Jana Soole doesn’t sit around. Feeding those who have fallen on rough times, venturing to pest-free islands to protect kiwi and other native animals, training to rescue stranded whales, ticking off many of our Great Walks, nurturing nearly a dozen pets at home, while also looking after almost 80 different properties for ASB across the motu. And, to top it off, Jana is studying a diploma in facilities management.
Jana’s dedication, passion and energy, for our sector, and for life in general, led to her being awarded a scholarship from the FMANZ Foundation, which identifies outstanding New Zealanders and offers grants to help them pursue a career in facilities management.
Shortly after the scholarship award, Jana stepped onto a stage to address a room full of hundreds of facilities management leaders at a key industry event. “If you had told me at the beginning of this year that I would be on a stage, publicly speaking to a group this size, I would have laughed. Hard,” she admits. Yet here she is, due in large part to listening to her own advice to “be your authentic self.”
Jana’s journey began in jets, high in the air. After a career as cabin crew and in insurance, she was as a bank teller at ASB, reporting property issues from the branch floor. Then she moved into a property admin role at the bank. And, when a facilities role opened up, she applied. “I feel like I kind of fell into the industry,” she says. “I wasn’t looking for it, but I sure am glad I found it.”
Now overseeing the smooth running of nearly 80 ASB branches across New Zealand, “right from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island”, Jana has become what she calls “the better work stories girl at family gatherings,” spanning “accidental vehicle impacts to ATM ram raids, floods, fire and earthquakes.”
Following the pandemic, when rough sleepers increased and Auckland’s City Mission was swinging between being overwhelmed or closed, Jana joined Ladies that Cook, preparing home-cooked meals. These meals were often funded from volunteers’ own pockets. She also spent years cleaning quarantine pens for sick puppies at the SPCA, transported rehabilitated native birds back to their natural habitats, and completed Project Jonah’s marine mammal medic training to help stranded whales and dolphins.
Jana’s passion for wildlife and conservation drew her towards volunteering on pest-free Motuora Island. “I saw my first kiwi in the wild,” she recalls. “And then I ended up seeing eight others!”
She’s completed eight of Aotearoa’s Great Walks, spends time in the Waitakere Ranges, protecting native wildlife as part of the Ark in the Park project, and, at home, looks after nine chickens, a cat and a five-year-old German Shepherd called Nova.
As a Ngāpuhi woman, Jana believes there are great opportunities for Māori women in facilities management, where they remain underrepresented. “I would love to inspire other young Māori women to take up an exciting career in the FM world,” she says.
Hearing that she had won an FMANZ Foundation scholarship was a moment that moved Jana to tears. Beyond the financial support, the award also led to mentoring opportunities with ASB’s general managers, who are now regularly offering Jana career advice and leadership guidance.
“I think the more people know about this industry, the more people will come in,” she says. “I think it’s getting that message out there and highlighting FM for the people who don’t know about it. I know there’s some superstars to come. They just don’t know about it yet.”
And, when asked about her advice to others who might be considering applying to the Foundation, she says, “I’d say definitely go for it and just be your authentic self. If you want something you know, don’t let other things stop you.”
And nothing’s stopping Jana.
