When Jasmine Acarapi’s mum Wendy was close to passing away from cancer, she told her daughter not to look for her in rainbows, but instead when it rained hard.
Four years later, while Jasmine was in labour with her first child, it was pouring outside the hospital and she could feel Wendy’s presence.
It’s why, when her firstborn arrived, she and husband Tutara Jonassen named him Rain.
“He’s only two, but he reminds me so much of my mum,” explains the 27-year-old business owner and TikTok creator. “He’s this ball of energy, super-social and just yaps all the time. That’s why it’s so hard for me because they would’ve got on. They’d be two peas in a pod.”
Wendy was just 46 when she was diagnosed with cancer in her kidneys, which then spread throughout her body. With no family history of the disease, it was a huge shock for her loved ones to lose such an incredible woman with so much more to give.
“People say I’m a ray of sunshine,” smiles Jasmine. “She was me times five. If she was a colour, she would’ve been yellow. She was a big kid at heart and you could hear her laugh from a mile away.”
It’s easy to notice the resemblance between the bubbly Hamilton entrepreneur and her mum.
“I have her laugh – I don’t know if I have much of her personality, but I definitely have her laugh.”
Now pregnant with her second child, motherhood is a journey Jasmine wishes Wendy could’ve been part of.
“It was really hard that first year,” Jasmine recalls. “I missed her physically not being there for the birth, as well as seeing my friends have their mums with them postpartum.
“But now it’s almost like I’m grieving the life she didn’t get to have. I’ll be at the park sometimes, I’ll see a nana with a grandchild and I burst into tears because I’m like, ‘Oh, my mum didn’t get that’. She would’ve been the best nana.”
After Rain was born, Jasmine says she experienced postnatal depression and her therapist encouraged her to return to the things she loved, such as the great outdoors.
“I struggled so much being a mum because I just felt stuck inside a lot. But when I’m in nature, I feel at peace.” Wanting to help other new parents feel the benefits
of being outside, Jasmine launched The Resting Sol by creating a nap mat.
“That was quite helpful for me,” she explains. “I wanted to go to the beach all day, but my son needed to nap.”
Later came a stylish handbag that can hold nappies and other essentials, which went on to be a bestseller. Tutara, 29, helped design the dad version.
With no marketing budget, Jasmine used TikTok to share behind-the-scenes content of building her side hustle. One video went viral, reached 185,000 views and completely changing the trajectory of her small business. She was at the zoo with Rain when the notifications started coming through.
“I had 15 orders within an hour and I thought I went viral then. But as I was packing them, more came in and I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is a lot bigger than I thought it would be.’ And when it all sold out, I was looking at my husband, like, ‘Did that just happen?’ It took me a few days to comprehend it.”
One of 309,000 New Zealand businesses that uses TikTok, if it wasn’t for the platform Jasmine says she doesn’t know if she’d have The Resting Sol.
She explains, “It’s so hard to be seen without marketing money, so the visibility from that viral video was huge.”
She’s also grateful for the support Wendy gave her as a kid, saying it’s helped shape the woman she is today.
“She was a stay-at-home mum. She gave her whole life to us. She’d be at every assembly whether we were getting an award or not. She’d show up to everything. That constant support has shaped so much of who I am.”
After reading her mum’s old journals, Jasmine discovered Wendy had also experienced postnatal depression.
“I wish I knew how much she’d gone through,” she reflects. “Now I’m able to thank her for what she’s done because I know how hard it is. I’m in awe of my mum and it’s such a shame I never got to vocalise that to her in person.”
Jasmine wishes her mum had more time to pursue her own passions, something Wendy had only begun doing when her life was cut short.
“I’ve always thought, ‘Oh, I wish she had lived life more for herself,’ but then I realise we got so much time with her. Maybe she was meant to be with us pretty much 24/7. Maybe that was the reason.”
If you’re struggling with your mental health, text or call 1737 at any time to speak to a trained If you’re struggling with your mental health, text or call 1737 at any time to speak to a trained counsellor for free.
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