For people who don’t know who you are, please tell us who are and where you are currently based?

My name is Raniera Rewiri but most commonly known by my Instagram name Plant-Based Māori. I am a proud 28 year old Māori tāne from Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty - the centre of my universe!

We see that you run a successful business in Tupuanuku, can you tell us a little bit about it and how it came about?

Tupuānuku is a vegan food business that was created in 2018. Starting off humbly with attending markets setting up a gazebo to then eventually scaled to a food trailer through crowd funding but more importantly the support of family and close friends. It wasn't a planned journey but the impact of my transition into living a plant-based lifestyle inspired my path into this space. The aim for Tupuānuku is to create an alternative food option for people who are open to trying something new that could lead to healthier lifestyle.

We love how you work with your wife Hinepanea, what is it like working together how do manage the dynamic at work and at home?

My wife Hinepanea is a gangster! She is incredible and her work ethic within the trailer is unreal. It definitely comes with its challenges particularly because we live together, train together and work together. But since I don't spend too much time in the trailer nowadays our relationship doesn't have as much challenges - shoutout to my mother in-law who not only works with us but holds it down for us too!

Starting a business can be scary, have you got any advice for someone who is thinking of taking a chance on their dream?

Business is scary but it's a lot more exciting than it is scary. My advice for someone who is inclined to step into entrepreneurship is to BACK YOURSELF and take the first step! Having big ideas is cool but it doesn't count for anything if you don't take action.

The knowledge that you have now must be huge, what would you tell your 21-year-old self?

I would tell myself to take a good hard look in the mirror and to take the time to accept myself.

We see that community is a huge part of your business, can you tell us a little bit about that?

Community provides the sense that it's bigger than me! I remember a mentor of mine saying "that contributing towards something bigger than yourself will always require more from you and will give you a sense of purpose". It changed my approach to everything and doing things by yourself sucks but doing things with others will always be better.

What’s next?

What’s next is looking into creative ways to improve our service because winter is a whole new ball game is the food industry and because we're food trailer outdoors it's even harder. So as a team we are working on developing a new menu and changing our set-up to keep things fresh and exciting.

Where can we find you?

Can find us on our Instagram page @tupuanuku where we share recipes, lifestyle posts and business information. Alternatively my personal page is @plantbasedmaori and my wife's page is @hinepanea.