Nadia Stamp, DIPD Nails: INTERVIEW

Nadia Stamp is the CEO and founder of DIPD Nails, and the at home manicure innovator was interviewed by Josie's Juice, chatting all things manis, and how the humble at-home nails system got its time in the sun during the Australian lockdown.

Then, not only did this light bulb moment idea (see how it all started, below) survived and absolutely thrived when we couldn't go to a nail salon, it went the next level and kept selling out kits, adding to the range, and today DIPD Nails is doing better than ever.

Nadia tells us about the whole journey right here.

DIPD Nails is not only a fantastic manicure system that actually works, it's a brilliant business success story, and it's wonderfully inspiring story on how pressing ahead with an idea which fulfils your own beauty quandary can lead to extraordinary success.

Josie's Juice: How did you become the pioneer you are in Australia with your unique product?

Nadia Stamp:

Okay, so in April last year we we went into lockdown. I had already moved to Geelong with my long term partner, however was freelancing as a marketing consultant to a range of beauty, fashion and dentistry brands in Melbourne. As we know they were the hardest hit in the pandemic and many of them closed which left me with a quarter of my client base. I was also left with SNS on my nails during this time and I had been a devoted SNS customer for years but relied heavily on my salon appointments. I loved SNS because it was applied to my natural nails and they would grow long and strong and last 3 weeks. As a marketing creative, my mind is always assessing the consumer market and environment and how I can better serve and reach customers and stand out in a crowd. My friend and I always discussed maybe starting a business together. Natalia my now business partner was great at sourcing products and admired my marketing knowledge and business acumen and said, now we are in lockdown, let me know if you think of a product that we could sell and support ourselves while we can’t work.

The lightbulb came on when I was in the painting isle buying acetone and sandpaper in an effort to remove my old SNS. Then came loads of research, consulting with nail techs to get to the bottom of a system we really only new only skin deep. The first thing is we discovered SNS was a dip powder system and SNS is merely one of many brands. Then we discovered at home dip powder systems were huge in America. Many of the American companies over the last year have been targeting the Australian market. Where they fell short was in building a local community and having a face of the brand. So I boldly put my face forward and started to share my personal DIPD journey. Nat and I invested $1000 each into setting this business up. She would source bottles and jars and product and I would package them and send them. I’d even drive by and deliver to people's homes. With no trade with China or overseas with the pandemic spiking worldwide, we found a formulator in Australia and started our Australian made journey called DIPD Nails. We bought 150 kits and thought that was all we needed. Within 2 days we were sold out and chasing stock to keep up with the supply and demand. Our entire 2020 has been a blessing and a huge learning curve. As a face of the brand, my passion to provide a quality product and amazing customer service has always been my focus. I speak with everyone, I build a community and I’m passionate about women getting lasting amazing results as I’ve learned to do. It hasn’t come with its challenges and sometimes our generosity has been in vain but our integrity and hard work has transformed our business from being average to awesome. Making ourselves accessible and pivoting quickly when we need to has been the key to our success.

Josie's Juice: I’ve always been fascinated by this, especially of late… Why do you think the manicure market has completely exploded, especially in the last year or so, there's been a huge spike in selfcare products that people can do themselves?

Nadia:

In the last year or so, self care products that people can master at home have boomed. People can’t rely on appointments regularly as we don’t know when the next outbreak will happen. People have time on their hands to learn a new skill, plus over the last year, we have been gifted a new audience of engaged customers looking for an alternative to maintaining their beauty regimes while their salons are closed. People have become a lot more savvy and interested in becoming their own beauty therapist.

Josie's Juice: You’re obviously a business success story. What would you say to a young person, say your best friend’s daughter or your own daughter or niece if you were to give them some loving yet savvy advice about starting a business?

Starting a business is challenging but you bust break it down into bite sized pieces to make it less intimidating. Don’t sit on your idea for too long and try to perfect it to it’s enth degree. Jump in and allow your market to grow and evolve. Don’t isolate yourself from your customers. I see many people with social influence starting businesses but rarely connecting genuinely with their audience. I speak to and help everyone 24/7. It’s hard work but rewarding and now those beautiful people have become genuine ambassadors of our brand helping their friends, making my job lighter and helping grow our audience

Josie's Juice: What is your yardstick to recognising when you’ve truly made it?

