Crystal Cairns

Representing the levels and forms of aroha that can be found throughout our lives across our many communities. We acknowledge the wide range of obstacles and the journey it takes to overcoming everything that stands in our way to expressing aroha within.

Ko wai koe? What are your strengths/weakness?

My name is Crystal Cairns, I’m an IT Manager for KPMG. One of my strengths is people management. I’ve got a lot of empathy and care for my people and I want to see them develop and progress within their careers.

Success for me is seeing my team grow, and even grow beyond me. So, you know, it’s all love there. It’s really impressive to see where some of my guys have ended up.

Back in our MCC days, we worked hard but we also played hard. I’m happy to put in those long hours, make sure we’re delivering on our goals and having fun at the same time – I don’t want my team to feel like I’m just drilling them. We are working as a team. I’m very hands on and I won’t just let my team suffer.

For example, if there’s a major outage that goes into the early hours of the morning, I’m still awake with them, making sure that everything’s working. Even though I may not be adding much value, I’m just there to make sure everything’s working and everyone’s okay.

Seeking guidance from our kaitiaki Hiwa-i-te-rangi, we take a journey through our different aspirations, goals and dreams. This tohu acknowledges hard work, wisdom, the reach of ones goals and the desire that comes from this mahi.

What were/are your career aspirations leading into your chosen career path?​

I was very young, 19 years old, and Vodafone was the buzzword. All my friends, we all wanted to work at Vodafone. So, I started working towards that goal, and thought, how do I prepare myself? How do I make myself a CV? I had no experience before Vodafone. How do I make myself stand out to get this role? So, I did a contact centre certification at MIT and I got the job at Vodafone – I was up against over 1000 people.

I asked my manager, how did my CV get through from a thousand people when I didn’t have IT experience? How did I sneak through? She said there was so much volume that she kind of just grabbed my CV, saw my name and it reminded her of Chris Cairns, because my name is Crystal Cairns. Then when she reviewed my CV and saw the contact centre certification, that’s what got me through the door.

The course taught me what to look for, so I was proactive, and during the group interviews showed my leadership qualities. I was the one organising everyone, ‘Oh, we should all do this, and you should do this part’ – that was my journey, which began at Vodafone. It was an amazing, amazing place to work, especially as a bright-eyed, bushy tailed starter and new to the industry. I learned a lot from that role.

With adventure comes challenges as well as obstacles to overcome. We stand proud as we overcome these obstacles. This tohu draws inspiration from the Niho Taniwha and Aramoana patterns. We acknowledge reaching our destination and preparing ourselves for the many new adventures ahead.

How wīwī wāwā has your career adventure been?​

At Vodafone, I went through a few different positions and really enjoyed my time. I had a friend who worked at MCC – Telecom and she said, hey, you’ll be perfect for the customer manager role. I’m so happy I applied because I’ve made lifetime friendships. One of the best jobs I’ve ever had.

I was there for eight years and started off in traditional queues doing the old phone lines and stuff like that. I then moved into The Hub. So that’s when I got cross schooled and did both. From there I ‘fell’ into IT and worked in a learning and development specialist role.

My next career path was to become a manager. To achieve that, I needed to further develop my skills at working with people, understanding their working styles and how to develop them. After a year the Operations Manager role popped up and I was successful.

I’ve had to learn more technical aspects each step of the way. There are so many systems that I supported – I had to gain in-depth knowledge within those areas so that I could understand what my teams were supporting and provide where we needed to go next.

Across the board, it was an amazing learning experience for me. There was a lot of planning and upskilling.

These patterns represent bravery and being strong in the face of adversity. We strive to be persistent and positively challenge anything that threatens to alter, restrict, and put a barrier in the way of our desired pathway.

What was your defining moment?  What words of wisdom or change in heart, changed your stars?​

I went back into a team leader role, but that didn’t last very long, because I realised I needed more of a challenge. So, I asked myself, what’s my next step? A reset. I needed a reset. And from there, I moved back up and went for a new management role, where we looked after Microsoft. I had to get across the Microsoft technology, and I had teams based in New Zealand, Australia and the US. I had an international team, and it was an amazing company to work for.

I’m now in service management at KPMG, doing supplier management, vendor management, contracts and budget. I’m across a lot at the moment, so it’s challenging and there’s a lot of learning, but it’s very rewarding!

Here we are drawing inspiration from the Pūhoro pattern.  The pūhoro is used here to represent the strength, speed and agility needed to move forward and accomplish ones goals.

What future actions/recommendations do you have for those who want to be in a career like yours?​

If I spoke to the younger me, I would say stay at school, study hard and get your qualifications because it enables doors to open for you. If you don’t have qualifications, you may not get the results that you’re expecting, because someone who has those qualifications will get preference over you.

When you are successful in a role, give it 120%. And unfortunately, sometimes you need to prove yourself being Māori, being female, in the IT industry. It’s challenging in some aspects, but it makes it a much easier path for you to say, okay Crystal, you made it here. That’s why I’ve got to where I am.

I wasn’t waiting for someone to give me anything. I was always searching and looking for my next steps. And if I did find my next step, I’m like, okay, how does Crystal today get to that Crystal in the future? That’s when you start doing your little milestones – okay, I need this qualification, I need whatever it is under my belt to prove that I’m ready for that role. That would be my advice.

Playing sport can really help you. When I’m on the court playing squash, that’s all I am thinking about, so it gives my mind a much-needed break, otherwise my mind will be 100% thinking about work, work, work.

Success, best mentioned in the whakatauki “Tūwhitia te hopo, mairangatia te angitū!” Feel the fear and do it anyway!

What are some the failures/challenges in your life that have helped with your chosen career path? What are some memorable wins for your chosen path?​

In hindsight, the only failure for me was when I took a step down. At the time I thought it was a win because I needed that break. But in hindsight, I had to work hard to get back to where I was. It would have been the easiest step for me to keep progressing up instead of trying to progress to where I was.

So, it was a little bit harder than I assumed when I took that little bit of a step down, but it’s also a 50/50. And thinking about my own career path, I think that’s what our people need to hear – don’t limit yourself. We’ve got attributes that will take us beyond what we ever imagined could be possible.