The Life of ... Sarah Wood, realestate.co.nz CEO

Sarah Wood is the chief executive of realestate.co.nz, a technology and media company with more than 80 staff nationwide, which was named New Zealand's best place to work for the second year running. Raised on a Waikato farm, she started in the NZ Herald's research department, built a marketing and digital career across NZME, and spent seven years working in the United States before returning home. She has led realestate.co.nz for seven and a half years and lives in Remuera.

I was born in Hamilton. I grew up in the Waikato, and it often surprises people to learn that I spent my childhood on a farm. I spent my schooling years there and came to Auckland in my late teens, where I studied. My father, Don Fraser, was a property valuer, and then he set up a finance broking business in the rural sector. I have five siblings, so I'm from a really big family. My siblings live across New Zealand doing a range of different things. My brother and I both ended up in the property sector, although he works more on the development side than I do. I'm the middle child, and people will definitely pick up on that at times, with my strong-mindedness, independence, and tenacious competitive streak.

Tauwhare, Waikato, where Sarah grew up.

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I was always a creative thinker and problem solver, and as I grew up, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a career; I didn’t fit into a ‘typical career’ box. At 14, I spent a lot of time with my stepmother, especially in the school holidays. She worked for the radio network, and watching her dress up, be creative and drive commercial outcomes for her clients was a real lightbulb moment for me.  I just loved media. That's what started the desire to train in that direction. So I did a three-year advertising diploma, then a Bachelor of Business majoring in marketing, both at Auckland University of Technology. Creativity has always been a part of my life.  I enjoyed dance growing up and have always had a real passion for art. Art in the Park is one of the highlights of my yearly calendar. I adored art at school, and I love design and the creative process. I've bought quite a bit of abstract art, and I appreciate anything that shows real talent. Young New Zealand artists fascinate me, and I watch them closely as they come through and develop over time. The last time I painted myself was about 20 years ago, but it’s been on my radar to pick it up again.

My first real job was working for the New Zealand Herald. I started in the research department as part of my training at AUT, where we did a three-month placement, helping develop research to sell advertising. After the three months, I moved into marketing because I was a bit chatty and distracted the researchers. I was grateful for the opportunity, as it marked the start of my marketing career. I've worked at NZME three times, so I've spent over 10 years there in total. I worked in marketing and the advertising department, but I also worked in circulation, then called newspaper sales. What drew me to marketing is that it blends creativity with problem-solving. It gave me a canvas to use my creative skills while ensuring the creative solution continued to drive business outcomes. When I do that kind of work, it doesn't feel like work; I really enjoy it. 

Sarah at Calf Club.

I worked in both Philadelphia and Princeton, US. I worked for a consultancy called GS1 US, a global federation that owns the barcode numbering system and the standards that govern it. GS1 spans many industry sectors, from retail to healthcare, which allowed me to expand my knowledge not only of how business works, but also of how commercial outcomes work across sectors. It was fascinating work. A key project I worked on was the brand and design system. The system was originally developed in the US and has since been adopted globally, so it was great to be part of it. We moved to the US just as the GFC happened, and there was also a big change in government at the time – Barack Obama got in a year after we'd been there. In some of my work, I attended the National Retail Federation conference in New York and saw Bill Clinton speak. That was something I really treasured about my travels, and working globally gives you exposure to opportunities we just don’t get down here in New Zealand. With scale comes remarkable opportunities.  Another thing I admire about the way Americans do business is the ‘thinking big’ mentality and how they really celebrate success. Thinking big without the restrictions on how you do something. Granted, it's a bigger economy, and your budgets are bigger, so you have the luxury to do that. But it's still the process of thinking big that I use in our business and with my team today. Whenever we are brainstorming and budget or resources sneak in, I always say, "Park the money" (and get a sideways look from my CFO) and ask them to keep thinking, and it always amazes me what we can come up with. 

I also feel like Americans spend more time on strategy and thinking than we do here. In New Zealand, I find we can get quite executional, constantly asking ‘how do we make that happen?’ neglecting the ‘what other ways can we solve this problem?’. This probably reflects the variety of our roles and the small-business nature of our economy, but it is still a good challenge for business leaders to ponder. In the US, you tend to be more specialised. To begin with, I went into these two- or three-hour meetings to talk about strategy and found them quite slow, but it was an awesome experience to see how that thinking and process evolved and how Americans executed strategy. The way they celebrate success and the depth of the relationship they have with their staff is also something I feel like I've brought home in the way I do things here. 

Graduating from the Advanced Management Program at Wharton Business School.

I joined realestate.co.nz as CEO, and I've been here for almost eight years. Before that, I ran a myriad of digital ventures for NZME, and the opportunity to move to realestate.co.nz presented itself; I could see my next move as a business I could fully wrap myself around and own. My role at realestate.co.nz was a really interesting opportunity because it blended the digital and marketing work I had done previously and let me run the culture I wanted with the leadership skills I had developed over my career. This was my first CEO role, and after over seven and a half years in it, I must love what I do. 

