SARAH Higgins’ Marlborough-based shearing business breaks all the stereotypes of how a shearing crew might look and behave.
“We strive to break through the status quo of the shearing industry,” Higgins said.
And, it was her passion and commitment to harness her love of the land that has her Higgins Shearing business now firmly rooted in its local community.
Running a mixed-gender team, Higgins works hands-on in the sheds day-to-day and when not on the shearing board, she assists in organising and sponsoring local shearing events and professional development for shearers and wool handlers.
It was a combination of her commitment, outstanding leadership for the industry and support for the rural community that stood out to the judges when she was named the Supreme Award winner in the NZI Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) 2020 Business Awards.
A win that was not expected.
“It’s still sinking in. Some of the other category winners I follow are really successful people as well, and to even be compared with them is humbling.”
Higgins says when encouraged to enter the awards she thought it would be a good opportunity to benchmark her company and get a good external overview of her business.
“I never expected this, it is pretty exciting, a huge accolade to win,” she said.
Higgins grew up on a sheep farm in Havelock North and from her childhood days loved sheep, wool and rural life.
The now 28-year-old went on to spend three years studying agriculture, majoring in marketing, at Lincoln University.
It was never a plan to become a shearer, let alone run her own shearing business.
But after completing her BCom-Ag she went travelling for two years, all of which she spent woolhandling as she made her way around the UK, Germany, Australia and back home in NZ.
“I was going to use my degree very differently, like in marketing in the wool industry,” she said.
“It just happened; by the time the two years were up, I had well and truly done my time woolhandling.
“But I always said ‘I would love to learn to shear; how cool would it be to shear just one sheep?’”
Shear one sheep Higgins did, and that one sheep had a significant bearing on her career path.
“When I left school, having worked as a wool handler in the shed, I developed a real passion for wool and wanted to head in the direction of marketing,” she said.
“But six months in an office role soon sorted that for me and I couldn’t get shearing out my system.”
Her inspiration came from her passion for the job.
“People were encouraging. It was amazing the support I got to shear more sheep, and then someone overheard my whisper about starting a business back home and the encouragement for that was incredibly inspiring,” she said.
So, the planning began.
“My partner at the time and I were going to start up a shearing business, but that fell apart, so I decided to do it by myself,” she said.
Five years on Higgins, and Higgins Shearing, have branded real success in the industry.
With her mixed-gender team of eight, Higgins is full-time on the job, with her team predominantly shearing for the locals in the Marlborough region.
I enjoy the day-to-day running of the business, but I love working in the shed and shearing.
“Farmers love our passion for the work we do and the commitment we put in to doing the best we can for their wool in such a professional manner,” she said.
“Since shearing full-time, it is now my number one passion and I love to see others excel in what is essentially a professional sport.”
Higgins mentors and supports upcoming women shearers, while making an outstanding contribution to the wool industry and shearing community.
As a competitive and world record-holding shearer herself, Higgins encourages her team to develop their skills by participating in shearing and woolhandling competitions.
On the competitive side of her shearing, Higgins currently holds the nine-hour, four-stand lamb shearing world record, set in January 2020.
“I was elbowed to give it a go; it’s been a great achievement but when I look back it was quite a selfish thing to do,” she said.
“I was so focused on myself and training, I had to leave others to run my business for a bit.
“I am so lucky to have people around me who have given me such support in all my shearing, both as a business and a sport.
“It (the record) was such a massive thing to do, I’m not sure I’ll do it again – we’ll see.”
Meantime, Higgins is confident the wool industry will pick up.
“I feel like the pieces of the puzzle are there for a resurgence, but it just needs some sort of messaging and branding to get it together, and industry will need to work together on that,” she said.
The shearer shortage has not presented any issues for her business.
“We’ve been okay, I’ve managed to build up a team of locals and we stick together,” she said.
