By Vanessa Trethewey

An exciting new initiative was launched earlier this week, giving hope, confidence and empowerment to South Auckland females.

Local tertiary provider Ignite Colleges teamed up with Dress for Success Auckland, a charity which provides free professional clothing, support, skills and mentoring to help women land jobs and build careers. Together they hosted a unique fashion show and pop-up clothing sale on July 31, attended by more than 200 people.

This is Dress for Success Auckland’s first foray into the South Auckland region, and according to its Executive Manager Margot Minett Earwaker it is just the beginning.

“We are delighted because this is the first event and pop-up sale we have ever had in South Auckland and we are just ecstatic about the response,” she said. “People were lining up before the doors even opened, and many of them have told me how fantastic they think it is. Dress for Success has been looking to come to South Auckland for some time and this is the start of things to come.…more

Madeleine Chapman

Editor of The Spinoff

Samoan, Tuvaluan, Chinese, American

My father was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, smack bang in the middle of America. All the rest of his family still live over there. My Mum is Samoan, with a Tuvaluan father and Chinese grandfather, and grew up in Elisefou. I have nine siblings and we were all raised under one roof until I was about eight years old. Growing up was...loud. Home was never empty and if you were fighting with one sibling there was always another one in the next room who'd be nice to you.

Can you share a bit about your journey to becoming a writer?  Was it something you always knew you wanted to do?

I was a big reader as a kid, mainly because Mum hated the TV so reading was a safe alternative. It also looked like homework so I got out of doing housework sometimes if I was reading. But even then I didn't think I was much of a writer.…more

SAM PUEFUA 

Actor 

Samoan 

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Talofa lava.
My name is Sam Puefua and I'm an Actor. I currently live in Long Beach, CA., but I'm originally from American Samoan, specifically from the village of Pava'ia'i. I was raised there until the age of 9yrs and than moved to United States and here in the State of California is where I've been ever since.

How long have you been in the entertainment industry and do you have a highlight or favourite experience in your career so far?

I have been in the industry for a little over 10yrs now. Started pursuing my acting career right after High School and ever since, I never looked back!
I actually have a few favorite highlights in which one of those highlights I got to work with my uso (Taylor Wily) and my sis (Sisa Grey) on my very first TV show, Hawaii Five-O! Traveling, Exploring Hawaii, visiting my aiga and all the while doing what I love? I couldn't have asked for a better first experience.…more

“ We want to raise the awareness of our food as up there with the best in the world” - Rangi Mitaera- Johnson 

“It’s more than just having food in restaurants it's about a way of life and value of our planting, our farming, our fishing as part of the story of our food”

Wild goat from Atiu, pearl oyster meat from Manihiki, the Utu king of bananas and the prized purple swamp taro, just some of the extraordinary ingredients on the plate at a recent Takurua - the ancient way of feasting in the Cook Islands!

Chefs from around the Pacific gathered in Rarotonga to create the best of Cook Islands cuisine on an epic scale, with traditional foods sourced from all over the Cook Islands.

“We want to develop a culture of healthy food and healthy exercise lifestyles around food” says Metua Vai'imene from Cook Islands tourism.

The purpose of the spectacular event was to showcase the importance of returning to our indigenous diets, and eating from the earth rather then processed imported food.…more

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson appeared on the Stephen Colbert show to promote his latest movie 'Skyscraper' (out now btw).

The Rock talks about his ethnicity - being half Black & Half Samoan, his Samoan heritage, Samoan culture, drinks some tequila, gives the audience a peek at his Pasifika tattoo and even sings a bit of a popular Samoan song 'Tali Mai' by Pati.

Check it out in the video above.

Meet the Tokelauan eco-warrior in Samoa - Saia Mikaele Maiava - who shares a unique way of gardening with us.

Keyhole Gardening was founded in Africa and used for crops and plants in areas where they couldn't get enough water.  Saia trialed it in Tokelau after being told it was hard to grow crops there due to the sea water content in the soil.

Check out how he does it in the video above.

The Goebel sisters (Kendal, Narelle & Parris) & their organisation Sisters United NZ  officially launched their 'Brown and Beautiful' campaign on Friday night and was attended by beautiful, brown sistas from all walks of life and from all over Auckland city to support a great cause.

Seafarers on Tyler Street was transformed for the 'Brown and Beautiful' launch thanks to the skills of Omgness - you can follow her on Instagram here & support our brown sistas business! 

Everything on the night including the food on the grazing table, drinks and decorations, lighting, the photo booth, Fijian cake maker Bertrand Jangs 'Sweet & Me'  'Brown and Beautiful' cakes and more were all donated and sponsored by different businesses and vendors for the launch.

Part way through the night, the 3 Goebel sisters Kendal, Parris and Narelle along with their team Sau and Punipuao talked through the 'Young Queens' programme and introduced a few of the 120 girls who are a part of it.…more

Lucy Tupu

Samoan

Furniture, Rug & Lighting Designer.

Born and raised in Wellington, New Zealand.  My father is from the village of Falelima, Samoa.  I studied industrial design at RMIT in Melbourne and have been in the design industry for over 20 years. I was fortunate enough to open my own design studio in October 2016. We design custom rugs/carpets, furniture and lighting.  Living in NYC for the past 14 years with my husband and two beautiful girls.

When did you first realise designing was more than a hobbie?

I have always enjoyed art and have sketched and drawn my entire life. I first discovered industrial design at Wellington Polytechnic 1992 where I completed a 6 month foundation course. I loved every minute of it and I knew as soon as I finished the course this was what I wanted to pursue.

What spurred your initial move to New York?

I came to visit my older brother who is a landscape architect and had been living and working in NYC for 10 years.…more