Global Pasifika Success Podcast

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After building a career in professional rugby with the Queensland Reds, Gavin Luka took a leap of faith that changed the course of his life. 

At just 29, he now leads Nexus Alliance as CEO in the Philippines, applying the discipline, resilience, and team-first mindset he developed on the rugby field to the business world. In this episode, Gavin shares how embracing opportunity, trusting hard work over luck, and stepping outside his comfort zone helped him transition from elite sport to executive leadership.

Gavin Luka | Samoan-Aussie in Philippines (@gavin.luka) • Instagram

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Kevin Alo is a brand strategist, former lawyer and one of Papua New Guinea's leading voices in modern marketing and business transformation.

 After beginning his career in corporate law, Kevin transitioned into marketing, where he has spent more than a decade helping some of Papua New Guinea's largest organisations build stronger brands, connect with customers and embrace innovation. His experience spans legal practice, corporate strategy, finance, retail, communications and AI-enabled marketing.

Alongside his corporate career, Kevin founded WokBung, a boutique strategy and content consultancy that partners with organisations to develop authentic brand stories and meaningful communications.

A passionate advocate for Papua New Guinea, Kevin believes the country's greatest competitive advantage lies in its people, creativity and cultural diversity. He is particularly interested in how artificial intelligence, storytelling and innovation can create new opportunities for young people, businesses and the nation's future.

In this episode, Kevin shares his journey from law to marketing, why authentic storytelling matters, how AI is reshaping business, and why he believes Papua New Guinea remains one of the world's greatest untapped opportunities.

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Lorna McPherson is one of Papua New Guinea’s most influential sports and business leaders. Having lived and worked in PNG for more than 16 years, she has built an impressive career spanning telecommunications, government relations, marketing, and professional sport.

In January 2026, Lorna was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the PNG Chiefs Rugby League club by the Australian Rugby League Commission. Prior to this, she served as a Director of both the PNGRFL and the PNG Chiefs, while also holding senior executive positions at Digicel Pacific, including Senior Vice President responsible for Government Relations, Sales, Distribution, Retail and Marketing across Papua New Guinea.

A passionate advocate for the growth of rugby league, Lorna played a key role in transforming the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup into the country’s premier sporting competition and was instrumental in establishing the Santos Cup, Papua New Guinea’s elite women’s rugby league competition. Her work has helped create pathways for athletes, strengthen communities, and elevate the profile of sport across the nation.

Today, Lorna is leading the PNG Chiefs into a new era while continuing to champion opportunities for athletes, women, and communities through sport. Tune in for an insightful conversation on leadership, resilience, and the power of sport to drive national development.

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Abigail Tere-Apisah is one of Papua New Guinea’s most accomplished tennis players. Born and raised in Port Moresby, she earned tennis scholarships that took her from the ITF Academy in Fiji to the Margaret Court Tennis Academy in Australia, and later to Georgia State University in the United States, where she competed as the team’s No. 1 player and graduated with a degree in Exercise Science.

A former professional athlete, Abigail achieved a career-high WTA ranking of 276, won one professional singles and six double titles and became the first female in the Pacific region to earn ITF level 2 coaching certification. Today, she is a mother of two and founder and Head Coach of the Tere-Apisah Academy, where she is developing the next generation of athletes in Papua New Guinea.

These days, Abigail is juggling her family commitments, tennis academy AND flipping houses which shows that the habits you build early, continue throughout life. Tune in!

Instagram: Abigail Tere-Apisah (@abigailapisah1)

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Jason Venu is the Founder and MD of Coversure Insurance. South Auckland-raised and of Samoan descent, Jason jumped out of employee-mode and into entrepreneur-mode following an insurance career spanning over 10 years. 

Coversure is now an award-winning and global operation, all sparked from Jason's insatiable curiosity, courage to reach out for help, and a deep desire to ensure people "live life, covered". Jason spends a large chunk of his time in the Philippines, where amidst his business dealings, he also runs charitable programs such as sponsoring sports teams and feeding the homeless!

As always, he has an incredible team led by his family, wife Pam and a group of superstar mentors. Tune in.

