Tena koe.

Maori people greet each other by saying tena koe, which literally means, "There you are. I recognise you, I understand you.”

As a researcher and designer, my work is centred around recognising and understanding each person whose path I cross. In an increasingly complex and fractured world, I want to be a bridge that brings people together to move from problem-space to solution-space. 

While my formal education is in business and economics, my ikigai is in the practice of design. I work at the intersection of business, design and social innovation - and I’m on a lifelong journey to make the world a more inclusive and empathetic place through my life’s work. I’ve found my role in marrying business and design - I believe that human experiences shape businesses, and businesses shape experiences that define what it means for us to be human.

My journey so far has led me to diverse roles across different industries: e-commerce, start-ups, financial services, public service, and non-profit organisations. These have given me the privilege of working on challenges that I feel are truly meaningful – helping citizens stock up on their daily necessities through online groceries during the COVID pandemic, growing and mentoring start-ups to build product-market fit, re-imagining the family justice system to protect and empower vulnerable court users, and co-designing solutions with foreign ministers and grassroot leaders to build disaster resilience.

When I'm not working, you can find me bottling my weekly batch of kombucha, handbuilding on the pottery wheel, and ‘sending’ my next bouldering project. 

Reach out if you’d like to collaborate on projects related to UX and service design, social innovation and international development. 

Let’s design the future together.