Nadia: Haha, gosh that’s a hard one. I am of the philosophy ’Never say Never’. There were times when my business partner would say, this brand will never get bigger than X so we need to start a new brand and I’d always argue and say never say never. We will grow to our vision, stop thinking small. She also thought we’d never sell the whole 150 kits we started out with. Now we have tens of thousands of customers who have started their DIPD journey and and they’re begging me everyday for more colours and more everything. As I work very heavily in the marketing and strategy of our business, the biggest yardstick for me that we’d made it was when the data on Google showed us as being the biggest competitor to SNS Australia. All the hard work building our brand from a customer loyalty perspective and online to create reach and visibility has been a slog. We mix our powders, we make up our kits, we design colours. we don’t just call China and get them to pack a kit. Our kits are customisable and inventory is growing and its all based on what our customers tell me. I speak to them all day, everyday. Another is when I hear women talk about our brand and get excited about it. Or I meet someone for the first time and they tell me they have a kit. It’s amazing.

Josie's Juice: What are some nail trends you've seen, which you can reveal to us here, to have people get excited about trends for Spring/Summer?

Nadia: Metallics are huge. Combo nails are everything where girls combine a range of tones and textures and then coloured french tips is a real thing. choose the one tip colour or choose a combination of coloured tips. Our customers jus love being creative. Ombre is also really populated and easy to do with DIPD Nails.

Josie's Juice: Have you seen a real shift towards more DIY nail care at home, even though now far more people seem to also go to the salon for a mani or a pedi?

Definitely, My aim is all about reach and conversion during these times when half the nation is in lockdown. I am of the mindset that a percentage of these women will try DIPD and love the convenience and become a long term customer. There is a market that will always love a salon manicure, however for the busy mum or busy woman who like me didn’t enjoy the trip to the salon but loved the nails so couldn’t give it up, this is an absolute game changer!

You can start to explore DIPD nails HERE: https://dipdnails.com.au

And don't worry... you can access a complete how-to guide right here too: https://dipdnails.com.au/pages/how-to-guide

And yes... you may recognise Nadia from that little show called 'Married At First Sight'... Nadia featured in season 

And... while this interview was conducted several weeks ago, we can also now announce that Nadia is expecting her first baby with her boyfriend, cricketer Glen Talarico! Huge congratulations to the happy couple.

Follow Nadia HERE.

And follow DIPD Nails HERE.

Adriana Fernandez: 'Big Brother' 2021 - INTERVIEW

You've been watching Adriana Fernandez closely, haven't you. So has the whole nation. Oh yes, and Big Brother has, too!

As the final intruder standing on 'Big Brother' Australia 2021, Adriana has well and truly made her mark on Australians, showing her prowess in challenges which require incredible strength, resilience, and endurance.

She also looks well put together during every milestone event on the small screen - from eviction nights, to early mornings, to sweaty challenges.

Ah, fashion stylist life - always look schmick in any situation or life circumstance. Even if it is keeping your actual head above water in an actual (frightening!) challenge for the benefit of us at home. And $250,000.

Adriana is one of EIGHT housemates left, with eighteen already gone!

That's a fantastic innings for Adri, who was actually asked to join 'Big Brother' Australia 2021, though absolutely underwent the rigorous process before officially joining the original BB housemates.

"I got a phone call, and I was asked if I was interested in being on 'Big Brother', so I automatically thought they want me to style a session on the show and then they said to me: “No Adriana we’d like you to be a housemate and I said okay… but I still had to go through the process, it didn’t mean that I had it, I had to do three different interviews with producers and do all the tests, psychology tests and every test you can think of, like heart rate tests, mental tests, strength tests, I did all of that," says Adriana.

"I spoke to the boys (her three adult sons) and (her husband) Richard and I said: what do you think? And it was it my youngest who said “Oh mum I’m not quite sure if I want you to do it, and I said: that’s okay if you don’t want me to do it, if you don’t want me to do it then I won’t.

"Two days later he said you know what mum you need to do it or you’ll regret it. So I said okay. You know, he knows I’m out there and I’ll give it a go, and I found out that 'Big Brother' wasn’t like it used to be and that’s what I said: I haven’t built my business up for somebody to put me on television then edit me the way they want me to be, and they reassured me they won’t do that.

"So then I thought what have I got to lose and I said yes to going to this ‘Big Brother’ life away from my phone, knowing the what time it is, away from radio, music and anything at all like newspapers, television, absolutely away from everything... and it was exciting. Every day was exciting.

