Born in Tamaterau, Whāngarei, June attended Onerahi Primary School, Whangarei Intermediate School, and Whangarei Girls High. As an adult student while living on the outskirts of Auckland, she enrolled at Massey University’s Auckland campus intent on studying towards a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in English. She completed papers in the creative writing suite, academic writing, jazz history, together with a few business papers, while juggling a career in events, project management and marketing (where she held the position of Marketing Manager for Pearson Education New Zealand), and a career as a professional musician – singer/songwriter.

In 2016 she began a career in writing books with music for children, and explored more in-depth her love of poetry. Her publication achievements to date include five children’s books with music titles, recorded voice for Joy Cowley’s ‘Hush a Kiwi Lullaby’, and a selection of poetry published in Fast Fibres Poetry Editions 6, 7, & 8, and Ngā Ripo Wai Swirling Waters – A Kerikeri Anthology collection. In 2021 I conducted a series of interviews, developing transcripts from which to extract story narratives for the co-created/curated ‘Kaumatua o Tamaterau’ life stories and photographic exhibition which opened to general public for ten days during December 2021. As a freelance writer she often finds herself working on projects with a historical cultural heritage focus (both Māori and Pākeha), and other creative areas of interest.