In this episode, I sit down with Riki Nia Nia, CEO of Te Rau Ora, a Māori health organisation committed to strengthening the Māori health workforce, supporting rangatahi leadership, and ensuring whānau receive culturally grounded care and wellbeing support.

Te Rau Ora plays a vital role across Aotearoa through initiatives that support workforce development, mental health and addiction services, kaupapa Māori health frameworks, leadership pathways, and community wellbeing kaupapa.

In this kōrero, Riki shares insights from decades of working within the health sector and why this mahi is deeply personal to him.

We dive into the stories that shaped him, from the influence of his koro and the philosophy of “hiki wairua”, to his māmā becoming the first Tongan wahine involved with the Māori Women’s Refuge movement. He also speaks openly about how his understanding of the health system supported his own whānau during a challenging time with his son.

We explore bigger conversations around rangatahi leadership, learning to agree to disagree, lessons from Native American communities, Te Whare Tapa Whā, and the complex factors that influence whānau wellbeing.

This is a powerful conversation about how our personal stories shape the work we choose to do and the impact we want to have on our people.

This episode is a collaboration between the Planting Seeds Podcast and Te Rau Ora.

🔗 Learn more about Te Rau Ora:
https://terauora.com/

In this Grow With Me episode, I reflect on the inspiration that came from watching one of my closest brothers complete a FULL Ironman in Taupō over the weekend.

I also share insights coming from Week 2 of the Brother to Brother kaupapa, where the theme is Identity.

This week has been powerful. Tāne are stepping into the weight of the roles we carry, while also taking time to look beneath the labels we live under.

Too often we define ourselves by titles, responsibilities, or expectations. But who are we beneath all of that?

These are the four questions we explored together:

1️⃣ What roles do you carry in life?
2️⃣ Who are you beneath those labels?
3️⃣ What are you hiding or putting to the side right now?
4️⃣ What do you genuinely value about yourself?

Many men are wired to operate in the mind and logic, but Brother to Brother is a space helping tāne reconnect with their heart and emotions, while being supported by others walking similar paths.

If you’re a brother who feels the pull to grow, connect, and do some real inner work, you’re welcome to join us.

If you’re interested in joining the Brother to Brother kaupapa, please use the link below to express your interest:

🔗 Register your interest:

https://form.typeform.com/to/lA0kwq8H

In this episode of the Planting Seeds Podcast, I sit down with Kaukaohu Wahilani, a Hawaiian elder and activist who accepted the invitation to share a kōrero during Waitangi this year.

Our conversation explores the deep similarities between Hawaiian and Māori cultures, histories, and experiences under colonisation.

Kaukaohu speaks openly about a powerful identity shift in his life, reclaiming his traditional Hawaiian name, which he describes as a step that emancipated him mentally and spiritually from what he calls “the matrix.”

We also speak about the impact of colonisation on Hawai‘i, the movement to protect Mauna Kea, the devastation caused by the recent fires in Hawai‘i, and the ongoing desecration of Hawaiian lands through military occupation.

This kōrero is one of indigenous connection, resistance, identity, and remembering who we truly are.

If something from this conversation resonates with you, please share your favourite highlight in the comments and follow the links below to stay connected with the kaupapa and mobilisations that Kaukaohu is part of.

🔗 Follow Kaukaohu Wahilani & Stay Updated:
👉 https://www.kalahuihawaii.net/

🔗 Planting Seeds Offerings:

👉 https://form.typeform.com/to/PqdcWDEW

In this Grow With Me episode of the Planting Seeds Podcast, I reflect on the month of February as we’ve already stepped into March.

I unpack some of the gems that came out of our recent wānanga, where the theme was DIRECTION, bringing focus back to what truly matters and creating simple, actionable steps that support clarity and forward movement.

March isn’t about doing anything different. It’s about more of the same. Sticking to structure. Staying grounded. Controlling what’s in my hands.

I share why getting caught in the “bigness” of a month can create overthinking, procrastination, and anxiety AND how simplifying things back to daily structure removes unnecessary pressure.

If you’re someone who tends to overcomplicate growth or feels overwhelmed by what’s ahead, this episode may bring you back to steady ground.

🔗 Planting Seeds Offerings

In this episode of the Planting Seeds Podcast, I sit down with Tāmati Rākena, Far North District Councillor, co-founder of Taiao, and a dedicated father and partner.

Raised around Waitangi and immersed in the many kaupapa of the Far North, Tāmati shares how his upbringing shaped his worldview and commitment to service. We talk about what it truly means to become a councillor and the mahi he is doing within council to support community voice and representation.

Alongside his wahine Jude, Tāmati also founded Taiao, a clothing brand grounded in kaupapa Māori and we kōrero about the intention behind the brand.

A powerful part of this kōrero centres on fatherhood. Tāmati speaks openly about raising their son who is he takiwātanga (autistic), sharing the lessons, growth and the deeper understanding of love and patience that has come through that journey.