"Don’t get me wrong: every day was hard. My dad had been diagnosed with cancer and, fast forward to today, he has good days and he has bad days. The day I was told I was going in the ‘Big Brother’ house is the day that I was told dad had cancer.

"So I wasn’t going to do it. Mum and dad are such 'Big Brother' fans and they said “You’ve go to go, you’ve got to go", and my sister said to me I will look after mum and dad while dad is going through chemo. I had my moments in there where you’ll see me cry, you’ll see me laugh, you’ll see me give my absolute all, you’ll see me fight, and going in as an intruder it was double the work.

"Because they had already aligned themselves and they had fought to get to their place, and all of a sudden I come in with five others (intruders), and it’s like: it starts again.

"But it was an incredible experience: a crazy experience and I’m glad I did it and Endemol Shine have been amazing. They looked after us if I needed to know anything. And you have to play the game. Some days you get in there and you think: what am I doing here? And all of a sudden you start to get the gist [of the game], and I was nominated to be evicted in the second week and I thought: I’m not ready to go. Obviously they couldn’t read me, but I was finding out about each and every person in the house.

"So it was great journey, and who would have thought - 55,000 applicants and I was one of the lucky ones who got asked to be a part of it but yes, I had to go through the whole process, all those tests so you’ve got to be mentally prepared for it…"

In fact, Adriana arrived at the same time another fellow intruder Gabe Criste arrived, and after the eviction of Charlotte Hall, Gabe soon spoke to Big Brother and expressed that he couldn't stay in the house any longer, saying that he had been "mentally, emotionally, and physically struggling" in the house.

"Gabe was such a beautiful soul and in watching him I realised he was like a little lost sheep in the house. With all respect, you had to go hard if you wanted to stay in the house," says Adriana.

And that’s why your emotional and mental strength is tested before you go in, of course.

"Big Brother is there for you to chat with 24 hours a day if you need him," reveals Adri.

How does Adri feel about how she has been portrayed so far?

"Good! I'm really happy with the way I have been portrayed," says Adri.

"There's so much that I did say that hasn't been shown, but I am happy with everything," she adds.

"The game is literally in your head the whole time: you go to sleep thinking about the game, and you wake up thinking: "how am I going to make it to through another day."

For Adriana, who has been a fashion stylist based in Sydney for many years (she's a Wollongong girl, and travels around Australia and overseas for styling work, styling everyday people, as we as celebrities and notable personalties), it's her moment in the sun to be recognised for the not only the work she does, but for strength of character, and good humour to boot!

Her portrayal as a strong woman is accurate - I've known Adriana for many years. She's definitely not 'mumsy' - instead she's showing you can be sexy at any age.

"That’s the reason I went on the show, to show women all the ways they can be in life!

"You know, I style women who start to doubt themselves and their personal style and in turn start to lack confidence.

For me, I like to train and I get in shape with my intense and regular physical training, but you can look good and feel good at any age.

"And I want to empower other women out there that they can do whatever they want!

I am here to agree! You've gotta make it happen - it's completely great accept to who you are as a person and be happy with your age and stage in life, but if you are not where you want to be physically and with confidence levels, meeting and hanging with Adriana can be truly life and perspective changing.

"I love that that’s what you represent," I say to Adriana.

"I want to show women out there that you know you can get exercise in the mornings to feel good, and you know, you don't have to wear expensive clothes to look good - it's all about how you put it together.

"You look good, you feel good, it's all about giving you confidence," says Adri.

During Covid, Adriana reveals she'd go get her car washed, and the only store that was open was Kmart. "So yeah, I started to know to experiment with how to put things together with less expensive clothing, and taking it to that next level on tying it all in. When I joined the [Big Brother] house I took my styling skills to the housemates, and it was fun playing dress ups."

 

Were there some alliances or unusual friendships that Adriana formed inside the house?

"I did have the attitude that this is a game, I'm not there to make friends, but I did make friendships in the house - it's hard not to make friends!

"Even know I made friends with so many beautiful people, it's all about trust for me anyway.

"You sort of know who you want to work with, and you know who is really playing the game 

and who is just telling you whatever you want to hear.

"The trust was one of those things that was very hard in the house.

If you don't know the game you might wonder why you'd need to build an alliance - aren't you all just there to win the whole show? But as Adriana says, "you need to have those alliances when you're doing a challenge."

