Toi Kai Rawa exists to advance the prosperity of Māori across the wider Bay of Plenty.

Toi Kai Rawa is the first Māori Economic Development entity, giving the team a unique position to strengthen, connect and support investment into Māori businesses locally.

With dedicated team supporting local businesses, we spoke to Regional Māori Business Coordinator Tia Sweet about her role in the organisation and what work they are doing to support wāhine at all stages of their career, plus we find out more about Tia!

“I am very passionate about the mahi (work) I do. I believe business can be the waka that brings about positive outcomes for better living here in Aotearoa.”

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Nō Waikato me Taupō ahau, ko Ngāti Raukawa ki Wharepūhunga me Ngāti Tūwharetoa ngā iwi.

My background is actually in digital marketing and website design, an industry I have worked in for the past five years.

However, after spending much time working with Māori SME businesses, I noticed many of the business’ foundational pieces had not yet been established – like a business plan, branding guidelines and set budgets to invest in marketing.

This led me into a space where I began consulting (although I don’t like to use this word), but working alongside business owners to formulate and develop these areas of their business. This naturally led me into my role at Toi Kai Rawa.

What does your role with Toi Kai Rawa involve?

My role is to connect and enable the Māori business ecosystem here in the Bay of Plenty. Māori business plays a key role in ensuring the social, cultural, spiritual, and economic wellbeing of our whānau and communities.

For many Māori in business, it is about more than just commercial success. It is about revitalising our mātauranga (knowledge), tikanga (protocols), reo Māori (language), looking after mother earth and bringing about positive outcomes for our people.

At one end, it is about supporting the varying needs, preferences, capacity and structure of our Māori businesses to grow their enterprise. At the other end, it is about ensuring the right mechanisms are in place to do exactly that.

What are some key outcomes you have achieved for Māori businesses since your inception?

Since Toi Kai Rawa was established in January 2020, some of the awesome kaupapa (projects) we have carried out includes:

• Entrepreneurship through the formation of the first Māori Start Up weekend in the BOP.
• Collaboration with more than 50 organisations in the business eco-system.
• More than seven projects carried out to engage Māori Businesses.
• Seven networking events supported with a total reach of 200 Māori businesses.

What are some areas that Māori businesses require a tailored type of support that other organisations may not be able to provide?

It is about understanding Māori business needs, implicitly and explicitly and having the cultural awareness to engage appropriately.

Being Māori means you look through the world with a values-based system that drives conversation, behaviour, and relationships. It means that when we think about growing businesses, the bottom line is not singular. It encompasses all aspects of people, environment, culture, and profit. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge the boundaries that come with working in different cultural constructs and how it can influence business discussions.

When it comes to wāhine in business, how can we as a community support them into leadership roles? What ways can we make leadership roles more accessible?

I believe that it is about showcasing the amazing mahi (work) being carried out by our mana wāhine (strong women) in leadership roles. If we teach our tamariki (children) while they are young that they can be managers, CEOs or business owners, it opens a door to possibility. It shows them that this is a path they can take and when opportunities arise, they will be confident to grab them with both hands. And, as mothers, aunties and sisters, we should be ensuring their path is wrapped in support the entire way.

With regards to your own career, what are some challenges you have faced and how did you overcome them?

For me, my career path hasn’t been a straight line. It has been quite the zig-zag if anything. I left school at the age of 15 with no NCEA credits and no aspirations to go to university.

At 16, I started my career in a retail clothing store which eventually landed me a store manager role. I eventually wanted to be a regional manager. However, at 18, I was perceived to be too young and was told this was not going to be an option for me. So I quit my job and spent four months travelling Europe and America.

After returning home to New Zealand with a fresh perspective, I decided to attend university to grow my skillset. I graduated with a Bachelor of Communications with a double major in Marketing and Psychology at University of Waikato.

Fast-forward a few years, I realised I wanted to be more than just a manager of a clothing store, I now want to be a business owner.

 On the flipside, what have been some of your proudest moments?

Proudest moments, I have so many! But some include being a retail store manager at 17, being the second person in my whānau (on my mothers’ side) to go to university, starting my journey of learning te reo Māori and recently looking to start my own business focused on supporting our Māori SME.

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