55. ALI LAUITIITI
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45 Paul Staladi - ??? 2007 was working at Blomfield Special School & Resource Centre in Whangarei NZ. UPDATE - 04/07/15 Paul Staladi is living in Palmerston North and is contracted as an army chef at Linton Army Camp. Away from work he enjoys fishing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Pics below are...
nzwarriors.com
In 2015 Ali Lauitiiti was playing his final season for Wakefield Trinity. The following year he would return home to the Warriors playing one more season with the reserve grade team before finally retiring from the sport.
These days Ali has his hands in a few gigs. He is working part time as an NZRL Ambassador & Wellbeing Support.
Rugby league legends Ali Lauiti'iti and Jerry Seuseu tell youth that 'it ain't weak to speak'
Joseph Los'e
27 May, 2022 05:00 AM
It ain't weak to speak: Former Warrior Ali Lauiti'iti tells young rugby league players that speaking out is not a sign of weakness. Photo / Rendercreative
Rugby league legends Jerry Seuseu and Ali Lauiti'iti are tackling mental health in young Māori and Pacific Islanders head-on.
The two ex-NRL stars are ambassadors for the New Zealand Rugby League Wellbeing Programme.
They travel the country talking at grassroots rugby league clubs to players, friends, coaches and anyone who wants to participate in the It Ain't Weak To Speak campaign.
Seuseu told the Herald when he was playing professional rugby league for the Warriors, Kiwis and in the UK for Wigan, asking for help to deal with mental health issues was frowned upon.
"We were basically told to harden up and do your best," Seuseu recalls.
"It wasn't very fashionable to talk about mental health and people had to deal with it quietly. Fortunately for Ali and myself, we had a good Christian upbringing and that certainly helped us in our careers.
"That's what it was like back then, but we have moved on and we encourage our young people to use their voices and be heard.
"Our statistics tell us mental health [challenges are] everywhere and our youth are suffering the most. It's no weakness to reach out if you are struggling and not in a good space."
Having hung up their playing boots a few years ago, Seuseu and Lauiti'iti want to give back to the community that supported them throughout their long and illustrious careers. They both still live in and around South Auckland.
Seuseu played 209 matches - 37 for Counties-Manukau (1995-1996), 132 for the Warriors (1997-2004) and 40 in the UK Super League for the Wigan Warriors (2005-2006). He also represented Samoa four times in 2000 and the Kiwis 11 times, from 2001-2004.
Lauiti'iti was one of the most gifted players to ever pull on a Warriors or New Zealand rugby league jersey, because of his athleticism and skills.
He was a 115-game Warrior from 1998-2003, played 200 games for UK Super League club Leeds from 2004-2011 and also for Wakefield Trinity in 94 matches from 2012-2015.
Seuseu said communities face their own unique dilemmas but youth issues are not dissimilar around the motu (nation).
"We are finding that wherever we go to speak with youth, each area has its own unique issues.
"Our team spoke in Invercargill and the group wanted to talk about alcohol and driving, because they had a tragedy a few weeks prior involving teenagers," Seuseu said.
"There was a group of 60 and all of them knew those involved and were trying to come to terms with the accident and make sense of their loss.
"We also spoke with a group from Manurewa and people told us they might be a difficult group. But we gave them the opportunity and they were real conversant on how they felt."
Seuseu said giving teenagers coping strategies and mechanisms was a big part of the programme, and it was rewarding work.
"We get a lot out of doing this as well," Seuseu said.
The NZRL and the Warriors are working alongside La Va, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) whose vision is to support whānau and communities for better health and wellbeing outcomes.
"In Auckland, the youth we speak to are more worried about their identity, social media and what is affecting them," Seuseu said.
"Sometimes the conversations with youth are awkward but they have to be had.
"Ali and I try to talk with youth in a safe and engaging way, sometimes we use our PI humour, and that always brings a laugh," Seuseu said.
Lauiti'iti said talking with youth about suicide was confronting but had to be discussed for the sake of our young people.
"We try to equip our youth with tools to deal with suicide, and although it is hard and confronting we have to speak about it," Lauiti'iti said.
"But it's also having the courage to step out and help out if you see one of your mates, or you, are not in the right space."
In Auckland, 80 per cent of league players are Māori or Pasifika. Outside of Tāmaki Makaurau, 80 per cent of rugby league players are Māori.
Ali Lauiti'iti and Jerry Seuseu are committed to helping youth face their mental fears.
www.nzherald.co.nz
He also works as a youth mentor and community worker through his company he runs with his wife LTT Investments Limited.
