Partners in work, life and parenting, Becs Caughey and Nick Brown are the yin to each other’s yang. We sit down with them to talk business, world firsts and life on the go in their beautiful North Shore villa. Words Kirsten Matthew,  Photos Helen Bankers.

Becs Caughey runs at life full speed, with boundless positivity and gusto, while partner Nick Brown is slightly more yin: calmer and considered in his approach. While Nick is an early bird, starting work at 5 am, Becs prefers to work late into the early hours after their two children have gone to bed. Becs has no time for gardening and mindful DIY, while her husband lovingly tends their plants every Saturday morning with rainwater he’s collected during the week.

It’s an ‘opposites attract’ vibe that works for the couple who work and live together. They’re the business brains behind Cook & Nelson, an importing business, and co-founders of Good Sh*t soda; their first foray into creating a consumer product. While Becs takes care of marketing, dealing with consumers, collaborations and connections, it’s Nick’s job to get products on the shelf via compliance, shipping, and liaising with retailers.

They work from their four-bedroomed Victorian villa in Northcote Point, Auckland, although Nick decamps to the café at the end of the street by 7 am on weekdays, to deal with overseas emails and logistics in peace – fuelled by at least four coffees. The spare room at their bright, busy and eclectic home doubles as an office-slash-storage area, but Becs parks up at the dining table or flops on a couch with her laptop to work. ‘You very rarely see us together for work because we divide and conquer,’ says Becs. ‘Everything in our life is down the middle; the work, the cooking, the childcare. We even alternate going on work trips, so someone is always home with the kids.’

‘You very rarely see us together for work because we divide and conquer.’

Though they might be opposites by nature, when it comes to the important stuff, they’re completely aligned. ‘The DNA of what we’re doing and why is the same,’ says Becs. ‘You have to trust each other, find people on the ground that you can trust as well, hold off when you don’t. Nick and I talk constantly about how we can move the businesses forward, but we never had to make a plan to do it this way; it’s just how it works.’

Before they created Cook & Nelson in 2015, the couple, who met at a gig in Wellington in 2005, had carved paths in two different industries. Becs spent 15 years working as a band manager and publicist for Kiwi artists Ladi6 and Shapeshifter. She was on the road constantly, working crazy hours and living the rock ’n’ roll dream. ‘It was a world of electrifying energy, creativity and relentless hustle. I lived for high-energy moments, orchestrating the chaos behind the scenes.’

Nick spent 20 years in sales, promotions and marketing in Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington, after a childhood growing up in England and Singapore and studies at Goldsmith’s College in London. The die was cast early for his career. ‘Really, I’d been in sales in one form or another since I was 12,’ he says. ‘The first thing I sold was BMX stickers in the eighties. I’d buy them up from a friend and on-sell them at my school and through a network of friends at other schools. It was my first sales and distribution business.’

By the time the pair had their first child, Ella, they were living in Wellington, where Nick had a job as a national radio and digital sales manager, while Becs was organising world tours for her bands from afar; in between breastfeeding and sleepless nights. ‘I rolled into postnatal burnout pretty quickly,’ she admits. ‘I realised I couldn’t do the job I wanted to do as a parent and the decision was almost made for me. But moving away from a career that you’ve built up from the age of 19, that part of your identity is wrapped up in, meant it wasn’t easy.’

‘Everything in our life is down the middle; the work, the cooking, the childcare.’

Nick was keen to take his side hustle – a share in Huffman’s Hot Sauce – and turn it into a business. So they packed up their Wellington home, put it on the market, headed north to Auckland where Becs’ family is, and started Cook & Nelson. ‘It was tough,’ says Becs. ‘We stopped two good jobs, with a baby in tow. It was not without sacrifice.’

McClure’s Pickles, a range of crunchy American pickles made with a family recipe, was the first brand the pair got on board. Then, on a trip to Britain, Becs discovered Seedlip, the non-alcoholic spirit that started the alcohol-free cocktail trend. Over the years, they’ve added Tony’s Chocolonely – an ethical chocolate brand that fights to end child labour on cocoa farms and makes fair price agreements with cocoa farmers – and NON, an alcohol-free wine from Melbourne, to their artisanal offering.

