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PODCAST

Take It From Us with Kent Johns

Take It From Us is the voice of lived experience. In this podcast, you"ll hear real people share honest stories about mental health, addiction, trauma and recovery - straight from their own journeys.They"ll tell you what actually worked, what didn"t, and what they wish they"d known sooner.Host Kent Johns is a former broadcaster-turned-health-coach who believes everyone has a story to tell if people take the time to really listen.So settle in, you"re going to hear some stories. Take it from us - and

society & culture personal journals

All Episodes

35:42

Romy Lee: From addiction to recovery - how I used my...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/11/11

Growing up as a queer Korean New Zealander, Romy Lee lived between two worlds with two different sets of expectations. The identity dissonance and isolation drove her to substances as a teenager - a solution that worked until it didn't. After moving overseas thinking a geographical change would fix everything, Romy had a realisation: it wasn't the environment, it was her. That moment led to 18 weeks of residential treatment and now over seven years clean and sober. Today, Romy is National Man...

en-nz

32:15

Steve Devine & Jack Newman: Asking for help is the...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/11/04

Former All Black Steve Devine spent two years bedridden with migraines after multiple concussions ended his rugby career. Jack Newman got to 142 kilos, hadn't exercised since 2015, and in 2014 came dangerously close to ending his life - a moment he didn't talk about for nine years. Both are now Movember ambassadors, speaking openly about the hardest thing men struggle with: asking for help. Steve talks about battling trauma from his firefighting career and learning that if he expects his kids...

en-nz

37:59

Tom Robinson: The rugby star who walked away for his...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/10/28

At the height of his rugby career, former Blues captain and cult star Tom Robinson walked away from the sport he loved. Behind the big tackles and big hair was a growing fear - anxiety over concussions and the long-term effects of head knocks. In this episode, Tom shares how his mind became his toughest opponent, what it took to step away, and how yoga and mindfulness helped him find peace beyond rugby. A story of courage, self-awareness, and learning to simply be. We'd love to hear from you....

en-nz

29:33

Camille Keyte: From Mongrel Mob dealer to helping...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/10/21

In November 2020, Camille Keyte was arrested for dealing methamphetamine for a senior Mongrel Mob member. She'd been addicted since 14, using daily since 17. She'd lost her house, her business, her children. She had three pages of criminal charges and had tried to take her own life multiple times. On the run for a week with a warrant out, Camille finally realised the drugs weren't working anymore - they were just making everything worse. She had two choices: take her own life or try something...

en-nz

33:19

Jo Randerson: ADHD, autism and the creative mind

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/10/14

Jo Randerson was diagnosed with ADHD at 46, then autism this year - diagnoses that finally explained the parts of their life that never quite made sense. The theatre-maker and author talks honestly about how neurodiversity shapes both their creative work and their parenting. Jo wears a lot of hats. Their book "Secret Art Powers" makes the case that creative thinking isn't just for professional artists - we all need it, especially when the world keeps telling us to play it safe. That sam...

en-nz

31:07

Seán Barnes: 'Social fitness' and why men need their...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/10/07

Sean Barnes co-founded the Christchurch chapter of WNOW (When No One's Watching) - a global movement where men gather at 6am every Wednesday for exercise, conversation, and coffee. It's simple, but that's the point. The format includes 60 pushups together to honour the 60 men globally who take their lives every hour. Sean talks about "social fitness" - how maintaining friendships requires the same intentional effort as physical fitness. Small, consistent habits of reaching out and showing up ...

en-nz

39:59

Sand artist Wayne Webb: Finding hope on New Brighton...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/09/30

Wayne Webb was drowning in addiction and darkness when tragedy struck close to home. In his grief, his pain became visible to someone who asked if he was okay - that question changed everything. Now Wayne creates messages of hope in the sand at New Brighton Beach every day. After decades using alcohol and drugs to cope, he discovered that "busy hands mean a settled brain." What started as personal healing has become bigger - people share their struggles with him on the pier, and his art gives...

en-nz

30:44

Who cares for the carers? A story of duty, love and...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/09/23

When Fiona Parrant's sister Charlene was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Fiona moved from Levin to Napier to help care for her - and for Charlene's husband, Alister, who had early onset Alzheimer's at just 60. After Charlene died, Fiona stayed in Napier to continue caring for Alister and help support his two sons. New Zealand's dementia care system is broken. Despite being our biggest looming health crisis, dementia isn't even in the National Health Plan. Getting a diagnosis takes over two ye...

en-nz

35:26

Nicola Colman: I recovered from 15 years of...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/09/16

Nicola Colman lived with anorexia for 15 years, outwardly functioning through marriage, motherhood and immigration, while giving most of her life to the eating disorder. Her turning point came when her son asked why she never ate dinner with the family - she realised her children were learning this was normal. In 2019, her 15-year-old daughter was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. Despite Nicola's efforts to create a household free from diet culture, her daughter fell completely silent for 11 ...

en-nz

27:30

Chris Reidy & Di Langdon: Raising a child with FASD...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/09/09

Chris Reidy and Di Langdon have spent 20 years advocating for their son with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) - a journey that started with countless misdiagnoses and school refusals before finally getting answers at age 15. Their son's struggles with developmental delays, sensory processing issues, and social difficulties led to isolation, bullying, and eventually self-harm and addiction. The FASD diagnosis was relief and revelation - suddenly everything made sense. They learned "brain...

