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. 

In this pod I talk to Hannah Seay, one seriously gritty, determined, & adventurous Kiwi who has just returned to Aotearoa New Zealand after spending the past 14 years working in one of the world's most demanding service roles - super yachting.

Coming originally from Taupo and with a background in hospitality that started with washing dishes as a 12 year-old before eventually working in high-end resorts including Huka Lodge, Hannah left NZ aged 19, bound for France & determined to work on super yachts.

In the pod we discuss how she got her first super yacht role, the long days and longer nights on the job, some of the perceptions and bigger misperceptions of the industry, and why Kiwis seem to do so well in it.

While I feel Hannah views her 14 years at sea positively, she also shares some of the more disturbing experiences she faced. This includes being sexually harassed and her adeptness at using soft skills to navigate  intimidating & frightening situations with no land in sight. Listeners are advised that the pod includes stories of sexual harassment which some people may find distressing.   

Hannah has packed a lot into her life - from skinning rabbits for kitchen prep to Silver Service for billionaires, to seeing some of the world's most iconic sights and to ultimately becoming a super-yacht Chief Stewardess for the past eight years and a Chief Build Stewardess for three multi-million dollar super-yacht builds.

Having experienced the good and the un-good of the industry, Hannah has also been a champion for other young women joining the fold of the super yacht workforce; something we also explore.

As a former sea-dog (on trawlers not super yachts!), I loved talking to Hannah about life at sea and appreciate hugely her willingness to speak openly about the great, the good, the bad, and yes the ugly too in our conversation.

For those of you interested in reading my Kiwi Flees OpEd published in Stuff, you'll find the link to the story here: Kiwi brain drain? Or our greatest export opportunity? In the event this is paywalled, I've also published a copy of the story on our website at ofnz.co.nz.

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 the indomitable Kirsten Chambers-Taylor whose first offshore role was working for the English photojournalist, Juliet Peck. Juliet's husband, Rory (a freelance news cameraman), had been killed by Boris Yeltsin loyalists in Moscow the year before Kirsten arrived in London in 1994. A stint in France as a horse trainer & nanny was followed by Kirsten then taking a role as a Domestic Servant with the United States-based UK Consul General.

We discuss humble beginnings including a six-week, 'no-hope-of-extension' job at the British Consulate which turned into a stellar 24-year career which saw Kirsten serving seven Consuls General & five Prime Ministers. This culminated in Kirsten becoming Consul for Trade & Investment, then Regional Director for New England where she was charged with boosting trade & investment, supporting Ministers, and championing staff through the pandemic.

In 2026, Kirsten is on a mission through her new company - Taylored Pathways - to better connect her adopted home of New England with New Zealand. Kirsten shares plenty of insights about New England - where companies including Facebook, Android, Polaroid, & Gillette were born. She encourages Kiwi companies considering entering the US to not just focus on the usual suspects like California when thinking about how and where to start their export journey into America.

We talk about Kirsten's SUMO (Suck it Up & Move On) approach to life, the connections between working with horses & leadership, her role as President of the New England Kiwi Club, and how her company aims to help companies navigate US (& UK)  market entry via a less travelled, more creative, and potentially less competitive route than the herd.

I loved this conversation. For me it again demonstrates just how adept Kiwis are at making the most of any situation while confirming that our expatriate population remains connected and is willing and able to help fellow Kiwis.

If you're looking for help with US or UK market entry or connections, or to find out more about about Taylored Pathways, Kirsten can be reached at (+1) 617 483 3245, hello@tayloredpathways.com, or check out tayloredpathways.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. 

Los Angeles-based Kiwi, Pam Sheyne, is one of the most influential New Zealanders in global pop. She's a multi-platinum songwriter & singer whose songs have sold more than fifty million records. Her credits include co-writing Christina Aguilera's global number one hit, Genie in a Bottle, and she has over 100 platinum awards to her name.

