Te kaiwhakahaere o te pākihi, Kennedy Lash - Rauwhiro Kennedy. Photo / Andrew Warner
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Passionate, dedicated and a real professional.
Throw in mother to three boys and sole operator running her own eyelash extension business in central Rotorua.
That's Rauwhiro Kennedy (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue, Tuhourangi) winner of a Ka Hao Ki Te Ao scholarship from Te Whare Hukahuka.
Te Whare Hukahuka co-founder Travis O'Keefe said from Perth that Rauwhiro's commitment and sheer hard work earned her award.
"It wasn't Rauwhiro's business that stood out, it was Rauwhiro that stood out for the effort she put into completing the comfort challenges! She is made of the right stuff to be successful!
"What we have learned from the past students is that the only difference between success and failure in the programme is effort, effort to learn, the effort to say no to others, effort to stop people-pleasing, the effort to overcome disadvantages, the effort to feel your fear and to do it anyway. So this is what we search for in our selection process - effort."
Rauwhiro is no stranger to hard work and has been in beauty therapy for eight years now, having graduated when she was 20.
She moved to Auckland to train at the Elite Beauty School in Newmarket, working short-term jobs to help finance her course. All up the training cost $21,000.
Maori and Pacific students had high rates of failure to finish but one of the tutors, Melissa Rikirangi, helped her get through and graduate.
The head of the school and also head of the Association of Beauty Therapy, Judy West, set standards for the industry.
Working in the beauty therapy field means self presentation is one of the key elements of her job.
Rauwhiro has taken on board the professional standards the school set and maintains them to this day.
"I have to protect my reputation. My clients won't go to anybody else and loyalty goes both ways."
When Rauwhiro returned to Rotorua she joined Lexy at Waxworks before branching out on her own.
Her business is very successful but she is modest.
"As long as I can pay my taxes I'm happy."
Currently she works Tuesday to Thursday although Covid-19 forced her to examine her work-life balance. She has three sons with partner Mikey Bidois (Ngati Ranginui, Pirirakau). Kirimaene, 6, Kemara, 2, and Rakai, 1.
Rauwhiro is so busy she doesn't take walk-ins and has a month-long waiting list unless there are cancellations. Once clients have extensions fitted they need to return every two or three weeks for infills.
Advances in technology mean coloured extensions are possible and that's a whole new ball game. Rauwhiro is coming to grips with e-commerce and strategies for the future and already sells products on line.
Travis O'Keefe says Rauwhiro is part of a small selection of elite indigenous entrepreneurs, in the top 10 per cent of 2608 applicants.
"Ninety per cent of those that apply don't make it this far. Now she is onboard the waka, she will need to relentlessly implement new knowledge, she must change herself to be the best version of her self and that will require more effort!"
Rauwhiro relishes her busy lifestyle but regrets she is so busy she hasn't had a chance to return to kapa haka.
She is a member of Te Matarae I O Rehu where she first stood in 2013.
"That was a journey and taught me to be tough.
"It helped me have faith in myself and that I could be Maori and work for myself in the beauty industry.
"People see this Māori chick, doing her own mahi, got her own shop.
"These are my streets, and people like seeing a local in business."
But for now Rauwhiro is concentrating on her Ka Hao I Te Ao journey and working on establishing "a more passionate lash artist".
"You only get two chances and have to make an effort.
"That's the reality of it."
- Translated by Raimona Inia
He wahine ngākau whiwhita, he wahine ngākau titikaha, waihoki he wahine ringa ngaio.
Apitihia āna tamariki tokotoru me tōna kaha ki te kawe i tana mahi whakaroroa huru kanohi ki te puku o Rotorua. Anei tō tātou tangata a Rauwhiro Keneti.
He uri nō Ngāti Pikiao rātou ko Ngāti Whakaue ko Ngai Tūhourangi. Koia hoki te whakaihuwaka o te karahipi, Ka Hao Ki Te Ao he tāhua pūtea i whakaritea e Te Whare Hukahuka.
Hai tā Travis O'Keefe tētehi o ngā pou matua o Te Whare Hukahuka. Nā te wairua toa me tōna kaha ki te mahi i puta ai te ihu o Rauwhiro hai whakaihuwaka.
"Ehara kau ko te mahi a Rauwhiro anahe te take i mana ai te whakatau, engari ko tōna āhuatanga kē, ko Rauwhiro ake! He tuahangata te wairua o tēnei wahine.
"Kua mārama kau tātou ko te rerekētanga o te hunga ka puta ki te whai ao tēnā i te hunga toromī, ko te aronga nui ki te whakapakari i a ia anō, ko te kaha ki te huri kōhamo atu i te heahea, kia kāua rawa hoki ia e kaha ki te miti tou, kia whai kaha ki te tūraki matahao, ā, me te mārama hoki ki te karanga wehi o te wairua engari rā, kāore he titiro ki te ao mārama – anei ētehi o ngā kawekawe ka āta tirohia e tātou, mātua ko te kaha o te wairua".
