It all starts here

About It all starts here

Welcome to It all starts here, with realestate.co.nz. Since 1996, even before Google, we’ve been helping New Zealanders find their perfect property. That’s thirty years of open homes, first mortgages and sold signs. But this podcast isn’t about the sale. It’s about what happens after the sold sign comes down, once the boxes are unpacked and the house turns into a home. Because so much starts there. On this podcast, we sit down with someone with a story to talk about what started at home for them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

realestate.co.nz

Category

business · leisure · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 Aug 2026

Latest episode

20 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

16 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   20 Oct 2026

   Bonus: meet the hosts | Sarah, Vanessa and Rishi

   Episode summary Vanessa knocked $2,500 off the price of her first home because it didn’t have a heat pump, then spent the savings putting one in. She never lived there, and she still owns it. Rishi made the decision to buy and renovate a home with a mate after a 30-minute chat in the car. And Sarah spent a fortnight painting over a very yellow interior. In this bonus episode, the three people who usually ask the questions on It all starts here answer them instead. realestate.co.nz Chief Executive Sarah Wood, GM of Sales Rishi Ankus and GM of Customer Vanessa Williams sit down at the same table as their guests. They talk about what home meant growing up, from a renovated country villa to a house that was always full of family. And of course, what their dream homes would look like if they won Lotto tomorrow. Highlights Vanessa was a rentvestor before she’d heard the word. Her first home was a house in Napier she bought to rent out because she couldn’t afford to buy in Auckland, where she lived, and she negotiated $2,500 off the asking price to cover a heat pump. Rishi saved for a rental property while living at home at 23. After the building inspection, he and the builder friend who’d done it sat in the car and decided, in about 30 minutes, to buy the house together. They went on to buy and renovate more properties as a team. Sarah and her husband bought their first home at 26, negotiating after it passed in at auction. The interior was very yellow, so she spent a couple of weeks painting the whole thing, and she still thinks of that house fondly. Rishi took on the painting in that first renovation, thinking he’d landed the easy job. He hasn’t picked up a brush since. If Lotto came good, Sarah wants somewhere warm and quiet looking out to Lake Wānaka or the sea, Vanessa needs a four-storey shoe wardrobe and a bath with a view, and Rishi is heading for a Manhattan penthouse over Central Park. Timestamps [00:00] Welcome, and meet Sarah, Rishi and Vanessa [00:15] What home meant growing up: a country villa, Mum’s cooking and a house full of family [01:48] Vanessa’s first home: rentvesting in Napier [02:41] Rishi’s first property, and a 30-minute decision in the car [04:11] Sarah’s first home and a very yellow interior [04:41] Why painting is the hardest job in a renovation [05:31] Lotto dream homes [07:19] Thanks for listening Links realestate.co.nz: https://www.realestate.co.nz Sarah Wood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahjanewood Vanessa Williams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessaritawilliams/ Rishi Ankus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishi-ankus-926b1489/ Now you’ve met the people asking the questions. Follow. It all starts here, wherever you get your podcasts. Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   20 Oct 2026

   The day he listed his childhood home | Richard Thode

   Episode summary Richard Thode didn’t recognise the address at first. Then he looked it up and realised he’d been asked to appraise the Meadowbank A-frame he lived in as a teenager. Richard is Ray White’s number one salesperson nationwide, but his first sales gig started much closer to home, with budgies bred in an aviary he and his dad built in the bush behind their home. He talks to host Rishi Ankus about a family that kept moving up, the first home he and wife Kate renovated themselves, and why he’d keep working even after a Lotto win. Highlights Walking into the appraisal, his first thought was “that was my bedroom there”. The house still had its two A-frames, set among the bush. As a teenager he bred budgies and sold them for about $10 each, then moved on to doing up second-hand bikes, hand-painting them and selling them on. His family moved every three or four years, with his mum improving each house before they stepped up to the next. The first home he remembers is where his father started the family business from the garage. The first home Richard bought was a stucco house, bought for about $160,000. They painted it, put in a new kitchen, redid the bathroom and garden, then subdivided with the neighbour and sold. Guest bio Richard Thode is a licensee salesperson at Ray White Epsom, where he leads Team Thode. Ranked Ray White’s number one salesperson nationwide, he brings more than 30 years of residential, commercial and high-end development property experience. Host bio Rishi Ankus is General Manager of Sales at realestate.co.nz, New Zealand’s longest-standing property portal, running since 1996, before Google even existed. Today it connects millions of Kiwis with homes, rentals and commercial spaces every month. Rishi leads the team that works directly with real estate agents, offices and property managers right across the country, which keeps him close to the industry’s day-to-day pulse. Links realestate.co.nz: https://www.realestate.co.nz Richard Thode, Ray White Epsom: https://rwepsom.co.nz/agents/richard-thode/111117 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richardrealestatenz/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teamthoderealestate/ If Richard’s story has you thinking about the home where it started for you, follow It all starts here wherever you get your podcasts. Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   20 Oct 2026

