KIWI MUM'S PASSION: 'I SEE DEAD PEOPLE EVERY DAY'

Former beautician Antoinette followed her dreams by becoming a funeral director

- Cloe Willetts

When Antionette Tafeamaallii is in mum mode, she loves lunch dates and trainspotting with her adorable preschooler Jackson. But the moment she pulls on her black power suit and heads off to work, her focus is on death.

Spending her days running funerals and grooming deceased bodies, Antionette is a passionate funeral director from Ōhau in the Horowhenua.

“Everyone always asks if I’ve seen The Casketeers and of course I have!” laughs the 34-year-old, who owned an at-home beauty business before stepping into the funeral world. “That show’s great because it opened the door to conversation around death and our role, which is often misunderstood. I feel like the little secret sometimes, but our work is about helping people.”

Nine months ago, Antionette was having a break between eyelash tints when she scrolled through a job website and saw her dream role. She’d wanted to become a funeral director since her early twenties, but it was losing her nana six years ago that fuelled her desire.

“When my nan died, I wasn’t 100% happy with how her funeral went because we weren’t able to view her body at the funeral home or dress her,” explains Antionette, who is married to businessman Pete.

“When you’re telling a Samoan family they can’t view a loved one and not communicating clearly why, it can be really traumatising. Seeing people that upset stuck in my mind and I wanted to be there to listen to families.”