August 18, 2025 • 35 mins
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Nick Scott, a passionate motorcyclist and content creator, is relaxed and reflective as he shares his mental health journey. Nick reveales how his struggles with anxiety and depression led him to a breaking point. However, the unwavering support of his friends and fellow riders helped him regain stability and purpose.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
You're listening to a podcast from Newstalk sed B. Follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Greetings and welcome. I'm Hamish Williams and you're listening to
The Nutters Club, the podcast version of our show that
talks about mental health tries to help you out along
the way. Since two thousand and nine, this show has
been broadcast live on Sunday nights across New Zealand and
the world, sharing stories about mental health challenges and what
(00:37):
worked for the people who live with them. It's their stories,
in their words. Our clinician psychotherapist Carl McDonald is always
in studio to give insight and support for our guests
as well as our callers. If you want to join
the show, then give us a call when we're live
on news Talk seid B eleven pm, New Zealand Standard Time.
(01:00):
On this week's Nutters Club, our guest was Nick Scott,
a passionate motorcyclist and content creator. The three things I
learned about mental health from Nick was firstly, the role
of action and purpose in recovery. Engaging in meaningful activities
can provide a sense of purpose and accomplishment that can
enhance our mental well being. Secondly, I learned about the
(01:21):
value of sharing personal experiences. Sharing our mental health journey
through everything from digital platforms to just having a yarn
can inspire others to open up about their own struggles.
It encourages others to talk about their own experiences and
helps people feel less alone in theirs. And finally, I
learned about the importance of community and connection. Next story
(01:45):
highlights how being part of a support of community can
play a crucial role in improving our mental health. Community
can provide emotional support during those tough times and help
regain stability when you need it most. Let us know
what you learn from our chat with Nick on any
of our social media platforms. Just search for the Nutter's
Club enz. His name is neck Scott. We've had him
(02:09):
here on the show before a few years ago. I
think we figured out it's four years ago.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Kyle doesn't time fly.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Seriously, it did just feel like the other week.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Well, it was kind of like our life on radio
when he exists for two hours a week, So it's
probably you know, if you ed it all up, we've
probably had been in here for a year.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Okay, all up, All right, all right, So like the
last ten almost ten years that you and I at
least have been doing the show together, that if we
actually edited it up, I'll do some meth on that
and come back with that and let you know. Anyway,
he's here in the studio with us tonight. It's very
nice to have him back with us. Good evening to
your neck. Thanks for being here.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Oh, thanks for having me again.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, look, just for those who may not have been
listening four years ago, believe it or not, there are
some people who may be listening to the show freshly
or for the first time. Look, just tell us a
little bit about yourself. Where were you born, where'd you
grow up?
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Well, originally you got to New Zealand when I was
four years old from Denmark and yeah, I grew up
in Wellington and move talk to them when I was
seventeen and did the anything and tried the music thing
and ended up now doing having a publication. That's pretty
fun to do.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So you know, you've got yourself involved in a whole
bunch of different things all over the place, but primarily
a lot of what you do seems to be around blokes,
and more specifically en Z blokes.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Yeah, well, that's one of our brands and it's been
around for about fifteen years now and it's had its
evolutions over the years and it still goes through them now.
It's great fun, but it's a really fun platform to
communicate and share ideas and things of that nature.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
And one of the things that you've shared over the years,
and I must say increasingly so, has been about your
own mental health journey.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Yeah. Yeah, that can be fun at times.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
So when you first started doing that, when you first
started writing online and sharing, you know, what you were
going through personally. When you first started doing it, did
you find it a bit intimidating? Were you worried about
what people's reaction might be?
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Oh? Absolutely, Yeah, I was really worried. It kind of
started because I was seeing a therapist. Was around twenty
sixteen twenty seventeen. We'd just been through a total loss
house fire and relocated from Auckland to Toronga and I
knew I was in a bad way. I didn't know
what their meant or what to do about it or anything,
(04:32):
so I just sort of started looking around to see
what I could do, and through that, one of the
things I got told to do was journal, and my
idea of well, I sorry, my mindset at the time,
being someone who is what would be classified now as
a content creator, was always thinking, well, if I'm going
to put time and effort into something, it needs to
get views online right so that it can continue to
(04:54):
grow and be something else that we do if I'm
going to put any time or effort into it. So
I sort of started playing around, was sharing some ideas
and thoughts on experiences and stuff like that, which turned
into a bit more of a regular bl which was
more of a third person to look at a situation
and then just try and work it out from there
(05:14):
and give some advice on the things that I'd experienced
that perhaps could have been a bit better. And most
of those back then we're around my relationship with my father,
which doesn't really exist anymore. And now, yeah, now it's raw.
Now it's just whatever's going on in my head at
the time ends up on the incident, and that's not
always a great thing.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
So what kind of feedback do you get from people
when you've shared some of those thoughts.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
These days, it's really positive, like it's really supportive, And
I think that there are a lot of people who
will come back regularly and like check in. But it's
one of those things where I guess back in the day,
you know, six seven, eight years ago, if we were
out and about doing something, We're at an event or whatnot,
people will come up and talk about, you know, cars
that we've played with on YouTube or whatever. It might be, right,
(06:03):
the sort of fun stuff. And like these days, it's
first and foremost all the mental health. And nine times
out of ten I'm getting by a stranger who's twice
my size, which can be scary at times, but you know,
it's always good people.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
So it's incredible when you know, you actually just put
your own story out there and then suddenly people want
to share and bring you theirs. I mean, Cole, why
do people do that? Why does it what does it
seem to be that suddenly when we share our own
experience that it acts kind of like giving other people
permission to share theirs.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Well, I think we assume, probably quite rightly, that it's
safe right that the person who you know, has put
their own story out there will understand what we have
to say. And of course you know there's a touch
point often too, right, like that shared experience if you
know someone says something, oh that that's exactly what I
was thinking or feeling, And especially if you haven't actually
shared it before, because you know, it can actually be
(06:54):
quite quite enlightening to hear you know someone else has
actually had this experience as well. Then all of a sudden,
hopefully we don't feel quite as alone.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Nick.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Talking about mental health is one thing, and you know,
sharing your experiences online as you've done, is really worthy
and as you said, it's prompted great response from people
that've been appreciative of it. They've felt comfortable to share
their own experiences. But of late you've been doing something
a bit different, So talk to us about the origins
(07:25):
of what started has become a really big project for
you and a lot of your friends.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
A way to start with it. So last year was
a tough one for me. I had some pretty pretty
low down times with that one. I don't know what
people assume but in terms of what they know about
my hobbies, but one of them is motorcycles and it's
probably one of the most prominent ones, and we're always
(07:54):
on our bikes. I think I've done forty thousand k
on my bike in the last of a year and
a half, which is woll It's impressive. Yeah, all over
the country had a great summer. It was awesome. And
a friend of mine, Nack, he's big Neck, I'm little Neck,
and he and I have kicked around ideas of things
that we want to achieve with the platform that we've
got and you know, the YouTube and the social media
(08:17):
and whatnot. And he said, wouldn't it be a cool
idea if we did up at our motorcycle and gave
it away because we were sponsored by a YouTuber that
we like over in the States. And Yeah, it became
an idea. It became one of those ideas that's out
on the shelf, and it got kicked about every couple
of weeks. And then I was at what I would
probably consider pretty close to rock bottom last year, and
(08:40):
I get a call from Neck and he's like, get up,
we're gonna go pick up a bike and he just
started this project. And that project, effectively is that we
knew that we wanted to do something that involved motorcycles
as not just a former transport. But it's it's what
we want to explain is it's not just riding a bike,
it's the community, it's the tinkering, it's a hobby, it's
(09:02):
something with your hands, it's something that is social and
all that sort of stuff. And for all of us
that are involved, we've all had our sort of demons
and stuff that we struggled with in that community that
we're a part of. Be it our click as you know,
half a dozen or whatever it is on the regular,
which can be as much as a thousand people at
a big event. You know, you're all connected through the
(09:23):
same thing because you just get it. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah? I think so. It's that community and connection that
we talk about all the time. So to take it
back a couple of steps, though, you know, when you
were saying you were heading rock bottom and you know
you're having your tough times, what was it that was
that you were going through that was making things so tough?
