Wellbeing First

01/11/2026

🔥 UPCOMING EVENT – UNLEASH THE BADASS WITHIN 🔥

An event and honest conversation about low self-esteem and self-doubt, the role of social conditioning and awareness to unleash the badass within.

After conversations with incredible female athletes and women from the Wānaka community, one thing became clear: self-doubt, imposter syndrome and low self-esteem don't necessarily disappear with success. They can follow women all the way to the elite level.

This led us to question whether these common female beliefs are socially conditioned.

❓Did this conditioning teach us to doubt ourselves, question our abilities and limit our potential?
❓Are the beliefs true or real?
❓Have we have been deluding ourselves and living in an illusion and put limits on ourselves as a result?

🔥 LET'S TALK ABOUT THE REAL STUFF!

Join us for Unleash the Badass Within, an honest, open and interactive two-hour conversation

⛷️ FEATURING seven super inspiring Wānaka wahine:

Arna Craig – World Champion Age-Group Cross Triathlete & Entrepreneur
Dani Donaldson – Professional Triathlete & Structural Engineer
Emily Wilson – Multisport & Adventure Racing Champion
Jen Houltham – Snowboarder & Women in Snowsports Advocate
Katherine Eustace – Winter Olympian, Skeleton Racer & Strength Coach
Kim Cadzow – Olympic Cyclist & Personal Trainer
Maeve Williams – Elite XTERRA Triathlete & Firefighter

We're getting real about the self-doubt, comparison, fear of failure and the beliefs that hold us back. Hear the ladies share their experiences, the challenges behind the highlight reel, and how they dealt and overcame these issues.

We need to question and challenge these conditioned beliefs to recognise they are not who we are to unleash the badass within.

This isn't just about sport. It's about all of us!

🎤 YOUR HOSTS:
Jane Cull – Author of WTF?!...How Am I Thinking?, hardcore skier, yogi and gym lover.
Philly Powell – Founder of Wellbeing First, wellbeing ju**ie and adventure seeker.

📍 MonkeyFarm, 3 Northlake Drive, Wānaka
📅 24 November 2026
⏰ 7–9 pm
🍹 Grab yourself a bite to eat and enjoy a drink or two
🎟️ Tickets $20 – purchase here https://events.humanitix.com/unleash-the-badass-within

❤️ Tag a woman who needs to hear this or better still, buy her a ticket!

🔥 It's time to challenge these thought patterns and UNLEASH THE BADASS WITHIN!

18/10/2026

Free workshop this Wednesday | Beyond the Wānaka Highlight Reel 🏔️

We can live in an extraordinary place and still sometimes wonder where we fit.

As part of Community Link's Mental Health Awareness Month and in collaboration with Applied Movement, this this interactive workshop explores belonging in the place we call home and the gap that can sometimes exist between the Wānaka we see and the lives people are actually living.

Wānaka can look like the ultimate picture of wellbeing: adventure, fitness, success, friendship and an enviable lifestyle. But behind the highlight reel, life is inevitably more complicated.

So what happens when we compare how our own life feels on the inside with how everybody else’s looks from the outside?

Together, we’ll explore the expectations and comparisons that can shape our experience of living here, why being surrounded by people doesn’t always mean feeling connected, and whose experiences might be less visible within our community.

Most importantly, we’ll consider what real belonging looks like and the small, everyday things we can all do to create more meaningful connection for ourselves and the people around us.

💛 See beyond the surface. Create more meaningful connection.

🎟️Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/beyond-the-wanaka-highlight-reel

25/09/2026

Beyond the Wānaka Highlight Reel 🏔️

We can live in an extraordinary place and still sometimes wonder where we fit.

As part of Community Link's Mental Health Awareness Month and in collaboration with Applied Movement, this this interactive workshop explores belonging in the place we call home and the gap that can sometimes exist between the Wānaka we see and the lives people are actually living.

Wānaka can look like the ultimate picture of wellbeing: adventure, fitness, success, friendship and an enviable lifestyle. But behind the highlight reel, life is inevitably more complicated.

So what happens when we compare how our own life feels on the inside with how everybody else’s looks from the outside?

