Today on the podcast I speak with Polly Markus, the creative force behind Miss Polly's Kitchen. 

What started as a lockdown hobby in 2020 has quickly evolved into a thriving platform, amassing a community of over 75,000 followers on Instagram and two bestselling cookbooks; Miss Polly's Kitchen and the recently released Seriously Delicious. Through Miss Polly’s Kitchen, Polly has built a loyal community of food lovers who adore her light, colourful, and straightforward recipes. 

 In this conversation, Polly shares her journey—from her career in commercial real estate to finding her creative spark during lockdown and building a community and brand. We talk about the process behind writing her cookbooks, her insights on building a personal brand, and how she’s navigating the next chapter of Miss Polly’s Kitchen.

I loved this conversation with Polly! She is as warm and vibrant as the food she creates—an open book with an infectious laugh and a genuine love for what she does.  

I know you will enjoy my kōrero with Polly as much as I did.

And I’m sure you probably are following her already but if not, head straight over to @miss_pollys_kitchen where you will spend hours scrolling through the most delicious and inspiring food content. And then you can visit Polly’s website at misspollyskitchen.com

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A big thank you to our wonderful podcast sponsor, Iris Store and Studio - an experiential beauty destination, with a retail store in Wellington and an online store. Iris stock internationally renowned, hard to find skincare makeup and fragrance brands, as well as offering beauty services. Visit iris-beauty.co.nz for all your skin and beauty needs.

For more podcast information visit supercreativepodcast.com

Hosted by Catie Dawson
Bought to you by Somewhere Creative
Find us on Instagram - @supercreativepodcast

Today on the podcast I speak with Lauren Caughley, the founder of Caughley & Co, an interior architecture and design studio that believes in the transformative power of spaces to enrich our human experience. 

Originally from New Zealand, Lauren built her impressive career overseas, spending 12 years in New York City working for renowned firms Selldorf Architects and Morris ADJMI Architects. During this time, she worked on everything from residential homes to boutique hotels, retail spaces, and gallery design—projects that honed her craft and prepared her for the next big step: founding her own practice in 2021. Now based in Laguna Beach, California, Lauren is steadily shaping Caughley & Co into a studio that values collaboration and craftsmanship while taking on projects across New York, California, and New Zealand.

In this conversation, we talk about Lauren’s journey from New Zealand to New York, the lessons she learned working on high-caliber projects, and how she’s now balancing the early days of building her practice with family life and navigating working cross-country. We also discuss her thoughtful, approach to her work and the book that changed her life.

 I know you will enjoy my kōrero with Lauren as much as I did.

After this episode you can visit caughleyandco.com to view some of the beautiful projects Lauren has worked on and then connect with her on Instagram @caughley.and.co.

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I’m thrilled to introduce you to our wonderful new podcast sponsor. Iris Store + Studio is an experiential beauty destination, with a retail store in Wellington and an online store. Iris stock internationally renowned, hard to find skincare makeup and fragrance brands, as well as offering beauty services, brows, lashes, makeup lessons, applications, and facials. 

For more podcast information visit supercreativepodcast.com

Hosted by Catie Dawson
Bought to you by Somewhere Creative
Find us on Instagram - @supercreativepodcast

Today on the podcast I speak with contemporary fibre artist, Fleur Woods. Based in the beautiful rural village of Upper Moutere (near Nelson) Fleur is surrounded by vineyards, hop farms, orchards and country gardens that deeply inspire her work. 

She describes her style of work as ‘stitched paintings’ -   an extraordinary fusion of embroidery, textile collage, paint, and found materials. Her intricate and joyful pieces, filled with blooming florals, colour and texture, are collected internationally and throughout Aotearoa and are considered contemporary heirlooms.

Fleur’s journey as an artist is one of experimentation, perseverance, and self-discovery. She’s spent more than a decade refining her unique style—a vibrant celebration of stitch, colour, and vintage fabrics that reflect her love of nature and her commitment to creating from the heart, rather than following trends. Alongside her art, Fleur has cultivated a thriving creative community, teaching workshops and sharing her process with others who are eager to explore the restorative power of creativity.

In our conversation, Fleur shares her journey of finding her own artistic voice, building resilience, growing, learning and balancing the creative and business sides of being an artist. We talk about the importance of making what you love and finding joy in the creative process.

I know you will enjoy my kōrero with Fleur as much as I did.

After this episode, please visit fleurwoodsart.com and then head to Instagram and follow @fleurwoodsart. If you are anything like me you will be instantly obsessed and then start planning your own future as a stitch artist. I get lost for a long time when I start scrolling through Fleur’s insta feed – it’s just so lovely!