We don't need the full story, but it's more like, actually,
what was that doing to you? What was the symptoms
(09:48):
of your day to day life that weren't working for Yeah?
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Well, I mean there's always a woman involved in some point, right,
But like, yeah, no, I just I got involved in
something that I shouldn't have and it took a real
toll on me. And I was dealing with anxiety, crip
playing like I lost eight kilos in two weeks, like
and I'm one hundred and ten, so that's pretty significant.
And yeah, I was just wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating, wasn't
(10:16):
doing anything, barely holding together at work, you know, all
that sort of stuff used up all my sex leave
and holiday leave and all that sort of jazz. And
I really just had to find my stability, you know,
like I wasn't interested in peace at that point. All
I needed was just to be able to hold my
head above water and be able to breathe for a minute,
you know, And that got you know, as difficult as
(10:39):
you know things can do in that nature. You know,
I had those ideas about, you know, wanted to see
myself out and all that sort of jazz and had
to crack at it. So and you know, my close
friends knew about all of this, and they were amazing,
Like I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them,
And that's just straight up how it is. And yeah,
that community has kind of banded together, do you know
(11:02):
what I mean? And it was it's amazing that people
that you just you know, needed a set of traffic
lights or something. Become friends for life just because you
enjoy the same thing.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
You So you can meet people at traffic lights, How
does that work? Because look, everyone has stopped the traffic
lights and it's not like I see somebody else in
a toy to RAV four and be like hey amp,
sure you just drive down the road and have a
yarn about how great ravs are. I mean, how does
that work? In the motorcycle world.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
It's much easier to talk to someone if you're not
in a box though, right for a start.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Yeah, there for a kickoff, you can hear each other, so.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Talk us through. You know, how do motorcyclists meet at
traffic lights and then create a connection and a friendship.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
Well, I mean, I guess if you if you're on
your bike and you're out and about and you're thinking
you're going to go for a little tiki tour or
whatever it is, and then you get three dudes on
similar bikes that will look the sort of same as you,
and you think, hey man, what are you up to?
We're going here? And then you just now you've got
to mate and for you know that, are you going
to be mates with ten years from now?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So what do people just like put the visor up
and you go, you know, what's what's happening? And you're going, oh,
we're just going to roll up the road to you know,
to up to the peninsula and you go, yep, oh okay, cool,
well come along, and they're like, yeah, let's go for it.
That's it. Yeah, absolutely, So it sounds very uncomplicated.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
That's the beauty of it. It's very simple.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
And so how many people would you say you've met
this way?
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Oh, of like regular mates that we hang out with now, Yeah, easily, dozens, dozens.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I just find that incredible. I think it's I think
it's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Well, you it must be pretty similar when you you,
you know, meet someone out on your yacht, maybe raft
up next to someone anchored in a bay, you guess,
and get yarning with people.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
People. People go out on boats for different reasons. Sometimes
it's to you know, to say hello, but sometimes they
just want their space.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
But it's the shared interest, though, isn't it. Absolutely you're
starting from a point of actually already having quite a
lot in common because you're both into bikes and you're
both into riding, and yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
And it sounds to me, Like, though, you know, you've
talked about it being a very supportive community, what does
what does that supportive piece look like?
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Well, I guess that depends on what you need on
the day, right Like it could helping a friend move,
it could be you know, painting a wall because someone
who's not capable of doing a thing, but you've got
mates that are, you know, can band together and next
thing you know, you got six bikes in the driveway,
and your lawns are done and there's pizza on the table,
right Like, it's just you just muck in and get
it done, because that's what you.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Do when you you know, as you put it, you know,
you were at rock bottom, you were at your lowest.
What did this community mean to you? What was it
that it did for you to be able to lift
you up to where you are now?
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Well, actually, honestly, if there was a little while where
I actually took a big step back from it because
I couldn't face it. I couldn't face anything. I didn't
want to leave the house. I didn't want to go
to work into any of that stuff, didn't want to
go and be social, didn't want to be around, you know,
communities where things that were hurt for were going to
be and I took a big step back from it,
and it was like literally that the community came and
(14:00):
got me. And that's not the exaggeration, like people are
turning up at the house being like, dude, you're okay,
And that was kind of the thing that drew me back.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
That's incredible. I think, what an absolute you know what,
an absolute credit to the motorcycle community that that's actually
how it worked that they came to knock on your door.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Actually tell me, just like one mate or two mates,
this is like half a dozen people calling every other
day being like how you doing?
Speaker 2 (14:33):
What did it mean for you to have you know,
people doing that, especially when you're at a point where
you know you leeds to be honest, you didn't really
want to hear from anyone.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
No, No, it's hard in the moment, like sometimes you
can just tell that this is not the energy you need,
but you're thankful for it because someone actually gives a shit.
That's really powerful in and of itself. But I think
that perhaps it's maybe just the type of people that
we hang out with that are all into bikes, but
they're all very pragmatic and pragmatism can be very very
(15:03):
useful in times like that where you just want to
get one foot in front of the other and get
ahead of this thing.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Nick, Yeah, the community, the community came and gotcha literally,
And I kind of love that it wasn't just one person.
I mean, and that's not to say that one person
can't make a huge impact in our lives, but it
was multiple You were missed.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Yeah, it's an interesting feeling.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I like your honesty about it too, that actually, in
the moment, it was quite challenging, Like it wasn't necessarily
always easy, and it may have even at times felt like,
you know, a bit of pain. But actually it's that
thing when we're feeling really low and depressed and struggling
that we actually need like a compassionate kick up the
bum to get us moving again, because like you said,
your friends are quite pragmatic. Actually, a lot of the
(15:50):
times when we're depressed and struggling, we actually just need
to get active. We just need to get physically and
mentally moving again and get that momentum happening.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Oh absolutely, And I think that's another thing with the
physical side of it, was like i'd also given up
on the gem and fitness and just that whole thing,
and it just wasn't a priority for me. You know.
My priorities were simple as getting out of bed in
the morning. So getting to the gym seemed like it
was way too much of a challenge. And that did
have a physical effect for sure.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
So then Little Nick comes and tells you one day,
we're going to go pick up Big Nick. Sorry, Big
Nick comes and picks you up and says we're going
to go and get a bike. So you go and
get a bike. Tell us what kind of bike was it?
Where'd you get it from?
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Well, it's a ninety four Yamaha x JR twelve hundred,
which at the time was showing its age, and right
this moment it was doing some pretty good times around
Tower Poke because Calvin's taken it out for its first
ride after it's been rebuilt.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So you get this old clanger, the sold ninety four Yeamaha.
That's not looking so good. And what was the goal?
What did you why did you want to restore this?
You know, was it just a project to do or
did you have some objective message?
