Down to Earth Conversations

Music by Strahan:

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Facebook: facebook.com/StrahanMusic or facebook.com/commonerscommunion

Instagram: @strahanmusic or @commoners_communion

Monday Sep 05, 2022

56. Donald Scott - Birds, Silence, and the Interconnectedness of All Things

Monday Sep 05, 2022

I spend a lot of time talking to people doing amazing things in the world. But today we get to hear about being, noticing, listening, and knowing our worth outside of what we do.

Donald Scott is a former shearer and pastor, and is now a spiritual director. He has been on a journey of learning to be, for many years. And he takes us on that journey with him today. It's deeply beautiful and deeply challenging.

We talk about his passion of ornithology (birds), his relatively recent embrace of lengthy silent retreats, how te āo Māori (the Māori world) has influenced his understanding of nature and spirituality, and about hearing the sound that lies underneath the loudness and the busyness.

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Music by Strahan:

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Facebook: facebook.com/StrahanMusic or facebook.com/commonerscommunion

Instagram: @strahanmusic or @commoners_communion

Monday Aug 22, 2022

55. Hannah Hardy-Jones - Postpartum Bipolar, Digital Kites, and Global Impact

Monday Aug 22, 2022

Hannah Hardy-Jones has taken the challenges of life and turned them into something that is changing people's lives.

Hannah worked in HR until the birth of her first child triggered a manic episode and life changed forever. We talk a little of that journey, however you can hear more of it on episode one of Voices of Hope's podcast, A Moment With.

The focus of our kōrero is what happened from there. How did her newly acquired bipolar disorder lead to the development of her business, The Kite Programme? Why kites? And how does an app help anyone?

We talk mental health, being a mum, gathering a team to turn a dream into a reality, veterinary challenges, the UK government, brand new Jaguars and more.

Connect with Hannah on Instagram or at thekiteprogram.com

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Music by Strahan:

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Facebook: facebook.com/StrahanMusic or facebook.com/commonerscommunion

Instagram: @strahanmusic or @commoners_communion

Monday Aug 08, 2022

54. Sel Leigh - Decolonising Business, Having Impact, and Knowing You’re Worth It

Monday Aug 08, 2022

Sel Leigh runs Leigh Development where she gets alongside people wanting to make an impact in the world through business and helps them to achieve that goal.

But if I said this was a conversation about business coaching and mentoring I would be doing Sel a huge disservice. Because what Sel is doing goes so much deeper than that.

We talk about diversity and inclusion, the effects of colonisation even on the way we do business, and about how Sel gets alongside people, encouraging them into and supporting them along their own decolonisation journey.

We also talk about why Sel is keen for people to know that charities aren't the only way to have an impact, and whether or not it's all worth it in the end.

Connect with Sel through Leigh Development's website, or their Linked In or Instagram pages.

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Music by Strahan:

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Facebook: facebook.com/StrahanMusic or facebook.com/commonerscommunion

Instagram: @strahanmusic or @commoners_communion

Monday Jul 25, 2022

53. Jared Byas - Shifting Faith, Being ’Right’, and The Bible For Normal People

Monday Jul 25, 2022

Jared Byas and his friend, Pete Enns, run a podcast called The Bible for Normal People. They've been having conversations with all sorts of amazing guests for years, bringing a diverse group of voices together and covering a wide range of content with the aim of helping people explore the Bible. Jared is also an author, having written books such as Love Matters More, and his latest, Jonah for Normal People, which is hugely helpful in demonstrating how to read certain kinds of texts while letting go of the demands that some of us were taught to place on the text...we talk about that in the conversation.

We also talk about what drove Jared's faith to shift while he was pastoring in a large church, what he now sees differently from the Christianity he grew up with, and his Choctaw nation heritage and how that shapes who he is and how he sees the world.

Check out The Bible For Normal People wherever you get your podcasts, or at peteenns.com/podcast

Find the podcast on Facebook or Instagram, or connect with Jared on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Also make sure to check out Jared's latest book, Jonah for Normal People

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Music by Strahan:

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Facebook: facebook.com/StrahanMusic or facebook.com/commonerscommunion

Instagram: @strahanmusic or @commoners_communion

Monday Jul 11, 2022

52. Alex and Matt Wild - Chiropractic, Community, and a Generous Connectedness

Monday Jul 11, 2022

Alex and Matt Wild are a married with two beautiful tamariki. They are the founders and Directors of Connect Chiropractic in Ōtautahi (Christchurch), but they do far more than just work Chiropractic magic. They have set up the clinic using a business model that allows anyone who needs their care to be able to afford it, regardless of their financial situation, which has led to people who usually wouldn't receive care being able to get it, while the business has become a thriving success. They also have a very community focussed practice and see how their support of others returns to them in good measure.

We talk about how they got into Chiropractic, how and why they started their practice and how their generous business model is going for them, their business, and the community.