For more podcast information visit supercreativepodcast.com

Hosted by Catie Dawson
Bought to you by Somewhere Creative
Find us on Instagram - @supercreativepodcast

Today on the podcast I speak with Sarah Murray, editor-in-chief, publisher, and owner of Fashion Quarterly—New Zealand’s iconic style authority for over 40 years. With over 15 years of experience in journalism and a reputation as an award-winning feature writer, Sarah recently took the bold step to acquire Fashion Quarterly, where she’s leading its growth across print, digital, and event platforms.

During our conversation, we discuss Sarah’s career journey, finding her dream role at Fashion Quarterly, the unique challenges and rewards of taking ownership of such a legacy title, and her vision for the future of publishing in today’s fast-evolving media world. We also touch on the reality of running a business while balancing family life as an active mother and wife.

I absolutely loved this chat, and I know you will enjoy my kōrero with Sarah as much as I did.

After this episode, you can visit fq.co.nz and of course make sure you pick up the latest issue of the print magazine wherever you buy your magazines. You can follow FQ on Instagram of course @fashionquarterly and you can also follow Sarah herself @searsmurray.

Thank you to Grava and Dicey for recently supporting my first Super Creative events. Both wineries have generously given a discount code for Super Creative listeners to be used until the end of December 2024. Use SUPERCREATIVE15 for a 15% discount on wines from both grava.nz and dicey.nz. 

For more podcast information visit supercreativepodcast.com

Hosted by Catie Dawson
Bought to you by Somewhere Creative
Find us on Instagram - @supercreativepodcast

Today on the podcast I speak with Danu Kennedy a New York based interior designer and partner at Parts and Labor Design, an award-winning full service interior design firm, specializing in hospitality, commercial, retail, and residential experiences. 

Danu joined the Parts and Labor Design team in 2014 and several years ago became a partner and now leads the studio alongside founding partner Jeremy Levitt. Their work is frequently featured in top design publications, like Architectural Digest, Wallpaper and Elle Decor.  In July, Donna and Jeremy were named in Wallpaper* magazines USA 400 list, which honors the people defining America's creative landscape in 2024. 

Alongside Parts and Labor; Danu, Jeremy and design director, Alex DiLena have recently launched, Known Work - a collection-based furniture studio that explores livable sculpture for the home. The debut collection 'Perceptions' launched earlier this year in Mexico City.  

And this episode, we talk about moving to New York as a graduate, from finding her first jobs to joining Parts and Labor, becoming a partner, running a business, and living in New York through a pandemic, starting and building a new furniture brand (and launching it with missing products) and a personal journey of self-development and lifelong learning. 

I absolutely loved this chat, and I know you will enjoy my kōrero with Danu as much as I did.

After this episode, you can visit partsandlabordesign.com and be inspired by their forward-thinking design projects. The Known Work website is still in development, but you can bookmark knownworkstudio.com for a later date. And on Instagram, you can follow @danu_kennedy, @pldnyc and @knownwork.

For more podcast information visit supercreativepodcast.com

Hosted by Catie Dawson
Bought to you by Somewhere Creative
Find us on Instagram - @supercreativepodcast

Four years of Super Creative! To celebrate four years of the podcast, I thought it might be fun to re-release my very first episode with my friend Toni Brandso with a little 2024 catch up at the beginning. If you are new to the podcast, you might not have had a chance to go back to the beginning so here is your chance!

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My first guest is my clever and creative friend, Toni Brandso - interior architect and co-founder of Material Creative. Over the past 11 years, Toni and her business partner Liv Patience have built an award-winning interior design studio focused on creating unexpected design and spaces that bring people together and design attention. You only have to look up Material Creative online to find interiors that are beautiful, clever, bold, quirky and that truly have the ‘wow’ factor. To me, Toni is the epitome of ‘super creative’ and I’m so pleased to share her creative business journey for episode one. I hope you enjoy.

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Just a quick technical note. This episode was recorded four years ago. I'm still very proud of this episode but the technology I was using back then was slightly different. So the quality of the audio is not quite as good as what I am able to achieve most of the time now. Also my interviewing technique has hopefully slightly changed, it's very hard to listen back to something from four years ago, so please listen accordingly. 

For more podcast information visit supercreativepodcast.com

Hosted by Catie Dawson
Bought to you by Somewhere Creative
Find us on Instagram - @supercreativepodcast

Today on the podcast, I speak with Rachael Mayne, —an Auckland-based artist known for her large-scale, immersive, impressionistic floral paintings. Rachael is a self-taught artist from a family of creatives, where painting has been a fundamental part of her life for as long as she can remember.

However, Rachel’s artistic journey is only one part of her story. Alongside being a painter, she is also a clinical psychologist. Fascinated by the inter-relationship between art, creativity, and well-being, painting is a therapeutic process for Rachael and a space for self-expression, exploration and reflection.

