The Great NZ Road Trip: Blenheim to Kaikōura.
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Each day on The Great New Zealand Road Trip, Shayne Currie catches up with a noteworthy New Zealander, measuring their mood and hopes for the country. Today, we hear from social entrepreneur and founder of GirlBoss New Zealand, Alexia Hilbertidou.
What’s the one word to sum up your mood rightnow?
Abundant – overflowing with gratitude for my family, friends and amazing GirlBoss family.
What do you wish people knew about where you live?
I live in the Hibiscus Coast north of Auckland. There are 15 beaches along the coastline of Orewa and Whangaparāoa Peninsula from Hatfields Beach to Army Bay. If you live in Auckland and haven’t been to the Shakespeare or Wenderholm regional parks, you are seriously missing out. Truly world-class, nothing can beat them.
What are your passions?
I love reading (The Midnight Library was my favourite book of 2024), binging movies (Deadpool & Wolverine was my favourite film of 2024), and going to The Classic Comedy Club (NZ stand-up comedian Jack Ansett was my favourite show of 2024).
But honestly? What I love more than anything is public speaking. I know, I must be a masochist, but there’s nothing like the rush of standing on stage, connecting with a crowd and sharing something that really matters.
Which New Zealander (alive or dead) do you most admire – and why?
Dame Theresa Gattung.
I admire her tireless contribution to this nation, which has included advocating for women and girls every day, for decades. She spoke at my first GirlBoss event, which I ran when I was 16 and in high school.
With the success she’s had, she could elect to spend her days chilling on a yacht, but she chooses to contribute instead and dedicate each day to the women and girls of this nation.
I’ll never forget the advice she gave me in the green room of a speaking engagement we had together: “Alexia, you must show up with integrity every single time.”
Gattung became the first NZX female CEO in 1999, the year I was born.
Today, 25 years later, only 6% of our NZX 50 CEOs are women, which is approximately the same as the number of CEOs named John or Michael.
Our GirlBoss membersaregoing to change this.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A truly great GirlBoss event is something else entirely – the energy is unmatched, and I love the difference we make and the positive testimonies we receive.
Recently, one mum told me she was amazed that her once-shy and anxious daughter, who struggled to get out of bed, had not only found her spark but also started her own business. A teacher shared the story of a student who had stopped attending school altogether but now walks into class with purpose and mentors other students.
Working with youths is like that – you adjust their perspective just a little and their entire world shifts. They are so open to change, so ready for growth. Every child holds a deep spark within them, a belief they can be more, dream more, and do more. Deep down, every human wants to feel special, to know they were put on this earth for a reason, and to believe that they truly belong.
Moments like that are perfect happiness.
Beyond work, walking Ōrewa Beach with my granddad is pretty high up there.
GirlBoss founder Alexia Hilbertidou knows Generation Z pretty well – she is one of their number, and her work focuses on them.
What is your greatest fear?
As a poverty cycle-breaker, my greatest fear is raising my children in poverty. I was impatient with poverty, and I didn’t enjoy it.
As a child growing up, I remember feeling sick if I lost a library book, knowing my mum would struggle to pay the fines. Losing your school jumper might be a common Kiwi experience, but when your mum can’t afford to buy a new one, it becomes a super-stressful event.
My vision is for every young woman to have financial freedom. To be financially independent. To be able to walk away from any situation that does not serve them – whether that’s a bad boss or a bad boyfriend.
At GirlBoss NZ, our mission is to give women choices. Purpose. Power.
Through GirlBoss Edge: Cashflow, our free 10-day school holiday programme, we’ve equipped over 1500 young women with a financial mentor and everything they need to know about saving and investing. They create business and career plans and smash through the limiting beliefs holding them back.
But the most powerful transformation is in their Money Mindset: we give them permission to be unapologetically ambitious.
Nonchalance. Stop acting like you don’t care. I live for earnest people – people with energy, and focus, and who care an awful lot.
The Great New Zealand Road Trip continues.
What is on your bucket list?
To see Disneyland. To raise children who are fearless in love and action. And to uplift as many New Zealanders as I can out of poverty and into opportunity.
What do you hope/think NZ will look like in 10 years?
In 10 years, I see a New Zealand where every child grows up believing opportunities are abundant, where integrity and good character are held up as the truest measures of success, where boldness is celebrated and the air hums with possibility. A nation where every young person feels deeply loved, profoundly connected, and unshakable in their belief they can lead and change the world.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.
