Our Story
We are Kim and Brooke, an aunty niece duo from Taupō, New Zealand. On the day ACTIVV was born, the conversation went a little like this…
Brooke: hey Aunty Kim, do ever, you know, when you exercise, like kinda, you know, um, have light bladder leakage?
Kim: um Yes! And I’m pretty sure we aren’t the only ones!
Brooke: well I have this idea ….
Kim: tell me more, you know I love a good idea!
Combining a genuine desire to help people with a good dose of entrepreneurial spirit all fuelled by a wish to actually show, not just tell, our daughters (there’s five of them between us!) that when you’ve got an idea or a dream and you take action you can achieve whatever your heart desires.
ACTIVV women are daughters, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, nieces, aunties, cousins, friends, and colleagues. We are as fierce as we are tender, as calm as we are chaotic, as tough as we are forgiving, as wise as we are beautiful, as strong as we are vulnerable.
There are so many of us from all walks of life. Silently coping with something we’ve not been able to talk about openly. To some of us it’s been a minor inconvenience but to others of us, it’s stopped us in our tracks … stopped us from staying active.
ACTIVV was born from a desire to empower women to keep doing the things they love to do and at the same time start the conversation about how it’s possible to say goodbye to this little issue for good.
Introducing Kim Manunui
When my Uncle Steve brought this Canadian girl around to our place, I was still at school. Uncle Steve hadn’t really introduced us to any of his girlfriends before so we all new she must be something a little special. She fitted right in and it wasn’t long after that she officially became our Aunty. That was over 20 years ago now.
Aunty Kim has been there for the all the good stuff and all the hard stuff and for all the stuff in between. And I’ve been able to be there for her too.
She and my uncle have three amazing daughters age 14, 12 and 4 and she inspires me daily as she balances the challenges of motherhood with running her successful website and digital marketing business.
I always knew she was thoughtful and generous with her time and energy but it was never more clear to me then when she helped me launch my own business, Althea Affirmation Artwork, and for that I am thankful.
I’ve always been proud to call her my Aunty but now I’m so super excited to be able to call her my business partner!
-Brooke
Introducing Brooke Manunui
When I married my husband Steve, I got so much more than a husband, I gained a whole new family. His brother and sister in law made me feel at home from day one. Our marriage gave me the official title of aunty to their four children, one of whom was Brooke. Of the four kids Brooke was the thoughtful, quiet, studious one and although she was the most introverted of the family, she and I have always felt connected intellectually and spiritually.
She’s always been a fun loving cousin to my girls but when Brooke became a mum our bond grew even more profound. As the mother of two gorgeous girls, Brooke absolutely shines. Her eldest child has had health complications since birth and Brooke has had to draw on her inner strength to cope with so much. What is truly inspiring is that she recently turned her learnings on the power of positive affirmations for children into a business. I was honoured and privileged to help her launch Altea Affirmation Artwork.
I have seen Brooke grow so much since I first met her as a young school girl and now I am so super excited to partner with her on this venture taking our next steps as entrepreneurs hand in hand.
-Kim