Pilot & TV personality LEEANN'S LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS

The high-flier tells why she's had to always be twice as good to soar

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She's the down-to-earth farm girl from Northland who's now flying high as an international pilot.

This month, LeeAnn Yare, of Ngāpuhi descent, is set to become the youngest female long-haul captain and the first Māori female captain of a Boeing 787 in New Zealand.

But she's not just the master of the skies. The talented 53-year-old is also well-known for being an interiors stylist and writer, book author, small business owner and has appeared on former TV shows Trading Houses, Mitre 10 Dream Home and Good Morning.

She's also a “rugby mum” of two teenage boys, Tyler, 18, and Dylan, 16, with pilot husband Glen, 50, who regularly shares her multi-faceted life – and quick dinner recipes - on social media.

LeeAnn welcomes the Weekly into her plant-filled Auckland bungalow for a chat around her three-metre-long vintage dining table (it was originally an old laundry table) to tell why her ethos has always been to say yes and navigate the rest later.

Tell us something about your childhood...

I grew up on a farm in Doubtless Bay and milked the cows every night after school. When you live rurally, you learn to be independent at a young age because you have to be. I learnt to drive the tractor when I was about 10 and rode motorbikes. I was runner-up to the Dux at Taipa Area School, but our sons tease me because there were only seven of us in the Seventh Form, so they reckon it wasn't very hard.

How did your parents, Robyn and Phil, influence you?

My parents have always worked extremely hard, and have always been great role models to both my brother and me. They taught us the value of money and how to work hard to achieve your goals. We didn't travel much as a family, so I didn't leave the country until I was a pilot. My dad had always encouraged us to not limit ourselves and dream big because everything was possible.