Together, we’ll explore the expectations and comparisons that can shape our experience of living here, why being surrounded by people doesn’t always mean feeling connected, and whose experiences might be less visible within our community.

Most importantly, we’ll consider what real belonging looks like and the small, everyday things we can all do to create more meaningful connection for ourselves and the people around us.

💛 See beyond the surface. Create more meaningful connection.

Register here: Beyond the Wānaka Highlight Reel 🏔️

We can live in an extraordinary place and still sometimes wonder where we fit.

As part of 's Mental Health Awareness Month and in collaboration with , this this interactive workshop explores belonging in the place we call home and the gap that can sometimes exist between the Wānaka we see and the lives people are actually living.

Wānaka can look like the ultimate picture of wellbeing: adventure, fitness, success, friendship and an enviable lifestyle. But behind the highlight reel, life is inevitably more complicated.

So what happens when we compare how our own life feels on the inside with how everybody else’s looks from the outside?

Together, we’ll explore the expectations and comparisons that can shape our experience of living here, why being surrounded by people doesn’t always mean feeling connected, and whose experiences might be less visible within our community.

Most importantly, we’ll consider what real belonging looks like and the small, everyday things we can all do to create more meaningful connection for ourselves and the people around us.

💛 See beyond the surface. Create more meaningful connection.

🎟️Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/beyond-the-wanaka-highlight-reel

25/09/2026

Belonging Begins With You: What Lights You Up? ✨

What if belonging isn’t about fitting in, but about feeling safe enough to be yourself?

As part of Community Link's Mental Health Awareness Month and in collaboration with Applied Movement, this interactive workshop explores the connection between belonging, identity and wellbeing and what happens when we make space for the people, passions and parts of ourselves that make us feel most alive.

Life gets busy.

Sometimes the things that light us up quietly get pushed to the sidelines.

Together, we’ll reflect on where and with whom we feel most like ourselves, what we may have lost touch with, and what we want to give ourselves permission to make more space for.

You’ll leave with greater clarity about what makes you feel most like you — and one small, realistic step towards bringing more of that into everyday life.

💛 Feel more like yourself. Live more of what lights you up.

🎟️Register here:

What lights you up? Explore belonging, authenticity and connection and reconnect with the people, passions and parts of yourself that make you feel alive.

22/09/2026

Creating Mentally Fit Workplaces in the Wānaka Bubble

As part of Community Link Upper Clutha's Mental Health Awareness Month, this workshop explores what it takes to build a culture where people can perform, thrive and stay well – and businesses can do the same.

Moving beyond the idea that mental health at work is simply about individual resilience, this session looks at the relationship between people, the way we work and workplace culture. We’ll explore what individuals can do to support their own wellbeing at work, alongside the role leaders and businesses play in creating healthy, sustainable work.

Drawing on practical workplace wellbeing and sustainable performance principles, we’ll introduce some of the factors that can impact mental health at work - from workload, leadership, relationships and the way work is designed without the jargon.

The goal is simple: to help Wānaka businesses and their people think differently about mental health at work and leave with practical ideas they can put into action.

Facilitated by Philly Powell, our Membership Connector and wearing her other professional hat as Founder of Wellbeing First.

🎟️ Register for free here: www.wanakachamber.co.nz/events-training/events/2026-creating-mentally-fit-workplaces-in-the-w%C4%81naka-bubble/

04/08/2026

Free Workshop: What lights you up? ✨

You spend your time helping to create a more sustainable world. This evening is about sustaining you.

Join us for an uplifting, interactive workshop to reconnect with what lights you up, explore what gets in the way, and discover how even the smallest intentional actions can create more joy, energy and fulfilment.

📅 Tuesday 11 August
⏰ 6-7:30pm
🧑‍🏫 Philly Powell, Ronja Landeck and Claire Akin Smith
📍Edgewater Resort
📩 [email protected]

📝 Please bring a pen and paper, or your preferred way to capture your thoughts!

02/06/2026

By 6am today (the Tuesday after a long weekend), I'd already had two conversations with people wishing they worked a four-day week.

