Kāhu ki Rotorua: Iti te kōpara kai tākirikiri i runga i te kahikatea - Breaking through barriers drives mother's success

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

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Iti te kōpara kai tākirikiri ana i runga i te kahikatea – e hāngai tēnei pepeha ki a Tutiyana Watson me ngā rākau nui kua kakea e ia i ngā tau e wha noa iho.

He ahakoa i tupu mai ia i Fordlands, kai Otautahi a ia e mahi tahi ana me tōna hoa mahi. E rua o rāua whare mahi. Ko Naughty Brows me Lashes.

He tangata mahi hoki ā rāua, waihoki kai te whakangūngū tauira hoki ki a rangatira a rātou mahi i tēnei tūmomo āhuatanga. Ko te pae tawhiti ki te whakatū whare mahi ki Rotorua, engari taihoa tēnā hiahia. He ahakoa he ara kōpikopiko i kaha takangia ai e ia nā te aroha nui o ōna kuia. Kīhai i pūāwai noa mai te hiahia o te ngākau hai mahi āna nōna e rangatahi ana, engari he mōhio nōnā ki a kāua ia e rite ki ōna mātua e noho herehere nei ki te moni a te Kāwanatanga.

"Hīnana ki uta, hīnana ki tai, kāore he oranga ā pūtea nei māku – kare kau hoki he pākihi rangatahi hoki hei arahi i a ia".

Kāore he oranga he ahakoa kai te kaha te ngākau.

"Ka pokea ahau e te wairua taumaha ka haere au ki tētehi toa whakarākei hurukamo – ka rere aku pātai huhua – I te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā iwa ka haere atu ahau ki te Marketplace ako ai, me te pakupaku hoki o te nama".

Nā wai rā ka mātau a Tutiyana ki te pena puta i homeingia e WINz nei hai "pūtea a pūkoro nei", paku e rua tekau tara ki kōnei, he paku e rima tekau tara ki kōnā, ko te tino aronga ko te oranga o Te Ataraupo tana tamaiti mātāmua. Ka whakapā atu a ia ki te rangatira whakahaere o Marketplace kimi tūranga ākonga ai, ko te utu he kotahi mano e waru tara te nama. Ka kaha ake tana penapena putea pakupaku nei. Ko te moni nei hai utu i te nama.

"I takahia tōku wairua e rātou. Kare au i tino noho kia tau katoa ai ngā mātauranga ki roto ki ahau". Nā tēnei tūāhuatanga tūkino ka heke te kaha o tōna wairua māia.

"Mea ake nei ahau he moumou noa ēnā rangi kura e rua, e weta ! – tahuri ai ahau ki a You Tube, kai reira kē ngā mātanga, me te momona hoki o te mātauranga, nā reira i kaha ai aku pūkenga, he ahakoa kai te wai wawara ahau e pōtere ana ka ora ai ahau ".

A – kātahi anō hoki ko te pena pūtea anō tāku i mahi ai, i tēnei wā tonu, kia oti noa i ahau te pena me te utu i te wānanga, he mōhio nōku, kua tae kē ahau ki te tihi o te māramatanga.

He wānanga e rua rangi te roa, me te huhua o ngā tini mahi pēnei i te mahi tahi me ngā tauira. Ka nui te hiahia ki a tika katoa ngā mahi kia kāua mātou e tahuri ai ki te ara nanakia, na reira i ako ai mātou ki te nama ā pākihi nei.

Kātahi nei rātou ka ora i Te Tari Tāke." He pākihi hāwhe, hāwhe tēnei, kai te arahina mātou e Te Tari Tāke, kia kāua māua e hinga i te tākihi me ngā nama". Kai ia tangata tōna ake rangatira kaute, kua tino mārama rāua kia noho wehe rua ngā kōpaki mahi i te Tari Tāke.

He mōhio nō Tutiyana kia eke ai ia ki te taumata hāneanea, me pena pūtea. I kaha penangia e ia he kotahi tekau mano tara hai utu i tētehi wānanga whakanako i Kirikiriroa, hāunga te wāhi noho.

