September 14, 2025 • 25 mins
This week, John's guest will be Alex Walls co-host of Love It or List It.Alex Walls is a New Zealand interior designer best known as one half of Alex & Corban, co-founder of A&C Homestore (also known as achomestore), and a familiar face from The Block NZ and Love It or List It NZ. With over a decade of experience in residential design, Alex is also the founder of Walls Studio—a boutique interiors studio offering considered design and styling services across New Zealand.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB Follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio,
Real Conversation, Real Connection. It's Real Life with John Cowen
on News Talks Edburn GOODA.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to real life. I'm John cown. I hope all
of us have got somewhere nice to live. But someone
who has a passion to help us live somewhere nicer
is interior designer and TV presenter Alex Walls.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Welcome, Alex, Oh, thank you. It's great to be here, and.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
It's been great seeing you back on our TV screens.
I mean, you were in that series of The Block.
You and Corbyn won that but many years ago now,
but you've been back in our TV screens with Love
It or Listeds and that must have been That must
have been fun.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Doing it has been hilarious. It's been a great I
say hilarious because Paul just makes me laugh the whole time.
But I have been also very busy in the renovations
and really enjoying that it's been.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's been a lot of work and it's made for
a great show, which I have to confess I have
never seen until today. I'll watch some online because I
am such a threat to television New Zealand, they've had
to put your show up against my show on the
same I suppose I could be watching it on TV
(01:45):
and Z plus or online and I would recommend that
you folks go back and watch them because they're very entertaining.
They're great fun.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Yes, yep, it is very fun and I love that
this is I mean, it's a very popular show in
the UK and Australia, but it's been so cool bringing
it to New Zealand and making it specifically New Zealand
styled show with the way that we talk to each other,
the presenters, but also the way that we live is
(02:15):
very different to UK and Australia. So there's been a
lot of comparisons along the way, but I don't think
you can compare.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
But yeah, it's been very cool to pull that together.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
For those people that may not have yet watched the show,
I'm Alive or online, give us the gist of what's
what goes on.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Okay, So the format is that there's usually a couple
or a family that own a home and one of
the parties just wants to leave because it doesn't work
for them.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Anymore or for their lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Leaving.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
No, not not the family. Sorry, they want to move
on from the house together.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Because the house.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Is no longer working for them and there and the
way that they live or how they wanted.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
To their house work for them. And then the.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Second party loves the home, sees the potential and doesn't
want to move. So there's a battle between me the
designer and Paul, who is the real estate agent for
us to get them to either love it.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
I'm team love it designer.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
I have to renovate their home to try and win
over the person that's trying to leave, whereas Paul is
having to show them new homes in the real estate
world and show them the potential out of their house.
And then at the end they decide whether they are
going to love it and stay where they are or
(03:49):
whether they're going to list it.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Okay, so you actually do the design of the renovation
and then and then go ahead and do you actually
supervise the renovation yourself?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Yes, yeah, we.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Come up.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
I come up with a design, I listen to what
the family need. They give us a budget of you know,
it can be anywhere from fifty grand to a three
hundred thousand and Once I know what they are, what
their problems are in the home, it's my job to.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Remedy that.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
So I design, then we project manage it as well,
and then Stalin set it up for a final day
that the families walk through and they decide whether I've
hit the mark for them or whether it hasn't been
good enough, and they're moving on.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
So we're seeing these shows one week after another. But
you must have been working on this for months with
lots of projects all going on at the same time.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Yes, well this is People won't understand this, but it
took a year and a half. We had six homes
in total, so that's six episodes, and to produce those
six episodes, it took one and a half years because
there's consens and there's you know, there's a lot of
process behind it. As people know, when you're renovating a home,
(05:08):
it's not just when bam, it's done in eight weeks.
I think one of them took six months at least,
and we were doing two houses at a time because
we just there's no way that I could have done
all six in one go. But yes, it was our
first season though, so we've learned a lot about the
(05:30):
process and how we might adjust it.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
And going into a second season.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Can there will be a second season?
