But after the fallout of last year's Paris Olympics drone spying scandal, which included no longer feeling "safe" in Canada, Priestman is ready to hit the reset button.
The 39-year-old guided Canada's women to Olympic gold in Tokyo, before being sacked in July 2024 and handed a one-year ban by FIFA after drone surveillance tactics were uncovered by Olympic opponents New Zealand.
Her ban ended on July 27, paving the way for a long-expected coaching return with Wellington on a two-year deal.
It means the A-League Women's most well-credentialed coach will get to restart her career in the same footballing country that effectively brought about her downfall.
On Wednesday, Priestman couldn't speak to the details of what happened in Paris but had used a "very difficult" past 12 months "to reflect, to learn, to grow" and become a more well-rounded coach.
"I think everybody involved will certainly have regrets, for sure," she said.
"What I will say is I'm a pretty optimistic person and I think there's been days in the last 12 months that that optimism has been very difficult.
"But again, it feels like Christmas Day to me, to come back and I know I have to earn the trust of everybody and I'll be working hard to do that."
Priestman would have been among the top contenders to take over as coach of Australia's Matildas had she not been suspended.
Instead, last year she barely left her house in Canada as a "media frenzy" descended, before relocating with her Kiwi wife, now-Phoenix academy director Emma Humphries, and their young son, to New Zealand.
"For me, I didn't feel safe," she said.
"That's being brutally honest. I think it was very difficult for my family and I have to live with that, I have to wear that.
"And for me, we just wanted to get around family ... to be around family and just work on yourself - when you've been through something like that, I think it's important to reflect, grow and now I feel ready.
"I've got that itch."
Priestman is yet to speak to her new Phoenix charges, but said she had received welcoming phone calls from past and present Football Ferns players.
She acknowledged she would also need to win over local fans in New Zealand.
Phoenix football director Shaun Gill had no reservations about Priestman's appointment.
"We're completely comfortable with who Bev is, who she is as a football coach, who she is as a person and we're thrilled to have her at the club," he said.
Priestman returns to New Zealand after heading up coach development in Wellington 16 years ago.
She also served as New Zealand Football's director of football development, and has coached at four FIFA Women's World Cups, three Olympics and three FIFA Youth World Cups.
Wellington finished ninth last season, parting ways with Paul Temple before appointing Amy Shepard as interim coach.
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