Working on the Aria property — which included a South Devon cattle stud — she developed an interest in genetics and wanted to be a vet for virtually all her school years.
After leaving New Plymouth Girls’ High School, where she was a boarder, Ms Foss started studying the pre-veterinary course at Massey University but when she failed to be selected, she switched to agricultural science.
"As soon as I started ... I was like, ‘why wasn’t I doing this from the beginning?’ It was so much more me," she recalled.
Once she embarked on that degree, she started thinking more about females and farming. The world was increasingly changing and more women were entering the agricultural sector.
Even though she had grown up on a farm, she did not have the confidence to back herself to apply for the likes of a shepherding role, questioning whether farmers would take her seriously.
Even though there was a practical component to her studies, she still did not feel confident around the practical side of farming.
Then Fairlight Foundation executive director Laura Koot came to Massey to talk about the programme, which focuses on advancing women in agriculture, and Ms Foss — who was at the point of needing to decide what she was going to do — decided it sounded perfect.
The leadership aspect particularly appealed to her, along with the opportunity to combine that with practical learning in a farm environment.
Ms Foss was an intern in the programme’s first year and she described that year as "incredible".
Ms Foss said it was hard to pinpoint a highlight. A keen dog person, she loved the dog work and learning how to train a pup. She also loved the various workshops and public speaking skills and her confidence grew.
The interns were a tight-knit bunch and they remained in touch.
"It was such a cool team environment to be part of. You never felt like you were doing anything wrong and you weren’t scared to make mistakes."
Her first job was at Twin Oaks Angus stud in the Waikato which also has a large lamb finishing operation and she was there for just over a year, learning a lot. The foundation supported her through the transition and kept in contact.
Her main roles involved stock work, yard work and genetics programme-specific processes with the cattle stud. The lamb finishing operation added an element of diversity to the job and the mustering work was great for her dog development.
Towards the end of her time at Twin Oaks, Ms Foss decided she wanted to challenge herself in a different way and explore different career options within the rural sector.
Rural mental health was something she was passionate about. While at Fairlight, she received professional therapy and reaping the benefit of that, it sparked her interest. She began thinking about how she could spread awareness around mental health as well as pursuing a new career.
She spent the next year studying and working casually on her home farm while completing a diploma in advanced clinical hypnotherapy.
She is now fulltime seeing clients and her aim was to specialise in rural mental health, by virtue of her own background.
Mental health was a topic that she was passionate about and she believed "way more" people needed to talk about it in the rural sector.
People needed to talk about it and also feel comfortable talking about it. Mental health was just as important as physical health.
Living and working rurally could be really isolating and it was easy to feel alone "and like you’re the only person going through it" — whether that was the likes of bad weather or a financial situation — and that was when things snowballed, she said.
Now based in Pirongia in the Waikato, Ms Foss reckoned she had "definitely found the right thing" for her.
"It feels really right. I love it and I’m really passionate about it," she said.
And she had all the skills gained at Fairlight to add to her skill set and her work in the rural sector gave her the ability to relate well to rural people and, working as a shepherd, had shown her what it was like working as a rural person and the challenges they faced.
"I really can’t put into words how much that programme has given me. It was unbelievable really, such an amazing year. It really set me up really well for the future and has given me a lot more confidence. I definitely don’t think I would be doing what I’m doing without it to be honest," she said.
It also was not easy to step outside her comfort zone — which was farming — and pursue a different career. It would have been very easy for her to continue shepherding.
"I’ve taken a real gamble with this move, I think it’s the right one for me.
"So many people in the rural industries are affected by mental health. It hasn’t really been talked about enough, I want them to start talking about it."