Speaker 4 (05:37):
I can't confirm because I don't know myself. We're waiting
to see how New Zealand has responded to the show.
But it seems quite positive.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
That's good. I can imagine that it would be because,
as you say, you both come across. Both of you
and Paul come across very well on screen, and so
I know one of you, you know, you're competing with
each other, one of you know whether the family going
to love their reconmed house or whether they're going to
(06:07):
list it and sell it. What's the score that we're
up to about shows six? Aren't we to air?
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Well? Yes, this was show six.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
It was the final episode yesterday, so I can tell
you that I won five out of six.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Well, congratulations, he's game for a second series. They look
like beautiful.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I really, I mean I don't.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
I don't get to see what Paul takes the families
through until the actual episodes have aired, So I've been
watching them going why would you why would you love it?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
You should have.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Gone and bought that house.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
You know. Some of them have been confusing to me
to why they wouldn't have listed. But I think sometimes
I wonder whether I caught I catch the family with emotion.
You know, I've they've been living in this house for six, seven,
even a decade, you know, ten years, and I've given
them finally what they wanted, and they walk through and
(07:04):
they've got to make the decision.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
On that day.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
And maybe it's just they get caught up in the
emotion rather than what was the right. I don't know, Actually,
well that's just what I'm.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
It strikes me that house ownership, buying, renovating, it is emotion.
It's like falling in love with a person. You know,
you could have a checklist and all sorts of criteria,
but basically it's often emotions that you can't even put
words to.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Yeah, it's I mean, and there's a lot of weight
in it.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
What is it We spend most of our lives trying
to save to be able to own our own pieces
of land or a home, and then when we finally
get in there, it's pretty heavy. You know, there's a
lot of emotion with that.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, yeah, I wonder what you could you could deftly
put a substantial percentage next to the amount of our
life that we invest into creating these nests and homes
for ourselves, as well as the financial side of things,
not everything that's on an Excel spreadsheet emotional site. Of course,
this is a return to television for you. You and your
(08:13):
husband Corbyn were on that series of The Block back in.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Fourteen twenty and fourteen, so it's been almost twelve years,
well eleven years since we were on, and man, we
have had a very big decade since then.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
We've done a lot.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
But yeah, Corbyn actually, even though he was I dragged
him onto the Block and put him in the public eye.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
He doesn't love being in the public eye.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
So he's very happy that chapter's gone.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So tell us about this big decade. You've launched a business,
launched a.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Family, Yes, we launched a family. Yes.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
After the Block, the opportunity was there. People knew who
we were and knew that we were good at what
we did, so it was a great opportunity to start
a business. And my background was actually in business as
well in fashion, and I always wanted to be a
(09:21):
fashion designer, but that, funnily enough kind of transitioned into
interior design, so still design, but something that I was
passed down from my father, who was very good in business,
was being able to create a business as successful brand
(09:43):
and I opened these homeware stores. So it started as
an online homeware store.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
And over the eight years.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Of owning it, which was we rebranded it as ANC
Home store. It was Alex and Corbyn, but rebranded to
A and C Home Store. When I sold it in
twenty two, it had four stores and one very big
online store. So yeah, it was a big business. It
(10:15):
took eight years to build up to where it was,
but unfortunately I had to let it go because things changed.
I had a family, and my priorities shifted, and even
though I absolutely loved my business and the people that
I worked with, it had to be the thing that
I sacrificed to ensure that I could be a good
(10:38):
mother and a good wife.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
So that it has been available.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
That thing of balances is that something you struggle with?
I mean, did you find your passions running away with
yourself and getting yourself out of balance?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
I mean I'm not I wouldn't call myself a workaholic, but.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
My personality could I say.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
No workaholic ever?
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Does no true? No?
Speaker 4 (11:07):
I I like to do things well. And I've done
personality tests in my lifetime, and normally it's about achieving.
You know, I create goals and I love to be
an achiever. And a bit of a love language from
my parents was them saying, oh, Alexandra, you've done so well,
(11:27):
and you know that makes me keep on going. And
so before having children, my goal was career. Let's let's
establish you great business. And I worked very, very hard.