Kua tāti ia ki te whakaara ake tana pākihi, waihoki tana kāinga akoako e kīā nei ko Mama's Time Out.

Ki Rotorua nei a ia ako tauira ai he tokorua noa iho ki te kāinga o tōna Māmā ki te kāinga o tōna Kui rānei. E hīkaka ana te ngākau kia whai huruhuru ai tēnei kaupapa āna. Kai te takiwā o te rua rau tara, te toru rau tara rānei te nama mo te whakarākei tukemata me te whakakana nā reira ka hoki mai ki a ia tana utu i ngā wānanga whakapakari i a ia.
He ahakoa e rua āna whare mahi ki Otautahi, "Kāore he wāhi i tua atu o te ūkaipō".

Nā reira tana hokihoki mai ki te whānau me ōna hoa, kia whakangā ai te manawa. Ka nui ngā taumahatanga māna kātahi nei ka eke ki te e rua tekau mā rua o ngā tau. Whoi anō, he uri nō Te Arawa me Ngapuhi a Tutiyana.

He ihopūmanawa te tokorua nei ki a rāua anō. Ko Māmā Tutiyana rāua ko Te Ataraupō.

Me te mea mō tētehi tamaiti i pakeke mai i te " Block", te wāhi nui ana te haurangi me ngā tarutaru, tapiringia atu tana hapūtanga e kotahi tekau mā whitu ana – e hoa mā, kai a ia te ngākau toa.

He ākonga ia nō Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hurunga-Te-Rangi me te Young Parents School. Nā tōna koroua a ia i tō ai ki Otautahi i te mutunga mai o te rū nui i pā ki tērā whenua. Ko te mahi a tōna koroua he paita whare.

Kāore e kaha kitea ōna mātua nōna e itiiiti ai, ka whakatupungia ia e ōna kaumātua. Ka haere tōna kuia ki Otautahi ki a noho tahi ia me tana hoa rangatira, nā reira ka haere ai a Tutiyana.

"Tokowhitu katoa mātou, ko tō mātou kuia te tangata whakahaere i te kura o Tō Te Rā. " Whānau tamariki anō ai tōku māmā i Kaitaia , he tokorua ki te taha o tō mātou kuia i Rotorua - ka nui tōna hōhā o tō mātou kuia me te whakangākau atu ki tōku koroua, i wehe ai ia, ka hāria māua ko tōku taina".

Ka hē katoa ngā pari o ngā maunga i te matenga o tō mātou kuia i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā ono. I hemo i te mate pukupuku.

Hoki mai ki a Tutiyana, ko tōna hiahia tuatahi hai mahi māna, kia tū hai kura māhita, engari ka hapū a Tutiyana. Ka noho ia i te kāinga o ōna mātua, nā wai rā ka panāia ia i te kāinga e ōna mātua.

Ko ia me tōna tāne e noho rawakore nei. Kare kau a rāua kame. Kāore he whōna, kāore he paku aha. Nāna hoki i kawe i a ia ki te hōhipera e māuiui ana, ka puta mai te kōrero e māuiui kaha nei ka mea ngā tākuta kua pāngia e ia ki te mate pre-eclampsia.

E kūare ana ki tēnei momo taumahatanga, me te mea hoki kare kau he paku aha hai oranga mō tana tamaiti. Ka eke ki ngā wiki e toru tekau mā waru o ngā wiki, ka rere mai ia ki tōna kuia .

Ki kōnei whānau ohorere mai ai tana pēpi. Nā tēnei huarahi e mārō ai ōna whakaaro ki a kāua rawa tēnei āhuatanga e heke iho ki tana tamāhine. Kai Te Kōhanga Reo a Te Ataraupo ināianei.

Me te whakamihi a Tutiyana ki ōna hoa aroha nana ia i tō ake i te pō-uriuri. Mātua ki ōna kuia e haere tahi ana me a ia.

