Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Joyana Finch, a former Cook Islands beauty queen, a mechatronic engineer and now a mother of 3 has her work cut out for her and there’s no slowing down. Now with her kids as her driving force, she’s taking her entrepreneurship to new heights.
Joyana says, “I don’t know what it is about having kids but my creativity has just gone ‘BOOM.’” At the age of 18 Joyana left Rarotonga to pursue an engineering degree at the University of Auckland, it was also during this time she was crowned Miss South Pacific and Miss Cook Islands.
Since having her first child, she was on the hunt for baby science books but could never find any.
“There were [some] on the market but I personally didn’t find them fun to read so I decided to do it myself. I told my husband ‘I can draw, I can rhyme, I know the technical concepts’ and [then] he bought me and iPad” she laughs.
Joyana has completed a series of 3 science books; Buzz the Electron, Violets the Photon and Bucky the Carbon Atom. The series inspired a new found passion in her children’s book writing that allowed her to bring cultural elements into her work.
“[I want to] create original polynesian literature, not just translating other peoples stories into our language so we can understand them and not just re-telling our myths and legends which I still enjoy… I wanted to make some new stories for our children” she says.
Her new book ‘Merio the Polynesian Mermaid’ is due out in 2023, as she continues to build her online business Mrs J Finch. Among the many hats she wears, being a mother is Joyana’s favourite.
“I used to think I was superwoman before kids and the you have a kid and there’s no sleep, no promotion, no bonuses, no certificates, no medals” she laughs
“I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Clich here to purchase any of Joyana’s work
