Rocky's MPTT success

Roxanne McAlister is well-settled into her career path in beauty therapy with the assistance of Maori and Pacifica Trades Training.

That path wasn’t obvious a few years ago.

“I left school at 17 and went dairy farming,” Roxanne explains. “I had some bad experiences and left and went into the meat works at Eltham for four years.”

Family was the next step, but after having two daughters Roxanne says she was stumped about what to do. “So I looked at beauty and did a half-year make-up artistry course. And I realised that was where I wanted to be.”

To take her new interest to a professional level, she studied beauty therapy at Witt for a year. “I loved it.”

Roxanne was offered a scholarship through MPTT, which had just included beauty therapy as a trade for the first time. “That saved me $7000 on my student loan. I finished, got a job at Royale Beauty Therapy and half-way through was offered a full-time job.”

She sat for and gained an international diploma, and is nearing her first full year as a qualified beauty therapist at the New Plymouth salon.

The assistance of MPTT and its cultural development component also revitalised her Maori heritage. “It brought a lot of things back from when I was a kid,” Roxanne says.

Living then in Taumarunui, she spoke Maori regularly. But after coming back to Taranaki, she lost the benefits of that Maori embrace. “I lost my korero ... from speaking it everyday, I lost everything.”

The MPTT support gave it back. “I learned about matariki and pepeha ... it opened it all up again.

“It was easier for me,” Roxanne admits. “It was harder for those who didn’t know their background as much as I did.”

Her renewed awareness and comfort in her culture is helping the salon business. “Beauty therapy is very competitive. We are a little multi-cultural now and more and more Maori and Pasifika clients are coming in because they feel comfortable here. A lot of Maori don’t take care of themselves and are scared of judgement. Now they are making regular appointments and feel comfortable about it.”

The advanced nature of the salon is also encouraging Roxanne in her career aspirations. “I am learning more than ever. One day I would like to open my own clinic.”