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Right? Like, I think something with all of the content
that we make, especially outside of just this particular project
is that one of the things that we're always trying
to do is inspire people to do things that actually
aren't as daunting if you just give it a crack,
and that could be you know, it could be working
on your bike, It could be going on some kind
of adventure, or even just trying a new kind of food,
(17:24):
making it at home, right, Like, there's always something that
you can have a go at, and this is just
an extension of that. But it's something that we're really
passionate about. And because we like making videos on YouTube
and because we like doing all of our social media stuff,
there was an element of, hey, if we do this project,
we can justify it because it's content. And that part
was all sort of fell into place really easy because
(17:46):
I knew that as soon as I told Calvin what
the I guess ulterior motive is, I knew that he
would be on board, which was around the time that
we met the team from Tikiwi Maya, who are the
charity that we've now partnered with to be the recipient
of this bike so that they can raffle it off
and continue to do the amazing work that they do.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
So we'll come to quiim in a moment. But let's
let's just go back a couple of Stepsip. So you
and you and Big Nick start doing this work on
the bike.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Well, actually no, we don't work on the bike that much.
The most of the work on the bike has been
done by Calvin, who is used to do our hunting
and fishing content and now he's doing customer motorcycles down
in Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
That's that's quite a change. So some of the conversations though,
that you had in the time that was getting put
into this bike, what were the kind of things that
you were talking about.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Well, I think Nick big Neck is probably one of
the most is it philanthropic the word that I want? Yeah, yeah,
generous yeah, person that I've ever met. And he's one
of those kind of people. And do you know what
I only learned this today is that he's one of
these kind of people who will give you just enough
to get going, like and you know, when you're talking
(19:02):
about a compassionate kick in the pants, he will give
you just enough to get the ball rolling. And it's
knowing that you can snowball it. And he's done it
to me more than once. And this project is an
example of that because he said he knew that if
we had the bike, and we knew we get the
first video out there, we're now committed to doing this project, right,
And he knew that before I had any idea what
his scheme was.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
So you made the first video of look we've gone
and got this whole bike. But all of a sudden,
now you're accountable, right, you know, you've you've shared that publicly.
How quickly was it before you know you were going
to the you know, the bike meetups or you're running
into people and they're going, hey, how's things going with
that bike restoration?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Yeah, it's been constant for the last year because it's
actually taken a little bit longer than we'd anticipated. But yeah,
I know people every time we see friends that were
you know, sort of the outskirts friends, they're always asking
about how's it going, you know, when we're going to
see it, When can we get our tickets? All that
sort of jazz.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
So at what point, though, you know, you talked about
you know, big Nick helping things just get going for you,
at what point did it stop feeling like it was
a big effort have to get up and go and
interact with people, and it's just started to actually be
like I've got this, I'm doing this, this is I'm back,
(20:18):
I'm feeling I'm feeling holding you.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
I think there was a couple of elements to that.
I think that there was, I guess the first stage
where I was able to do the bare minimum, and
getting to that point was really difficult. But every step
you take ends up being a little bit easier the
next time, right, you know, like you might sort of
you get your base level done and then maybe you
can start thinking about maybe I want to go and
(20:42):
socialize and you know, reintegrate into society because I've been
out of it for two months or whatever it might be.
And it takes a while to you know, work through those.
But I think, honestly, the real turning point was actually
getting made redundant at the end of last year, because
I ended up having an awesome summer.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
It was great, and so you know, you'd had another
challenge in your life. You know, it said, no one
wants to be made redundant, well at least you know,
like you think they wouldn't, but you're going through that.
But when you were made redundant at the end of
last year, you just were in a much different headspace
than you've been because you had that support around you.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Yeah. Well, I mean, if you think back to the
reason that I was on the show last year was
last year four years ago, damn you know that was
because I just lost mum and I was super last
and I had no direction, no purpose, no nothing. And
now I have all of those things and a lot
of those are gifts given to me by Big Nick
by pushing this project on me.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Carl, you've actually over the ad break. You've gone and
had a look for this ninety four yearm Aha.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
XJR twelve hundred. Yeah, it's a pretty nice looking bike.
I mean, I'm not a motorbike guy. I prefer my
bikes with pedals.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yes, this is true.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
But it's funny actually, because I was kind of recognizing
that I haven't necessarily made mates at traffic lights, but
when you're on a bike, you do have a yarn
with the people on the bikes around you. And like
I was saying, you never do that car like you
never stop and wind down the window and go, kid A,
how's it going. But it's just different, I think, being
out in the world. But it's a gorgeous looking bike.
(22:17):
It's it's what they call it naked unfeared, So it
doesn't have the sort of the racing with all the
technical the technical, nice nice, simple looking bike.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
You check it on the Facebook page.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah, well I'll check an example up.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
But just yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
The power of community, Ah.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Well, yeah, you know, we do talk about community and
connection here, but I think sometimes being able to have
a really good example of what that's like, of what
Nick's been talking about, is really helpful to actually illustrate it.
But you know, in terms of why community actually matters
to us when it comes to our mental health, you know,
I think it's great that you Nick, you had people
(22:54):
who recognize that you needed a hand and you know,
came around to offer some support. But once we get
up and going, it's actually having that sustainable community around
us which makes the difference. Why is that.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Well, I mean I've said it probably a thousand times
on the show We Heard Animals. It just is how
we are as humans. We need to be in groups,
and we function in groups. But I think what happens
in communities was whether it's a shared interest or a
shared project or a shared goal. I mean, there's the
task right, which often is a reason to get out
of bed and do the thing. But then there's also
(23:29):
just that sense of, you know, when some people have
got some gas in the tank and they've got something
to give that they'll give back, and when other people
come back around and are able to pay that back
in some fashion. It's it's just how we work and
and the healthy a healthy community, I think, which is
exactly what you're describing ne one. But you know that
(23:50):
it's the Marines, isn't it? Leave no man behind?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
I Reckon Solick with the with the bike project. Where
are you at now? You've you've completed it? Yeah, I'll
turn you mike on.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Sorry, there you go. Yeah. So the bike is actually
finished as of today and has been on its first
test ride, which is amazing. The raffle tickets are on
sale as of yesterday, and we've already started sound quite
a few and people don't actually know that the bike's
going yet because that's only ended up in the group
chat so far.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
So look, tell us about it. I mean, why why
did you want to restore the bike and then just
give it away to be raffled.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
Well, there's a couple of things to it, like I said,
one of the things that we enjoy doing through the
content that we make is inspiring people to have a
go at stuff. And we will post our own stories
on that, right, like even little Instagram bits where it's
like I changed my own battery on my bike, which,
if you know what my bike is, it's not an
easy thing to do and it was probably one of
the more intimidating things I did on my own. But
(24:51):
it's just having the right attitude about it, right. So
the idea of restoring something that's old and maybe was
never going to get looked at again, it now has
a whole new life to it. And you know people
did that with their hands, mostly Calvin, but you know
there are actually quite a few hands involved in making
that happen. And then I guess the second part of
that is we knew that we wanted to do some
(25:13):
kind of giveaway, and we knew that we wanted to
partner with someone that we had a big mutual respect
and trust for and would agree with what their messaging
is and be proud of the work that they do.
And through the Patriots Motorcycle Club, which is a New
Zealand Defense Force motorcycles club, we met the team from
(25:36):
Tekiwi Maya because they've all come out from NZDF. So yeah,
we were told about them and we liked what they
were doing, and we said, yeah, we'll meet them. And
we went to our usual Sunday after rite ice cream
place and we met one of the team from in
there and just vibed from day one and we were like, yeah,
this is someone that we can yeah, we can get
(25:56):
behind and we can be proud of what they do
and be proud to be supporting them.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
So tell us about Tequii Maya. What do they do well?
