Today we’d like to introduce you to Philip Mauigoa.
Hi Philip, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Samoa. I moved to the United States when I was 6 years old. It was a big culture shock because I had to learn to speak English, which was one of the biggest obstacles in my life. That was also the same age I was learning how to fire a knife. My uncles and father taught me the ancient skill passed down from generation to generation. I started to compete in world fire knife competitions at the age of 8 till I was 12 years old when my mother wanted me to focus on school and put fire knives away. When I graduated high school in 2012, I still needed to decide which career to take, so I was stagnant and working a regular 9-5 job and starting to do fire knife gigs here and there. It was the gig in 2016 of august that changed my life. I was doing my fire knife dance when my hand my fire knife slipped out of my hand and went flying to one of the hula dancers I was working with that night and burnt her leg. It wasn’t a bad burn, but it was enough for me to apologize constantly. It started a conversation that led to a date, which led to me falling in love with this hula dancer who later became my wife, Malia! 2 years later, we were expecting a baby boy, and I had no idea how I would support my family. At that time, I was working at the Disney parking lot, making $10 an hour, working 50-plus hours to make it through, and barely saw Malia. That’s when an audition was posted for fire knife dancing at the festival of the lion king show. At this time, I was not practicing fire knife, so I wasn’t as confident in my talent and thought I needed to be better to try out. But my wife Malia encouraged me, believed in me, and told me I could do this! And so I took her advice and auditioned 2 weeks later, I got the call that I would be a professional fire knife dancer for the festival of the lion king. I just got on my knees and cried because, at that moment, I realized everything would be okay. On my first day on the job, we introduced ourselves; every performer came from big stages like broadway, cirque du solei, etc., and here is me from the parking lot of Hollywood studios. It was such an amazing feeling to make it from the bottom. A few days later, another audition was posted for a dancer and singer of the spirit of the aloha dinner show. I felt confident in myself and decided to do it because I was having a baby, so I had to do everything I could to provide for my family! That same day after the audition, I was offered a full-time acting and singing role for the Spirit of Aloha dinner show! I was so happy because I was to provide for my little family fully! During rehearsals, malia had the baby, so I went back and forth between the hospital and my new job with no sleep, learning choreography and memorizing the script! It was the hardest week of my life, but it was all worth it because I passed my approval day, and I was now fully able to do the show! And the best part was I could perform with my wife, a professional Polynesian dancer, for the show! From 2017- 2020 I was living my dream of performing 5 days a week when everything stopped. In 2020, my wife and I got furloughed from our jobs. Covid they closed the show and never brought it back again, a show that was running for 50-plus years. I had to still provide for my family, so instead of waiting for employment, I immediately found a job as an essential worker at the lowes hardware store. I was again working 40 full hours for only $11 an hour. This was a hard time because I couldn’t fully afford to live, was so unhappy, and barely had time to see my wife and son. That’s when I decided to take a leap of faith. I realized nothing would change unless I took a chance on myself. I quit my job and decided to use my talent for fire knife to do gigs here and there. It was slow at first, but when I posted a video of my little family and me on TikTok, not thinking anything of it, the next night, it went viral! 1 million views,2 million, and it came out to 17 million views in a week! That’s when I decided this was it! This is what we needed to do! Market ourselves on social media, which evolved into our family business called Chief Laiuni Entertainment LLC, which my wife and I own, and my little son ended up being the show’s star! Many doors were open, and now we are proud to be able to do what we love for a living and have enough time to spend with each other especially being parents to our little boy, who is now 4 years old. Blessing.
You wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been smooth?
Some of the struggles were getting let go from our dream job and working an essential job to get by, working long hours, feeling stuck, and not having time to see your family because you were constantly working a job where they didn’t see value in you.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a professional Polynesian dancer/fire knife dancer specializing in Polynesian shows and showcasing our cultures from the islands of the South Pacific. We are also well known on social media platforms because our audience loves learning from where we come from. What sets us apart is the passion and love we have for who we are, which radiates out the positivity that attracts many to learn more about who we are. I am most proud of being able to perform together as a family and teach my son as he learns about his culture and ancestry.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting?
My advice is to believe in yourself! And you can do it! Sometimes you have to take that leap of faith to realize it was in you the whole time! I wish I would’ve started sooner!
Contact Info:
- Website: Chieflaiuni.bio.link
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Chieflaiunientertainment
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chieflaiunientertainment/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCxA8SoeAJ7m2ocfAFkJxqDw