"You may get nominated so you've got to have people who will back you up. At that point you've got to really get on side but everyone, and I had to learn how to do that. In the first week I thought, oh my gosh, this is crazy, I don't like lying, I hate lying. And I quickly picked up on the game. I think I portrayed myself as someone you could talk to, and what you said to me would stay with me. I really want to show Australia that I'm not one of those people that if you told me something in confidence then I would talk behind your back. That's not me.

"You know I was very upfront, and maybe I should have played the game a little bit more but I learnt a lot about backstabbing, but then you realise that it's all a game, it really is all a game. But on the outside that's not who they are," says Adri.

"I kept having to say to myself: 'Adriana, remember this is a game'.

The Big Brother house is based in North Head, Sydney. "I had to tell people that I was away on a shoot and that there was no reception where I was. I was gone for quite some time, obviously just my family knew where I was, but that was it."

Adriana reveals that Australia will vote in the last episode of 'Big Brother'.

"It's up to Australia. Throughout the whole thing votes are cast by the housemates, but in the end it's Australia who's vote counts. Oh, I'm getting so good at this keeping everything a secret thing," laughs Adriana uproariously.

Adri says that as soon as she was featured in her first article in 'New Idea' her Instagram "went absolutely crazy." In fact, it's steadily rising right now, as she becomes an even more recognisable face.

"People are starting to recognise me now and I find that so unusual! To me, I've just done something that's really no big deal. But it's funny because they look at you and they then turn away while they're recognising you. It just happened to me today at lunch. This couple were looking at me then come right out and ask, you're on 'Big Brother', right?

"It happened to me at Woolies the other day too. I'm just at my local Woolies and I could see staff looking at me... it was so funny and I'm thinking, but I'm here all the time, I'm here every week! But I think that's only for a short time and then I'll be forgotten," says Adri matter of factly.

We beg to differ. Adri's star is on the rise and rise.

Adri reveals the sleeping arrangements when she first arrived at the house. "The boys and girls were in two separate rooms, with one doorway going in. The boys were super respectful. I came in as an intruder and there was a big double bed nobody wanted, as the housemates believed the bed was cursed. So I thought right, I'll sleep in the double bed! I had to sleep with my sleeping mask on but it's very dark at night, but obviously they [the cameras] can see everything. And being a mum of boys I really enjoyed being with all the girls in the house.

"You know, I had no idea what time it was in the house, it was just hearing from 'Big Brother:' 'okay it's time to get up' or 'okay it's time to go to bed', but we'd never actually know the time. But you know what we were mentally and physically exhausted, we were always ready for sleep.

"Do you know what... the best thing was not having a phone. I loved not having a phone! I learnt a lesson: that my phone does consume a lot of my time. I learnt that we are so involved with this device that it's so sad. Life just passes us by.

"I came out hoping that I wouldn't be on my phone as much. Obviously in running a business you are on your phone, but it was the best thing I did, I absolutely loved it, just loved it. This thing becomes our life, but it was so nice to not be with your phone before you go to bed, and access your phone when you first wake up. It was so nice. You would actually have conversations and listen to what people say. And there were 15 hours a day of conversations, besides the challenges."

So, can you go to your room and just chill out? "You can but you're not allowed to sleep. I did almost fall asleep at one stage. You forget you have a mic on, and 'Big Brother' must've heard me breathing and asked, Adriana are you asleep, and I said no, no I'm not asleep!" she laughs.

"We had mics on every day,  for Sunday... we had Sunday off."

One of the best moments for Adri was when she beat Mitch on the beam. "Oh my gosh I was so proud of that and of myself. Josie, I'm telling you, I surprised myself with what I was capable of.

"Some challenges I wasn't as good at, but I always gave it a go. I would think of my dad to push me through, to get me through challenges. You know, I wanted to make my boys proud. There were one or two challenges where I said, I can't do this, it was physically hurting me, with pain in my lower back."

But when the electric shock challenge involved winning seafood to eat, "well you know me when it comes to food! When you've been eating spinach, tuna and chickpeas (alcohol is very, very limited in the house), you'll do anything. I thought, if I can give birth I can get through this! It's like one million elastic bands being flicked at you. Do you know what, it's amazing what the mind can do. And I found that women have a much stronger pain threshold than boys."

So, what will Adriana take from her time in the house?

