Michael Kessell – Farmers’ Market Manager Extraordinaire

How I became a market manager of 40 stalls.

Michael Kessell’s job at the genteel Matakana Village Market is a world away from his time spent helping street kids. But the 60-year-old says his diverse past provides the perfect platform for his role as market manager.

“If you want a challenge, try running 40 stalls and their incumbents on a Saturday morning – rain, hail or shine. It’s not far off organizing a wedding or Cirque du Soleil! But thanks to my heritage and my previous jobs, I can cope with anything. My inspiration has always come from my ancestors. Their survival of hardships, their high morals and ability to laugh when they had nothing have given me many survival skills and the ambition to succeed and help others.

“I worked for the Salvation Army in the late 1990s where I was given the challenge of taking one kid off the streets of the Coromandel and into work-based training. I decided I could do better than that. In two and a half years, we signed up 124 young people.

“In Thames, I directed the lives of men with mental health issues. One young boy had been hit by lightning and was almost a vegetable. But he had amazing hearing and could pick up conversations a mile away. Others suffered from Down syndrome or bipolar disease. I enjoyed helping these men make positive improvements to their lives.

“My mental health training also gave me the fortitude to deal with the public and work with my market ‘family’. These varied stallholders provide me with further insight into what others can achieve. They produce, grow and sell a vast array of products which they have agonized over and nurtured along the way. One stallholder breeds and milks water buffalo, then sells the cheese he makes from this. This is the essence of a farmers’ market. Another stallholder slices stems of wheatgrass for her zany fortified health drinks which are made by the customer riding a pushbike connected to a blender! That is part of the stall’s exuberant character.

“It is my job to create a five-hour-long ambience at the market every week so visitors will tell others of that experience and return. My early hospitality experience also helps my market role. I trained as a chef and owned and operated Cheltenham Reception Lounge, The Mandalay in Newmarket and Trillos in downtown Auckland.

“When I was asked if I would accept this role, I replied by emailing a photo of myself dressed as a bereted Marcel Marceau with the word ‘yes’ attached to my chest. The owner thought this was a novel approach and rewarded me with the position. I am pleased to have increased the number of stalls by 45 percent and further created a convivial destination for people to come to exchange ideas, tantalize their tastebuds, enjoy live music and become more aware of sustainability and recycling. Last year we won the ‘Most outstanding supplier’ in Rodney’s hospitality awards and have been nominated again this year. The market has created an awareness of fresh and local food and has really put Matakana on the map.

“I look at all of this as a journey of achievement. In life, people expect the rewards first. The secret is to set your goals, get your foot in the door and help others achieve their goals. Stay focused and the rewards will come later.”

Interview by Rosalind Le Bas Walker
Life & Leisure, issue 38.