Holly Hiko

Representing the levels and forms of aroha that can be found throughout our lives across our many communities. We acknowledge the wide range of obstacles and the journey it takes to overcoming everything that stands in our way to expressing aroha within.

Ko wai koe? What are your strengths/weakness?

Kia ora, my name is Holly Hiko, from Property Scouts Manukau. I am a Business Development Manager, born and raised in South Auckland. I currently live in Mangere Bridge, with my dad, my husband, and our dog, in the family homestead my grandfather built.

I’m Māori; both my parents are Tainui, my dad is from Huntly and my mum was brought up in Mangere Bridge. I lost my mum when I was 11, so it’s just been me and my dad and my brother.

I don’t like talking about myself, but one of my strengths is being open to trying new things and meeting new people. I consider myself as a leader, kind of a forced leader ha-ha. I guess I’m like, where are things going?

My role at Property Scouts is the Business Development Manager and what I have to do is look for properties to bring on board, so that we can manage them.  We would have owners enquire about our services and that’s the opportunity for me to book in a meeting with them, go out and see their property and build relationships.

I do a lot of business networking and go out to groups. I get to learn other people’s businesses. And the good thing about networking is that you build relationships and you trust them, and then you refer them on to people who might need these services and then vice versa. So that’s my role.

The biggest challenge for me? Time management. Yes, in the industry you get thrown in with things off guard, urgent things pop up and then the things you need to do…sometimes you miss it.

Seeking guidance from our kaitiaki Hiwa-i-te-rangi, we take a journey through our different aspirations, goals and dreams. This tohu acknowledges hard work, wisdom, the reach of ones goals and the desire that comes from this mahi.

What were/are your career aspirations leading into your chosen career path?​

Prior to becoming a Property Manager, I had many different jobs. One of those was as a sales development representative at a trucking company, so we sold GPS tracking.

During Covid-19, I wanted a change. I was working from home, like everyone, and I was thinking about, what’s the next step? And my family friend, Ani, reached out to me and sold me a dream about what she wants to do with her business, Property Scouts. I became the first employee, signing up in June 2020, and I haven’t looked back since.

When I got in with Ani and her husband John there was just under 30 properties. I helped her grow it to what it is now, around 200 properties. I kind of knew that I wanted to be a part of this vision Ani had. I love seeing our tenants in their homes and making sure people are housed in warm, dry homes.

First of all, you need to know what you want really, because business ownership is not for everybody. You have to be able to be a risk taker as well… know that there is going to be a lot of challenges along the way and then don’t see them as failures, learn from them.

With adventure comes challenges as well as obstacles to overcome. We stand proud as we overcome these obstacles. This tohu draws inspiration from the Niho Taniwha and Aramoana patterns. We acknowledge reaching our destination and preparing ourselves for the many new adventures ahead.

How wīwī wāwā has your career adventure been?​

There are a lot of investors wanting to sell their properties because they can’t afford what they bought during the peak of the market. My challenge is finding investors who want property management services, because they would prefer to do it themselves to cut the cost. They see it as a luxury rather than something that could save them time and money.

I bought into the business last year, because I knew that I wanted to be a part of this long term. We’ve just signed our franchise agreement for another six years. I’m really grateful that Ani and John presented that nugget early on. I asked as well, I told them I wanted to become an investor early on in my career with them, and it’s always been in their mind to get me on board. Another win is bringing family on board. My sister-in-law works with us, and we’ve hired friends to be Property Managers as well.

I’ve always wanted to own a business. About 10 years ago, I owned a business, I was a network marketer selling products, but I couldn’t afford the lease of the property that I was renting out and went quiet after that. I always knew I wanted to get back to being my own boss. So, I went back to the workforce and then 10 years later, became a boss owner again.

When I failed in my first business, I was very embarrassed. But looking back now, I think, good on you, a 22-year-old trying to run a business.

I went to Te Wananga o Aotearoa and did a Level 3 business course, because I knew I wanted to try again one day. I learned so much from that course. Now I’m studying again, Level 4 through Te Wananga and learning lots of nuggets. You need to always be open to learn.

These patterns represent bravery and being strong in the face of adversity. We strive to be persistent and positively challenge anything that threatens to alter, restrict, and put a barrier in the way of our desired pathway.

What was your defining moment?  What words of wisdom or change in heart, changed your stars?​

I’ve always admired my Aunty Dorothy, which is Ani’s mum. She’s owned her business for 20 years now and I’ve always wanted to own my own business because of her. Yeah, I’ve always wanted to own her business too. A funny story, I actually applied to work for Ani’s mum, which is where my dad works. We are all whānau.

Here we are drawing inspiration from the Pūhoro pattern.  The pūhoro is used here to represent the strength, speed and agility needed to move forward and accomplish ones goals.

What future actions/recommendations do you have for those who want to be in a career like yours?​

I would recommend getting into customer service, to see if you’re into that kind of thing. Not a lot of people like engaging with other people nowadays. Everything’s done by text, but you need to make sure that you can make a phone call, not just text or email them.

This role is very face-to-face, and you need to be confident to be able to talk to someone or show someone around.  You have to make sure that you’re confident enough to go into someone else’s home and make sure you’re not judging them at the same time. You can’t tell people how to live, but you need to be able to be fair. Just having life skills and experiences with relationship building.

I‘d love to see more Māori and Pacific Island people in property management. I have an interest in making a group for Māori and Pacific property managers as a support group, I haven’t heard of one yet…and more females as well…that’s what I’d love to see.

Success, best mentioned in the whakatauki “Tūwhitia te hopo, mairangatia te angitū!” Feel the fear and do it anyway!

What are some the failures/challenges in your life that have helped with your chosen career path? What are some memorable wins for your chosen path?​

In Property Management, coming in green, I had a background in Customer Service and managing relationships. I was fortunate to have that background to be able to lean on something and bring those skills over. The biggest challenge is trying to get the landlord to understand that yes, it is their property, but there are laws in place as well, and then balancing that out with the tenants.

One challenge that I have had is, where the tenants have damaged the property really badly and then we’ve had to fix everything up. You want to give up your first time seeing that, but then it gets easier along the way, you start to become prepared, and you learn from it. The biggest thing is not beating yourself up and knowing it’s not you, it’s the situation that is happening. So learn from it and say I made a mistake, but I’m willing to learn from it and have a better outcome next time.

We get it a lot where there’s tenants that have just one bad thing on their credit, so they haven’t had any luck with finding anything and we’ve given them an opportunity to make themselves look good and they’re usually the best tenants.  It’s about being a people person, not a people pleaser.