UFC is the fastest growing sport in the world. And Dan "The Hangman" Hooker is one of the biggest stars of the sport.

I have been a fan of Dan for years but had never met him until we connected for the podcast, and I hope you guys like this one as much as I did. The guy is HILARIOUS! And I genuinely believe its worth a listen, even if you are not a fan of combat sport.

This is part of the Dan Hooker story, an insight into mind of one of the most intriguing New Zealanders I’ve ever met:

He shares his best stories from the UFC.

His fight day rituals and the aftermath of fights (which often involves hospitalization)

Why he wasn’t invited to spar Mark Zuckerburg

His thoughts on being called a role model.

His aspirations for a title.

Life after the UFC and so much more.

***

Thanks so much to the sponsors of this episode, the Generate KiwiSaver Scheme.

I’m a generate customer. So is Dame Lisa Carrington and podcast listener Dan who sent me a DM:

“I would like to thank your sponsors. Switching my KiwiSaver to Generate has been a game changer. I’ve seen more growth in just a few months with Generate than I did my entire time with my previous fund through a big bank. It’s been a massive improvement, and I couldn’t recommend them more highly.”

So why should YOU consider becoming a Generate customer like Dan, Dame Lisa and me?

Well for starters they win awards all the time for their chart-topping long-term performance.

They are a Kiwi-owned company with local advisers right across the country ready to help you. They’ll chat with you about your options and help make sure you’re maximising your KiwiSaver investment.

Head to https://www.generatewealth.co.nz/dom for a no-obligation chat with one of their advisers. The sooner you get advice, the better off you could be.

A copy of their product disclosure statement is available on their website. The issuer of the scheme is Generate Investment Management Limited and of course past performance does not guarantee future returns.

**The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guests and may not reflect the views of the show sponsors**

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scott Blanks has never got on stage to tell a joke in his life. But he has done more to nurture and develop comedians and the NZ comedy scene than anybody else.

Scott is a trained accountant who, in 1997, established NZs first comedy club- The Classic on Queen Street.

28 years later the Classic is still there and so is Scott. And both are thriving!

This is a small part of the incredible Scott Blanks story.

We talk the inception of The Classic, which in a previous life was an adult movie theatre.

Some deeply personal stories of love, loss, and resilience. Including the heartbreaking story of him and his wife Bridget’s daughter, Kate.

His first impressions on household names like Dai Henwood, Rose Matafeo, Guy Williams, Ursula Carlson and Rhys Darby.

Also, so many incredible lessons in here for aspiring comedians! Including how long it really takes to go from amateur to professional. And so much more.

Scott is a man who has devoted his life to promoting and championing others, so it was cool to have the opportunity to get to learn a bit about this great New Zealander who has done so much for so many.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The FastCast is a highlights length version of a previously released episode of The Dom Harvey Podcast.

The complete episode with Stefan Ozich was originally released in 2024, just days before Stefan embarked on a daunting running and fundraising attempt: A 6000km run of the length of NZ on the TeAraroa trail. Twice. From Cape Reinga to Bluff and back again.

On the afternoon of Wednesday January 22, after 114 days of running around 60km daily, Stefan will finish at Cape Reinga.

It has been an unbelievable physical and mental feat!

At the time of writing this he had raised $179,000 for Men’s Mental Health.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/stefanozich/

Give-A-Little: https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/the-long-path-double-run-of-nzs-te-araroa-trail

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Erin Routliffe is a kiwi tennis superstar. At the time of recording this she is ranked as the world’s second-best women’s doubles player. And for a time in 2024 she was ranked as number 1 in the world!

With her doubles partner Gabby Dabrowski she won the US Open in 2023, she made the finals of Wimbledon in 2024, and they ended 2024 by winning the WTA finals in Saudi Arabia.

She is also a finalist for Halberg the sportswoman of the year awards which will be announced in February.

This is part of the Erin Routliffe story:

Her early memories of growing up in New Zealand

Why she turned her back on tennis and worked at a tanning salon in 2019

Her rock bottom moment at Wimbledon in 2023.

Navigating her doubles partners breast cancer journey throughout 2024

Reflections on the Paris Olympics and much more.

***

This episode is brought to you by Generate – award-winning KiwiSaver specialists.

Out of curiosity, I was asking my partner, Ash, about her Kiwisaver recently.

Her story is like almost everyone. Her parents insisted she signed up as soon as she started working- which is great. But that’s about as much as she could tell me about it.

Most of us just get into whatever the default provider is offered by our first employer, then leave it at that.

This is cool…but YOU could be doing so much better!

Checking if you’re in the right fund and making the most of your account can really boost your retirement lifestyle. And that’s where Generate can help.

Their KiwiSaver advisers can meet with you online or in person, you place or theirs, to go over your options, and make sure your investment is working for you. Half an hour of your time and it could the best investment you ever make for your future self.

Request a no-obligation chat with one of their advisers. Head to:

https://www.generatewealth.co.nz/dom

A copy of their product disclosure statement is available on their website. The issuer of the scheme is Generate Investment Management Limited and past performance does not guarantee future returns.

**The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guests and may not reflect the views of the show sponsors**

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fraser Grut is possibly one of those podcast guests that you are just hearing about now. I first met Fraser around 8 years ago and I’ve been following his progress since then.

