Our story
Talofa lava and Mālō e lelei! Samogan Treasures is a family-owned business run by myself Savili and my husband Aleki and inspired by our two beautiful children pictured throughout our website (Genesis & Corinthians). I'm half Tongan half Samoan - my mother is from Pukotala, Haapai in Tonga, and my father is from Lelepa & Manase in Savaii Samoa. I grew up fully immersed in both cultures and learned to speak fluent Samoan from a very young age. It was pivotal in our household, to only speak in our mother tongue as it was important for my parents to know they were passing on their treasured language, values, and traditions for us to learn and share with others. Everything we are today is because of our parents and this business is a small token of our appreciation to them and our wider family. We are forever grateful for our upbringing and we're both very proud SAMOGANS who speak and understand fluent Samoan and basic Tongan, have a deep understanding of both cultures and share this love of our languages with our children.
Samogan Treasures came about in 2020 when we had our son Genesis, we wanted him to enjoy reading so would often shop for books. He loved his lift-the-flap books and we loved seeing the sheer joy on his face each time he lifted the flaps. Besides wanting him to enjoy reading, we also wanted him to take pride in his heritage and learn the language. We decided that speaking to him in the Samoan and Tongan languages would be one way to help spark that pride. Alongside speaking the languages, we wanted him to have a library that would follow suit but unfortunately, we weren't so lucky with lift-the-flap books; we couldn't find any in-store or online. This was the epiphany moment that prompted us to write our first lift-the-flap book, Su’e lanu ole nuanua/Kumi mai ‘a e ngaahi lanu ‘o e ‘umata, have my father proofread the Samoan and my mother help with the Tongan translation.
Since 2020, I was fortunate enough to complete the Tupu course with The Renew Room; this course took our idea from my computer and made it everything we ever wanted or imagined it to be. With the guidance of The Renew Room, I’ve been able to create our brand, secure a website, and now have the foundational tools to help with mindset, business plan, analysis as well as marketing.
Alongside creating resources and selling them online and in local Pasifika and Māori stores and markets, we want to take these resources into aoga amata preschools, libraries, ECE centers, primary schools, churches, and do live readings for young children. We hope you enjoy our resources as much as we do! Fa'afetai lava/Mālo 'aupito!
Our brand name
Being proud of our Samoan and Tongan heritage and wanting to pay homage to our parents, grandparents, and those who have gone before us, we knew we had to have our cultures in our brand name. We merged the words Samoan and Tongan to create 'SamoGan' and added 'Treasures' to emphasize how precious and valuable our language is.
Our brand colours not only represent our homeland flags but also bring about feelings of passion, excitement, positivity, and trust; values that our business will uphold and build on.
SAMOGAN TREASURES for us is a legacy for our children, nieces and nephews and the many generations to come.
