Young mum goes from living in a car to building a business and raising a toddler

A young Kiwi mum is moving from strength to strength building a business and a family after a period of time spent living in her car.

Tutiyana Watson was a teenager when she became a mum, just 17 years old when she got the news she was pregnant.

But, with no support in her hometown of Rotorua, she wound up living out of her car.

“My pride was too high to ask for help then,” she told TVNZ1's Seven Sharp.

But a week before giving birth, her mum, Jean Serjeant, flew in to help, giving the young family a chance to find their feet.

Just three months later, Watson started out a business with her partner Twin, a tattooist.

Now Watson is teaching the next generation the importance of her life lessons by sharing her experiences with kids from her old school.

“The best thing I think is, find out what you’re good at and go hard and do it," Serjeant says.

“Everything else will follow."

Watch the video above for the full Seven Sharp story.