Stretton Unfiltered

Peta Mathias has never been very interested in standing still. At 76, she is still travelling between New Zealand and France, leading culinary adventures, running Supper Clubs, writing books and finding new reasons to say yes. From washing dishes in a Paris kitchen to owning a restaurant, becoming one of New Zealand’s best-known television food personalities and now releasing her 20th book, Peta h...

New Zealand fashion is under pressure. But is the problem fast fashion, cash strapped consumers and offshore competition, or has parts of the industry simply stopped giving people what they want? In this episode, Annah and Sami get into the uncomfortable realities of fashion today: why we keep buying incredibly cheap clothing even when we know how it may have been produced, the extraordinary rise...

Sam Stubbs grew up knowing exactly what it felt like not to have money. Today, the company he founded manages billions. But Simplicity was built differently. It is a nonprofit, gives millions back into New Zealand communities and is investing heavily in housing, while Sam has some fascinating ideas about what business, wealth and success should actually be for. Annah talks with Sam about poverty,...

Annah went to Norway and Scotland with one question: what happens when prison becomes more than simply somewhere we detain women? RAW independently funded the research, taking Annah inside Skien Women’s Prison in Norway and HMP Stirling in Scotland, two women’s prisons taking thought-leading approaches to detention. What she found was opportunity embedded into the day. Work. Education. Skills. Rel...

Frances Valintine left school early and didn’t make it to university until her 40s. She then went on to become one of New Zealand’s most influential voices in technology and education, building The Mind Lab, Tech Futures Lab and academyEX, and challenging some pretty entrenched ideas about when, where and how we’re supposed to learn. But this isn’t really a conversation about tech. It’s about what...

This is not an easy listen… but it's an important one. In this episode of Stretton Unfiltered, Annah sits down with Krystal, a woman she has walked alongside for over a decade through RAW, to trace the relationship back to where it began… in a safe house, in the middle of active addiction, at the start of what RAW would eventually become. Krystal shares what it was like being born into crisis,...

New Zealand's conversation around motherhood and work has suddenly become political again, with paid parental leave now firmly on the election agenda. But beyond the politics, what does making motherhood and work coexist actually look like? Annah and Sami take the conversation into lived experience, tracing three generations of working motherhood through Vicki, Annah and now Sami. From raising...

There is no shortage of opinions about methamphetamine in New Zealand. Another headline. Another police operation. Another devastated family. Another community asking how things got so bad. But there's one voice that's almost always missing from that conversation: the people who have actually lived it. In this episode of Stretton Unfiltered, Annah sits down with Ina, who has been part of t...

At 18, Paul Wood killed his drug dealer and was convicted of murder. He spent more than a decade in prison serving a life sentence, where he chose a path that very few thought possible. While incarcerated, he completed an undergraduate degree, a master's degree and began the work that would eventually lead to a doctorate in organisational psychology. Today, Paul is one of New Zealand's mos...

For more than thirty years, human rights lawyer Sonja Cooper has stood beside survivors of abuse in state and psychiatric care, people whose stories were ignored for decades. In this episode of Stretton Unfiltered , Sonja and Annah explore what happens when the very institutions meant to protect children become the source of lifelong trauma. Together they discuss the fight for justice, the reality...

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...

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 footwe...

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 co...

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...

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. Remarkabl...

How do you build one of New Zealand’s most recognised coffee brands in a market already crowded with hundreds of roasters? This week on  Stretton Unfiltered , I talk to Nick Clark, co-founder of Flight Coffee, about the reality behind the brand. The wins. The near losses. The reinvention. The brutal COVID hit. The move from café to wholesale, supermarkets, pods, canned coffee and The Hangar in Wel...

Will AI Replace You or Make You Richer?  What if you're already being outperformed by AI and don't even know it? Artificial Intelligence is no longer coming. It's here, quietly reshaping business, education, creativity, retail, and the way we work every day. The real question is whether you're using it or being left behind by those who are. In this episode of Stretton Unfiltered, A...

Social media strategy is one of the most searched topics for small business owners right now, and for good reason. The rules keep changing, the platforms keep shifting, and businesses that stop learning risk becoming invisible. In this episode, Annah and Sami get honest about the social media journey behind a 34-year-old fashion brand finding its feet in a world where video is king, authenticity i...

Before the justice system ever entered her life, Gail Maney had already survived more than most people face in a lifetime. Domestic violence, poverty, sexual abuse, addiction, and a childhood that never gave her a fair shot. Then in 1997, police charged her with a murder she had absolutely nothing to do with, built on fabricated testimony, witness coercion, and a justice system that failed her at...

For more than 20 years, Annah Stretton has known Mary Haddock-Staniland not as a political talking point, but simply as a friend. In this deeply personal and timely conversation, Mary shares her journey as one of New Zealand’s most prominent transgender advocates, media personalities, and diversity leaders, reflecting on identity, belonging, respect, and the emotional impact of seeing transgender...

She grew up in Te Awamutu, lost a business partner, started over more than once, fought counterfeiters all the way to China's Supreme Court, and built one of New Zealand's most recognised natural lipstick brands sold across Australia, China, the US and beyond. In this episode of Stretton Unfiltered, Annah sits down with Karen Murrell, the founder behind the iconic Karen Murrell lipstick brand, for...

We have re-recorded this episode in celebration of the Annah Stretton brand turning thirty-four. Thirty-four years of building the Annah Stretton clothing brand is worth celebrating. But behind the brand sits a woman who has never been able to stop at just one idea. In this episode of Stretton Unfiltered, Annah sits down with her daughter Sami to take an honest look at the ventures that have run a...

At 23, he lost a million dollars. By 24, he was mowing lawns. What followed was a rebuild from the ground up,  from liquidation talks, bank meetings that changed everything, and a decision to keep going when most people would have stopped. In this episode of Stretton Unfiltered , we sit down with Matt Stark, property developer behind some of Hamilton’s most recognisable spaces, including Riverbank...

In Episode 19 of  Stretton Unfiltered , we take you inside 12 years of working within women’s prisons and the reality of what it takes to break the cycle of crime. This is the story behind RAW, Reclaim Another Woman. A model built not from theory, but from working alongside some of the most complex, high-risk women in New Zealand. Women, many had normalised criminal lifestyles and outcomes Since 2...

This is not an easy listen… but it’s an important one. In this episode of Stretton Unfiltered, Annah sits down with Missy Wepper to unpack a life shaped by trauma, survival, addiction, and ultimately, accountability. From early childhood abuse and life in state care… to years inside the prison system… to navigating life on the outside after decades institutionalised, Missy shares her story with a...