  

"Being away from my family was hard. And in playing the game you learn if you want to do something, you can do it, you can make it happen. You've gotta push yourself and just keep pushing yourself. And that means pushing yourself to limits you never thought possible. It doesn't matter what age you are; 'Big Brother' is a game for everybody, you don't have to be physically super strong. In the beginning you do mentally need to know what you're doing, and in saying that there were some challenges that required physical strength and sometimes I just couldn't compete with the boys. But I did alright, I was on par with them a lot of the time. I've got the personality that I get on with everybody.

"The other take aways from this experience is that I'm a very strong person to allow myself to be away for so long from my family, and everything that was happening in my life. I wanted to prove to ME that I could do it. Adriana has never had 'Adriana time', I've always had someone to lean on, whether it's my family or my husband. I was going in as a stylist, knowing I have a passion and love what I do, and I had this newfound confidence about me. I found that when I went in everyone started to dress up that little bit more, too! Even Sonia [Kruger, host of 'Big Brother] noticed, and I loved seeing her style when she'd connect with us from the outside.

Photo: Peter Brew Bevan

I ask, how do you feel that you might take this to the next level from a business perspective, and how do you feel that you can translate it to outside world stylist life?

"It's just really wonderful that with 'Big Brother' and its big audience, people can see my backstory and why I do what I do. It's like a sneak peak of me. I am what I do."

Adri reveals the the other stylist in the show Charlotte is someone "I call a friend."

"If I could bring her to Sydney I'd love for her to work alongside me. Her personality is brilliant.

"I love getting to know the people in the house, and what and who they are, irrespective of who they are in the outside world. You're living with those people, so you're getting to know those people, you create such a bond, and you know I was adamant that I wasn't there to create friendships but it's hard not to make friends. You're spending so much of your day with these people, there's nothing else to do except get to know them. So you must interact with everyone, but sometimes I just sit there and listen. I mean Ari for example, he's so intelligent, he's so intriguing, we were calling 'the human Google.'

What's next for Adri?

"I'd love for people to see who I am in fashion, and how I make them feel confident in what they're doing and wearing, and what Adristyling [Adriana's fashion styling business) is doing to make you look good, and knowing I can create looks where you don't have to have a lot of money. Styling is for everyone, it's accessible."

It's how Adri feels when she reads the testimonies. "When you read about people I've worked with and they say 'you've changed my life'... I love it. Do you know, anyone can change their life, anyone can prove themselves, and it just takes that one person to believe in you. It sounds crazy but when you dress well that's where your confidence just shines through.

"I wouldn't see myself being on [TV show] 'Survivor' though... only because of all the bugs and all the yucky things in the jungle.

"The next dream on my list is... to grab 30 family and friends and sail away!"

To see Adri's fashion stylist life, go here: https://www.adrianafernandezstyling.com

And follow Adri on Instagram HERE.

Peter Walsh: 'Space Invaders' - INTERVIEW

Chatting with Peter Walsh is like sitting down with someone who has an insight into your mind - almost like a psychologist and friend and straight shooter - who speaks with tough love - all rolled into one.

I spoke with Peter Walsh earlier this week (after our first interview for 'Sunday' Magazine around 8 years ago), in line with his new show 'Space Invaders', currently screening on Australian TV on Channel 9, every Saturday at 7.30pm.

Below is our interview - a fantastic chat with the master of his field, a man who started on the organisational journey way before it was a thing on streaming services, and who operates from a genuine place of heart and accountability, where breakthroughs bring along life changing moments, with strategies to sustain people for life.

Josie: Huge congratulations on the show, Peter! I had seen announcements about it throughout last year and was completely intrigued, and I think it's something that is that everyone cane relate to. It could be a room, a boot (trunk), or a whole house - cluttering and 'stuff' is something people can relate to.

What have you found so far with people’s reaction to the show? How have people responded to it?

Peter: It’s always a bit of a risk making a show about clutter that really questions and challenges people about their stuff and how they use their possessions.

And I think particularly at the moment as we’re coming through a huge time in our lives when people are really looking at their homes and doing what I call a 'global reset'. 

Because after 12 - 15 months of the pandemic, everyone is looking at how they use their homes and how they use their space.

Everyone is really questioning: "What is our home to us, and how do we use space in our homes?"

'Space Invaders' has been received in such an absolutely overwhelmingly positive way.

Also, on all of the social media - and I actually answer all my Facebook and social media platforms on my own, responding to every single social media post - there hasn't been one single negative comment. I was speaking to the supervising producer last night and you expect negative comments, you actually expect them.

