Robin Uata
5.9.22
"My name is Robin Uata. I am a Tongan-American, Libra, and Editor-in-Chief of Pacificus Magazine; a publication which highlights Pasifika creatives. I am one of seven children and my siblings and I are the first generation to be born and raised in the U.S. I graduated from Timpview High School in 2011 and served a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines Cebu Mission from 2013-2015 speaking Cebuano. I met my wife Venz, while serving my mission and we got married in 2018 in Salt Lake City and now have two kids, Fehi and Rando. Upon returning from my mission, I decided to pursue my professional career outside of college. I currently work full-time as a Customer Success Manager at a tech company while running a small business, Pacificus."
“I was inspired to create a magazine highlighting Pasifika creatives because of my first trip to Tonga in 2018. Growing up, I had heard so many stories from my parents and relatives about their upbringing. When I finally had the opportunity to go to Tonga, it was surreal. At this moment in my life, I was struggling to find my purpose as a creative. For years I had been doing freelance work as a photographer, designer, and stylist and had collaborated with dozens of creatives. I slowly began to realize that there weren't a lot of people who looked like me in these spaces and that to me felt extremely limiting. Going to Tonga literally and metaphorically helped me reconnect with my roots. Being in Tonga reminded me that the ocean is my greatest resource and helped me see the potential in creating something that would embrace creativity, culture, and community. If people were not going to give me a seat at the table in these creative spaces, then I had to create my own table. Just a few months after returning from Tonga, I started Pacificus as an Instagram page which later transitioned into a printed publication with its debut issue releasing in October 2020.”
I believe that growing up Tongan I was able to inherit a very strong work ethic from my parents and grandparents. Just hearing all their stories of growing up in Tonga and really hearing about the sacrifices and the obstacles they had to overcome to get us to where we are today has been really special. I have been able to really use that to propel myself forward because I understand that I have a responsibility to raise the bar in order to honor those experience.
Any advice I have for people watching this is to really lean into anything that makes you different. I think it is really easy for us to conform and kinda fit the mold when we don’t necessarily fit in. But it’s important for us to understand that what makes us different is what makes us special and if we can embrace that then we can teach the world to embrace that as well.
"Lean into what makes you different"