Kiwi Flees – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In this pod I talk to UK-based Kiwi Flee and entrepreneur, Melisa White, whose life outside New Zealand has cut across Denmark, Singapore, and the UK, and across a remarkable range of work: from finance to recruitment, technology sales to corporate sales, performance coaching to behavioural science, mindset training and housing advocacy.

Melisa, who joined me from Cardiff, Wales, describes herself as a mixed Kiwi - having a Kiwi Dad and a Singaporean Mum. Despite admitting she wasn't that great at school and not graduating from university, Melisa got into Mensa at 24 and went on to become a top performer in several high-pressure corporate environments.

We talk about what it means to be great at the work, but not always an easy fit for the box around it. One former manager told Melisa she was one of the best salespeople he’d worked with, but “a nightmare to manage”. Her response - one she likely wouldn't use today - referenced Corollas and Ferraris to silence the criticism.

Our conversation tracks Melisa’s move to Singapore; a period of running at 150%, making good money and living hard; and the point at which she began to realise that speed, money, and performance are not the same thing as being well.

We discuss trauma therapy, silent meditation, self-awareness, and a personal and professional journey that eventually led Melisa away from corporate "ego-land” and towards helping leaseholders and residents in the UK housing system who are often left navigating unfairness, complexity, stress, and power imbalance on their own.

At the heart of the episode is Melisa’s current venture, KindStay, which she describes as the culmination of much of her life and career: sales, systems, trauma, performance, self-awareness, and a belief that old-school industries can be disrupted by paying far more attention to human beings.

This is a brave conversation about intensity, ambition, sexism, burnout, resilience, and reinvention - and the power of turning hard-won self-knowledge into something that helps other people and organisations navigate uncertainty.

A huge thanks to Melisa for joining me on Kiwi Flees and for sharing this candid and very human story.

On behalf of OFNZ, thank you for listening and sharing the pod.

My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound engineer Robbie Mulligan and the team at Matrix Digital (Wgtn).

If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz

Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode. 

In today's pod I catch up with the London-based internationally award-winning VFX guru and Producer, Johnny Blick. This pod is a little different to previous episodes as Johnny was keen to mix the conversation up - not wanting to just focus on what he's been doing offshore (perhaps the bogie of imposter syndrome raising its pernicious head again) but also to look at why so many Kiwis excel internationally. We touch on both the upsides and downsides of forging a  career and life outside of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Johnny first left NZ with his family in 1986, swapping Wellywood for Hollywood where he lived with his family in a house whose history stretched from Marilyn Munroe to David Bowie. 

We discuss the contrast of Johnny's move from St Pats – a single sex Catholic boys’ school in Wellington, to the co-ed Beverly Hills High - alma mater to names like Nicolas Cage, David Schwimmer, & Angelina Jolie. Johnny suddenly found himself surrounded by students wanting to succeed, and with peers who expected him to want the same.

This expectation saw him auditioning and securing a place in the auspicious University of Southern California whose alumni include Will Ferrell, George Lucas, Ron Howard, and America Ferrera among others. 

We briefly discuss Johnny's return to New Zealand to work first as an actor, before making a clean move into the world of film and television commercial production. Our conversation cuts between his stellar career - he's now the Managing Partner of VFX studio Gate+ - and the life of a Kiwi who has put down deep commercial and familial roots offshore. We discuss some of the traits and attitudes that hold Kiwis in good stead internationally and I loved Johnny's candid appraisal of what he sees as the opportunities for Kiwis abroad, along with some of the things he misses most about Aotearoa New Zealand.

A huge thanks to Johnny for joining me on the pod. Slay the dragon of imposter syndrome!

On behalf of OFNZ, thank you for listening and sharing the pod.

My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound engineer Robbie Mulligan and the team at Matrix Digital (Wgtn).

If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz

Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode. 

In this pod I talk to Rhodes Scholar, former Mastermind contestant, cleric, and now author, Dr. Richard Major, about his life since leaving Aotearoa New Zealand in 1985. 

