'There are endless possibilities to your potential’

“I wasn’t the best student. Achieves and Cs get degrees.”

This is how Julia Arnott-Neenee (Lalomanu, Tulaele, Malifa, Sāmoa, Lincolnshire, England, China), co-founder and CEO of Fibre Fale, reminds herself that success starts with small steps.

As a modern pioneer for Pacific women in technology, she joins NiuFM host Chelsea Cuthers-Munro as the first guest for the ‘Woman of the Hour’ segment this year.

“So I'm going to just own that for my own younger self who might have seen somebody in my position and be like, ‘Man, they must be so smart’.

“There are different styles of smart and different types of smarts,” Arnott-Neenee says.

The Niu Days segment highlights phenomenal Pacific women who are making significant contributions to their communities. Each episode celebrates their achievements, shares their inspiring stories, and explores the impact they’re making in Aotearoa and beyond.

Past guests have included Miria Flavell, owner of the body-inclusivity activewear brand HINE, Sheena Tavioni, Tav Pacific director, and Aivale Cole, the Sāmoan soprano extraordinaire.

Woman of the Hour

At just 24 years old, Arnott-Neenee was selected for the position of Strategic Planner for the United Kingdom and Ireland at HP Inc., a leading information technology company. Her career recognition spans Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and the United States.

Watch the full ‘Woman of the Hour’ segment with Julia Arnott-Neenee on Niu Days below.

But after experiencing a lack of fulfillment from her global success and navigating some trauma and hurt, Arnott-Neenee refined her purpose and returned home, driven to uplift her community and her people.

Arnott-Neenee often holds governance roles as the only Pacific and/or youngest member, which include positions on the Digital Council for Aotearoa, the World Economic Forum's Global Futures Council on Artificial Intelligence and Inclusion, as a Trustee of Hi-Tech Trust, Board Member of Pinnacle Incorporated, and as a NEXT Foundation Fellow.

She is also an alumna of Leadership New Zealand's Mana Moana programme.

Arnott-Neenee attributes her advocacy journey to a pivotal setback in her first year at The University of Canterbury.

“I tried to do law, and I always say this quite proudly, I failed law gloriously. If you’re going to fail, don’t just fail half-heartedly. You fail well, you fail with learnings and lessons and I failed after my first year.

“I went back, and I finished. I had no idea where I was going. I just knew that my mum had spent a lot of money on my education, and I was terrified that I have to pay her back in some form.”

When one becomes three, Julia Arnott-Neenee with husband Dylan Pahina and their fur baby, Maui. Photo/Facebook

Arnott-Neenee’s first exposure to the tech industry came while working in healthcare in Sydney, Australia.

But her idealistic view was shattered when she became a victim of workplace sexual harassment.

“I know this is not an isolated experience as a brown woman, but I experienced sexual harassment as a young brown woman in an industry, in a private sector, in an agency, and it crushed me. It crushed me.

The Fibre Fale co-founders Julia Arnott-Neenee and Namulau'lu Nu'uali'i Eteroa Lafaele celebrate Sāmoan success at the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year 2025 Awards ceremony. Photo/Fibre Fale

“It was by one of my seniors and I remember telling my leaders at the time about what had happened and no one denied anything but they said, ‘Oh, we'll just move you into a different room’.

“It was at that moment I realised, wow, they think it's, I'm the issue, not the individual.

"And it was like this innocence that got popped in that moment of, oh, this is how the world works.”

Through the adversity and challenges that come with entrepreneurship, Arnott-Neenee has found “deep fulfillment” in the advocacy and change she inspires.

“The best job that I can ever do for anyone that interacts with me on a personal level, on a professional level, is to demonstrate that there are endless possibilities to their potential.

Her accolades include being named a finalist for the Hi-Tech Inspiring Individual Award 2024, a semi-finalist for the Kiwibank Young New Zealander of the Year 2024, the Sunpix Pacific Peoples Enterprise Award Winner 2023, and the University of Canterbury Young Alumni Innovation & Entrepreneurship Award Winner 2023.

Creating digital equity

Pacific people are significantly underrepresented in New Zealand's digital and technology sector.

According to a 2021 Digital Skills Survey, Pacific people make up only 2.8 per cent of staff in IT teams nationwide. In addition, 59 per cent of surveyed organisations reported having no Pacific staff at all.

This underrepresentation is particularly striking considering that Pacific people make up 8.1 per cent of New Zealand's population.

Organisations such as Fibre Fale are trailblazers in the digital and technology sector by working to amplify Pacific representation and leadership within the industry.

Their small but impressive team of three tama’ita’i includes Namulau’ulu Nu’uali’i Eteroa Lafaele, co-founder and Young New Zealander of the Year 2025 and Saphron Matamua, a director and digital strategist.

The organisation's educational programmes, facilitation services, and advocacy work have received support from various foundations, including the Spark Foundation, Fisher & Paykel, Healthcare Foundation, Foundation North, Perpetual Guardian, as well as individual donors.

Arnott-Neenee says that true success for her is about uplifting, enhancing, and empowering everyone she meets.

“I would never ask you to move into that discomfort if I wasn't doing it myself and I will lead alongside you and I'll be moving into this new space where I am terrified and I want us to never allow ourselves to be limited by the own ceilings that we place in our inner minds.

“That my essence is to activate others and the joy I get from seeing others evolve and expand and take on new heights and new evolutions, like, that is the purpose for me.”