I was doing eighty eighty l weeks just sometimes to
make sure I got it right.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Now, you can't switch that off instantaneously when you become
a parent. You're not one of these mothers that was
texting or making emails during labor, is it.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
I was just about to tell you that story. Yeah,
I was in labor.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
You're famous for that, I am.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
I do you know the story because one of my
comics is Oh my gosh I was. I was in
labor and I was in so much pain. And then
I finally got my epidural. And as soon as epidural
came in, I was like, right, Corbyn passed me my laptop.
I've got an EDM to send out and all the
girls don't know that I'm in labor, so I just
(12:24):
need to let him know, and he took photos of me,
and yeah, it was a shock to the system, trying
to change from being a career woman into a mother.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Did you succeed?
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Well? I failed.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I think I failed, and then I succeeded because I
realized how that the balance.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
You could do it.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
But yeah, that's quite a big story in itself. Actually,
I really struggled through parenthood and business ownership.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Let's save that for part two. I'm talking okay with
Alex Walls, the interior designer, a TV presenter, winner of
the Block, and I'm talking to her about her life
and her career. We'll come back and talk a bit
more about it. Alex regaining balance in her life. This
is real life on Newstalk.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
ZEDB Intelligent interviews with interesting people. It's real life on
news Talk ZB.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Looking with interior designer Alex Walls. And she's picked that
song for us. This doesn't sound like a song from
your vintage. Why have you picked a.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
PATCHI ah, I've got music runs in my veins. My
parents were very musical and passed it down to me,
so I love music. But this song particularly reminds me
a lot of my father, who unfortunately, he passed away
about ten days after Corblan and I won the block.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
It was very it was very sudden.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
So along with all the other things that I've done
for the last ten eleven years, I've also been grieving
the loss of a very big figure and foundational person
in my life.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
So my father, he.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Was my number one cheerleader, and he I think has been,
you know, there along with me in this eleven years
of building up a business and raising a family, you know,
having a family, raising a family, And I know he
would have been just so proud of everything that I've done,
(15:10):
and also the mistakes that I've made. I think he
would have just been right there with me, helping me
work through them.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
He Yeah, he was a very big, big figure in
my life.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah, I know. He was a very well known businessman,
CEO of Whitkoles and other things. How did he feel
about you heading off into something artsy like fashion design?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Oh, that's funny. I mean I wasn't an intellectual child.
There's three of us.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
There's three children, and I definitely was not the top
of the list when it came to intellect. But I
was clever artistically and I think he always saw that,
but he always encouraged me, you know, right from when
I first saw Princess Diana's wedding dress, which I must
have been actually, I don't even know how old I was,
(16:03):
but I remember seeing it and thought, who's the person
that makes the dress? Because I want to be the
person that makes dresses. And I talked to him about
that throughout my childhood, and he said, you know, when
I was actually starting to make pivotal decisions on my direction,
he'd say, do you know what, You've already got that skill.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
You know how to make a dress.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
You know how to draw one. You would be a
fabulous designer. But in New Zealand there's not a lot
of opportunity.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Why don't you merge it with business and go off
and do a business degree? And he was right. I mean,
as much as I kind of was like eye roll, Dad,
you know.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
I did end up going and do doing the Bachelor
of Business and that's what helped me get a really
great job out of university that then taught me everything
that I needed to know to create my own business
and still be creative on the side. And so yeah,
(17:05):
that was all thanks to Dad giving me the advice
that I reluctantly took.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I know your dad was also involved in Christian things.
Was that an aspect of his influence in your life
as well?
