It’s been a while since I have been to the NZBWN Book Club at Ozone in London, and I was not disappointed!

The group attending were open, curious and friendly Kiwis (plus a visitor who enjoyed the book and wanted to join a group to chat about it) and we shared the love of continuous learning. The book was interesting to all of us for different reasons and sparked lots of conversation and insights. The great people at Ozone were welcoming, friendly and delivered an amazing brunch.

Hidden Potential is the latest book by Organisational Psychologist Adam Grant, and it focuses on the things we can do to find our own hidden potential and be more aware of identifying it in others.

It’s taken a while for Robyn Litchfield to see herself as a ‘business woman’, and to sign up to the New Zealand Business Women’s Network in London. It’s also taken some time for the London-based painter to build her profile as a professional artist. Her long fascination with the ancient sunken forests of her homeland led in 2022 to a significant commercial commission: a permanent installation of a 16-metre interior mural in the Frank Gehry-designed London office of Meta on Lewis Cubitt Square, King’s Cross. After 15 years exploring elements of NZ’s colonial history and its backcountry geographies through her painting, Robyn’s recent solo exhibition “Let Time Be Still” (2023) demonstrated the maturing of her distinctive style.This body of work, featuring twelve new works depicting Kahikatea swamp forests, is named after words from Kiwi poet James K. Baxter.

Everyone who comes to the UK to work has a different story, one shaped by circumstance as well as professional choices. The pandemic pushed Hannah Sweetman, sports nutritionist and lifestyle coach, into developing a thriving online business offering personalised diet planning and nutrition advice. ‘Hannah Sweetman Nutrition’ today allows Hannah to combine her established life in the UK with extended periods back home in New Zealand. Living and working across these lines would not have seemed feasible when Hannah, 34, made the choice to leave Auckland more than a decade ago.