Vitina is living the entrepreneurial dream. She's figured out how to combine her love of travel and wellness and make a career out of it. Cool, eh. But that wasn't always the case. She basically had to have a breakdown of sorts - or breakthrough - in order to see that the life she was living for years, wasn't fulfilling her any longer. At the time of this transformation, she had been working in advertising in the music industry - working over 80+ hours a week - and consistently going to the best...
Oct 23, 2018•1 hr 6 min
They believed in their business so much so, that they packed up their family and moved around the world to bring their vision to life. Founder of social enterprise and global lifestyle brand, Thankful , Kim McDonnell and her husband spent many years just trying to trademark the concept. Their mission: tapping into the science of positive psychology, Thankful creates opportunities to provide Thankful Moments via an innovative business model that merges a product licensing program, global cause aw...
Oct 09, 2018•56 min
It’s amazing to see couples blend their creative talents to create a thriving company, while still maintaining their own interests. JP and Kirsten McCrea have managed to do just that as partners in business and life. When they met, they were both working on their own creative pursuits – Kirsten had her own business as a muralist and artists, as well as founding Papirmass on her own, while JP was a teacher, design professional and writer. When they got together, JP was really intrigued by what Ki...
Sep 25, 2018•1 hr 4 min
Clinton Bopp knew from an early age that he loved art. It was almost as if he was born with the talent. But he never thought he'd make a career out of being an artist. It just wasn't practical. And to be honest, the career kind of happened a bit by chance. He couldn't afford to go to art school, so he decided to take a job teaching art in America. Which was a far cry from his New Zealand roots. Once he got to the states, he just never left. Something about his surroundings kept keeping him there...
Sep 11, 2018•1 hr 5 min
Before founding her own sustainable fashion company, Kirsten Dickerson was working as an art director in the film world, as well as holding various jobs within the global non-profit leadership realm. Raven and Lily's origins began with Kirsten calling together some of her friends in the L.A design scene to create a non-profit focused on offering women a more sustainable livelihood within the fashion industry. They wanted to help guide and train these women to create garments that people all over...
Aug 28, 2018•1 hr 4 min
Do you think that if you lived with less that you would be happier? This was the questions Cait Flanders posed to herself a few years back. Not one to shy away from setting personal challenges, she decided to do a self-imposed shopping ban for a year. All she could buy were necessities, like groceries, toiletries and gas for her car. Everything else - including coffee- were off limits. And she will be the first to tell you that it changed her life for the better. It definitely wasn't easy. And t...
Aug 14, 2018•1 hr
These two were destined to create positive and lasting change in the world. They may not have always been personally aligned; but essentially, their values and morals were the same. Cassandra worked in development, while Edison toiled away in investment banking and consulting for companies working in developing regions. Eventually, they realized that their visions were intertwined, and what was once a friendship, blossomed into a romantic relationship and an eventual life partnership. Now, they ...
Jul 31, 2018•1 hr 5 min
Ben Brown wasn't always super political. He was political in the sense that he got out to vote, but that was about it. He wasn't one to vocalize his political opinion to friends or family. Until one day he couldn't get this idea out of his head. He recognized that there wasn't a lobbying voice out there for young Americans, and so he began thinking about what that might look like if there was an group that would fight for youth on issues that affected them. Like student debt, climate change and ...
Jul 17, 2018•56 min
Mary Neely grew up in the entertainment industry. Not only is she a native of L.A; but both of her parents also worked in the industry. So she's no stranger to the glitz and glam of it all. From an early age she wanted to be an actress. She got her B.A. in acting + Scandinavian culture from UCLA's School of Theater, Film & Television, wrote a screenplay that became a top 40 finalist in The Academy's Nicholl Fellowship and then wrote, directed, produced, edited, and starred in her first short...
Jul 03, 2018•1 hr
Samatha Paige has had her fair share of 'bad' things happen to her in her lifetime. Enough to make a person ask "why me?" over and over again. But instead of dwelling on that, Samantha has turned her own heartache and trauma into something that's released her truth and vulnerability. After being diagnosed with cancer at 21 and then told she had the BRCA1 gene in 2008, Samantha decided to take matters into her own hands. Those experiences were tough and created a lot of change in her life; but th...
