Kim Hill – Rangitāne
Kim Hill, owner and founder of Stratigi, discusses life as a sought-after business strategist and championing Māori in business.
“I try not to use the phrase ‘business development’ with my clients because that implies that Māori entrepreneurs and leaders need developing. In reality, we’ve been successfully trading and capitalising on opportunity for hundreds of years.”
“We’re good at it, too. The Māori economy is worth tens of billions of dollars and plays a significant role in Aotearoa’s gross domestic product and growth. Where I come in is to help raise the capabilities of business clients who choose to work with me.”
Based in the Waikato, Kim is a friendly and familiar face in the Māori business ecosystem. Kim works with entrepreneurs, start-ups, Iwi, large corporates and small to medium businesses – across Aotearoa.
As a preferred service provider to many organisations her expertise is in high-level business planning and strategic consultation for businesses across a huge range of sectors, one-to-one mentoring for leaders and senior management, and customised workshops to get teams working more effectively.
Her passion lies in powering up our whānau and building for future generations. “That’s front and centre for me. Seeing our people achieve excites me, and that ripple effect can inspire generations to come.”
“I always say that I’m not unique in what I do, but I am unique in how I do it; building trust, triaging quickly to get to the issues, working to a whole person concept and the interconnectedness of things, and creating a safe space for business clients to talk about the pain points of their business.”
“It’s far from fluffy – it’s ‘mana-enhancing’ and often involves some courageous conversations to get to the core of what’s working and not in the business. Many of my clients come to me thinking that they need to solve a specific problem and when they leave the first session, they realise that that wasn’t what needed fixing at all – or that something completely different was inhibiting that growth.”
Kim’s whakapapa is Rangitāne, however Kirikiriroa has been her papa kāinga (home base) since the age of four, and really shaped her taha Māori. Like many, Kim wears multiple pōtae (hats), one of which is a proud mother of three sons and a Nan to six mokopuna (grandchildren) who continue to feed and drive her to bring wholeness and hauora (health) to the wider whānau and community.
Kim founded Stratigi in 2003 after running her own successful business and ‘is a self-confessed entrepreneur’. At a very young age she ran events in her neighbourhood, charging relatives and friends to watch her sing and perform. Kim often found herself around the kitchen table coaching people or in her lunch breaks because people naturally gravitated towards her to seek advice and counsel. Kim was always happy to help whether it be giving advice, serving kai, doing dishes at the marae or sharing tips and tricks she’d learned along the way.
“‘It has always been in my DNA. One of my greatest learning opportunities was owning and operating a fitness centre in my late 20s. I didn’t make a lot of money but learned a lot about running a business and how to make the rubber hit the road. While working for an ad agency I was shoulder-tapped to work on a contract for Te Puni Kōkiri. The feedback was that I was ‘doing some great mahi’ and I knew I could do more in that space so took on more and more consultation work.”
Having lived on all sides of business, Kim brings all her experience and insight and is a good person to have on your waka.
What’s exciting her now? “I was so proud to see four of my clients win awards at the Māori Women’s Development Inc Awards in July 2022 and it’s incredible to see so many entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds really making inroads on the global stage and changing attitudes around what can be achieved from Aotearoa.”
“Today’s Māori business network is huge. It’s out there, with so many business advisory services, charitable organisations, and businesses themselves doing cool things with cool people. The challenges are that we need to back ourselves, think globally, and know that while change is inevitable, growth is optional.”
If there’s one thing a Māori entrepreneur can do right now? Kim says, “really understand their purpose and why, because that will be what drives you on the tough days and keep you focused with all your decision making.”
Ehara taku toa I te toa takitahi, engari, he toa takitini – My successes are not mine alone, they are ours, the greatest successes we will have are from working together
More information about Kim and the support services she is able to provide to Māori businesses can be found here.
