“Off Grid Native – Mauipreneur”

In business, whether your own business or working for another entity, being Māori is what gives us the competitive edge needed to be 5 steps ahead. Unapologetic, authentic, aware of our connection to whenua, taiao, whakapapa, whanau-centered; which in turn is “all people- centered”, these are all business traits that are sought after both locally and internationally and make us, “Māori”, leaders in business innovation.
Comparing westernized business approaches e.g., capitalist models; to indigenous innovative approaches e.g., through our matapono and uara (principles and values) of manaakitanga, kotahitanga, kaitaiaktanga, tika, pono, and mana motuhake as “nga taonga i tuku iho, no a matou tupuna, no Maui”, (our gifts handed down from our ancestors, from Maui); we can see that the westernised business approaches are null and void and have little to no relevance to the current needs of today’s entrepreneurial business world. Our indigenous innovative approaches are intrinsic frameworks applied by being Māori and are both our taonga from our tupuna and the innovative next level approaches we apply in business today.
In today’s world we are lucky to sit amongst many Māori entrepreneurs and Māori who are leveling up how they do business and why they do business. In my connection to my whenua of Hauraki I am lucky to work alongside an innovator, an entrepreneur who is unassuming, humble and steadfast in his approach. Off Grid Native, Jamie Watson.
I am a huge (you could say staunch) advocate of the mahi Jamie does, in the reconnection of Hauraki uri to Hauraki whenua and taiao. Jamie is staunch to his beliefs and those include knowing your birthright and being responsible in your knowing. If you have been lucky enough to attend a wananga delivered by Jamie or Jamie is a part of, you will see that the true values of who he is, formed by his connection to whakapapa, whenua and taiao are entrenched in the matauranga Māori he shares in these wananga spaces. Who he is, defines his business ethos, he is staunchly tangata whenua o Hauraki and through his connection to whakapapa he seamlessly shares manaakitanga, kotahitanga, whanaungatanga, mana motuhake, tika and pono. I am excited about spending time with Jamie sharing korero and reflecting on our previous korero to apply the tahuna a te ahi framework to his unconscious Mauipreneurship.
“He nui ngā kai kei runga i a Moehau, me he tangata koe whai mai. There is an abundance of food on Moehau maunga, if you are a person who is prepared to seek it.” (Nicholls et al., 2016)