Speaker 4 (26:03):
They do a lot. They actually had their annual fundraising
garde dinner on Wednesday this week, which was an awesome night,
Like it was probably the first time I've dressed up
in quite a long time and been to It's the
first time I've ever been to like a charity auction
or anything like that. Like it was amazing food and
all these people. So, hey, I know that I've seen
(26:24):
them on TV or whatever it is, right, but the
whole point of what it was was showing that what
the team actually do and the opportunity to get involved
and support what they do.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
And in terms of the amount of support that they
what they are doing. What does that look like in
practical terms?
Speaker 4 (26:45):
Oh So the main core function that sort of attracted
us to it is that for all first responders, they
offer a lot of support around mental health, but they
also put a lot of emphasis on the family and spouse,
which is really really important because if you think the
girl that was at our table, Hayley, her partner was
sas and he went through some experiences and they also
(27:10):
helped her to understand that not just him, Right, That's
the important thing that I think that being able to
give people tools to understand and be able to be
youthful in a situation like that is just amazing.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
So it's that next step again, like you know you're
talking about the community extension, is that actually, you know,
the mental health experiences of one person don't usually just
affect that one person. It's the people that care about
them around them as well.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Who generally are the people who are most motivated to
want to help them as well.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
So, Nick, I'm interested to know, you know, considering where
you were and where you are now, have you started
to understand, you know, within your own mental health kind
of what it is that you need to look after
or you know, if there's anything that you can kind
of see as like a warning sign and where you're
like a little bit, oh, I need to just pull
back a bit or just make sure I'm giving myself
(28:04):
whatever it is I need on that front. Like in hindsight, Yeah, absolutely,
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
I guess one of the things that I guess it
was a hard thing to get out of, and I
certainly didn't do that on my own. But I think
I've now understood how I need to look after myself
in terms of maintaining a decent way of living that
I don't get back into that and that's putting out
barriers in certain places. That's limiting, you know, friendships with
(28:34):
people that I feel unsafe around or you know, and
that's an emotionally unsafe you know, like if I don't
think that that person who's my best interest at heart,
then they're not going to be sitting at my table
sort of thing. Right, But then the idea being that
that becomes a two way straight But yeah, I think
just doing the basics, you know, good food, exercise, good community,
(28:57):
all of the really really basic stuff. If you can
nail that, you've got it. You can do it.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I've got a couple of texts here. This one says
next city is at a fundraiser table all the guy's wife,
Haley was helped along with her husband to understand FAS.
What's FAS? I think I think you said, says.
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Yeah, says he was an ESAU soldier.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
So if people don't know what the SAS is, what
is the essays?
Speaker 4 (29:23):
I believe it stands for Special Air Services and they
are the best of the best in the world, our SAS,
and they do the stuff that we don't want to
think about, which.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
Is potentially quite traumatizing.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, so there are there are an elite military unit
which usually gets sent into foreign territories to do well
black ops type stuff. Really, it's well my understanding.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
Yeah. There was a speaker at the dinner on Wednesday
for t Q Maya's fundraiser and he was telling a
story I don't think I can tell on the radio,
but it was pretty narly and the stuff that they
have seen and experienced just blows my mind.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
So, I mean, Sue Willie A Piata absolutely es wasn't he.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
I've actually met I've met a few Essays guys in
my time. And they are always interesting people. But I
can tell you right now, very very diverse in terms
of what they end up doing outside of their time
in the military. But they've all got incredible mental resilience.
(30:24):
But sometimes they too, just like all of us, they
can have their own mental health challenges after some of
the experiences they've had. Well.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Of course, one of the ironies with PTSD and forces,
and I often talk to clients about this because it
applies to anyone who's been traumatized, really is that actually,
you know, and they've seen this with American military services
that people that American military have lost more people to
suicide when they return home than when in an active
service and Iraq in Afghanistan, And the reason for that
(30:54):
is because you're not traumatized. When you're being traumatized, right,
you're not experiencing symptoms of trauma. You're just trying to survive.
The symptoms hit when you come home, when you're actually
safe again, is when you experience PTSD. And so that's
when people come home and come back to their families
and their partners, that's when they're actually at risk and
they experience those symptoms.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
When the pressure comes off. Exactly does that happen with
other things though as well. Kyle. You know, if you're
sort of going through a really traumatic experience or even
like a really bad relationship or situation, well, I mean.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
To zoom out a moment. I think that often people
who have experienced a lot of trauma in childhood, for instance,
and maybe then live a life which is high risk
and you know, kind of from one point of view,
might be exciting, but actually in a way is kind
of continuing to be traumatizing for them. Once they start
(31:44):
to slow down and settle, then actually they can start
to feel, in a funny kind of way worse, because actually,
once you're safe is when you start to experience the symptoms.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Got another text here, and it says grief. I have
no support. I lost my husband to cancer. I was
fifty eight and he was sixty. No children, and his
family disowned me. I have, however, found a group, a
group called Chirpiece as a friendship group. Chirpiece, it's quite
(32:15):
it sort of does what it says on the box,
doesn't it. Yeah, with a bunch of chirpy people like
the sound of it. Yeah, So that's nice to hear.
I'm sorry to hear about your husband, But nice to
see that you've you've gone and found that group.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
And actually, grief is a great one. And we've talked
about grief a lot over the years, and there are
a lot of community organizations. I mean, to start big,
there's the Cancer Society. You know, a lot of the
big sort of terminal diseases have those kinds of supports
in place. But actually, you know, we've had people call
up who've got those coffee groups in small towns where
people get together who have lost someone and people have
(32:48):
experienced grief really benefit from coming together with other people
that are kind of in the same place.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
So in terms of you know, your your time over
the last year, you know, you had that the group
of people that were so concerned and they turned up
at your house and they wanted to make sure you're
all right. But did you feel like they're still keeping
an eye on you or that they've they've given you
kind of feedback as to how you might have changed
or grown in that time.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
Yeah? Absolutely, And like I said before, how I explained
what next idea for giving me just enough to run
with I mean, he did it again to me today.
You know, he doesn't stop with that stuff. And it's
only today, I was today years old that I realized
that that's what it was. And to realize that what
(33:33):
this says now between this amazing bike with Bell, well
particularly Calvin, you know, to KEEPI, Maya and the team
there and being able to support what they do, Yeah,
it's it's a really special thing to be a part of.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
When you look back on that now, though, could you
see could you see you know what it was that
you needed? Can you can you sort of see that
for others around you know, in your group as well,
and then when you see other people perhaps having a
hard time or faces that you don't see tuning up
as regularly as you used to.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
I think that everybody does things in their own way.
I think that, you know, some people will dangle a carrot,
some people will give you enough to run with, and
then other people will just straight sleepy in the face
with it. But I think that what it instills in
someone who's been on a recipient of that is being
hyper aware of your other friends and what they might need.
(34:29):
You know, like if I know one of my mates
is not a right, first question is what do you
need right now? You know, Like do you need a hug,
Do you need food? You need a shelter?
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Like? What is it?
Speaker 4 (34:38):
Just get started on the basics and then we'll work
out the rest.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
That's it for this episode of The Nutters Club. Thanks
for listening, and if you like what you heard and
think it might help someone out there, then why not
share this episode on your own channels or the family
and friends. Remember if you want to be part of
the show, we take live phone calls and texts when
we broadcast live on News Talk seid B eleven pm
Sunday nights, New Zealand standard time. Check out news Talk
(35:07):
SAIDB dot co dot m for local frequencies or a
link for the live stream. A beg thanks to New
Zealand on air for their support of The Nutters Club.
