A note for Matariki 2022
A note for Matariki 2022 from our Operations and Marketing Manager Serena Cappellini
What is Matariki?
Matariki is a celebration of people, culture, language, spirituality, and history.
It occured at the end of the harvest season, a time when storage houses (pātaka kai) were filled with food and the land was at its most unproductive. People gathered together to survive the winter months, to remember the past and plan for the New Year.
Matariki is a time for whānau, to remember those who came before us and the legacy they have left behind, and also to learn more about whakapapa (geneaology).
Matariki at Ao Collaboration
This 2022 is a special year here in Aotearoa (New Zealand) as it’s the first time Marariki has officially earned a spot in the national Public Holidays. As the constellation rises in the sky to guide us towards a new year, we take our time to reflect on the past 12 months as a company.
Despite pulling the handbrake towards the start of January we acquired new customers, grew our team with a new developer, and expanded into a whole new area with our new subdivision ao on the block.
While the ao on the block tale is for another day (unless you are curious, in which case feel free to jump over to our Medium article), we are happy to report that this past year has been one of deliberate, controlled, and yet courageous growth.
Our founder, Kate, brought her husband in, Michael, who quickly molded his passion into a whole new subdivision of which he is the Director now. The whole team has benefited from this plunge, and Kate has conducted the whole operation to facilitate professional growth for each and every one of us.
A company that is whānau
On a more personal note, I love the idea of taking the time to reflect on the year past as Ao Collaboration for this holiday and appreciate how human interactions have always been so smooth and natural within the team, and how each and everyone of us had space to grow the way we most desired.
We looked at the challenges that were thrown at us as a family and focused on how to best overcome them.
We looked at the exciting opportunities that appeared in our path and shared with enthusiasm and will to collaborate all together.
We supported, helped, empowered, assisted, endorsed each other.
It was not a year without bumps (some bigger than others) both on a company and an individual level, but it was also a year where we showed each other what collaboration really means.
Ngā mihi o Matariki, te tau hou Māori.