From teenage mum to successful businesswoman in four years is a huge achievement and Tutiyana Watson is only just getting started.

It's been a full-on four years for the 22-year-old who has whakapapa to Te Arawa and Ngāpuhi.

For a girl raised in the "Block" [Fordlands] against a background of alcohol and drugs and who was hapū at 17 it is an amazing achievement.

Tutiyana attended Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hurunga Te Rangi and the Young Parents School.

She landed in Christchurch when her koro, who was a painter, moved there for the rebuilding of Christchurch after the earthquakes.

Her parents were hardly in her life, and she was raised by her grandparents.

Her grandmother went to Christchurch to join her koro and took Tutiyana with her.

"There were seven of us kids. Our Nan was administrator at Tō Te Rā.

"Mum had other kids in Kaitaia and two or were with Nan in Rotorua. Nan had enough of being separated from Koro and took me and my little brother with her."

Everything kind of fell apart for the whanau after her Nan was diagnosed with cancer and underwent treatment. She lost her battle with cancer in 2016.

Tutiyana wanted to be a reo Maori teacher but then fell pregnant.

She went to live with her parents but got kicked out of home while she was hapu. She was with her baby's biological father at the time but they had nothing, not even a phone. Tutiyana admitted herself to hospital where she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. She had no idea what that meant and she had nothing for a baby, not even nappies.

At 38 weeks, wearing a big jacket, she put herself on a plane and flew back to her grandmother. Tutiyana was induced and underwent an emergency delivery.

Tutiyana started her career by learning the art of lash extentions.

Life's experiences have made Tutiyana determined that her daughter will not have the same sort of decisions to make. Te Ataraupo is in kohanga now and Tutiyana is grateful to mates who have pushed her on her journey.

And to her Nans who were always there for her.

In Christchurch, Tutiyana and her business partner have two Naughty Brows and Lashes shops.

They employ a staff and train aspiring technicians.

She is considering a shop in Rotorua but not just yet.

It hasn't been easy, but she had support from her nannies.

Tutiyana wasn't sure what she wanted to do, only that she didn't want to be another
statistic in her whānau living on a benefit. "I couldn't get any funding from Winz, I looked around and there weren't any rangatahi in business."

But that didn't help Tutiyana and she was at a loose end.

"I wasn't feeling my best and went to have my eyelashes done. I just kept asking questions.

"I went to Marketplace in 2019 and got the cheapest training."

Tutiyana learned about cash flow and how to save from the "pocket money" she got from Winz — $20 here, $50 there. She had to make sure there was money for her baby Te Ataraupō's needs before anything else.

She had messaged the woman from Marketplace offering training and found it would cost $1800. She saved $50 a week for her course.

"I feel like I got ripped off. I needed more time to absorb the learnings but didn't get it."
The experience dented her confidence and left her feeling she needed more explanations.

"I felt that two-day course was a waste of money and I learned more off YouTube.

"I was thrown in at the deep end and it took me a while to get my confidence back."

Then it was back to saving for more training and this time it was successful.

This also was a two-day course and included working on two models. The partners wanted to do everything legit and had to learn about the accounting side of the business.
In this they were helped by the Inland Revenue Department.

"We have a 50-50 business and the IRD are helping to guide us with our taxes and accounts."

Each of them has her own accountant and they learned the necessity of keeping separate accounts from the IRD.

Tutiyana knows that to succeed she must save.

She saved money for a cosmetic tattooing course in Hamilton which all up cost her
$10,000 not including accommodation.

At prices of $200 or $300 for eyebrows, cosmetic tattooing is where she can recoup her expenditure.

She plans to rebrand her business name to "Mamas Time Out" soon to provide a comfortable space for mothers to go for a break. She knows too well what its like on both sides of the fence as a mother and a hard-working mother at that.

In Rotorua she trains people at home at her Mum's or Nan's house but has only two clients.

She wants to get more confidence before expanding.

Although Tutiyana has two shops in Christchurch "home is always going to be home" so she visits Rotorua to catch up with whānau and old friends and to have a break.