Till next time, take care and always remember the world's
a better place because you're in it.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
For more from News Talks at B, listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to a podcast from Newstalk sed B. Follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Greetings and welcome. I'm Hamish Williams and you're listening to
The Nutters Club, the podcast version of our show that
talks about mental health tries to help you out along
the way. Since two thousand and nine, this show has
been broadcast live on Sunday nights across New Zealand and
the world, sharing stories about mental health challenges and what
(00:37):
worked for the people who live with them. It's their stories,
in their words. Our clinician psychotherapist Carl McDonald is always
in studio to give insight and support for our guests
as well as our callers. If you want to join
the show, then give us a call when we're live
on news Talk seid B eleven pm, New Zealand Standard Time.
(01:00):
On this week's Nutters Club, our guest was Nick Scott,
a passionate motorcyclist and content creator. The three things I
learned about mental health from Nick was firstly, the role
of action and purpose in recovery. Engaging in meaningful activities
can provide a sense of purpose and accomplishment that can
enhance our mental well being. Secondly, I learned about the
(01:21):
value of sharing personal experiences. Sharing our mental health journey
through everything from digital platforms to just having a yarn
can inspire others to open up about their own struggles.
It encourages others to talk about their own experiences and
helps people feel less alone in theirs. And finally, I
learned about the importance of community and connection. Next story
(01:45):
highlights how being part of a support of community can
play a crucial role in improving our mental health. Community
can provide emotional support during those tough times and help
regain stability when you need it most. Let us know
what you learn from our chat with Nick on any
of our social media platforms. Just search for the Nutter's
Club enz. His name is neck Scott. We've had him
(02:09):
here on the show before a few years ago. I
think we figured out it's four years ago.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Kyle doesn't time fly.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Seriously, it did just feel like the other week.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Well, it was kind of like our life on radio
when he exists for two hours a week, So it's
probably you know, if you ed it all up, we've
probably had been in here for a year.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Okay, all up, All right, all right, So like the
last ten almost ten years that you and I at
least have been doing the show together, that if we
actually edited it up, I'll do some meth on that
and come back with that and let you know. Anyway,
he's here in the studio with us tonight. It's very
nice to have him back with us. Good evening to
your neck. Thanks for being here.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Oh, thanks for having me again.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, look, just for those who may not have been
listening four years ago, believe it or not, there are
some people who may be listening to the show freshly
or for the first time. Look, just tell us a
little bit about yourself. Where were you born, where'd you
grow up?
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Well, originally you got to New Zealand when I was
four years old from Denmark and yeah, I grew up
in Wellington and move talk to them when I was
seventeen and did the anything and tried the music thing
and ended up now doing having a publication. That's pretty
fun to do.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So you know, you've got yourself involved in a whole
bunch of different things all over the place, but primarily
a lot of what you do seems to be around blokes,
and more specifically en Z blokes.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Yeah, well, that's one of our brands and it's been
around for about fifteen years now and it's had its
evolutions over the years and it still goes through them now.
It's great fun, but it's a really fun platform to
communicate and share ideas and things of that nature.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
And one of the things that you've shared over the years,
and I must say increasingly so, has been about your
own mental health journey.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Yeah. Yeah, that can be fun at times.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
So when you first started doing that, when you first
started writing online and sharing, you know, what you were
going through personally. When you first started doing it, did
you find it a bit intimidating? Were you worried about
what people's reaction might be?
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Oh? Absolutely, Yeah, I was really worried. It kind of
started because I was seeing a therapist. Was around twenty
sixteen twenty seventeen. We'd just been through a total loss
house fire and relocated from Auckland to Toronga and I
knew I was in a bad way. I didn't know
what their meant or what to do about it or anything,
(04:32):
so I just sort of started looking around to see
what I could do, and through that, one of the
things I got told to do was journal, and my
idea of well, I sorry, my mindset at the time,
being someone who is what would be classified now as
a content creator, was always thinking, well, if I'm going
to put time and effort into something, it needs to
get views online right so that it can continue to
(04:54):
grow and be something else that we do if I'm
going to put any time or effort into it. So
I sort of started playing around, was sharing some ideas
and thoughts on experiences and stuff like that, which turned
into a bit more of a regular bl which was
more of a third person to look at a situation
and then just try and work it out from there
(05:14):
and give some advice on the things that I'd experienced
that perhaps could have been a bit better. And most
of those back then we're around my relationship with my father,
which doesn't really exist anymore. And now, yeah, now it's raw.
Now it's just whatever's going on in my head at
the time ends up on the incident, and that's not
always a great thing.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
So what kind of feedback do you get from people
when you've shared some of those thoughts.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
These days, it's really positive, like it's really supportive, And
I think that there are a lot of people who
will come back regularly and like check in. But it's
one of those things where I guess back in the day,
you know, six seven, eight years ago, if we were
out and about doing something, We're at an event or whatnot,
people will come up and talk about, you know, cars
that we've played with on YouTube or whatever. It might be, right,
(06:03):
the sort of fun stuff. And like these days, it's
first and foremost all the mental health. And nine times
out of ten I'm getting by a stranger who's twice
my size, which can be scary at times, but you know,
it's always good people.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
So it's incredible when you know, you actually just put
your own story out there and then suddenly people want
to share and bring you theirs. I mean, Cole, why
do people do that? Why does it what does it
seem to be that suddenly when we share our own
experience that it acts kind of like giving other people
permission to share theirs.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Well, I think we assume, probably quite rightly, that it's
safe right that the person who you know, has put
their own story out there will understand what we have
to say. And of course you know there's a touch
point often too, right, like that shared experience if you
know someone says something, oh that that's exactly what I
was thinking or feeling, And especially if you haven't actually
shared it before, because you know, it can actually be
(06:54):
quite quite enlightening to hear you know someone else has
actually had this experience as well. Then all of a sudden,
hopefully we don't feel quite as alone.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Nick.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Talking about mental health is one thing, and you know,
sharing your experiences online as you've done, is really worthy
and as you said, it's prompted great response from people
that've been appreciative of it. They've felt comfortable to share
their own experiences. But of late you've been doing something
a bit different, So talk to us about the origins
(07:25):
of what started has become a really big project for
you and a lot of your friends.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
A way to start with it. So last year was
a tough one for me. I had some pretty pretty
low down times with that one. I don't know what
people assume but in terms of what they know about
my hobbies, but one of them is motorcycles and it's
probably one of the most prominent ones, and we're always
(07:54):
on our bikes. I think I've done forty thousand k
on my bike in the last of a year and
a half, which is woll It's impressive. Yeah, all over
the country had a great summer. It was awesome. And
a friend of mine, Nack, he's big Neck, I'm little Neck,
and he and I have kicked around ideas of things
that we want to achieve with the platform that we've
got and you know, the YouTube and the social media
(08:17):
and whatnot. And he said, wouldn't it be a cool
idea if we did up at our motorcycle and gave
it away because we were sponsored by a YouTuber that
we like over in the States. And Yeah, it became
an idea. It became one of those ideas that's out
on the shelf, and it got kicked about every couple
of weeks. And then I was at what I would
probably consider pretty close to rock bottom last year, and
(08:40):
I get a call from Neck and he's like, get up,
we're gonna go pick up a bike and he just
started this project. And that project, effectively is that we
knew that we wanted to do something that involved motorcycles
as not just a former transport. But it's it's what
we want to explain is it's not just riding a bike,
it's the community, it's the tinkering, it's a hobby, it's
(09:02):
something with your hands, it's something that is social and
all that sort of stuff. And for all of us
that are involved, we've all had our sort of demons
and stuff that we struggled with in that community that
we're a part of. Be it our click as you know,
half a dozen or whatever it is on the regular,
which can be as much as a thousand people at
a big event. You know, you're all connected through the
(09:23):
same thing because you just get it. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah? I think so. It's that community and connection that
we talk about all the time. So to take it
back a couple of steps, though, you know, when you
were saying you were heading rock bottom and you know
you're having your tough times, what was it that was
that you were going through that was making things so tough?
