Denise Arnold says she's a "twitcher" - she's always on the move.
As a partner in a law firm, wife, mother of two teenage girls and founder of a charitable trust, it's understandable that she doesn't often stand back and look at what she's achieved.
So she was surprised and overwhelmed to find
herself honoured by her peers with a top law award.
Ms Arnold was highly commended in the College of Law Community Service in Law Award, announced earlier this month.
For the past four years she has devoted her free time to helping the Cambodian people - releasing them from the poverty trap through education, health and human rights.
She was honoured for her work assisting lawyers and the people of Cambodia in their fight for human rights.
The judges acknowledged that through helping Cambodian lawyers attend the LawAsia conference, she had brought their story to New Zealand and the world.
And the honour was "a big surprise" to Ms Arnold, who is a partner at Tauranga law firm Lyon O'Neale Arnold Lawyers and never dreamed she would be recognised.
"You are busy doing what you do. It had a profound effect I suppose, having had somebody else say 'hey this was an achievement'.
"I kind of came back and said, 'actually, it was'. It was a big achievement, I should take that and bank it."
Ms Arnold became interested in human rights issues and poverty in Cambodia after an involvement with the group End Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT).
In April 2008 she established the Cambodia Charitable Trust, with fellow trustees Don Pilbrow and Steve Chitty.
And she's travelled to Cambodia four times, where she sees first-hand the effect of the trust's fundraising efforts.
Ms Arnold balances her charitable commitments with working full-time, which she admits can be a juggling act.
"The hardest thing is that [some of] my clients don't think I'm here now, although I'm here more often than not. We can achieve a huge amount from the ground here."
Her last trip to Cambodia was in April, and her next visit will coincide with the firm's Christmas holiday closure.
Ms Arnold specialises in commercial law, assisting clients with property, trusts and business.
And while that might seem a world away from her charitable work, she explains that both come from a desire to help people - especially "the under-dog".
Law, she said, was fundamentally problem-solving, or fixing something that was wrong.
"Law is largely about people. You can't take the people out of the law, it's very much personality driven."
FIVE THINGS ABOUT DENISE
She has had her pilot's licence for six years and is learning to fly a Cherokee Arrow with retractable undercarriage.
She claims she doesn't know how to start a lawnmower and is a terrible gardener.
She's the mother of Emily, 18, and Tegan, 16.
She's worked at the same firm for more than 20 years since she graduated from Auckland University with a law degree and is now a partner.
She'd never been to Asia until her first trip to Cambodia in 2007.
Denise Arnold says she's a "twitcher" - she's always on the move.
As a partner in a law firm, wife, mother of two teenage girls and founder of a charitable trust, it's understandable that she doesn't often stand back and look at what she's achieved.
So she was surprised and overwhelmed to find
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