   The CEO who got her property start measuring houses | Sarah Wood

   Sarah Wood’s first job in property was holding the other end of the tape measure while her dad, a property valuer, measured up houses by hand. Property was what got talked about around the kitchen table, in the countryside villa her parents renovated. This time the tables are turned. The CEO of realestate.co.nz takes the guest seat opposite Vanessa Williams, who jokes that interviewing her boss could be a career-limiting move. Sarah talks about a Laura Ashley bedroom where everything matched, working in her dad’s valuation business at 17, and the little Remuera house she bought with her husband after ten years of flatting, the first place where she could close the door and keep the outside world out. She also owns up to a competitive streak she didn’t notice until she was 20, the push to launch AI image search first, and a Spotify age of 21. As realestate.co.nz turns 30, it’s a chance to hear where the person leading it started. Highlights Her dad was a property valuer, and back when it was all done manually Sarah held the other end of the tape measure. At 17 she worked in his valuation business, collecting debtors and tidying up reports before heading to university in Auckland. Her bedroom at five was Laura Ashley from wallpaper to curtains to cushions, maroon and white with flowers, all matching. “I like a bit of consistency,” she says. After ten years of flatting, including a big Epsom villa full of flatmates and fun in 1996, the year realestate.co.nz launched, she and her husband bought a three-bedroom weatherboard in Remuera. It was sunny and quiet, and it was theirs. She didn’t realise she was competitive until she was 20 years old. At work that shows up as wanting to be first, which most recently included leading the team to launch AI image search before their competitors, a tool she’s since used to help a friend with finding a rental property to buy in Taupō with lake views. Timestamps [00:44] Turning the tables: Vanessa interviews her boss [01:08] A matching Laura Ashley bedroom and a childhood on the farm [03:18] Holding the tape measure for her valuer dad, plus a fairy photo shoot [05:06] The Remuera house that was finally theirs [06:15] Becoming CEO, and being told she’s not the CEO at home [08:35] 1996, a competitive streak and being first with AI image search [15:56] A Spotify age of 21 and what tells her she’s home [18:37] Advice to her younger self and the Lotto house Guest bio Sarah Wood is the CEO of realestate.co.nz, New Zealand’s longest-standing property portal, running since 1996, before Google even existed. Today it connects millions of Kiwis with homes, rentals and commercial spaces every month, and she’s leading its move into AI-powered property search. She is a regular commentator on the property market and the economic conditions shaping it, including the Official Cash Rate (OCR) and what each decision means for buyers and sellers. Host bio Vanessa Williams is General Manager – Customer at realestate.co.nz, New Zealand’s longest-standing property portal. She’s one of two voices behind The New Zealand Property Report, realestate.co.nz’s monthly read on the market, alternating as spokesperson with CEO Sarah Wood, and she’s the resident property expert on Frances Cook’s Making Cents podcast. With more than a decade at the company, she’s known for translating realestate.co.nz’s own listings, stock and price data into practical guidance for buyers, sellers and renters. If Sarah’s tape measure took you back to the house you grew up in, follow It all starts here wherever you get your podcasts. Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

4. 

   13 Oct 2026

   Let’s not romanticise poverty | Sam Stubbs

   Episode summary “Let’s not romanticise poverty. It sucks.” Sam Stubbs grew up on Seymour Road in Sunnyvale, West Auckland, where two teacher salaries and the street’s first colour TV made his family the well-off ones. Watching neighbours do it hard taught him that enough money is what buys you choices and a dignified life, and it fed his ambition. His mum, a primary school teacher, fought for the kids in her class, and Sam grew up believing that anyone with money or power has a moral obligation to look after people with less. It’s why the boy who left Sunnyvale went on to co-found Simplicity, a not-for-profit KiwiSaver manager, and why a Lotto win would go toward getting other people into their first homes. With host Sarah Wood, Sam also owns up to being a closet interior decorator since he was eight, revisits the freezing Wellington merchant’s house that was his first home, and explains why Simplicity is building long-term rentals built to last. Highlights Seymour Road was a tough part of West Auckland, and with two teacher salaries Sam’s family were the well-off ones. Seeing how hard life was without enough money left him with real ambition, and little patience for films that make poverty look noble. His mum, a primary school teacher, knocked on doors to get truant kids to school and found shoes for the ones with bare feet. Sam says that’s where he learnt the strong should look after the weak. A self-confessed closet interior decorator, Sam was borrowing decorating magazines from the library at eight and redecorating his bedroom almost every year, once turning it red and black the week before Christmas. His first home was a big 1880s merchant’s house in Wellington with not one bit of insulation. The first winter’s gas bill just to heat the kitchen was $1,400 a month, so Sam climbed into the roof himself, cleared out the rat droppings and put the insulation in. With no money for advertising in the early days, Sam rang Simplicity’s first 10,000 members himself to say hello and thank them for taking a bet on it. Timestamps [01:03] Growing up on Seymour Road in Sunnyvale [02:08] A closet interior decorator at eight [03:30] Why poverty taught him the value of money [05:44] His mum’s fight for the little guy, and how it shaped Simplicity [08:16] Building long-term rentals in Queenstown and Auckland [17:31] Starting Simplicity from the kitchen table [26:21] Taking on the big banks, and calling the first 10,000 members [28:22] The freezing Wellington house that was his first home [30:00] Advice to his younger self, and what he’d do with a Lotto win Guest bio Sam Stubbs is the co-founder and Managing Director of Simplicity, New Zealand’s not-for-profit, low-fee KiwiSaver and Investment Fund manager. Simplicity 100% funds Simplicity Living, which is developing thousands of build-to-rent homes in Auckland and Queenstown. Simplicity donates 15% of its management fees to the Simplicity Foundation, which has given more than $14 million to charity over the past decade. Prior to launching Simplicity in 2016, Sam was CEO of Tower Investments, Managing Director of Hanover Group and worked for Goldman Sachs in London and Hong Kong. Sam has an MA (Hons) in Politics from the University of Auckland and is a father of four adult children. Host bio Sarah Wood is the CEO of realestate.co.nz, New Zealand’s longest-standing property portal, running since 1996, before Google even existed. Today it connects millions of Kiwis with homes, rentals and commercial spaces every month, and she’s leading its move into AI-powered property search. She is a regular commentator on the property market and the economic conditions shaping it, including the Official Cash Rate (OCR) and what each decision means for buyers and sellers. Links realestate.co.nz Simplicity: simplicity.kiwi Money Made Simple, Sam’s book on personal finance If Sam’s story has you thinking about what your own childhood home taught you, follow It all starts here wherever you get your podcasts. Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

5. 

