Te Kahukura Boyton said her podcast journey arose when she was a broke uni student at the age of 17.
Te Kahukura Boyton said her podcast journey arose when she was a broke uni student at the age of 17.
“I’m on a deeper mission for Māori.”
Those are the words of a Māori finance podcaster from Waikato, Te Kahukura Boynton, who was recognised today as one of 25 women under 25 making a positive difference in New Zealand.
Boynton, 20, from Tokoroa is one of four winners who made the Y25 list from Waikato.
She is well-known for establishing and hosting her podcast, the Māori Millionaire; her personal mission to help empower whānau and youth toward financial independence.
She is passionate about creating change for underprivileged communities such as Māori and Pasifika, and reducing the wealth gap in New Zealand.
“Through that experience, I realised how important it is that we learn how to manage our own money and take the right steps for that, not only in terms of the strategy but for our mindset,” Boynton said.
“I realised there weren’t many resources out there to learn in an easy and accessible way. I decided to start my own and I called it Māori Millionaire, it’s a play on what society expects from us and just rewriting our stories.”
The podcast is an educational platform teaching people how to improve their money mindset, management, and wealth strategies, with more than 80 episodes so far.
Boynton said the biggest inspiration for her podcast is the younger version of herself.
“I think growing up ... I never saw people that looked like me in the finance space, it made it seem really far-fetched like I couldn’t do it.
“I wish I could’ve watched something like this as a teenager. It just feels impossible if there isn’t even one similarity between them and who we are.
“I wish I could’ve seen someone who looked like me and talked like me, and that was definitely for younger me to know that kids like me are also able.
“Now to think there are young Māori and Pasifika who potentially see my platform and go ‘If she can do it I can too’, that just really warms my heart.”
Boynton’s favourite saying is “It’s not about buying Gucci bags, it’s about buying land back.”
She said she’s seen many finance creators who only want to buy materialistic items, but her mission is much deeper for Māori.
“It’s being able to return to our roots because as Māori, we were prosperous before colonisation. We had our land and that was our biggest asset.
“Through colonisation, things have changed for Māori and Pasifika ... we are suffering the most. I think through having more money, we’re able to go back to our roots and live more authentically as Māori.
“With having more financial resources, we’re going to be able to help other areas of our life too, including mental health.”
Boynton emphasised that money doesn’t solve all the world’s problems, but underprivileged communities would be better off too by having more financial resources.
“A lot of people are struggling right now and I think that our mindset is the best thing that we can work on currently.
“You have to believe it before you see it because it’s 80% mindset and 20% strategy, but we do need both.”
