Meet Kylie Rae from The Bush Boardroom

People Behind the Space: The Bush Boardroom

In today’s fast-paced world, meetings often take place in windowless rooms filled with screens and distractions. But what if the boardroom wasn’t indoors at all? Enter The Bush Boardroom, founded by Kylie Rae and her husband Steve, a truly unique concept that swaps four walls for native bush, bird song, and fresh air.

Born out of their personal experiences in nature and the challenges of Covid, The Bush Boardroom offers leaders and teams the chance to step away from their everyday environments, reconnect with nature, and unlock new levels of creativity, clarity, and connection.

Kylie Rae, founder of The Bush Boardroom

What inspired you to take the concept of a boardroom out of the office and into the bush?

The inspiration came from my personal experiences with my husband Steve during our bush walks together. We noticed that our ideas floated freely when we were walking in the bush. Solutions and ideas came to us without a lot of effort - we might have had a business problem or a challenge, and more often than not, we got to the end of the walk, and we would have had clarity. I thought, let's take the conventional meeting in a stuffy room and get people out in nature; put a boardroom table in the middle of the bush, take them for a mindful walk so that they can clear the clutter of every day and focus on now.

Can you share the moment when the idea for The Bush Boardroom first clicked for you and Steve?

The Bush Boardroom was really a beautiful spin-off that came out of COVID. When the borders were shut and the travellers weren't coming to our Nature & Nosh Tours, we decided we couldn’t sit around and mope; we needed to do something. We were already taking people out to Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari as part of the Nature & Nosh tours, so I approached the CEO of the trust there and pitched my idea. He said, "Go for it," so I commissioned the table. We had to get it made in six separate pieces because it was so huge, and we carried each piece in by hand to put it together in the bush.

I grew up on a beef farm in Pukekawa, so I'm a farm girl at heart, and conservation is central to everything we do. With our Bush Boardroom packages, a good portion of the revenue goes to conservation projects - not just a token few dollars, it’s usually around 10-20% of the total fee, depending on the package. We're lucky enough to explore these spaces, so it's important we give back meaningfully.

How do walking meetings in nature shift the way people think and work together?

What I've discovered is that time in nature allows teams to unplug and get away from digital distractions, creating space and place for real connection, true creativity, and innovation. There's actually research showing that walking in nature can boost creative output by 60% on average. So it's far more powerful than sitting around trying to solve a problem or come up with new ideas. Time spent in nature reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, elevates mood, and can even boost your body's immune response.

What has been one of the most memorable experiences or pieces of feedback since launching?

I've had some incredibly moving experiences. I've had people really open up during the mindful walk and say that they never get the chance to slow down and reflect, and it was not what they expected (in the best way). When you get senior leaders passing on to you that their team told them after the experience that it was one of the best things they have ever done, and it was the most productive they have ever been in a meeting – that’s great reinforcement, we’ve got something special.

The Bush Boardroom is all about nature, science, and wellbeing - why is that mix so important?

This became deeply personal for me. After having my second daughter, I experienced severe anxiety and didn't know what was going on with me. The doctor offered to prescribe pills, but I didn't think medication should have been the first solution. What I noticed was that I wasn't getting myself into nature, and that was having a huge compounding effect on my anxiety. So I went and stayed on my parents' farm for a while, and every day they forced me to go for a big walk around the farm and through native bush. It was like magic. That got me even more fascinated in the link between nature and neuroscience. I was able to move past my severe anxiety basically through getting outside and reconnecting with nature.

What types of teams or businesses are most drawn to this kind of experience?

We work with companies looking for their next leadership, strategy and planning day, team building, professional development, or creative sessions. These are teams wanting unique and unplugged corporate experiences - to disconnect from the office and reconnect with nature and each other. It's often leaders who are looking for something meaningful and unique.

Can you walk us through what a typical Bush Boardroom session looks and feels like?

Imagine sitting around a beautiful boardroom table, underneath a lush green canopy with birdsong echoing around you. We start with mindful hiking to prime your brain, reduce stress, calm anxiety, boost your mood, and increase clarity to promote creativity and wellbeing. Our sessions can include wild food foraging workshops, outdoor team building activities, bush survival workshops, cocktail making with native ingredients, and always delicious local food. Teams can self-facilitate a strategy session or bring a facilitator in. I’m there in a nature hosting capacity, so I don’t facilitate the business side of the session – if that’s what you're there for! All our packages can be tailored and run from half a day to multi-day.

How has your work with Nature & Nosh Tours influenced the way you design these sessions?

Nature & Nosh Tours, which my husband and I launched in 2017, was born out of our love of the land and helping facilitate other people to have shared connections while hiking and tasting new foods and flavours. That foundation of creating meaningful connections in nature directly informed how I approach The Bush Boardroom - it's about the same core principle of bringing people together in natural spaces for some face-to-face connection.

If you could invite three inspiring leaders to join a Bush Boardroom meeting, who would they be and why?

Great question. Probably Sally Duxfield, as someone I look up to in the nature and neuroscience space, David Galbraith for the psychology insights, and Di Foster for her straight talking and ability to break the complex down into simplicity.

Looking ahead, what's next for The Bush Boardroom, and how do you see it evolving?

We've expanded from our original location at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari to now include bush boardrooms in Waitākere and Southern Coromandel. Now, I'm focused on sustainable growth and bringing more teams out to these locations. I have a goal of getting 50 teams out to the Bush Boardroom this season! That would be fantastic.

A Boardroom Like No Other

The Bush Boardroom isn’t just about taking work outside; it’s about transforming the way we think, create, and collaborate. By blending nature, science, and wellbeing, Kylie Rae has reimagined the traditional meeting into something meaningful, memorable, and impactful. From mindful walks to strategy sessions under a forest canopy, it’s a reminder that our best ideas often come when we slow down, breathe, and immerse ourselves in the natural world.

With new locations opening and more teams discovering the power of walking meetings in nature, The Bush Boardroom is setting a new standard for leadership and team experiences in New Zealand.