   6 Oct 2026

   How she knows what you’ll buy before you do | Sharon Donnelly

   Sharon Donnelly can have one conversation with a buyer and know which property they’ll buy before she’s shown them a single one. Host Sarah Wood, Chief Executive of realestate.co.nz, talks with the Bayleys’ number one salesperson who has spent 25 years selling across Central Otago. Sharon grew up with three brothers, and she learned early how to read a room. She talks about the one-bedroom house where she raised four kids, why some mansions feel empty, the home her grandchildren now let themselves into to enjoy her pool, and why, 25 years in, she still wakes at 4am wishing she was at work. Highlights Growing up in “the party house” with three brothers and a relaxed mum meant a constant stream of different people. Sharon says it taught her to speak her mind and read the room, which has helped her career in real estate. She knew as a child she’d be an agent. Location, Location, Location was the programme she remembers most, and she was “completely in awe” of the presenter, deciding that one day she’d be that person. Her favourite home was the smallest: a board and batten house that was basically one bedroom, with four kids. The family slept in the open-plan lounge, her eldest had a room the size of a cupboard, and they stayed there for ten happy years. Her read on buyers is uncanny. From one conversation she can tell which property someone will buy before she’s had them in her car, a skill she traces back to the house full of people she grew up in. Her tip for first home buyers is to research the agent, and to look at how many listings they hold rather than the sales shown online: “the more listings an agent has, the more buyers, the more they sell.” Guest bio Sharon began her real estate career 25 years ago while raising four children, driven by determination and a commitment to succeed. That same work ethic continues to underpin her business today. People remain at the centre of her approach. “I build relationships by being curious about people on a personal level,” she says. “I love hearing their stories and making them feel comfortable in their own home.” Across residential homes, lifestyle properties, luxury estates, development opportunities, and everything in between, Sharon has built a reputation for tailored marketing, trusted advice, and consistently exceptional results. Year after year, Sharon Donnelly continues to set the benchmark, not only for what success in real estate looks like, but how it is achieved. In 2025/2026, she was named Bayleys’ #1 salesperson nationwide for the second consecutive year, marking an extraordinary fourth time holding the overall national title. Her results have placed her ahead of not only her peers, but entire teams across the country. Sharon’s success reflects deep experience, high standards, and quiet determination behind the scenes. Host bio Sarah Wood is the CEO of realestate.co.nz, New Zealand’s longest-standing property portal, running since 1996, before Google even existed. Today it connects millions of Kiwis with homes, rentals and commercial spaces every month, and she’s leading its move into AI-powered property search. She is a regular commentator on the property market and the economic conditions shaping it, including the Official Cash Rate (OCR) and what each decision means for buyers and sellers. Links Sharon Donnelly at Bayleys: bayleys.co.nz/agents/sharon-donnelly-2855 (bayleys.co.nz/agents/sharon-donnelly-2855 ) Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

6. 

   29 Sept 2026

   Not everyone starts from the same place | Stacey Morrison

   Stacey Morrison's parents were 17 and 18 when she was born, and they never knew if they'd be able to buy a house. When they finally cashed in what they could for a deposit, it was a big deal. Host Vanessa Williams sits down with Stacey, the broadcaster who's been waking up New Zealand on radio since the 90s. She saved for her own first home by working three jobs and living off one. Then she walked into a central Auckland townhouse, got goosebumps and knew it had to be hers (even if she wasn’t quite sure how it would be). The conversation moves through whenua and the family homesteads that hold generations, learning te reo Māori as an adult, Matariki as a mid-year reset and a neighbourhood auction that felt like a festival. Stacey also makes the case for talking about owning a home in a way that doesn't assume everyone starts from the same place, because what makes a home is how people feel inside it. Highlights Asked what she'd tell her younger self, Stacey asks for something else: that we stop talking about owning a home as if everyone starts from the same place. Phrases like "the bank of mum and dad" can shut people out. In their te reo Māori classes, people often come up afterwards to ask what their street's Māori name means. Stacey sees it as another layer of story that connects you to a home, whether you own it or rent. Her husband is the CEO of washing in their house, and the first thing he looks at in any property is the laundry. Stacey once saw one with two drying cupboards and calls it "a utopia of washing." For Stacey, a home isn’t about how fancy it is. The chipped walls and the pile of Uggs and Crocs blocking the front door are signs of a home that’s lived in and loved. One of the best compliments she's had came from the back seat of the car, when she heard one of her daughter's friends say how much she loved being at their house. Timestamps [01:07] Growing up with teenage parents in Christchurch [02:42] Homesteads, whenua and the houses that hold generations [08:58] The goosebumps moment and a street auction that felt like a festival [12:29] Thirty years of property data and how much prices have changed [17:43] Matariki as a mid-year reset [23:00] Stacey's first home, a townhouse she bought on her own [25:25] Advice to her younger self [29:13] The Lotto dream house Guest bio Stacey Morrison (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tahu) has been waking up New Zealand on radio since the 90s. A broadcaster, MC and author, she learned te reo Māori as an adult and now champions it alongside her husband Scotty. Host bio Vanessa Williams is General Manager – Customer at realestate.co.nz, New Zealand's longest-standing property portal. She's one of two voices behind The New Zealand Property Report, realestate.co.nz's monthly read on the market, alternating as spokesperson with CEO Sarah Wood, and she's the resident property expert on Frances Cook's Making Cents podcast. With more than a decade at the company, she's known for translating realestate.co.nz's own listings, stock and price data into practical guidance for buyers, sellers and renters. Links https://www.instagram.com/stacedotcom/?hl=en (https://www.instagram.com/stacedotcom/?hl=en) Homesteads, the TV series Stacey mentions https://www.maoriplus.co.nz/show/homesteads (https://www.maoriplus.co.nz/show/homesteads) If Stacey has you thinking about the home that started something for you, follow It all starts here wherever you get your podcasts. Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

7. 

