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Rokohanga atu e Donald Hollingsworth he whare āhuru mōwai nōna, ka kitea te wharekuti makawe e kānapanapa ana.
Koia hai mahi māna moroki noa nei – engari anō ngā kaupapa atu i te kuti Makawe, he whare haumaru wāhine, he whare manaaki hoki. He tangata moe tāne a ia nō Rotorua hai tāna ka nui kē ngā uauatanga nōna e itiiti ai.
I arohaina ia e tana whānau me ētehi atu o ngā hoa tata he ahakoa e titiro pōhēhē mai ētehi ki a ia ki tana hikoitanga me te āhuatanga o tana kōrerorero, he rerekē. Tū māia a Donald he kore hiahia nōna kia noho hai ika-haehae mā rātou.
"Tae ki tōku whare kuti makawe e hoa, he tuahangata ahau kai te rangona te āhuru mōwaitanga!".
E rima tekau mā rua ngā tau o Donald ko te manaaki makawe, te tarotaro akawe me te whakapani kanohi tana umanga matua. E toru tekau mā rima o ngā tau a Donald e whakapau kaha ana ki tēnei ao ōna.
Ko Mai Salon kai te tiriti o Hinemoa tona whare āhuru, ā, koia hoki he whare āhuru mōwai e tāea ai e ngā wāhine ou rātou moemoeā te whakatinana. Ko te timatatanga o tana oranga he hakoke whenua, i Poihākena a ia mō tētehi wā iti, nā wai - ka rere atu ki Īngarangi me Haina kātahi ia ka hoki mai ki te kāinga ki te tuku i tona moemoeā.
Ko ia hoki tētehi o ngā pou matua o te hūnuku kōperu i Tāhimana nā tona wā i reira kua pakari ake tana kete ki te mōhiotanga hai awhina i te hūnuku kōperu i kōnei i Aotearoa.
"I pōwhiringia ahau e te hūnuku kōperu ki taku mahi, mō te whakangāhau hoki, nā reira i wawe ai taku māuri tautanga ki taku mahi, kāore tētehi paku āwangawanga i tata mai ki ahau".
I tīmatangia tana mahi tauira kuti makawe i tētehi whare iti i te tiriti o Arawa ka oti i a ia tana akoako e toru tau te roa i Tamaki-Makaurau kātahi ia ka haere ki Poihākena. E rua tekau mā tahi noa ōna tau kai te ao e haere ana. Kai te kaha rangona ōna tūpuna huhua he ahakoa haere ai ki whea. "
Nā ōku tūpuna ahau i arahina, ko te ihi, ko te wehi i tākea mai i a rātou". He Ngāti Hine, he Ngāti Manu nō Nga Puhi ōna kāwai tūpuna. He tangata marae hoki ia.
"Ko Motatau kai Matawaia taku pā taunaha, ka hoki atu ahau ki reira tērā pea e rua ngā wā o te tau, ka hoki ki tō tātou urupā kai Waiomio ki te kōrero ki ōku tūpuna me te whakaora i ahau".
Nō Ahitereiria te matua tane o Donald, ā, he kāmura ia. Ko Hinepare tōna matua wahine ko ia te whakapakanga o ngā tamariki kotahi tekau mā ono o te whānau Waetford. E ono tekau mā rima katoa ōna kiri whānaunga. E ngangahu kau ana te huapae tawhiti, e noho takakau ana – me te ora o te ngākau. Ko tana ngeru ko Hori Mikaere tana hoa muri aroha.
"Ko te hangarau whakaaturanga te pae o te marae inaianei me he pākihi tāu. He māmā noa mā aku apataki ki te whakatakoto taima hui ai māua. Mā te whārangi Mai Salon rānei te pukamata inā te mana o te hangarau nei".
Engari ko te rapu pikitūranga māna te pākihi e kawe a tōna wā, he uaua kē! "I takea mai ahau i tētehi whare kuti makawe taniwha i Poihākena e toru tekau katoa aku pou mahi, rokohanga atu he tangata pirangi ki te mahi, whakapono nei ki tana mahi – kāore e kitea i te whenua nei!"
Tana hokitanga mai i Poihākena ka noho ia hai pou mahi mā tētehi atu tangata, ka kitea e ia te nui o ana moni, me te itiiiti ki a ia, ka wehe atu a Donald. Kua piki te kaha o tana rārangi apataki.
"Tae katoa mai ngā tangata i ngā hau e whā o te takiwā nei, Ōpotiki mai, Whakatāne mai, Tauranga mai, Kirikiriroa hoki, āna koia tēnei taku kaupapa – ko te whakarauora i te wairua pouri o te tangata".Kua tino patua tana mahi e te māuiui korona.
Tērā hoki tētehi o āna uiuinga i whāki atu e ia tētehi rautaki kai te whāia e ana hoa mahi, he rīhi tūru te rautaki. Ka tae ki a ia te whakaaro, nā runga hoki i ngā pōreareatanga o te māuiui korona, kia kāua ia e hoko poumahi māna. I mua o te māuiui korona e whakaaro paetawhiti e rima tau te roa; inaianei – he rite ki te awa e rere noa ana, ka māori noa tana haerenga.
