Flo's Cafe

You could say that Flo was born to run a cafe!

"When One Win's we all Win"

She says of her early childhood that “I would walk around with my 2 litre ice cream container making mud cakes out of dirt. Mixing water and dirt together and decorating it with flowers, daisies, whatever she could find to make it look pretty, and leave it in the sun to dry for a bit, cut it into slices and ask my older cousins “do you want a piece of mud cake?”

That was only the beginning, she then discovered mum's cooking ingredients and started experimenting with flour, eggs, butter, sugar and milk and this is where the passion for baking started "brownies".

Flo had a variety of different jobs during her early career, but coming into COVID she says herself and two cousins were sitting underneath a big tree on their whenua. The question was "What do we do and how will we support ourselves if we lose our jobs?" What started off as a discussion around options of mahi and ideas soon became a reality.

Not knowing where to start or what to do, she says "our hapu held A Rapid Business Programme, run out of our hapu hub Te Whare Awhina o Ngati Taitahi,  This programme helped us get our idea of a catering business up and running. And it was through this programme that we met agencies like Northland Inc who could help us take the next step for the business.  With all the knowledge and tolls we had gained from running a business we decided to develop even more and went our own ways starting small business of our own."  

When Mahinga Innovation Centre was built, she came on a tour of the place, to her surprise a few months later received a phone call and a contract to run the cafe!

At Northland Inc, we are delighted to have her working alongside us at Mahinga, making great coffee and yummy kai. 

Flo's ambitions don't stop there though. With plans to franchise and expand she’s now working with Northland Inc Growth Advisors Deb & Tai to help her plan the next step for her business.   

But it's not just about business for Flo - it's about creating opportunities for her whānau and nurturing the land that sustains them. 

Flo says that "When One Win's we all Win" so watch this space to see what happens next for Flo and her growing business.