   22 Sept 2026

   Growing up with more month than money | Steve Maserow

   Steve Maserow has spent nearly forty years in real estate, but he traces his whole relationship with money back to a belief formed at home: that there was never quite enough of it, and it had to be worked hard for. Host Rishi Ankus sits down with the Barfoot & Thompson Howick branch manager to talk about growing up in a hard-working, cash-tight family in Johannesburg, and how responding to a classified job ad led him to becoming a commission-only agent at nineteen. Steve talks candidly about selling real estate through the end of apartheid, including the first time he sold a home to a Black buyer in a neighbourhood they'd once been barred from, and about starting over from nothing when he emigrated to New Zealand in 1998. It's a conversation about the values that get set at the kitchen table and how they make an impact throughout your life. Highlights Steve grew up believing there was never quite enough money to go around, right down to never leaving a light on in an empty room to save power, and that belief has shaped how he viewed money throughout his life. He fell into real estate in Johannesburg almost by accident, taking an unpaid, commission-only assistant role in a suburb where nobody knew him, and went on to outsell his own lead agent. Selling through the end of apartheid, he remembers the first time he sold a home to a Black buyer, in a neighbourhood they'd once only been allowed to walk through, not live in. He calls himself a financial refugee for a stretch after emigrating to New Zealand in 1998, negotiating for a desk and a phone and starting his career again from zero at thirty. Six months after joining Barfoot & Thompson's Meadowbank branch as an unproven "new boy", he was the branch's top agent, missing the year's overall top spot by less than $100 in commission. Growing up he learned one rule that still runs his business today: if you say you're going to do something, do it. Timestamps [01:02] What home looked like growing up in Johannesburg [02:46] The belief about money that started in that home [04:27] Falling into real estate almost by accident [09:11] Selling through the end of apartheid [12:03] Emigrating to New Zealand and starting over at Barfoot & Thompson [18:42] The one rule he grew up with, do what you say you'll do [21:53] Buying his first New Zealand home in Mount Wellington [23:43] Advice to his younger self, and the Lotto property question Guest bio Steve Maserow has been Branch Manager at Barfoot & Thompson Howick since 2005. He joined real estate in Johannesburg at nineteen, answering a classified ad for a commission-only salesperson with no real idea what it involved, and spent a decade building a business there before emigrating to New Zealand in 1998. Under his leadership, Howick has been named Branch of the Year multiple times. Steve himself has ranked among Barfoot & Thompson's top branch managers nationally every year since 2022. Host bio Rishi Ankus is General Manager – Sales at realestate.co.nz, New Zealand's longest-standing property portal, running since 1996, before Google even existed. Today it connects millions of Kiwis with homes, rentals and commercial spaces every month. Rishi leads the team that works directly with real estate agents and agencies right across the country, which keeps him close to the industry's day-to-day pulse, shifting sentiment on the ground, who's moving where. Links •barfoot.co.nz/our-people/smaserow If Steve's money mindset had you nodding along, follow It all starts here wherever you get your podcasts. Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

8. 

   15 Sept 2026

   How a spare room built a media business | Frances Cook

   Frances Cook's baby was six weeks old, asleep on her chest, when she took her first business meeting for what would become her own media business. Vanessa Williams talks to the personal finance expert, journalist and host of New Zealand's number one business podcast, Making Cents, about the business she built from the spare room of her home, with a newborn and a toddler in the house and her husband tag-teaming nappy changes. Frances walks through the six-month savings runway that got Making Cents off the ground, the marmite house in Wellington she and her husband scraped together a deposit for, and her blunt take on whether a home is really an investment. She also reflects on the well-meaning advice that once shrunk her sense of what she could do, and what she'd tell her younger self now. Highlights Frances took her first business meeting at six weeks postpartum, baby asleep on her chest, and kept negotiating deals around contact naps for months afterwards. The whole launch ran on a six-month savings runway and her husband's stint on paternity leave, the two of them tag-teaming childcare through two closable doors between the living room and her spare room podcast studio. Growing up in an “epic” pastel-and-unicorn bedroom she shared with her sister, strictly split down the middle. The “marmite” first home in Wellington she and her husband nearly missed out on by five thousand dollars. Her hot take on home as an investment: it's an asset, not automatically an investment, unless you use it to access capital, take in a boarder, or free up equity to invest elsewhere. The advice she'd give her younger self: she's capable of far more than the well-meaning adults around her once assumed, including the one who suggested she work in a pharmacy because it had “pretty things.” Timestamps [00:00] How Frances built her business and podcast from her home office with a newborn in tow [01:48] Home growing up: a pastel, unicorn-wallpapered room split down the middle with her sister [04:54] Is a home really an investment? Frances's hot take [06:15] Leaving journalism to launch Making Cents from the spare room [13:13] Launching with a newborn: the six-month runway, paternity leave, and business meetings through contact naps [16:41] Working with her husband full time, and building their current home before trying for baby two [21:41] The “marmite house”: buying their first home in Wellington on a shoestring [24:10] Advice to her younger self, and the Lotto dream home Guest bio Frances Cook is an award-winning financial journalist who specialises in making money simple for New Zealanders. From buying your first home, to investing, she loves talking about everything that makes your money life a little easier. She works as an independent journalist, hosting the Making Cents podcast, and providing commentary for outlets including TVNZ Breakfast, Stuff, and RNZ. Host bio Vanessa Williams is General Manager – Customer at realestate.co.nz, New Zealand's longest-standing property portal. She's one of two voices behind The New Zealand Property Report, realestate.co.nz's monthly read on the market, alternating as spokesperson with CEO Sarah Wood, and she's the resident property expert on Frances Cook's Making Cents podcast. With more than a decade at the company, she's known for translating realestate.co.nz's own listings, stock and price data into practical guidance for buyers, sellers and renters. Links ● francescook.co.nz (francescook.co.nz) ● Making Cents podcast (https://www.francescook.co.nz/making-cents) ● instagram.com/francescooknz (instagram.com/francescooknz) Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

9. 

