Teenage CEO PUTTING POI ON THE WORLD STAGE

Giving the business world a twirl, Georgia's ended up with a very lucrative enterprise on her hands

- Fleur Guthrie

Last November, as Dunedin teenager Georgia Latu headed to support the Black Ferns in what would be an incredible win over England, her nana Lagi sat beside her and cried "happy tears" throughout the game.

It wasn't about the rugby, though. The 60-year-old was simply overcome with emotion seeing thousands of fans twirling poi - ones which were hand-made by her remarkable granddaughter's thriving business.

At just 17, Georgia is CEO of Pōtiki Poi. It's the world's largest manufacturer of poi, which supplies not only New Zealand, but also Australia and Japan. But she knew she had cracked the big time after being asked to make more than 30,000 poi for the 2022 Women's Rugby World Cup.

"It was surreal," smiles Georgia, who is of Kāi Tahu, Ngāpuhi and Samoan descent.

"At first, I was asked if I could make 200 poi. Then it was, 'Can you do a thousand?' It kept going up and up, until they said, 'How about 30,000?' I was like, 'Woah!' It was the craziest time and took our whānau around two months to complete the order.

"Then seeing our taonga [treasure] being recognised and uplifted on a global scale was the biggest and best moment of my life. From there, I got a contract to create 11,000 poi for the FIFA Women's World Cup, as well as supply over 30 Countdown supermarkets."

Georgia and her mum Anna, 45, are chatting to the Weekly over Zoom from Tahiti, where the talented Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ötepoti student is on a school leaver's trip.

It's an exciting time for her, especially after being named as a finalist in the Enterprise category at the Impact Awards.

Georgia was only 12 when Pōtiki Poi began as a fundraiser to get to a wānanga [place of learning] in Rotorua. Within three days, she had successfully raised $1000 through making and selling poi on Facebook.