Pam, who whakapapas to Ngāi Tahu, is also a winner of an Ivor Novello Award - one of the highest international honours a songwriter can receive - and her songs have been recorded by artists ranging from Demi Lovato & Seal to Jessica Simpson, the Backstreet Boys, & Camila Cabello. As a singer, she’s performed with some extraordinary names - Elton John, Celine Dion, the Pet Shop Boys, Cyndi Lauper, Tom Jones, & Dave Stewart among them. Her work has also appeared in films and TV shows from The Princess Diaries & The Young Victoria to Camp Rock & Dance Your Ass Off.

In this pod, Pam talks to me about her early days in music, her successful collaborations with musicians and song-writers globally, and the impact on her career after co-writing Genie in a Bottle. We discuss the impact of streaming and AI on songwriters, and the advocacy work she has done as a founding member of Songwriters of North America (SONA). Lastly, we look at Pam's side business - SongWriterCamps - where she and her business partner help educate independent songwriters, artists, & producers so they make money from their music. This includes an upcoming camp in Melbourne and Pam's hopes to work with Kiwi songwriters a little closer to her homeland.

For more details on Pam and SongWriterCamps, please go to:

www.pamelasheyne.com
www.songwritercamps.com
www.weareeva.com

A huge thank you to Pam for taking time to talk to me. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations leading up to and including the pod and as we welcome 2026 it's such a tonic celebrating a Kiwi creative flying so high.

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 an amazing Japan-based Kiwi duo - businesswomen Jayne Nakata & Catherine O'Connell. Jayne and Catherine, among many other things, co-host the award-winning Jandals in Japan podcast, helping demystify Japan for Kiwi companies interested in breaking in to this amazing country.

Jayne and Catherine share their experiences of arriving separately in Japan over 20 years ago, both thinking they'd only be away for a year or two but finding themselves still hooked to their adopted country over two decades later. We discuss their different but also connected lives. Jayne being rurally-based with her family in Fukushima Prefecture which in 2011 suffered a triple catastrophe of earthquake, tsunami, & nuclear disaster. Jayne dispels some of the prevailing myths about Fukushima and shares why she chose to stay. Tokyo-based Catherine has forged a hugely successful corporate and governance career, including being the first non-Japanese woman to serve on the Boards of Toyota and Fujitsu. She is the founder and principal of the first foreign-female-founded boutique law firm in Japan and is a serial award winner, taking out Entrepreneur of the Year, Foreign Lawyer of the Year, and Boutique Law Firm of the Year.

During the pod we explore themes including resiliency, the importance of story-telling in Japan, lessons for Kiwi businesses considering entering this market, & some of the more egregious errors they've seen businesses make when trying to break into Japan (and how to avoid them).

Both Jayne and Catherine see huge opportunities for New Zealanders to further strengthen our country's relationship with Japan, are keen to help, and are generous in sharing invaluable insights for anyone interested in their adopted homeland.

A huge thank you to both Jandals for taking time out to talk with me on Kiwi Flees. Please check out the Jandals in Japan pod wherever you get your favourite podcasts or head to jandalsinjapan.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. 

This pod sees me catching up with Lausanne-based Marc Checkley, an Auckland-born writer, host, actor, communications consultant, educator, & WSET-certified wine professional.

Marc first left Aotearoa New Zealand in 2000, swapping Papatoetoe for Singapore to work in media education, digital arts, and filmmaking. Since then, his creative life has taken him across Asia and Europe - from newsrooms, studios, and senior television roles, to Olympic Games broadcasting in Beijing, work connected with the legendary Jim Henson, and now Switzerland, where wine, hospitality, tourism, and storytelling have become the next expression of his craft.

Our conversation follows Marc through international media, online wine education, and the UNESCO-listed vineyards of Lavaux above Lake Geneva, where he now guides international wine lovers.

It’s also a conversation about belonging — and its shadow, not belonging.

Marc met and married his husband, Jin, offshore, building a life across countries that did not recognise their relationship equally.

We also talk about the Kiwi stories we carry with us: “she’ll be right”, “the smell of an oily rag”, and our sometimes-too-casual way of moving through the world. Marc makes a compelling case that words and stories matter, and that perhaps New Zealanders could stand to revisit some of the things we keep telling ourselves about ourselves.