Check out Connect Chiropractic at connectchiro.co.nz or on Facebook or Instagram

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Music by Strahan:

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Facebook: facebook.com/StrahanMusic or facebook.com/commonerscommunion

Instagram: @strahanmusic or @commoners_communion

Monday Jun 27, 2022

51. Stuart Ennor - Kairos Food Rescue, Building Relationships, and He Tangata, He Tangata, He Tangata

Monday Jun 27, 2022

Stuart Ennor is a former youth worker who now, alongside his wife Sarah, runs Kairos Food Rescue in Ōtautahi (Christchurch) including the Kairos Free Store.

We talk about how Kairos started, how Stuart became involved and how the organisation has changed in it's short life. Stuart also shares stories of people whose lives have been changed in remarkable ways through this organisation that simply offers free food to those who need it. It's clear in the conversation that it's about so much more than food for Stuart. It's about dignity, valuing people, and connecting people to others who can help with what's going on for them. It's about people.

Connect with Kairos Food Rescue at kairosfoodrescue.org.nz or on Facebook, or why not support them financially?

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Music by Strahan:

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Facebook: facebook.com/StrahanMusic or facebook.com/commonerscommunion

Instagram: @strahanmusic or @commoners_communion

Monday Jun 13, 2022

50. Michal Bush aka Music with Michal - Children’s Music, Seeing the Good, and Changing the Atmosphere

Monday Jun 13, 2022

We celebrate this 50th episode with someone who knows how to celebrate - someone whose job it is to bring joy and fun into the world - Michal Bush, a.k.a Music with Michal, the recently crowned New Zealand Children's Artist of the Year!

Michal a mother of three who has seen her love for music and her kids become a career. Her song Brave won the best song at the 2021 New Zealand Children's Music awards, and followed up with a second place in the children's section of the International Songwriting Competition. She has albums, books, and a loyal fanbase.

Michal is someone who is super down to earth, and brings beauty and joy and goodness into the world on a daily basis for children and those who care for them. We talk about the music, the lyrics, the reality of life behind the scenes, and what living with this focus has done for her own wellbeing. In something a bit different this episode you will also hear snippets of Michal's songs throughout the episode.

Find Music with Michal on Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook.

Or head to her website, musicwithmichal.com.

Become part of the Music with Michal Club at ko-fi.com/musicwithmichal

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Intro music by Strahan:

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Facebook: facebook.com/StrahanMusic or facebook.com/commonerscommunion

Instagram: @strahanmusic or @commoners_communion

Monday May 30, 2022

49. Age Palmer - Addington Coffee Co-op, West Bengal, and the Business of Doing Good

Monday May 30, 2022

If you've spent any amount of time in Christchurch you might well have heard of, or even been to, the Addington Coffee Co-op. A café in Addington, Christchurch, that has developed a great reputation as a café, and also as a business doing good. So it was there I headed this week to talk to one of the founders, and one of the overseers of the café and it's ever growing associated entities, Age Palmer.

Age has been involved in the café since it was just an idea, and has been integral to the whole journey, along with an ever changing team of amazing people who keep the kaupapa, the heart of the place, alive.

Age and I found a quiet place in an office at Addington Coffee and talked about how it all started, what the journey has been like, balancing business with a desire for justice and making a difference, and how the business and it's connected entities have grown and been reshaped.

Connect with Age and the team at addingtoncoffee.org.nz

Also check out joyya.nz, commongoodcoffee.nz, and addingtonstore.nz

Or find any of the brands on Facebook and Instagram

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Music by Strahan:

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Facebook: facebook.com/StrahanMusic or facebook.com/commonerscommunion

Instagram: @strahanmusic or @commoners_communion

Monday May 09, 2022

48. Carey Thomas - Education, White Fragility, and Becoming Pākehā

Monday May 09, 2022

Carey Thomas is a teacher who has an interest in helping change the education system to reflect our bicultural nature as a country. She has recently finished a Masters Thesis looking at what it means to be a Pākehā engaging with te āo Māori (the world of Māori) and what are the barriers that get in the way of that. She particularly looked at past moments in her own life where she felt a resistance to engage and explored why that was.

We discuss Carey's passion for kids, for teaching, and for change. We talk about the failings of the education system in providing for all kids, and what are some of the things that are stopping us from moving ahead well. What talk about the term Pākehā and the misconceptions around it. And we hear her thoughts about why it can be so confronting for Pākehā to engage with things Māori, or even confront racism, also discussing where Carey sees hope that things could actually change.

Connect with Carey on Instagram at instagram.com/becoming_pakeha/

Resources Carey recommends on the topic include:

This Pākehā Life: an unsettled memoir - Alison Jones
A Typology of Pākehā Whiteness in Education - Georgina Turai Stewart
Colonising Myths, Maori Realities - Ani Mikare
Being Pākehā Now - Michael King
White Fragility - Robyn DiAngelo

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