Meet Laura, Partner Success Lead and an avid baker and list maker, she’s been at N4L for 3 years.
Hi, I’m Laura Mahoney the Partner Success Lead at N4L. Sitting within the Education and Engagement team, I’ve been in this role for about 18 months after spending a similar amount of time working as a Service Delivery Specialist. Before working at N4L, I spent close to 3 years working in export logistics and have a degree majoring in Psychology.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Murray’s Bay on the North Shore of Auckland. As an only child, I was grateful to be living just a ten-minute walk away from a few of my best friends and spending a lot of time at the beach! I also have family and friends in South Canterbury and spent almost every holiday down there, helping outside with the various farm animals.
What brings you joy outside of work?
The main thing that brings me the most joy is to spend quality time with the ones I love. Whether that be with my partner, our family or my closest friends. I’m also a big music lover and avid baker, so you’ll often find me singing or dancing along to something while pottering around in the kitchen! Plus I’m a fan of playing (and watching) a lot of team sports, having played netball for many years and having friends in various sports teams.
How did you end up working in this role?
When graduating with my bachelor’s degree, my initial plan was to complete a Master of Teaching and Learning. However, I decided I wanted a break from the university world. Fast forward a few years when looking to move out of export logistics, I found N4L. To me, N4L ticked so many of my boxes for what I wanted both in a role and a workplace. The ability to help others within the education space called to me, and the values of the company aligned with mine as an individual. Through my first role at N4L, I gained lots of valuable experience and I was able to build quality relationships internally as well as with a lot of the panel members we work with. This all helped me in successfully applying for the Partner Success Lead role when it became available!
What appealed to you about the role?
It’s allowed me to grow and expand on my passion for helping others and relationship building, a step up in my career, as well as personal growth into more of the commercial management space. I love learning about people and what makes them tick (hence the psychology degree), so blending this with my values and a role where no two days are the same was what drew me in.
Tell us about your role.
I manage relationships with the members of our two panels, both the Installers and the IT Providers. With 17 installer companies and 15 IT providers working across the various projects on the go at any one time, there are multiple tasks underway to keep the wheels turning. I ensure that appropriate representation of our external contracted panel members is felt within the business, to get the best delivery outcomes for both our schools and kura, as well as the panel members. Similarly, I represent N4L while meeting with these panel members, doing my best to keep everyone on the same page.
What feeds your passion within your role?
It’s no secret to anyone I work with that I’m passionate about organisation, with a good list (or a few) and a lot of colour coding… But truly my passion within this role sits with helping others. Knowing that I can assist the many members of the panel and in turn N4L and the work it is doing for schools and kura throughout New Zealand is fulfilling. I am appreciative of having a great schooling experience while growing up here – being able to try and bring this to our ākonga through the use of technology and connection to schools is awesome.
What does it mean for you personally in the work N4L delivers?
Personally, the work that N4L delivers is really rewarding. A special thing about working here is that so many of us (if not all of us) share the same core values as what we are trying to achieve as a business, and this creates such a positive and uplifting environment to work in. Seeing my younger cousins go through the schooling system in a way where technology is so much more at the forefront of their experience than it was when I was at school, reiterates the importance to me of the work that we are doing. Improving teaching and learning experiences for all involved is key and critical to moving forward in an ever-changing technological world!
Now the big question – Chocolate cake or Pavlova?
I’m definitely a pavlova girl! Having had it as my birthday ‘cake’ for the last few years and being designated family pav maker at Christmas, how could I say no!
Meet the rest of the Education and Engagement team by visiting our website.
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