Sharon | Manurewa

“I spend time with people every day, that are different in lots of ways. Different ethnicities, different circumstances, different types of families. I work in an area where we meet different people, every day.

I can’t tell you off-hand. Only because most of my examples would be through work, and I have to just be careful about what I say, because of where I work. I grew up in Glen Innes. This is my home until nine years ago when we moved out to Manurewa. I’m a wife. I’ve got four children, and I’ve got two grandchildren, and they’re probably the most important thing to me, and just being with my family. That’s, that’s the most important thing. My job’s important, because I love what I do. 

What inspires me is just my community, and when I talk about that, it’s sort of this community that I work with, and the community that my family grew up in. That’s what inspires me to do what I do,  is just to see people get on and get ahead, and have good things in life. What do I learn from different people? To be grateful. Grateful for the things I have. Grateful for the chances I have, and sometimes it’s about how important the little things are, the little decisions you make, because they can lead you in so many different paths. 

Diversity is important. We’re a growing city with different people that come into it all the time, and being able to talk to different people and learn from different people is really important. It gives us that feeling which I think Kiwis have – is being able to talk to anyone, anytime.”