Baby steps

Heavy rain pelts the car, traffic is at a crawl, and I am embarrassingly late to pick up
Jenny Prince, the new chief executive of Plunket, from Auckland Airport.
Rolling a purple suitcase behind her, she gives a hesitant wave, uncertain if she has the right car.
We chat about how she is enjoying the move to Wellington while we drive two minutes around the corner to Butterfly Creek. Seated in the cafe we look out over the creek and the ducks' enjoyment of the rain.
I order a  spirulina juice for myself, a cup of tea - English breakfast with milk - for her.
Jenny seems nervous. It's understandable as this is her first interview. It also explains why she wasn't too keen on my original idea of doing the interview while we played mini-golf (lucky, given the course was probably under water).
She's not a slick, media-savvy type and that's refreshing.
Jenny skims over personal details quickly, seemingly unsure whether she should be talking about family. She has two grown children, a boy and a girl. One lectures at Massey University; the other is a photographer in Dubai.
"I'm very family-oriented,'' she says, listing fishing, camping and walking around rocks at the beach as some of her favourite pastimes.
Her husband is an architect and their recent project has been building a house in Pauanui during their holidays.
"I got quite handy with banging in nails,'' she says with a laugh then stops, perhaps uncertain if laughing around a journalist is okay.
It seems Plunket has made a conscious decision to connect with the communities it works with through this appointment. Jenny's done the yards. She volunteered as a nursing student at  the University of Waikato then, 20 years ago, started as a Plunket nurse in Clendon.
She has worked her way up. In April, she was appointed acting chief executive after three years as general manager of operations. She claimed the full-time position last month, the first registered nurse to be chief executive of Plunket and also the
first woman. It seems remarkable that it has taken so long.

Hopefully, other young nurses will be able to see what is possible in terms of a career, she says.
So what is Jenny Prince going to bring to Plunket?
Four to five years as a Plunket nurse in South Auckland taught her the need to keep up with different sectors of the community.
She says it's humbling to be invited into homes and it's important to keep that relationship with New Zealanders going.
"It's about communication. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. We will look at ways to be more relevant in the different communities we work in.''
The smacking debate is an example: "A decade ago people didn't even talk about it. Now they do.''
From talking to peoplewho need Plunket's services, she says the organisation will look at the way it delivers those services. For some areas, e-parenting could be introduced, offering help and advice through email or by networking with parents in similar situations.
"`Nothing will ever replace the direct contact we have with families, but it's another avenue to deliver help.''
In some areas, there may be more home visits. "It's about finding grass-root solutions in a country with such a diverse make-up.''
By now, Jenny has relaxed into our conversation. She knows her stuff and cares about the role, and she will become more comfortable working with the media in time. But an impression remains that this nice-natured lady will be on a steep learning curve at the head of a large, dispersed organisation in what can be a highly political field.
As we stand outside under shelter, waiting for her husband to come and pick her up, she talks about how she's never done anything like this before.
"Don't be too hard on me,'' she says as we leave. She needn't worry.