Palmerston North franchisee Petera Wiparata is proud to be following in his father’s footsteps.
“My dad was a cleaner for 20 years, and I’ve done cleaning for most of my life. I love cleaning — for me it’s one of the only jobs where you know you’re done when you’re finished. If you can’t see a difference you know you haven’t done it properly!” he says.
Petera worked for another cleaning company for 13 years before joining CrestClean in 2020.
“I always cleaned for other people. Owning my own business is totally different. I used to work 80 hours a week, now it’s not even half that and I’m earning more than I was before.”
Petera was also glad to say goodbye to 2am starts, and is now working much more family-friendly hours, leaving plenty of time to spend with his partner Sophie Searancke and their children Rangiamohia,11, Iritana, 9, Manawanui, 7, and Te Ahureinga ,5.
“It’s opened things up for us and given us so much opportunity. We’ve all got bikes so we bike a lot around Palmie. It’s been a change for the better.”
Proud of his Māori heritage, Petera enjoys greeting his customers with a cheery “mōrena” or “kia ora”.
“I attended kohanga reo and Māori immersion classes at high school, but I lost my te reo once I left college, so now my kids are teaching me, and that’s motivated me to carry on. It comes back to you. When I’m at home and my kids are speaking it, it becomes natural again,” says Petera.
“My mum and dad’s generation weren’t allowed to speak te reo. Every generation has something different and I’m just glad our kids are pushing us to speak it.”
Mehemea ka moemoeā ahau, ko ahau anake. Mehemea ka moemoeā tātou, ka taea a tatou.
If I dream, I dream alone. If we dream as a collective, we can achieve our goal.