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Yeah, my parents were really faithful Christians, still are. My
mum still is here with me, and they instilled really
really great quality morals and values in my life that
we're all based off Christian belief and I would call
(17:45):
myself a Christian as well. We don't go to church
or take our children to church at the moment because
of life kind of getting in the way, but we
are led through our life by wanting to be the
best that we can and probably look to the Christian
(18:08):
values to kind of lead us through our lives. And yeah,
my dad, my mum and dad were a great influence
in that in my life.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, it's interesting people that do have a Christian faith
and yet church doesn't quite mesh with their lifestyle. Now,
what if there's something different that churches could do that
would better serve people like yourself, Busy people, young families,
projects all over the place, And.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Yet I really crave it though, you know, I really
crave going to church because of what I'm finding is
as we've got children. I've got two children, six and nine,
and each year comes with a new chapter of growth
for them and for us as parents. And I want
to be doing life alongside other people that are choosing
(19:00):
to live and raise their children in a certain way.
And I think I reflect on my childhoo going to church.
We were always around other families that wanted to raise
their families with the same values, in the same levels
of importance of love and kindness and.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Striving to help people, you know.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
So going to church gives you that community of people
that are in that are on in the you know,
same boat.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
So I really crave.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
That, I think into something.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
So we're about to move move north actually well to Oware,
and we've actually found a church up there that we
think would be lovely. But I'm not I'm not going
to commit to my children and to us going every
Sunday because our kids liked you know, we only get
(19:58):
a Saturday and Sunday with children there at school.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
The quality time.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
As a family is so important, and so if something
else came up on a Sunday morning, like you know,
we could go. Certain Corbyn and Austin love surfing, so
if they could go surfing, that's just the best, the
best thing for their relationship, for our bond as of
family to be together.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
It's interesting here making this priority about family time when
you were saying just before the break about how it
was all business and so this reset. How did that
come about? How did you sort of rejeg your priorities,
because that would have been quite a would have required
a bit of crow barring of ideas and attitudes.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
I guess it did, and it was. It took time.
I going into owning my business. The first store I
opened was I was six weeks away from having my
first child, and I still was in denial that I
was about to become a mother, the most important job
of my life.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
I had had austin my son, and I was The
business wasn't.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
Booming yet, but I was really hanging on to trying
to be two different people. I was trying to be
a career driven woman and I was trying to be
a mum. There's nothing wrong with being those two people
in your life, but I know so many women that
really struggle with that mum guilt of not being there
(21:33):
for their child all the time, or having to drop
them off to a nanny or a caregiver. It was
so hard to be the two people, you know, be
that business owner. And as the business got bigger, the
demands got higher. And I had had Goldie, my daughter,
(21:55):
and we went we were forced into COVID lockdown like
everybody else. And while we're in lockdown, the workload went
through the roof of my business.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
It's just absolutely boomed.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
And I had an amazing team of about thirty staff
who were like family to me, but they were you know,
everyone was on Panic Central and the demand on me.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Was that I had to.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Prioritize the business over my children, who also were panicked.
You know, they were at home all of a sudden,
and I hated it. I was forced out of maternity
leave to get straight back into business.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
And I was like this is I cried.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
I remember crying having to go back to work instead
of being at home with my kids. And I saw
them drawn to Corbyn over me. You know, that was
not how I wanted it to be. So over COVID,
I had this dream, a very extreme dream that I
(22:58):
was on my deathbed, and yeah, I have quite crazy dreams,
but yeah, I was on my deathbed and I I
said out loud, oh, I'm just so so thankful that
I built the most amazing And then I said business
instead of family in my dream, and I was so disappointed.
(23:23):
I woke up and I was just horrified that I
couldn't say family because that was that was what I
wanted to do, but I couldn't. And right there and
then that's when Corwin and I were like, the business
means nothing. I mean, yes, it's been great, but it
means nothing if I don't have a family.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Well, congratulations on being able to do both. So well,
you've still got a business, You've still got a career.
And I think that your kids are also very grateful
and will be for the rest of their lives that
you have prioritizing time with them as well. Alex has
been talking with you and thank you. You've got another
song that you've chosen for us to go out and
(24:02):
what are we going to listen to as we conclude?