In 2020, Covid lockdowns hit the business hard, even though food products were deemed essential. ‘Covid took the air out of everything in terms of what was routine,’ explains Becs. However, the couple turned the pandemic into an opportunity. They’d seen functional sodas, drinks that have health benefits, were starting to appear overseas. A bit of research revealed that there was nothing worse for gut health than sugary soda. The idea for a world-first functional soda was born. It took two years’ working with food scientists to settle on a formulation they were happy with.

At Home in Auckland

Between the two businesses and two children – Ella, 10 and Harry, eight – they have a lot on their plates. The kids are used to being co-opted to put together hampers, or help out with jobs, but there are firm boundaries to work time. Dinner-time is sacrosanct, and both parents put down their phones and commit to that. Weekend trade shows are no longer attended by Becs and Nick as family weekends are precious.

Their home is filled with colour, chaos and a giant labradoodle called Ralph. Built in 1916, it was extended in the 1980s but retains its high ceilings, mouldings and storybook white picket fence. It was sold to them by friends who moved two doors down to a bigger house and ‘we’ve done absolutely nothing to it since’, Becs declares. ‘We feel very fortunate to own this house. It’s cute and liveable and there’s a real community feel, like a village. There’s a tavern, a café, a wine bar up the road. The kids on the street are in and out of all of the houses.’

Art is another thing Becs and Nick are aligned on, and their collection covers every wall of the house. Works by acclaimed New Zealand artists Sam Mitchell, Julian Dyne, John Reynolds, Otis Frizzell and Billy Apple jostle for space with works acquired on overseas trips to Europe and the USA.

‘We’re quite eclectic in our choices, but Pop Art is probably the easiest way to describe it,’ says Becs, who has a degree with honours in Art History. ‘Back in the day, I would be on tour or travelling all the time and didn’t have to pay rent. Every dollar I had left over, I’d buy art with. When we started Cook & Nelson, there was no money to buy art, but slowly and surely, we’ve started to collect more.’

A well-stocked cocktail cart, and kitchen piled high with gourmet items is an indicator of Becs’ love of entertaining with family and friends. Every weekend there are get-togethers with her parents and her sister’s family, and there are regular dinners for neighbours and pals. ‘The impromptu nights are my favourite,’ she says. ‘I’ve usually got a new drink or something to give our guests and that’s my way of trying new products out. The other night I had a friend staying from up north, then the neighbours turned up for drinks. I threw some food together. The kids were all at the front of the house hanging out and the adults were at the back; everyone was happy.’

A World First

Good Sh*t is the world’s first pre- and pro-biotic soda. The probiotics in it, which are also found in more mainstream drinks like kombucha, feed off the prebiotics and become more effective in the digestive system. Each can contains almost 12 grams of fibre because most of the world’s population needs more fibre in their diet, and because the fibre helps the biotics to work better on the gut. Exotic ingredients like Prickly Pear, Acacia gum and Marshmallow root help to keep the sugar content low, but give Good Sh*t the taste of a regular, delicious fizzy drink.

That the dynamic duo saw a space in the drinks market, thought ‘why not?’ and taught themselves everything they needed to know to invent the product is a testament to their indefatigable energy, quick instincts and optimistic outlook on life. The irreverent branding and the tongue-in-cheek name, Good Sh*t, make it popular as a cocktail mixer taken to parties, or as a daily gut health drink.

‘We walked into the space naively, which was a good way to do it,’ says Becs. ‘I had to learn to be patient because when you launch a product, it takes three to five years to build traction. Good Sh*t is different to Cook & Nelson. We have all the control, but none of the international support!’ In 2024, the pair launched Good Sh*t powder, which can be added to smoothies or a bowl of cereal.

‘It’s one thing to have a great product, but [something else entirely] to have a great company,’ Nick says. ‘It has to be about more than a paycheck and the bottom line. Gut health is something we care about and can buy into, something that can impact health. When we started, the “does good” factor was a big part of it. And we’ve been able to test our own mettle with a global challenger brand while we’re at it.’

Love your Microbiome

Humans have an incredibly diverse ecosystem of cells as well as microbes that live on and inside our bodies, known as the ‘microbiome’, which is a fundamental factor in gut health. And as we know, good digestive health is the foundation of good health and wellbeing. For example, did you know that 95 per cent of our serotonin – which controls your mood and is responsible for happiness – is produced in your gut? Along with 50 per cent of our dopamine, which contributes to those feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation.

Good vibes start in your gut, which is why it is so important to look after it. A healthy microbiome positively impacts your whole body – not just your gut health – holding the key to physical health and mental wellbeing.