Founder Story

...Ko Ngātokimatawhaorua te waka, ko Hokianga whakapou karakia te moana,
ko Te Ramaroa te maunga, ko Whiria te pa, ko Pakanae te marae,
ko Maraeroa te wharenui, ko Ngāpuhi nui tonu iwi,
ko Ngāti Korokoro, ko Ngāti Wharera, me te pouka ngā hapu,
kei Kirikiriroa ahau e noho ana,
ko Beau rāua ko Arley aku tamariki,
ko Amy toku ingoa.
...
ko Weraiti te maunga, ko Mangapiko te awa, ko Tainui te waka,
ko Ngāti Hinerangi, Ngāti Haua rātou Ngāti Raukawa oku iwi,
ko Ngāti Tokotoko te hapu,
ko Te Ohaki te marae, kei Kirikiriroa ahau e noho ana,
ko Koree rāua ko Kiani aku tamariki,
ko Dayna toku ingoa.

BO & KO Baby started with two best friends, two new māmā, and one big idea.

On maternity leave, navigating the beautiful chaos of motherhood, we shared the same realisation, our pēpi (babies) deserved more than soft blankets and cute designs. They deserved to be wrapped in their culture from day one. We couldn’t find what we were looking for, so we created it. BO & KO Baby was born in 2021, named after our sons Beau (‘BO’) and Koree (‘KO’), but made for all tamariki (children).

From a kitchen table to a commercial warehouse in 2023, from late nights to nationwide shelves, this journey’s been fulfilling. An ’idea’ has grown into being Aotearoa’s leading provider of authentic Māori baby products, stocked by major retailers and trusted by many Hauora and Iwi organisations across the motu.

In 2024, we received the Māori Women's Business - Emerging Business Award solidifying our hard work over our 2 years we had been building our pakihi (business) from the ground up. In 2025, we now have an amazing team of five kaimahi made up of accountants, business mentor, marketing specialist and part timers plus the two of us, as hands on directors. We are building something bigger than a pakihi (business), a movement rooted in whānau, culture, and identity.

Our wins include media features in many publications, a major collaboration with retail brand Woolbabe and being part of thousands of babies’ first moments in te ao (the world). Our pēpi are thriving in cultural immersion and we’re on our own reclamation journey too, two years deep into our reo Māori haerenga. 2025 began as BO & KO Baby, a brand to surround pēpi in culture, then grew into providing a space for whānau, for kāinga, for identity at every stage of life. And so our homeware collection was born and BO & KO evolved.

Of course with business comes setbacks, some of these have included stock headaches, cash flow tightropes, juggling māmā life and our pakihi, and the hustle of a fast moving market. But through it all, our kaupapa has never shifted, whānau first, culture front and centre, and quality without compromise.

What drives us? Our tamariki (children). Our people. The belief that indigenous culture shouldn't be something to catch up on, it should be part of growing up and in everyday life.

In 10 years time we hope BO & KO will be a global indigenous enterprise. Still grounded, still authentic. Our product range will touch every part of life, not just pēpi essentials, but homeware, lifestyle, and taonga that make culture part of the everyday. 

We’re here to normalise, to reconnect and to be a small but powerful step in cultural revitalisation.

We love this mahi, we live this mahi. This is BO & KO. 

Ngā mihi maioha, 

Dayna & Amy