Dara Dimitrov

Story by - Jane Matthews

Dara Dimitrov is a vivacious woman with diverse interests and talents. She has done everything from leading tours through Africa to keeping bees in Hamilton.  She holds two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree and is currently completing her PhD.  You get the feeling there is nothing she couldn’t achieve if she set her mind to it.

Dara grew up alongside her six siblings in Te Teko near Whakatane. She is Ngāti Awa. Her mother was from Tuteao Marae and her father was from Macedonia.

She attended Edgecumbe College where the teachers were “inspirational”. “Through books they created a world outside where we lived. Lots of kids from the college at that time did amazing things. The principal, Athol Forsyth, would tell us we could do great things, so we all did.”

After high school Dara went to Australia and worked at the University of Adelaide. She went on to study medical technology at the South Australia Institute of Technology, then crossed over into clinical pathology where she worked until she did her “big OE”. 

“I lived in London and did everything – worked in hospitals, mowed lawns (we’d call it haymaking in New Zealand they were so long), was a chef, cleaner, and managed and trained tour guides.” She also worked in Africa for a London-based company which ran tours there as well as in Europe and the Middle East.  

She and a friend also took a brief foray into writing for a well-known brand of romance novels. While concocting stories together over a red wine at one o’clock in the morning they were laughing so hard that the neighbours called noise control. This is so easy to visualise given her sense of humour and penchant for storytelling!

“My three month OE turned into 14 years,” she said.  

She married and had children, and while they were young, Dara took up accounting (because the hours were better) using skills she’d learned through training in an Australian hospital. 

She became a founding member of the “Playmates Under Five” charity in London. It was set up for mothers with babies and toddlers. 

Sadly, her baby son died in 1999, and just 18 months later her husband was killed in an accident.

On a trip home to New Zealand in 2003 Dara was impressed by the quality of education here and decided to enrol her (then 8 and 10 year old) children at St Columba’s Catholic Primary School. “As we are Greek Orthodox we were accepted straight away,” she said.

After visiting the University of Waikato with her sister-in-law, she promptly enrolled herself there, completing a Bachelor of Management Studies with Honours (First Class) majoring in accounting. She then went on to complete a Bachelor of Laws, a Master of Management Studies (First Class), and is currently working to complete her PhD which looks at the accountability of charities. “I hope to finish in eight or nine months and then I’ll look for work as a lecturer in accounting or law,” she said. 

During her studies she has tutored law and accounting, and she is a mentor for Maori students.  “The students who need support often have rural backgrounds and I put them in contact with services and Maori groups on campus so they can find like-minded people and get into study groups. It’s more about creating whanaungatanga and giving them examples of excellence. It’s about caring and support and making them aware of what’s available. It’s little things that change outcomes,” she said.

At Waikato Dara enjoys the engagement with the students and the university’s systems and culture, along with the variety and the opportunities for growth (regardless of age). She was part of the Waikato Management student group which travelled to China last year to study Chinese business and language.

Although she works on her PhD daily, Dara tries to spend at least 20 minutes in her cottage garden every day and dedicates one day a week to her passion of beekeeping which she describes as a semi-commercial operation – “more hobby than business”.

“I love mucking about with hives,” she said. “I caught my first swarm for my uncle who was a beekeeper in former Yugoslavia, and from that moment, that was it,” she said. “Anyone who spends time with bees is seduced by them. It’s good fun.” 
Beekeeping must be in the genes; her brothers and children are qualified beekeepers. 

I first met Dara at Fraser High School where she teaches night classes in Beekeeping and Business Management and Planning Essentials. Her classes are peppered with interesting anecdotes from her rich life, and she has a very engaging teaching style.
Dara said she enjoys teaching. “You get to meet amazing people; I’ve made some really nice friends. It also supplements my income. Plus, I’ve repopulated the Waikato Domestic Bee Keepers Association through the class,” she laughed.

For inspiration, Dara follows life coaches on YouTube. A favourite is Antony Robbins. “On a bad day you need a sunny YouTube video,” she said.

Relationships are what Dara values most. “Though I like the opportunity to take on new challenges. If someone asks if I can do something, I say ‘yes’, then grow into that yes. Life is about advancement,” she said.