Shalom Alfred Ngaro, Customer Experience Designer video (04:58 mins)

[Video shows an aerial view of Wellington’s central city and harbour]

I think from a young age, my family wanted me to be a doctor. And so I think going up, I always thought that I was going to become a doctor.

So through high school, I did kind of all the sciences and math and stuff up until my last year of high school, where it wasn't really an interest of mine.

I kind of realised, like, well actually, do I want to become a doctor, or even in the medical field. I enjoyed the science. I was like, they are really good and really interesting. But just for me, I didn't really find that's what my passion was.

And so from there, I kind of went against the grain and didn't listen to my parents. [Laughs]

[Video shows Shalom sitting in a meeting room and speaking]

And kind of just tried some random subjects that I thought I would enjoy for my last year of high school.

The funniest thing is back in high school, I mean, my teachers would always say that we'll be working in jobs that haven't even been created yet.

Yeah. I think that's one thing to keep in mind, like, seven years’ time, there could be completely new jobs that no one's even thought of.

[Music plays]

My name is Shalom Ngaro. I'm twenty-eight years old. I am currently an experience designer with ANZ Bank.

My mum is American Samoan and Niuean and my dad is Cook Island. My parents always kind of reiterated the importance of education and how far education can actually take you.

So I think without that push and without that encouragement and support as well, I wouldn't have kind of taken the leap to leave work and go into study to get where I am.

Also my sister, she's also an experienced designer as well. And so she, as much as I hate to admit it, she has kind of, like, laid the way for myself. She's kind of told me the steps to take and what to do to kind of step into the profession.

[Video shows Shalom working at a whiteboard]

So I think the biggest thing that inspired me to come to this position or this field, it's just the lack of representation that we have within the state in general.

We make up such a small part of tech, but it's like such a massive sector.

And I think especially with us moving to a more technological society, we need to be a part of that progress. Because, yeah, the last thing we want to do is be left behind when the rest of the world of moving forward.

[Video shows Shalom sitting in an office speaking]

I think the biggest thing that’s possible to bring to design in general is the art of storytelling. Storytelling plays such as massive part when you're going to present work or bring your best ideas to stakeholders or clients.

The best way to sell an idea or sell your work is through telling a story. And I think Pasifika people, you know, traditionally, we don't write down our stories on pen and paper. A lot of our stories are passed down verbally. And so, we naturally have the gift as orators to be able to tell those stories.

As Pasifika people, I think we tend to not really recognise our full potential, and that’s in all careers, not just design.

I think just to really, yeah, put yourself out there. Don't be ashamed to bring your whole self as well because it’s possible that we bring a lot to the table.

And also, just be confident in who you are. Yeah. I just think we shouldn't be afraid to really bring what we have to offer as Pasifika people.

The obvious subjects would be kind of anything to do with IT, and then also graphic design, art. If you enjoy art, I encourage you to take art as well.

I think a major part of my job is really understanding people and being able to empathise with people from different cultures and different walks of life. So even subjects like social studies, cultural studies, even like history, I think that's really important.

Just the kind of give you that background understanding of how people behave and how people act.

Kia orana, talofa, my name is Shalom Ngaro. I'm from the villages of Mutalau in Niue, Mangaia and Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, and also American Samoa.

I live in Petone, Wellington.

I went to Tamaki College in Glen Innes, I am from Auckland, I am a son and just an overall cool guy. And this is how I became an experience designer at ANZ.