Partnering with business owners to build stronger, better-run businesses.
Paula Bearsley:
Business Advisor & Coach
BBS (Hons) Finance & Management
Certified Professional Business Advisor (CPBA)
I'm a hands-on Business Advisor and Coach with more than 20 years of experience working in and on owner-led businesses.
I help business owners improve how their business works — bringing greater clarity, stronger structure, better systems and more confidence in the decisions ahead.
My approach is practical and straightforward. I work across the business to understand what is really getting in the way, then help owners work through the issues, make decisions and put practical improvements into place.
That can mean improving systems and processes, strengthening structure and accountability, working through operational challenges, clarifying priorities, or using financial information to support better decisions.
I’ve also experienced first-hand what it means to lead a business through extraordinary circumstances. After Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, I helped rebuild our family business following significant disruption. It required calm decision-making, resilience, practical planning and the ability to keep moving when the situation was anything but straightforward.
That experience also reinforced something I already believed strongly: business is ultimately about people. The way a business operates has a direct impact on the owner, their family, their team and their quality of life.
What sets me apart?
I combine real business ownership experience, formal finance and management expertise, professional advisory certification and a practical whole-of-business perspective.
I have created a business from an idea and made it work. I have worked in family businesses and understand the opportunities and pressures they bring. I have worked through growth, change, difficult decisions and major disruption.
So when I advise a business owner, the advice is grounded in more than theory. I understand the pressure of running a business and the importance of finding solutions that work in the real world.
I am easy to work with, I enjoy a challenge and solving problems, and I place a high value on building strong, supportive relationships with the people I work with.
Whether your business is facing challenges or you simply know it could be working better, I can help you create a clearer and more practical way forward.
Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon and myself - discussing the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on our business and the way forward.
My Background
I'm a Massey University graduate with a Bachelor of Business Studies (First Class Honours) in Finance and Management and a Certified Professional Business Advisor through the Institute of Advisors.
My early career included roles at UDC Finance as an Analyst and at The New Zealand Treasury, where I worked in the Budget Strategy and Health teams. I later moved into healthcare capital investment before taking up an Investment Analyst role with Mayne Health in Melbourne.
In 2003, I returned to New Zealand and spent the next 20 years involved in running and supporting a small trade business — the kind of owner-led business where everyone wears multiple hats and there is always more to do than time available.
In 2020, I also built my own business from scratch around my passion for mountain biking. Like most sole operators, I did everything — strategy, finance, marketing, administration, systems and service delivery. That experience gave me an even greater appreciation of the discipline, resilience and sheer amount of work required to build a small business — as well as how rewarding it can be to create something of your own.
I am also a Director of Bearsley Group and have been actively involved in our family business for more than 15 years. The group has operated across agriculture, viticulture, fruit production and fresh produce export, employing up to 60 people during peak seasons.
Business experience tested in extraordinary circumstances
In 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle caused devastating damage to our operations, wiping out around 90% of our income virtually overnight.
I became deeply involved in rebuilding and reshaping the family business. That required rapid decisions, new sources of income and a willingness to rethink how our remaining assets could be used.
We established Bearsley Contracting to support regional clean-up work, developed a solution for excess silt disposal, and began repurposing farmland for a limestone and metal quarry to support roading infrastructure and stop-bank reconstruction.
Alongside the family business recovery, I also worked in key regional recovery roles, including as a Recovery Manager for a major clean-up contractor and as a Project Coordinator supporting Hawke's Bay Regional Council work.
That period tested every part of business decision-making — strategy, operations, people, finance, risk, resilience and the ability to act when there is no perfect answer.
It also reinforced how vulnerable owner-led businesses can be when circumstances change quickly — and how important it is to have good information, strong systems, clear priorities and trusted people around you.
What I bring to the businesses I work with today
As a Business Advisor and Coach, I bring together formal business and finance training, more than 20 years of business ownership experience, professional advisory expertise and first-hand experience of navigating significant change.
I bring a fresh perspective, ask the questions that sometimes need to be asked, and challenge assumptions when they are getting in the way.
But the purpose is always practical: to help you make better decisions, improve how the business works and build a stronger business that supports the life you want to lead.
10 hectare kiwifruit block absolutely decimated by Cyclone Gabrielle
I discovered mountain biking in 2014 while teaching my son to ride at Craters Mountain Bike Park in Taupō. Before long, I was helping with a junior development squad, racing competitively and completely hooked on the sport.
In 2017, I won the World Masters Cross Country Mountain Bike Championship.
Mountain biking has taught me a lot about discipline, resilience, preparation and backing yourself when things get hard — qualities that carry naturally into business.
In 2020, I created Bike Craft, a mountain biking coaching business, to help people experience the sport in a safe and supportive environment. This grew into coaching clinics across both the North and South Islands, including for participants in the Spirited Women Adventure Race events.
Coaching has also strengthened skills I use every day in business — reading people, understanding what motivates them, building trust quickly and helping them grow in confidence.
How I Relax
My Passion: Mountain Biking
Ready to talk about your business?
If you would like a practical outside perspective on what is happening in your business and where to focus next, let’s have a conversation.