Capable people should never be left feeling incapable and alone. TFG exists to help people recognise what is already strong, bring knowledge and clarity to the situations that feel difficult, and build the confidence to create meaningful change. We work with organisations, early childhood professionals, parents, whānau and young people. The work looks different in each part of TFG, but the belief stays the same. People thrive when they feel supported, and capable.
Everyone deserves Someone firmly in your corner.
When Mandy Suess rebuilt her life and career in New Zealand, she had to reestablish almost everything. Her qualifications, professional credibility, networks, confidence and sense of belonging all needed to be rebuilt in a country whose systems and unspoken expectations were new to her. What she wanted most was one knowledgeable person firmly in her corner. Someone who could recognise her capability, share what they knew, open a door and help her see the next step. She did not have that person, and for a long time she was too afraid to ask.
That absence became part of TFG’s purpose.
The support Mandy needed became the support she chose to create.
Why TFG exists
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Mandy grew up in a small village in southeast Germany. Her grandparents ran a plumbing and tinsmith business, where hard work, practical contribution and being useful were simply part of everyday life. She became the organiser, the listener and the person willing to advocate for somebody else. She was drawn to ambitious ideas, especially creative ideas that other people had already dismissed as impossible.
Before moving to New Zealand, Mandy studied management, worked in event management and owned a restaurant while raising her young son as a single mother. She also built a public relations business working largely with independent artists, promoters and events.
Those experiences shaped a belief that still guides TFG. Knowledge matters, learning should never stop, and even the most ambitious idea can begin to move when one person genuinely believes in the person behind it.
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Mandy moved to New Zealand in 2004 with her husband, her son and a new baby daughter on the way. The move was exciting, uncertain and far more complicated than simply changing countries.
She continued her public relations work, became involved in radio, contributed to regional and national not for profit organisations, managed an early childhood service and returned to study because her German qualifications were unfamiliar here.
She also learned what it feels like to navigate cultural assumptions and unspoken professional expectations. That lived experience now informs TFG’s work with migrant teachers, professionals, owners and culturally diverse teams.
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Mandy’s first early childhood management role began unexpectedly in 2005. She accepted a teaching position in a service connected with her local gym, then found herself managing it when the existing manager resigned.
The service faced licensing challenges and Mandy inherited no established team. One of her first decisions was to recruit a qualified and experienced senior teacher. She did not pretend to know everything. She identified what was needed and brought the right knowledge into the room.
Through Playcentre she became fascinated by Te Whāriki. Her background in management, events, hospitality and public relations also helped her see educational purpose, people, operations and possibility as connected rather than competing priorities.
A profound personal loss later gave her work with children an even deeper sense of purpose. Early childhood education became a place where care, learning, relationships and practical leadership could come together.
OUR STORY
Mandy is warm, energetic, strategic, practical and unafraid of complexity. She brings humour into serious work, asks the questions that matter and looks for possibility without pretending that change will be effortless. Her experience spans early childhood education, centre management, leadership and team development, coaching, mentoring, governance support, professional facilitation, public relations, events and business ownership.
She is a New Zealand qualified and fully registered early childhood teacher. Her wider background includes management, life coaching, NLP training, event management, hospitality and more than two decades of business ownership.
When you work with Mandy, you can expect her full attention and dedication. She starts with your strengths and what’s already working, without comparing your situation to anyone else’s. She’ll challenge you when needed, especially if you’re showing her what you think she wants to see. Ultimately, success for Mandy is when you leave knowing you can do it yourself.
Founder, Educator and Mentor Also known as TFG’s Chief Fairy Godmother
meet the founder
Something you might not know about Mandy
A Chance Meeting at Oktoberfest Changed Everything
In 2001, Mandy met her future New Zealand husband at Oktoberfest in Munich. Their chance encounter eventually took Mandy from Germany to London and then to Aotearoa. CNN Travel later told their story. It is a fitting glimpse of the courage, optimism and willingness to act on possibility that people still recognise in Mandy today.
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See What is Strong
We begin with capability, possibility and what is already working.
Make it Useful
Knowledge matters when people can understand it, use it and see the difference it makes.
Be Brave and Kind
We ask important questions, deliver difficult truths with dignity and treat people with care.
Grow Together
Development should create a ripple effect, enabling people to become confident enough to lift others.
Keep it Human
We respect culture, identity, humour and the real circumstances behind every situation.
TFG’s work is shaped by diverse cultural and migration experiences. We understand that moving countries can mean learning an unfamiliar professional system, rebuilding networks and decoding expectations that everybody else seems to know already. We support migrant teachers and professionals to understand the New Zealand environment without asking them to abandon their identity.
We help owners and leaders understand culturally diverse teams, communication differences and the expectations that can remain unspoken until something goes wrong. Our approach is strength based. Migrant experience is not a deficit to be corrected. It can bring adaptability, courage, resourcefulness, knowledge, language, fresh perspective and strong community relationships.
TFG currently has strong connections with Indian, Nepalese and Filipino communities and intends to keep building relationships with cultural advisers and community leaders.
Multicultural understanding
People are more than the assumptions made about them
What does a Fairy Godmother actually do?
A TFG Fairy Godmother recognises capability that someone may not yet see in themselves, brings knowledge and clarity to difficult situations, opens up possibilities and stays beside people while they build the confidence to move forward for themselves.
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See strengths before shortcomings.
Listen carefully before deciding what is needed.
Find the real need, not only the service initially requested.
Share knowledge rather than gatekeeping it.
Make complicated situations feel manageable.
Give clear direction when things feel uncertain.
Encourage ambitious ideas and ask difficult questions.
Stay involved while knowledge becomes action.
Build capability rather than dependence.
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Take away people’s choices.
Pretend change is effortless.
Avoid necessary truths.
Make people feel stupid or inadequate.
Apply the same answer to every situation.
Create dependence or promise magic and disappear.
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The magic is not something TFG performs on people. It is what becomes possible when people recognise their capability and have the knowledge, confidence and support to use it.
How we work
20 years
New Zealand early childhood education experience.
11 Ministry funded projects
Professional learning and development delivered with Ministry of Education funding.
16 services
Supported through development, change and complex situations.
8 regions
Work delivered across Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Southland, Otago, Taranaki and Wellington.
50 programmes
Workshops and programmes delivered across varied audiences.
More than 100 people
Owners, managers, teachers and participants supported.