Let’s dive right in – what’s your story?

Tālofa lava! I’m Kokoro. Osaka-born, Ōtaki-raised, hailing from the villages of Manase and Fasito’outa in Samoa. I joined the Hemisphere whānau in June 2024 after finishing my masters in Intercultural Communication and Applied Translation at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington.

I’ve worked as a coach, ice cream scooper, communications coordinator and, probably my favourite job, checkout operator at my local red supermarket (that we won’t name due to conflicting supermarket choices in the office).

Kokoro with other members of the Samoa swim team and sitting in the audience with some of his supporters.

Ten sessions a week and counting… What drives you?

There’s a saying that gets thrown around the office – “go sport!” I’m pretty sure this was first coined at someone’s aversion to sport, but, genuinely, it couldn’t be further from the truth for me.

Growing up, I was blessed with a bunch of opportunities to be active. It’s buzzy to look back and think that during high school and university I was training/racing/playing up to fifteen times a week across three different sports. Although my training schedule has dropped to ten times a week for solely swimming, sport has taught me a lot about time management, goal setting, and the importance of showing up.

Sum yourself up in three words

‘Āiga, alofa, aganu’u (Family, love, culture)

What do you love most about working at Hemisphere?

Probably the fact that it doesn’t feel like I’m working at all! My parents always used to say, “if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”. What helps make this even more of a reality is that I’m surrounded by some of the most down-to-earth and inspiring people I’ve ever met!

Is there a campaign that gets you most excited to tell people all about?

We’re currently working on a campaign with Pacific Health Service Hutt Valley called Brothaz – an initiative that’s bringing Pasifika men together to talanoa/kōrero/discuss the importance of wellbeing through online communities.

And, finally, what’s your office catchphrase?

“Early is on time.”

Want to work with Kokoro and the team?

Get in touch to see how we can help with your next campaign.

Meet more of the whānau