The Two of Us: Steven and Nicola Farrant

Steven and Nicola Farrant find the other's strengths complement their own.
Steven on Nicola

I met Nicola in London back in 1996. She began working at the advertising agency I used and was asked to make up numbers at a dinner. I told my colleagues I had just met the future Mrs Farrant. I was blown away by Nicola's beauty, her natural kindness, and radiant aura. I still am to this day. She came to England with a backpack and left 12 years later with a husband, two wonderful children (Ollie now 6 and Hugo now 4) and a full container of possessions.
Today Nicola is co-founder, owner and director of Candles of New Zealand and Flicker Candle Emporium, plus chairperson of the Matua Kindergarten, which Hugo attends. She is an amazing wife, mother, friend and businesswomen. Although we are both naturally creative (me more so with ideas and Nicola visually), she is a real people person. She is the face of the companies with our customers and the media. She is a fanatical organiser and helps me realise my ideas, especially in relation to new product development. Nicola is an all-rounder, happy to do whatever needs to be done - a quality essential in a tough economic climate. Nicola's energy is infectious.
She lacks a little self-confidence at times. My job is to remind her how amazing she is.
Nicola on Steven

I met Steven just a few weeks after arriving in the UK for my big OE. Working for his advertising agency, we kept our relationship secret for a year, which made things interesting. Since then, we've never looked back. We were always going to get married and to this day, I feel like I'm the luckiest girl in the world.
We've been on an amazing journey together, firstly moving around the UK for work, and then moving back to New Zealand. I'm glad it's him with me on this journey. Since running our businesses, we've had huge highs and big lows, but he's always there to put a level head on the situation and tell me not to be so emotional. I'm in awe of Steven's business brain. We sometimes have differences of opinion on what we think will work, but he's always got the figures to back up his argument and I have the feelings. The figures have to win, especially in the current market.
Steven has shown me how to be open about love for each other and our kids. He's a fab Dad. He's the most romantic person I've ever met. My friends joke that he should write a book on romantic gestures for their husbands to read. He organises surprises for me from facials, to parties to holidays. I came home from work one night to find a candlelit picnic set up on our balcony.