"Ko te whainga matua inaianei kia pūare kau te tatau o te whare mō ngā tau kai te haere". Hai tāna, he wāhi e tukuna ai e te Māori ōna whakaaro auaha kia piki ake ki ngā taumata o te tihi o Ruatepupuke." Ki tētehi wāhanga o te whare he mātanga mirimiri, ki tētehi anō kokonga he mātanga kōrero pōwhatu wairua, me te aha ki ahau he wairua Māori ki te whare!"
Kāre kau tōna hiahia ki a tukuna te mana o tana toa kia karapotia te whenua, engari kai te titiro kē ia ki te wāhanga o te rongoā Māori. "Nā reira taku whare ka whakahuri hei wāhi hāneanea, hei wāhi rangatira, kua retingia ki ētehi tangata me ngā kaupapa whakahirahira pēnei i te kaupapa Vegas me Kairākau, whai wāhi ai rātou ki taku whare ki te whakapani i ngā tangata whakaari .
Koinā hoki tētehi mea nui, e nau mai ana te tangata ki taku whare ehara i te kuti makawe anake te take. He wāhi kōrerorero, he inu tī kawakawa, kua tino pai rawa atu te wifi i kōnei. Moe ana ka hinga i te māuiui korona, engari me he mate mārama ka tere anō i te pae.
"Me toku kaha hoki kia kaha taku mahi kai toromi i ngā ngaru teitei o te wā, kia tū māia taku pākihi hai pākihi -ā-rohe nei"
Hai kōrero whakakapinga hai kōrero awhina i ngā pākihi o te wā nei māna, kia rite koe ki te mārama me te rā e ara ake he pēnātia ia rā, ia pō – mā te tuku toihau koe e kaha ai, he manako te moemoeā i kore ai.
— Na Raimona Inia tenei purongo i whakamaoritia.
A young Donald Hollingsworth found safety and acceptance in a hairdressing salon.
And that's what he does today, provide a place where Maori women feel safe and where their hair is cared for.
Growing up takatāpui in Rotorua was not easy. He had acceptance and aroha from his whanau and the neighbourhood kids seemed confused and asked why he walked and talked as he did.
But Donald dealt with it because he didn't want to feel victimised.
"When I hit the salon where I did my apprenticeship, I felt instantly safe and accepted."
Donald, 52, has made a career as a hair and makeup artist and has worked in the industry for 35 years.
In opening Mai Salon in Hinemoa Street, Rotorua, Donald has brought to life his dream of a special place where Maori women can feel protected. He has spent much of his life overseas, working in Sydney, London and China and came home to make his dream a reality.
Donald was part of the rainbow community across the Tasman and is using the experience gained there to create events for the rainbow community here.
"My rainbow community welcomed me at work and gave me a great social life in Sydney. I was accepted and safe at work and outside of it."
Donald began his training at a little salon in Arawa Street and after three years finished his apprenticeship in Auckland and moved to Sydney when he was 21.
Throughout his life Donald has felt guided by his tupuna.
"My tupuna helped me, they were all the motivational support I needed."
He has hononga to Ngati Hine, Ngati Manu, in Ngapuhi and still maintains contact with his pa.
"Motatau in Matawaia is my marae and pa. I go up there at least twice a year to our urupa at Waiomio to see my tupuna and to feel whole."
Donald's father, Kevin, was Australian and a builder in Rotorua. His mother, Hinepare, was the youngest of 16 in the Waetford whanau so his extended whanau is huge. He has 65 first cousins.
The future looks great for new home-owner Donald who is "single and loving it". A Ngeru called Hori Mikaere allows Donald to share his living space.
"Technology and IT are everything to running a business today, my manuhiri can book online through Mai Salon website and our Facebook page is the main social media I use for advertising."
Finding someone to take over the business is not easy.
"I came from a big salon in Sydney where I had 30 staff but trying to find one person to work here with commitment has been a struggle."
When Donald returned from Sydney, he worked for a national brand salon but decided to branch out on his own as he was making a lot of money for someone else.
He has built up a great regular clientele.
"I've got people coming from all over the place. Ōpōtiki, Whakatāne, Hamilton, Tauranga. It's definitely my kaupapa. I like to make people feel special."
Covid and the lockdowns have had a major impact on how Donald operates.
In a korero with another interviewer, Donald said the hairdressers working with him rent a chair. After the last lockdown he decided that, to protect himself, he would not hire more staff.
Before covid Donald had a five-year plan: Now he just goes with the flow.
"I'd say my biggest goal now is to remain open for the next couple of years."
Donald says Mai Salon had become a kind of a creative space for Māori.
"I have somebody who does mirimiri here, and someone who does Māori crystal readings. That works quite well."
He has no plans to build a nation-wide brand but instead is looking at products in the rongoa Maori world. "And then my salon will just be a sort of special studio space. I've rented it out a couple of times.
"Like when Vegas and Kairākau were being filmed in Rotorua, some of the makeup artists worked from here.
"When you come to my salon, you don't just come in and get your hair cut.
"You come in and have a chat, and I like to serve nice coffee or kawakawa tea. There's good wifi here, and there's a table where people can work while I'm doing their colour."
Mai Salon has come back in full force every time there was a lock down. "I also worked very hard to keep my business as a local business." His advice for prospective business owners?
"Be consistent work hard NOTHING comes for free."