Not because they're lazy.

Because they're feeling stretched.

Because they wish they had more time for the things that light them up 🤩

I probably have at least a couple of these conversations every week.

And the interesting thing is that most people aren't spending weekends relaxing.

Saturday becomes cleaning, laundry, maintenance and catching up.

Sunday becomes groceries, meal prep, bills and getting ready for another week.

A long weekend suddenly feels luxurious because there's finally a day left over for living.

Which always gets me wondering...

❓ Is the 40-hour week becoming (or already) redundant?

The five-day work week was created in a very different era.

Today, most of us are trying to fit everything into the same 168 hours:

💤 Sleep
💼 Work
🏃‍♀️ Exercise
🥗 Cooking and meal prep
🧺 Cleaning and laundry
🛒 Shopping
💳 Managing finances
❤️ Caring for others
🩺 Health appointments
🤝 Volunteering and community commitments
🏡 Home and property maintenance
📧 Endless digital admin

And somehow we're surprised that everyone feels stretched 😮

I've worked a four-day week for years and one thing I've noticed is that reducing time often increases focus.

When time is scarce, priorities become clearer.

I actually become more productive.

The question isn't whether people can work less.

The question is whether we're measuring the right thing.

🤷🏼‍♀️ Should we be measuring hours worked?

Or outcomes achieved?

A huge shout out to Andrew Barnes ONZM, whose work helped spark the global four-day week movement.

👏🏼 What a legacy.

⏩ Fast forward to the end of your life.

Do you think you'll wish you'd spent more time in meetings and emails?

Or more time pursuing the people, passions and experiences that mattered most?

If you could work a four-day week tomorrow without sacrificing your career, would you?

And what's currently taking up the biggest chunk of your time outside of work?

27/05/2026

One year in Wānaka - what a time!

Honestly, this past year has stretched me personally and professionally more than any other season of my life.

There’s been a sh*tload of uncertainty and a lot of lessons the universe clearly thought I still needed to learn.

At times it felt like everything was changing all at once and nothing felt particularly clear.

This carousel is a bit of a life update — and captures some of the biggest lessons and reflections from my first year living in Wānaka.

One thing I know for sure:

Sometimes the seasons that feel the most uncertain are also the ones quietly transforming your life the most 💜

07/02/2026

Some drool worthy meal inspo from first week of .wanaka Reset Challenge 🤤

🍽️ Vegetable Frittata – added egg whites for more protein
🍽️ Frittata served with salad greens + nutritional yeast for dairy free cheesey-ness
🍽️ Zingy Chicken Power Bowl – pesto and rice ⭐ ingredients
🍽️ Protein Berry Shake - Afternoon wake up
🍽️ Lamb + Mustard Pumpkin + Kumara Salad with Steamed Greens
🍽️Nice Cream (frozen banana, berries, protein + Greek yoghurt) with Keto Granola
🍽️ Tuna Poke Bowl – ⭐ingredient is mango
🍽️ Scrambled eggs, steamed pumpkin + kumara and salad greens
🍽️ Rice cakes with yoghurt, protein + carob powder whip + banana
🍽️ Mexican Chicken Bowl with Konjac Rice (uber low calorie)
🍽️ Rice cakes with Greek yoghurt, tahini and strawberries

(except yoghurt!)

16/12/2025

As 2025 winds down, I want to share one of my annual rituals 🔮

Not a “new year, new you” push.
Not another goal-setting worksheet.
Just a chance to pause and reflect.

I’ve created a 2025 Reflect & Reset Exercise to help you:

🎉 celebrate what went well
💡 make sense of the lessons
🤝 reconnect with what matters
👟 step into 2026 with clarity

Take your time with it.
Come back to it.
Let it meet you where you are.

Because you deserve a thoughtful ending to 2025

And a grounded beginning to 2026.

My mantra for the year ahead:
2026: the year that (almost) everything clicks 🌟

🔗 https://www.wellbeingfirst.co.nz/post/reflect-reset-exercise-close-out-2025-with-intention

💌 Message me if you do it

Wellbeing First. Always 💜