Kanoa Cool, calm, connected
At the start of a new year, many of us are making sweeping resolutions and ambitious commitments to better our lives. But Kanoa Lloyd isn’t interested in bold promises or even mapping out the next few weeks or months. In fact, the broadcaster has never been big on making plans, because if there’s one thing she’s learned, it’s that beauty comes from the unexpected – if you let it.
“You know, just holding steady is a massive accomplishment,” she says, as she reflects on 2020, the year none of us will ever forget. “So I don’t know, I guess my plan is just to hold on and be grateful for what I’ve got. I think when you come from where I come from, which is not having much and just kind of scraping by, when you’ve got it, you bloody well better look around and appreciate it.”
It’s been a big year for the co-presenter of The Project, who’s worked through two lockdowns, gone months without seeing her whānau and fronted some of the nation’s biggest stories. She’s now enjoying a well-earned break, taking her mum Diane, who lives in Dunedin, to Mangawhai, Northland, with her sister Ruby.
“We booked a little place up there for a few nights. It’s like a proper dinky little bach,” she says, adding that she can’t wait to take her mum swimming in warmer waters than what