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Okay, well, Karen, but which is my favorite and at
the moment and I feel like it explains how I'm
living my life now. It's a lot calmer, there's you know,
a lot of space in the music, and it just
makes me feel a little bit more zen you know, actually.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Lovely talking with you and I wish you're the best
for your future. I hope we get another series of
Love It or Listed, and we'll look forward to seeing
what comes down the shoot. From all your creativity, this
is real life. I'm John Cown, looking forward to being
back with you again next Sunday night.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
For more from Newstalk set 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 News Talks EDB Follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio,
Real Conversation, Real Connection. It's Real Life with John Cowen
on News Talks Edburn GOODA.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to real life. I'm John cown. I hope all
of us have got somewhere nice to live. But someone
who has a passion to help us live somewhere nicer
is interior designer and TV presenter Alex Walls.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Welcome, Alex, Oh, thank you. It's great to be here, and.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
It's been great seeing you back on our TV screens.
I mean, you were in that series of The Block.
You and Corbyn won that but many years ago now,
but you've been back in our TV screens with Love
It or Listeds and that must have been That must
have been fun.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Doing it has been hilarious. It's been a great I
say hilarious because Paul just makes me laugh the whole time.
But I have been also very busy in the renovations
and really enjoying that it's been.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's been a lot of work and it's made for
a great show, which I have to confess I have
never seen until today. I'll watch some online because I
am such a threat to television New Zealand, they've had
to put your show up against my show on the
same I suppose I could be watching it on TV
(01:45):
and Z plus or online and I would recommend that
you folks go back and watch them because they're very entertaining.
They're great fun.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Yes, yep, it is very fun and I love that
this is I mean, it's a very popular show in
the UK and Australia, but it's been so cool bringing
it to New Zealand and making it specifically New Zealand
styled show with the way that we talk to each other,
the presenters, but also the way that we live is
(02:15):
very different to UK and Australia. So there's been a
lot of comparisons along the way, but I don't think
you can compare.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
But yeah, it's been very cool to pull that together.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
For those people that may not have yet watched the show,
I'm Alive or online, give us the gist of what's
what goes on.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Okay, So the format is that there's usually a couple
or a family that own a home and one of
the parties just wants to leave because it doesn't work
for them.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Anymore or for their lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Leaving.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
No, not not the family. Sorry, they want to move
on from the house together.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Because the house.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Is no longer working for them and there and the
way that they live or how they wanted.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
To their house work for them. And then the.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Second party loves the home, sees the potential and doesn't
want to move. So there's a battle between me the
designer and Paul, who is the real estate agent for
us to get them to either love it.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
I'm team love it designer.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
I have to renovate their home to try and win
over the person that's trying to leave, whereas Paul is
having to show them new homes in the real estate
world and show them the potential out of their house.
And then at the end they decide whether they are
going to love it and stay where they are or
(03:49):
whether they're going to list it.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Okay, so you actually do the design of the renovation
and then and then go ahead and do you actually
supervise the renovation yourself?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Yes, yeah, we.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Come up.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
I come up with a design, I listen to what
the family need. They give us a budget of you know,
it can be anywhere from fifty grand to a three
hundred thousand and Once I know what they are, what
their problems are in the home, it's my job to.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Remedy that.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
So I design, then we project manage it as well,
and then Stalin set it up for a final day
that the families walk through and they decide whether I've
hit the mark for them or whether it hasn't been
good enough, and they're moving on.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
So we're seeing these shows one week after another. But
you must have been working on this for months with
lots of projects all going on at the same time.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Yes, well this is People won't understand this, but it
took a year and a half. We had six homes
in total, so that's six episodes, and to produce those
six episodes, it took one and a half years because
there's consens and there's you know, there's a lot of
process behind it. As people know, when you're renovating a home,
(05:08):
it's not just when bam, it's done in eight weeks.
I think one of them took six months at least,
and we were doing two houses at a time because
we just there's no way that I could have done
all six in one go. But yes, it was our
first season though, so we've learned a lot about the
(05:30):
process and how we might adjust it.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
And going into a second season.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Can there will be a second season?
Speaker 4 (05:37):
I can't confirm because I don't know myself. We're waiting
to see how New Zealand has responded to the show.
