Elle Perriam

Biography

Elle Perriam – Founder & Managing Director

Elle grew up on a cattle farm in Haast, a small remote town on the West Coast of the South Island. Elle has always had a strong passion for the farming industry, studying agriculture at Lincoln University and working on different stations around the South Island for 5 years.

Elles passion for promoting holistic health and wellbeing resources to rural communities came from losing her partner to suicide in 2017. 

This grief caused much anger and frustration, as suicide was not talked about enough in rural communities. The statistics at the time were showing rural was the highest demographic, particularly in males age 18-25. 

Elle was on an 8-week waiting list for professional mental health support following the tragedy. She felt there was not enough support for those struggling around her, therefore she founded the Will To Live charitable trust in 2018.

When Will To Live first launched she organized an 18-location Speak Up Tour, bringing mental health awareness and tools to rural people who are often most isolated and fatigued. Elle was a finalist for the New Zealand Woman of Influence awards and was a receiving medalist for New Zealander Of The Year – Local Hero in 2019.

Today, Elle dedicates her time into all things that improve wellbeing; studying towards a degree in Naturopathy & Herbal Medicine, is a 200hr Yoga teacher, a qualified NLP Master Practitioner (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) – providing coaching for those struggling, and manages fundraising projects, campaigns and wellbeing programmes for charities Will To Live and The Indy Project.