Stretton Unfiltered

Curiosity doesn't come with an expiry date, but somewhere along the way, a lot of us stop giving ourselves permission to try something new. This is a conversation about staying curious, at any age, and why getting older doesn't mean getting stuck.
In this Stretton Unfiltered short, Annah sit's down with Rose, senior manager of the Wellington Annah Stretton store. Nineteen years into a career spent watching women change their minds about themselves in real time. This conversation is about what happens when we choose curiosity over comfort, at every age and in every part of life.
Rose& Annah share:
Why customers who insist "I don't do that" almost always prove themselves wrong once they actually try
What happened when a group of older women agreed to add colour to their outfits for a photoshoot, and why they left feeling proud
How staying curious about technology, not fearful of it, is helping their generation stay independent instead of relying on someone younger to fix things
Why the changing room is a place where women quietly decide who they still want to be
This is a short, warm conversation about what it costs to stop trying new things, and what it gives back when you do.
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Rag Trade To Mag Trade:
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Grit Before Grace:
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One phone call changed everything. Cushla Reed's overseas factory had been seized overnight. Her stock, her equipment, her patterns, years of work, all suddenly locked behind someone else's doors.
That single moment is the centre of this conversation, but it's not really the story. The real story is what Cushla lost on the way to building one of New Zealand's most recognised footwear brands, and what she chose to hold onto anyway.
Over more than two decades, Cushla built Minx from a family shoemaking business into a New Zealand export success story, then watched it come apart more than once. She lost a factory overseas. She lost her manufacturing partnership when the same people helping her design started competing against her. She lost the business partnership with her own sister, the person she'd built the brand with from day one. Each time, she rebuilt, and each time she came back with a clearer sense of who she was without the business attached to her name.
This episode covers:
The overnight collapse of her overseas manufacturing operation, and what it actually felt like to lose everything with no warning
Why she and her sister eventually chose to separate the business, and what that decision cost her
The moment a stranger's small act of kindness gave her the push to keep going
How an exchange rate shift nearly wiped out her export business overnight
What it means to protect your identity when your business, your partners and even your family are all part of the same story
This is a conversation about resilience, identity and what's left of you when everything you've built is taken away. If you've ever had to rebuild who you are, not just what you do, this one is for you.
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SHOP OUR BOOKS 📖
Rag Trade To Mag Trade:
Ebook available here
Order the physical book here 📚
Grit Before Grace:
Ebook available here
Order the physical book here 📚
Wise Heart:
Ebook available here
Order the physical book here 📚

One phone call changed everything.
Annah thought her biggest wholesale customer wanted a catch-up. Instead, they ended the relationship, leaving her with a van full of fabric and a business that suddenly needed a completely new direction.
It wasn't the last time the business would have to reinvent itself.
In this episode, Annah and Sami reflect on the defining decisions that have shaped the company over the past 34 years. Some came from opportunity. Others came from setbacks. All of them changed the business in meaningful ways.
They discuss:
Losing their biggest wholesale customer and rebuilding from the ground up
Why franchising wasn't the right fit
The unexpected success of their swimwear range
The COVID decision that put the brand ahead of short-term sales
What they've learned about knowing when it's time to change
This is an honest conversation about resilience, reinvention, and what it really takes to build a business that lasts.
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🌸 www.annahstretton.co.nz

SHOP OUR BOOKS 📖
Rag Trade To Mag Trade:
Ebook available here
Order the physical book here 📚
Grit Before Grace:
Ebook available here
Order the physical book here 📚
Wise Heart:
Ebook available here
Order the physical book here 📚

For more than twenty-two years, Dr Cynthia Ward has quietly stood beside families experiencing every parent's worst fear.
As the founder of True Colours Children's Health Trust, she has built one of New Zealand's most respected children's support organisations, providing counselling, nursing care and education for children living with life-limiting illness and the families who love them. Remarkably, she built it without government funding—through community generosity, unwavering determination and a belief that every child deserves to be heard.
In this deeply moving conversation, Annah Stretton explores the moments that shaped Cynthia's extraordinary journey, from a twelve-year-old boy who changed the way she understood childhood and dying, to walking through a gang guard at the gate to reach a critically ill child, and the story behind the name True Colours, gifted by Tim Finn.
This isn't simply a conversation about illness.
It's about courage, compassion, grief, hope, and what it means to dedicate your life to helping others through their darkest days.

Learn more about the incredible work of True Colours HERE 🌈🦋

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🌸 www.annahstretton.co.nz

SHOP OUR BOOKS 📖
Rag Trade To Mag Trade:
Ebook available here
Order the physical book here 📚
Grit Before Grace:
Ebook available here
Order the physical book here 📚
Wise Heart:
Ebook available here
Order the physical book here 📚

For more than twenty-two years, Dr Cynthia Ward has quietly stood beside families experiencing every parent's worst fear.
As the founder of True Colours Children's Health Trust, she has built one of New Zealand's most respected children's support organisations, providing counselling, nursing care and education for children living with life-limiting illness and the families who love them.
Remarkably, she built it without government funding through community generosity, unwavering determination and a belief that every child deserves to be heard.
In this deeply moving conversation, Annah and Cynthia explore the moments that shaped Cynthia's extraordinary journey, from a twelve-year-old boy who changed the way she understood childhood and dying, to walking through a gang guard at the gate to reach a critically ill child, and the story behind the name True Colours, gifted by Tim Finn.
Listen to the full story on our latest Stretton Unfiltered episode, out 3pm today