We Are All Part of a Story

My father, Poinga Biddle (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), and my mother, Pollyann Biddle (née Pukeroa, Te Rarawa Kai Whare), started this flooring business around 30 years ago.

Back then, new flooring was a luxury — something only people in a strong financial position could afford. After many different careers — waiter at the Northerner, baker at Crusties, salesman and manager at Smith & Brown, real estate agent — my parents saw a gap in the market and decided to give it a go. They started out small, travelling around the motu with carpet samples in the boot of their car.

Work began to trickle in. Little jobs turned into bigger ones. Before long, Mum and Dad became a tag team — Dad the installer, Mum the floor assistant — smashing out whole houses in a day, as the story goes.

Over time, they’ve ridden the many highs and lows of entrepreneurship. There’s a lot to share there, but that’s a story for another time.

About 10 years ago, they set up shop at our current location: 153 Pukepoto Road. It’s a place that carries history for our whānau. My koro (grandfather), Colin Karena Pukeroa — who my daughter Kārena is named after — used to work in this very building when it was known as the Ministry of Works. When we talk about whakapapa and legacy, that connection gives this place real meaning.

It’s crazy how the threads of life weave together.

Standing in that same building now, I’m reminded that this isn’t just a workplace — it’s a living part of our whānau story.

For me, taking over the business was never something I had on my radar. Cassandra and I have been together for nearly 25 years — high school sweethearts — but in all that time, it never really came up in conversation.

Cassandra’s whakapapa is from Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui. She grew up in Te Horo and later moved north to Te Hiku o te Ika, settling in Herekino where she spent most of her childhood, attending Herekino Primary and later Ahipara School — that’s where our story together began.

So what changed?

Everything shifted when we had our first daughter, Kārena. At the time, I was working at Trade Me as a Development Manager. I attended a hui run by Enspiral Dev Academy (now Dev Academy Aotearoa) about Te Tiriti and the tech sector.

The pōwhiri hit me hard. It wasn’t the first one I’d experienced, but something about it stirred something deeper.
I found myself asking:
Why don’t I understand the reo? Why don’t I know the tikanga? Why am I only now asking these questions?

I thought about Kārena.
Will she, in 20 years, find herself in the same place — feeling disconnected and unsure of who she is?

That’s when it hit me: If I want to see change, I need to be the change.

After some counselling and deep reflection, I made the call. One morning at 3am, I woke Cassandra up and said, “Babe, I think I’m going to quit my job and move the family to Ōtaki for full immersion te reo Māori.”

Half-asleep, she looked at me and said, “Are you drunk?”

I told her to sleep on it, and we’d talk properly in the morning. A few days later, she was onboard. We both resigned from our jobs, packed up our life, and moved to Ōtaki to begin what has become a lifelong journey of reconnecting with our taha Māori.

Since then, our whānau has grown — we’ve been blessed with a second daughter, Riria.

Later, we felt the pull to return home to Te Hiku — to deepen our reo journey and strengthen our ties to a place that has always been part of us.

We’ve now been back for two years, and we’re stepping into the next big chapter: taking over the family business.

There were attempts to transition the business to others, but things didn’t work out. Dad’s ready to step away, and no one else is lined up — so we thought: Why not us?

Cassandra and I both have a growth mindset. We believe people are capable of so much when given the chance. The idea of taking a 30-year-old business and modernising it — blending in the tech and process tools I’ve worked with over the last decade — feels exciting. Empowering even.

We’re still in our first month (although Cassandra has been learning the ropes for the last six), but we can already see the opportunities.

We’re not here to start from scratch — we’re here to honour what’s been built, breathe new life into it, and grow it into something special.

This is just the beginning.

We’re documenting our first year stepping into entrepreneurship as a whānau — the wins, the challenges, and everything in between.
Follow our journey — and let’s see where this kaupapa takes us.