Series one
Creating the first series of The Conversation Collective podcast!
This project started from the seed of an idea: a Shift podcast could act as a platform so that young women’s voices might impact and shift perspectives on wellbeing issues that concern them. This dream grew into our first series with a team of six young women, nine episodes, and hundreds of listens!
Series one was co-designed and created by a team of inspiring 14-19 year old women. They are Ronia, Jess, Cayla, Kaitlyn, Gina and Brooke (meet the team!)
These young women went on a journey to co-design, create and record a podcast together. We've chosen some of our favourite behind the scenes moments so that you can learn more about this project.
The team spoke to some fabulous guests and had eye opening conversations on education, identity, social media, role models, and physical activity. We heard why movement is so important to wellbeing and fulfilment, why visibility of diverse voices is crucial, and we learnt how we might think more critically about our social media habits. Read more about the episodes below!
"It's been a great experience. Honestly, I never thought I'd be in an actual podcast! What?! But it's been really cool."
Meet the young women behind series one!
Jess Smith. 19
Jess co-hosted the very first episode Inclusivity and Education.
"My highlight of making the podcast so far has been conducting the interviews and being able to talk about topics I’m passionate about with both like minded people and people in positions where they are trying to affect change every day."
Ronia Ibrahim. 19
Ronia co-hosted the episode Navigating Your Identity. She also designed the podcast logo!
"A highlight of making the podcast so far for me is that by having a space to discuss women’s wellbeing, I have seen a genuine growth to my own wellbeing. It has truly been a rewarding experience to create meaningful content while also being able to develop meaningful connections with the Convo Co team. The podcast journey so far has been such an enriching experience for me, and I am excited to pass on all the wisdom, love and welcoming that I have been surrounded with the past few months making this. <3"
Gina Dao-McLay. 17
Gina co-hosted an episode all about Role Models.
“I’ve loved creating this podcast with everyone so much. We learn so much from each other and get to talk about our shared experiences as well – we also laugh HEAPS!”
Cayla McFadden. 17
Cayla co-hosted the episode Social Media.
“A highlight of this podcast has been meeting some incredible and inspiring women who I‘ve learnt so much from, and having the opportunity to learn and grow alongside them while doing something that’s a bit different.”
Kaitlyn Payne. 17
Kaitlyn co-hosted our final episode of the series Shift Your Body, Shift Your Mind.
“My highlight of making the podcast so far has been seeing it come together from the ideas at our very first meeting, to recording and editing episodes and now releasing them! I have learnt so much from working with these beautiful wāhine and love hearing their thoughts on it all each week.”
Brooke Cherry. 14
Brooke was the team expert in all things technical. She has experience making her own podcast at Naenae Clubhouse and is a recording and editing queen!
"I’m so excited to be able to use my editing skills to help these wonderful women get their voices heard and talk about young women’s wellbeing, I have loved working on this podcast so far and can’t wait to see how it ends up."
Project Photo journal
Behind the scenes of the podcast and the team who created series one...
what does wellbeing mean to you?
The young women kicked off this project by considering what wellbeing meant to them. then THEY narrowED down to the topics they felt were the most RELEVANT for young women today.
Hanging out and recording at Naenae Clubhouse!
Early on in the project we had the privilege of meeting the folks at Naenae Clubhouse in Lower Hutt. TheY know everything there is to know about recording, radio and podcasts!
Spending time together at THE Clubhouse quickly became a highlight of everyone's week.
HUGE THANK YOU TO Naenae Clubhouse FOR COLLABORATING WITH US ON THIS PROJECT!
NAMING THE PODCAST...
LIKE PICKING A BAND NAME - THIS IS NO EASY TASK! BUT THE CONVERSATION COLLECTIVE JUST STUCK, AND THE TEAM LOVED THAT IT COULD BE SHORTENED TO 'THE CONVO CO'.
A LOGO IS BORN!
RONIA JUMPED RIGHT ON BOARD WITH SKETCHING UP SOME LOGO DESIGNS (SHE IS STUDYING DESIGN AT UNI, WHAT A SUPERSTAR!)
THE TEAM HAD A CLEAR FAVOURITE SO THEY JUST HAD TO CHOOSE THE BEST COLOUR COMBO...
RECORDING BEGINS!
HERE'S BROOKE AND RONIA RECORDING THE PODCAST INTRODUCTION :)
IT TOOK EVERYONE A WHILE TO GET USED TO BEING RECORDED, BUT THE STRANGEST PART IS LISTENING BACK TO YOURSELF!
