Meet the expats - Nicollette Aimee Stuart : stepping Out of Her Comfort Zone

Meeting Nicollette was an absolute pleasure for us; to speak to someone who was completely in love with her new life in Mauritius and everything in it was so refreshing and eye opening.

The 38-year-old took a leap of faith and moved from all she had ever known to pastures unknown just two years ago with her husband and two young daughters, and the life they have have created for themselves here is just beautiful. Here’s what happened when we met the passionate, headstrong and determined woman that she is, in Tamarin, a couple of weeks ago…

Lovely to meet you Nicollette! So to begin with, can you tell us how you ended up in Mauritius?
Yes, amazing story. I’ve always lived in South Africa; never ever gone to work abroad, whereas many of my friends had that opportunity and likewise for my husband. Towards the end of 2015, we were watching ‘House Hunters International’ on TV and we saw these amazing moves and people doing it with families.

We thought we’re not getting any younger and right now, our kids are young enough to handle a move, so let’s do something completely out of our character, as we always do the same thing all the time. My husband sent a random email to someone that he knew, saying he’d love to come and work abroad and the guy picked it up straight away and said yes.

It was for Geneva, so we were all ready and set to go there. But then, the same company said they’ve got another position that’s opened up in Mauritius and that my husband would be better suited to that.

So my husband came out here to check out the island. I didn’t come and look first – I didn’t look at the schools or anything. I told myself I’m going to take a big bold move and have an adventure!

So my husband Gordon - he’s the MD for a management company - he came out here and met the staff, looked at the schools and the area that we’d like to live in. Anyway, all of that happened, we got the whole family and the furniture and we came across – and that was that!

Wow, so you took a blind leap of faith! And what was your initial reaction when you came over?
The first month was a big shock, like finding doctors, etc. but I actually found that people were so friendly and helpful. My daughter’s school friend, her mum would drive in front of me to show me how to get out of Rose Hill, or someone would really go out of his or her way to show me something or help with something.

Then I discovered the Facebook group ‘Black River Mums’ and it was so helpful – you can ask any question and someone will help you. So I didn’t feel too lost in the whole moving process.

It’s the best move I’ve ever taken in my life, I’m so happy! If you come here with the right attitude – to embrace a new culture, a new language, a new way of eating (we eat a lot more curry now!) – it’s such an amazing opportunity.

Both my husband and I feel so grateful to have the opportunity to live here; we don’t get upset about the little things and we don’t take any of it for granted. We really just enjoy the moment.

How did family and friends react back home when you told them that you were moving countries?
I’d already been living for 10 years away from my mum and dad. My dad was super excited! He was like, “be brave and go out into the world”. But my mum was a bit sad and was worried whether we’re doing the right thing. But now they’re both excited and they’re both coming out to visit this year. In their era, they didn’t travel, so this is all kind of new to them.

Were there any particular challenges you faced in the beginning?
Moving abroad is so good, because it takes you out of your comfort zone. I think the challenges were cooking, like, not knowing where things were. I’m a terrible cook but Mauritius changed me because now, I have actually started to cook from scratch!

I guess other challenges were just setting things up, finding a car, a place to live, our furniture arriving… finding the school was a bit challenging and then it was so far away, too.

Did you settle in quite quickly?
Yes. For me it wasn’t about finding work, but finding purpose – whether taking up a hobby, teaching, giving back to the community. It was about a month and half, two months before I felt settled.

I met a lot of friends through the children setting up play dates, and then meeting their parents and then it just snowballed. I have a great group of friends and there’s a wonderful community feeling; everyone just helping each other out. Not having a family around can be quite difficult and your friends become your family here, which is great.

What about your husband and daughters? Did they settle in easily?
They transitioned very easily. Change is sometimes a little bit harder for me, to be honest. My husband integrated really well – he’s actually almost fluent in Creole! He wakes up at 5am and for about 30 minutes, he studies his Creole notes.

My daughters integrated well, too. My daughter Sasha went through a period where she was like, “I miss my friends, I miss my friends.” She loves reading and began to isolate herself a lot reading her books. I told her she needed to start speaking to people at school, and she did and made friends. By the end of the year, she was really happy.

That’s wonderful, so glad to hear! What was life like for you back home in South Africa?
I was born in Johannesburg and lived there for the first 12 years of my life with my parents and then we relocated down to Cape Town and that was like changing country a little bit because it’s quite different in culture.

We lived in Cape Town and that’s where I met my husband. We then went back up to Jo’burg and we spent the last decade there, working. If you’re a young, driven person, that’s where you want to go and work in SA; that’s where the big businesses are.

It was so good for our careers but it’s also very stressful. We had a good life thankfully, we had no crime that affected us, we got to stay in a beautiful home, we had great jobs and we learned a lot. But living in Johannesburg, you’re land locked in the city.

