Adaptable, Innovative and Always Ready for What’s Next.
Maria’s Tumu journey began at just 17, when a newspaper advert for an Office Junior at Tumu Dannevirke caught her mum’s eye. Still in sixth form at Dannevirke High School, Maria applied for the role, got the job, signed out of school and stepped straight into working life at Tumu.
Her first role looked a little different to office life today. There were no computers, invoices were handwritten, and part of the job included making cups of tea for smoko, answering the phone, doing the banking, and decoding her managers messy handwriting.
From those early days, Maria’s role has grown and evolved as the business has expanded. A move to Hastings in 1992 saw Maria take on more responsibility, learning computer systems and managing customer accounts. While Maria says she learnt by listening and doing, she was also seen as a team member who embraced whatever challenge came next from her managers.
That willingness to learn and adapt has become one of the key strengths of Maria’s career. As Tumu became more computerised, Maria took more of a lead role implementing and upgrading systems and became responsible for process improvement across the business. In recent years she has been involved in the sale of the Tumu building supplies stores to Fletcher Building, and led the Holidays Act Rectification Project.
Today, Maria’s work focuses on a core business project – the implementation of an ERP system across the Tumu family of businesses. This project will have a major impact on how Tumu does business, ensuring the right systems, procedures, and support are in place so teams can work more efficiently and confidently.
Looking back, Maria says Tumu was “way, way, way smaller” when she first started. She remembers plenty of laughter, Friday night drinks, builders’ shouts, office banter and a team that knew how to work hard while still having fun. While the business has grown and changed, Maria believes the foundations of Tumu have stayed the same: good, genuine people.
Some of Maria’s proudest moments have been seeing the new building supply stores open, including the Havelock North and Masterton stores. For her, each opening showed what the team could achieve together. The sale of the stores was also a major milestone, especially after the Tumu name had become so well-known across the East Coast.
When asked what she is most proud of, Maria points to the support she has given others over the years. She has been the person people could call on for help, especially across the building supply stores, sharing knowledge, improving processes, teaching others and adding value wherever she could.
For Maria, the best part of working at Tumu has been the variety of work and the great people. No role has ever stayed the same for long, and that constant change has kept her learning, growing and contributing for more than 35 years.
Looking ahead, Maria hopes to pass her knowledge on to the next generation, just as others once did for her. She would love to see someone step in, learn the ropes, take the reins and continue building on what has been created.
Her advice for someone new starting at Tumu is simple: “Work hard and work smart. Absorb everything. Learn as much as you can. Be prepared to put your hand up for anything.”
After more than three decades, Maria’s story is one of adaptability, innovation and quiet impact. Through every stage of Tumu’s growth, she has been pivotal in helping the business move forward, supported the people around her and shown the value of being ready for whatever comes next.
