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December 21, 2020
Cadetships carve path for Māori women and business resilience
Waatea Team
Posted On December 21, 2020
Cadetships carve path for Māori women and business resilience
PĀNUI PĀPĀHO | MEDIA RELEASE
Te 22 o Hakihea 2020 | 22 December 2020
A talented female Māori business duo say the help they received to find their feet after Covid-19, has fast tracked their goals for nationwide expansion.
“Soldiers Rd Portraits is one of three digital creative companies who are guiding each other’s rapid business growth. They are all being supported through the Te Puni Kōkiri Cadetships programme” says Karen McGuiness, Director of Investment.
“Employment data shows wāhine Māori were among the worst affected by COVID. So our programme focuses on supporting more female cadets. There is strong progress, increasing in recent years to over a third of cadets being wāhine”.
Cadetships help employers to develop professional and leadership skills of their Māori staff, at all career stages. The aim is to bolster the Māori workforce in growth industries, such as digital and media business, so that it is more highly skilled and resilient to economic shocks.
Soldiers Rd Portraits founders and sisters-in-law, Taaniko (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, Rongomaiwahine, Waikato-Tainui) and Vienna Nordstrom (Ngāti Porou) create indigenous portraits reminiscent of C19 photography. After stellar success over eight years, they are struggling to meet demand and are now on the brink of nationwide expansion.
“When we set this up we didn’t have any business background. We've done our best. But we're at a point now where we need expert advice” explains Vienna.
As Cadets, that advice comes from small business owners in their collaboration. Jesse Armstrong (Ngāti Hine, Waikato-Tainui) from ‘Vaka’ advises on business strategy, while Andrew Hillstead of ‘Psychoactive Studios’ oversees the website.
Budget 2020/2021 allocated an extra $22.7 million over three years to expand Cadetships from 500 placements a year to 1200. Since July 2020, 530 cadets have been signed up for development with almost 60 employers across New Zealand. The vast majority [86 per cent] are Māori owned or partially Māori owned.
Taaniko and Vienna agree the Cadetship has created a new professional network for them and was a ‘life saver’ after COVID-19 ground the economy to a halt.
“COVID pushed businesses around. To hit the ground running again is so big. It means we have the support to get on with expansion, right now” says Taaniko.
Vienna is based in Wellington. Taaniko is based in Cambridge. See some of their portraiture work online https://soldiersrd.nz/portraits-2/
ENDS
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