And we haven't seen any at all; the comments are overwhelmingly positive, and the intention of all the comments is to be supportive and positive, and it’s a funny thing to be able to say in today's climate.

We had no intention of creating a villain - most of reality TV today is centred around creating a villain so they make the show more interesting.

It’s in every reality TV show at the moment - to build the villain in as one of the characters, and that was never our intention. And I think that's part of the show's success - the show is real, the show is honest, nothing is staged, not one single thing is staged at any time.

None of it is scripted. I don’t meet the family until the morning of filming. I've certainly seen their homes in terms of photos and video, but I have not stepped into their house until the very first day I meet the family, so it plays out in real time.

It’s an honest show, I think that’s the best way to put it, with real families in real life, exploring honest real issues, and we never know where it’s going to go.

It all just plays out where it plays out, and I think that’s what people are responding to.

Josie: When you find your people, have you found resistance from those appearing on the show while they’re in the thick of it, much more than we see on camera? And how you deal with that resistance when you’re in that process of eliminating things?

Peter: Number one: the people who are on the show have volunteered to be on the show.

I thinks it’s really important for people who watch the show to understand that.

When we called for casting for the show, nobody knew who the people involved were, be it me or  Cherie or Lucas - everyone applied blind and that is amazing to me. And we had over 800 applications, so these are all people who knew they needed help, who already felt overwhelmed and paralysed. And so number 1, all these people had gotten to a point where they acknowledged that they needed some help, so that’s important to remember.

And number two, I go into this knowing that they want that want help, and so I never force people (to cull).

So if it gets to a point that they are adamant they don’t want to throw something away or let something go, I’m not going to force them, but I go into this against the backdrop of them having gotten to a point where they’re overwhelmed and (feeling) paralysed.

I definitely challenge these people strongly, sometimes very strongly but I never force them to let go of something they don’t want to - and I am working with them for two and a half to three days, and that is cut down to a total of maybe 18 minutes (on the show), so there is definitely a lot you will not see.

You’ll see that on this week’s episode (the garage makeover) and this was maybe one of the toughest episodes of the season, and the most challenging of all. One of the biggest things I say and I do is that I hold up a mirror to the couple, and I just reflect back to them what I see, and I think it’s a very good image, pardon the pun, of what exists. That’s the way I work.

I will say to people: whose side am I on here? I just remind them: I’m on your side.

I’m an advocate for you, I say to them, and sometimes in the process I’m the only one on their side.

Sometimes, they’re fighting against themselves, against their own best interest. When that happens I will stop them and say: why am I the only one fighting for what you want at the moment?

And this is what happens in the garage episode - and I will call them out on that. But the thing is people generally are very frightened in shows like this, in situations like this, or family members working with other family members are generally very frightened of conflict or of tears, in dealing with these kind of problems.

I am not.

Because I think conflict and tears tell you that you’re on the right path. Anger or tears tell you are very close to important issues. Conflict and tears don’t frighten me, and in fact it tells me we are close. And so when I get to that moment, instead of steering away from that I actually steer towards that.

And I say to people: the only way to get over this issue is to go through it. So in that moment without emotion and without judging, if you can help people to explore why they’re angry or what they’re emotional about you will help them to have a breakthrough about it.

It's like: I am angry about you for this because you are forcing me to face the fact and deal with the fact that I am holding onto all of this, because I am frightened about something, about letting my child grow up, or I am frightened about this because I am worried that if I let go of this, it will mean that I feel no longer valuable as a mother or as a woman.

Because it’s never about the stuff, it’s always about other issues

It’s funny that we are talking about this in this moment because all of it plays out in this week’s (garage clean out) episode.

In the very first episode with Julie and Peter with her clothes, when she said “I am a strong powerful woman”, getting her to that point took about 40 minutes.

And in the episode it was shown in about 45 seconds. She couldn’t even say those words. And I had to keep repeating to her and slowly building to that for 40 minutes. But you can’t show that in a TV show, because that would be the whole of the show.

And that’s the very difficult part for the people in post production, and the choices that they make, and that’s why the people in the field can have nothing to do with the edit. It’s still just as powerful, but it’s not exactly what happens on my side while filming.

What you see in the show is absolutely a refection of what happens in the field - it’s just much much compressed.

Josie: The show is a conversation starter. For me, it’s starting point to getting things done, especially when I have conversations about it with my husband.

