Photography: World of WearableArt.
Award-winning tech entrepreneur Love Heart, is an AI expert devoted to helping others understand and utilise technology advancements. But she still considers herself, at heart, a farm girl from Taranaki – one who finds some of her happiest hours in the garden or in her sewing shed, where she hand-stitches incredible World of WearableArt (WOW) designs.
“AI is my subject specialisation,” says Frances, 55.
“I know it inside and out. Technology just consumes my time. The contrast to that is hands in the soil or hands on fabrics doing things that are completely the opposite.”
Frances tells Woman’s Weekly that as a child, she could be found drawing on the farm and dreamed of becoming an architect.
“But at high school, I was told that because I was a female, I was not allowed to take the technical drawing class,” she recalls.
So, at 17, Frances travelled to London, where she worked in fashion, arriving just as desktop computers were starting to transform businesses. She was instantly fascinated by the possibilities of technology.
“I had this really strong feeling that it was going to be part of my life,” she says.
Finding her calling
And she was absolutely right. In 1998, Frances co-founded Media Design School, New Zealand’s globally ranked digital design school, bringing technology and education together.
“It was the first time I realised I was also really drawn to education.”
Since then, Frances launched the private post-graduate education provider academyEX, has been recognised on the Top 50 Global EdTech Thought Leaders list, a New Zealander of the Year finalist and appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Education is the centre of her working world, but Frances says she didn’t attend university until she was 40, which led to imposter syndrome.
“I’d be with people who were the president or top of their company and they’d say, ‘So, what’s your PhD?’ and I didn’t even have an undergrad degree,” remembers Frances.
No expiry date on learning
Eventually, she completed her master’s in education leadership and says studying later in life was profound.
It changed much more than her qualifications – it also proved her belief that there is no expiry date on a person’s ability to learn.
“It doesn’t matter what age you are, you can learn a new skill, apply it and become someone different,” she enthuses.
“That really became the big underlying piece for me in my life, realising the only thing between you and anything you want to do is knowledge and connections.”
Today, focus is on her new social venture Love Heart, which aims to make learning more accessible to people over the age of 50 by offering informal opportunities to learn and connect without the requirements of traditional tertiary study.
“If I could see that learning at any age was so normalised that people didn’t imagine a time when it didn’t exist, I’d be the happiest person in the world,” she smiles.
Her creative escape
Talking to Frances, it’s clear how devoted she is to her career. But away from her busy professional life, she unexpectedly embraces all things analogue. She lives on a 26-hectare lifestyle block on Tāwharanui Peninsula, where she loves tending to her abundant garden and cooking. And then there is her sewing shed, where Frances will happily spend a whole year or more crafting a single WOW creation.
“I still only have two domestic, very old-school sewing machines, one which has an overlocker and one which has a straight stitcher,” explains Frances.
“So I end up hand sewing probably at least 60 percent of my WOW creations.”
It’s this combination of creativity and challenge that keeps drawing her back. This year marks the sixth time she has been a finalist at the prestigious Wellington event.
“You do all the hours, all the weeks or years of making and then submit your design, hold your breath and just hope that you get to the next round. It’s quite an undertaking.”
Always creating
This year, Frances will showcase a striking monochromatic double entry with a male and female look that took her two years to create – and she’s already decided what her entry for WOW 2027 will be.
“I was doing a big clean-up of all of these fabrics and suddenly a palette of colours and textures came to me. I was like, ‘I know exactly what I’m doing next year!’”
Looking to the future, Frances is still filled with the same inspiration and enthusiasm she had as a teen returning from London.
“My energy for it hasn’t changed at all,” she smiles.
For WOW tickets, visit worldofwearableart.com
To find out more about Love Heart, see heart.co.nz
