Nathan Wallis has become one of Aotearoa’s most trusted voices on how kids’ brains work — not because he talks at people, but because he translates complex neuroscience into language that feels human, doable, and kind. In this episode, Nathan takes us behind the “neuroscience educator” title and back to a childhood marked by chaos, ADHD, and moving in and out of safe homes — where school wasn’t just education, it was refuge. He opens up about the teachers who saw his potential before he could, the small-town relationships that held him, and why the adults who “don’t quit on kids” can literally change a life’s trajectory.

From there, we go deep on the biology of learning: why stress overrides literacy every time, why relationship is the foundation (the dyad) that humans are wired for, and how schools can shift from punishment to restorative practice in ways that actually grow empathy and regulation — especially for the kids carrying trauma. Nathan also challenges the obsession with grades and “career certainty,” arguing that dispositions, identity, and character are what shape long-term outcomes (and that teenagers are at their most creative when we’re often pressuring them to be the most linear).

It’s equal parts practical and perspective-shifting — the kind of conversation that makes educators feel seen, parents feel less alone, and students feel like their future isn’t decided by one report card.

Ellen Butler’s story begins on the Coromandel Peninsula, where a childhood filled with surf lifesaving, sport, and community shaped the social, confident foundation she would later take into the world of superyachts.

In this episode, Ellen traces her winding path from “top end of average” student to flight-attendant hopeful, to au pair in Sydney and France, and finally to a 90-metre Russian-owned superyacht that would launch a seven-and-a-half-year global career. She explains the realities behind the glossy Instagram version of yachting: intense service standards, 12–14 hour days, owners who may never speak to you, the pressure of living at work, and the moments of magic that still take your breath away. Along the way, she breaks down pay, training, safety, seasickness, and why personality - not just qualifications - opens doors.

Now back home, Ellen teaches at the New Zealand Superyacht Academy and co-runs Coromandel Weddings, translating seven-star service into unforgettable events. Her biggest message for young people? You don’t need to have life figured out at eighteen. Yachting can be a six-month adventure or a full career - what matters is going in prepared, aware, and confident in your own skills. This conversation is an honest, warm, and rare window into an industry many Kiwi teens dream about but few truly understand.

#superyachts #careers #podcast #newzealand

From top-of-the-class student to front-line social worker, Clare Ennis has quietly built a career around something you’ll never see on a pay slip: dignity, advocacy, and deeply human care. In this episode, Clare traces her path from high-achieving “you-could-be-a-doctor” teen to working with young parents, students, and communities with high and complex needs.

We talk about what it was really like growing up with academic excellence as “the norm,” the pressure to choose prestige careers like medicine or law, and why chemistry became the early red flag that something wasn’t lining up.

Clare walks us through her gap year teaching English in Poland at seventeen, working at New World, and drifting through a BA in Wellington—nannying, fundraising at the children’s hospital, and realising she was pouring energy into everything except uni. Volunteering at Youthline becomes a turning point: she learns to listen, sits on the phones with young people in crisis, starts training new volunteers, and even meets her future husband there.

Finally, Clare reflects on boundaries, burnout, and why “caring a lot” is both her superpower and her ongoing challenge. She shares the importance of supervision and support networks, and the difference between “hard but right” work and the kind of misalignment that’s a sign you should quit. Her advice to her Year 12 self, and to any student who feels the weight of expectation or suspects they’re built for something more people-focused than pay-focused, is simple and powerful: learn about yourself, follow your values, don’t be afraid to leave what’s not working, and don’t overlook social work. The complexity, impact, and meaning are immense.

#socialwork #career #podcast #newzealand