We don't need the full story, but it's more like, actually,
what was that doing to you? What was the symptoms
(09:48):
of your day to day life that weren't working for Yeah?
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Well, I mean there's always a woman involved in some point, right,
But like, yeah, no, I just I got involved in
something that I shouldn't have and it took a real
toll on me. And I was dealing with anxiety, crip
playing like I lost eight kilos in two weeks, like
and I'm one hundred and ten, so that's pretty significant.
And yeah, I was just wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating, wasn't
(10:16):
doing anything, barely holding together at work, you know, all
that sort of stuff used up all my sex leave
and holiday leave and all that sort of jazz. And
I really just had to find my stability, you know,
like I wasn't interested in peace at that point. All
I needed was just to be able to hold my
head above water and be able to breathe for a minute,
you know, And that got you know, as difficult as
(10:39):
you know things can do in that nature. You know,
I had those ideas about, you know, wanted to see
myself out and all that sort of jazz and had
to crack at it. So and you know, my close
friends knew about all of this, and they were amazing,
Like I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them,
And that's just straight up how it is. And yeah,
that community has kind of banded together, do you know
(11:02):
what I mean? And it was it's amazing that people
that you just you know, needed a set of traffic
lights or something. Become friends for life just because you
enjoy the same thing.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
You So you can meet people at traffic lights, How
does that work? Because look, everyone has stopped the traffic
lights and it's not like I see somebody else in
a toy to RAV four and be like hey amp,
sure you just drive down the road and have a
yarn about how great ravs are. I mean, how does
that work? In the motorcycle world.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
It's much easier to talk to someone if you're not
in a box though, right for a start.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Yeah, there for a kickoff, you can hear each other, so.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Talk us through. You know, how do motorcyclists meet at
traffic lights and then create a connection and a friendship.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
Well, I mean, I guess if you if you're on
your bike and you're out and about and you're thinking
you're going to go for a little tiki tour or
whatever it is, and then you get three dudes on
similar bikes that will look the sort of same as you,
and you think, hey man, what are you up to?
We're going here? And then you just now you've got
to mate and for you know that, are you going
to be mates with ten years from now?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So what do people just like put the visor up
and you go, you know, what's what's happening? And you're going, oh,
we're just going to roll up the road to you know,
to up to the peninsula and you go, yep, oh okay, cool,
well come along, and they're like, yeah, let's go for it.
That's it. Yeah, absolutely, So it sounds very uncomplicated.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
That's the beauty of it. It's very simple.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
And so how many people would you say you've met
this way?
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Oh, of like regular mates that we hang out with now, Yeah, easily, dozens, dozens.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I just find that incredible. I think it's I think
it's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Well, you it must be pretty similar when you you,
you know, meet someone out on your yacht, maybe raft
up next to someone anchored in a bay, you guess,
and get yarning with people.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
People. People go out on boats for different reasons. Sometimes
it's to you know, to say hello, but sometimes they
just want their space.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
But it's the shared interest, though, isn't it. Absolutely you're
starting from a point of actually already having quite a
lot in common because you're both into bikes and you're
both into riding, and yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
And it sounds to me, Like, though, you know, you've
talked about it being a very supportive community, what does
what does that supportive piece look like?
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Well, I guess that depends on what you need on
the day, right Like it could helping a friend move,
it could be you know, painting a wall because someone
who's not capable of doing a thing, but you've got
mates that are, you know, can band together and next
thing you know, you got six bikes in the driveway,
and your lawns are done and there's pizza on the table,
right Like, it's just you just muck in and get
it done, because that's what you.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Do when you you know, as you put it, you know,
you were at rock bottom, you were at your lowest.
What did this community mean to you? What was it
that it did for you to be able to lift
you up to where you are now?
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Well, actually, honestly, if there was a little while where
I actually took a big step back from it because
I couldn't face it. I couldn't face anything. I didn't
want to leave the house. I didn't want to go
to work into any of that stuff, didn't want to
go and be social, didn't want to be around, you know,
communities where things that were hurt for were going to
be and I took a big step back from it,
and it was like literally that the community came and
(14:00):
got me. And that's not the exaggeration, like people are
turning up at the house being like, dude, you're okay,
And that was kind of the thing that drew me back.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
That's incredible. I think, what an absolute you know what,
an absolute credit to the motorcycle community that that's actually
how it worked that they came to knock on your door.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Actually tell me, just like one mate or two mates,
this is like half a dozen people calling every other
day being like how you doing?
Speaker 2 (14:33):
What did it mean for you to have you know,
people doing that, especially when you're at a point where
you know you leeds to be honest, you didn't really
want to hear from anyone.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
No, No, it's hard in the moment, like sometimes you
can just tell that this is not the energy you need,
but you're thankful for it because someone actually gives a shit.
That's really powerful in and of itself. But I think
that perhaps it's maybe just the type of people that
we hang out with that are all into bikes, but
they're all very pragmatic and pragmatism can be very very
(15:03):
useful in times like that where you just want to
get one foot in front of the other and get
ahead of this thing.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Nick, Yeah, the community, the community came and gotcha literally,
And I kind of love that it wasn't just one person.
I mean, and that's not to say that one person
can't make a huge impact in our lives, but it
was multiple You were missed.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Yeah, it's an interesting feeling.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I like your honesty about it too, that actually, in
the moment, it was quite challenging, Like it wasn't necessarily
always easy, and it may have even at times felt like,
you know, a bit of pain. But actually it's that
thing when we're feeling really low and depressed and struggling
that we actually need like a compassionate kick up the
bum to get us moving again, because like you said,
your friends are quite pragmatic. Actually, a lot of the
(15:50):
times when we're depressed and struggling, we actually just need
to get active. We just need to get physically and
mentally moving again and get that momentum happening.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Oh absolutely, And I think that's another thing with the
physical side of it, was like i'd also given up
on the gem and fitness and just that whole thing,
and it just wasn't a priority for me. You know.
My priorities were simple as getting out of bed in
the morning. So getting to the gym seemed like it
was way too much of a challenge. And that did
have a physical effect for sure.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
So then Little Nick comes and tells you one day,
we're going to go pick up Big Nick. Sorry, Big
Nick comes and picks you up and says we're going
to go and get a bike. So you go and
get a bike. Tell us what kind of bike was it?
Where'd you get it from?
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Well, it's a ninety four Yamaha x JR twelve hundred,
which at the time was showing its age, and right
this moment it was doing some pretty good times around
Tower Poke because Calvin's taken it out for its first
ride after it's been rebuilt.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So you get this old clanger, the sold ninety four Yeamaha.
That's not looking so good. And what was the goal?
What did you why did you want to restore this?
You know, was it just a project to do or
did you have some objective message?
