the most of it

When Mandy Len Catron blew up in 2015, people were asking: could someone really have unlocked the key to falling in love? Spoiler alert: not quite...but also maybe.

Mandy is perhaps best known as the writer of a New York Times article titled; To Fall In Love With Anyone, Do This. It was one of the most popular features in the New York Times in 2015. She’s also authored a popular book, How to Fall in Love with Anyone: A Memoir in Essays.

She shares with Antonia what love is, and how to get better at falling in love. She won’t take you from single to attached next week, but her scientific approach to love has real life benefits that aren’t as impractical as they might sound.

It really is a fascinating listen, giving an insight into love and how it works, with wide-reaching implications on the way we live our lives and how we feel about a whole bunch of things - including ourselves. Mandy isn’t some weirdo love doctor - she’s very real and a lot of fun. Enjoy!

Brought to you by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective
Host: Antonia Prebble
Produced by:  Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective

What’s wrong with sustainability? It’s something that plenty of businesses and households are aiming for, but do we need to be setting our sights even higher?

Maggie Hewitt is someone doing just that. As the founder of fashion boutique Maggie Marilyn, she’s committed to driving fashion towards fully ethical production that doesn’t just sustain the planet, but gives back to it.

She’s about so much more than fashion too - Maggie talks with real honesty about the importance of having a purpose, being vulnerable, and her struggles with being a boss. She can allow herself to talk about her battles because she truly believes in her end goal. This is a really relevant conversation about a young woman’s altruistic journey towards trying to make the world a better place.

Brought to you by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective
Host: Antonia Prebble
Produced by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective

What’s the difference between being nice and being happy? According to Adrienne Bankert, it’s a lot.

Adrienne Bankert is an ABC news correspondent in America, and the author of the book Your Hidden Superpower: The Kindness That Makes You Unbeatable at Work and Connects You With Anyone. It’s a remarkable book that goes deep into what kindness really is, and the transformative power we all have over ourselves and the people around us.

Adrienne’s message is that you can make someone’s day, and make yourself feel amazing, just by being kind. This is an illuminating conversation that really unpacks the basics of kindness - what it actually means, how it can be used and how it can impact people. It’ll give you the tools to look at your day with positivity, and help others to do the same.

Brought to you by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective
Host: Antonia Prebble
Produced by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective

Has there ever been a more Kiwi screen character than Cheryl West? Or a more Kiwi actress than Robyn Malcolm?

Robyn Malcolm is a gem. One of New Zealand’s premier actresses, she is known all over the country as a very genuine, real, and down to earth personality...as well as being Cheryl West.

This is less of a podcast and more of a conversation. We go all over the place - from the early Outrageous Fortune days to being lazy, to the perks of stopping to look at ants. If it sounds a bit random, then yeah, maybe it is. But it’s really nice.

This episode is a catch up between a couple of old acting mates. Where this is different, though, is it’s about some of the bigger picture things in life - raising kids, being lazy, gratitude and literally regretting nothing. There’s a good splattering of fun and laughter along the way, and an enlightening look back at Cheryl West. This is one not to be missed, especially for Outrageous Fortune fans!

Brought to you by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective
Host: Antonia Prebble
Produced by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective

Zoë Bell started out as a stunt double for Lucy Lawless in Xena: Warrior Princess. After being cast as Uma Thurman’s double in Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2, she formed a solid friendship with acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino, and she has collaborated and featured in every one of his subsequent films.

There was a time when Zoë was living and working as a stunt double in LA on some of Hollywood’s biggest films, just being satisfied with being ‘the upbeat, open-hearted Kiwi girl’ that was friendly and easy going. 

But after a while, the validation she got from being liked in a dog-eat-dog world started to wear thin, and she questioned her self-identity. What eventuated was a conscious shift and new-found understanding that she could ultimately be in charge of her own choices and was capable of taking the reins. 

Zoë chats to Antonia about how this shift saw an influx of creative opportunities, positive relationships and a wealth of success, but was not without the harsh confrontation of her own vulnerabilities, especially when she was challenged with grief and trauma. The upside, Zoë explains, is that her perspective has forever shifted, and she can communicate some of her profound insights through her upcoming work as a director. 

This is a powerful conversation that is filled with raw honesty, developed insights, and the occasional swear word. You’ll want full attention for this episode, as Zoë’s story is filled with frank content that takes us through her highs and lows of the film industry, the tragedy of losing a parent, navigating through tricky life scenarios, and finding a stronger version of yourself at the other end.  

Please note, this episode contains material some listeners may find offensive or upsetting, including swearing, mention of suicide and themes related to depression.

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Brought to you by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective
Host: Antonia Prebble
Produced by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective

What’s missing in my relationship?

Does an affair automatically mean the end of a relationship?

What should we do in the heat of an argument?

