Matthew Saville and I recorded our first episode way back in August when he was JUST about to release his first feature length film Juniper. And, well, we all know what happened in August (Delta came) which meant his release date was postponed. So we thought we’d catch up again seeing as August feels like ten years ago, to chat about this amazing film I thoroughly enjoyed. Matthew has worked extensively as a writer, director, and actor across film, theatre, and television. Amazingly, for his fir...
Oct 24, 2021•32 min•Ep. 70
Today’s guest is the extremely talented Makeup Artist Michael Ashton - a Kiwi with skills that are so world class, he’s got a quite a few famous clients. One of them being Adele. Yes I said Adele. And I think that word on its own says it all really. So, we’ll find out about how THAT eyeliner came to be and whether Michael can help me become friends with Adele too...
Oct 17, 2021•44 min•Ep. 71
I've been hanging out to chat with investigative journalist and documentary maker David Farrier for a while now, so this big long decent yarn, best dissected with a long walk or maybe even a nice drink (or both haha). From his hilarious TV3 sign off from back in the day, to chasing Mongolian Death Worms, interviewing Colin Craig in the sauna, to now spending a lot of time looking into conspiracy theories - this guy is just so interesting and awesome. Here's the link to David's Webworm
Oct 10, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 69
Today’s guest Joe Daymond, a delightful young man who hails from Wainuiomata. He’s smart, he’s bloody funny and Joe is basically taking on everything - which is awesome to watch unfold. When he’s not selling out stand up comedy gigs, or featuring on Celebrity Treasure Island, he’s making an amazing show called Bouncers, for Comedy Central and Sky UK. Pretty epic for someone who has only been in the game four years!
Oct 03, 2021•48 min•Ep. 68
WARNING: This episode discusses suicide and mental illness. It’s an absolute honour to speak to today’s guest - the 2021 Young New Zealander of the Year, Jazz Thornton. Jazz is a Mental Health activist, a TV and Film director, an author, not to mention a beautiful young woman who puts her heart and soul into everything she does. She is a shining light of hope in New Zealand, and she shares that light and that hope here and around the world with her own personal story. Jazz joins me as Mental Hea...
Sep 26, 2021•41 min•Ep. 66
Honestly, if you don’t walk away from today’s episode with a cup so full it’s overflowing, I’ll give you your money back (lol). Seriously though, this young woman is such a beautiful soul, an amazing role model and someone pretty brave to open up and share her story - the good, the bad, the funny and the sad. Jess Quinn has achieved so much, and can now add book author to her long list of awesomeness. Still Standing: What I've learnt from a life lived differently is available from 21 September a...
Sep 19, 2021•46 min•Ep. 67
We have two guests who are multi-sport legends. Simone Maier (2x Coast to Coast Longest Day Winner) and Emily Wilson (2019 GODZone winner with Simone) have had their fair share of success in endurance and adventure racing - their mental toughness, grit and determination is very inspiring. How cool then, that Simone and Emily have decided to pass on all their knowledge and experience to others - particularly women - so they can grow to be better versions of themselves. I am so here for that. Thes...
Sep 12, 2021•47 min•Ep. 65
Today’s guest is the remarkable young woman Siobhan Terry, and I think we’ll all have to keep an eye on her as she’s destined for big things. Siobhan has just featured on the global stage as part of a series called “We The 15”, which is sport’s biggest ever human rights movement to end discrimination. It aims to transform the lives of the world’s 1.2 billion people with disabilities who represent 15% of the global population. See here: https://www.wethe15.org/ Siobhan is a competitive para swimm...
Sep 05, 2021•22 min•Ep. 64
Today’s guest is a very special young woman called Lizzie McKay who works at Cystic Fibrosis New Zealand. Lizzie is about to embark on "Sweatember" which is all about challenging Kiwis to commit to any sweaty activity throughout the month of September to get fit and raise money for New Zealanders living with cystic fibrosis. Lizzie herself has been living with CF since she was born, she's just celebrated her 30th birthday, and has an epic attitude towards life. A lovely chat with a lovely gal! T...
Aug 29, 2021•29 min•Ep. 63
Today’s guest is world champion mixed martial artist Michelle Montague. An amazing story about how she literally discovered MMA on YouTube - and is now traveling the world representing her country! Michelle grew up on a farm in Matamata, has played rugby since she was four and almost became a police officer. A really fascinating chat about the strength, discipline and training it takes to be a world champion fighter.
