Michelle Dickinson's school grades were bad enough that, by her own account, she shouldn't have made it to university. She got there anyway. In this conversation, host Vanessa Williams talks with Dr Michelle Dickinson, known to many as Nanogirl, about why home was the best school she ever had. It traces back to her early years as a military kid who never really felt she had a home of her own, right through to buying and renovating her very first home, brick by brick, at 18, while working three jobs at once.She also shares how she's helping her preschool twins, raised in Cantonese, English and te reo Māori, learn at home for a world AI is already reshaping. Highlights At eight, her dad handed her a soldering iron and she burned her fingers finding out how it worked. It's the moment she still traces her whole career back to.Military housing meant no posters, no say in the paint colour, and a move every two to three years with just a few belongings. Her favourite posting was a Hong Kong apartment ringed by wild monkeys.She was teaching piano at 14, washing bar glasses at 16, then waitressing and folding T-shirts in a sports store, often three or four jobs at once, all to save for a home.At 18, she bought a derelict London terrace for £50,000 and rebuilt it herself. Halfway through knocking out a wall, she discovered she was allergic to the horsehair in its Victorian-era mortar.She paid her way through it all, working three or four jobs at once. She restored, rather than replaced, the 100-year-old villa she lives in now, rebuilt around a 6'9" husband, twin toddlers, and a garden they harvest from every morning.She's raising her own twins on that same curiosity, rather than instant answers, now that she's working at the frontier of an AI-shaped world herself. Timestamps [00:45] Meet Dr Michelle Dickinson, Nanogirl, and the soldering iron and rootless childhood that shaped her [01:21] Growing up a military kid: no home to call her own, and a single box carried from posting to posting [06:36] Favourite childhood home: an apartment in Hong Kong's New Territories, with wild monkeys next door [10:12] Buying her first home at 18: renovating it herself, brick by brick, and an unplanned horsehair allergy [17:22] Getting into university through the UK's "Clearing" system, despite grades that said she shouldn't have gone [25:07] Home now: restoring a 100-year-old Auckland villa around her family [28:05] Why home is "the best school": the soldering iron story, and raising her twins the same way in an AI-shaped world [31:38] The Lotto dream, a public science garden, and advice to her younger self Guest bio Dr Michelle Dickinson, known to many as Nanogirl, is a nanotechnologist, materials engineer and bestselling author who has spent her career making science something everyone can get their hands on. After years of building STEM programmes that reached millions of Kiwi kids, she now splits her life between New Zealand and Silicon Valley, where she works at the frontier of physical AI and robotics: the technology teaching machines to see, learn and work alongside people in factories and workshops around the world. Whether she’s in a lab, on a stage, or out on the water kitesurfing, Michelle stays endlessly curious about how technology can help us build the future we actually want to live in. Host bio Vanessa Williams, General Manager -Customer, realestate.co.nz. Vanessa is one of New Zealand's most trusted voices on property, at home unpacking market data for industry audiences and translating it into practical guidance for everyday buyers and sellers. She regularly appears across national television, radio, print and digital media. Her commentary combines the extensive listings, search and market data held by realestate.co.nz. Links Michelle Dickinson Instagram | Facebook | LinkedInThe Kitchen Science Cookbook by Dr Michelle DickinsonFind your perfect property at realestate.co.nz Follow realestate.co.nz on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/realestate.co.nz), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/realestate.co.nz) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/realestate-co-nz/) Follow “It all starts here” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or YouTube so you don't miss the next one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
