Taku Haerenga - My Journey

Ko Putauaki te maunga
Ko Tarawera te awa
Ko Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau te iwi
Ko Hahuru me Tohia O Te Rangi te marae
Ko Kimiwai Karekare toku ingoa.

I was born and raised in Kawerau and still reside here in my beautiful home town with my partner, also where we raised our three children. In 2021 we were blessed with our first mokopuna, he is our love, our world, our little paua.

In early 2020 I decided to take redundancy from the "corporate world", after serving almost 10 years. This decision lead me on a new journey of self discovery and how I could utilise and explore my creative inner being. Within six months I had signed up for a year course in small business. Studying was something I had not done in a very long time and I'll admit it was not easy but struggles aside, completing the course allowed me to gain the basic fundamentals of starting a small business.

Having a passion for scented candles for as long as I can remember led the pathway for the creation of Te Kohae. I thought making candles would be "easy peasy" oh how wrong was I, thank goodness for the worldwide web and Youtube. Not one to give up, I persevered and after almost two years of testing different materials, the first collection of scented candles finally came into fruition.

I balance Te Kohae while working full-time. I started selling candles by word of mouth to whanau and friends - they have not only been my inspiration to continue on this journey but have also been my backbone, and for that I cannot thank them enough for all their support during and following the early stages of establishment.

New goals are on the horizon to grow and expand Te Kohae's collection. To keep updated on new products and more, subscribe to our mailing list below.

Thank you for taking the time to read about my journey, and if you are thinking about starting your own business, I say "go for it" the only thing stopping you at the end of the day is you!!!