Aotearoa start-up Pōtiki Poi was founded by a 12-year-old wāhine who had a dream of seeing poi for sale in shops all over New Zealand.

Three years on Georgia Latu (Kāi Tahu & Ngāpuhi), now 15, has seen her dream become a reality with her poi swinging in and off shelfs in Countdown supermarkets all over the nation.

When she looks back on her journey Georgia says she couldn’t be happier with how things have turned out and where they are headed.

“When I first launched this company with my mum [Anna Latu] it was just meant to be a fundraiser to get me to a wānanga. It became more than that when people kept wanting my poi. I ended up entering a business competition and won the People’s Choice award and from there was interviewed by The Project.

“I remember Jesse Mulligan asking me what I wanted for my business and replying I just wanted to see my poi in shops, available for anyone to buy. This last month we have distributed our poi throughout 30 different Countdown supermarkets, and most have already sold out,” Georgia said.

Georgia said after that original interview things just escalated for Pōtiki Poi and continued to do so.

“We’ve just been asked to supply the women’s Rugby World Cup with our poi. Usually, they have flags for each country for fans to wave at games, but this year Rugby New Zealand have asked if they can swing our poi instead. I’m so excited. I can’t believe we get to have our poi on not only the Rugby New Zealand stage, but also the Rugby world stage at such a prestigious event.”

Another huge milestone for the budding young entrepreneur has been becoming a motivational speaker for rangatahi throughout New Zealand. Since that interview with Jesse Mulligan back in 2018 she’s spoken at many forums including National Young Leaders Days, Festival for the Futures and more.

“Looking back to when I started and thinking about that question Jesse first asked me on The Project about what my hopes were, I couldn’t have even imagined the things that have happened. I’ve had so many amazing experiences and learned so much a long the way, it’s way more than I could have dreamed of.”

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