3. Do you think having a baby affected your career?
The timing of me being pregnant and Sunrise being canned was poor but being pregnant and having babies hasn't held me back. It's made me a better multi-tasker and I'm a better mother for working. I'd been on a career path at TV3 and I didn't realise when I went off to have my first baby that that path wasn't forever. I've had to change the way I work. As a mum you can't just drop everything and go to a tsunami in Samoa without some serious help from friends and family. Of course, having a baby was more amazing than I could ever have imagined, but I've perpetually looked for that dream job again.
4. Did you doubt you'd ever return to TV presenting?
Totally. I hosted Target for a while before that was shelved. Last year, I was given what I thought was going to be my big return to live primetime TV. We spent two months filming but then that was canned, yet again. I've worked out I need to take control of my own career because I can't rely on the TV networks to provide it for me. I've built up my own brand on social media.
5. What are you doing now?
I'm still a journalist. I'm not prepared to give that up. I love it. About a year ago I realised I was actually making a living out of being a freelancer. I kept saying yes to offers. I'm a bit of a "yes" woman. Like accepting the retirement challenge for Money Week; I said, "Of course I'll live off $374.10 a week". It was a real eye-opener too. This year I'm inundated with work. I probably need to narrow it down.
6. Were you able to be at your daughter's first day of school this month?
I didn't get to take her on her first morning because I was filming but I picked her up afterwards. I've got an amazing coffee group. We all help each other a lot. Because I don't have my own family nearby to help I'm very wary of taking advantage. They're my best friends, these women. We met when we were pregnant and have gone on to have second and third babies together.
7. Do you prioritise time for family?
Yes, I want to be able to do things like help out at school. [My daughter] Tilly asked if I could be a parent helper at PE so I was like, "Right, no accepting work on Wednesdays this month". I had an idyllic childhood in small communities in Taupo and Rarotonga and I want to recreate some of that for my own kids - just the simple things, like walking to school. We made pikelets yesterday among my deadlines. On Tuesday, I just closed the laptop and got into the garden with my son, Jude. Rather than spend money, which I've realised we often do, we got out there with our gumboots and secateurs and trimmed the hedge together. I know that sounds so silly but it was just a reminder to live in the moment a bit more. Not go and have a fluffy or go to the zoo.
8. How do you manage stress?
This year, I'm doing yoga teacher training, which is something purely for me. I got into yoga a couple of years ago when I wrote an article about a yoga retreat for Next magazine. I had two very small babies, a 1- and a 2-year old, and it was the first time I'd left them. I realised it was something that quietened my mind and just let me be me.
9. Food is a recurring theme in your work, why's that?
I'm really interested in food and also sharing inspirational stories about people's true passions. I'm not the ambulance-chasing young reporter any more. In Cook the Books we talk to chefs about cookbooks and people who have influenced their lives. For 60 Minutes I did a story on Pete Evans and the paleo diet. I can't figure out why he's so hated in Australia. I liked the guy. I don't think he's making a million dollars out of selling his paleo ways. He's just sharing a real food message. He'd probably say people are fearful of having to cook for themselves and eat real food and ditch sugar. We've become a bit lazy.
10. Have you gone paleo?
I haven't because I've tried a lot of food fads over the years and I've developed my own system that works for me. I subscribe to eating real food as much as possible and then everything in moderation. I've excluded sugar heavily from my diet. Since I've had kids I see the correlation between sugar and their behaviour. I don't prevent them from having it but we talk about how their headache or meltdown might be linked to a birthday party we've been at so they can begin to make their own decisions.
11. How do you think women are treated by the TV industry as they age?
I hadn't thought about that much until I noticed myself ageing this year. Age shouldn't be a factor. Hilary Barry is one of the most beautiful sparkling personalities you'd ever meet. Judy Bailey had a wonderful career. I think women get more interesting as we get older. I've got a lot more to say now at 37 than when I was on Nightline at 27. As a young journalist you weren't encouraged to have your own opinion. I was so focused on getting things right I didn't get to develop my own personality. Now, good journalists write from their own viewpoint.
12. Have you always wanted to be a journalist?
Always. My godfather Mike Brockie was an Eyewitness News journalist. He was very clever, I looked up to him. When I was 15 we came back from Rarotonga and I found it hard to reintegrate into a small town community that hadn't changed in three years. So I decided to get out and pave my own way. I got accepted into journalism school at Wintec when I was 16. I've been passionate about it ever since.
