Vaoala Vanilla Blogs

I had the privilege of being interviewed for the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), International Women's Day #IWD2023 podcast on (click on link here): Bridging the digital gender gap - Episode 41.   Intro excerpt from IFAD website: Shelley Burich is a community organizer, female empowerment professional and an e-commerce entrepreneur. She is also the only commercial vanilla farmer in all of Samoa. She is passionate about IFAD’s support of women across the island, helping them to become self-reliant through agri-business.    Interview mark: 00:33:21

About me Tālofa lava. That is greetings in Samoan. I’m Shelley Burich. I am an indigenous Samoan, with Chinese & English heritage. I am a Wife, Mother, Nana and have a vanilla farm in the village of Vaoala (pronounced “Vow-ah-lah”), Samoa.  Samoa is a small Polynesian island nation consisting of two main islands, two smaller islands and several uninhabited islands, located in the South Pacific. It has a population of only 200,000 people. Vaoala is located on the island of Upolu. I have great love and affection for vanilla, and that love has turned me into the sole commercial vanilla...

Rachel Petero is the Founder of Rise2025, a global consultancy aiming to reimagine the futures of 100,000 Indigenous women and their whanau by 2025.  She is an Entrepreneur by heart, a HR and Executive Coach by profession, and Waikato-Tainui by whakapapa.  She advocates and drives gender equity, diversity and inclusivity through her leadership roles in governance, business and community development. (Source: "Take Your Space", Jo Cribb & Rachel Petero, 2020) I first met Rachel in 2018 here in Samoa at the Rise2025 Women in Leadership Event...ever since then I have followed and kept her in my reach.  In 2020 I...

The vanilla bean is the Hero in this video from our Growing Vanilla in the Pacific YouTube series.