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Pasitaua Haufano, Managing Director and founder of Zeducation, a workplace training educational consultancy business, says his passion is all about helping people reach their full potential. Pasitaua says their mission and inspiration is to help people unleash their greatness through workplace training education.
Zeducation offers employers support to help their staff up-skill, offering a range of courses in areas such as workplace numeracy and literacy, finance, leadership and workplace development. Pasitaua draws on his own personal story and his journey of educational pursuits, not only gaining a Masters in Marketing and Bachelors of Product Design, but also qualifications in education, entrepreneurship and leadership that have led him to create two businesses.
Of Samoan and Tongan heritage, hailing from the Samoan villages of Fusi Safata, Tafitoala and Leauva’a and in Tonga, Niuafo’ou and Ma’ufanga. Pasitaua recalls during primary school that he was taken out of the classroom several times a week for tutoring to help with his reading, writing, and spelling.
While his parents worked very hard to provide for their family, communicating in English was difficult. Pasitaua says he learned most of his English from the television. In high school he avoided subjects like Maths and English. He says he lacked confidence and did not believe he was smart enough like the other kids.
Despite the challenges he faced at University, with an insufficient literacy record to qualify to apply for the Masters in Marketing programme at two different universities, this not deter Pasitaua. He has gone on to gain the qualifications and become a member of Beta Gamma Sigma – the international business honor society that recognises and honours top performing students from across the globe in business schools.
Not only has Pasitaua achieved academically, he has found a love for literacy and numeracy. He says from his own personal experience he can prove that anyone can grow and develop with the right mindset, focus, attitude, and the necessary resources and support.
Zeducation is a family affair and alongside his brother Kalolo and wife Sandra the team work closely with businesses and employers. One of the objectives is working with employers on how to identify and encourage staff to take on more leadership roles within the organisation. Working with staff to manage their finances that can impact on not only their personal lives but can sometimes affect their ability to carry out their jobs is an important subject that Zeducation provide educational training for, as well as looking at all perspectives from the employee’s and employer’s points of view to help not only within the workplace but with everyday life.
Another course Pasitaua is excited about is financial literacy and helping Pasifika people learn or develop positive money habits. Makatuliki is a free 10 week programme fully funded by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples that Zeducation is offering in August.
In this PW Podcast Pasitaua reflects on how Zeducation has evolved since it first opened a year ago. And while he acknowledges running any business is hard, he says it has been worth it. “It’s always been in the making… my brother and my wife, our mission is the same, helping people unleash their greatness is something that really inspires us and gets me out of bed in the morning. I’ve seen so many students have come through our programs and their lives have changed because they’ve learned something and they’ve applied what they’ve learned and it’s made a huge impact on them and their families, hearing those stories, you know people being able to solve problems — get themselves out of the pit, those are things that that really inspire me.”
Listen to the Podcast Highlights
