Jo Raphael: Successful careers are built on blood, sweat and tears, not handed out in a lottery

Karen and Darren Houston have always dreamed of owning Westend New World and now their dream has come true. Photo / Andrew Warner

OPINION

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, there’s no fast ticket to success.

Starting at the bottom is par for the course in most careers. Jobs are not handed out in a lottery.

I don’t know many successful people who landed straight into their dream roles.

It’s a slow, arduous process, often fraught with angst, stress, frustration, personality clashes, and maybe a career change or two.

A few mistakes will be made.

But what is clear, if you are patient and methodical, it will happen.

It happened for Darren Huston and his wife Karen, the new owners of Rotorua’s Westend New World.

Darren’s early career began in forestry, then in IT, where he became quite successful and sought-after.

He then chucked it all in to stack shelves at a supermarket - with a view to owning his own supermarket one day.

Why give up a solid career in IT, to risk it all, some would ask?

While Darren doesn’t articulate it when we spoke to him, I’m guessing it’s to do with happiness.

Can you look at your career and say it will make you happy for the rest of your working life?

Darren wasn’t satisfied, so he made his dream happen.

He and Karen were determined to come back to Rotorua, where they love it.

They are proof that with hard work, patience and determination, good things - and success - can happen.

Tauranga’s Dean Waddell, who owns Pak’nSave on Cameron Rd, is a third-generation industry veteran. He started at New World Brookfield at 13.

Dean’s now the chairman of the Foodstuffs North Island co-operative that controls more than 300 stores under the New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square brands.

Pak'nSave Cameron Rd owner Dean Waddell. Photo / File

He previously told NZME most people from outside the industry don’t take the leap into supermarket ownership.

“Core to our constitution is we do not want investors in our business. It is an attractive opportunity and I’ve had lots of people in my office over the years. It’s the same story to everyone, you have just got to start on the shop floor, leave whatever you are doing, and just see if you actually like the environment.”

This is a fantastic achievement but it does not just apply to the supermarket industry.

Time and again we hear about these success stories but a common theme is the absolute hard work that goes in at the beginning.

It’s inspirational and proves to the next generation what can be achieved when they put in the blood, sweat and tears.