Candid Tiny House
Candid Tiny House is an Australian podcast about the real experience of building, living, and advocating for tiny houses on wheels.
Hosted by Shannon Schultz from Fred’s Tiny Houses, the podcast features honest, candid conversations with people who have built their own tiny houses in Australia, taken workshops or online courses with Fred, and navigated the full journey from planning to living tiny.
Instead of glossy social media posts or idealised tiny house tours, Candid Tiny House focuses on the realities of designing, building, and living in a tiny house that is both a safe road vehicle and a comfortable home.
Across the series, guests share lessons learned, challenges overcome, and insights gained — from technical building tips and budgeting, to problem-solving, community support, and the physical and emotional demands of a tiny house project.
You can also watch video interviews, tours, and build footage on the Fred’s Tiny Houses YouTube channel, and see photos and articles about each build on the Fred’s Tiny Houses blog.
Season 1 – Building Tiny Houses on Wheels
Season 1 introduces listeners to clients who took a Fred’s Tiny Houses trailer, workshop, or online course and then built their own homes.
These interviews dig into the reality of the build:
- The financial costs and savings
- What they wish they knew before starting
- Injuries, setbacks, and community support
- Creative compromises and innovations
Season 1 focuses on DIY builds in Australia, giving builders practical lessons and inspiration for designing a home that works both on the road and year-round.
Season 2 – Advocacy in Action: Changing the Law for Tiny Houses
Season 2 is a documentary-style series that tracks a small Australian town’s three-year journey and two attempts to change local laws to support tiny house living.
Listeners follow the advocacy process from start to finish, learning how grassroots communities can:
- Build awareness and support for tiny house-friendly policies
- Navigate local councils and legal frameworks
- Organise campaigns and gather community backing
- Turn setbacks into victories
This season is a how-to guide for tiny house advocacy, showing that change is possible when communities work together.
Season 3 – Life After the Build
Season 3 revisits past clients who have now lived in their tiny houses and can reflect on the full journey — from early building stages to everyday tiny house life.
Guests share stories of:
- Families living with children and even having home births in tiny houses
- Builders achieving financial freedom by reducing housing costs
- People who used their tiny house build as a stepping stone into hands-on construction skills
- Couples and individuals adapting their design as their lives evolved
These candid conversations offer invaluable insights for anyone considering a DIY tiny house build in Australia and show the real rewards — and challenges — of tiny house living.
Candid Tiny House – Real people. Real builds. Real stories.
Hosted by Shannon Schultz from Fred’s Tiny Houses, supporting Australians to build their own tiny houses, advocate for tiny house-friendly policies, and learn from people who’ve walked the path before them.
Candid Tiny House
Candid Tiny House Preview
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Candid Tiny House is a series of honest interviews with people who have built a tiny house on a Fred's Tiny Houses Trailer in Australia after taking a Workshop or Online Course with Fred.
Mine these interviews for tiny house building tips that are grounded in reality and experience.
Hear stories of everything that it's taken to build each tiny house on wheels, including:
- the financial costs & the savings;
- the things they wish they knew before starting out on their tiny house building journey;
- the injuries & the community support;
- the setbacks & triumphs; and
- the compromises & innovations.
Instead of presenting a shiny tiny house ideal, we take a gritty and realistic look at the enormous feat it takes to build a tiny house on wheels. Each client sets out to make a home that is a successful road vehicle as well as being a comfortable place to live in year-round.
See a tour or video component of each interview on the Fred's Tiny Houses You Tube channel.
Enjoy photos of each episode and read a short article on each tiny house story on the Fred's Tiny Houses Blog.
Be inspired by all the people who have walked the path before you.
Access an informed community of conscientious tiny house builders and see the results of their efforts on Fred's Tiny Houses YouTube channel, then start your build well informed and better equipped for the journey ahead!
Season 1 (E1-6) starts on Friday 24th September 2021.
All the interviewees are in Australia and we focus exclusively on information that is relevant to Australia.
Shannon Schultz is your host on Candid Tiny House. She talks to people every day about their tiny house projects at Fred's Tiny Houses and enjoys getting real about tiny houses and everything that is involved in making them and living in them. She picks up the technical stuff from Fred (her husband) and loves catching up with clients to celebrate their journey and their tiny house successes! :-)
Music for Candid Tiny House is from Scott Buckley: https://www.scottbuckley.com.au/
Shannon Schultz 2021 ©