Richard has lived in India, Australia, the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Hungary, South Africa, Palestine, and Cyprus…before returning full circle to resettle in Oxford just a few weeks before we spoke. 

He shares his experience of arriving in Oxford with former All Blacks' captain, David Kirk, climbing an active volcano in tweed to toast the erupting volcano with a glass of Beaujolais before being escorted off the mountainside, his time studying and teaching at Oxford, and his work in the Church across diverse posts including the UK, Italy, and the USA among others. A public service announcement during the pod includes sage advice on why you shouldn't jump into a grave, and observations on embalming 'crimes' in the USA. Richard's life as a diplomatic (trailing) spouse, his writing as a foreign correspondent and book author, and his observations on the future of travel and living internationally are also explored. Lastly, we touch on Richard's current writing project - a guidebook for undergraduate students who are considering studying overseas. The book - called Major's Toolbox - is currently scheduled to be published in the first quarter of 2026. 

Richard also tutors international students preparing to apply for Oxford or Cambridge and if this sounds like you, or someone you know, he can be reached at Richard@richardmajor.com for details. 

On behalf of OFNZ, thank you for listening and sharing the pod.

My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound engineer Robbie Mulligan and the team at Matrix Digital (Wgtn).

If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz

Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode. 

In this pod I catch up with the indefatigable London-based CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Katie Sadleir.

Katie is a Kiwi Olympian & Commonwealth Games medallist who has lived and breathed sports & then sports administration for most of her life. 

She left New Zealand initially for Ireland in 2017 where she took on the role of General Manager, Women's Rugby, with World Rugby, before taking on the CGF leadership role in 2021.

In 2022, Katie became a recipient of the Kea World-Class New Zealander Award. Two years later she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sports governance and women. 

Katie talks to me about some of the challenges faced and wins achieved while in charge of lifting women's participation, leadership, and governance of rugby globally. We touch on the progress made in women's rugby in countries as diverse as India and Iran. Moving to her role at the CGF, Katie highlights what she faced on taking on the job, how she and her team responded to Victoria's 11th hour pull-out of hosting the 2026 Games, and how in some respects this forced a creative, innovative, and sustainable response to shape Commonwealth Games of the future.

Lastly, Katie shares with me just some of the reasons she believes New Zealanders succeed internationally, painting a picture of opportunity for global Kiwis due, in part, to our reputation, our way of doing things, and our ability to take on challenges and walk and work with people from all backgrounds, cultures, genders, age, or status.

A huge thank you to Katie for agreeing to spend some time with me as she and her team prepare for the 2026 Games in Glasgow.

On behalf of OFNZ, thank you for listening and sharing the pod.

My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound engineer Robbie Mulligan and the team at Matrix Digital (Wgtn).

If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz

Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode. 

In this pod, I talk to Paul Spiers, Ngā Mahanga a Tairi, a global keynote speaker, author, leadership, & culture coach living in Britain, & working across the UK & Europe. Paul works with and coaches leading global brands on the relationships between leadership, culture, technology, & innovation, helping them navigate & succeed in the age of AI.

His podcast, The New P&L, now sits in the top 5% of podcasts globally, being listened to in hundreds of countries globally. 

­Paul shares his experiences of landing in London, setting up his first agency, finding the seeds of triumph in disaster, the alchemy to be found in curiosity & creativity, the deep connection between music and surfing, while all the while highlighting the value to companies committing genuinely to a new P & L - where P stands for Principles and L stands for Leadership.

I'm grateful to Paul for taking time out to talk to me as he runs a ferocious schedule between family, speaking engagements across Europe & the UK, and his consultancy and coaching work in London and beyond.

To get in touch with Paul, please head to his LinkedIn profile here, or go to his website - principlesandleadership.com - for more.

On behalf of OFNZ, thank you for listening and sharing the pod.

My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound engineer Robbie Mulligan and the team at Matrix Digital (Wgtn).

If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz

Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode. 

