Take It From Us with Kent Johns

Heidi McIlroy teaches kids who can't make it into a regular classroom. They're too anxious, struggling with their mental health, autistic - kids who carry shame because they think they're broken. She gets it because she's been there. Years of agoraphobia, hiding it, convinced something was wrong with her. So she created a book called "This Is How It Feels". It's not advice or expert opinions. It's just real people explaining what their struggles actually feel like - a kid with anxiety, someon...

Joe Daymond is a Kiwi comedian who makes you laugh about the hard stuff - the things most of us hide. He talks about things like mental health and relationships on stage in a way that makes people feel less alone. He's had low times, including two periods where he slept rough in his car for a bit. The first time in 2018, nobody knew. The second time three years later, after he'd already been on TV. He didn't tell his closest friends either time that he was struggling. His parents raised him t...

Chris Bowden lost 5 friends to suicide when he was a young man. He coped badly - drinking, drugs, anger, violence, getting into fights. He was spiralling. A university lecturer noticed something wasn't right and pointed Chris toward help. That counsellor changed his life. Now Chris is a researcher passionate about understanding how young men grieve suicide loss. His PhD research revealed something crucial: men don't grieve wrong - they grieve differently. And we're not meeting them where they...

Dave Burnside started drinking at eight. He was drawn into the gang scene and drugs in Auckland. Multiple prison sentences followed - he was angry, railing against the system. Then one day in Spring Hill Prison, a man from his past appeared at his cell door. Another Dave, someone just like him - gangs, drugs, the same story. But this Dave had found recovery and peace. Dave didn't remember the words, but he remembered the feeling. "I want what you've got," he thought. That moment shifted every...

Lotta Dann is a well-known author and advocate in the addiction recovery space. This year marks 15 years since her last drink. Six years ago, Lotta had a second awakening - this time about diet culture. She'd found a guru with strict rules: no snacking, weigh everything, eliminate flour and sugar. She lost over 15 kilos and the world loved her skinny body. The praise was intoxicating. Then the binging started - hiding her eating, terrible mental anguish. It felt like the end of her drinking d...

Freddie Bennett co-founded Bay Paediatrics in Tauranga, and in his words, is leading the neurodiversity revolution. Less than 10 years ago, Freddie had the Porsche, the Rolex, the corporate life in the UK. From the outside, it looked like success. Inside, he was falling apart - stressed, depressed, seeking escape. When his dad died suddenly, Freddie spent six months drinking away his sorrows. Then one morning, he looked in the mirror and didn't recognise the person staring back at him. What h...

Kelsey Waghorn survived the Whakaari White Island volcanic eruption on December 9, 2019. In two minutes, the volcano changed the trajectory of her life. Kelsey made split-second decisions that saved lives - staying still when she wanted to run, getting everyone on the boat when help never came. She spent five days in a coma, weeks in hospital. The burns were catastrophic. But the darkest moment came two years later when the PTSD caught up with her. Kelsey fell into a victim mindset - isolatin...

Bex Waugh and Rich Rowley are self-described as 'neuro-spicy' - and they're on a mission to help workplaces understand the value neurodivergent people bring. They're the force behind Neurofusion, an organisation helping people and workplaces find their flow - doing work that suits their cognitive style, not fighting against it. Bex got her ADHD diagnosis after her daughter was assessed in Year 2. Rich spent years thinking negatively about himself until he discovered he wasn't broken - the sys...

Asha Munn is an art psychotherapist, EMDR therapist and founder of Breathing Space Charitable Trust. At university, Asha got unwell and didn't think she'd return for her final year. Art healed her - she made work every day, figured out her future, and decided to become a therapist. Asha's approach: no assumptions, no judgment, no analysis. Art therapy isn't about analysing work - it's about turning up, sitting alongside, and creating safe spaces where people can be seen without words. Creativ...

Rose Heta-Minhinnick and her daughter Arohanui Minhinnik run Te Waa Charitable Trust, helping young people and their families in Waiuku, southwest of Auckland. Rose is 12 years in recovery from alcohol and gambling addiction. She knows the progression - the buildup of disappointment, the rock bottom, the fear of losing her children. That fear was enough. Now she advocates for law change in New Zealand's gambling industry. Arohanui facilitates health and wellbeing programs for rangatahi, creat...

Dom Huxley is the General Manager of Surfing for Farmers, a grassroots organisation helping the rural community through surf therapy. Since 2018, over 8,000 farmers have taken part across 25 beaches around New Zealand. Dom is a former professional mountaineer who spent years in corporate roles before finding his calling in the charity sector. Dom's vision is to expand to all coasts, move inland to lakes and mountains, and drive better research outcomes to truly understand what farmers need. W...

Ben Purua is a South Waikato farmer who grew up in South Auckland surrounded by poverty, gangs and violence. He joined a gang at 13. At 16, he was sent to prison for manslaughter. Ben discovered farming while in Waikeria Prison - working on the prison farm gave him a sense of freedom and belonging he'd never felt before. When he was released in 2015, his employer took a chance on him, and he's now built a career on keenness, loyalty, and hard work. In 2024, Ben was named Young Māori Farmer ...

Josh Komen was a gun athlete with aspirations to run the 800 metres for New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games - until a cancer diagnosis changed everything. Josh's life was tipped on its head. He spent five years in Australia getting specialised treatment for Graft-versus-Host-Disease after a stem cell transplant. His new immune system was attacking his body. He suffered 12 heart attacks in Melbourne. At his lowest, Josh nearly took his own life - saved only by the love of his Mum. Josh has h...