Jun 19, 2018•1 hr
Ashley didn't always want to be a baker. In fact, her pastry class in college really frustrated her. She actually wanted to be a chef. But life had other plans for her and her creative heart. After working for many years as a line cook and sous chef, she realizes that her creative side was being stifled. So she tested out her abilities at a chocolate shop, and eventually at various high end dining establishments around Toronto as a pastry chef. Finding she had a bigger love for the sweet side of...
Jun 05, 2018•53 min
Not dissimilar to a lot of health professionals, Meghan found nutrition and a love for cooking slightly out of necessity. When she was in her early 20s, she was headed down the corporate path, and pretty stressed out. At that time, her doctor also diagnosed her with crohn's disease. Armed with the knowledge that she would never be rid of the disease - according to Western medicine - Meghan decided to do her own research and investigation. That led her to sign up for nutrition school and subseque...
May 22, 2018•1 hr 5 min
When you have the travel bug, it's almost impossible to shake it. For Tracy Komlos, her love for travel began at an early age, thanks to her parents who valued experiences over things. At the age of 19, she took off on a solo-volunteer trip to India and immediately realized that she wanted to build a life around travel. But how? She studied communications and history in University, quickly coming to the conclusion that she didn't want to work for anyone else but herself by the time she graduated...
May 08, 2018•58 min
There are those of us that do good in the world and then there are those who make it their life mission to invoke positive change by creating movements. We known them as change-makers. Alexis Jones is one of those people. She knew from an early age that she wanted to be an activist. She may not have known how or what that would look like; but that didn't matter. In University, when she felt like her female friends and her didn't really share their true fears and emotions with one another, she as...
Apr 24, 2018•1 hr 7 min
Melanie always wanted to be a doctor. She was going down that path, studying for hours and focusing all her energy on getting into that profession. But as life often does, she was thrown a few curve balls and her plans changed, setting her on a different path. And she's thankful it did. She had been volunteering and doing placements in hospitals, and what really struck her was how stressed out and exhausted everyone was. Even though she knew this, she was seeing the results first hand and it tri...
Apr 10, 2018•1 hr 1 min
Negative self-talk can take you down a dangerous and toxic path, if you let it. It can lead you to meet the wrong people. Open the doors to jobs that don't serve your highest self. And make you think that you're unworthy of happiness and love. That's exactly what happened to Gillian B . But she found the strength within herself through yoga, meditation, spirituality and mentorship, to make the necessary positive changes in her life, which ultimately set her up on her own path of healing and teac...
Mar 27, 2018•54 min
Life has a funny way of working out. When you have a passion and a desire to learn and grow, it's amazing who we get connected to and the opportunities that present itself. In Taylor's case, he never really dreamed of becoming a famous surf filmmaker. He just loved to surf and hang out with his buddies. He realized at an early age that he probably wasn't going to make the surf tour; but that he passion lied in documenting the experience. Armed with that desire to work on his creative craft, and ...
Mar 13, 2018•48 min
Do you worry about money and your future? Are you constantly blaming yourself when you work hard, but then go and splurge on something you probably didn't need? I'm sure this is everyone. And the blame game, guilty conscience is a real thing when it comes to our finances. There's the whole 'work hard, play hard' mentality; but that could be dangerous if taken literally. You may not have enough money to live in the end. Especially in a volatile economy. But it's important to also remember that if...
Feb 27, 2018•1 hr
Life doesn't always turn out how we plan. And that's OK, because everything we do is a learning experience. When Christina Hug moved from Toronto to San Francisco to work in the tech and startup field, she hustled to land a 'dream job.' The experience and knowledge she gained from that career opportunity was invaluable; but it was also leading to burnout and a lack of social life. To counter that feeling, she made a pack with herself to get out once a week and have a 'date night' with herself, f...
Feb 13, 2018•51 min
You know those people who have always wanted to be an entrepreneur? Those people who only talk about the businesses they've built or are building? Well, Tim Cormode was never that guy. This was not the path he thought he'd be on. He always wanted to help people and make an impact in some way. He knew he wasn't destined for a shiny office or the corporate world; but beyond that awareness, he didn't really have it figured out. With a deep love for nature and everything having to do with the outdoo...