I saw you respond to someone on Facebook who has various sizes of clothing, across all the different sizes. How do you separate that conversation people have with themselves about the money they have spent on clothes, with the whole “I must cull” conversation. And why are we so resistant in general to throwing out what we have?

Peter: There’s a few things in there: one is women and weight and clothes are all so entwined. It’s part of a much broader discussion too.

Women (in this scenario) - and men to a lesser extent - are part of that discussion around women holding on to clothes. You know, I wonder if, almost subconsciously, it’s giving someone permission to gain and lose weight. "I've gained and lost weight in the past so I will probably do it again". It’s a very weird interplay, that holding on to the clothes and to stuff.

I’ve worked with women who are heavier and are still holding onto to size 6. The fact is: nobody is ever going to be a size six again. Or even a size 8. It’s just not going to happen. Nor should it.

It’s ridiculous. It’s a fantasy model image that magazines perpetuate and it’s like $@#k that!

Women who are a size 12 - you are never going to be a size 8. And they’re offended, but it’s like: it’s never going to happen. Why should it! Why! Why should a woman have size 6 to a size 18 in the closet. For God's sake, why are you torturing yourself.

And then the (hanging onto clothes around) money thing is kind of a guilt thing.

It’s this whole aspirational thing - "if I buy it and I hold onto it" - that’s absolutely externally imposed.

It’s like Julie (in the first episode) and those running shoes, those $250 running shoes she owned - because her physical therapist told her she needed to exercise. And these are the shoes with the “if you buy them you’ll get fit” tag - she hated those shoes.

And every time she put them on she didn't feel good about herself. Why would you do that to yourself?

It’s the buying stuff and having stuff that some external force tells us that will somehow make you someone else, and then when you do put it on or look at it, it just slaps you with that label - it’s weird interplay.

And with the money thing - it’s money lost, and money lost you’re never getting back, no matter how you look at it.

It’s amazing; when people do let that stuff go - the clothes, and the clothes with labels on them -  the money and the guilt about buying just goes wth them.

Josie: That is true. What we resist, persists. And it’s amazing how you can see people feel lighter when it’s gone.

How did you get into what you do on a deep level, and how did the Oprah relationship start?

Peter: I was shooting a show called 'Clean Sweep' and we'd shot 120 episodes of that, and I was a primary school teacher, and also taught in secondary school. I have a masters in education with a specialty in ed psych, and I worked in Australia in drug abuse prevention and around risk reduction, and around health promotion around health promoting behaviours, I’ve worked around different areas, that weirdly - and I don’t think anyone has ever grown up thinking I want to work to be a professional organiser - a whole lot of bits and pieces kind of found a whole new way to this job, and once I started working in this area it became obvious to me that all of the pieces came together to do what I do.

All of these elements and skills - decision making skills, performance assessment, and all the training from what I was originally doing - all of these different disciplines found their way into my role as a professional organiser.

I'd made 120 episodes of one of the first organising shows on American TV ‘Clean Sweep’, and Oprah’s own ethos and philosophy was around 'living your best life' for you, and one of her senior producers liked the show 'Clean Sweep' and they invited me to a guest spot on the Oprah show. It went really, really well and out of that they offered me a five year contract on the Oprah show, and it kind of took off from there. I just happened to have a philosophy which aligns very much with her philosophy, and I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.

That was a number of years ago and it's all just grown from there, and you know I've been doing this now for nearly 20 years, and I have a great familiarity in this area and I've done hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of these, and just have a sense for it now.

I've also written eight books in the area, and I have a huge amount of experience. If you drive your car to a mechanic who has been working on this kind of thing for years, and he can hear a knock under the bonnet he knows there's something wrong with the starter motor because he's heard it for 20 years and hundreds of times.

It's a little bit like that. People are much the same, you know we all struggle with the same things and we buy stuff for the same reasons, and we do things to make ourselves feel happy, or we avoid dealing with something in our lives - we are all much the same.

Inside we are all kind of wired by nature. I find that it’s not that hard to understand

Josie: When did you become more interested in the psychological reason we keep things?

It's never about the stuff, the stuff is not interesting. It's not about the stuff, and it never is. It's not about our clothes or our shoes because that's not interesting. It's about what's happened that makes a relationship with stuff more important than our relationships with others.

That's what's interesting: it's not until you unlock that question that you can make sense of why you have gone off the rails.

