2018 Queen's Birthday Honours: Former Hawke's Bay resident and Black Fern Rochelle Martin made Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rugby and Fire and Emergency

Former Black Fern Rochelle Martin

A former Hawke's Bay resident said it was "mindblowing" when she discovered she had been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Rochelle Lisa Martin's appointment to the order in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours was for her services to rugby and Fire and Emergency.

"It's honestly a real honour, but I couldn't have done one without the other."

Based in Auckland, Martin was born and bred in Hawke's Bay and still considers it home.

"I was brought up in Taradale, I haven't lived there for a number of years, but I still have a really close attachment to the place and I visit it often," she said.

Martin's love of rugby started in her teen years and she's played 32 test matches for the Black Ferns.

"I left Hawke's Bay when I was 18 and moved to the Hutt Valley, but that was actually for softball. I ended up going to rugby training with a few friends at the end of the week, and that's when it all began. I started playing in 1992 and didn't stop until 2008."

She went on to went to play at three world cups in 1998, 2002 and 2006 and was even fortunate enough to captain the team on occasion.

"Playing rugby really set me up for success and the later part of life, I learned a lot from that team environment, we were professional in terms of our attitude and a lot of people who have gone through that team have had really successful careers."

Now working in the firefighting industry, she has a new role as national recruiting manager for the fire service in Auckland.

"I work around attracting people to look at the job as a career. I also discuss what the modern role of a firefighter is, because we do so much more than saving burning buildings. It's just about educating people about what we do and engaging in the communities. "

Martin is also involved in making the fire service a safe and communal work environment, after attending the Women in Firefighting Conference (WAFA) in Australia.

"We were really taken with the networking and professionalism that the other females experienced, along with the men from different agencies promoting women in the sector. It was a no brainer; we had to set something up in New Zealand."

As a result of what she saw at the conference, she started The National Women's Advisory Committee, in order to encourage more women into the firefighting sector.

"We put together a report and fortunately we had someone from our strategic leadership team contact us and then the network was born. We have a volunteer representative and a career representative in each of the five regions throughout the country.

"It's still got long way to go, but singing from the same sheet in terms of creating a safe work environment for everybody, it's not just about women, it's about all staff having a safe workplace."

Martin said the news of the MNZM still hadn't kicked in.

"I'm incredibly humbled, I just can't believe it. But I really wouldn't have been able to do this without the help of my colleagues and team mates over the years, so I'm just so grateful for that."