Authentic Leadership Podcast

Mental Health, Wairua & Survival: A Māori Perspective We Need to Hear

What happens when the system meant to help you cannot fully see you? In this deeply moving episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast, I sit down with Tui Taurua, a respected Māori lived experience leader, advocate, speaker, and master’s student in Wairua, to explore her extraordinary journey through trauma, mental distress, recovery, and healing. Tui shares openly about childhood trauma, psychiatric hospitalisation, suicide attempts, hearing voices, and the long journey of finding healing beyond the limitations of Western systems. Through reconnecting with Mātauranga Māori, Wairua, whakapapa, physical movement, storytelling, and lived experience, Tui found a way not just to survive — but to thrive. We talk about: ✨ The power of Wairua and spiritual healing ✨ Why lived experience matters in mental health ✨ Māori perspectives on wellbeing and recovery ✨ Trauma, identity, and reclaiming belonging ✨ The limitations of Western biomedical approaches ✨ Why peer support and cultural connection matter This is an honest, emotional, and deeply human conversation about pain, resilience, and finding your way home to yourself.

“Oppression Does Not Sit With Me” A Conversation on Truth, Justice & Community | Camille Nakhid MNZM

In this episode, I reconnect with someone who deeply shaped my thinking — my former lecturer and now Professor, Camille. What unfolds is an honest, courageous, and deeply human conversation about identity, justice, truth, and what it means to remain authentic in systems that often ask us to conform. Camille shares her journey from chemistry to social science, the influence of her mother, challenging Western-centric thinking in academia, and why communities should not have to seek validation to exist. This conversation touched me personally — especially as someone who has worked in community and mental health spaces and often struggled with systems that ask people to justify their humanity. If you have ever questioned systems, felt unseen, or wanted to understand authentic leadership through courage and integrity, this episode is for you. 4th Conference on Carribbean Research Methodologies 2027 https://www.caribbeanmethodology.org/ [https://www.caribbeanmethodology.org/] Affirming Methodologies Research and Education in the Caribbean https://www.routledge.com/Affirming-Methodologies-Research-and-Education-in-the-Caribbean/Nakhid-Nakhid-Chatoor-Santana-Wilson-Scott/p/book/9781032053080 [https://www.routledge.com/Affirming-Methodologies-Research-and-Education-in-the-Caribbean/Nakhid-Nakhid-Chatoor-Santana-Wilson-Scott/p/book/9781032053080]

Living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Lived Experience Becoming a Healer

This episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast explores the deeply personal and transformative journey of Michael Owen—a therapist whose work is shaped by lived experience, adversity, and spiritual discovery. From an early life marked by instability, separation, and a sense of being an outsider, Michael shares how chronic illness became a turning point rather than an endpoint. Living with chronic fatigue syndrome for over three decades, he describes a life of constant recalibration—learning how to restore energy, listen to the body, and rebuild from within. Through encounters with energy healing, meditation, and embodied practices, Michael’s path gradually unfolded into the work he does today. His approach is not based on theory alone, but on lived understanding—how the body holds tension, how emotions move, and how healing requires both awareness and presence. This conversation moves beyond conventional ideas of wellbeing, offering a perspective where healing is not about fixing, but about learning to sit with, sense, and reconnect to what is already within. It is a story of resilience, depth, and the quiet, ongoing process of coming back to oneself. MICHAEL OWEN~SHEN® THERAPIST/REALIZATION PROCESS TEACHER www.emotionalwellbeing.co.nz [https://www.emotionalwellbeing.co.nz/]

Courage Over Fear: A Journey of Faith and Bravery with Arina Aizal

In this episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast, I sit down with Arina Aizal to explore her journey of identity, culture, and finding her voice. From growing up between Malaysia and New Zealand to navigating the challenges of language, belonging, and cultural expectations, Arina shares how these early experiences shaped who she is today. She opens up about a pivotal turning point during the Christchurch mosque shootings—a moment that challenged her sense of safety and identity, and ultimately led her to step forward and share her voice publicly. We also dive into her leadership journey at university, where she became an international student advocate during COVID—supporting others through uncertainty while learning that even leaders don’t always have the answers. Through it all, Arina reflects on growth, boundaries, and the powerful shift from seeking validation to living in alignment with her values. Today, she works in radio and community spaces, helping others find and share their voices—especially within multicultural communities. This is a conversation about courage, culture, and what it truly means to lead authentically. Poscast Hosted by Arina Aizal The Arinality https://oar.org.nz/shows/the-arinality/ [https://oar.org.nz/shows/the-arinality/] Connecting Cultures Features https://oar.org.nz/shows/connecting-cultures-features/ [https://oar.org.nz/shows/connecting-cultures-features/] Muslim Chaplaincy Conversations https://oar.org.nz/shows/muslim-chaplaincy-conversations/ [https://oar.org.nz/shows/muslim-chaplaincy-conversations/] Vibe Check on Youth Zone https://accessradio.org/programme-page/0d258d34-8d23-4f1c-b252-d99ee15e7363 [https://accessradio.org/programme-page/0d258d34-8d23-4f1c-b252-d99ee15e7363]

From Silence to Strength: A Refugee Story of Growth Conversation With Fahima Muse

At the heart of the episode is the experience of growing up between cultures—where nothing is explicitly taught, yet everything must be navigated. Fahima describes holding “one foot in her home culture and one foot in New Zealand,” not as a concept, but as a lived reality she had to figure out without guidance. There is no manual for this. As a child arriving in New Zealand from Somalia, she entered a school environment where she was visibly different—yet lacked the language, support, or cultural understanding to make sense of that difference. What she experienced wasn’t always obvious discrimination, but something more subtle and complex: - being present, but not fully seen - being included, but not truly belonging - feeling different, without knowing how to articulate why This created an internal world where silence became a form of survival. Without the tools to express what she was experiencing, she adapted by observing, withdrawing, and navigating quietly. __________________________________________________________________