Bold, Brave and Beautiful

Sheena’s Story: Bold, Brave and Beautiful

Sheena Penwarden’s story doesn’t begin with an easy path. It begins in South Auckland with a city-based childhood marked by hardship and upheaval. Her parents separated when she was young, and she was sent to Hokianga to live with her kuia. It wasn’t the easiest start, but it was hers. And from those early experiences came a quiet strength that would shape the woman she was becoming.

Motherhood and motivation

When she became a mum at sixteen, the world didn’t pause for Sheena. There was no soft landing or pre-destined pathway. But motherhood triggered something deep inside Sheena and having her three children was a turning point. “My babies gave me drive and purpose. I didn’t want for them what I had growing up”, she says.

Together with her husband, Sheena built a life, through jobs in retail, butchery, and eventually on the land. She entered the dairy industry as a relief milker and step-by-step climbed the farming ladder – from farm assistant to herd manager to manager. In 2020 she was recognised as the Northland Dairy Manager of the Year. In 2023 she was nominated for Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.

While meaningful, these accolades represent just one aspect of Sheena’s journey. Because beneath these milestones is a wāhine who has rebuilt herself time and time again.

The call home

Over time, Sheena felt a pull that that she could not ignore. She describes it as a knowing, a call home, to reconnect with her roots in the Far North. “I started realising I wanted to come home. To help my people. To serve.”, she says. What began as a feeling soon became a purpose: to make a difference for her whenua and her whānau.

Through kōrero with different generations, Sheena began to truly grasp the impact of human activity on the environment. It hit hard. And so, Sheena’s work became not just about ecology, but also human connection. “At the headwaters, where it’s untouched, everything is beautiful. But as you move downstream, where people are, that’s where the damage is. People are the difference.” That realisation lit a fire in her. To educate herself, and others, to restore harmony between people and nature. So, her return to Kaitaia, with her whānau, became Sheena’s opportunity to walk forward in purpose and stand firm in her identity.

Serving land, people, and purpose

Today, 38-year-old Sheena leads freshwater restoration engagement and monitoring across Te Rarawa region on behalf of the iwi’s 23 marae. Her work spans riparian planting, fencing, pest management, and tracking changes to ecosystems, ensuring that land and waterways are protected in a way that honours their mauri. She’s now working to unite environmental efforts across her rohe under one collective kaupapa, building what she calls “the ultimate Pou Taiao Team for Te Rarawa”.

Her vision is clear and deep. She dreams of an evergreen world, where tāngata and whenua exist in balance. Where nature can do its thing and people don’t take more than they need. “Kaitiakitanga isn’t just guardianship. It is recognising that true kaitiaki is the land, the tree, the water. And that we’re here to look after them. Not the other way around”.

Hardship, healing, and a journey back to self

And yet, perhaps the most profound transformation hasn’t been in the whenua, but within herself.

There have been deep seasons of hardship to navigate along the way for Sheena. “There have been some hard times, and my barriers went up.” Sheena says quietly “You build armour around yourself just to survive, sometimes.”

But she has done far more than survive.

Last year Sheena participated in AWDT’s Wāhine o te Whenua programme, encouraged by her kaumātua who saw leadership potential in her. Initially she thought the programme would be focused on agriculture, but what she encountered was something far deeper and more personal. “It became a journey of self-care. Questions I had never asked myself before. It stripped me back,” she says. “I’ve always been staunch. But in that space, surrounded by a cohort of incredible wāhine, I took off all my hats and just got to be me.”

She calls the experience “life changing”. It provided a safe space. A sisterhood. Shared vulnerability. And a deep remembering. It helped her remove the final layers of self-protection and fully step into her power as a leader. “That armour I used to wear, it’s gone, and I have bloomed.”

Now, as Sheena reflects on what she might tell her younger self if she could go back in time, her answer is powerfully simple; “Don’t forget who you really are.”

Lifting others as she rises

Now, as a mentor of other wāhine, especially those at the beginning of their journeys, Sheena shares with them her personal motto: “Be bold, brave, and beautiful. We forget these parts of ourselves, especially as women when life keeps piling responsibilities on us. But they’re still there.”

Ask Sheena who she is – not as a mother, or wife, or worker, and she doesn’t hesitate. “I’m a beautiful Māori woman. I’m a builder. I’m a spiritual guide. I am strong, balanced, and determined.”

A message for every wāhine

Sheena’s story isn’t polished. Nor is it linear. But what it is, is real. And it matters.

To every wāhine who sees herself in Sheena’s story; to the teen mum, to the woman putting everyone else first, to the one navigating herself and her life with quiet resilience, or the one wondering what next, Sheena’s message is simple:

“You only live life once. Make it a damn good one.”

And with that, she smiles and keeps moving forward