Send us a Text Message. In this episode I get to talk with Mike Hines, a floral designer, instructor, entrepreneur and owner of Epoch Floral Design Company in Chicago. He is also the author of the book Uprooted, where he describes his floral design technique, philosophy and sources of inspiration. In this show Mike gives his best advice for florist…

Send us a Text Message. Eugene Schied is a hobby gardener. He has been gardening for 27 years since buying his home in Vienna, VA. He lives down the street for me and his garden is just bursting with life and color. He even has a beautiful garden over his garage! For Eugene gardening is a means of artistic expression, an opportunity to connect with…

Send us a Text Message. On this podcast I spoke with Amanda Green of Yonderyear Farm in the Shenandoah Valley. She is a flower farmer and full service wedding/event florist and she walks us through her tasks the week before a wedding. She also shares her method for perennializing her dahlia plants. Whether you are a flower farmer, florist or someon…

Send us a Text Message. My guest, Karen Hugg, is a certified ornamental horticulturalist with 20+ years of experience designing gardens and teaching others about plants. She is also a writer and has written several novels and has had articles featured in many publications such as the Washington Post. In our conversation she describes the benefits o…

Send us a Text Message. This is one of those podcast episodes where my whole perspective about gardening changed. Nicky describes gardening as a relationship, providing many benefits for both you and the creatures within it. At the same time, she speaks honestly about the barriers we face to spending time in the garden. You will come away with so m…

Send us a Text Message. I loved talking to Marianna Rappou, an agronomist, landscape architect and author of 100 Plants to Grow in Your Dream Garden. Marianna lives in Greece and is also a podcaster. She teaches her listeners how to grow a beautiful garden! In this podcast she gives great advice to encourage people who say they can't grow plants. S…

Send us a Text Message. Missy is a micro flower farmer in the great state of Missouri, outside of St. Louis (where I was born!) She owns a turquoise flower truck named Rosalee and is the host of the Flower Truck Friends podcast. In this episode Missy talks about the easiest and hardest flowers to grow, her biggest gardening mistake and her children…

Send us a Text Message. Today's podcast was a great conversation about gardening basics with Gina Schley. We talked about healthy soil. She explained the difference between compost and fertilizer and described the different types of fertilizers to use on your plants depending on their life stage. We talked about pest management tips. I am now armed…

Send us a Text Message. In this podcast I was lucky enough to interview my favorite jewelry designer of all time. Amy Blair of Sun Ah Blair jewelry sells her vibrant and unique pieces in many DC museums. From Baltimore, she grew up loving and studying art. She sketches what she sees in her travels, in nature and incorporates those colors and patter…

Send us a Text Message. In this funny episode I interview Sarah Hickner, a local businesswoman and author. Sarah shares with us the inspiration behind her first book, Finding Gideon. This episode will leave you wanting to make your biggest dreams and life goals a reality! Be sure to visit her podcast website to contribute your story ideas or stay i…

Send us a Text Message. La Paris, owner of Brooklyn Blooms, talks about her philosophy of floral design. She sees every flower as unique, like people, and tries to showcase each flower's personality, curves and differences in her designs. Be sure to listen. You will be inspired to create, design and transform your backyard foliage and flowers into …

Send us a Text Message. Sarah Brunner tells about her start as a flower farmer in Northern CA. Her newest project is their new Chevy flower truck they built that will be used for pop-up bouquets and flower bars. The Brunner Farm hosts workshops, paint nights, yoga sessions, u-pick and summer camps for kids. Sarah has an amazing amount of energy and…

Send us a Text Message. Dana has lots of knowledge about flower farming and running a mobile cut flower business. Since 2022 she has been learning to grow a cut flower garden. Now a confident grower, she does mobile pop-up sales in her cool pink GMC. She also has a u-pick garden and hosts flower yoga sessions in her yard. Dana's favorite place to h…

Send us a Text Message. Joan Fuller gives us insight into how we can prepare for Spring planting. Owner of Hidden Pond Farm, she offers a flower club membership to anyone in the Vienna/Falls Church area to receive monthly flowering plants and expert tips so you can grow flowers of your own! Be sure to arrange to visit her farm or join her flower cl…

Send us a Text Message. Alley Dufour teaches us about her life as a fruit farmer in Olon, Ecuador. She talks about the benefits of growing plants as she raises a family. Her 2 year old can name all of their crops and is often seen nude and in his farming boots feeding the chickens and playing with the baby goats. As a gardener she suggests always s…

In this episode we catch up with Tiffany Witehira and Aroha Harris. We talk about the challenges of language learning, the realities of juggling kura with parenting and mahi, we celebrate the achievements and talk about what lies ahead.

In this episode we catch up with Chelsea Winstanley and Leonie Kapea Hayden to discuss our rūmaki reo journey, safe reo speaking places, anxiety about leaving an immersive environment, expectation Vs reality, and our diverse experiences throughout the year.