Aug 22, 2021•37 min•Ep. 59
This episode is a bit different. It is still a great New Zealander, there’s no two ways about that. Today’s guest is Dr Nikki Turner, director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre, an academic General Practitioner and an Associate Professor in the Division of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland. Dr Nikki Turner is here to talk about the COVID Vaccine. I, like many, have become extremely concerned at the level of misinformation, rumours, lies, hearsay - you catch my dr...
Aug 17, 2021•44 min•Ep. 62
Matt Brown is the man behind the powerful and vital movement, She Is Not Your Rehab. He's just released a book of the same name. Matt openly shares his own experiences of family violence and childhood sexual abuse in the book, but also in public talks and at his world famous barbershop, My Fathers Barbers in Christchurch. Matt is playing a major role in trying to stop the cycle of domestic violence here in New Zealand. She Is Not Your Rehab is an opportunity for men to break away from their own ...
Aug 15, 2021•38 min•Ep. 60
Today’s guest is one of my favourite Kiwi actors, and I think it would be fair to say anyone around my age who grew up watching Shortland Street every night in the 90s with Claire Chitham playing the wonderful Waverley would have a similar fondness! The loveable actress talks how she gets into her roles, the cool thing she did when she turned 40, and how she's helping others, after years of battling Crohn's Disease. She's a stunning human!
Aug 08, 2021•41 min•Ep. 58
Today’s guest is one of the most remarkable athletes we have here in New Zealand. If I were to list or read out Nathan Fa’avae’s achievements over the years, we would actually run out of time to speak to him! In short, he’s one of the greatest endurance athletes in the world. And when I say endurance, I mean races that last for DAYS. Nathan and his teammates have won six Adventure Racing World Champion titles, and he's been involved in so many other amazing races all around the world. Amazingly,...
Jul 18, 2021•57 min•Ep. 57
A cool, funny, smart, awesome woman who talks money/finance AND makes it relatable AND interesting AND easy to understand. She is Frances Cook and she's the host of the podcast, Cooking the Books, a columnist for the NZ Herald and the author of Tales From A Financial Hot Mess. She is awesome. Thank you Frances for all the valuable bits of advice I got from this!
Jul 11, 2021•47 min•Ep. 56
Today’s guest is a lycra legend! A five-time Olympian, a World and Commonwealth Games Champion and someone who was at the top of both track and road cycling for 20 years. Greg Henderson has achieved success on his bike all over the world - but since retiring from professional cycling, he still can’t quite keep away - now devoting his time to make other awesome cyclists like him as Coach Hendy. Greg tells some amazing yarns about what it's like to be in the Tour de France - and it makes me glad I...
Jul 04, 2021•31 min•Ep. 55
Today's guest is quite simply, a national treasure. Tammy Wells is someone we all feel like we have a connection with, she is pretty much part of our furniture...and of course the Briscoes furniture too. Tammy is the woman who, with a big warm smile, delights us with that welcome news that Briscoes is indeed having a sale. She's been the Briscoes Lady for a remarkable 32 years - and still loves every minute of it. Oh how delightful this yarn is!
Jun 27, 2021•39 min•Ep. 54
Today’s guest Guy Williams - has been part of the New Zealand comedy furniture for a fair whack - even though he's only 33. The Billy T Award winning comedian has achieved a lot in this career (although he says achieving a lot could also be defined as failing a lot haha), across the stage, on the tele and on the radio. It's a full noise episode, where he takes the piss out of my questions and at times hijacks some parts of it - but you wouldn't have it any other way with Guy!
Jun 20, 2021•56 min•Ep. 53
Today’s guest is such a phenomenal woman who I had the pleasure of meeting in 2018 when I ran my first ever marathon, raising money for the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust. Catriona Williams is the founder and driving force behind the charity - which supports researchers in the bid for a cure for spinal cord injuries. Catriona was one of the country’s leading international equestrian riders - but a serious riding accident in 2002, left her a C6/C7 tetraplegic and confined to a wheelchair. As yo...
Jun 13, 2021•35 min•Ep. 52
Kendra Cocksedge is one of the best rugby players in the world, and has been at the top of the sport at an international level for 14 years. She is an absolute weapon with the rugby ball, and good luck to anyone who tries (see what I did there) to get in her way on the footy field. At the moment, she is taking some time out from playing rugby after battling mental fatigue - so we talk about how she's doing, and how important it's been for her. This is such a cool chat, Kendra is such a fantastic...