If you get value from this kōrero, please share it with someone who would appreciate it.

🔗 Shop Taiao & Support the Kaupapa:

www.mytaiao.co.nz/

🔗 Planting Seeds Offerings:
www.form.typeform.com/to/PqdcWDEW

In this Grow With Me episode, I sit with four questions that have come from my own reflections and the Planting Seeds IG community.

These questions touch on growth, culture and consistency. I answer them from where I’m at right now, not from a place of perfection.

Questions:

1. What are my current wins?
2. How we can encourage our people to engage with and embrace culture without whakamā?
3. How do I keep growing without feeling broken or behind?
4. How do I stay consistent when motivation drops off?

Big mihi to the sponsor of the show, Bio Gold — a natural testosterone booster made in Aotearoa.

🔗Use code SEEDS15 for 15% off HERE.

This episode marks the third time sister NIX has joined the Planting Seeds Podcast and as always, it’s a kōrero filled with value, honesty, and reflection.

Recorded at Waitangi, this conversation looks back on the lessons NIX took from 2025 and the intentions she’s setting for 2026. We speak about creating joyful moments, being intentional with what we share publicly, and the strength that can be found in silence.

With the energy of Waitangi around us and NIX juggling work on the grounds, this kōrero came with its fair share of distractions AND while it was cut shorter than planned, there are still plenty of gems throughout. It also leaves us room to run it back and go deeper next time.

A reflective, real, and grounded conversation about slowing down, choosing presence, and moving forward with intention.

⬇️ Share in the comments your favourite highlight from this episode.

🔗 Express your interest in Planting Seeds offerings: ⁠https://form.typeform.com/to/PqdcWDEW

This Grow With Me episode is a kōrero on purpose and why purpose is a critical pillar of tāne wellbeing.

Purpose gives drive, meaning, and fulfilment. Without it, many men feel lost, disconnected, or stuck in survival mode. In this episode, I share the simple framework that has helped me identify and reconnect with my own sense of purpose and may support you on your journey too.

I break purpose down into three key areas:

Authenticity: Ko wai koe?
Who are you beneath the expectations, roles and noise?

Gifts: What comes naturally to you?
The things you like or that you’re often good at without trying too hard.

Challenges: What have you gone through?
The experiences and struggles that have shaped you and may now be part of what you’re here to give.

These three areas have helped me find clarity, direction, alignment and I share them openly in this episode as an invitation . . . not a prescription.

IF you’re a brother based in, or connected to, the Bay of Plenty, I also share about an upcoming 12-week Brother to Brother Kaupapa, starting the first week of March.

🔗 Join Brother to Brother Here:
https://form.typeform.com/to/oO9vmjZD

🔗 Get Your Bio Gold Here:

https://biogoldnz.com/discount/SEEDS15

This episode is with Pio Terei, an Aotearoa legend whose contribution to media, entertainment, and comedy spans decades. It was an absolute honour to sit across from him on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, and this has become one of the best podcast episodes to date.

Pio’s lived experience, charisma, humour and depth impacted me deeply, especially around tāne-hood, talent, and parenting. He shares lessons from his upbringing, being adopted and raised by parents who showered him with unconditional love, nurtured his curiosity, and how he learned to travel the world without ever needing to leave home — through valuing people and connection.

The kōrero moves into a beautiful and sacred space as Pio opens up about his healing journey through grief after the passing of his son, alongside powerful and tender stories of parenting, presence and legacy.

We Dive Into:

✨ Growing up adopted and surrounded by unconditional love
✨ Nurturing curiosity and talent✨ Manhood beyond status and success✨ Valuing people, relationships, and connection
✨ Parenting lessons that shape legacy
✨ Grief, healing, and honouring his son
✨ Finding depth through humour and humanity

🔗 Building Awesome Whānau: HERE

🔗 Express your interest in Planting Seeds offerings: HERE

This Grow With Me episode is a real and honest reflection on what often happens when you start showing up for yourself.

I briefly share my experience being at Waitangi, before diving deeper into a challenge many of us face on a growth journey. The subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) shade that comes when you begin to change.

“You think you’re better than me.”
“You’re too cool now.”
Tall poppy syndrome.

These comments often come from the people closest to us, which is what makes it so hard to navigate. In this episode, I speak about why this happens, how growth naturally shifts relationships, and why outgrowing old behaviours and sometimes people is a sign of alignment, not arrogance.

This kōrero isn’t about cutting people off. It’s about understanding how minimising time, changing energy, and choosing authenticity can create tension and why that tension is often a mirror.

At the end of the episode, I also share about the first Planting Seeds Wānanga / Retreat, happening at the end of the month with only 10 spaces available.

🔗 Fill out the interest here: https://form.typeform.com/to/PqdcWDEW