Business at the Intersections: Entrepreneurship as a Cultural Act

In In The Vā, we believe entrepreneurship isn’t just about launching businesses. It's an act of cultural memory. It's a bridge between generations. It's a reclamation of space.

Across Polynesia — from Samoa and Tonga to Aotearoa, Hawai‘i, Tahiti, and Fiji — women are redefining what it means to be entrepreneurs. Their businesses aren't just commercial ventures; they're vessels of identity, community, and cultural pride. They live at the intersections of tradition and innovation, rootedness and reinvention, creating work that uplifts not just themselves, but entire communities.

Entrepreneurship as Resistance and Revival

For many Indigenous women, starting a business isn't only about independence or profit — it's about preserving and evolving ancestral knowledge.

Take ‘Aisea Kolio, a Samoan weaver and designer who launched Le Tatau Collective to revive traditional siapo (barkcloth art) and bring it into contemporary fashion. She didn't want siapo confined to museum shelves. Instead, she imagined a world where it lives and breathes — worn in boardrooms, at weddings, and in everyday life.

"Every piece I create carries the stories of my ancestors — but it's made for today’s warrior women," ‘Aisea says.

By selling siapo-inspired textiles globally, she's not only building a sustainable business but ensuring that her heritage remains alive, visible, and evolving.

Entrepreneurship becomes resistance — against erasure, against invisibility, against the homogenization of culture.

Culture as Competitive Edge

For entrepreneurs from the Pacific, culture isn't just background — it's the brand.

Laniakea Jewelry, founded by a Native Hawaiian mother-daughter duo, crafts adornments inspired by celestial navigation, ocean waves, and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language). Each necklace and bracelet tells a story, from the migration of Polynesian voyagers across the Pacific to the legends of Hina and Māui.

What sets their brand apart? It’s not just aesthetics — it’s depth. Customers don't just buy jewelry; they wear a legacy.

"We’re not selling ‘Hawaiian-themed’ pieces. We are transmitting ʻike (knowledge) through every design," co-founder Mahealani explains.

In a crowded global market, authentic cultural storytelling becomes a powerful differentiator. It draws customers seeking meaning, roots, and connection.

Culture is not a constraint — it’s a competitive advantage.

Modern Tools, Ancient Wisdom

One of the most exciting aspects of today's Polynesian entrepreneurship is how women blend modern tools with ancient wisdom.

Take Tehani Moa, a Fijian-Tahitian wellness entrepreneur who created Vā Healing, a brand offering Polynesian plant-based remedies for modern ailments — think adaptogenic kava elixirs, noni skincare, and guided lomilomi meditation apps.

She uses sleek e-commerce platforms, Instagram reels, and subscription models — but the roots of her products are ancient.

"Technology lets me tell old stories in new ways," Tehani says. "Our ancestors were innovators too — navigating oceans by the stars. I’m just navigating a digital ocean now."

For her, tradition and tech are not opposites — they’re collaborators. In every online order she ships, she’s delivering ancestral medicine into contemporary lives.

Community Over Competition

A deep sense of vā — the sacred relational space between people — shapes how many Polynesian women approach business.

Unlike the cutthroat model of "winner takes all," Polynesian entrepreneurship often emphasizes collective uplift.

Mana Markets in Hawai‘i, for example, is a cooperative of Native Hawaiian women artists and makers. Instead of competing, they collaborate — hosting joint pop-ups, sharing resources, mentoring younger creators.

Their success is measured not just in profit margins but in how many women they bring along with them.

"In our cultures, when one rises, we all rise," says Pua, one of the founders. "Business isn’t just business — it’s community care."

This model of cooperative entrepreneurship challenges Western narratives of individualism and shows that solidarity can be a strategy — and a superpower.

Conclusion: Building More Than Businesses

At In The Vā, we see clearly: when Polynesian women build businesses, they’re often building much more than brands.

They are reviving languages, revitalizing traditional crafts, reclaiming sovereignty, and reimagining success.

They weave together past and future, weaving themselves into a fabric far greater than any single product or service.

Their entrepreneurship is an act of story-keeping, an act of cultural curation, an act of love.

When you support Indigenous women entrepreneurs, you aren’t just buying a product. You’re investing in a living lineage — and a future where innovation and ancestry walk hand in hand.