Planting Seeds Podcast

What if the system that's meant to heal us is actually the thing keeping our whānau sick?
Dr Nina Scott has spent six years fighting for something basic: a seat at the table for Māori in cancer care. And the government still said no.
In this kōrero recorded at the World Indigenous Cancer Conference in Aotearoa, I sit down with Dr Nina Scott — one of the most respected Māori health leaders in this country, and a global voice for Indigenous cancer equity.
We get into the hard stuff: the bowel screening kaupapa that could have saved Māori and Pasifika lives, the political decisions made for votes instead of whānau, Big Tobacco and Big Food's grip on our communities, and the deep mahi being done to reconnect with our whenua, our kai, and our own sovereignty.
This conversation matters because it's not just about cancer. It's about how decisions made in offices we'll never sit in are shaping the wellbeing of generations to come — and what we can do about it from where we stand.

Episode Breakdown
✨ Why a "seat at the table" is the most basic ask — and still being denied✨ The bowel screening decision that's costing Māori lives✨ Why most Māori bowel cancers are diagnosed before age 60 — and why screening starts at 58✨ How Big Tobacco and Big Food are repeating the same playbook on our whānau✨ Whiri — the kaupapa navigator programme transforming how whānau receive cancer care✨ Why our health system treats us as broken parts, not whole people✨ Looking after whānau as the maximising whole-of-game

🔗 Episode LinksMore on Dr Nina Scott: https://www.heiahurumowai.org.nz/nina-bio🙏 Te Rau Ora: ⁠https://terauora.com/🎗 Hei Āhuru Mōwai:⁠ https://www.heiahurumowai.org.nz/🌱 Planting Seeds Community: ⁠⁠https://www.skool.com/seeds-of-self

In this episode I sit down with Professor Jason Gurney, epidemiologist, researcher, and author of The Twisted Chain, to unpack one of the most uncomfortable truths in Aotearoa: that the health outcomes for Māori aren't a story of personal failure. They're a story of systems.

Jason's work studies the causes, patterns and spread of disease across populations and the data tells a story most of us were never taught. From colonisation, to where vape shops and fast food outlets are deliberately placed, to alcohol availability in our communities.

But this kōrero isn't doom. Jason carries an optimism that lifted me up. He sees how far we've come, and where we're headed, and he reminds us that change is already happening.

Episode Breakdown
✨ Why responsibility for Māori health sits at a systems level, not just individual✨ How vape, alcohol and fast food stores are strategically located in our communities✨ What being an epidemiologist actually means.✨ The hidden patterns behind Māori cancer outcomes✨ Why Jason remains optimistic about where we're headed✨ Practical reflections for making better hauora decisions

This conversation is about identity, agency, and reclaiming the story of our health. It's about understanding the bigger picture so we can stop carrying shame that was never ours to begin with, and step into informed, empowered choices for ourselves, our whānau and the generations coming through.

Hauora isn't just a personal journey. It's a collective one.

🔗 Episode Links
📚 Jason's pukapuka: The Twisted Chain🙏 Te Rau Ora: HERE🎗 Hei Āhuru Mōwai: HERE
🌱 Seeds of Self: ⁠HERE

What got you here . . .won't keep you here.The old version of me was quietly running the show AND I almost didn't catch it.
This is a Grow With Me episode, just you and me, no guest, raw and reflective. From my 34th birthday to my 35th, I made a commitment to ask myself one simple question every single day in my journal: "What will I embody today?"
It's been the most grounding, identity-shifting practice I've done in a long time. But on this run of blessings and momentum, I noticed something . . . old habits, old language, old thinking trying to pull me back into a version of me I've already outgrown.

Episode Breakdown
✨ The daily journal practice anchoring my year
✨ The daily "What will I embody today?" question.
✨ How "I'm busy" and "I'm full on" became sneaky permission slips
✨ Catching the old identity before it sabotages the new
✨ Why growth isn't becoming someone new, it's returning
✨ Staying aligned with the energy that got you here

🔗 LINKS
🌱 Planting Seeds Community: HERE
🟡 Bio Gold (Sponsor) – Use code SEEDS15: HERE

Deeply honoured to be joined by Dr Jacquie Kidd, a respected Māori health researcher, advocate, and wahine toa whose life's work has been about creating equity within Aotearoa's healthcare system.
This kōrero was recorded during the World Indigenous Cancer Conference, hosted by Hei Āhuru Mōwai and Te Rau Ora, a gathering that brought indigenous voices from across the world together to talk about cancer, care, and culture.
Jacquie shares the path that led her into healthcare, beginning as a young girl caring for her pāpā, and opens her heart about her current journey of "living fully while dying" after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.
This is one of those conversations that reminds you what actually matters.
Episode Breakdown
✨ What is equity?✨ Why equity in healthcare for Māori isn't optional✨ What it means to truly live✨ The beauty and sadness of dying✨ Whānau wellbeing is centric✨ The quiet power of presence, whānau, and acceptance
Jacquie's kōrero invites us to ask the questions most of us avoid:
What am I actually doing with my time?
Who am I when stripped of the noise?
What legacy am I leaving for those who come after me?
In te ao Māori, death is not a separation but a transition, a continuation of whakapapa and for Jacquie she gets to see hug her mokopuna before they enter te ao marama.
If this kōrero touched something in you — drop a comment and let us know what landed or share this episode with someone who needs the reminder that life is happening now.
Show Links
Purchase Jacquie's book: Ngakaurua
More on Te Rau Ora: HERE
More on Hei Āhuru Mōwai: HERE
Join Online Community: HERE

What if you put yourself first?
I'm 66 hours into a 4-day juice fast and I want to take you inside what's actually happening — physically, mentally, and spiritually.
I aligned this fast with my deload week of training on purpose. Giving back to my tinana by giving it the space to rest, recover, replenish and rebuild.
In the second half I get into something I've been sitting with for a while which is, the cost of always being the sacrifice. So many of us pour everything into mahi, into whānau, into showing up for everyone else, and quietly accept that we'll be the ones running on empty.
BUT it doesn't have to be that way.
Episode Breakdown
✨ Why I chose a 4-day fast
✨ How deload week + fasting is giving back
✨ Why being "the sacrifice" is quietly costing your whānau more than it gives them
✨ The shift that happens when you put yourself on your own priority list
✨ Why happiness and providing aren't opposites
This one's for the ones who give everything and wonder why they feel empty. You're allowed to be on the list too. In fact, you have to be.
If this lands for you, the Planting Seeds Community is open — a space of people who are choosing to show up for themselves, not at the expense of their loved ones, but because of them.
🌱 Subscribe to the Planting Seeds Community for just $49 per month: HERE