HUMANS OF THE ISLANDS - Lila Taulapiu
Lila Taulapiu
Founder of TAMĀ - Pacific Scripter Word Art Business
Samoan
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My name is Lila Taulapiu, I am married with 4 children and I’m a grandmother of 1, soon to be 3. I worked in tertiary education holding various roles for 12 years and made a transition into HR, which I'm currently doing on a contract basis alongside my own business, TAMĀ. My mother is from the village of Savaia Lefagā and my father is from Samatau - my Samoan heritage I am very proud of.
TAMĀ, what inspired you to start it?
I've always enjoyed the idea of business. I think one of the things that intrigued me about it was the possibility of a role that allows me to be balance family needs as a mother and invest in something I’m passionate about. For myself as a Christian, I really feel the drive for this is a faith calling from my heavenly dad hence the name TAMĀ, which also inspired my Dad, Mutimuti, who was very much an entrepreneur and determined soul. A business bug I’m pretty thankful for.
The idea of TAMĀ was birthed a few of years ago in 2013. Dad was diagnosed with alzheimers and I became the primary caregiver for him. As a progression of his illness, his English deteriorated and he reverted back to his primary language; Samoan. Coming from a family of strong believers in Christ, my siblings, nieces, nephews and extended family would often send through scriptures from the bible to encourage Dad as his illness became more severe. I didn’t print the English scriptures for his wall, due to his language barrier. That’s when my inspiration for TAMĀ began of creating bible scriptures in pacific languages. That's how the seed was planted and I chose to continue to water it.
Quotation printing for wall art already exists, but there's nothing specifically catered to Polynesian scripture yet, which is why I think TAMĀ is unique. The name TAMĀ translates as "father" in Samoan, which was not only birthed out of the love of my own father, but also a reminder to us of the love of God, The Father.
What's your favourite part about what you do?
If I take it back to the vision for the business, it is created to provide a product that would remind our Pacific and Māori people about God's love. TAMĀ is an encouragement to embrace cultural identity, to bring the promises and hope of Christian faith and to pass the learning’s of our culture and heritage onto the next generation.
Out of all the prints you have done so far, which would be the most significant?
The first print. It had to be the Lord's Prayer, because that was the first prayer that Jesus taught us how to pray. I'm no graphic designer, I don't have any of that in my background, but what got me really excited about this was being able to embed some faith into peoples homes. I had a graphic designer help me for our debut last year in October at the 'Arise Pacific Women's Conference'. I was asked by a friend who had been praying with me about TAMĀ to bring some prints for a "prayer room'', which in the end, turned out to be a big foyer filled with people. I was really nervous about it all as I felt that I was now exposed to possible criticism, however, the response we had was phenomenal. People were amazed and absolutely loved it. Just seeing the excitement they have to see something printed in their own language, whether they were fluent or half fluent; was a true blessing.
A lot of our generation now have English as their first language so having one of these prints, is like having a piece of home with you. It is seeing something that will fill your heart, make you happy and always remind you of the teachings of your parents.
What are some of the challenges you've faced?
When you're working on a God assignment, it's really about stepping into it and giving it your all. You're walking into a lot of unfamiliar territory with challenges that will add growth to your knowledge, but if you have a purpose for why you're doing it, it'll all fall into place. Some wisdom I read and believe is true for me is "To succeed you must know God's will and concentrate on fulfilling it. Having a powerful 'why' will provide you with a necessary 'how' and purpose - not money or time, is your greatest asset". Stepping out despite not knowing what's around the corner and being confident about every outcome is something that helps me overcome the challenges we face within our little business.
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To order any of Lila's scriptural prints you can email her on lila@tamapacific.co.nz or contact her via her Instagram: http://instagram.com/tamapacific