Fraser is a content creator and storyteller who has spent the last 9 years of his life filming people and asking them one real simple question: what is your dream?

His goal is to film 10,000 dreams. So far, he has filmed 2000 from regular Kiwis as well as many massive international stars. Like Tony Hawke, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Terry Crews, Piers Morgan, Elle Macpherson, Mark Cuban, Ronan Keating and even Elmo!

For a bit of perspective about the magnitude of this project- if he filmed one dream each day it would take 27 years to make it to 10,000.

In this chat we talk about Frasers “why” and get to learn a little bit about the man behind the ambitious project.

The importance of persistence.

The difference between dreams and goals.

And what he did to seriously piss off Rick Astley.

Here are the links to follow Frasers project:

https://www.instagram.com/frasergrut/?hl=en

https://www.10000dreams.org/about

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dame Julie Christie is a powerhouse businesswoman and TV producer.

She became a Dame in 2017 and in late 2024 she was named “Legend of the year” at the NZ TV awards.

She has been called many things over the years- the Queen of Reality TV is a popular one.

One newspaper columnist called her a Cultural Vandal once- we get into all the criticism in this conversation.

Me? I’d call Dame Julie Christie a mate. And a person with a big heart and an even bigger work ethic.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about her early years growing up and how that shaper her, her path from journalism into TV, the TV shows and the huge careers she helped build, the criticism and backlash, work life balance, her thoughts on the state of reality TV now with shows like Love Island, regrets, reflections, lessons and much much more.

You may or may not know the name- but you have definitely consumed hours of TV made by Dame Julie over your lifetime. And you are about to lean more about a great New Zealander- one who is incredibly reluctant to talk about herself- so this is a rare treat.

***

Thanks so much to the sponsors of this episode, the epic team at the Generate KiwiSaver Scheme.

I’m a Generate fan boy. Other Kiwis you know who love Generate include gold medal winning podcast guests Finn Butcher and Dame Lisa Carrington.

So why should YOU consider becoming a Generate customer?

They are a Kiwi-owned company with local advisers right across the country ready to help you. They’ll chat with you about your options and help make sure you’re maximizing your KiwiSaver investment.

And they win awards all the time for their chart-topping long-term performance.

Head to https://www.generatewealth.co.nz/dom for a no-obligation chat with one of their advisers. The sooner you get advice, the better off you could be.

A copy of their product disclosure statement is available on their website. The issuer of the scheme is Generate Investment Management Limited and of course past performance does not guarantee future returns.

**The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guests and may not reflect the views of the show sponsors**

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guy Wills is an Alcohol Behavioural Coach who specialises in the areas of mental health, wellbeing, and addiction. Online he shares his content about living an alcohol-free lifestyle under the name “Right Mate” which is the greeting he uses to start all his videos.

I first met Guy at the start of 2022 when he was just at the beginning of his sobriety journey. In the 3 years since then his life has changed exponentially for the better and it’s been really cool watching him thrive.

This podcast is a small part of the Guy Wills and “Right Mate” story: From rock bottom to his first AA meeting and life beyond alcohol.

I’d like to think this content is evergreen, but I am intentionally releasing it at the beginning of the year because this is the time where a lot of us look to make changes in our lives around our own personal relationships with alcohol.

Whatever your relationship with alcohol is like, I hope you enjoy getting to learn a little bit about my mate, Guy Wills.

https://www.rightmate.co.nz/

https://www.instagram.com/rightmatenz/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lulu Sun is currently ranked as the 40th best tennis player in the world. And she is a kiwi, born in TeAnau.

She shot to fame in the middle of 2024 with an out the gate performance at Wimbledon where, after making it through the intense qualifying rounds she got into the tournament itself then kept on winning, only exiting the event after being beaten in the quarter final. And that was after beating England’s Emma Raducanu on Wimbledon’s center court.

This put her in the history books as the first NZ woman to make it that far at Wimbledon and the first Kiwi in 41 years to play a single match on center court.

That tournament shot her up the world rankings, saw her named as WTA newcomer of the year and earned her $780,000NZD- which was 3 times the total prize money she had won in her whole tennis career to that point.

I caught up with Lulu on Boxing Day while she was back in NZ for the ASB Classic.

Unfortunately, due to her hectic training schedule we only had 45 minutes. And I did a terrible job at time keeping so the conversation comes to a fairly abrupt end- sort of like a tennis match that gets rained off mid-way through the second set.

Thanks so much to the sponsors of this episode, the epic team at the Generate KiwiSaver Scheme.

If you set yourself up for one real easy win in 2025, it should be to take a more active interest in your Kiwisaver!

Switching is super quick and easy too- I switched to Generate over a year ago and there has been no looking back. My only regret is not doing it years ago!

They are a Kiwi-owned company with local advisers right across the country ready to help you. They’ll chat with you about your options and help make sure you’re maximising your KiwiSaver investment.

Head to https://www.generatewealth.co.nz/dom for a no-obligation chat with one of their advisers. The sooner you get advice, the better off you could be.

A copy of their product disclosure statement is available on their website. The issuer of the scheme is Generate Investment Management Limited and of course past performance does not guarantee future returns.

**The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guests and may not reflect the views of the show sponsors**

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.