But it seems quite positive.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
That's good. I can imagine that it would be because,
as you say, you both come across. Both of you
and Paul come across very well on screen, and so
I know one of you, you know, you're competing with
each other, one of you know whether the family going
to love their reconmed house or whether they're going to
(06:07):
list it and sell it. What's the score that we're
up to about shows six? Aren't we to air?
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Well? Yes, this was show six.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
It was the final episode yesterday, so I can tell
you that I won five out of six.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Well, congratulations, he's game for a second series. They look
like beautiful.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I really, I mean I don't.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
I don't get to see what Paul takes the families
through until the actual episodes have aired, So I've been
watching them going why would you why would you love it?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
You should have.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Gone and bought that house.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
You know. Some of them have been confusing to me
to why they wouldn't have listed. But I think sometimes
I wonder whether I caught I catch the family with emotion.
You know, I've they've been living in this house for six, seven,
even a decade, you know, ten years, and I've given
them finally what they wanted, and they walk through and
(07:04):
they've got to make the decision.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
On that day.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
And maybe it's just they get caught up in the
emotion rather than what was the right. I don't know, Actually,
well that's just what I'm.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
It strikes me that house ownership, buying, renovating, it is emotion.
It's like falling in love with a person. You know,
you could have a checklist and all sorts of criteria,
but basically it's often emotions that you can't even put
words to.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Yeah, it's I mean, and there's a lot of weight
in it.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
What is it We spend most of our lives trying
to save to be able to own our own pieces
of land or a home, and then when we finally
get in there, it's pretty heavy. You know, there's a
lot of emotion with that.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, yeah, I wonder what you could you could deftly
put a substantial percentage next to the amount of our
life that we invest into creating these nests and homes
for ourselves, as well as the financial side of things,
not everything that's on an Excel spreadsheet emotional site. Of course,
this is a return to television for you. You and your
(08:13):
husband Corbyn were on that series of The Block back in.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Fourteen twenty and fourteen, so it's been almost twelve years,
well eleven years since we were on, and man, we
have had a very big decade since then.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
We've done a lot.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
But yeah, Corbyn actually, even though he was I dragged
him onto the Block and put him in the public eye.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
He doesn't love being in the public eye.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
So he's very happy that chapter's gone.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So tell us about this big decade. You've launched a business,
launched a.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Family, Yes, we launched a family. Yes.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
After the Block, the opportunity was there. People knew who
we were and knew that we were good at what
we did, so it was a great opportunity to start
a business. And my background was actually in business as
well in fashion, and I always wanted to be a
(09:21):
fashion designer, but that, funnily enough kind of transitioned into
interior design, so still design, but something that I was
passed down from my father, who was very good in business,
was being able to create a business as successful brand
(09:43):
and I opened these homeware stores. So it started as
an online homeware store.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
And over the eight years.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Of owning it, which was we rebranded it as ANC
Home store. It was Alex and Corbyn, but rebranded to
A and C Home Store. When I sold it in
twenty two, it had four stores and one very big
online store. So yeah, it was a big business. It
(10:15):
took eight years to build up to where it was,
but unfortunately I had to let it go because things changed.
I had a family, and my priorities shifted, and even
though I absolutely loved my business and the people that
I worked with, it had to be the thing that
I sacrificed to ensure that I could be a good
(10:38):
mother and a good wife.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
So that it has been available.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
That thing of balances is that something you struggle with?
I mean, did you find your passions running away with
yourself and getting yourself out of balance?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Absolutely?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
I mean I'm not I wouldn't call myself a workaholic, but.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
My personality could I say.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
No workaholic ever?
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Does no true? No?
Speaker 4 (11:07):
I I like to do things well. And I've done
personality tests in my lifetime, and normally it's about achieving.
You know, I create goals and I love to be
an achiever. And a bit of a love language from
my parents was them saying, oh, Alexandra, you've done so well,
(11:27):
and you know that makes me keep on going. And
so before having children, my goal was career. Let's let's
establish you great business. And I worked very, very hard.
