My Pepeha
A pepeha would normally be used as part of the way an individual introduces themselves. Hence this section is right at the beginning. I wanted to share a little about my journey towards writing my own pepeha at this stage. I am still at the beginning of my te Ao Māori Journey. One thing I have really valued learning about is the Tikanga/reasons behind the te Ao Māori worldview.
I have been learning about the essence and meaning behind the pepeha through a Tikanga course I have been on through work (more of this is explained on this page). The word actually means the baby's breath, the essence which gives the baby life. Understanding this helps understand the context of why your own pepeha talks about your Moutain, your River, your waka and your family. It is what has given you life over the history of your ancestors. The order is actually following the water cycle as explained so beautifully in this video here. Among other parts of the natural world, Wai/water is very tapu/sacred to Māori. The rain starts to fall in the mountains, flowing through the rivers and lakes etc. ending up with us as we are made of a big proportion of water.
I struggled to write my pepeha for quite some time as I never fully understood the meaning behind it, and didn't want to make a token effort of just noting the mountain and river I lived near. My own knowledge of my background does not travel back too many generations yet. I know some of the history of my family in New Zealand, but not further from where they came from in Europe. As I discover more of this, I will be able to craft my genuine pepeha.
After I finish my Master's I intend to spend time connecting with this history. I have some family books and reasearch others in the family have done, I have been building my family tree via ancestry.com, and I'll spend time with my family. I am looking forward to having an authentic pepeha to share and be connected to.
Kia ora, Hello
Ko Katy Lloyd tōku ingoa
Like most of us I wear a few hats.....
here are my main ones
Masters Student
An exciting and interesting hat is that of a part-time Masters Student. I am undertaking my Masters in Technological Futures at Tech Futures Lab, a private Post Graduate Institution based in Auckland.. TFL is New Zealand’s most innovative, transformative learning environment where people come to find their edge in a rapidly changing world. developed. It is Aotearoa's first innovation-focused Master’s programme; Tech Futures Lab focuses on helping students embed critical thinking skills and innovation mindsets to create novel, purpose and value-based solutions that answer real-world challenges. I get to engage with and learn from industry experts and fellow students about the worlds of technology, innovation and sustainable futures, to name but a few areas.
Mum
My most crucial and rewarding hat is that of a mum to two gorgeous kids who are 6 and 9, and a wonderful, talented and supportive husband. There are also a couple of rather large dogs thrown in the mix to keep things interesting.
Small Business Owner
I understand the work/life juggle of having been a small business owner myself. When I was six months pregnant with our first child, my husband was made redundant. We turned that "Oh cr@p!" moment into a thriving Tech and Digital Recruitment agency. He has run this alongside our business for the last eight years, and I have provided people and culture and coaching expertise throughout. We grew the company from 2 founders sitting at our kitchen table to 15 awesome employees, at which point it was acquired. Now we are on the lookout for our next opportunity.
Professional and Coach
My day-job hat, which I also really enjoy, I work for a for a large professional services firm in Auckland, New Zealand. I get the incredible opportunity to partner with exceptional leaders and clients to make New Zealand a more awesome place to live. I am also a qualified coach. This role gives me the privilege of working with people to help them reach their personal and business potential.
What I wanted to get out of the Masters
E kitea ai ngā
taonga o te moana,
me tmākū koe
If you seek the treasures of the ocean
you'd better get wet
Life is for living. Get immersed and hold onto what
you learn to move onto the next chapter of your life
The Masters to me is about more than just the degree. There were a range of things that I wanted to get from the programme, and I wanted to make sure that I kept focused on these throughout. I drew the mindmap to the right at the start of the programme to be clear on what those things were. I kept focused on this and referring back to it throughout the programme. This helped to guide me in what I wanted to focus on for my project, and also other activities that I engaged in. These included things like making it to mahi tahi and Converge when I could to learn and connect with other students, going into the lab for study days and saying yes to invites to speak to other gens or prospective students.
One part that has been really rewarding but also really difficult has been doing this as a mum. However, it has also been really hard as I have not been able to spend as much time with them as both myself and they would like. This was made even more difficult with the fact that the immersion stag for our Gen ended up right in the middle of the large 2021 COVID lockdown.
I have seen the kids be really proud of what I am doing and showing that you never stop learning. They have loved hearing about some of the cool technology and experiences we have had, from simple things like seeing photos from the 3D lab visit, to Google Draw battles, to building their own musical instruments with a Makey Makey.
Some proud moments
On Mothers Day this year, I was delighted to witness the growth mindset that my nine year old son hadois connecting with through a poem he wrote. It is not always easy to discern how these young boys feel; thus it came as a beautiful surprise! Encouraging and building such mindsets in our children at any age can prove incredibly beneficial for their development. This growth mindset was something that I really want to demonstrate and build in them so it's great to see that coming through.
An unexpected benefit has been that other people have been inspired to continue their education by sharing my Masters journey. A colleague from work has completed the Post Graduate Certificate for Human Potential in the Digital Age. There have also been two friends with children who have embarked on further study encouraged by the way I have managed work and kids. One has undertaken a degree in architectural drafting and another has completed a micro-credential in EDT at Tech Futures Lab and will be doing further micro-credentials. I have also had more people approach me wanting to talk about my experiences and they are considering undertaking study in the new year. A friend also was inspired by the way I was sharing on social media/blogging and I was encouraging her to do the same with some of her personal life activities with her kids. She took a blogging course and started a site that was getting good traction. She has currently paused it due to work commitments so I can't share a link unfortunately.
The extended level four lockdown in Auckland in 2021 presented many challenges; however, it also provided an unexpected silver lining - the chance for children to observe activities that usually take place away from home such as what parents do at work and for me the Masters lectures. It appears that my son was paying more attention during a session on ecosystem mapping with Melissa Wragge, than I realised! Later on that evening, he went and got himself some paper to recreate what I had been doing earlier in the day. Although his was about cars and food he likes rather than building a social enterprise. It gave us a good opportunity to have a talk about connected information and how you can use different techniques like mind maps to help your thinking.
