Hard work, family and a few good stories

Cory Kira is one of our Seed Technicians here in Pukekohe, and after knowing him for the past seven years, he’s one of those genuinely solid blokes — calm, fair, approachable in any situation, and always up for a good laugh. Quietly hardworking with a good sense of humour, Cory’s the kind of person who gets on with everyone.

Where did you grow up?

“I’m a true Pukekohe local, I was born at Puke Hospital, raised in Puni, and went to Puni School. I grew up with four sisters and was the middle child, those girls definitely kept me on my toes. They dressed me up, tormented me, made me do stuff and I’d get the blame for it,” he laughs. “Thankfully these days, we are all best mates.”

Your working life?

“Hard work has always been part of my life. My dad spent 35 years working at Set Sue Gardens doing a bit of everything, I followed in his footsteps when I was 16, eventually working there for around 12 years. During that time, I drove potato harvesters, ran the packhouse, hand-weeded onion paddocks, and picked persimmons by hand. Working for the Chinese boys there was no mucking around, I learnt to work hard and work efficiently.

In between stints at Set Sue’s, I gave a few other jobs a crack. I worked in pallet racking while living in Glenfield for a period, tried building work, and also worked in Manukau assembling chilly buns in trucks” (for those of you who haven’t heard of this – it’s a movable internal wall divide in a refrigerated truck").

“One of my more memorable jobs was working as a trade assistant for my engineer brother-in-law repairing silos in Auckland City where one of my tasks was literally holding the rope in case he passed out so I could yank him back out,” he laughs. “Thank goodness we now have H&S!

At just 13 years old, I was working at the Puni gas station when I experienced something pretty full-on. A car rolled onto its roof coming around the dangerous Puni corner right outside the station, I pulled two women from the wreckage.  One of their husbands came back the next day with a blank cheque and told me to write any amount I wanted, I was too young to understand the extent of this and just said no thanks.”

How did you find Seed & Field?

“I joined the company seven years ago after spotting the role on Seek while landscaping for my sister’s company and looking for more hours.  I really enjoy the structure — it lets me spend time with my family and plan life properly. It’s a nice small team too, it’s easy to get along with everyone.

I enjoy the variety, especially over the last couple of summers - the factory team have helped the sales and R&D staff, we’ve done deliveries, I’ve picked up skills I never expected to learn.

I’ve learnt heaps about seeds, seed coating and the chemicals we use. It’s actually quite a science. Sometimes we’re coating seed heading to the other side of the world, and we only get one shot at getting it right.”

Your family?

“Outside of work, family life is everything to me. I met my wife Gipsy at a 30th birthday party I almost didn’t attend. Funny enough, I’d gone to school with Gipsy’s older sister, and although we'd always known the same people, we’d never actually met.

At the time, Gipsy was already working as an early childhood teacher, a career she’d been in since she was 17. These days she works as a truancy officer, she finds that hugely rewarding.

Gipsy’s amazing, she’s supportive, a great mum, a great wife — we’ve got a lot of laughs and a lot of love in our family.”

Nine years after meeting, three kids, and a house in Pukekohe later, life is busy. “Tired… always tired,” Cory laughs. Their oldest, Kaia (11), keeps active with run club and art classes, Tohu (5) plays squash, and little Ariki (21 months) keeps everyone busiest by getting into absolutely everything.

Earlier this year, Cory and Gipsy quietly got married at home with just their best friends there. “It was perfect,”  He mentions although the family wasn’t too impressed about not making the guest list, they’ve mostly forgiven them now.

Gipsy’s family also has strong roots in Pukekohe. Her grandad Nick owned the well-known Nick’s Barbershop — remembered not only for haircuts, but for standing up for fairness at a time when Māori weren’t allowed haircuts in some places around town. Nick famously sacked a worker on the spot for refusing to cut a Māori customer’s hair. The shop was later taken over by Gipsy’s dad Dave, who’s now retired but still cuts hair for a few favourite clients from home.

When they’re not working or chasing after kids, the family loves bike rides, weekend lunches, Warriors games, and spending time with the wider family. “I’m an avid Warriors fan,” he says. “We try and go together as a family when we can.”

Early sports

“Before family life took over, I spent four years training and fighting in Muay Thai after originally taking it up for fitness.  I loved the camaraderie. Nobody had egos when you walked through the door. We had world champions around us and got to learn from them.

I also spent years playing table tennis and at one stage ranked number three in Counties for my division. It was fun and fast… weirdly the only sport I ever injured myself playing,” he laughs. “I slipped in my own sweat.”

Rugby was another big part of growing up, playing for Pukekohe and school teams. One team still sticks in his mind though — Wesley College.  “Those guys were huge compared to us — we never beat them while I was playing!”

Whether he’s at work, at home or at a Warriors game, Cory’s the same genuine, down-to-earth guy everyone enjoys being around.