Her Migrant Spirit

Her Migrant Spirit

by Natalia Garcia

Entrepreneurship Careers

She learned to trust her voice. Now she’s building a movement for climate action.

Gautami moved to New Zealand from India for her Master’s, knowing little about the country beyond its cricket team. She always had a passion for nature, but it took time to figure out how to turn that into a career. In this episode, Gautami shares how finding the courage to speak up and being open about her values on LinkedIn changed everything. She talks about why we need to stop worrying about what others think, how sharing her true beliefs helped her find a values-aligned job in just three months, and why her work as a sustainability consultant is so important to her. We also talk about sustainability: what it means in simple terms, why it can feel overwhelming, and how small actions can help create a better future for the next generation. A thoughtful conversation about finding your voice, following your values, and taking action together.

From Humble Beginnings to Big Dreams, Financial Indepence, and Empowering Others

In this episode of Her Migrant Spirit, Dani Paim shares her journey from humble beginnings in Brazil to moving to New Zealand at 21, without speaking a word of English. She opens up about starting again in a new country, navigating years of visa stress and uncertainty, and the powerful moment she finally became a New Zealand citizen. For Dani, it was a moment that made her feel like no dream was too big. Now, as the founder of Property Besties, Dani helps women build wealth through property investing. We talk about money, the beliefs we grow up with, and the mindset shifts that can help us create greater financial freedom. Dani also shares how learning to trust herself, invest in her growth, and stay authentic has helped her build a business and empower other women along the way. This is an honest and uplifting conversation about dreaming bigger, creating independence, and building a life that feels true to you.

She left Kazakhstan at 16. She built a community that changed lives across Aotearoa.

Elina Ashimbayeva arrived in New Zealand alone at 16, before she even knew where it was on a map. It took years for Auckland to feel like home, and some of those years were harder than she ever let on. For five years she ran Storyo, a storytelling platform that amplified the voices of women, gender-diverse people, and people of colour. She interviewed 200 people. She built events where strangers became best friends. Elina refuses to call it a success. For her, it was something bigger. What she calls an ancestral assignment: the work you're quietly meant to do. In this episode, Elina talks about the loneliness of finding belonging, what 200 interviews taught her about self-doubt, and why you don't need to build something huge to make a real difference.

She grew up in a house of 45 in India. Now she's building a fintech startup.

Shweta grew up in a joint family of 45 people in small-town India, where she never had to lift her own plate. At 19, she left it all behind for New Zealand, alone, determined to build a life on her own terms. In this episode, Shweta shares the winding road that followed: the "no New Zealand experience" wall that rejected her again and again, the sheer tenacity it took to break through it, and a lesson from her grandfather and a Rubik's cube that still shapes how she solves problems today. From hotel front desks to Yellow Pages, American Express, and her own food businesses through COVID, every step led her toward founding her fintech venture, Wismo Pay. This is a story about resilience, reinvention, and the power of asking "why not me?" As Shweta puts it: "You are your best advocate and your worst adversary." Her Migrant Spirit is a storytelling series celebrating the courage, creativity, and success of migrant women building their dreams in Aotearoa.