When I was searching for wahine who work with family violence, Jan Logie was on my ‘dream list’ to interview. When the Green party was announcing new policies before the election a few months ago, I happened to sit right behind Jan - it’s a sign, I thought… And here we are: we talked about her journey into politics, day-to-day as an MP and (ex) Under Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Domestic and Sexual Violence, social justice and “not having it all figured out”. Watch (or listen) to Jan’s kick-ass interview or if reading is more of ya thing - we transcribed the interview below :) So ..read more

Rebekah is a qualified counsellor, an illustrator and the creator of the popular Instagram page called Journey to Wellness which she started after wanting to have better leaflets for the students at the school she counselled at. We came across Rebekah and her work through her publisher at Allen & Unwin who were kind enough to send us an advance copy of 'Note To Self: The Secrets of Calm' and we absolutely loved it! I mean, what's not to love about a strong wahine helping people with their mental health through beautiful illustrations and practical tips? More of this please! How did you ge ..read more

Irka is a programme facilitator at Shine, national domestic abuse charity. I’ve met Irka through domestic violence counselling that she facilitates with children and whānau. She is absolutely amazing and I was so stoked to interview her about her journey: from her childhood stories of being a political asylum seeker, moving to UK and Aotearoa, teaching photography and design to kids and now working with kiddos in vulnerable situations.  Watch/listen or read her interview below - whatever is your jam ? When you were a kid what did you imagine yourself doing when you got older? I wanted to ..read more

Holly was nominated and recommended to us through Aotearoa Māori Business Leader Awards. I was super curious about Holly’s journey - as a young wahine Māori, she started her own business - HSB Government Relations to change what it means to be in and participate in lobbying in Aotearoa. She is an advocate for transparent and accessible government. In this interview, she shares her journey with te ao, business challenges, engaging people with politics and how she got off social media to stop the comparison game. You talk about your multicultural identity and how that affected you growing up ..read more

After embarking on a journey to share stories of everyday women and non-binary in New Zealand, we are concluding our Black Creatives Aotearoa community series with an interview with Michelle Mascoll ? Michelle is a sound engineer and an audio technician currently working with Māori and Pacific Sound archives at the University of Auckland. She fell into activism by running clubs in Campden, working in media and film, creating a podcast with older BIPOC folks and just being a freaking bad-ass. It's honestly one of my favourite interviews ever and you should definitely watch it. Follow us on Inst ..read more

After embarking on a journey to share stories of everyday women and non-binary in New Zealand, we are sharing our interview with Karen from Black Creatives Aotearoa community series ? Karen Maponga is a social worker from Zimbabwe, who is pursuing her love for colour and fashion in Christchurch. Karen has a beautiful fashion store: https://kayfashboutique.com/ inspired by African colours and beauty. In her interview, we talk about her journey with the fashion boutique, social work and cultural differences between Africa and New Zealand. Follow us on Instagram ? @storyo.co and Karen @karenmapon ..read more

After embarking on a journey to share stories of everyday women and non-binary in New Zealand, we want to present our interview with Yeshi from Black Creatives Aotearoa community series ? Yeshi is a creator of Mamia's - one of Ethiopia’s most popular cooking sauces. Yeshi combines New Zealand and imported produce with spices sourced directly from Ethiopia to capture the true taste of Ethiopian home cooking. In her interview Yeshi shares her journey with Mamia's, cultural differences, being a refugee and just being an incredibly inspirational bad-ass. Follow us on Instagram ? @storyo.co and Mam ..read more

After embarking on a journey to share stories of everyday women and non-binary in New Zealand, we want to present our interview with Mukukā from Black Creatives Aotearoa community series ? Mukukā is a singer and song-writer from Zambia living in Auckland Aotearoa. In her interview, she talks about the importance of representing black artists, her relationship with African culture here in New Zealand, her music journey and what inspired her. Follow us on Instagram ? @storyo.co and Mukukā @mukukamusic Check Black Creatives out on here: https://www.blackcreativesaotearoa.com/ Songs featured are b ..read more

After embarking on a journey to share stories of everyday women and non-binary in New Zealand, we want to present our interview with Synthia Bahati from Black Creatives Aotearoa community series ? Synthia is a Burundian photographer, painter and just a kick-ass artist living in Auckland Aotearoa. She is currently doing her Masters in Fine Arts at Elam School and in this interview, she talks about her photography journey, the African community in Aotearoa, identity, representation and what inspires her art. Check Black Creatives out on here: https://www.blackcreativesaotearoa.com/ Follow us on ..read more

Lissy in a jumper she made with the word “LOVE” crochet on the front: photographed by Pati Tyrell Earlier in August, I saw a wonderful video piece on Marae about Lissy Cole and her crochet art and it just filled my entire day with joy. The colours, the kaupapa, the mana that Lissy and her husband Rudi had, crafting some amazing works of art for galleries, their friends, their house. Instantly, I wanted to have piece of that joy on Storyo and here we are! To add that joy to your feed, follow Lissy on Insta ?  We have heard you speak about your love for crocheting partly being due to the f ..read more