   8 Sept 2026

   I moved house 17 times before I turned 22 | Paula Bennett

   Paula Bennett was five when she started sitting out the front of her parents’ dairy in Kinloch, chatting to every customer who came in. By six or seven she was pedalling grocery deliveries to elderly locals who’d feed her home baking in return. Host Vanessa Williams sits down with the former Deputy Prime Minister for a conversation that runs from that tiny, five-or six-hundred-person Taupo village through seventeen house moves before she turned twenty-two, a baby at seventeen and the shame that came with it, and a first home at nineteen with no working oven for seven months. Paula talks candidly about using moving house as an escape hatch in her twenties, the rest home dishwashing job that pointed her towards university and then fifteen years in politics, and the dinner table joke from John Key that eventually led her to Bayleys. Highlights Growing up living above her parents’ Kinloch dairy on the shores of Lake Taupo, a village of five or six hundred people; at five she’d sit out the front chatting to every customer who came in, and by six or seven was pedalling a bike basket of groceries to elderly locals who’d bake her something in return. Moved house seventeen times by the time she was twenty-two, and says she later used moving as an escape hatch in her twenties, "fresh start, move house," whenever life wasn't going right. Grew up at a strictly patriarchal dinner table where she couldn't speak until spoken to and watched her brothers get freedoms she never did; that "innate sense of unfairness" is what turned her into a feminist. Had a baby at seventeen as a solo mum in 1987, wasn't allowed to see her daughter's ultrasound scan in case she still chose adoption. A move to Auckland after her brother's death became her reinvention: washing dishes at a rest home surrounded by professional women who told her the alternative was minimum wage and struggle, and who pushed her towards a university degree in policy. Fifteen years in politics, including serving as Deputy Prime Minister, ended with a dinner table joke from John Key, "who's going to employ Paula?", that led her to Bayleys, where she now works in client engagement and strategic advisory. Guest bio In November 2020, Paula Bennett joined Bayleys in the commercial division. Paula has been promoted to National Director of Customer Engagement and Advisory. She leads Bayleys' engagement with select corporate, government, large developer and private wealth clients, excelling in building relationships, understanding client needs and tailoring a property plan across Bayleys' offerings, including transacting large property deals. Paula is also integral in supporting leadership across women in commercial property. During her 15-year career in politics, Paula Bennett served as Deputy Prime Minister and a Cabinet minister with portfolios including social development, associate finance, state services, police and local government. She is currently Director of Strategic Advisory at Bayleys Real Estate, Pharmac Board Chair and Board Chair of Sea Cleaners. Paula has a podcast with the NZ Herald, now in its 9th season. Paula is Māori, with Tainui ancestry. Host bio Vanessa Williams is General Manager – Customer at realestate.co.nz, New Zealand's longest-standing property portal. She's one of two voices behind The New Zealand Property Report, realestate.co.nz's monthly read on the market, alternating as spokesperson with CEO Sarah Wood, and she's the resident property expert on Frances Cook's Making Cents podcast. With more than a decade at the company, she's known for translating realestate.co.nz's own listings, stock and price data into practical guidance for buyers, sellers and renters. Links ●https://www.bayleys.co.nz/paula-bennett (https://www.bayleys.co.nz/paula-bennett) ●https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-bennett-56983886/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-bennett-56983886/) Follow "It all starts here" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

10. 

    1 Sept 2026

    From Shorty Street videos to Celebrity Treasure Island | James Mustapic

    When James Mustapic's mum left for a trip to Europe, he started filming videos recapping Shortland Street's weirdest moments from her freezing Dunedin living room, meant purely to catch her up when she got home. She loved them, and so did some of the show's own cast, who started sharing the clips themselves. Host Vanessa Williams talks with the comedian, TV personality and Celebrity Treasure Island 2023 winner about that accidental start, after years of unwatched bedroom comedy videos beforehand, the discipline that turned it into a real career, and why, eight and a half years into the same Auckland flat, he's still a committed homebody. They also get into his nightly diary habit, nearly eleven years running, and why his new, bigger Auckland bedroom has him hunting down the bar heater he grew up with in Dunedin. Highlights Growing up in a famously cold Dunedin house, he got by on an electric blanket and a glowing red bar heater long before the family got a heat pump. James started filming Shortland Street recap videos from his mum Janet's Dunedin living room at 15, meant only to catch her up while she was travelling in Europe; before long, cast members from the show were sharing the videos themselves. Before that hit, there were years of unwatched comedy videos filmed from his bedroom, purely for practice, and that same bedroom is now, rather less glamorously, a bathroom. He also won the New Zealand International Science Festival's Science Idol with a chemistry-themed parody of Justin Bieber's “Boyfriend”, about atoms bonding, beating his own teacher to take the prize. In 2023, he won Celebrity Treasure Island and donated $100,000 to Gender Minorities Aotearoa, a charity run by and for trans people, sleeping under a hessian-sack shelter on bunk beds by the lake in Wanaka the whole time. He's lived in the same Auckland flat for eight and a half years, calls himself a committed homebody who gets nervous about change, and has kept a nightly diary for almost eleven years to process each day before sleep. Guest bio James Mustapic is a celebrated New Zealand comedian, who began his career with the online underground sensation Shorty Street Scandal in 2014, and ventured into stand-up comedy in 2015. He is now well-known in New Zealand for his hit TVNZ+ series Abandonment Issues and James Mustapic His Mum a Man, as well as his web series Repressed Memories. He maintains a regular presence on the NZ comedy circuit and has appeared on numerous TV comedy panel shows, including Have You Been Paying Attention, 7 Days, and Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee. Host bio Vanessa Williams, General Manager - Customer, realestate.co.nz. Vanessa is one of New Zealand's most trusted voices on property, at home unpacking market data for industry audiences and translating it into practical guidance for everyday buyers and sellers. She regularly appears across national television, radio, print and digital media. Her commentary combines the extensive listings, search and market data held by realestate.co.nz. Links •Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesmustapic •Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/discover/james-mustapic •YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@james-mustapic Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

11. 

