Ezra
Hapori Kaitiaki / Community Guardian
Before my position here I drove class two and class four trucks. I’d do 12- 15 hours by myself on these long roads so it was a massive difference coming to this kind of work.
I wanted to play footy growing up and I actually got signed to a team in overseas when I was 18. When I got back to New Zealand I wasn’t in a good place mentally. To go from playing footy from 18-20 years old, to working 12 hours straight away was hard aye. I feel like I faced a lot of challenges, and from that I wanted to better myself and to do better every day.
My parents inspire me. The goal is to retire them, especially getting older time is ticking. You don’t really see it or appreciate it when you’re younger.
I'm pretty proud of my heritage as well, being Samoan. I’m proud of my culture and proud of my family. I went back home once when I was younger, I’d like to go again.
If I could improve one thing, I’d like to improve on my people skills. I'm trying to learn to speak more professional, less slang words, speaking clearly and slowly.
Sarah
Matua Hapori Kaitiaki / Senior Community Guardian
Before this role I was a Maintenance Administrator, before that I was a Receptionist at the Mt Roskill office. My first paying job was at 14 teaching hourse riding to younger kids. I was very proud when I got my first paycheck. Something I'm finding challenging at the moment is the busyness of our schedule. The nature of our work is quite responsive,so you can have expectations for the day, and sometimes it'll go completely 180.
My great source of inspiration would be my parents. Growing up, they didn't have the easiest life, but they made my sister's life and mine a lot better than theirs. I'm also proud of my little sister. Next year she's moving to England to pursue a career in construction. She's incredible and has worked so hard.
I love the kaupapa of Kāinga Ora, specifically the Mount Roskill office. Everyone knew each other, their customers, and many of the staff have worked for 10-20 years. Working with Jordy and our startup meetings was a learning/turning point for me. To see them in action was very inspiring. It really helped me find my niche in terms of work and professionalism.