In episode two we speak to filmmaker Chelsea Winstanley and Journalist Leonie Hayden about language learning feeling like we're all in kohanga reo, and how that realisation creates safe to fail spaces in the language reclamation journey. We discuss the good and bad of te reo Māori in the film and media industries and chat about the responsibility o…

We speak with Māori Midwife Camille Harris and fragrance developer Tiffany Witehira who are both at the beginning of their year-long total immersion Māori language course. The pair share the stories behind their desire to reclaim te reo, share their lived experiences of language being looked down upon as a result of colonisation and, give us an ins…

Kia ora e te whānau. Today is a very special day, we celebrate NUKU //100! Through this series we have met and interviewed wāhine right across the motu - the matauranga holders, the frontliners, the carers, the whale whisperers, the teachers, the researchers, the ahi kaa, the boundary pushers, the leaders, the workers, the innovators, the motivator…

Meet NUKU //099 Dr Acushla Dee Sciascia (Ngāruahine Rangi, Ngāti Ruanui, Te Ātiawa) This incredible wahine is a business woman representing Indigenous perspectives and narratives in research, evaluation and strategy development. Her studies found her researching digital tangihanga long before Covid-19 had arrived, exploring how tikanga in te ao Māo…

Kurahapainga (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) is the founder and artistic director of Hawaiki TŪ, a Māori performance company specialising in kapa haka and haka theatre. She is also a member of the renowned Te Waka Huia kapa haka roopu. In this episode NUKU //098 talks to us about the found…

Te Raina (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu, Italy) runs education programmes about Māori culture from her whare wānanga, Kurawaka. Based in Pōrangahau, she teaches wāhine to find their karanga voice, teaching the foundations of karanga and the mātauranga of mana wāhine, mana atua and mana motuhake. In this episode we kōrero abo…

We have a special double episode for you. NUKU 095 and 096 are Geneva Harrison (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri) and Mihi Tibble (Ngāti Mākino, Ngāti Whakahemo, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue, Whānau a Hinerupe, Rakairoa, Te Whānau a Karuwai, Te Aitanga a Mate). The friends are the founders of Tuhi Stationery. They create notebook…

Dame Hinewehi Mohi (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tūhoe) has been iconic in the development of puoro Māori for the past 30 years. In 1999, she released her Oceania album and made history singing the national anthem in te reo Māori. Today, she is championing a bilingual music industry for Aotearoa. In this episode we talk about her passion for te reo Māori,…

Yvonne (Ngāpuhi) is a mentor and trustee with Auckland Teaching Gardens Trust. She supports the community with garden plots, gardening courses and supplying kai to food banks. We recorded this interview in her garden in Māngere, surrounded by manu and the local community tending to their plots. In this episode she talks to us about her upbringing a…

Xiuh, as she likes to go by is of Mexican heritage (Mestiza, Nahua (Mexico)). For years she has worked to revitalise ancient Indigenous practices. Here in Aotearoa she shares temazcal, kinam and tezcatlipoca practices of old central Mexico. She is also a wisdom keeper of ancient Toltec traditions. ⁠In this episode Xiuh talks to us about the colonis…

Matariki, as she prefers to go by (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe) is the Co-Lead for RIVER (Revitalising Indigenous Values for Earth’s Regeneration) and Co-Manager for the New Zealand Alternative. She is also Project Manager for Te Kaunoti Hikahika (or E Hika!), a constitutional reformation project rolling out across Aotearoa. Based in Tāneatua this phenom…

Charmeyne Te Nana-Williams (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Toa) is the CEO of What Ever It Takes, an organisation using Māori models of clinical practice for whānau affected by complex disability and trauma, as a result of an acquired serious injury. She came into this mahi through her own experience in findin…

NUKU 089 is Irihapeti Edwards (Ngāti Manawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Te Arawa). This incredible young woman works across financial services and global youth leadership. Among a number of accolades, she has been a Prime Minister’s Scholar and UN Youth New Zealand delegate. In this episode she talks about financial…

Tania Page (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāi Tahu) is a journalist currently working with TVNZ’s flagship current affairs show, Sunday. Earlier in her career, she was on the team that launched the 24 hour news channel Al Jazeera English. In this episode she shares her career journey, working in news media around the world, and talks to us about some of the heart-w…

NUKU 087 is Puawai Cairns of Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Pūkenga whakapapa. Puawai has held a number of roles across her time at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, including as curator. She is currently Te Papa’s Director of Audience and Insight. In this episode she talks to us about the power of museums and the importance of tell…

Julia Arnott-Neenee (Sāmoan, Chinese, British) is the co-founder and director of PeopleForPeople, a youth-led social enterprise on a mission for digital equity. She’s also a strategy and insights specialist with a personal goal to change the statistics around the lack of diversity in the information and communications technology sector. In this epi…

NUKU 085 is Mary Brown (Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Whātua). Mary is a full-time, stay-at-home māmā of 10 tamariki, all under 15 years old. She is also a champion for financial literacy. In this episode we talk about motherhood and the stereotypes that come with raising a large family. Mary shares her whakaaro on raising the leaders of tomorrow and she tells…

We’ve got a double episode for your today with Melony Paikea-Tautalanoa (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Arawa) and Manawawharepu Udy (Te Arawa, Mātaatua, Tainui) Mel and Manawa are the founders of Ngahere Communities, a social enterprise championing the potential of South Auckland entrepreneurs, innovators and creators through collaborative spaces…

