The 47-year-old, who is originally from Dunedin, became just the second woman in the team's history to be appointed to the board, in a boardroom reshuffle last week.
Schuck (nee Hodge) was one of four changes. Lawyer Owen Eastwood and sports executive Cameron George were appointed new directors, while club owner Eric Watson takes over as chairman.
Schuck was approached by Warriors chief executive Jim Doyle and Watson for a spot on the board, with an eye to growing the team's fan base.
The former Dunedin woman owns her own public relations business, Niki Schuck PR, and worked in public relations for Westpac and House of Travel before that.
‘‘It's an incredible opportunity for me. I feel very honoured to be part of the board and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and helping them,'' Schuck, who was in Dunedin to visit a client this week, said.
‘‘They wanted to attract different people to the board to look at different skills they want to focus on. In my area, they are very much looking at communicating with people who aren't traditional rugby league followers. Hence why they wanted to talk to me and use the skills and connections I have got to try to develop that fan base.''
Schuck, a former St Hilda's Collegiate pupil, has plenty of life experience since graduating from the University of Otago with a commerce and accounting degree in 1991.
She set up and managed the first Just Jeans store in Dunedin the same year, before heading to teachers' college in Christchurch in 1993.
After spending a few years teaching at Fiordland College in Te Anau, she was ‘‘headhunted'' by Sport Southland and worked there as a sport development officer.
She was involved in the restructure of Rugby Southland and helped appoint now Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark as boss of the Southland union in 1998.
Schuck also worked for the Community Trust of Southland before moving to Auckland in 2002, where she did some contracting work for Netball New Zealand and the Heart Foundation.
After stints as the public relations manager for Westpac and House of Travel, Schuck launched her own business in 2008 and ‘‘has never looked back''.
‘‘Dianne Foreman, a fantastic businesswoman, was one of my first individual clients,'' Schuck said.
‘‘At that time, I got offered a very senior corporate role at the executive level. I said to her I had been offered this role and she said to me, ‘You never know what you are capable of if you don't give your own business a really good go.' So it was her that really encouraged me to go out on my own and really embrace it.''
Schuck's business continues to grow, and she has just hired a third contractor, Otago Museum marketing co-ordinator Kate Barron, who is moving to Auckland and will start in March.
Schuck, who has two stepchildren, Anna (22) and Alex (20), with husband Edward, works from her home on Waiheke Island.
She still has family in Central Otago and usually finds a reason to visit the region every few months.
The new-look Warriors board met for the first time on Saturday and will continue to do so throughout the year.
‘‘It's a reasonable commitment,'' Schuck said.
‘‘In the meeting, Jim Doyle outlined where the Warriors were at and the areas they are focusing on for 2016.
‘‘It's something I'm really passionate about, but as I said to [Warriors coach] Andrew McFadden, I'm not going to be ringing or texting him and giving any advice. While I'm never short of an opinion, that's not my role. I recognise which area my skills are in.''
