{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6a7a3151c399196b515e6d40/6aa8e9702a0f7a59bf41d1a7?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"How a spare room built a media business | Frances Cook","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6a7a3151c399196b515e6d40/1789454767514-ba6a89b8-0379-42f4-9bb7-ab78ae2c96aa.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>Frances Cook's baby was six weeks old, asleep on her chest, when she took her first business meeting for what would become her own media business. Vanessa Williams talks to the personal finance expert, journalist and host of New Zealand's number one business podcast, Making Cents, about the business she built from the spare room of her home, with a newborn and a toddler in the house and her husband tag-teaming nappy changes. Frances walks through the six-month savings runway that got Making Cents off the ground, the marmite house in Wellington she and her husband scraped together a deposit for, and her blunt take on whether a home is really an investment. She also reflects on the well-meaning advice that once shrunk her sense of what she could do, and what she'd tell her younger self now.</p><p><br></p><h2><strong>Highlights</strong></h2><ul><li>Frances took her first business meeting at six weeks postpartum, baby asleep on her chest, and kept negotiating deals around contact naps for months afterwards.</li><li>The whole launch ran on a six-month savings runway and her husband's stint on paternity leave, the two of them tag-teaming childcare through two closable doors between the living room and her spare room podcast studio.</li><li>Growing up in an “epic” pastel-and-unicorn bedroom she shared with her sister, strictly split down the middle. </li><li>The “marmite” first home in Wellington she and her husband nearly missed out on by five thousand dollars.</li><li>Her hot take on home as an investment: it's an asset, not automatically an investment, unless you use it to access capital, take in a boarder, or free up equity to invest elsewhere.</li><li>The advice she'd give her younger self: she's capable of far more than the well-meaning adults around her once assumed, including the one who suggested she work in a pharmacy because it had “pretty things.”</li></ul><h2><strong>Timestamps</strong></h2><p>[00:00] How Frances built her business and podcast from her home office with a newborn in tow</p><p>[01:48] Home growing up: a pastel, unicorn-wallpapered room split down the middle with her sister</p><p>[04:54] Is a home really an investment? Frances's hot take</p><p>[06:15] Leaving journalism to launch Making Cents from the spare room</p><p>[13:13] Launching with a newborn: the six-month runway, paternity leave, and business meetings through contact naps</p><p>[16:41] Working with her husband full time, and building their current home before trying for baby two</p><p>[21:41] The “marmite house”: buying their first home in Wellington on a shoestring</p><p>[24:10] Advice to her younger self, and the Lotto dream home</p><p><br></p><h2><strong>Guest bio</strong></h2><p>Frances Cook is an award-winning financial journalist who specialises in making money simple for New Zealanders. From buying your first home, to investing, she loves talking about everything that makes your money life a little easier. She works as an independent journalist, hosting the Making Cents podcast, and providing commentary for outlets including TVNZ Breakfast, Stuff, and RNZ.</p><h2><strong>Host bio</strong></h2><p>Vanessa Williams is General Manager – Customer at realestate.co.nz, New Zealand's longest-standing property portal. She's one of two voices behind The New Zealand Property Report, realestate.co.nz's monthly read on the market, alternating as spokesperson with CEO Sarah Wood, and she's the resident property expert on Frances Cook's Making Cents podcast. With more than a decade at the company, she's known for translating realestate.co.nz's own listings, stock and price data into practical guidance for buyers, sellers and renters.</p><h2><strong>Links</strong></h2><p>●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"francescook.co.nz\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">francescook.co.nz</a> </p><p>●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.francescook.co.nz/making-cents\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Making Cents podcast</a> </p><p>●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"instagram.com/francescooknz\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">instagram.com/francescooknz</a></p>","author_name":"realestate.co.nz"}