a hat. “I love being outdoors on the weekends, getting in the wind and being blown about. With Wellington, it’s a bustling city but within half an hour I can be out in the countryside. I love red rocks and Makara. The energy here, the essence of New Zealand, is unique.”
Now, Katie has started a project of her own. Her creative side-hustle Katie Anderson Ideas is all about making women feel amazing with the clothes they already own. “The first place to start is to enhance the garments you already own, I call it Conscious Keeping. It’s not about spending a fortune on new things. I work with my clients in their own homes so we can determine which clothes and accessories make her feel comfortable and like her best possible self. I help remove items that are ill-fitting or that don't make her feel good. The art of making do is finding value in these things you already own, whilst liberating your creativity to discover new ways of wearing old favourites and lesser worn items. I focus on encouraging women to create a more thoughtful wardrobe.”
For someone who has lived such a colourful life to date, it makes sense that Katie’s creativity has been ignited in Wellington. With the sky the limit, Wellington’s Katie Anderson is already making Wellington a brighter, and more stylish capital city. “I love that you can do so many things at once here" she marvels. “You can have a business and be a belly dancer. Have a corporate job and also be creating an animal sanctuary in your back garden. In Wellington, you don’t have to be just one person.”
