27/09/2026
OUR STORIES ❤️
The moments that made us who we are.
👩🏫 I always wanted to be a teacher
If you'd asked little Jolene what she wanted to be when she grew up, there was only ever one answer.
"I'm going to be a teacher.”
As a little girl, I was forever playing school.
I had a small suitcase filled with books and pens, and there was always somebody available to teach, sometimes my friends and, when no willing humans could be found, my dolls had to attend class instead. 😂
Interestingly, both my mom and dad were qualified teachers, although by the time I came along neither of them was teaching anymore.
But somehow that desire was deeply rooted in me.
When I finished school, though, I didn't immediately go to teachers' college.
I chose to give a year of my life to something else.
It was quite literally called “Year of Your Life.”
I spent that year doing Bible study, missionary and outreach work through the church. It gave me time to grow up a little, discover more about myself and think about what I wanted my life to stand for.
And I discovered something that has remained important to me ever since.
I love serving people.
Helping. Encouraging. Teaching. Making somebody else's road a little easier where I can.
After that year, I went to teachers' training college in Pretoria and studied full-time for four years.
The little girl with the suitcase finally became what she'd always said she would be.
A teacher.
I taught a combined Year 1 and Year 2 class and absolutely loved it.
Then Eddie and I decided we wanted to start our family while we were young.
Line' and Jodie came along, and I was fortunate enough to be able to stay home with our girls.
And so my teaching career ended after only a couple of years.
Or at least...
that's what I thought.
Looking back now, I'm not sure I ever really stopped teaching.
My parents had a general-dealer business in South Africa, I introduced a craft range and started teaching craft classes.
After immigrating to New Zealand, I created Eagar Crafters, imported products that weren't available here, travelled to craft shows demonstrating them and taught people how to use them.
When I needed a website and didn't know how to build one, I found one of my brother's computer textbooks...
and taught myself.
When I started a data-entry job and discovered I couldn't type fast enough to keep up...
I did a typing course and learned.
When opportunities opened in finance and I didn't yet have all the knowledge I needed...
I studied.
Sometimes that meant getting up at 3am, while the house was quiet, putting in a couple of hours before everyone woke and then heading off to work.
Eventually that journey took me from data entry to becoming a Finance Manager and Operations Manager for two medical import and distribution companies.
Then came another enormous change.
I left the security of a salary and joined Eddie in real estate.
And before long, we were building a business together again.
So no...
My life didn't follow the career path that little girl with her suitcase imagined.
There have been businesses, motherhood, crafts, finance, management, real estate and plenty of times when I've had absolutely no idea how to do the thing in front of me.
But I've realised something while looking back over these stories.
The teacher never really went anywhere.
I've spent much of my life either learning something...
or helping somebody else understand what I've learned.
And perhaps being a teacher was never only about standing in front of a classroom.
Perhaps, for me, it was always about people.
Learning.
Sharing.
Helping.
Encouraging.
Serving.
The classroom just got a whole lot bigger. ❤️
Our Stories | Eddie & Jolene
The moments that made us who we are.