Despite our countless questions, we don’t seem to put much money, time and learning into how to be the best partner until it’s too late. Janine Bird is a relationship expert and the Director of Relationship Rescue based in Auckland, where her practice stems from a combination of up-to-date research, evidence-based practice, and her personal experience of an abusive relationship.

 Think about it: when we’re in an argument, our habitual coping mechanisms literally shut off our brains and we’re left with survival instincts – attack, defend, run away or freeze. When this happens to your partner too, you’ve got the two dumbest parts of your brains butting heads trying to solve a problem – it’s never going to happen.

This episode is packed with insights, advice, scenarios, and tools, and they’re for everyone – whether you’re feeling mostly satisfied in your relationship to overcoming major heartbreak and mistrust, you’ll finish this episode feeling as if you’ve been through a session with Janine yourself.

Brought to you by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective
Host: Antonia Prebble
Produced by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective

Sarah Wilson is the founder of the I Quit Sugar empire. After enjoying huge success, she closed up her business in 2018, gave her money to charity, and embarked on a three-year hike across the world to reconnect herself with nature and engage in discerning thought. 

Speaking with experts along the way, Sarah questioned the demise of meaningful connection. Connection with ourselves, with other people, and with our lives, and why we retreat into disconnect and turn to distractions that ultimately derail our lives away from what really matters.

Drawing on science, literature, philosophy, and her own personal journey, Sarah’s book This One Wild and Precious Life aims to highlight why we’ve arrived into 2021 feeling exhausted and disconnected and overwhelmed by global crises. She swings the anxieties around to find positive solutions that can be enjoyed by regular people at a granular scale. 

Sarah’s dialogue is both captivating and important, and leaves the listener in self-reflective thought. 

How do we maintain calm and peace when the world is falling apart? Should we maintain calm and peace when the world is falling apart?

Brought to you by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective
Host: Antonia Prebble
Produced by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective

Amanda Dewinter is warm and perceptive, and someone you will want to take advice from. She is the author of The Success Code, published by HQ Harper Collins earlier this year.

In it, she breaks down her guide to success into four sections - ambition, learning, wellbeing, and resolve. With practical and attainable steps, she aims to inspire the reader to start their own journey toward success.

As Amanda takes us through the sections, she expands on why each is an important component to achieving success, and touches on the research behind it. With relatable examples like exercising, applying for university, or looking for a new job, Amanda explains why it’s important to recognise the barriers we create for ourselves and how to reach success by breaking goals up into achievable steps. 

She offers advice on how to create positive habits, and turns the word ‘stress’ on its head so that we can view it differently and use it in a positive way. 

Now is the time to take personal responsibility and choose the life you want to live. Join Amanda and Antonia Prebble in this episode of ‘the most of it’ and learn some practical places to start.

Brought to you by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective
Host: Antonia Prebble
Produced by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective

It’s time to retire the five stages of grief, says Dr. Lucy Hone. An academic researcher in the field of resilient psychology and author of the best-selling book Resilient Grieving, she has also dealt with grief face to face in her own personal tragedy.

Lucy suddenly lost her daughter in a car accident in 2014, and was immediately faced with applying her vast academic background into her own personal circumstances. She became immediately frustrated by the passive nature of the resources available, and set out to find evidence-based strategies that would allow her to take control of the grieving process. She realised she was now conducting a self experiment.

What she found was that she could live her life and grieve simultaneously, by adopting strategies that allowed her to be an active participant in her grieving journey. Compelled to share her findings with others, Lucy’s book offers strategies that help integrate the enormity of the event into a person’s life story, without offering ‘normal’ comparisons for the grieving individual.

Lucy’s story is both sad and strong. Her understanding is a rich combination of her personal and professional experience, and will impart listeners with a new perspective of tackling grief.

In January 2021, Dr. Lucy Hone released an online course - Coping with Loss: The Helper’s Guide to Resilient Grieving, available via the link on our page.

Brought to you by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective
Host: Antonia Prebble
Produced by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective

Kanoa Lloyd, co-host of TV Three’s The Project, is also a descendant of Ngāti Porou and a soon-to-be mother.

Having made an impressive mark from five years on the weeknight current affairs show, Kanoa has often used the platform to speak openly about mental health issues and the use of te reo Māori in primetime programming.

Where many people attribute success to driving full steam ahead into achieving their goals, Kanoa’s approach is incredibly refreshing to hear - she achieves success when she actively slows down, finding inner strength in self-reflection, which is one of her coping mechanisms she’s learned through talking therapy.

More recently, Kanoa has been reconnecting with her whakapapa and is finding a confident voice as a Māori woman. She hopes to inspire the next generation of younger Māori women and to serve as the role model that she never had growing up.

Listen in as Antonia and Kanoa check in with each other and ask the questions that are important. Kanoa’s authentically warm and engaging nature draws you in to her experience as someone living with anxiety and makes you consider whether slowing down could be a helpful tool for you, too.

Brought to you by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective
Host: Antonia Prebble
Produced by: Antonia Prebble & Roar Collective