He tautawhito a Rauwhiro ki te whatiwhati kō, kua waru tau a ia e whakarākei tangata ana. He ahakoa i whakapōtaengia a Rauwhiro te tekau o ngā tau i mua.
Ka hūnuku atu a Rauwhiro ki Newmarket tētehi rohe nui i Tamaki-makau-rau hai pia i te kura o Elite Beauty, ka pō te ao ka hau atu ki te mahi hai kimi pūtea māna e ora ai tana moemoeā. Katoa he $21,000.00 te nama. E ai ki ngā tataunga ko te Māori me ngā Moutere te iwi nui rawa ki te whati i te ao mātauranga.
Nā reira i ora ai a Rauwhiro i te aroha mākohakoha o tōna pouako a Melissa Rikirangi.
Inā te taumata tiketike i whakaritea e te ūpoko o te kura me te ūpoko o te Association Beauty Therapy a Judy West. Ko tētehi o ngā tino poupou o te mahi nei, ko te pupuri i te rangatiratanga o te tangata, tīramarama kau ana te rangatiratanga o Rauwhiro hei whetū kōmata i te rangi.
"Me manaaki taku mana e ahau.E ngākau pono katoa mai ōku tangata ki ahau, he aroha atu, he aroha mai".
Tana hokitanga mai ki Rotorua ka hono atu a Rauwhiro ki Lexy kai Waxworks, na wai rā ka tōtoro ōna paihau ki tētehi atu paiaka. He ahakoa kai te taumata angitu tana mahi, he wahine takahi whenua tonu tēnei ngākau whakaiti.
"Ko te mea nui ki ahau ko te utu i aku tāke." Nā ngā whakawhiu o te mate urutā kai te āta tūpato tana noho, engari pūare kau ana ngā tatau o tana mahi mai i te rārua ki te rāwhā o te wiki.
Ko Mikey Bidios tona hoa rangatira, he uri nō Ngāti Ranginui me Te Pirirākau. Tokotoru a rāua tamatoa. Ko Kirimaene (6) rātou ko Kemara(2) a, ko Rakai te whakapakanga(1).
Kāre i whakaaengia ki a hau-poka noa mai te tangata ki tana mahi, he kotahi mārama noa e ea ai te rarangi tatari engari ka pai me he tangata whakakāhore i tana turanga tatari, ka wātea ai.
Me he tangata tāpiri kawekawe ki ōna ake makawe me hoki mai ia rua, ia toru wiki kia tika ai. Kua piki noa atu te ao hangarau nō reira me he pirangi te tangata ki te whakakara i ōna makawe tāpiripiri, nau mai ki te pae o te ao hou!
He wahine waewae rua hoki a Rauwhiro, ko tētehi ki te ao pākihi nā reira me mātau hoki ia ki te mana o te e-commerce me ngā rautaki pākihi e putaputa mai ana, he ahakoa kai te pae tukutuku o te ao kē ia.
Hai tā Travis O'Keefe tapu kē te nōhanga a Rauwhiro ki tētehi pahi pākihi taketake titiro whānui, o te 2,608 o ngā tangata tono, ko ia tētehi kai te rōpū 10 paihēneti e noho rangatira ana.
"Katoa o te hunga tono mai, he 90 paihēneti o rātou ka tere pirorehe ngā pūkahukahu, nā te mea he pou hoe ia ināianei, me whakapau kaha a Rauwhiro ki te whakaū mātauranga hou, me he tupua ia – kātahi ka papahoro katoa mai ngā pari i a ia".
Na tana ūpoko mārō ki te mahi, kua mīmiti tētehi tai ōna, ara, ko te whakatumatuma i tōna kapa tapu a Te Mātārae i o Rehu. Nā, i tangata ai ia ki te papa-tūwaewae i te tau 2013.
"Koinā i pakari ai taku tinana, i rewa mai toku toatanga ki a kaha ai taku whakapono ki toku wairua Māori i kahika tūwao ai taku tūnga ki te ao pākihi, ka kite kau noa mai te iwi ki tēnei wahine Māori e mahi ana, he toa hoki tōna, e kare mā kia mea atu ahau nōku kē ngā rori, ka oti, rata kau noa te iwi ki tētehi tangata whenua e tau ana ki roto i tōna ake rangatiratanga".
Kāti. Mo te naianei kai te pae o Ka Hao I Te Ao tana aronga me te whakawhanake ake i ngā pikitūranga e pīkoko ana ki te whakapakari i tō rātou mōhiohio ki te mahi huru kanohi".
"E mua kaikai, e muri kai huware!".
- Na Raimona Inia i whakamaoritia</strong>
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