Membership Spotlight #4: Watene Hema
We have an excellent base of dedicated members who have really cool jobs! To help promote our membership base and give you a little insight into some of the cool people we work with, we've developed this quick-fire question series. Every month we will introduce you to members from the different industries within the recreation sector. This month we talked with Watene Hema the Active and Well Manager at Sport Waikato...
Your role... Active & Well Manager (Green Prescription) at Sport Waikato
What you love most about the sector... There are probably two things that stick out the most to me, the first is the old cliché of helping people. Through our mahi we are able to help people make significant changes in their lives, which makes it all worth it on those tough days! But also the opportunity to lead a team of motivated individuals is hugely rewarding especially in regards to helping the mahi grow and develop and face the challenges our industry has.
Why you joined Recreation Aotearoa... I became involved in the sector through my manager who introduced me to the Generate Network and before I knew it I was on the committee! After joining Generate I was exposed to Recreation Aotearoa and have been lucky enough to attend events and meet a lot of the awesome team down in Wellington.
Favourite part about being a member... The main thing I really enjoy is the people. There are so many people in our industry doing amazing things and it's a privilege to be able to meet and kōrero with them. Also, the team at Recreation Aoteatoa put on some fantastic events and it is not only a chance to hear industry experts speak about topics in our sector, but it's also the opportunity to interact with them. I have learnt a lot from so many people in such a short time! And through Generate I have really enjoyed being able to work in a committee with such hardworking and dedicated members. Being able to help grow membership and plan events has added some nice variety to my day and the opportunity to learn a bit more as I go is great.
One thing you've learned in the last month... Good question. More of a reminder than a new learning - but just making sure that I listen whether it's to my team members, clients or the community. Sometimes a lot of confusion and assumptions can be avoided if we listen rather than speak, and it was a timely lesson and reminder for me over the past month!
Your hopes for our industry... I am really hopeful that moving forward we are able to partner with other industries and sectors in a way that we are able to offer more holistic services. Recreation Aotearoa does some fantastic mahi already in this space, but there are often cases of double up and mahi crossing over - so my passion lies in finding solutions on how we better move towards common goals rather than being purely focused on our own KPI's and outcomes.