Depression four years ago thrust the 32-year-old Southlander into some dark places, places unimaginable today given her boundless energy, endless positivity and zest for life and people.
Douglas addressed her depression by taking small steps, getting out and doing things such as volunteering at a horse refuge and celebrating small achievements.
She is now using those tactics backed by skills and knowledge gained from an upbringing on a Mossburn farm to help other young women suffering from low self-esteem and confidence.
She set up Real Country in northern Southland near Kingston at the southern tip of Lake Wakatipu, a business offering farm-experiences for tourists but which is also home to the Southern Girls Finishing School courses to equip young women struggling to deal with challenges.
The courses use everyday farm skills such as changing a tyre, shifting sheep, jump-starting a tractor with a flat battery, hammering in fencing staples, shooting firearms, cracking a stock whip and fencing to build confidence and self-esteem in girls aged 11 to 16.
The simple process of firing a rifle or changing a tyre takes them outside their comfort zone but the achievement builds confidence.
More importantly, it also helps equip them for greater challenges such as applying for jobs, trying something new or helping them value who they are as a woman rather than chasing who they think they should be.
“The farming tasks are a way to show them skills and to also show them that just because you haven’t done something before, you can do it and that can translate into life.”
Douglas knows what it is like to not fit in.
The country girl who enjoys hunting, fishing and working on her family’s farm attended Invercargill’s Verdon College where she was bullied because few of her classmates liked hunting, fishing or came from a farm.
On leaving school Douglas attended Otago University to become a physiotherapist.
She continued her love of hunting by heading to the bush at weekends with male friends who left their girlfriends behind questioning how they could become involved.
So, she taught them the basics of hunting, which, unbeknown to her, was the acorn of her latest venture.
Physiotherapy wasn’t for her and after a stint running bars and restaurants Douglas studied for a business administration degree and joined the financial corporate world, travelling the globe.
But it was not for her.
“It was all about me saying yes to new opportunities, thinking those new opportunities will satisfy me and make me happy and it never happened.
“Deep down I knew this typical Southland farm chick wearing stiletto shoes, going to inner-city parties and movie launches wasn’t me.”
She knew she was not the only young woman feeling the pressure to conform, pressure that can be accentuated by social media depicting what is regarded as normal.
Aged 29 and having addressed her depression Douglas headed home to Southland wanting to help others face the challenges she had.
It was the lead-up to duck shooting and she and a friend Tara Lawrence decided to run a duck shooting workshop for women in which they were taught gun safety, how to shoot ducks then pluck, gut and cook them.
Demand was such they ran nine workshops throughout Southland but it also gave her confidence to launch the finishing school.
The northern Southland community has got in behind her.
Tim Tayler, who owns Kingston Station, liked her idea and gave her access to land and built a shed for the school. Others have helped her with fencing and infrastructure.
“Everybody helps out. I couldn’t have done this in too many communities.”
Being on the main road between Queenstown and Milford she has contracts with several tour bus companies to give overseas visitors a taste of Kiwi farm life but that is only part of focus.
From one post on Facebook the 10 places in her first finishing school in 2016 were taken within a week.
She has held six others since and growing demand is reflected in four being scheduled for this December and January.
Most girls are from the rural South Island and they are instantly put outside their comfort zone with no cell phones allowed, no parents and required to mix with people they don’t know.
Often, they won’t want to do something like fire an air rifle but after encouragement to try it Douglas says their demeanour changes.
At the end of the day there is laughter, newfound self-esteem and confidence that comes with achievement but also resilience that can support them when faced with future challenges.
“If you are confident about who you are as a person you deal with challenges better because you are more resilient.”
Douglas says she is driven by knowing she is helping a next generation of leaders, that she could inspire a future prime minister but also from a duty to give back to the community from which she has benefited.
But she is also passing on her own experienc that achievement comes in many guises and that lives cans be transformed from successfully challenging yourself.
