Malindi MacLean: My story as told to Elisabeth Easther

Malindi MacLean, CEO of Outward Bound. Photo / Supplied

Outward Bound has been empowering New Zealanders since 1962. Celebrating six decades of building resilience, CEO Malindi MacLean talks about her pride in leading the well-loved outdoor education institution towards another 60 years of helping Kiwis realise their full potential.

By the time I was 15, I'd been around the world 15 times. This was partly because mum was from the UK, and also because she and dad worked in South and East Africa, running integrative health projects, although we were always anchored in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Those early travel experiences instilled in me a sense of adventure, but they could also be quite jarring. To come home from three months living in a tent in Zimbabwe, to return to a life of privilege in Tāmaki Makaurau, that contrast really influenced my outlook on life.

One community that really stood out was in the Bvumba Mountains. We'd been staying there with a friend of mum's, and this community was so poor, with barely enough to eat, yet when we left after staying for about three weeks, they loaded us up with corn and vegetables, anything they could offer. That was a powerful experience, to see such generosity from people who had so little.

When I was 15, I picked up cycling almost by mistake, and very soon I was in my school cycling team. But I never decided to be a cyclist. I had no ambition, I just happened to be good at it and one thing led to another. Pretty soon I was shoulder-tapped to race overseas, to go to world championships and youth Olympics. As well as riding for New Zealand, I also rode for sponsored American teams, because, when opportunities came to me, I'd say, "hell yeah!" That's how I ended up travelling the world racing bikes, in China, through the Americas and Europe.

My life was dominated by racing until my early 20s. With the perspective of hindsight, I can see now how I lost some of my youth, because professional sport is so all-encompassing. Yes, I'd be in all these amazing places, but when you're either racing, recovering, resting or preparing, there's not a lot of time to do the things you'd normally do, if you were visiting under different circumstances. So because of sport, I missed out on lots of things. Not that I'd change it, as I had all these incredible experiences, but it wasn't easy to be a young person, trying to figure out who I wanted to be as an adult while racing at that level.

I was forced to take a break when I was injured in my early 20s. That gave me a moment to pause, to look at other women nearing the ends of their sporting careers. Most of them were either married to cyclists or coaches, or they were coaches themselves and I didn't want that for myself. Also, while I was physically gifted, I didn't have the right mentality to win gold. I could never get over the feeling that we were just adults playing a game with made-up rules. Professional athletes have to take their sport so seriously, but there I'd be, trying to put my game-face on, and there'd be this little voice in the back of my mind saying, this is all a bit silly - riding round and round in circles, racing all these people who think it's the most important thing in the world.

I had a rough couple of years after I stopped racing. I wasn't happy and I was in an unhealthy relationship with an unhealthy lifestyle. I see it now as a period of trauma, but I can also see the positives from that time, because you have to learn resilience. It doesn't come built-in and those tough times increased my empathy for others and myself. People often talk about post-traumatic stress, but not so much about post-traumatic growth, and I can now see that time as a bit of a gift.

Even though I was lost for a couple of years, I stumbled from opportunity to opportunity. As I managed to land some good work gigs, I started to get my mojo back. Then I reconnected with one of my oldest friends. She saw I wasn't in a good place, so she encouraged me to enter Oxfam's Trail Walk, a 100km team walk. To train for it, we did big hikes in the weekend, like the Hillary Trail, and that really helped me get back on track.

As I was finishing my degree in psychology and politics, I started working for Coca-Cola Amatil in a sales role. Ethically, you'd have thought that sort of company would go against my values. I never even had a Coke till my late teens but, when I got that job, I realised it was an amazing organisation full of good people. I also realised I had a knack for business. My dad was also in business and he gave me some excellent advice - that even if you're cleaning the toilets, work like you own the business. So when I started in the corporate world, that's how I approached my work.

Not having a commerce degree meant I had a lot to learn but once again, one thing led to the next, and when I left I was general manager of Amatil Coffee Roasters. I also learned that I loved problem-solving, and leading a team of people really ticked my boxes. By the time I left aged 26, I was running a multimillion-dollar company with staff all around the country. But I knew, long-term, I wanted to transition into NGOs or Not For Profit.

After Amatil, I joined the leadership team at IAG insurance and a couple of years later, I became CEO of Hubbard's Foods, a company with a longstanding relationship with Outward Bound. That's partly because founder Dick Hubbard did a course in his 20s and he attributes much of his success to that experience. Hubbard's even make an Outward Bound cereal. While running Hubbard's, I was reminded what a fantastic organisation Outward Bound is and when I connected with the then-CEO, I thought it looked like an amazing job and I hoped one day I'd take it on.

I'm now CEO of Outward Bound. When the role became available, I applied during the pandemic and the process took about seven months. But a few months into the process I became pregnant so I had to decide if it was possible to do the job and be a mother. When I sought advice, everyone said, "look at Jacinda Ardern", which is all very well. Eventually, I decided I'd only find out if I could do it, if I got the job. I was six months pregnant when they offered it to me and I started at seven months. I did two months before going on maternity leave for eight weeks then my husband took a year of parental leave.

I know I'm lucky to have such an incredibly supportive husband, because we all know most working mothers do the lion's share of the parenting. But because I was getting stuck into my new role, my husband was primary caregiver. This meant he'd bring our daughter into the office, and I'd breastfed her, hand her back and he'd take her home. But I'd get so mad when people would say, "oh he's amazing, taking a year off work like that". Because how often do we celebrate women for taking a year of maternity leave? But when a man does it everyone gushes, oh he's such a good dad. I still want to acknowledge him because it's not the usual parenting dynamic and he is amazing, but I also don't want him put him on a pedestal for just doing what parents are supposed to do.

Outward Bound has a secret recipe where they help people discover parts of themselves they didn't know they had. Using nature as the classroom, our courses have an incredible impact on individuals and communities and I believe we're needed more now than ever before. Not just because of the mental health crisis, and for those who are struggling, but to help people thrive, and grow into the best versions of themselves they can be. It might not be for everyone, but most people get something really amazing out of challenging themselves in this way. Outward Bound is a unique tāonga and it needs to be protected for future generations because it's not easy to be a young person right now. I really feel for our rangatahi, because it's hard to be hopeful with so much drama and crisis in the world. So if we can play some small part in helping people find their inner purpose and strength, that's very special.