In this pod, actress, singer, and writer, Ellie Smith (MNZM), shares what she's been up to since leaving New Zealand in 2009. From her time in Madrid teaching curmudgeonly Spanish bankers how to speak English, the personal impact of travelling to Kenya, the sometimes heart-breaking sometimes hilarious connections made performing in UK care homes pre-Covid, and on becoming a grandmother. We also talk about Ellie's return onto the NZ stage for the first time in 17 years to perform her London sell-out solo show, Life on a Loop.

Ellie has worked as an actor, singer, director, and drama teacher in professional theatre in Britain and New Zealand for more than 30 years, taking lead roles in the original London productions of The Rocky Horror Show & Chicago, starring in Shirley Valentine, Mortimer’s Patch, Worzel Gummidge, and Piaf, among others.

She is a Kiwi gem and I'm deeply appreciative that Ellie agreed to join me on this inaugural episode of Kiwi Flees. 

Life on a Loop is on at the Q Theatre, Auckland, 11-16 November 2025. Head to qtheatre.co.nz for tickets.

On behalf of OFNZ, thank you for listening and sharing the pod.

My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound engineer Robbie Mulligan and the team at Matrix Digital (Wgtn).

If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz

Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode. 

In this pod I catch up with Kelly Rolleston (Ngā Rauru & Ngāti Ruanui) who joins me from his family's home in Piacenza, located in northern Italy, about 70km from Milan.

Kelly whakapapas to Taranaki iwi and on his father’s side, his grandmother - Hinemoerangi Tumaroroa - was the granddaughter of the Māori spiritual and political leader Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, founder of the Rātana movement.

A hard-running rugby fullback who played for the Wellington Lions from 1992 to 1996, Kelly left New Zealand in' 96 and went on to play professionally in Italy and France. We look at the origins of Kelly's love of sport & physical activity which he gratefully acknowledges was largely orchestrated by his Mum, determined that her son have strong and positive roles models after Kelly's Dad died when Kelly was just two years old.

We touch on Kelly's lifelong love of sport, his pro athlete and then coaching career, the 'sliding door' moments that led to his career path taking the direction that it did, and his reflections on hitting that existential moment of asking 'what do I actually want to do with my life?'. Our conversation tracks across the vital role of sport and physical activity for keeping healthy and happy, Kelly's non-negotiable mantra that sport should be fun, and his work now as Italy's Master Franchisee of Little Kickers - an international franchise introducing football and the benefits of sport & physical activity to a legion of youngsters across his adopted country. Lastly we touch on identity and culture, with Kelly talking about the values at the heart of everything he does now, and his family living proudly across three cultures – Māori, Pākehā, and Italian.

A huge thanks to Kelly for joining me on Kiwi Flees. He is yet another awesome Kiwi doing it his way, and impacting positively on the world. 

Kelly's contact details include: LinkedIn; email info@littlekickers.it; or click here for Little Kickers (Italy) franchising info.

On behalf of OFNZ, thank you for listening and sharing the pod.

My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound engineer Robbie Mulligan and the team at Matrix Digital (Wgtn).

If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz

Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode. 

In this pod I talk to Tauranga-raised, France-based innovation guru, wildlife photographer, and wildlife photography tour guide, Francine Stevens, about her life since leaving New Zealand in 2007. 

Our conversation tracks Francine's career from leading digital innovation teams with a multinational corporation, to eventually working with start-ups, and in a B Corp in the UK, before escaping Britain just before a Covid lockdown to work in NEOM, one of Saudi Arabia's many ambitious giga-projects. 

Francine's personal and professional journey took a twist in the trail when, in 2020, she committed to five years of training, with the goal of one day working professionally as a wildlife photographer. I first met Francine in late 2025 while she was scoping out destinations in NZ for a small-group photography tour with UK-based clients looking to head Down Under. This was just before she headed well north to photograph Arctic Foxes!

In the pod we also touch on why she didn't pursue a career in opera, how companies with 60,000 staff innovate, and the ethical call of the wild I suspect all wildlife photographers have to answer; namely whether getting 'the shot' is prioritised over the wildlife, or vice versa. Francine shares her observations - positive - on volunteerism and NZ's conservation successes thanks to incremental changes over time delivering major environmental gains for NZ habitats & wildlife.

