Krista finds her passion

Krista Coningham is a wife, mother, business owner and leader. She talks to the founder of Entrepreneurial Women with Purpose, Catherine van der Meulen about how experience has redefined her ideas about what success really means.

Exploring the big question… who are you?

Living in Auckland and on maternity leave from her corporate career triggered conversations of what Krista and her husband wanted life to look like in the future. When the opportunity to move to Marlborough arose, after the initial shock and fear wore off, Krista knew the move would allow her to redefine her career and provide the lifestyle they both wanted for their family. Six years on and happily living in Blenheim, Krista says that moment was pivotal. Moving to Marlborough proved to be the change she hoped for to reinvent her career and her identity, she explains with a smile. “My husband and I are very good planners, and we talked at length about the lifestyle we wanted, what we wanted life to look like, and we figured out quickly it didn’t include traffic, juggling careers and the boys in full time care.” Change didn’t happen overnight. It was much harder and took longer than she thought but it did happen, a testament to Krista’s strength of character and her tenacity to create a better life for her and her family. There were very difficult and lonely times in the beginning she ruefully admits now. The original intention had been for her to be a stayat-home mum, but while her hopes were high, the reality proved to be less fulfilling, and actually very difficult and lonely. “Fast forward six years, I now have to pinch myself that I am more fulfilled and have more than I could have ever imagined moving here. We have an incredible lifestyle living in this beautiful region of Marlborough.” “I have found my people, my identity, my fun, my sense of community, my adventure and best of all I have found my own business.” Redefining success through the decades

As a little girl, Krista dreamt of success. Her childhood dreams of accomplishment featured a fancy home, international travel, a fabulous car and wardrobes filled with beautiful clothes. In her mind’s eye she pictured a pretty ensuite adorned with an array of perfumes and the best of skin care.

“Being a Caci Clinic owner now, the bathroom lined with all the beautiful Murad skin care is an absolute must, but the rest of those ideals are no longer how I define success at all,” she smiles. “But I did grow up with a deep sense of safety, unconditional love, a huge amount of encouragement and support from my Mum who raised my sister and I. I never connected those values to my definition of success, like I do now.” Krista now reflects on her twenties and thirties with the benefit of experience. To Krista, recognising that they were a combination of the most painful and experimental years, she explains, they were years that helped shape the foundation for her future self. “I experienced deep love and deep pain, they were exploratory years and on reflection I look back on those years and see a lot of imbalances. I had a career in the financial services sector and my ideas of success during these years was a combination of progressing my career, earning as much money as I could, buying a house, having fun and deep friendships; just trying to be happy.” Krista met her husband in her late 30’s and this she says is when she learnt that love didn’t have to be complicated and that life could be quite straight forward. Success for Krista is now happily balancing family life, business ownership and time with friends. Success is being confident in her own skin, feeling connected with herself and people around her. Moving happily and confidently towards her goals is what matters more than the trappings of success; to Krista, success is more about the smaller, more enjoyable moments.

A successful day in micro moments

For Krista, the best analogy for everyday life is a mandarin. Some days are a big juicy whole fruit while others might just be a segment but just as sweet none the less.

• Waking up after a good sleep, feeling energised and getting up to exercise. • Time for a quiet coffee before the family wake up. • Getting kids ready without having to repeat yourself 100 times. • Getting to Caci and seeing her team engaged, sharing ideas and their excitement about the beautiful differences that they are making to their client’s lives.

• Connecting to a friend and having good chats about where they are at, how they are feeling and having a good laugh. • Being home with her boys, husband and dog, sharing their day over dinner. • Connecting with her husband and planning their next adventure and house and garden plans.

Redefining the culture of success… a more holistic view

Across the world there are significant shifts to focus on the importance of mental health and wellbeing with a lot of changes in the workplace on flexible hours. Krista explains how for her physical and emotional health is a focus. “At Caci we focus on connected beauty. How you live and feel is connected to how you look”. Holistic success is healthy skin, body and mind”.

Krista’s top three actions for holistic success

• Reach out and ask for help - seek out with courage.

• Figure out who our ‘authentic selves’ are and own it.

• Physical and emotional health, making it a priority.