Our website and app have been completely transformed in my tenure. I always start by asking: How do you create an incredible customer experience? How do you create that depth of relationship with your customers, and how do you grow? Putting our customers at the heart of everything we do has led to the product, brand, and business we have today that Kiwis love. We’ve transformed how we take our brand to market and how we position the business, which has allowed us to grow substantially. I am incredibly proud of the business and team that I lead today. 

Sarah presenting at NZRec2026.

What I'm really proud of right now is that we've been awarded NZ's best place to work for the second year in a row. Getting that kind of engagement number, which was 95%, is actually really incredible. When I look back on my own journey as a leader, and how I've developed, constantly working on myself and on how I show up every day – it’s so rewarding to get to a point where your team see that, they feel they can do the same and trust you so much to be themselves. For me, this has been a real career highlight. As a result, we've built a great culture where people stay with the business and advocate for it. My biggest success has been this job: transforming something and growing our position in the market. 

My biggest failure happened a long time ago, when I worked at the NZ Herald. It wasn't actually my mistake – but  I was the one responsible. We were printing something, and I wanted to go out to the printing press at 4 am to check the print, but I didn't, and that's where the mistake happened. They transposed the plates, so it was printed incorrectly. What I learned was that my instinct was to follow that process all the way through. I said, "Can I come to the printing press?" And they said, "No, we don't need you." Now I would just push harder. That sense of when things are really important, really being close to the detail and owning that the whole way through. At the time, I worked for this amazing woman who said to me, "People don't remember the mistake; they remember how you fix it”. I say the same thing to my team now: let's not focus on the problem; let's focus on how to fix it, and we can work backwards to review later. But it is that sense of trust in your instinct, because I do think that tells you a lot.

Team photo after the 2026 Best Places to Work (GPTW) Awards win.

I would describe my leadership style as very collaborative. The feedback I've had is that my team has a strong sense of autonomy, so I'm not a micromanager. I really try to pull great ideas from across the board, and that's not just my leadership team but across the company. I'm great at listening, spotting opportunities, pulling those ideas together, and making sure people feel seen and heard.

Three years into my role, I had the privilege of attending the Advanced Management Program at Wharton Business School. It was MBA content without the MBA exams, and it was a transformative tipping point in my career. Being part of a programme like that, where you get a global perspective and learn with extraordinary people, helps you be better at what you're doing. Some CEOs pursue MBAs, but for me, it was the Wharton Advanced Management Program, and I credit it with really changing my performance as a CEO.

'Great ideas come from everywhere.' That's the quote I use the most, and I use it at work all the time. One of the things I learned at Wharton was how to run an innovation tournament, and I've run those in my business, where it is a flat playing field across the company. Innovation does well with a process, and the Wharton School taught me one. Essentially, everyone comes and pitches an idea, and it's a process of narrowing those ideas down and bringing the best to the top. It uses everyone in the organisation to seed those ideas and feed them through. Some of the most successful ideas we have had in this company, and at other companies I've worked for, have come from more junior staff, and sometimes from our quieter, more introverted staff. So it's about creating an environment where those ideas come through, and really listening to people.

Sarah with her children when they were younger.

For anyone who aspires to a top-level leadership role, I'd suggest a couple of things. One is to build a board of personal advisors to support you on that journey and give feedback on the skills you need to develop to reach the position you aspire to. I'd also say really understand what the job is, and be clear about the sacrifices you will have to make. The other part is how you add value, because leaders have to have a strategic outlook, a short-term view coupled with a long-term one, along with a view to grow and to generate ideas. You have to be a leader that people want to follow.  

In the future, I see myself combining CEO work with directorships and helping other businesses succeed. I'd also like to spend more time helping young people. This morning I volunteered for Mentor Walks, an organisation that mentors women. I spent an hour with three strangers, and for me, it's about finding that balance of giving back and helping people see the potential to solve problems, grow, and move forward.

Sarah with her dog, Toby.

My husband was my flatmate, actually, when I'd just started my first job. We've been married for over 20 years, and we have three children, so we have a very busy life. I have three teenagers – one girl and two boys – and two of them will be at university in the next 18 months, one next year and one the following year. My husband is super supportive of my career, and he also has a really busy career himself. Working in the US was really helpful because we saw that Americans work with children from quite a young age, and it was helpful to see how they manage that. Coming back to New Zealand and doing the jobs we do, it was about how we use help to juggle everything and make sure we have meaningful time with our kids. That is a key value for both my husband and me.  

I love art, spending time with my family (and dog, my fourth child), and leading an awesome team that's passionate about what they do. I love to travel, ski in the winter and spend time solving problems as I walk my beautiful Portuguese water dog, a big black fluffy thing, every morning. I am very settled here in New Zealand, and while I’m always happy to get on a plane for pleasure, I don’t see us leaving. New Zealand's a fantastic country, and I'm really ambitious for its future. I think it's a really great little spot in the world.

The Life of ... profiles may be edited for brevity and clarity.

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