Spend an hour in Anna Mowbray’s company and I guarantee that you will come away energised and, more importantly, especially in these uncertain times, optimistic. Her cup-half-full mentality is contagious.
“Mum and Dad instilled into us the need to be positive and to thrive in change – to always have a smile on your face,” she grins. “Nobody wants a buzzkill in the room!”
The recently crowned New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year is one of the three dynamic Mowbray siblings who own and run the multimillion-dollar Zuru toy empire.
Anna greets me with a broad smile at the door of the new home she shares with her partner, former All Black rugby star Ali Williams. Actually, it’s not a new home – it needs work, she insists, but it sits on a stunning piece of land. The front lawn rolls away past an ancient pohutukawa to the waters of the Waitemata, sparkling on this sunny spring day.
The house is modern and sparsely furnished. “Who knew there was a 15-week wait when you ordered new furniture?” she shrugs.
Anna has been living in Asia, where Zuru is based, for the past 15 years. Firstly in China and then for the past two years in Hong Kong. She and her three children, Kalani, eight, Maile, seven, and Kaleo, three, arrived home in Aotearoa in February during the Chinese New Year celebrations.
And then came the COVID-19 lockdown. The family was stranded and couldn’t return to Hong Kong. In June, Anna made the decision to relocate more permanently, not knowing how quickly the world would open up again.
This story is from the December 2020 edition of Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
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This story is from the December 2020 edition of Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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