Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan
In 1949, Tirikatene-Sullivan began working as a stenographer (a person trained to type or write in shorthand words) at the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Headquarters in Wellington. Shortly after, in 1951, the RNZAF Headquarters assigned her to be the secretary to the assistant director of a planned royal tour. Tirikatene-Sullivan traveled as a member of New Zealand's official party during Queen Elizabeth II's royal tour of the country in 1953 and 1954.