To come and see the ocean and the mountains, and greenery, and sugarcane fileds here in Mauritius… we’re so privileged!

What was your job over there?   
I was a financial accountant for around nine years, then a group accountant. I worked for a big listed company. Then I worked for private companies but service related.

Did you leave after having children?
No, I worked through maternity leave. I have a degree in financial information systems. I ended up working in an auditing firm for my internship and then took the finance route. I was pregnant with Sasha Lee, my first child, when I just started studying for my CMA – this was going from just having a career, to becoming a professional, fully qualified chartered accountant.

It took me 8/9 years and I qualified – and my qualification came just one week before the job that I have now! I love the work I do – not many people can say that they’re passionate about finance, but I am.

You told us that when you arrived in Mauritius, you didn’t have a job here. How did you land the job that you have now?
Someone posted on ‘Black River Mums’ Facebook group that they were looking for a chartered accountant. This was maybe two months after we’d moved here. I saw this post just a week before my qualification came out, so I contacted the lady.

It was really just luck honestly; I didn’t do anything to look for the position. I sent my CV, I met the founder and I ticked all the boxes of everything they were looking for desperately. That was September 2016 and then in March this year, they made me Managing Director of the global group!

I worked hard, solved a lot of issues and got to know the tourism industry (which is what I’m in now) and the people. And I had such passion, which is why I went from Financial Director to Managing Director.

That’s incredible! How did you find the transition between the two roles?   
It’s tough eh, it’s tough. I know finance back to front; I’m passionate about it. But coming into the management term - being the only woman; coming from a background with no knowledge of birds; not being as well travelled as the others... it took persistence and showing them my passion and enthusiasm, and being able to collaborate well.

The company that you are now MD of is RockJumper Birding Ltd. Can you tell us more about the company and what they do?
We’re a company that proudly offers quality birding adventures, guided by our experts who are very experienced and so passionate! The tours are designed for birders and nature enthusiasts and we have around 300 scheduled tours annually.

We deliver the ultimate birding experiences that are fun, educational and also support conservation initiatives. We have our vision: “Every birdo a RockJumper fan” and that’s what we’re aiming for. On the conservation side of things, we just want to do something to add value that improves things.

Sounds really good! Do you offer any tours in Mauritius and have you ever done any of the tours yourself?
Unfortunately there are no tours in Mauritius yet. Mauritius is more of a stopover between tours. And yes, I went to SA and did one of the tours with them and it was amazing!

Seeing as you work in the birding industry, we have to ask, what’s your favourite bird and why?
Ha-ha, I want to say the Dodo but it isn’t alive anymore! It has to be the emperor penguin – they’re such magical birds. From how they nurse their young and look after each other… it’s just so beautiful!

How can the Mauritian audience get involved with RockJumper?
Well, we’re moving towards a more digital space. There’s the Facebook page, our Twitter account and Instagram – come and interact with us, see some amazing pictures of birds that you wouldn’t even know existed. Read the blogs; every time there’s a tour, there’s a write-up of the tours. If you have ideas or want to become part of the team, we are employing at the moment, too, so get in touch!

Great! Now, moving back to your life outside of work here. Are there any other ways that Mauritius has changed you?
We’re travelling a lot now! Last year we travelled to Bali and Singapore - letting our children experience these things is amazing. Now we’re looking at India and Dubai this year!

What was your reason for not travelling before you moved to Mauritius?
I don’t know, you know. Not having money, not having time… now nothing’s changed, but our priorities have changed. We have a smaller house here, but instead we’re spending our money on living life and on experiences. Sharing these experiences with our children is wonderful.

Amazing… and what do you do to relax in your time away from work?
I have a great group of friends and all of our kids are friends. I love dinner parties or hanging out or going out for dinner. I love spending time with my kids. We have a book called ‘100 Different Science Experiments’ and currently, we’re doing that - it’s so much fun and good bonding time with them.

I love swimming in the ocean and to be honest, just reading my Kindle by the pool; we didn’t have a pool back in Jo’burg.

What is your favourite thing about the island?
The people, the community, and the friends we’ve made. I think where we were in South Africa, I was missing a lot of that at that time. I love the ocean and the warm weather. For me, Mauritius has made me grow and come out of my comfort zone. I believe in giving thanks and being grateful for what you have is fruitful. I’m so grateful for this opportunity; we really make the most of it.

What would you like the future to hold for you?
Well, we’d love to stay here. We’d love the law to change and for us to be able to buy a property here and stay as long as we can and maximise the opportunity. We want to give back – we are guests here and we’ve been given this opportunity and we just want to give back as much as we can.

Finally, if you could share a message with everyone, what would it be?
Persevere in pursuit of your goals and appreciate everything that you have. Stay positive and never give up. Believe in yourself and even if you fail, do it again and again until you succeed.