NUKU 082 is Phylesha Brown-Acton (Fineone Hakupu, Atua (Niue) Phylesha serves Pasifika Rainbow, LGBTQIA+, MVPFAFF+ peoples and their families. She is the Executive Director of F’INE Pasifika Aotearoa, co-founded with Mama Tere Tahere-Strickland. F’INE is part of the Pasifika Whānau Ora Collective and Phylesha’s primary role is to challenge rhetoric…

Deirdre Nehua (Ngātiwai / Ngāti Hao) has spent most of her life working for positive change for ngāi Māori, challenging the racism and inequities thrust upon our communities as a result of colonisation. She is also a writer and poet. From her involvement in the Maori Land March and land occupations of the 70s, 80s and 90s, to working in prisons, re…

Dr Jenny Lee-Morgan (Waikato, Ngāti Mahuta, Te Ahiwaru, Chinese) is a teacher, author, researcher, māmā and grandmother with Chinese-Māori whakapapa. Jenny has worked as a secondary school teacher and in the community, tertiary and business sectors. Today, she is a professor of Māori research and the director of Ngā Wai a te Tūī, Māori and Indigeno…

Renata Watene (Ngā Puhi, Tainui) is an optometrist, and one of very few Māori in the industry. As the director of her own optometry practice that now boasts two locations in Tāmaki Makaurau, and a member of the Waitematā District Health board, she is passionate about improving health equity for Māori, particularly when it comes to eye health. In th…

NUKU 078 is Ramari Stewart (Ngāti Awa). She is a renowned tohunga tohorā, based in the small village of Ōkārito in Te Waipounamu. She has had a life-long affinity with whales, having learned mātauranga from an early age with her parents and wider whānau. From observing and learning about live whales, to leading the recovery of stranded whales, she …

Phillis Meti (Arorangi, Rarotonga) is a golf professional and a 3-time World Long Drive champion. In 2006 she became the first New Zealander, and youngest ever, to win the World Long Drive championship. She’s since been smashing records at competition level for more than 10 years. With a career full of accolades, Phillis is passionate about bringin…

Dr Karlo Mila (Kolofo'ou, Ofu (Tonga), Savai'i (Sāmoa), Pālangj, ancient connections to Savai'i and Pago Pago (Sāmoa)) is a renowned poet. She is also the programme director, founder and creator of the Mana Moana leadership programme.Her work explores knowledge, language, and core concepts indigenous to the Moana.In this episode she shares about he…

NUKU //075 is Awhitia Mihaere (Ngāti Kahungunu). She is a healer, a traditional birther, a tohunga ruahine, and a teacher of rongoā Māori. Awhitia was born on the floor of her whānau home in Tokoroa, guided into te ao Mārama by her grandmother. It was this nanny that nurtured Awhitia’s wairua from that day on. In this episode we talk about her jour…

Lusi Faiva (Patamea, Savai’i Samoa) is an award-winning stage performer and dancer, who has been practicing for the last 25 years. Her heritage connects her to Patamea, Savaii Samoa. Her performance is mainly in the contemporary genre and contact improvisation, but she also loves to interweave her Samoan culture through siva. Lusi was born with cer…

Heather Te Au-Skipworth (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Ngati Ruanui, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is the creator, visionary and CEO of IronMāori. She started the multi-sport event in 2009 with only 300 people. Today, it boasts events right across Aotearoa with numbers reaching 6000 participants per venue. IronMāori has also become the biggest c…

Pagan Karauria (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa) started woolhandling when she was just 15. Today, she has not only made a career of it, she is also an international champion, winning competitions in Aotearoa, Australia, the UK and Europe. Two summers ago she also ticked off a shearing goal with 402 sheep shorn in 8 hours. She has won acc…

Dr Ani Alana Kainamu (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Kōtirana - Glaswegian) is an environmental researcher within Te Kūwaha, the National Centre of Māori environmental research at the National institute of Water and Atmospheric research. She is also a māmā of two kōtiro. This amazing wahine completed a double degree in Zoology and Māori studies …

When I first read an online bio for Dr Erica Newman it stated her whakapapa as Māori, and then in brackets, ‘iwi unknown’. It has to be one of the most powerful, yet painful, identifiers I have ever read. The lecturer in Te Tumu: School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous studies at the University of Otago, recently received a Marsden Fast Start resea…

Georgia Latu (Kai Tahu, Ngāpuhi) is the 14-year old C.E.O behind Pōtiki Poi. A pakihi that makes, sells and distributes poi and earrings, while sharing mātauranga Māori. Her business has environmental and social values at its heart, using op shop and second hand materials, with biodegrading plastic, and employing people with diverse abilities from …

Te Ao Kapa (Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Wai, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Porou) started with Te Kaha O Te Rangatahi Indigenous Youth Hub at age 18, filing paperwork and helping in the office. Today, 12 years later, she has just been made the organisation’s CEO. Her mahi is to support rangatahi navigate their way to becoming their own champions of positive cha…