SHE LEADS Sylvie Salanoa from Samoa

Welcome to the seventh of the 44 SHE LEADS video profiles for 2024.

When a Swiss girl, Sylvie Salanoa, falls in love with a Samoan boy, sometimes a heavenly idea lights up their futures.

“We both had the same vision: we wanted to be part of the growth of the economy of a place where there was less than where we were living. Then we thought ‘why don't we go home to be part of it?’” Sylvie says.

She has no regrets about moving to paradise and launching Mailelani, her skincare line. “Having your own business is very exciting because you develop creativity that you didn't know you had, you meet a lot of people and you're your own boss.”

Her advice to others who might want to go into business is to make sure their heart is in it. “You really need to have that conviction, because it's an investment… you have to give everything that you have"

See the naturally hand crafted Mailelani products here: https://www.mailelani-samoa.com/

Sylvie was interviewed as part of the SHE LEADS project by Pacific Trade Invest NZ, where innovative women in all areas of business throughout the Blue Pacific are invited to tell their inspirational stories on camera. Forty-five individual video interviews have been made in 2024, in Cook Islands New Caledonia, Samoa and Tonga. The videos will be rolled out weekly, online and world-wide via various social media platforms.