Him and his wife also run a coffee cart at select events and it can be hired privately for functions.
Ali also helps Daniel Anderson out by helping to run training clinics for the Roosters development players that are based in NZ which is actually run by Brent Webb. Bit grainy cause I've had to enlarge it but heres a pic I took of the Roosters clinic from February
2020. Ali is far right and Webby is the guy running.
And finally the most recent venture that Ali and wife Janina have started is their own High-Performance Affiliate Marketers business.
WE'VE STARTED A NEW BUSINESS VENTURE!
Freedom to live life on our terms
A little bit about us is that we have been married for almost 20 years. We are blessed parents to 5 very active children. Both of us are of full Samoan heritage living in Papatoetoe, South Auckland.
Ali, a former professional athlete, retired from playing professional Rugby League at the end of 2016 after an illustrious and well-badged career. Ali then moved into Social Services, working with youth and is currently employed part-time by NZ Rugby League as part of the Wellbeing team. Ali also works as a Transitional mentor for the NRL.
I, Janina, more recently worked in Social Housing but was forced into redundancy due to the covid mandates at the end of March 2022. No payout and only four weeks' notice. Since being made redundant, Ali and I quickly realised it was a blessing in disguise. The family dynamic of being home full-time again was necessary for our young family.
We decided that Ali would continue working part-time, and I would be home full-time for our family.
As the weeks went by, we felt the money pinch and needed to increase our income streams. We were no longer making enough to meet our big family's needs.
We had not prepared ourselves enough for such an unexpected financial hit when I lost my job.
We were asset-rich and absolutely cash poor.
We quickly found ourselves broke by June 2022. We hate debt, so short-term loans were out of the picture.
We quickly sold off a rental home in July so we could breathe a little more and re-evaluate how we would move forward as a family.
Here we are, fast forward to September 2022. In our mid-40, 's trying something entirely new for us, and we are excited to share what we are jumping in on.
This new business venture is our third to try. We own a small property portfolio and a coffee cart and are now High-Performance Affiliate Marketers.
We understand that some things are worth the risk.
We want to live life raising our children and being present.
We watched our sister Molee start her Affiliate Marketing business from scratch for an entire year. We saw her smash serious goals, earn so much money and eradicate her and her husband's debt.
We could see that the money in her business was real.
Her work hours were according to the lifestyle she wanted to live, and she had loads of fun along the way.
She connected, encouraged and empowered others to do the same for themselves.
Molee levelled up in life in a way that we had never seen in her before. She was thriving in a new, positive and life-impacting way.
We lived a comfortable life before. Now that I was a stay-at-home mother again, I knew I needed to try something extra to bring in more money for our big family.
We wanted and always needed the freedom to live on our terms.
We refuse to be broke.
Our hearts desire to learn, earn and help our families, friends and, more importantly, our children to be able to do the same.
We all need Time freedom, Financial freedom and Family freedom.
We should be able to live our best lives with our families.
When forced into redundancy, I honestly cried to management on so many occasions pleading for them to give me any role in the organisation. They knew I was married with five children, and I also cared for my parents. They didn't care what it meant for me to lose my job, and they ultimately didn't care much about me.
I often wonder how many will be financially prepared if they find themselves out of a job within a month.
I regret crying and pleading for my job. Was I helping build the wealth of someone else? When now, I can make our family wealthy, and I can pour my heart and soul into my own business for our profits.
What better feeling?
To no longer rely on anyone else but ourselves.
To become self-sufficient.
So we started an online business leveraging a platform that takes all the confusing technical details out of the equation. The educational platform itself teaches us how to build our business.
We have partnered up with a company that has been around for 48yrs.
The compensation plan is unmatched. The income potential is uncapped, and there is an opportunity to make money automatically for life—Unreal FOR REAL.
It is a business model that ANYONE can follow regardless of background and education level.
The business model focuses on self-growth, personal excellence and how you can impact the world on a broader scale.
We are playing the long game to create the freedom to live life on our terms. We get to choose how we live our family life by helping ourselves and others.
We know our worth and will no longer be hidden and remain under someone else's authority, controlling what kind of money we can make. We decided we were going to try something new.
Because nothing changes when nothing changes right?
Suppose you're curious about what we are doing. Or if you feel a little overwhelmed trying to make ends meet these days.
Send us a message "SEEN", and we will personally reach out to you so you can see how this platform can give you more freedom to do the things you want.
We've started a new business venture!
msha.ke
www.driven.co.nz
autolabs.nz
