What’s a challenge you overcame?

Dan | Te Puke

When Daniel became a teenage dad, he had to grow up really fast. Now he’s a grandfather and proud of the opportunities he’s provided for his whānau. 

“I want my son and my grandchildren to be better than I ever was. And I’ll help them any way I will.

A challenge I’ve overcome probably would have been when I found out that I was going to be a father at 18 years of age. That was a very big struggle. It made me more of a man.

I grew up faster in a way. I loved my alcohol and bit of weed back in the day, and as soon as I found out that I was having a kid, I stopped a lot of that. And I went to work every day and paid my bills. And actually, yeah, I grew as a man myself.

That was probably the best thing in my life at that stage, at that point of my life. It was the best thing to happen to me because I had bad thoughts previously. And then I found out that I had purpose, and it just made me a better man.

Well, my son is in Australia now. I’ve got two grandchildren now, and my son’s 23 years of age, so I think I’ve done pretty good. He’s doing better than I ever did, and that is solid to me.

And I always wanted that for him—to do better than I ever did.”