Olivia Buckley

You’d normally find veterinarian Olivia Buckley on her family’s sheep and beef farm in Te Kūiti looking after the animals, or overseeing property maintenance and climate change initiatives.

But every second Saturday for the past two years, she’s been in class studying part-time for her Waikato MBA master’s degree.

An owner-director of Eight Mile Farms, Olivia says the Waikato MBA is a highly practical business qualification.

“The MBA course offers modules in business, leadership and governance, which aligns nicely with where I felt my future was going to be,” says Olivia, who was appointed as an Associate Director to the board of Ballance-Agrinutrients in 2023.

“I am very excited about this and see it as my first step to becoming involved in leadership roles in the food and fibre sector.”

“I have lots to contribute in this space with my professional background as a veterinarian and my interest in sustainable farming practices, technology and developing people.”

“The Waikato MBA programme has been a very empowering experience for me and helped me to see the world through a new lens. It will enable me to drive positive changes in our own business. In the future I plan to share this knowledge within the agribusiness sector to support sustainable environmental outcomes for other farmers.”

Olivia says the course has exceeded her expectations so far. “I’m really enjoying immersing myself in the MBA classes, and there has been a significant amount of personal development.”

She really enjoyed taking part in the MBA Case Competition. “We had a great team and it was a great challenge. We didn’t go through to the final but we had fun trying to convince the judges that our ideas would work.”

Olivia was one of four recipients of the Waikato Management School MBA Emerging Leaders Awards 2023. The $4,000 scholarship is awarded annually to current Waikato MBA students who are considered up-and-coming leaders in their communities.