In this episode, we discuss Rachel’s creative journey—from a lifelong passion for painting to building her artistic style through slow, thoughtful experimentation. We explore how she turned a hobby into a thriving business while balancing a second career, and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Rachel shares insights on the process behind her beautiful paintings, exhibitions, selling prints, finding her place in the social media landscape, and so much more.

I know you will enjoy my kōrero with Rachael as much as I did.

 After this episode, make sure you visit rachaelmayneart.com to view Rachel's incredibly immersive. Beautiful layered original outworks and art prints. And you can also follow along with her journey on Instagram at @rach_mayne_art_.

For more podcast information visit supercreativepodcast.com

Hosted by Catie Dawson
Bought to you by Somewhere Creative
Find us on Instagram - @supercreativepodcast

Today's episode is part two of my conversation with Chloé Julian, founder of Videris - a New Zealand-based lingerie brand with wellness, sustainability and ethical practices at its heart.

Before launching Videris, Chloé spent 15 years overseas designing lingerie for some of the most recognized global brands and icons. 

In 2020, she launched Videris - lingerie for everyday wellbeing. Designed for comfort and support, made from natural and sustainable fabrics, in colours designed to enhance a feeling or mood.

In this conversation we dive into the world of Videris, exploring the philosophy behind the brand, exploring colour psychology, launching in the pandemic, learning the ins and outs of business, working through the challenging times, and everything that has unfolded over the past four years.

What I love about Videris is that alongside her incredible career history, it's also Chloe's own personal values and life experiences that inform the thoughtful, design-led, considered and authentic brand she is building today. 

I hope you enjoy the second part of my kōrero with Chloé as much as I did.

And again, after you've listened to this episode, head straight over to viderislingerie.com to learn more about the brand and to check out all the beautiful lingerie that is on the website. You can also find the brand on Instagram @viderislingerie to follow along with the brand's beautiful journey.

For more podcast information visit supercreativepodcast.com

Hosted by Catie Dawson
Bought to you by Somewhere Creative
Find us on Instagram - @supercreativepodcast

Today on the podcast, I speak to Chloé Julian, founder of Videris - a New Zealand-based lingerie brand with wellness, sustainable and ethical practices at its heart.

Before launching Videris, Chloé spent 15 years overseas designing lingerie for Stella McCartney, Agent Provocateur and David Beckham Bodywear. In 2017, she led the design team to launch Rihanna’s lingerie line Savage X Fenty as VP of Design.  

In 2020 she launched Videris - lingerie for everyday wellbeing. Designed for comfort and support, made from natural and sustainable fabrics, in colours designed to enhance a feeling or mood.

I found Chloé’s career journey absolutely fascinating. We talk about the lingerie industry and the intricacies of lingerie design; we discuss her time working with some of the most recognized global brands and icons and the challenges of pushing herself to the limit. Chloé’s wealth of experience has shaped the thoughtful, purpose-driven brand that is Videris.

For the first time ever, this interview will be released in two parts. In this episode, Part One, we look back at Chloé’s incredible career before founding Videris. And in Part Two next week, we’ll dive into the world of Videris, exploring the philosophy behind the brand, launching in the pandemic, learning the ins and outs of business, and everything that has unfolded over the past four years.

And after you've listened to this episode, make sure you head over to the viderislingerie.com to learn more about the brand and to check out all the beautiful lingerie that is on the website. And of course, head over to Instagram @viderislingerie. to follow along with the brand's beautiful journey.

For more podcast information visit supercreativepodcast.com

Hosted by Catie Dawson
Bought to you by Somewhere Creative
Find us on Instagram - @supercreativepodcast

Today on the podcast, I speak with Juliette Hogan, Founder and Director of her eponymous brand, Juliette Hogan. 

With a focus on everyday luxury and simple sophistication, Juliette creates clothing that New Zealand women rely on for every aspect of their lives. 

Juliette established her brand in 2004 and recently celebrated the incredible milestone of 20 years in business. Since opening her first store in Ponsonby, Auckland in 2007, she has grown Juliette Hogan into one of New Zealand's most successful boutique brands, with four stores and multiple stockists nationwide. 

In our conversation, we explore the brand's early days, from incorporating her business in 2004 to designing her first collections and taking them out on the road to sell. We discuss the milestones that have marked her journey: opening retail stores, navigating through uncertain economic times, innovative collaborations, the impact of the pandemic, and the invaluable business lessons learned along the way. Juliette talks about her creative process, the realities of running a business, personal growth, celebrating successes, and envisioning the future of her brand. 

I hope you enjoy my kōrero with Juliette as much as I did.

After this episode you can find Juliette's beautiful clothes at juliettehogan.com and follow along with the brand on Instagram @juliettehogan.

For more podcast information visit supercreativepodcast.com

Hosted by Catie Dawson
Bought to you by Somewhere Creative
Find us on Instagram - @supercreativepodcast