Early in his working life he sold light commercial trucks for 14 years. He came to notice in 1995 when he headlined his own TV3 show "Pete and Pio" with fellow comedian Peter Rowley. After the success of "Pete and Pio", Terei led his own show called "Pio!", featuring similar skits to his previous programme. It ran from 1997 to 1999 and it was during this period that he hosted the "Coca Cola Christmas in the Park" in front of thousands of people. When "Pio!" was cancelled in 1999, Terei moved to the opposition TVNZ network.