    25 Aug 2026

    The house next door was family too | Lisa Tai

    Lisa Tai’s parents once bought a strip of land in West Auckland with another Fijian family they’d barely met but who happened to share the same last name and weregoing through the very same stage of life, subdivided it, and built two almost identical houses side by side. The two families lived there together for about twenty years and became family. Host Sarah Wood sits down with Lisa, who spent nearly two decades at Deloitte, rising to partner and establishing the firm’s Pacific Services Group, before stepping away to lead Ronald McDonald House Charities New Zealand. She talks about arriving in Auckland as a four‑year‑old straight after a coup in Fiji, growing up in a caravan through her first New Zealand winter, and how six months into the top job at an organisation built entirely around giving struggling families a home away from home has only sharpened what home has always meant to her: wherever her family is. Highlights Lisa left Fiji at age four, straight after the 1987 coup, and landed in West Auckland in the middle of winter with nothing. The whole family of five lived in her dad’s boss’s caravan. Her parents later bought land in West Harbour with another Fijian family they’d just met, at exactly the same stage of life. Nineteen years at Deloitte took her from graduate to partner. Now six months into running Ronald McDonald House Charities New Zealand, she is overseeing houses in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Invercargill that gave 4,200 families almost 46,000 nights of accommodation in 2025, plus an onsite school so siblings do not fall behind while a brother or sister is in hospital. Her dad has since signed up as a volunteer, doing the Auckland house’s food deliveries and donation pickups every Tuesday. Ronald McDonald House has become a family affair. The photos on her wall, and a tapa cloth gifted by family in Fiji, are what she says she would carry into the next home, reminders for her children of relatives they will never meet. Guest bio Lisa Tai is a proud Fiji-born New Zealander of Rotuman and Fijian heritage, proudly raised in West Auckland, a place that has deeply shaped her sense of identity, community and home. She is a wife to Junior and mum to Keilani and Kanoa. Lisa spent almost 20 years at Deloitte, including as a Partner, where she established Deloitte’s dedicated Pacific Services Group, focused on creating pathways for young Pacific people to enter, grow and thrive in the corporate world. After nearly two decades in the Big Four environment, Lisa made the decision to step more deeply into community and social impact. She believes our contribution can look different across the different seasons of our lives, and that sometimes growth means being willing to leave places of comfort and success to serve in new ways. Lisa is now the Chief Executive of Ronald McDonald House Charities New Zealand, where she has the privilege of leading an organisation that supports families through some of the most challenging times in their lives. She is passionate about servant leadership, empowering families and young people, creating opportunity, and using leadership to strengthen communities and make a meaningful difference. Host bio Sarah Wood is the Chief Executive Officer of realestate.co.nz, New Zealand's longest-standing property website, which has been helping people find their perfect property since 1996 (even before Google). Since taking the helm in 2019, she has led the organisation through a period of innovation and growth, helping position it as one of New Zealand's leading technology businesses. If Lisa’s story has stayed with you, Ronald McDonald House Charities New Zealand relies on donations, fundraising and volunteers to keep families close when a child is in hospital. Find out how to give your time or support at rmhc.org.nz (https://rmhc.org.nz/). Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

12. 

    18 Aug 2026

    My house is just a house, until the kids come home | Shane Cortez

    When Shane Cortese's second son was born, his partner took their newborn to Australia for six weeks, and Shane got the house, and the Rugby World Cup, to himself. Except the house went quiet, and Shane, one of New Zealand's most recognised faces from Shortland Street and Outrageous Fortune, tweeted the line that ended up in the Herald: your house is just a house until it's got kids and family around it, then it becomes a home. In this conversation with host Vanessa Williams, Shane talks through a childhood spent between the UK, Tauranga and Wellington, his last years of school living in a hotel room in Palmerston North, the two very different homes he bought in London in his twenties, and the keypad code that means his teenage sons never need to knock. Thirty years into realestate.co.nz's own story of home, Shane's is a reminder that it’s the people that make a house a home. Highlights ●A childhood on the move. Shane's parents separated early, and he grew up between the UK, Tauranga and Wellington before spending his last years of school living in a hotel room in Palmerston North, where his mother managed the Britannia and his Saturday job was cleaning out the beer tanks for pocket money. ●The tweet that stuck. When his second son was born and the house went quiet for the first time, Shane tweeted that a house is just a house until it's got kids and family around it, then it becomes a home. The New Zealand Herald picked it up. ●A code, not a key. His two sons now have the keypad code to his front door, so neither of them ever has to worry about losing a key. Between his place and their mother's, Shane says the boys have two loving homes, and that was always the plan. ●His first home. A three-bedroom semi-detached Victorian in Kingston-upon-Thames, bought for £76,000 in 1996 with a fellow cast member from The Rocky Horror Show in the West End. ●His second home, sight-bought. A renovated 17th-century stable house turned show home in Carshalton, Surrey. Shane fell for it on a drive-by, bought it that same day, furniture and all, and moved in with two bags of clothes. ●Chasing not mediocre. On stage, at the auction rostrum and on the cricket pitch, Shane traces his drive back to having to prove himself fast as a kid who kept moving, and borrows a line from Ted Lasso to sum it up: don't you ever settle for fine. Guest bio Shane leads the Harcourts Auction Division as the National Auction Manager, where he oversees auction operations, provides network wide training on effective auction strategies, and ensures Harcourts auctioneers remain at the forefront of the industry. As Harcourts' representative in the REINZ Auction Sector Group, Shane works to ensure auction documentation remains current and relevant. His professionalism and calm presence on the auction floor have been pivotal to his success, having called thousands of auctions and achieving over $1 billion in unconditional sales throughout his career, however his best job is father to two boys circumventing their way through teenage years! Host bio Vanessa Williams, General Manager -Customer, realestate.co.nz. Vanessa is one of New Zealand's most trusted voices on property, at home unpacking market data for industry audiences and translating it into practical guidance for everyday buyers and sellers. She regularly appears across national television, radio, print and digital media. Her commentary combines the extensive listings, search and market data held by realestate.co.nz. Links •https://harcourts.net/nz/office/mitchell-residential/people/shane-cortese •https://www.instagram.com/shanecortese/?hl=en •https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanecortese/ •https://www.facebook.com/ShaneCorteseOfficial/ Follow it all starts here wherever you get your podcasts. Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

