Fifteen years ago this week, I took a deep breath and went full time into a little business called The Big Foody.
At the time, I don’t think I realised I was building a company. I think I was just trying to prove to myself that I could survive doing something I loved.
I still remember my very first paid tour. Someone had actually booked it. Properly booked it. I barely slept for days beforehand. I had notes everywhere. I drove around Auckland checking parking spots and figuring out where it was safe to unload guests. I remember taking them through the Fish Market, stopping for Kohu Road ice cream, sitting down for lunch, and trying desperately to look calm while internally panicking.
It was May. The sky was impossibly blue. Auckland looked beautiful.
Fifteen years later, I’m sitting in Auckland again during TRENZ week, dispatching tours across the city while travel agents from around the world head out to experience Auckland through their taste buds. Today we’re hosting thirty-five agents. Some I’ve worked with for years. Some are brand new.
And the city? The city feels electric.
There’s a confidence to Auckland now that didn’t exist when I first started. In many ways, I think we’ve grown up together. What once felt slightly awkward and unsure now feels international, sophisticated, vibrant and proudly itself.
I think I’ve changed alongside it.
When I first started this business, I spent so much time trying to convince other people that I could do this. The truth is, I was really trying to convince myself.
Then came Covid.
Like so many people in tourism, I watched everything stop overnight. I had no business to run and went into pure panic that I had failed everything in life. So I put myself through IVF. I wanted children more than anything. Coming out the other side without the screaming baby I’d dreamed about was one of the hardest experiences of my life.
But somewhere along the way, I realised I had still raised something.
The baby really was The Big Foody.
I’ve watched this little company grow from a scrappy startup into something that genuinely impacts people’s lives and holidays. I’ve watched guests return years later to do tours again. I’ve watched suppliers become friends. I’ve watched our guides around the country create extraordinary experiences for thousands upon thousands of visitors.
And I’m so incredibly proud of it.
Proud of the team.
Proud of the partners.
Proud of the producers.
Proud of the stories we tell about New Zealand through food.
This morning, as the sun came up over the sparkling Auckland harbour, I walked down to meet our guests and felt one overwhelming emotion: gratitude.
Fifteen years is a long time in hospitality and tourism.
So, for anyone building something from scratch, here are the biggest things I’ve learned.
Treat your business like something alive. Like a child, really. It needs protection, discipline, attention, patience and belief. Some days you’ll adore it. Some days it will exhaust you. There will be tears. There will be moments where you wonder what on earth you are doing. Keep going anyway.
Open every door. Even the ones that look firmly shut. Some of the biggest opportunities in my career came from saying yes before I felt ready. I’ve always believed that if you keep opening doors, eventually something extraordinary appears on the other side.
Accept that there will be hard seasons. There were years where I worked multiple jobs just to keep things moving. I started mornings at the Auckland Fish Market before sunrise, then ran tours through the city, then spent afternoons doing food tastings in supermarkets for other companies. There were moments where money was painfully tight.
I still remember one particular Sunday call to my parents. I was exhausted, crying, overwhelmed and convinced everything was falling apart. Mum calmly asked what I was having for dinner.
“Scrambled eggs and truffle oil,” I replied.
I could practically hear my parents rolling their eyes from the other side of the world.
But even then, somewhere deep down, I knew I’d be alright. I worked in food. I knew how to create something beautiful out of very little.
Connect with people. Don’t build a business alone. Join associations. Accept invitations. Talk to people who understand the pressure and uncertainty of creating something from nothing. I wish I’d understood the importance of networks and community much earlier.
And celebrate the wins.
Take the photos.
Write things down.
Remember the dishes.
Remember the wine lists.
Remember the cocktails and the craft beer and the tiny little moments that become stories years later.
The hospitality world changes so quickly. Restaurants disappear. Menus evolve. People move on. But the memories remain.
That’s what I love most about food tourism. People don’t just remember what they ate. They remember how they felt.
Most importantly, though, don’t spend your life staring in the rear-view mirror.
Tourism went through hell during Covid. The industry still faces challenges every day. But the future is always brighter when you keep driving toward the light.
I know that sounds wildly optimistic. Maybe it is.
But after fifteen years, I’ve learned that hope, persistence and a stubborn refusal to quit can build something pretty extraordinary.
Happy birthday, Baby.
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