This was yet another inspirational and uplifting conversation with a Kiwi Flee. My huge thanks to Francine for joining me on the pod. It's not hard to see how, yet again, a commercial & creative member of our diaspora is lifting and promoting our country's profile internationally. 

Please check out Francine's work: Instagram.com/fstevens_artist/ and francinestevens.com

On behalf of OFNZ, thank you for listening and sharing the pod.

My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound engineer Robbie Mulligan and the team at Matrix Digital (Wgtn).

If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz

Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode. 

In this pod I talk to a Kiwi-born rainmaker, risk-taker, & entrepreneur, Santa Barbara-based Gia Levé, who, at 60, walked away from the life she'd built to embark on what she calls her Legacy Lap - aka the Heroine's Journey.

After landing in the United States in 1980, Gia built a successful career in communications & sales before co-founding an award-winning publishing company, Dream Spaces. At 60, following the death of her father, she spent two years trying to answer the challenge posed by three little words which can hit many of us at a key inflexion point in life - "Is This It"?

As Gia tells it, she landed on a resounding 'no', deciding to walk away from ‘playing it safe’ – her words, not mine – leaving her corporate life. Then, with no prior musical training, Gia reinvented herself as a charting singer-songwriter, a keynote concert speaker, and reinvention mentor.

In the pod, Gia shares her journey to reinvention and we touch on common Kiwi values of humility, belonging, and not “making a fuss" and how these don't always translate internationally. She describes how Californian culture challenged her Kiwi 'wiring' which meant standing out, dropping self-deprecation, and refusing to stand small.

Gia now steps onto the literal stage as both a speaker and recording artist, especially inspiring women entering new chapters of their lives, demonstrating that it's never too late to claim your voice.

For more on Gia, head to gialeve.com, gialevekeynote.com, or go to www.uniquespeakerbureauint.com/speakers/gia-leve to book Gia for your next event.

On behalf of OFNZ, thank you for listening and sharing the pod.

My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound engineer Robbie Mulligan and the team at Matrix Digital (Wgtn).

If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz

Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode. 

In this pod I talk to Nathan James Thomas, a veteran Kiwi traveller, writer, and publisher who left Aotearoa New Zealand more than a decade ago and built a life on the move before eventually putting down roots in Poland in 2022.

Nathan left NZ in 2014, bound first for China. What began as an OE gradually evolved into something more permanent. Over the next 10 years he lived the life of a digital nomad, working across China, Spain, Hungary, Albania, Georgia, & Poland, supporting himself as a writer and editor.

In our conversation we talk about what life as a digital nomad looks like beyond Instagram curation, the emotional and practical costs of life as a modern Bedouin, and the inflection point when the itch to move kicks in.

Nathan's the owner of Exisle Publishing and the founder of a travel publication - Intrepid Times - focused on narrative, long-form storytelling. I loved hearing about the origination stories of both commercial threads to Nathan's life, his description of Kiwis as enthusiastic travellers, how travel writing is changing, what relying on AI can result in for travellers (spoiler alert - certifiably mad recommendations and hallucinatory destinations), and why curiosity for modern travellers matters more than ever.

Our conversation about the origination of the term 'carbon miles' and travel-shaming also saw Nathan kindly providing links to a relevant story he penned for Intrepid Times, found here. 

I so enjoyed this conversation. Nathan is thoughtful, candid, and unromantic about both the rewards and realities of a life spent on the road, and on questions of Kiwi identity and place.

On behalf of OFNZ, thank you for listening and sharing the pod.

My huge thanks to the Kiwi Flees for candid conversations, and to my sound engineer Robbie Mulligan and the team at Matrix Digital (Wgtn).

If you're a Kiwi Flee or know someone who should be, please get in touch at: kiwiflees@onlyfromnz.co.nz

Please subscribe, leave a review, and join me in a fortnight for our next episode.