Island Roots, Auckland Ways: Pacific social media influencer on losing weight and growing up as a pastor’s kid

Pacific social media influencer Serenity Sola shares about her weight-loss journey and being a mum.

Serenity Sola has been documenting her life online for more than 10 years - well before the age of social media influencers.

In 2013, she and her sister started a Facebook page called Keeping Up With The Solas - a play on the popular reality television series Keeping Up With The Kardashians, which follows the famous family.

Fast-forward 11 years later, Sola is a new mum and now shares about the ups and downs of parenthood with her loyal audience under a new page and name: Serenity Shrinks. She has nearly 30,000 followers.

The proud Samoan-Māori woman spoke with Island Roots, Auckland Ways about being a young mum and her 40kg postpartum weight loss - a journey that was inspired by her now 8-month-old daughter Alora.

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“I want to live longer,” she says.

“It’s a different meaning when you have kids.”

Rather than focusing solely on weight loss, her ultimate goal is to be in the best shape she can be to parent.

“The same energy I give myself is the same energy I will give to Alora. I want to be able to hold her and walk and down the stairs and not be tired.”

The pastor’s kid gets pregnant

The daughter of a pastor, she also shares about her fears about telling her whānau that she was pregnant.

She acknowledged the negative connotations and expectations that come with being the daughter of a pastor and falling pregnant outside of marriage.

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Sola told her sister and fellow online influencer, Lina Tipelu, the news first.

“She’s also a mum [so] she could kind of pick up my cues. She actually went in my room and found a box of folic acid.”

Folic acid is a supplement that is encouraged before and during the first few weeks of pregnancy as it can help prevent birth defects, including spina bifida.

“She was like: ‘Please have my name on it’. Then it had my name on it.”

Sola shares more on the podcast about her parents’ reaction and how they ultimately welcomed the news of another grandchild.

Pacific social media influencer Serenity Sola shares about her weight-loss journey and being a young mum.

Island Roots, Auckland Ways is hosted by Flava radio host Mariner ‘Maz’ Fagaiava and academic Allyssa Verner-Pula. New episodes are available every Thursday. You can follow the podcast on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.