13. 

    13 Aug 2026

    From the dining table to one of NZ’s biggest podcasts | Dom Harvey

    Dom Harvey's award-winning podcast didn't start in a studio. It started at his dining room table, with about $1,500 of gear and no real plan beyond wanting better conversations than the ten-minute radio slots he'd spent two decades doing. In this conversation with host Vanessa Williams, Dom talks about that leap from The Edge breakfast show into long-form interviewing, the shift from playing a shock jock character to just being himself and how, even after more than 300 interviews, being a guest on a podcast terrifies him! Highlights • Starting the podcast at his dining table, welcoming celebrities into his home and a water-blasting fail with Mitch James. • Trading ten-minute radio slots for two-hour conversations, because, in his words, it's hard for someone to hide their true character for two hours. • Growing up in a Palmerston North house that always smelled like the previous owners' homemade jam. • “Even without a clear plan or a clear goal, if you start something and just keep going, it's amazing where you end up.” • Moving from that dining table into his own studio as co-owner of PodLab, four and a half years and 300-plus interviews later. Timestamps [00:30] Meet Dom Harvey, and why being interviewed feels harder than interviewing [02:23] The two Palmerston North homes he grew up in [10:57] How the podcast started: no plan, just a dining table and $1,500 of gear [15:13] Recording on the coffee table at home, and what it felt like having guests walk through his house [21:57] What actually makes people open up over a two-hour conversation [25:26] Buying his first home in Awapuni at 22 [29:05] Advice to young Dom [30:34] The Lotto dream, and buying his mum an apartment in her 70s Guest bio Dom Harvey is one of New Zealand's most experienced broadcasters and the host of The Dom Harvey Podcast. After almost 30 years in commercial radio, including 20 years hosting the nationwide breakfast show on “The Edge”, Dom launched his podcast in 2022 and has since interviewed over 300 of New Zealand's most interesting figures from sport, business, entertainment and public life. He has also written 3 best-selling books, and when he is not talking or writing, you'll find him out running. Host bio Vanessa Williams, General Manager -Customer, realestate.co.nz. Vanessa is one of New Zealand's most trusted voices on property, at home unpacking market data for industry audiences and translating it into practical guidance for everyday buyers and sellers. She regularly appears across national television, radio, print and digital media. Her commentary combines the extensive listings, search and market data held by realestate.co.nz. Links dom.co.nz (https://www.dom.co.nz/) podlab.co.nz (https://www.podlab.co.nz/) The two Palmerston North properties Dom mentioned: · 25 Haast Place, Awapuni, Palmerston North (https://www.realestate.co.nz/property/25-haast-place-awapuni-palmerston-north-city-manawatu-whanganui/lsz5clrj) · 115 Long Melford Road, Awapuni (https://www.realestate.co.nz/property/115-long-melford-road-awapuni-palmerston-north-city-manawatu-whanganui/6zccy3fk) If Dom's dining-table beginnings prove you don't need a studio, or a plan, to start something big, follow It all starts here wherever you get your podcasts. Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

14. 

    13 Aug 2026

    Why home is the best school | Michelle Dickinson (Nanogirl)

