As a child, Jessie knew that she one day wanted to make the world a better place. Arriving in London with just £500 in 2005, armed with a positive attitude and a wealth of friendships from her travels, she set off to make this dream a reality.

She embraced the harsh reality of a cold and dark British winter and saw the beauty in the daily London commute that so many of us love to hate. “I remember smiling and looking at the grim tube and thinking it was just the best thing ever!” With a tight purse, she was quick to land a temp job in PR and later worked her way into the digital marketing world.

Fast forward 5 years and Jessie found herself making the move back to New Zealand, in what a good friend described as her “OE from her OE”. Determined to experience New Zealand through fresh eyes, she moved in with a bunch of Irish housemates in a large flat share in Auckland. It was during this time back home that Jessie met her partner, who funnily enough, was British. He was due back to the UK as his visa was up, and Jessie made the decision to move back as well. She explains, “I still had my working visa and loads of friends and connections, so I thought I would just go back there and see what happens”.

From a young age, Kiwiroa Marshall has stayed true to her high school motto - Summa Pete, Seek Thou the Highest. As head girl at Papakura High, this has been a value which has resonated with Kiwiroa (known as Kiwi) and one which undoubtedly has been applied throughout various aspects of her life.

Kiwiroa describes herself as being from a true blue-collar background. Her father, who spent most of his life in the freezing works, always championed her progress. “Dad wanted more opportunities for me than he had, so he would go into school and talk to the careers advice officer and my teachers." It was an accounting teacher that said she should be going to to university that lead to her completing a four-year Bachelor of Management Studies (majoring in Accounting) at Waikato University.

In her mid 20’s, Daniella did what so many of us curious Kiwis do - she packed up her life to move across the world. Armed with a two-year working visa, she headed off to London, with the desire to travel Europe and live in “one of the most exciting cities in the world”. Fast forward 11 years and Daniella is still proud to call London her “home away from home”.

Growing up, Daniella said she didn’t have a dream career. “I decided very last minute what University I wanted to attend and what to study,” she said. She was living in one of London’s Kiwi hotspots, Fulham, surrounded by a great network of friends and working for a magic circle law firm, when she decided to make a change. She stepped away from her job as a foreign qualified lawyer, for a new career path to work in digital marketing. It was these skills in law and marketing that Daniella eventually carried through into her very own business - Pēpi Collection.