Little Giants started with a whale-watching boat, a beach in Bali, and a conversation about what I really wanted to do with my life.

Around 12–15 years ago, I was in my early twenties, working on a whale and dolphin research vessel in Auckland. I had the incredible privilege of seeing these animals up close almost every day, while also getting an inside view of the science and what was happening in the Hauraki Gulf. It was a hugely formative time in my life.

Then I went on a birthday holiday to Bali with my mum.

I remember walking down to a beach where there was a sign saying that locals cleaned the beach every day. But when I got there, rubbish was everywhere. Plastic bags and disposable cutlery were rolling in with every gentle wave.

It was the moment I really understood that this wasn't just about the odd piece of rubbish we were finding on Auckland beaches. It was all part of one ocean. Plastic pollution was a global problem, and I was part of that problem too.

I knew I wanted to do something.

When we moved to the Bay of Islands, we were camping on our land near Opua. We had a storage container, a tent and an outdoor kitchen, and I was borrowing friends' kitchens to make beeswax wraps and bread in.  But I was living in this incredibly beautiful place that people travelled from all over the world to visit, and I could see an opportunity to make sustainable living more accessible to everyday people.

I'd actually said out loud for the first time what I wanted to do during a conversation with my old whale-watching colleague, Cat. We were talking about our dreams, and I remember telling her, “I want to have an eco shop.”

And so Little Giants was born.

The first shop was a little pop-up at Studio 39 in Paihia. I had beeswax wraps, hand-knitted dishcloths Mum and I had made, Aoraki Naturals soaps and I'd bought about 100 stainless-steel drink bottles—which felt like a massive investment at the time.

And you loved it! You supported it. And it grew really beautifully and organically

From there came markets, collaborations, sustainability workshops, talks, and eventually a whole community of people asking me to find things they couldn't easily get locally—from bamboo straws to menstrual products and stainless-steel pegs.

Then came Ocean Mind.

I wanted Little Giants to create a bigger impact, and after a conversation with Tracy from Sea Cleaners and then my friend Kayla, we realised we could do something ourselves. There wasn't much happening locally to help people understand plastic pollution and what they could actually do about it.

So Ocean Mind began.

Through Little Giants, I was able to donate 10% of proceeds each month to the project. What started when my son was a few months old, became a community that is still running monthly beach cleans today.  Last year alone, more than 5,000 litres of rubbish were removed from our local environment.

I am incredibly proud of that.

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And now, after all these years, Little Giants is coming to an end.

But the values behind it aren't going anywhere. In fact, they're coming with me.

My priorities have shifted, and at this point in my life, closing Little Giants feels like the right and surprisingly easy decision. My focus is moving towards something that has grown increasingly important to me: our land in Opua, a deeper connection to the natural world, and the incredible medicine that can be found in plants.

I've discovered a real affinity for natural formulation, and that's where my next chapter is taking me—with Moonstone Botanicals.

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I'll still be helping with beach cleans. I'll still happily stop for a chat about sustainability. And I'll be carrying everything Little Giants taught me into the products I create next.

So, to everyone who ever bought something, came to an event, asked a question, shared a post, supported a beach clean, or simply believed in what I was trying to do—thank you.

Little Giants will forever be a part of me.

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The Great Eco Sale will help fund the next round of natural deodorants and the re-brand into this new direction, while giving all those lovely eco products one last chance to find good homes.

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Thank you for being part of the dream.

And here's to the next chapter. I hope you'll come along for the journey.