    Michelle Dickinson's school grades were bad enough that, by her own account, she shouldn't have made it to university. She got there anyway. In this conversation, host Vanessa Williams talks with Dr Michelle Dickinson, known to many as Nanogirl, about why home was the best school she ever had. It traces back to her early years as a military kid who never really felt she had a home of her own, right through to buying and renovating her very first home, brick by brick, at 18, while working three jobs at once.She also shares how she's helping her preschool twins, raised in Cantonese, English and te reo Māori, learn at home for a world AI is already reshaping. Highlights At eight, her dad handed her a soldering iron and she burned her fingers finding out how it worked. It's the moment she still traces her whole career back to. Military housing meant no posters, no say in the paint colour, and a move every two to three years with just a few belongings. Her favourite posting was a Hong Kong apartment ringed by wild monkeys. She was teaching piano at 14, washing bar glasses at 16, then waitressing and folding T-shirts in a sports store, often three or four jobs at once, all to save for a home. At 18, she bought a derelict London terrace for £50,000 and rebuilt it herself. Halfway through knocking out a wall, she discovered she was allergic to the horsehair in its Victorian-era mortar. She paid her way through it all, working three or four jobs at once. She restored, rather than replaced, the 100-year-old villa she lives in now, rebuilt around a 6'9" husband, twin toddlers, and a garden they harvest from every morning. She's raising her own twins on that same curiosity, rather than instant answers, now that she's working at the frontier of an AI-shaped world herself. Timestamps [00:45] Meet Dr Michelle Dickinson, Nanogirl, and the soldering iron and rootless childhood that shaped her [01:21] Growing up a military kid: no home to call her own, and a single box carried from posting to posting [06:36] Favourite childhood home: an apartment in Hong Kong's New Territories, with wild monkeys next door [10:12] Buying her first home at 18: renovating it herself, brick by brick, and an unplanned horsehair allergy [17:22] Getting into university through the UK's "Clearing" system, despite grades that said she shouldn't have gone [25:07] Home now: restoring a 100-year-old Auckland villa around her family [28:05] Why home is "the best school": the soldering iron story, and raising her twins the same way in an AI-shaped world [31:38] The Lotto dream, a public science garden, and advice to her younger self Guest bio Dr Michelle Dickinson, known to many as Nanogirl, is a nanotechnologist, materials engineer and bestselling author who has spent her career making science something everyone can get their hands on. After years of building STEM programmes that reached millions of Kiwi kids, she now splits her life between New Zealand and Silicon Valley, where she works at the frontier of physical AI and robotics: the technology teaching machines to see, learn and work alongside people in factories and workshops around the world. Whether she’s in a lab, on a stage, or out on the water kitesurfing, Michelle stays endlessly curious about how technology can help us build the future we actually want to live in. Host bio Vanessa Williams, General Manager -Customer, realestate.co.nz. Vanessa is one of New Zealand's most trusted voices on property, at home unpacking market data for industry audiences and translating it into practical guidance for everyday buyers and sellers. She regularly appears across national television, radio, print and digital media. Her commentary combines the extensive listings, search and market data held by realestate.co.nz. Links Michelle Dickinson Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/medickinson/?hl=en) | Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DrMichelleDickinson/) | LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/medickinson/) The Kitchen Science Cookbook (https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/the-kitchen-science-cookbook-9780241395585) by Dr Michelle Dickinson Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

15. 

    13 Aug 2026

    The farm kid who got a loan from Gordon Ramsay for his first home | Josh Emett

    When Josh Emett was 28 and broke in London, Gordon Ramsay dropped £30,000 into his bank account so he could buy his first flat. You might know Josh as the MasterChef NZ judge, or as the chef behind Auckland's Onslow and Gilt Brasserie and Waiheke's Oyster Inn, but host Sarah Wood takes him back further, to a 350-acre sheep and beef farm in the Waikato. Josh talks about climbing the walnut tree by the farm gate, frying himself four eggs for breakfast since age seven, and the run of homes, London, New Jersey, Melbourne, Queenstown, that followed before he and wife Helen settled into the Auckland home that now features a bespoke kitchen they have designed. Highlights • A 350-acre sheep and beef farm outside Ngāhinapōuri, bordered by the Waipa River, where Josh spent his childhood roaming, shooting, eeling and swimming, sometimes even through winter. • The colossal walnut tree by the farm gate that he'd climb into and eat straight from, still his standout memory of that first home. • Baking from necessity: with the nearest supermarket 20 minutes away and the local dairy long closed, Josh loved to bake to satisfy his sweet tooth. • One of his early jobs was on the Waipa Delta boat, peeling potatoes on the back of the boat. His Mum would wave to him from their home overlooking over the river. • At 28 living in London, Gordon Ramsay lent him £30,000 for a flat deposit. • Buying his current Auckland home from its owner Mark, a deal settled over a shared bottle of champagne after the two of them couldn't agree on a price. • A full kitchen renovation six or seven years ago, fitted out with Sub-Zero Wolf appliances, the reason Josh says they'll never bring themselves to sell. Timestamps [01:21] Growing up on the family farm at Ngāhinapōuri, near Mount Pirongia [02:55] The walnut tree by the farm gate, and the rickety old share-milker's house [03:24] Roaming 350 acres, the Waipa River, and farm chores after school [06:33] How the farm still shows up in his cooking today [09:58] Baking from a young age, out of necessity [15:02] First jobs: the Wilson Carlisle rest home and the Waipa Delta riverboat [22:51] Buying the current Auckland home, and the Gordon Ramsay loan behind his first London flat [27:42] Advice to his younger self on that first flat, and the Lotto dream, Palm Springs or a castle in France Guest bio Josh Emett is one of New Zealand's most accomplished chefs, with a career spanning over two decades in some of the world's most awarded kitchens. Before returning home to build a portfolio of acclaimed restaurants, Emett earned multiple Michelin stars during his years working alongside Gordon Ramsay in London, New York and Los Angeles. He currently owns and operates Onslow and Gilt Brasserie in Auckland city and the iconic Oyster Inn on Waiheke Island. Host bio Sarah Wood is the Chief Executive Officer of realestate.co.nz, New Zealand's longest-standing property website, which has been helping people find their perfect property since 1996 (even before Google). Since taking the helm in 2019, she has led the organisation through a period of innovation and growth, helping position it as one of New Zealand's leading technology businesses. Links • joshemett.com (https://joshemett.com/) • instagram.com/joshemett (https://www.instagram.com/joshemett/) • tiktok.com/@josh.emett (https://www.tiktok.com/@josh.emett) • nz.linkedin.com/in/josh-emett-4534b940 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-emett-4534b940/) • onslow.nz (https://www.onslow.nz/) • theoysterinn.co.nz (https://www.theoysterinn.co.nz/) • giltbrasserie.nz (https://www.giltbrasserie.nz/) Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

16. 

    13 Aug 2026

    So, what's this show about?

    Welcome to It all starts here, with realestate.co.nz. Since 1996, even before Google, we've been helping New Zealanders find their perfect property. That's thirty years of open homes, first mortgages and sold signs. But this podcast isn't about the sale. It's about what happens after the sold sign comes down, once the boxes are unpacked and the house turns into a home. Because so much starts there. On this podcast, we sit down at the table with someone who has a story to talk about what started at home for them. Find your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz)), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz)) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/)) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.