The gift of business mentoring

They are Wayfinding mentors and thanks to Ngai Tahu and Te Putahitanga, I am lucky enough to have them as my business mentors until June 2021.  My business has grown in leaps and bounds in the last few months and as the saying goes sometimes “It is difficult to see the forest for the trees”.  Things that appear to me, to be weighty anchors, when see through another set of eyes can actually be beautiful opportunities.

Setting boundaries

One example of how Tim and Faumuina helped me in this respect is with my giving away of products.  I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed by how much of my product I have been asked to give/donate as well as how much I was choosing to give away.  We discussed limit setting how many pairs I give away each year and the manner and energetic space in which I give from.  The final result is that I have created a new pair of recycled rubber earrings called Takoha and I am in the process of creating a Takoha candle as well. These will be the products I gift when asked by organisations for free products. Something that was weighing me down has now become a new, beautiful creative gift.

Connection

Connection to me is incredibly important and if you have been lucky enough to be part of a marae visit or attend a wananga on a marae, you will know that your mihi and whakapapa are an extremely important part of the process which can seem to take a long time.  Faumuina, Tim and myself spent the first 2 hours of our meeting honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi by talking about how we got to be in the room. This process forms strong connections, through sharing which is a true gift. To be honest, I struggle a lot to connect if I go along to a course and am told that there is insufficient time to allow for introductions and your name tag sticker is the only form of connection you get to have with others. 

But why?

Why am I discussing all this?  Well part of the reason is that my earrings are now for sale at an Air BNB in Te Anau which may seem a little unusual.  Lizzie Kirk and her husband own Shakespeare BNB in Te Anau and they are the latest business in Aotearoa to be selling my earrings.  Lizzie has been friends with my sister Patrice since high school and Lizzie’s sister, Sally Jane is good friends with my other sister Leigh.  Lizzie is kind and funny and we have connections that go years back and this is why I am selling wholesale to her – our whanaungatanga.

I’m looking forward to this new journey on my waka (even though I tend to get a bit seasick) and I’m excited about who I bring along, what islands I stop at along the way and see who will be there at the end with me.

Aroha nui Kim