Position

Senior Lecturer

Teaching areas

Hairdressing

Biography

Vicki has been hairdressing for 27 years. She started her training at Te Kotahitanga in Manurewa, South Auckland as a full-time hairdressing student.  Vicki was a young M¨¡ori woman with a dream of becoming a hairdresser.

She passed her first qualification in 1993 and?then moved on to Arrow Tec in Papakura to complete her second and third qualification. She has also gained an apprenticeship in Papakura and became qualified within three years.

12 months out of Vicki's training she purchased her own business and worked as an owner-operator for the next four years. On selling the business she has worked in various salons in South Auckland whilst completing her adult teaching certificate. She then worked part-time while starting a family.

One of her part-time jobs lead to a management role in Botany Downs managing 15 staff and working a full client list. Once leaving this role after three years she decided it was time to give back to where she started and applied for a tutor role at Te Kotahitanga Training and was successful in her application, this was one of the highlights of her career.

She always wanted to give back to a small PTE (Private Training Enterprise) in South Auckland that gave her a huge start in her career and through this, she's gained a lot of experience in teaching. After five and a half years, she gained employment at MIT and has been here for over eight years. Vicki says she knows that her time at a PTE has helped set her up for working in an institute.

She has had some amazing opportunities whilst employed at MIT and a couple of career highlights include:

• Attending a long hair two-day course with world-famous hairdresser Patrick Cameron
• External verifier for City & Guilds, which has allowed her to travel New Zealand and network with other providers and also in Rarotonga and hopefully out to other Pasifika Islands
• Vicki has been the quality lead for hairdressing and floristry for two years now, a role that takes care of moderation and consistency within her team at MIT.

She believes she has the pleasure of one of the most rewarding jobs and says she loves it. The highlight of her career over 27 years is seeing students at Graduation, succeeding and really proud of themselves. She loves watching them grow and especially seeing how proud their families are of them.

Why I love MIT

We care. About you, you’re studies, your family and your success.

I am very passionate about people, pastoral care and helping students get into a great career.

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