The Outliers
The Outliers is a series profiling impressive young people from minority backgrounds who are standing out from their peers.
Made with support from NZ On Air.
The anti-snob vintage fashion store in Auckland | The Outliers
“If you don’t dress a certain way, they don’t think that you have the money to spend in their store and it’s hurtful. We don’t want…
The illustrator whose art helps people see themselves differently | The Outliers
Huriana Koepke-Te Aho illustrates portraits that encourage people to see themselves in new ways.
They’re also an activist, recently lending their talents to the Protect Ihumātao movement,…
Rapper Mo Muse didn’t feel belonging in Aotearoa until he found Hip Hop | The Outliers
When Mo Muse was young, kids used to tell him “you’re not one of us.” Now the Somali refugee rapper is selling out gigs in Aotearoa…
How Julie Zhu found her place in Aotearoa as a Chinese New Zealander | The Outliers
“I think it’s important for tauiwi or non-Māori to embrace indigenous rights, especially for migrants, if we want to call this our home.”
Filmmaker Julie Zhu shares…
Nah Zone is uplifting brown creatives in Aotearoa | The Outliers
“We just need to get out of that whole humble mentality.”
Jonique Purcell knows music creatives in Aotearoa are just as good - if not better -…
Life in New Zealand changed for Rez Gardi after 9/11 | The Outliers
Rez Gardi was born in a refugee camp. She and her family are Kurdish, who are the world’s largest group of people without an independent country.…
Chevron Hasset on being the only working class Māori at his art school | The Outliers
“Working class Māori don’t actually attend art school.”
Chevron Hasset is an artist who was raised in Naenae, Lower Hutt. He shares what it was like to…
How writing about a barcode formed Kii Winston’s identity | The Outliers
Arriving in Kaitaia from Barbados as a child, Kii Winston Small felt isolated and unsure of where he stood in the world. But tracing back his…
The artist making bangers in a te reo Māori renaissance | The Outliers
“I’m a bridge. I don’t have to belong to just one culture, occupy this one space. I can be this in-between.” Rei calls himself “the creator…
How Josiah Tulamali’i went from abandoning to uplifting Pasifika people | The Outliers
“I’d wish I wasn’t Samoan. I looked at the stats and the stories that people told about us and I couldn’t see anything worth trying to…
Musician Valle on the power of returning home | The Outliers
“Growing up in New Zealand was complex. Looking different, being different, sounding different. I remember straightening my hair just to fit in.” Christchurch musician Valle travels…
Musician Isla Reeves on bipolar and reconnecting with her Māoritanga | The Outliers
"I had this calling to be part of te ao Māori, and recognise my own Māori-ness." Christchurch poet and musician Isla Reeves gets candid about her…
The world junior BMX champion from the Waikato | The Outliers
Jessie Smith is the world junior BMX champion, and she’s from the Waikato. Her goal is to become the fastest woman on a BMX bike, and…
The youth advocate helping people “find their fish” | The Outliers
“After I told my mum, I feel like I can finally be me.” Opening up about her trauma allowed Talei to become her full self. She…
How learning te reo helped a clothing designer figure out his calling | The Outliers
“For most people in Te Kuiti, you go to primary school, you go to high school, and then you pick which meat works you go work…
The Krump Club of Ōtara giving kids hope | The Outliers
“Krump is definitely a feeling that people catch,” says dancer Ennaolla Paea. “It’s this underground misunderstood community.” The Lighthouse is a dance crew from Ōtara who…
Meet Fable, the anonymous hip hop artist from Papakura | The Outliers
Most artists work for their faces to be recognisable, but Fable AKA Shy Boy did everything he could to stop that. “When I first started getting…
Simran Kaur on being a Sikh in New Zealand | The Outliers
“You don’t belong here. This is not your country. You are a terrorist.” Growing up Simran Kaur, a first generation Sikh New Zealander, watched her family…
How rugby turned Tina into Tina the Tongan Tank | The Outliers
“They call me Tina the Tongan Tank...Once I have the ball, everyone knows that Tina is going to carry.” Tina Maota’tane is a 22-year-old playing for the…
Māori Mermaid on how being Māori is a healing process | The Outliers
“I would say, oh I’m Māori. I’m Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Ruanui. You’d get challenged. You’d get oh, but how much Māori? What percentage are you?”
Jess Thompson…
A Pacific community advocate and Islam convert on the role of police in our neighbourhoods | The…
Growing up, Melissa Lama was taught by her mum to not make eye contact with the police. Now a Pacific community advocate and Islam convert with…
Muslim rapper Abrzy travels to Bangladesh to make sense of his home in Aotearoa | The Outliers
Abid Rahman - stage name Abrzy - is a rapper living in Wellington. We travel with him to the city he was born in, Dhaka, Bangladesh,…
The 22-year old Wellington City Councillor who's not trying to change boomers' minds | The Outliers
“All around the country, and all around the world, you’ve got closed boardrooms full of old white men."
22-year-old Tamatha Paul is a Wellington City Councillor who…
Meet the 19-year-old who's the fastest person in Australasia | The Outliers
At 19, Eddie Osei-Nketia is the fastest person in Australasia.