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Right? Like, I think something with all of the content
that we make, especially outside of just this particular project
is that one of the things that we're always trying
to do is inspire people to do things that actually
aren't as daunting if you just give it a crack,
and that could be you know, it could be working
on your bike, It could be going on some kind
of adventure, or even just trying a new kind of food,
(17:24):
making it at home, right, Like, there's always something that
you can have a go at, and this is just
an extension of that. But it's something that we're really
passionate about. And because we like making videos on YouTube
and because we like doing all of our social media stuff,
there was an element of, hey, if we do this project,
we can justify it because it's content. And that part
was all sort of fell into place really easy because
(17:46):
I knew that as soon as I told Calvin what
the I guess ulterior motive is, I knew that he
would be on board, which was around the time that
we met the team from Tikiwi Maya, who are the
charity that we've now partnered with to be the recipient
of this bike so that they can raffle it off
and continue to do the amazing work that they do.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
So we'll come to quiim in a moment. But let's
let's just go back a couple of Stepsip. So you
and you and Big Nick start doing this work on
the bike.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Well, actually no, we don't work on the bike that much.
The most of the work on the bike has been
done by Calvin, who is used to do our hunting
and fishing content and now he's doing customer motorcycles down
in Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
That's that's quite a change. So some of the conversations though,
that you had in the time that was getting put
into this bike, what were the kind of things that
you were talking about.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Well, I think Nick big Neck is probably one of
the most is it philanthropic the word that I want? Yeah, yeah,
generous yeah, person that I've ever met. And he's one
of those kind of people. And do you know what
I only learned this today is that he's one of
these kind of people who will give you just enough
to get going, like and you know, when you're talking
(19:02):
about a compassionate kick in the pants, he will give
you just enough to get the ball rolling. And it's
knowing that you can snowball it. And he's done it
to me more than once. And this project is an
example of that because he said he knew that if
we had the bike, and we knew we get the
first video out there, we're now committed to doing this project, right,
And he knew that before I had any idea what
his scheme was.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
So you made the first video of look we've gone
and got this whole bike. But all of a sudden,
now you're accountable, right, you know, you've you've shared that publicly.
How quickly was it before you know you were going
to the you know, the bike meetups or you're running
into people and they're going, hey, how's things going with
that bike restoration?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Yeah, it's been constant for the last year because it's
actually taken a little bit longer than we'd anticipated. But yeah,
I know people every time we see friends that were
you know, sort of the outskirts friends, they're always asking
about how's it going, you know, when we're going to
see it, When can we get our tickets? All that
sort of jazz.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
So at what point, though, you know, you talked about
you know, big Nick helping things just get going for you,
at what point did it stop feeling like it was
a big effort have to get up and go and
interact with people, and it's just started to actually be
like I've got this, I'm doing this, this is I'm back,
(20:18):
I'm feeling I'm feeling holding you.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
I think there was a couple of elements to that.
I think that there was, I guess the first stage
where I was able to do the bare minimum, and
getting to that point was really difficult. But every step
you take ends up being a little bit easier the
next time, right, you know, like you might sort of
you get your base level done and then maybe you
can start thinking about maybe I want to go and
(20:42):
socialize and you know, reintegrate into society because I've been
out of it for two months or whatever it might be.
And it takes a while to you know, work through those.
But I think, honestly, the real turning point was actually
getting made redundant at the end of last year, because
I ended up having an awesome summer.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
It was great, and so you know, you'd had another
challenge in your life. You know, it said, no one
wants to be made redundant, well at least you know,
like you think they wouldn't, but you're going through that.
But when you were made redundant at the end of
last year, you just were in a much different headspace
than you've been because you had that support around you.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Yeah. Well, I mean, if you think back to the
reason that I was on the show last year was
last year four years ago, damn you know that was
because I just lost mum and I was super last
and I had no direction, no purpose, no nothing. And
now I have all of those things and a lot
of those are gifts given to me by Big Nick
by pushing this project on me.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Carl, you've actually over the ad break. You've gone and
had a look for this ninety four yearm Aha.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
XJR twelve hundred. Yeah, it's a pretty nice looking bike.
I mean, I'm not a motorbike guy. I prefer my
bikes with pedals.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yes, this is true.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
But it's funny actually, because I was kind of recognizing
that I haven't necessarily made mates at traffic lights, but
when you're on a bike, you do have a yarn
with the people on the bikes around you. And like
I was saying, you never do that car like you
never stop and wind down the window and go, kid A,
how's it going. But it's just different, I think, being
out in the world. But it's a gorgeous looking bike.
(22:17):
It's it's what they call it naked unfeared, So it
doesn't have the sort of the racing with all the
technical the technical, nice nice, simple looking bike.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
You check it on the Facebook page.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah, well I'll check an example up.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
But just yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
The power of community, Ah.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Well, yeah, you know, we do talk about community and
connection here, but I think sometimes being able to have
a really good example of what that's like, of what
Nick's been talking about, is really helpful to actually illustrate it.
But you know, in terms of why community actually matters
to us when it comes to our mental health, you know,
I think it's great that you Nick, you had people
(22:54):
who recognize that you needed a hand and you know,
came around to offer some support. But once we get
up and going, it's actually having that sustainable community around
us which makes the difference. Why is that.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Well, I mean I've said it probably a thousand times
on the show We Heard Animals. It just is how
we are as humans. We need to be in groups,
and we function in groups. But I think what happens
in communities was whether it's a shared interest or a
shared project or a shared goal. I mean, there's the
task right, which often is a reason to get out
of bed and do the thing. But then there's also
(23:29):
just that sense of, you know, when some people have
got some gas in the tank and they've got something
to give that they'll give back, and when other people
come back around and are able to pay that back
in some fashion. It's it's just how we work and
and the healthy a healthy community, I think, which is
exactly what you're describing ne one. But you know that
(23:50):
it's the Marines, isn't it? Leave no man behind?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
I Reckon Solick with the with the bike project. Where
are you at now? You've you've completed it? Yeah, I'll
turn you mike on.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Sorry, there you go. Yeah. So the bike is actually
finished as of today and has been on its first
test ride, which is amazing. The raffle tickets are on
sale as of yesterday, and we've already started sound quite
a few and people don't actually know that the bike's
going yet because that's only ended up in the group
chat so far.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
So look, tell us about it. I mean, why why
did you want to restore the bike and then just
give it away to be raffled.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
Well, there's a couple of things to it, like I said,
one of the things that we enjoy doing through the
content that we make is inspiring people to have a
go at stuff. And we will post our own stories
on that, right, like even little Instagram bits where it's
like I changed my own battery on my bike, which,
if you know what my bike is, it's not an
easy thing to do and it was probably one of
the more intimidating things I did on my own. But
(24:51):
it's just having the right attitude about it, right. So
the idea of restoring something that's old and maybe was
never going to get looked at again, it now has
a whole new life to it. And you know people
did that with their hands, mostly Calvin, but you know
there are actually quite a few hands involved in making
that happen. And then I guess the second part of
that is we knew that we wanted to do some
(25:13):
kind of giveaway, and we knew that we wanted to
partner with someone that we had a big mutual respect
and trust for and would agree with what their messaging
is and be proud of the work that they do.
And through the Patriots Motorcycle Club, which is a New
Zealand Defense Force motorcycles club, we met the team from
(25:36):
Tekiwi Maya because they've all come out from NZDF. So yeah,
we were told about them and we liked what they
were doing, and we said, yeah, we'll meet them. And
we went to our usual Sunday after rite ice cream
place and we met one of the team from in
there and just vibed from day one and we were like, yeah,
this is someone that we can yeah, we can get
(25:56):
behind and we can be proud of what they do
and be proud to be supporting them.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
So tell us about Tequii Maya. What do they do well?
