Mavis Mullins won the rural category at the Westpac Women of Influence Awards in Auckland on Wednesday night.
The chairwoman of the Atihau Whanganui Incorporation is also a Business Woman of the Year, treaty negotiator and part of the Rangitane iwi's new governance entity.
The awards were a girls' night out and she took along her daughters, Aria and Korina, and the administrator of Paewai/Mullins Shearing, Karen Barrow to celebrate the honour.
It was a fantastic evening, and she was surprised, humbled and elated to win her category.
"I'm quite shy about it. There's so many other women who do fantastic stuff," she said.
She feels lucky to have so many high level roles, and said they made for a lot of variety in her life day-to-day.
"You get a chance to do that big strategy stuff. You have the freedom to think and consider how you can do stuff that has impact that really takes New Zealand to a better place."
Having started as a woolclasser from Dannevirke, Mrs Mullins hasn't worked in a shearing shed for a while.
"I would probably muck it up if I did. But wool and farming in particular continues to be the core of everything that drives me."
The rural category was just as important as award categories like Arts and Culture and Public Policy, she said.
"If you don't have the primary sector I doubt whether you would have the capacity to do a lot of the other things."
The Women of Influence awards are in their fourth year, and are run by Fairfax Media and the Westpac bank. They aim to find New Zealand's 100 most influential women.