Sinead’s leap of faith
As dawn broke on the morning of Sinead Boucher’s 50th birthday, the new owner of New Zealand’s biggest media company pulled on her togs, threw a fur coat over her shoulders and made the short walk down to her local beach on Wellington’s blustery South Coast. Joined by her husband Mark and their children Harriette, 17, and Ben, 12, they collected friends and neighbours along the way, all stoically braving the conditions to join Sinead on her midwinter birthday dip. It was June 26; dark and utterly freezing. But a determined Sinead led the charge, throwing off her coat and running into the ice-cold Worser Bay waves with a “woop” – an unforgettable way to welcome in the next decade.
A bracing sea swim is always good for the soul, and having followed hers with celebratory champagne on the beach, Sinead tells us she really couldn’t have wished for more.
“It was perfect – no stress, no organisation, just Mark, the kids and my friends. It just felt really special. I’ve never been someone who’d choose to have a big party in my honour. I didn’t even have a 21st or a proper wedding!”
But taking the plunge has been a recurrent theme for this gutsy journalist-turned-media-executive. In May this year, the Stuff CEO made