Speaker 4 (26:03):
They do a lot. They actually had their annual fundraising
garde dinner on Wednesday this week, which was an awesome night,
Like it was probably the first time I've dressed up
in quite a long time and been to It's the
first time I've ever been to like a charity auction
or anything like that. Like it was amazing food and
all these people. So, hey, I know that I've seen
(26:24):
them on TV or whatever it is, right, but the
whole point of what it was was showing that what
the team actually do and the opportunity to get involved
and support what they do.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
And in terms of the amount of support that they
what they are doing. What does that look like in
practical terms?
Speaker 4 (26:45):
Oh So the main core function that sort of attracted
us to it is that for all first responders, they
offer a lot of support around mental health, but they
also put a lot of emphasis on the family and spouse,
which is really really important because if you think the
girl that was at our table, Hayley, her partner was
sas and he went through some experiences and they also
(27:10):
helped her to understand that not just him, Right, That's
the important thing that I think that being able to
give people tools to understand and be able to be
youthful in a situation like that is just amazing.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
So it's that next step again, like you know you're
talking about the community extension, is that actually, you know,
the mental health experiences of one person don't usually just
affect that one person. It's the people that care about
them around them as well.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Who generally are the people who are most motivated to
want to help them as well.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
So, Nick, I'm interested to know, you know, considering where
you were and where you are now, have you started
to understand, you know, within your own mental health kind
of what it is that you need to look after
or you know, if there's anything that you can kind
of see as like a warning sign and where you're
like a little bit, oh, I need to just pull
back a bit or just make sure I'm giving myself
(28:04):
whatever it is I need on that front. Like in hindsight, Yeah, absolutely,
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
I guess one of the things that I guess it
was a hard thing to get out of, and I
certainly didn't do that on my own. But I think
I've now understood how I need to look after myself
in terms of maintaining a decent way of living that
I don't get back into that and that's putting out
barriers in certain places. That's limiting, you know, friendships with
(28:34):
people that I feel unsafe around or you know, and
that's an emotionally unsafe you know, like if I don't
think that that person who's my best interest at heart,
then they're not going to be sitting at my table
sort of thing. Right, But then the idea being that
that becomes a two way straight But yeah, I think
just doing the basics, you know, good food, exercise, good community,
(28:57):
all of the really really basic stuff. If you can
nail that, you've got it. You can do it.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I've got a couple of texts here. This one says
next city is at a fundraiser table all the guy's wife,
Haley was helped along with her husband to understand FAS.
What's FAS? I think I think you said, says.
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Yeah, says he was an ESAU soldier.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
So if people don't know what the SAS is, what
is the essays?
Speaker 4 (29:23):
I believe it stands for Special Air Services and they
are the best of the best in the world, our SAS,
and they do the stuff that we don't want to
think about, which.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
Is potentially quite traumatizing.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, so there are there are an elite military unit
which usually gets sent into foreign territories to do well
black ops type stuff. Really, it's well my understanding.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
Yeah. There was a speaker at the dinner on Wednesday
for t Q Maya's fundraiser and he was telling a
story I don't think I can tell on the radio,
but it was pretty narly and the stuff that they
have seen and experienced just blows my mind.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
So, I mean, Sue Willie A Piata absolutely es wasn't he.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
I've actually met I've met a few Essays guys in
my time. And they are always interesting people. But I
can tell you right now, very very diverse in terms
of what they end up doing outside of their time
in the military. But they've all got incredible mental resilience.
(30:24):
But sometimes they too, just like all of us, they
can have their own mental health challenges after some of
the experiences they've had. Well.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Of course, one of the ironies with PTSD and forces,
and I often talk to clients about this because it
applies to anyone who's been traumatized, really is that actually,
you know, and they've seen this with American military services
that people that American military have lost more people to
suicide when they return home than when in an active
service and Iraq in Afghanistan, And the reason for that
(30:54):
is because you're not traumatized. When you're being traumatized, right,
you're not experiencing symptoms of trauma. You're just trying to survive.
The symptoms hit when you come home, when you're actually
safe again, is when you experience PTSD. And so that's
when people come home and come back to their families
and their partners, that's when they're actually at risk and
they experience those symptoms.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
When the pressure comes off. Exactly does that happen with
other things though as well. Kyle. You know, if you're
sort of going through a really traumatic experience or even
like a really bad relationship or situation, well, I mean.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
To zoom out a moment. I think that often people
who have experienced a lot of trauma in childhood, for instance,
and maybe then live a life which is high risk
and you know, kind of from one point of view,
might be exciting, but actually in a way is kind
of continuing to be traumatizing for them. Once they start
(31:44):
to slow down and settle, then actually they can start
to feel, in a funny kind of way worse, because actually,
once you're safe is when you start to experience the symptoms.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Got another text here, and it says grief. I have
no support. I lost my husband to cancer. I was
fifty eight and he was sixty. No children, and his
family disowned me. I have, however, found a group, a
group called Chirpiece as a friendship group. Chirpiece, it's quite
(32:15):
it sort of does what it says on the box,
doesn't it. Yeah, with a bunch of chirpy people like
the sound of it. Yeah, So that's nice to hear.
I'm sorry to hear about your husband, But nice to
see that you've you've gone and found that group.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
And actually, grief is a great one. And we've talked
about grief a lot over the years, and there are
a lot of community organizations. I mean, to start big,
there's the Cancer Society. You know, a lot of the
big sort of terminal diseases have those kinds of supports
in place. But actually, you know, we've had people call
up who've got those coffee groups in small towns where
people get together who have lost someone and people have
(32:48):
experienced grief really benefit from coming together with other people
that are kind of in the same place.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
So in terms of you know, your your time over
the last year, you know, you had that the group
of people that were so concerned and they turned up
at your house and they wanted to make sure you're
all right. But did you feel like they're still keeping
an eye on you or that they've they've given you
kind of feedback as to how you might have changed
or grown in that time.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
Yeah? Absolutely, And like I said before, how I explained
what next idea for giving me just enough to run
with I mean, he did it again to me today.
You know, he doesn't stop with that stuff. And it's
only today, I was today years old that I realized
that that's what it was. And to realize that what
(33:33):
this says now between this amazing bike with Bell, well
particularly Calvin, you know, to KEEPI, Maya and the team
there and being able to support what they do, Yeah,
it's it's a really special thing to be a part of.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
When you look back on that now, though, could you
see could you see you know what it was that
you needed? Can you can you sort of see that
for others around you know, in your group as well,
and then when you see other people perhaps having a
hard time or faces that you don't see tuning up
as regularly as you used to.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
I think that everybody does things in their own way.
I think that, you know, some people will dangle a carrot,
some people will give you enough to run with, and
then other people will just straight sleepy in the face
with it. But I think that what it instills in
someone who's been on a recipient of that is being
hyper aware of your other friends and what they might need.
(34:29):
You know, like if I know one of my mates
is not a right, first question is what do you
need right now? You know, Like do you need a hug,
Do you need food? You need a shelter?
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Like? What is it?
Speaker 4 (34:38):
Just get started on the basics and then we'll work
out the rest.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
That's it for this episode of The Nutters Club. Thanks
for listening, and if you like what you heard and
think it might help someone out there, then why not
share this episode on your own channels or the family
and friends. Remember if you want to be part of
the show, we take live phone calls and texts when
we broadcast live on News Talk seid B eleven pm
Sunday nights, New Zealand standard time. Check out news Talk
(35:07):
SAIDB dot co dot m for local frequencies or a
link for the live stream. A beg thanks to New
Zealand on air for their support of The Nutters Club.
Till next time, take care and always remember the world's
a better place because you're in it.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
For more from News Talks at B, listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
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