Who we are
Heather Barker Vermeer
Writer, journalist, editor and Human Interest founder.
Heather has been writing and editing for a living for over 20 years.
She has worked in newspaper journalism, magazines, corporate copywriting, PR and communications.
Heather holds a BA (Hons) English Language & Linguistics degree from Lancaster University and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism in Sheffield, England.
Profiles written include New Zealander of the Year Dame Anne Salmond, playwright Sir Roger Hall, All Black Jerome Kaino, RNZN Captain Corina Bruce, TV chef Josh Emmet, triathlete Terenzo Bozzone and many more.
Heather crafts staff profiles for New Zealand companies, has edited five books and, for over seven years, was a lifestyle magazine editor in Auckland. She has written for countless businesses and individuals in the UK & NZ.
Heather's passion is helping people share who they are by crafting their 'essence in ink'.
Kind words...
- You have an extraordinary ability to distil someone's story from their head, onto paper! You truly captured who I am.It was such a pleasure being interviewed by you. What you wrote was spot on. You really 'got me'! Thank you.
- I have had many people interview me over the years, most write lacklustre sameness. I didn't know Heather at the time and was pleasantly surprised how she just 'got me'. It was insightful, positive and engaging. Even I thought I sounded good!* (*Hyper self-critical person here) - Jimi Hunt, Mental Health Change MakerYou somehow managed to make me sound hip and old-skool-cool, whilst acknowledging how mature and responsible I have finally become over the years…!I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to carefully craft my narrative. - Ray, Software Developer
From Heather...
We all have a story to tell.
From over two decades of interviews, with people of all walks of life, I have deduced there are three strands to telling a person's (or a company's) story:
There are the defining moments; the big, life-altering-in-a-heartbeat ones. There is the cumulative progress; that incremental change. Then there is the entirely unique 'essence'; that intangible glow, in spite it all. I like to bring that all together.
In doing so, I am able to create a person's, or a business's, 'essence in ink'.
Some tell with pride, their story of great achievement, others modestly unknot and release strings of detail as though they've carefully packaged them into their heart.
I am careful and sensitive and appreciative of the gems they hand to me and I weave them into their tale with love. In that moment of sharing, I so often see the relief, or the pride, or the pain, or the joy in their eyes. Whatever it is, whatever it was, is relived in a second and that takes guts. I internally applaud.
We always laugh. We always have to take a deep breath. We realise something; something old or something new.
The process is a gift for us both. I have learned, time and time and time again: in giving, you receive.
The product is there for good. Strong words stand the test of time. They're captured or they're lost.
Believe me, there is always a story to tell.