Mihingarangi grew up in Feilding which is always used as an excuse for a good laugh in the office. As a small child she lived in Ruatahuna in the heart of the Urewera bush. She reckons this has been better than a University degree when reporting in the Maori Affairs round. She is from Ngati Paoa and Ngati Maniapoto but looks like she's from Remuera which works in her favour when reporting on Pakeha over the age of 60 years. She has two children who are brought up in Te Reo Maori and who can't understand why everyone doesn't take the time to go and learn their language.
The highlight of her career was while working at Aotearoa Television ( the first Maori TV) and beating all the other mainstream journalists to Michael Jackson. She asked him if he had a message for the indigenous children of NZ. Only now does she realise why he answered her questions!