I was doing eighty eighty l weeks just sometimes to
make sure I got it right.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Now, you can't switch that off instantaneously when you become
a parent. You're not one of these mothers that was
texting or making emails during labor, is it.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
I was just about to tell you that story. Yeah,
I was in labor.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
You're famous for that, I am.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
I do you know the story because one of my
comics is Oh my gosh I was. I was in
labor and I was in so much pain. And then
I finally got my epidural. And as soon as epidural
came in, I was like, right, Corbyn passed me my laptop.
I've got an EDM to send out and all the
girls don't know that I'm in labor, so I just
(12:24):
need to let him know, and he took photos of me,
and yeah, it was a shock to the system, trying
to change from being a career woman into a mother.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Did you succeed?
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Well? I failed.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I think I failed, and then I succeeded because I
realized how that the balance.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
You could do it.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
But yeah, that's quite a big story in itself. Actually,
I really struggled through parenthood and business ownership.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Let's save that for part two. I'm talking okay with
Alex Walls, the interior designer, a TV presenter, winner of
the Block, and I'm talking to her about her life
and her career. We'll come back and talk a bit
more about it. Alex regaining balance in her life. This
is real life on Newstalk.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
ZEDB Intelligent interviews with interesting people. It's real life on
news Talk ZB.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Looking with interior designer Alex Walls. And she's picked that
song for us. This doesn't sound like a song from
your vintage. Why have you picked a.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
PATCHI ah, I've got music runs in my veins. My
parents were very musical and passed it down to me,
so I love music. But this song particularly reminds me
a lot of my father, who unfortunately, he passed away
about ten days after Corblan and I won the block.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
It was very it was very sudden.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
So along with all the other things that I've done
for the last ten eleven years, I've also been grieving
the loss of a very big figure and foundational person
in my life.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
So my father, he.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Was my number one cheerleader, and he I think has been,
you know, there along with me in this eleven years
of building up a business and raising a family, you know,
having a family, raising a family, And I know he
would have been just so proud of everything that I've done,
(15:10):
and also the mistakes that I've made. I think he
would have just been right there with me, helping me
work through them.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
He Yeah, he was a very big, big figure in
my life.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah, I know. He was a very well known businessman,
CEO of Whitkoles and other things. How did he feel
about you heading off into something artsy like fashion design?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Oh, that's funny. I mean I wasn't an intellectual child.
There's three of us.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
There's three children, and I definitely was not the top
of the list when it came to intellect. But I
was clever artistically and I think he always saw that,
but he always encouraged me, you know, right from when
I first saw Princess Diana's wedding dress, which I must
have been actually, I don't even know how old I was,
(16:03):
but I remember seeing it and thought, who's the person
that makes the dress? Because I want to be the
person that makes dresses. And I talked to him about
that throughout my childhood, and he said, you know, when
I was actually starting to make pivotal decisions on my direction,
he'd say, do you know what, You've already got that skill.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
You know how to make a dress.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
You know how to draw one. You would be a
fabulous designer. But in New Zealand there's not a lot
of opportunity.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Why don't you merge it with business and go off
and do a business degree? And he was right. I mean,
as much as I kind of was like eye roll, Dad,
you know.
Speaker 4 (16:44):
I did end up going and do doing the Bachelor
of Business and that's what helped me get a really
great job out of university that then taught me everything
that I needed to know to create my own business
and still be creative on the side. And so yeah,
(17:05):
that was all thanks to Dad giving me the advice
that I reluctantly took.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I know your dad was also involved in Christian things.
Was that an aspect of his influence in your life
as well?
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Yeah, my parents were really faithful Christians, still are. My
mum still is here with me, and they instilled really
really great quality morals and values in my life that
we're all based off Christian belief and I would call
(17:45):
myself a Christian as well. We don't go to church
or take our children to church at the moment because
of life kind of getting in the way, but we
are led through our life by wanting to be the
best that we can and probably look to the Christian
(18:08):
values to kind of lead us through our lives. And yeah,
my dad, my mum and dad were a great influence
in that in my life.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, it's interesting people that do have a Christian faith
and yet church doesn't quite mesh with their lifestyle. Now,
what if there's something different that churches could do that
would better serve people like yourself, Busy people, young families,
projects all over the place, And.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Yet I really crave it though, you know, I really
crave going to church because of what I'm finding is
as we've got children. I've got two children, six and nine,
and each year comes with a new chapter of growth
for them and for us as parents. And I want
to be doing life alongside other people that are choosing
(19:00):
to live and raise their children in a certain way.
