Founder and CEO at Jobloads

Where people find mana/respect at work.

Growing up as a happy kid in Tairāwhiti/Gisborne, it wasn't until her teenage years that Candice began to develop a deeper understanding of the social problems that existed within her community.

Not completely sure what she wanted to do other than a drive to help others and a fascination with business, she left Gisborne to study Business Management at the University of Waikato, eventually gaining a Master's Degree with first-class honours.

This opened the doors to an exciting career as a buyer for some of the most recognised consumer and retail brands in New Zealand and Australia, where her passion for understanding customer needs and trading thrived.

Fast forward a few years and the longing to raise her family back on the beautiful Ngati Porou East Coast led Candice and her partner to buy an orchard, only to run into the frustration of finding reliable workers to help harvest her crops.

The natural problem solver that Candice is, meant she could look beyond the surface of blaming the workers or existing structures and unpicking what was really driving a problem that had existed for many years. Understanding the problem was complex, Candice and her team have set out to take a holistic approach to create a marketplace for seasonal workers, built on the idea of helping workers find mana/respect in their work by ensuring they can build up their reputation and be paid fairly.

This is an incredibly inspiring story with a genuine and authentic social impact mission at the heart of building a profitable business.