Jun 06, 2021•35 min•Ep. 51
Kara Rickard is a smart, funny and very talented broadcaster. A proud wahine Māori with three beautiful children, Kara is a music and martial arts enthusiast and cancer survivor. She's a respected name in radio but after a decade at George FM, decided to put the mic away at the end of last year. A really lovely, insightful yarn.
May 30, 2021•37 min•Ep. 50
Today's guest makes something in a jar that brings so much joy to so many Kiwis, including my own mother who I have seen scoop it out of the jar with a spoon on MANY occasions! Pic Picot is the man behind Pic's Peanut Butter, which has become a bit of a national treasure. The funny thing is, Pic only started making peanut butter when he'd retired, in order to make a couple of hundred bucks a week. Now, Pic's Peanut Butter World (the factory in Nelson) pumps out 25,000 jars a day, destined for al...
May 09, 2021•37 min•Ep. 49
It would be fair to say today’s guest is one of New Zealand’s most-loved Dads. His name is Jordan Watson aka How To DAD. He lives in Tauranga with his wife (How to MUM) and three daughters AND girl dog. He's a dad who makes videos about Dad stuff. A dad who’s first dad video started off as a bit of a laugh six years ago and now he’s got books, he's done a Ted Talk, and his videos have hundreds of millions of views. He's hilarious, he's awesome and he's a top notch Dad!
May 02, 2021•44 min•Ep. 48
Guled Mire is coming to us from New York, after winning a Fulbright Award to study at the Ivy League-listed Cornell University. Not a bad achievement for a young man who dropped out of school at the age of 16 after being told university wasn't really for people like him. The former refugee drew on the strength from his mother - who as a solo parent, fled Somalia in the midst of civil war with her nine children, spent time in a refugee camp in Kenya before bringing her family to New Zealand for a...
Apr 25, 2021•52 min•Ep. 47
Today’s guest is the wonderful Toni Street - and I’m pretty sure it would be fair to say there’s really not much this woman can’t do. She is an incredibly talented TV presenter and radio host, sports commentator, she’s a dab hand in the kitchen, she’s played both cricket and netball at a representative level, and she’s a superstar Mum to her three beautiful children. We have a lovely chat about her success, but also her strength and resilience through some really tough times. Toni is a remarkabl...
Apr 18, 2021•53 min•Ep. 46
A warning: this episode will be discussing suicide and mental health issues. Today's episode is with three very special young women in one of the most powerful, brave and important interview's I've ever done. The Cool Change NZ "sisters", Grace Curtis, Tori Wheelans and Georgie Harris say they’ve been brought together by tragedy, but say they hope they can make the most out of their sad situations. Grace, Tori and Georgie all lost their Dads to suicide. In the midst of unfathomable trauma, they ...
Apr 11, 2021•54 min•Ep. 45
Jacqui Maguire is a registered clinical psychologist, a mental health and wellbeing thought leader, and someone who has the amazing ability to explain all the stuff that’s going on in our heads - from the complicated to the not so complicated - she just gets it. Jacqui has just released a wonderful new book to help parents and children together. It's called When the Wind Blew: A Book for Little People with Big Feelings. She's crafted the book that "magically entwines children’s storytelling and ...
Apr 05, 2021•44 min•Ep. 44
Now I’ve been a big fan of Jodie Rimmer since the early 2000s when she was on "The Strip" - man I LOVED that show! The award-winning actress Jodie is someone who lights up the screen in such a huge variety of roles, resulting in her being a much loved woman here in New Zealand. More recently, she’s been the hilarious narrator on The Bachelor and Bachelorette. Jodie is an absolute delight to chat to, and my word did she drop some names of well known people I did NOT know were involved in "The Str...
Mar 28, 2021•39 min•Ep. 43
I am extremely grateful that over the years I’ve worked with some wonderful New Zealanders - and today’s guest is no exception. He’s a kind, caring and hilarious soul who graces our television screens every morning on TVNZ's Breakfast. Matty McLean delivers us our weather with a smile on his face and a warmth you simply can't fake. And my word he tells a GREAT yarn (numerous included in this episode)!
Mar 22, 2021•59 min•Ep. 42
Aesha Scott keeps me entertained with her bright, bubbly and refreshingly honest daily life updates on her Instagram stories. But Aesha will also be known by many as the hard-case Kiwi who took centre stage on the highly addictive reality show, Below Deck. She’s recently back from an epic travel journey across the United States in a converted ambulance. Aesha has an extremely positive and amazing outlook on life, and I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face through this entire episode - she's an...
Mar 14, 2021•38 min•Ep. 41