en-nz

39:07

Linda Collins: What suicide really does to families...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/09/02

Linda Collins lost her 17-year-old daughter Victoria to suicide in 2014, on the first day of a new school term before she was to catch her bus. The grief changed everything - not just the unbearable pain, but how people saw her family, how relationships shifted, and how she had to learn to navigate a world that didn't know how to handle their loss. Seven months later, Linda found Victoria's journals revealing something that gave her immense comfort: Victoria had written about how much she lov...

en-nz

32:05

Waata Heathcote: How lived experience mentoring cut...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/08/26

Waata Heathcote spots a man in crisis at 8am in a coffee shop and has him connected to support within 15 minutes. It's just another morning for the Rangatira of Waiariki Whānau Mentoring, who leads a team that works 24/7 because "people have nowhere to go after 5 o'clock". After working for MSD and as a police officer, Waata saw how the system was failing Māori communities facing intergenerational trauma. Now 70% of his team has lived experience, with a strong-held belief that you can't...

en-nz

34:42

Wellbeing champion Tim Mehrtens: Why I'm grateful for...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/08/19

Tim Mehrtens is passionate about helping people thrive - but that passion was born from his darkest moments. After experiencing severe trauma in 2012, Tim spiralled into PTSD and multiple suicide attempts, before facing the brutal reality that suppressing emotions had nearly killed him. Today, Tim directs My Everyday Wellbeing, helping people to develop daily habits that create resilience before crisis hits. In 2023, when his brother was kidnapped and held hostage for 19 months while both his...

en-nz

29:30

Kayla Schwalger: How Samoan culture became my mental...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/08/12

Growing up between two worlds, Kayla Schwalger felt disconnected from her Samoan heritage while trying to succeed in New Zealand - a struggle many second-generation Pacific Islanders know well. Moving to Samoa at 14 helped, but it also brought challenges including undiagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder in a culture where mental health often wasn't discussed. Today, this Pacific mental health advocate co-runs Tapasā with her mother, reconnecting Pacific youth to their culture. Throu...

en-nz

36:09

Tui Taurua: How I used traditional Māori healing to...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/08/05

Tui Taurua calls herself a "mental health warrior" - and after her journey, she's earned that title. From 1977 to 2001, she spent over two decades cycling in and out of psychiatric hospitals, hearing voices that doctors called "hallucinations" and taking up to 25 medications a day that left her sedated on the couch, watching life pass her by. When Western medicine failed her, Tui made a terrifying but life-changing decision - she walked away from the psychiatric system and embraced Te W...

en-nz

38:08

Chris Ranui-Molloy: Recovering from addiction using...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/07/29

Chris Ranui-Molloy's journey from a declining Bay of Plenty logging town to founding Recovery Street is a story of transformation through the most unlikely medium - theatre. Growing up with a 'FTW mentality' in Murupara, Chris nearly ended up in gang life before heading to drama school in Auckland where isolation, depression, and addiction left him struggling to fit into an unfamiliar world. Time in prison followed, before he sought treatment at Higher Ground. Eight years clean and sobe...

en-nz

37:15

Rhonda Hāpi-Smith: Surviving 20 years as a female...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/07/22

Rhonda Hāpi-Smith describes her career as a female prison officer in New Zealand as "wonderful, devastating, fantastic and heartbreaking" - and those contradictions tell the whole story. For 20 years, she walked among dangerous criminals at Rimutaka and Hawkes Bay men's prisons, loving the brotherhood, the resilience she witnessed, and the humour that got her through each day. But the career she loved also slowly broke her down - sometimes compromising her principles, destroying relatio...

en-nz

28:37

Teen leader Lola Fisher: How to give young people a...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/07/15

At 17, Lola Fisher is living proof that young people don't need to wait their turn to lead. What started as COVID lockdown boredom became her vision for Create Happy Media - a youth-led platform reaching 30,000+ readers after Lola discovered how negatively young people were portrayed in headlines. This conversation reveals what it's really like being young in New Zealand today - from social media debates to demanding a seat at the decision-making table. Lola's driving philosophy: "If no...

en-nz

26:50

Lisa McDonald & Veronica Shale: Why we're giving up...

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/07/08

This July, thousands of New Zealanders will go alcohol-free for Dry July - but for breast cancer survivor Lisa McDonald, the cause is deeply personal. After facing aggressive treatment including bilateral mastectomy and chemotherapy, Lisa experienced firsthand how the Dry July-funded support services like "Look Good Feel Better" made her feel "a million bucks" during her darkest days. Dry July NZ Campaign Director Veronica Shale reveals how the cause has raised over $11 million since 2012, su...

en-nz

31:32

Grace Curtis: The best is yet to come

Take It From Us with Kent Johns ·

2025/07/01

In 2020, Grace Curtis faced an unimaginable tragedy when she discovered her father's body after he died by suicide, and had to break the devastating news to her family. What followed was a long period of being bedridden with depression, convinced she would never feel peace again. Five years later, Grace has transformed her darkest experience into a mission of hope. She's the author of a new book, The Best Is Yet To Come and a powerful advocate for suicide loss survivors. This raw, hones...

en-nz

21 results

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