Niva say never! SECRETS OF A POPULAR PODCASTER

NewstalkZB newsreader, author and podcast host Niva Retimanu talks about her new podcast with Beatrice Faumuina, how she keeps herself centred and her love of omelettes.

What is the best thing about your life at the moment?

The podcast I do with Beatrice Faumuina called Straight Up. I say that because it’s been about me embarking on a new challenge and a new journey, and it means a lot to me. The podcast is about shared experiences and personal challenges. It’s also about adversity and resilience, and has probably given me the most joy at the moment. It gives me a platform to accept my truth while other people accept theirs.

How did the podcast come about and how much fun are you having?

Beatrice and I are friends but we had never worked together. We’re both Samoan women, so we would always catch up. We’re Pacific sisters and we were always speaking to different people about things, and then we realised we were speaking to the same people like thetold us she thought we had something together which would make a podcast. So, we planned the whole thing around personal challenges and we would talk to well-known people from different walks of life. Our first guest was Sonny Bill Williams, then we got Toni Street, Jenny-May Clarkson, Teeks, Lance Burdett, Raelene Castle, Buckwheat and Hollie Smith for the first series, and we were so amazed that these people wanted to talk to us. It is very emotional for us when someone is telling you about the worst moment of their life and you have to be prepared to share your moments as well. So it is an interview and a conversation, and so different to what I do in my day job on radio.