A huge thanks to Marc for his candour, energy, & generosity. This was a rich, funny, thoughtful, and at times provocative conversation with another Kiwi Flee doing fascinating work in the world.

Further details on Marc

Marc Checkley has worked across Asia and Europe with major media, tourism, hospitality, and commercial brands, and now helps organisations, destinations, and individuals tell better stories.

Alongside his storytelling and consulting work, Marc hosts bespoke wine experiences, judges at international wine competitions, writes for publications including GaultMillau, Time Out, and Decanter, and is an adjunct lecturer at Les Roches Hospitality Management School. He is also a UNESCO World Heritage Guide in Lavaux, co-author of The Smart Traveller’s Wine Guide to Switzerland, and a finalist in the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Awards 2026.

You can find Marc here:

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/spillthestory
Email: me@marccheckley.com
Wine Experiences: @drink.moi

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 episode of Kiwi Flees I talk to Toronto-based financier, Darren Sissons, who left Aotearoa New Zealand in 1993, heading to Taiwan with $1,500 in his pocket.

Darren spent five years there learning Mandarin, working in a trading company focused on export markets, and doing the sort of long-week, high-pressure apprenticeship that helped shape the resilience and perspective he's carried through the rest of his life.

Since leaving New Zealand, Darren has also lived and worked in the UK before settling in Canada. He’s held senior roles at Portfolio Management Corp, Scotiabank, Scotiabank Private Equity, Osprey Capital, and RBC and is now Partner & Portfolio Manager, Global Equities, at Campbell, Lee & Ross Investment Management. His career has spanned venture capital, private equity, public equities, derivatives, mergers & acquisitions, restructuring, financing, strategy, and high-net-worth wealth management.

Darren talks about the experience of becoming an amalgam of different national, cultural, and business environments, and what it feels like to return to NZ when some people still see you as the person who left, back in the day. We explore what he calls “paradise lost” - the emotional cost some offshore Kiwis carry through absence from home - and also look at New Zealand through Darren’s global investment lens. This includes our relationship with housing, capital, sovereign wealth, education, and ambition.

I found Darren's view on foundation structures - think Denmark's iconic Carlsberg brand - fascinating. These structures can see a foundation hold a controlling stake in a company of national significance, helping keep strategically important businesses from simply being sold offshore to well-heeled bidders.

Darren has spent much of his career assessing whether companies, people, strategies, incentives, and numbers stack up. That makes for a candid conversation about New Zealand, the diaspora, and what small countries need to get right if they want to compete.

A huge thanks to Darren for joining me on Kiwi Flees. You can find him on LinkedIn here and the book recommendation made during the pod was Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus.

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. 

Rather than catching up with an offshore Kiwi Flee, for episode 15 I invited a former colleague and now friend, Sam Prescott, to take over the hosting duties, helping me unpick what I’ve seen, heard, and learned since launching the pod.

This was a high-risk moment for me. Sam's a Co-Director of communications consultancy Sixteenth Letter and one of the sharper tacks in the toolbox. He's a successful and seasoned communications professional, a writer (do check out his Slow Comms newsletter on Substack), editor, and former video games journo. And as you’ll hear from his opening gambit, he enjoys giving me a push by ambushing me with a great question straight out of the gate. I should have seen it coming!

So far, Kiwi Flees has connected with Kiwis in England, Wales, Cyprus, Japan, the US, Poland, France, Italy, and one just off the high seas. They’ve included an actor, writers, a sports leader, an academic, a lawyer, a podcaster, a trade facilitator, a songwriter, a sailor, a publisher, a photographer, an innovation guru, a film industry veteran, a franchise owner, and a social enterprise creator.

Across those conversations, some themes have started to emerge. This episode explores them.

This is neither a greatest hits episode nor a glossy success parade. It’s more of a pause at the halfway-ish mark to ask what Kiwi Flees might really be about.

My thanks to Sam for joining me and asking sharp questions - for which he mostly had better answers than me - and for letting me think aloud about the valuable and valued tribe that has exported itself from Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Please join me in a fortnight when normal service resumes.

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.