The Coast host is no stranger to health struggles like those faced by countless Kiwis. Photo / Coast
The Coast host is no stranger to health struggles like those faced by countless Kiwis. Photo / Coast
We know her as one of the hosts on morning radio show Coast, but now Toni Street is lending her voice to a new wellness podcast.
Street's podcast, titled We Need To Talk, already existed in the form of a brief slot on the radio show. But she wanted more time and space to talk about topics she didn't have time to cover live on air.
"It was a chance to give my perspective and talk about something new that I've found," she tells the Herald. "A new exercise regime I'm doing, or a new superfood I've discovered - things like that.
"I decided that it had a lot more space to be explored. On radio you only have three-and-a-half-minute slots, and a podcast is the perfect place to go into a bit more depth."
The podcast will feature Kiwis from all walks of life and what they're doing to achieve their wellbeing goals, from fitness to parenting to mental health.
"Things like, how you morph from being a kid that was really sporty and then in later life you're not at all, or the reverse - you literally did nothing as a kid and now you're out running marathons. It's also in the mental space as well - how you deal with stress, how you balance things," Street explains.
She doesn't just want to profile wellness experts, but also ordinary Kiwis.
"It could be a mum that I think is nailing it and looks like they've got great inspiration. It might be someone on your sports team, someone at your work and you go, 'what are they doing that I could do better?'"
The podcast is targeted towards the Coast audience of women aged 35 and over, but Street adds that men will get something out of it too - with guests such as Christian Newman of Love From Your Dads fame and Wheel Black Cody Everson.
Street pictured with her husband Matt France.
One topic she thinks will particularly resonate with a lot of people is illness anxiety, something she "really struggles with".
"I have this auto-immune condition and I was really, really sick and I had liver failure. And what I didn't realise is I got myself well physically, but the mental side of it really impacts you after you feel better," she shares, adding that now when she gets sick, she starts feeling "really nervous".
"I'm allergic to antibiotics, I can't take them - even with Covid, with my condition, I was thinking, how am I going to react to that? That anxiety doesn't go away.
"And there are medical psychologists that help people when they have long health battles like cancer, like ongoing chronic pain. And I think even if you don't have any of those conditions, illness anxiety is a big thing at the moment.
"People are scared to get Covid, scared of how they're going to be affected, scared for their kids to get Covid. So I'm really looking forward to talking to a psychologist about how to cope with it and how you can do things to make sure you don't feel the burden of that illness anxiety."
Street hopes listeners will be able to take away inspiration, as well as something they haven't heard before.
"It cuts out all the fluff. If you're struggling for motivation in the exercise realm, this first drop of five guests is perfect for you. The next drop will be in diet and nutrition. And if you want inspiration there, I feel like I will have the best guests you're going to hear."
The first five episodes of We Need To Talk are out today.
To follow the Herald's full Great Minds series, click here.
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For more information and support, talk to your local doctor, hauora, community mental health team, or counselling service. The Mental Health Foundation has more helplines and service contacts on its website.