And I think I reflect on my childhoo going to church.
We were always around other families that wanted to raise
their families with the same values, in the same levels
of importance of love and kindness and.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Striving to help people, you know.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
So going to church gives you that community of people
that are in that are on in the you know,
same boat.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
So I really crave.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
That, I think into something.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
So we're about to move move north actually well to Oware,
and we've actually found a church up there that we
think would be lovely. But I'm not I'm not going
to commit to my children and to us going every
Sunday because our kids liked you know, we only get
(19:58):
a Saturday and Sunday with children there at school.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
The quality time.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
As a family is so important, and so if something
else came up on a Sunday morning, like you know,
we could go. Certain Corbyn and Austin love surfing, so
if they could go surfing, that's just the best, the
best thing for their relationship, for our bond as of
family to be together.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
It's interesting here making this priority about family time when
you were saying just before the break about how it
was all business and so this reset. How did that
come about? How did you sort of rejeg your priorities,
because that would have been quite a would have required
a bit of crow barring of ideas and attitudes.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
I guess it did, and it was. It took time.
I going into owning my business. The first store I
opened was I was six weeks away from having my
first child, and I still was in denial that I
was about to become a mother, the most important job
of my life.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
I had had austin my son, and I was The
business wasn't.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
Booming yet, but I was really hanging on to trying
to be two different people. I was trying to be
a career driven woman and I was trying to be
a mum. There's nothing wrong with being those two people
in your life, but I know so many women that
really struggle with that mum guilt of not being there
(21:33):
for their child all the time, or having to drop
them off to a nanny or a caregiver. It was
so hard to be the two people, you know, be
that business owner. And as the business got bigger, the
demands got higher. And I had had Goldie, my daughter,
(21:55):
and we went we were forced into COVID lockdown like
everybody else. And while we're in lockdown, the workload went
through the roof of my business.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
It's just absolutely boomed.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
And I had an amazing team of about thirty staff
who were like family to me, but they were you know,
everyone was on Panic Central and the demand on me.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Was that I had to.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Prioritize the business over my children, who also were panicked.
You know, they were at home all of a sudden,
and I hated it. I was forced out of maternity
leave to get straight back into business.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
And I was like this is I cried.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
I remember crying having to go back to work instead
of being at home with my kids. And I saw
them drawn to Corbyn over me. You know, that was
not how I wanted it to be. So over COVID,
I had this dream, a very extreme dream that I
(22:58):
was on my deathbed, and yeah, I have quite crazy dreams,
but yeah, I was on my deathbed and I I
said out loud, oh, I'm just so so thankful that
I built the most amazing And then I said business
instead of family in my dream, and I was so disappointed.
(23:23):
I woke up and I was just horrified that I
couldn't say family because that was that was what I
wanted to do, but I couldn't. And right there and
then that's when Corwin and I were like, the business
means nothing. I mean, yes, it's been great, but it
means nothing if I don't have a family.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Well, congratulations on being able to do both. So well,
you've still got a business, You've still got a career.
And I think that your kids are also very grateful
and will be for the rest of their lives that
you have prioritizing time with them as well. Alex has
been talking with you and thank you. You've got another
song that you've chosen for us to go out and
(24:02):
what are we going to listen to as we conclude?
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Okay, well, Karen, but which is my favorite and at
the moment and I feel like it explains how I'm
living my life now. It's a lot calmer, there's you know,
a lot of space in the music, and it just
makes me feel a little bit more zen you know, actually.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Lovely talking with you and I wish you're the best
for your future. I hope we get another series of
Love It or Listed, and we'll look forward to seeing
what comes down the shoot. From all your creativity, this
is real life. I'm John Cown, looking forward to being
back with you again next Sunday night.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
For more from Newstalk set 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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