THE VERY FIRST INTERVIEW.
HERE YOU CAN SEE JESS WITH HER GUEST LAURA GINGELL, AFTER THEY RECORDED THE FIRST INTERVIEW FOR JESS'S EPISODE INCLUSIVITY AND EDUCATION.
LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT THIS WOULD BE THE ONLY INTERVIEW THAT WE WOULD RECORD IN PERSON!
...YEP, LOCKDOWN HAPPENED!
BUT THE SHOW MUST GO ON! WE REALISED THAT TALKING ABOUT YOUNG WOMEN'S WELLBEING WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER, So we adapted.
THE GIRLS PAIRED UP AND CREATED 'THE LOCKDOWN LOWDOWN' BONUS EPISODES. THEY RECORDED AND SHARED THEIR LOCKDOWN EXPERIENCES AS THE WEEKS WENT BY.
THAT'S A WRAP!
once lockdown ended some of the young women who brought this podcast to life were finally able to celebrate together.
Well done girls! You made an incredible first series and we are so proud of you!
Episodes and Guests
Over the course of nine episodes the podcast teamies spoke with some truly inspiring guests, and also
shared their own stories and wisdom. Here are some of the highlights!
Inclusivity and Education with Jess Smith
Jess interviews her friend and mentor Laura Gingell, who currently works at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, and a very special guest, Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero MNZM.
"I think that the education system in our schools are a real microcosm, if you like, of broader society. So how we role model and how we integrate young, all young people, but in this case young disabled people, into classrooms is actually really critical. Because if disabled children are not welcomed in their classroom, then I think it can affect a number of things. Firstly, the way in which that individuals identity is shaped... I think it really can affect a person's sense of wellbeing, and a sense of belonging... being part of something is really important to young people who are trying to shape their place in the world!"
- Paula Tesoriero MNZM
Navigating Your Identity with Ronia Ibrahim
Ronia interviews life coach Briony McKenzie, a former lawyer and the woman behind Untapped With Briony.
"I've always been into authenticity and being myself, because I've always identified myself as very different, especially being a person of colour in New Zealand. So I just want to be able to be comfortable with who I am. I feel like this is an important conversation to be had and that's why I also wanted to make this a theme, because it's a very important idea to wellbeing in general." - Rona Ibrahim
Role Models with Gina Dao-McLay
Gina interviews Ruby Solly who is a Kāi Tahu writer, musician, academic, and music therapist.
"Someone said to me - your job as a string player is to make the music more of itself... And I think that good mentors, good teachers, good therapists, good people in all those kind of roles, that's what your role is. My role is not to make 'Mes'! It's to be there as a support, to awhi that person and to try to help them to find out what that person looks like, how to make the work more of itself, and their being more of itself. I think that's what a good role model or mentor does." - Ruby Solly
Social Media with Cayla McFadden
Cayla interviews Dr Octavia Calder-Dawe, an interdisciplinary social scientist at Victoria University of Wellington.
"I think there are times when thinking positive is really useful, you know, it's a way of cultivating hope, and a sense of possibility for the future. And what I'm looking for, in terms of it being less helpful, is just that idea that not everything in your life does relate to your own personal mindset. That can be a bit of a dangerous way of thinking because it makes you responsible for everything that's happening in your life...So I think you can set yourself up for sort of some self blaming or the only explanation for not feeling good is that you're not thinking positively enough. And I can see some problems there." - Dr. Octavia Calder-Dawe
Shift Your Body, Shift Your Mind! with Kaitlyn Payne
Kaitlyn interviews our very own Fran McEwen, founder of The Shift Foundation!
"I had a netball coach a couple of years ago, and her favourite quote to us nearly every training, every game was that netball was 80% mental and 20% physical. That was just her constant reminder to us. And that's something I've really kept with me. That definitely actually changed my mindset of how I think about keeping active, which was really awesome." - Kaitlyn Payne
THANK YOU
Big thank you and high fives to the Center for Sport, Peace, and Society at the University of Tennessee whose Empower Women through Sports follow on grant helped bring this idea to life.
Also, thank you to the Ministry of Youth Development for supporting our LeadHERship programmes that help grow the most phenomenal LeadHERs, like these ones!
And last but not least we would like to say a huge shout out and ngā mihi nui to Naenae Clubhouse for collaborating on this project, and sharing knowledge and equipment with us.
Thanks friends! Arohanui.