
For many rural women, the early years of their motherhood journey can be seen in hindsight as the easy years, mindset and wellbeing coach Sarah Dickie says.
"It’s the ‘what’s next, where’s my purpose, who even am I?’ phase which can catch many women off guard," she said.
Sarah and her husband Scott own cherry orchards and are also shareholders in a co-operative packhouse operation in Bannockburn near Cromwell.
Scott works for a multinational chemical company servicing the mining industry.
Alongside her life as mother to three children aged 3 to 8, Sarah runs Sarah Dickie Coaching.
Coaching is not new to Sarah. After graduating from the University of Otago with a bachelor of physical education degree, she worked in the health and wellness sector for corporate organisations both in New Zealand and overseas including Australia and China before she had her children.
She completed further studies which enabled her to get International Coaching Federation accreditation.
"I had a small coaching business on the side when I was living in China, but I wasn’t able to fully back myself, I probably lacked the confidence to really put it out there."
Moving back to New Zealand 10 years ago and taking time out while having her children added a new lens of perspective to her life.
It became very clear coaching was where she wanted to focus her energy.
"As soon as my youngest turned 3 and started preschool I had the website all done and ready to go and signed up my first client that same day," she said.
While she had an idyllic childhood on her family’s farm in the Waitaki Valley, her secondary school years at boarding school were initially marred with severe homesickness and later in her schooling she developed bulimia, an eating disorder she was able to hide from her friends and family for a long time before finally overcoming it in her 20s.
Having children was also a challenging time, experiencing six miscarriages and a failed round of IVF.
"I guess those things in my life give me a strong sense of empathy and the belief we are all capable of far more than we think.
"I feel like I am quite blessed that I have an ability to see the potential in people."
Growing up on a farm, Sarah understood the effects solitary days at home with young children could have, "and when the time comes for them to go to school, the confusing stage many rural women find themselves in as they turn in circles unsure where their purpose and passions lie".
"Is it out on the farm working alongside the husband? Or is it off-farm doing something completely different?
"A number of women I talk to say they feel blocked, can’t see a way out and lack that spark for life they once had".
Often the answer began with self-awareness.
"It’s not me finding the answers for them, but more walking alongside my clients and guiding them to find the answers that they already actually hold within themselves," she said.
- By Alice Scott