Adult Mäori-language learners are an under-researched yet crucial part of efforts to revitalise te reo Mäori. This paper presents and analyses a qualitative case study of the learning journey of Julian Wilcox. As an exemplar learner, Julian's story helps to shed light on the factors that led to his development of proficiency in te reo Mäori and these insights may have implications for other Mäori-and Indigenous-language learners. We have used a framework based on the literature to analyse Julian's story (narrative inquiry). This framework consists of three themes of successful adult Mäori-language learning. Those themes are identity factors as motivation, relationship building and transferable skills.