Jan 30, 2018•57 min
What's a growth hacker, anyways? Unless you are familiar with the tech lingo, you may not know what a growth hacker is, little own what they do for a living. This isn't your typical marketing job. Growth hackers are basically creative, data driven individuals, who love looking at the numbers in order to see where and how a company can improve. They think fast and fail fast. And Sarah is one of these experts. She didn't ever think she'd end up in this line of work. She actually turned down a high...
Jan 16, 2018•55 min
Samantha Skelly didn't always have a great relationship with food or her body, for that matter. For years she struggled in silence. Hiding her binge eating from friends and family, and masking it with over-exercising and fitness. It was only after a life situation forced her to leave England and move back home to Canada, that she really started to face her own demons. Years of hard work, getting to know herself again, peeling away deep problems and facing them head on, has led her to where she i...
Jan 02, 2018•48 min
It's so easy to take our health and body for granted. Many of us go through life rarely having to fight any type of ailment, except for the common cold or flu. So when we do get sick, or get diagnosed with something, it can easily come as a huge shock. For wellness expert, gluten free chef and author of The Wellness Project , Phoebe Lapine, finding out that she had a thyroid disease sent her spiraling into a state of denial. Even though she was working in the food and wellness industry and train...
Dec 12, 2017•57 min
Leadership coach, Karlyn Percil, has always been on the track of motivating people and helping others live their best lives. But she wasn't always living hers. It wasn't until a chance opportunity forced her to confront her own internal demons, that she really started to analyze how she was showing up in the world. One question she often asks is are you living authentically. If someone asked you today if you were doing what you love and living your best life, what would your answer be? And for K...
Nov 28, 2017•1 hr
Have you ever been bored of your life? Like you know there's something bigger and better that you're meant to do? Everything in your life just feels comfortable... Well, Matt Dajer and his friends were all experiencing those exact feelings. So, to spice things up, they decided to start a 30 day project. Do something unique and different for 30 days and film it! They shared their project on YouTube and the response was phenomenal. Not to mention, they were all hooked on the challenge and wanted t...
Nov 14, 2017•49 min
Is that feeling of overwhelm creeping up on you again? Not sure how you're going to be able to get all that stuff done on your to-do list? Well, author, women and girls advocate and leadership expert, Tiffany Dufu , has a lesson for us to learn. It's time that we drop the ball in our lives, so we can actually do more by doing less. Tiffany has always been an overachiever. She's a woman who kept rising up the corporate ladder, pushing the envelope and her own limits further than most of us would ...
Oct 31, 2017•58 min
Perry Grone has known what he was meant to do for years now! He uncovered his passion for filmmaking, before most of us even knew what hobbies were! When he was a teenager, his friends and him would make their own 'Jackass' inspired videos, and through experimentation, he learned video editing, storytelling, special effects and directing. It was almost as if he was destined for this type of career. Fast forward twelve or so years and he's well on his way to making a name for himself. He's built ...
Oct 17, 2017•51 min
Have you ever gone on vacation, only to return with way too many selfies and blurry photos? Well, that almost happened to the founder of Flytographer , Nicole Smith. She was a few days into her trip with her best friend in Paris, when they both realized that their photos weren't properly depicting the great time they were having. Instead of taking more selfies, and settling for horrible images, they asked a friend to come along for the day to take some candid shots. That's when it hit her. This ...
Oct 03, 2017•1 hr 3 min
It's hard to understand why you can feeling so unhappy, when on paper, it looks like you have it all going for you. A successful career by 25 that many people work years to create. A long term relationship. Living in one of the most coveted cities in the world. But for some reason, you still feel empty. That's how Lauren Biegler felt, before her life took a complete 180. She was always an overachiever and she enjoyed her job- let's set that straight. But it wasn't fulfilling anymore. So instead ...
Aug 01, 2017•1 hr 5 min
Ann Shoket had a dream career that many women only dream of. She worked her way up in the publishing world to become the Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen Magazine from 2007-2014. In a lot of way, it probably seemed like she had it all and was already living the big life. But what does that mean? How do you find work-life balance and or does that even exist? Can you really have a dream job, do what you want, have a fulfilling relationship and love yourself at the same time? These are questions that A...
Jul 25, 2017•54 min
