She's beauty, she's grace, she's a Tongan baddie in these United States! Ya'll have no idea how excited I am to close out the very first szn of The Xtra Sznd Podcast with the one and only, Velonika Pome'e!

I initially met Velonika Pome'e at New York Fashion Week during Covid and have been fortunate enough to collaborate with her on multiple photoshoots. The fact that she was able come to Utah and participate in this podcast is a huge deal and I'm grateful she took the time to stop by.

In this episode, we talk about her journey as a model and what that looked like for her. Velonika was catapulted into the spotlight when she became the first pasifika model to grace the pages of Sports Illustrated. Since then, she's been able to move to NYC and grow her platform in order to showcase the intersectionality between her modeling career and her passion for community.

We get to hear all about her experiences from navigating through cultural expectations within her Tongan heritage to her opinion on body positivity and the plus size movement within fashion. So tune in and get inspired because this girl is someone you need to keep an eye out for!

George Ngatuvai is an incredible photographer and one of my oldest friends. We've known each other since we were kids and it's been amazing growing up together while both of us have pursued creative endeavors.

As someone who has ventured down so many creative paths, George has been a constant source of help and inspiration. His skills as a photographer are not limited to any creative niche and that's what makes him extremely unique. He can do fashion editorials, sports editorials, concerts and more!

I get to sit down with George as he talks about what inspires him as a photographer and some of his upcoming projects. He also shares a lot about what it was like working behind the scenes for Pacific Roots: Our Football Legacy -- a documentary highlighting the careers of Pasifika legends in the NFL.

George is definitely someone to keep an eye on because he has so much to offer the world as a creative and he's just getting started!

It's a szn of gratitude and I couldn't be more grateful to have my wife join me on the podcast! Meet Venalen aka Venz!

I decided to serve an LDS mission back in 2013 and got assigned to the Philippines Cebu Mission. Not long after reaching the Philippines, I ended up meeting Venz as she was beginning to learn about the church and ended up baptizing her in Oct 2013. Oftentimes, when people hear this, there tends to be a lot of assumptions about our relationship (because dating is not allowed while serving).

Sometimes people even question or joke about whether or not I served a mission worthily. Venz and I get to sit down and set the record straight and she gets to share her personal conversion story about becoming a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

From meeting in 2013, to going on our first date in 2016 and later getting married in 2018 -- we have now been married for 6 years and have two kids together and wanted to dedicate this episode to them and document this story so that they can listen to in the future. Hopefully this will give them a glimpse of how incredible and resilient their mother is.

As someone who has an entrepreneurial spirit, it's incredible to meet people with that same passion for breaking glass ceilings.

Meet Gabe Mataitusi! He and his wife are proud owners of The Royal Lounge in Salt Lake City, Utah which is a his/hers salon that offers an incredible amount of services from hair cuts, facials, massages, tattoos, teeth whitening and even custom grillz!

I first met Gabe during a workshop that he and his wife were hosting at Creative Pacific Week in Sep 2024. Hearing them talk about the amount of hustle they've had to do in order to launch their dream business was truly inspiring. I knew from that moment I had to bring one of them onto the podcast to share their story. Hopefully you as a listener will be inspired as you hear Gabe talk about the ups and downs of starting a business.

Q: Who run the world?!

A: Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter!

In a world filled with pop icons and rising stars, there is only one Beyonce. As a self-proclaimed certified Beyhive, it's time to unpack the very loaded question, "why do you love her so much?" It's a difficult question to answer because where do I even begin? How can can I try to put into words the impact this woman's career has had on me?!

The amount of money I have spent to support this woman is second to none EXCEPT Oni Finau! If you think I am a die hard fan, then you need to hear what lengths Oni has gone to see this woman in concert. On this episode we share some of our early beginnings as Beyhive members and what gravitated us toward stanning the greatest of entertainer of all time besides the obvious.

This one is for the Beyhive!

How do I stay in alignment with my life's purpose? This was the initial question that sparked my curiosity with Human Design. Since learning about it, it's been something that has been fundamental with how I work through my day to day and has helped me reach some incredible goals.

I get to sit down with Jenilyn Su'a to talk all things Human Design. We'll be sharing about how to get started and personal experiences about how it's impacted us -- from parenting to manifesting and everything in between!

Jenilyn is a dear friend who has spent countless hours diving into Human Design and understanding more about how it can be a compass to the roadmap of our lives. Being able to sit down with someone and learn even more about this topic was soooo refreshing! Can't wait for you to hear this episode.

If you have any kind of creative bone in your body, you'll want to have a seat for this episode. I get to sit down with the one and only, Kesia Nielsen! She's a creative genius that I truly admire and have always been in awe of her work ethic and her hustle.

In this episode we talk about Kesia's career development as a Grahpic Designer and how it helped ignite her passion for branding. As the owner of a branding company, Braaand, she shares the ups and downs of being in the creative industry. Working a 9-5 isn't everyone's ideal career path. Kesia explains how you've got to put in the work during that 5-9 in order to get to where you need to go! Kesia also opens up about her current belief systems and the impact that they have on her work ethic because the grind doesn't stop for anyone!

This episode has a little bit of everything as Kesia and I talk about our creative journeys, entrepreneurship, and even spirituality. This organic conversation goes on a lot of different directions but it encompasses the small details that make us the creative beings that we are.

This episode is a little close to home. I got to sit down with my sister, Luisa Uata, to talk about her coming out experience within our Tongan LDS family. This brings up a few sensitive topics such as same sex attraction, as well as the conflict within our cultural/religious upbringing.

The Tongan culture is centered on respect. This conversation may be considered inappropriate for a brother and sister to be having together but I felt that it was a conversation that was necessary to have that could be beneficial for others to hear. Our siblings have always been very open with one another and this episode is a reflection of that.

There's many layers to this discussion and we try our best to peel those layers back to explain why her coming out story was a difficult one for her. This discussion was such an eye opening experience as it allowed us to show both perspectives from Luisa and from me/the family. I'm glad that we're at a place that we can laugh about this now and that our family has been able to experience a lot of healing and growth.

Thankful that my little sister was brave enough to come onto the podcast and share her experience with you all!

SZN 1 EPISODE 2 features Miya Jensen aka The Polynesian Genealogist! Miya's career revolves around genealogy and she utilizes her knowledge to help the Pasifika community understand the importance of knowing where we come from so that we can know where we're going.

As indigenous Pacific Islanders in a diaspora, traditions can sometimes be a stumbling block or a stepping stone. Miya sheds some light on how we as individuals need to decide what traditions we want to carry forward with us. So have a seat as we share some hot takes and some hot family tea in this episode! *sip sip*

SZN 1 EP 1 features the one and only Leanna Ah Loo Hansen! She's a hair stylist that owns her own salon here in SLC, Utah and I've had the pleasure of working with her on multiple projects. Along with sharing about her passion for hair and her love for celebrity gossip tea, she opens up about her journey with IVF and the impact it has had on her mental health.

I'm so lucky to call Leanna a friend of mine and am so thankful that she felt comfortable enough to share her story on the very first episode of The Xtra Sznd Podcast!