CoverSure LinkedIn: Coversure NZ: Overview | LinkedIn
Jason Venu LinkedIn: Jason Venu | LinkedIn

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Willie Leota is a Christchurch-based mortgage broker who is passionate about helping people achieve home ownership and wealth creation. Willie's pathway to his dream career has seen him work at various financial institutions in and amongst pursuing a rugby career in NZ and abroad. Interestingly, Willie and his wife also sold all of their belongings and headed to Samoa to volunteer with Samoa Victim Support Group and other ministries.

LinkedIn: Willie Leota | LinkedIn
Instagram: instagram.com/willie_leota | www.instagram.com/pasifikahomebuyers

Thanks Willie!! 

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Fiso John Fiso (ONZM) is the Director of Fiso Investment Group based in Wellington NZ – a private Pacific fund that focuses on property development, health, education, hospitality, wellness and imports/exports. 

The son of migrant parents from Samoa, John was raised in Wellington and attended the almighty Rongotai College before moving to Dunedin to study phys-ed and economics at Otago University. 

After teaching for a few years, John spotted a barrier to Pasifika education that he believed he could overcome so he ventured into setting up the NZ Institute of Sport – a private training education that provided pathways for tertiary studies. After almost 20 years, John sold this entity for $19.3M in 2015 and is now involved in all sorts of business ventures across the globe.

Testament to the mark he’s made in our Pasifika and Maori communities, as well as the broader population, John was awarded Wellingtonian of the Year in 2017 and Officer of the NZ Order of Merit in 2016 for services to Education Sport and the Pacific Community.

Credit to REBECCA AMA and MANAWISE Group's own Systems Guru PALA FONOTI for the introduction and making it happen. Fa'afetai tele lava.

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Lana Carter  is the Founder and Principal Lawyer of Lavenia Law - a law firm that is focused on wills and legacy planning.
 
Lana was born and raised in Porirua Wellington and is of Samoan and Maori heritage. She now resides in Brisbane with her husband and two kids. Following the death of her mother at just 44 years of age and her experience at her mother's funeral, Lana has focused her professional life on ensuring people's wishes and legacy are clearly articulated, protected, executed and legally-binding!

Lana is insightful and knowledgeable about her area of law, but also deeply empathetic and simple in how she explains her work. Outside of mahi, Lana likes to hang with her family, serves on a health board and lifts heavy things (the Porirua Powerlifter!) Tune in!

www.lavenialaw.com.au
https://www.instagram.com/lavenialaw
www.facebook.com/lavenialaw.com.au
 

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 Tovia Va'aelua is husband to Linda and a father of four. He is a technology expert with over 20 years of experience across the globe. Falling into tech after graduating from university with an education degree, Tovia climbed the ranks in NZ across companies such as Datacom and Microsoft before relocating to the Philippines to take up a leadership position at Microsoft. Having achieved his professional and family goals there, he returned to NZ and pivoted within tech and is now the VP of Sales for Tech for Good within Crayon. Tovia now assists for-purpose organizations to embed technology to enable their success.

Tovia's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tovia-va-aelua-b603964
Website: www.crayon.com
PasifikaInIT: http://www.pasifikainit.org/

Humble, excellent, and a family man of faith. Tune In! 

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Kale is of Maori heritage and was born in Brisbane Australia. From his own account, he had a pretty rough upbringing in Australia and it sounds like his saving grace was his mother’s decision to relocate to Clyde in Central Otago NZ to get away start afresh. Kale seemed to have thrived in Clyde at school and through uni and then went onto become a PT.

Kale’s had crazy success since with a really popular story being that he started a gym with his cousins with $200 to raising $220K in just 14 days before the gym had even opened. With numbers like this, it’s no surprise that Kale was headhunted by global giants Tik Tok and Microsoft to help with their brands, and he now owns 3 businesses: K&J Growth, Rugby Bricks and Hakune. These businesses have offices as far afield as LA, Amsterdam and of course Dunedin.

Follow Kale for easy-to-follow tips on success, entrepreneurship, marketing and more at these links:

Kale Panoho (LinkedIn): Kale Panoho | LinkedIn
K&J Growth: Growth Hacking & Digital Marketing Agency Los Angeles - K&J Growth (kjgrowth.com)
RugbyBricks: Rugby Bricks - Kicking Tees, Tips, Training, Podcasts
Hakune: Start, Build and Grow Your Business with Hakune