Introducing Stephen O’Neil
Tēnā koutou katoa,
Ko Starveall te maunga te rū nei taku ngākau
Ko Lee te awa e mehea nei aku māharahara
Nō Nelson ahau
Ko Stephen
My name is Stephen O’Neil and I have been appointed to the role of Finance Manager for the next 6 months. This role replaces the vacant CFO and Accounts Manager roles.
I grew up in Nelson with the Lee River running through our farm, flowing from the Richmond Ranges and Mount Starveall. My family live there still and it is a place I am strongly connected to.
Five years ago, I was the Finance Manager at Vehicle Testing New Zealand (VTNZ). When my son, Daniel, was 10 months old, I became a full-time parent and the following year we joined Paremata Playcentre in Porirua. After 3 ½ fun-filled years at Playcentre, Daniel went to school and I sadly left Playcentre behind.
Now it’s time for me to re-join the working world, juggling the priorities of work and parenting – something many of you will be familiar with. For me it’s fantastic that I’m doing that with Playcentre, strengthening the connection I have to an important period in my life. The mahi, joy and frustrations of life at Playcentre are still fresh in my mind, and hopefully this will allow me understand what is going on for you as you run your Centres, and help me solve some of your problems. I’ve inherited a great Finance team, who work really hard for Centres.
Outside of work, I enjoy acting and singing at the local theatre (not so much since my son was born), travel (not lately!) and walking in nature. I have also had the opportunity in the past few years to write musical productions for the school where my wife works, which has been a lot of fun.
Ngā mihi maioha
Stephen
