Livai lives and breathes basketball, having played since he was ten years old. His parents encouraged him to play a number of sports growing up, but basketball always stuck.
Livai has played for a number of teams over the years and currently is a member of Melbourne Tigers (NBL1). Livai is equally passionate about sharing his skills and investing in youth participation, so he started a basketball coaching business with a friend in late 2019.
A new path developed for Livai during COVID19, when he was approached to model for an editorial and subsequently signed to a modeling agency in March 2020. He has been involved in a number of campaigns including Bonds, New Balance, Superdry and Birkenstock.
Livai took part in his first acting job when Bonds asked him to feature in an ad. As a result, Livai has found a love for acting and enrolled in Acting School earlier this year.
Livai felt inspired by his vegetarian and vegan friends to concentrate on improving his diet and lifestyle. He wanted to achieve optimal health and peak performance for his basketball career, so Livai started reading, watching and listening to vegan sportspeople and nutritionists. Livai met Shantael, his partner, who is vegan and decided this was the final piece to the puzzle, so he went vegan two years ago.
Livai and Shantael recently welcomed a baby boy Ryland, their rainbow child into the world, after losing their first baby Bobbi during pregnancy in 2020. The couple feel compelled to share this difficult and personal part of their journey in the hope that it shines a light on pregnancy and infant loss. Livai always wanted to be a father and is smitten to be able to watch Ryland grow.
In this episode, Livai also shares his plan to create a community of like minded people, by bringing them together with delicious vegan food and music.
https://www.instagram.com/vaivaivaivai/
https://www.facebook.com/livaijsmith
https://www.tiktok.com/@livaibes