Josie: I imagine in the last past 20 plus years you've seen our relationship to things change where the acquisition of things, especially propelled by reality TV, where if you're not a celebrity or a Kardashian - who I've watched and I understand their business model - you'll see that designer bag and it's now something that you really want.

Now the acquisition of things and the relationship to things have certainly changed, acquiring more and more, where you want a lot of them but none of them keep satisfying you.

Peter: Well the huge problem is that nothing that you see on the internet is real, it's all illusion and virtually nothing that you see, starting with the internet, is real, and nothing that you see on social media is real. And the only stuff that people post on social media is the good side, and that creates an illusion for a generation of people. There are higher rates of depression and suicide and general disillusionment in people is so high and distorted.

Most reality TV is completely fabricated; and all of that is manipulated, constructed, fabricated reality TV, none of it is real. If you think otherwise, you are insane!

And so we need to look at the construction of social media, and to think reality TV has to do with anything relating to real life is just to have no connection with reality - and I think that's one of the reasons why our show is striking such a chord because people can see that it is real and honest

There is all this fabricated screaming and storming out and glasses of wine in people's faces, and it has created a complete false illusion, and a false sense of value, and of communication, and it has completely distorted what people think, absolutely. 

Josie: How do you not fall into the trap of building up things all over again, and what kind of strategies do you recommend?

Peter: It's simple. There are two simple rules. They sound simple, but very difficult, and it's about our approach to stuff.

The first one is 'don't put it down, put it away'. And if you start saying that you'll be shocked at how difficult it is.

And the second one is 'no more later.'

Stop saying the word 'later'. I'll put it away later, I'll deal with it later, I'll wash it later, I'll iron it later, I'll deal with the mail later. Stop procrastinating. If you do those two things you're never going to have a problem with maintaining an ordered uncluttered tidy home.

Josie: I love the representation of people all walks of life on the show, particularly the family of Indian background. Do you feel - and I know what the answer is of course - we need more representation from different cultures on TV?

Peter: Oh, what kind of a stupid question is that! (laughs).

It's shocking and ridiculous and terrible how unrepresented people of colour and women and minorities are on TV, absolutely.

And it shocked me to come back to Australia - after over 20 years - and see it's still so populated with white faces, and I say this as an older white male, and why are there still so many white, old men on Australian TV, and I'm one of them.

Even though I'm an older white gay man, there are still so many white men on Australian TV, and it's shocking and this should not be so.

Josie: Will there be a season two of 'Space Invaders'?

Peter: We are waiting for news on season two of the show. We're asking people to check details on the Peter Walsh Facebook page, and the 'Space Invaders' Facebook page.

Josie: I love the idea of putting a value on how much people have donated, as Lucas has throughout each show.

Peter: Yes I think it's a really great idea, and I think it helps people to get a sense of exactly what was in the house, and the plan is to do that in much greater detail in future seasons. I think it really inspires people, and gives them a great sense of just how much is sitting in the house and is of value that can be passed on to people, and do good for other people.

Josie: Indeed, and I do recall from our last interview you said: if you have too many things you value nothing.

Peter: It's one of my favourite sayings: when everything is important, nothing is important.

Josie: Are you planning on doing something like workshops or a video series, even though you have so much out there already. like your books. Perhaps something where people are tapping into a virtual format of your offering and what you do, and in real time?

Peter: There is talk of doing a national range of seminars but to be honest I just don't have time at the moment, but I'd love to do that and I've done it before. So yes, later in the year I'm looking at seminars in every national city.

At the moment I'm just flat chat and there are so many things on my agenda, but I'm very much wanting to do that, yes.

Josie: What's next for you and when are you heading back to the USA?

Peter: My partner and I came here to Australia early in the pandemic because the infection rates were rising very rapidly, and the truth is it's just too dangerous for us to go back to the United States at the moment. My whole life has been in the states for over 26 years and our plan is to go back, and to shuttle back and forth between here and there.

We will probably end up spending seven or eight months here and the rest in the United States.

I don't think we can go back to United States until at least October this year, and it all depends on how the vaccination rates go, but I don't see that happening until at least October or November.

Most of the people we know who have Covid or already have had Covid are still suffering the after effects, and various post Covid health issues, which doesn't get as much press as it should; it's pretty horrendous.

'Space Invaders' is now screening on Channel 9 every Saturday, at 7.30pm.

All photos from Space Invaders and Peter Walsh Facebook pages.

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