I can’t believe we are six weeks in now with my Live Your own Way Podcast. It was an absolute pleasure chatting with Dominic Chinea this time who is the Metal Expert on BBC1’s The Repair Shop.

It really is one of my favourite programmes for many reasons and I’ve always been quite fascinated by how Dominic and the team can turn someone’s precious heirloom back in to something they remember from years gone by in their home, making the family so happy in the process.

Not ashamed to admit I’ve shed a few tears over several of the personal stories when families arrive and even more so when they receive their beloved items back. It’s such a kind format and has clearly touched people’s hearts as they are currently filming their sixth series for BBC1 – Dominic very kindly gave up his lunch break for us to have a chat about how it’s going.

Dominic has had a really interesting career leading up to this work having studied Graphic Design at University and then going on to Car Restoration, Set Design for a very well known photographer –  and then starting his own business with a studio carrying on with Set Design and also Sign Writing and Prop Making on Photo Shoots, Film Sets and Restoration.

There is a great story behind how he came to be an Expert at The Repair Shop during the Podcast.

You’ll see on his website some of the Installations he’s created  – I wanted to know how the collaborations had come about such as an incredible Chandelier he made for the interior of Billingsgate Market. All of his designs and jobs themselves are really diverse so naturally I asked about the process – how do they come about?

He gives some really useful advice for anyone considering a more Artisan type career as he specialises in age old Craftsmanship – it’s really good to know that the show is encouraging people to try out crafts again. The more restoration that goes on the better for us all.

So, you can link to the interview here on various channels and do remember to subscribe as I have a brand new series of the show coming soon with some more great guests.

You can find last week’s chat with Author Sally Coulthard here.

Thanks you ever so much for listening to the Podcast. I am really enjoying it and am so glad I finally got around to doing it.