Briony McKenzie attended St Hildas from 2005-2009, and she was Deputy Head Girl in her final year. Life during her high school years was full with rowing, philanthropic adventures to Cambodia, student council duties, Speech and Drama (completing her ATL & LTCL with Trinity College) and many other activities.
Briony went on to graduate from the University of Otago with a double degree in LLB (Hons) and BA (Politics). She commenced her legal career at Chapman Tripp in Auckland as a commercial property lawyer. During this time, she also embarked on a personal development journey and re-trained in NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) and other personal growth modalities. “My love for learning and growth, instilled during my time at St Hilda’s meant I was always open to new opportunities and continuously looking for ways to expand further.”
So after 4 years as a commercial property lawyer, she decided to take a leap of faith into launching her own coaching businesses. She has spent the past 2 years building two successful coaching companies - Untapped and The Social Experiment. She acknowledges, “my experience in law - the years of impeccable training and hard work have been absolutely invaluable for the tough ride of launching entrepreneurial endeavours.”
Through coaching programmes, online trainings, workshops and speaking opportunities, Briony has now worked with hundreds of young professionals and corporate organisations (such as Kensington Swan, Kiwibank, Madison Recruitment etc) to empower them to uncover their unique gifts, harness their true potential and create their impact in the world.
“I absolutely love the work I get to do every day. During my years at St Hilda’s, I always loved being part of any opportunity to lead and inspire others so I always knew I wanted to do something that created a meaningful impact. And coaching provided me with the perfect pathway.”
Briony now travels New Zealand and she and her partner (who also works in the coaching industry) are heading to Bali in March 2020 to try life on the island. She is passionate about the coaching industry and as one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, she is committed to ensuring people understand the power of coaching and ensure the standards of service continue to be honoured and regulated.
“There have been so many challenges, late nights, steep learning curves, but I am really proud I had the courage to follow my true purpose and beyond grateful for the special friends and family who supported me along the way.”