Founders Story

Kia ora e te whānau,

Over the last few years my journey has seen me dive deep into reconnection with myself, my identity and my indigeneity, and the ocean has played a significant role in all of this. Being of mixed indigenous decent - Albanian, Māori, Scottish and English- I always had somewhat of an identity issue. Never quite fitting into any world, but craving that belonging to all. 

Learning to freedive and spearfish at 30 saw me completely change the way I viewed the world, myself, and life in general. It made me feel whole and gave me that belonging and purpose I craved. Everyone can feel belonging and connection in the ocean, we all whakapapa to the moana. The concepts within freediving, the mindfulness and breath work, the process of a catch n cook, from learning, to hunting, to dispatching, and then cooking… it connects me to all of me. Getting lost (or perhaps found) in the ocean, being directly responsible for my food source, learning about the effects on our taiao/natural world, how interwoven it is, and recognising the things we can be doing to improve the health of ourselves and the moana is all part of it for me now. Amongst all of this, I saw myself falling in love with an activity that was largely male dominated and so I wanted to be able to help empower our wāhine to give it a go too and join me on this awesome adventure. Cue Salt Aotearoa!! 

Mauri ora!

~ Renee Taylor