Istiana Bestari has never had a “9-5”. She’s a self-proclaimed expert side hustler and found the freedom lifestyle right out of university. Istiana’s a travel vlogger, YouTuber, singer/songwriter and full-time videographer/photographer under her business Lilac Media Group. “When things get crazy and busy, I remind myself that I chose this and I control everything I'm doing to be able to travel lots, create my own schedule and do the things I've always wanted to do." In this episode, Sam and Isti...
Jun 14, 2018•24 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Cate Gennaro advocates for freedom post-break-up hashtag boybye. She’s the author of "The Happy Break-up" - an Amazon Best-Selling book aimed at empowering women to regain their self-confidence and self-esteem after a break up. Cate spent more than 10 years working in the television industry and after it lost its charm and she went through a break up herself, Cate decided to make drastic life and career changes. She is now on the path to becoming a Registered Psychotherapist and is already think...
Jun 07, 2018•21 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Today were’ spicing things up. You’re not just meeting one fabulous Girlboss, you’re actually going to meet eight. I interviewed all of these women back to back live at the #Girlboss Toronto 4.0 meetup at Make Lemonade. Their stories are short and sweet and will totally leave you wanting more. Each of them lead totally different businesses with totally different lifestyles. All of these ladies though know their definition of free and are working for it everyday. Facebook groups like #Girlboss To...
May 30, 2018•42 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Ainsley Moir has always wanted to make an impact. Growing up she dreamed about working for global companies like Coca-Cola where she could use her marketing skills to shape the world’s biggest brands. So, she did. She spent a decade in corporate life before awakening to the fact that if she was working this hard to grow someone else’s brand, why can’t she just apply that energy to a business of her own. She tested a few different side hustles before picking one and taking the plunge to full-time...
May 23, 2018•26 min•Season 2Ep. 15
When Lisa Zamparo was a kid she dreamed of working on Bay street and making six figures by the age of 30. So, that’s what she did. Lisa got her CPA designation, a job at a big accounting firm and began to climb that corporate ladder. She had the financial success but it wasn’t what she expected. She didn’t feel happy. She was living for the weekend and felt disconnected from the freedom she valued. So, on her honeymoon of all places, Lisa and her very newlywed husband took a three hour hike and ...
May 17, 2018•26 min•Season 2Ep. 14
What would you ask for if you knew the answer was going to be yes? That’s the mindset Reese Evans began to adopt when she first launched Yes Supply in 2015. She’s since turned a blog empowering women to realize their dreams, into a full blown collective. Reese is living and breathing the life she knew she always deserved but didn’t know how to get. She’s now a Master Life and Success Coach where she helps women live their purpose using her expertise in NLP and EFT (worth the google search). She ...
May 10, 2018•24 min•Season 2Ep. 13
When Meghan Kraft walked away from her romantic relationship, she walked away from a business that defined her early twenties. Meghan has been a serial entrepreneur since she was 21 and spent five years building her first retail brand with her ex-business partner + long-term boyfriend. She chose happiness and the sacrifices were a package deal. Discover Meghan’s journey of reinventing herself post-exit, including her legendary trip to India and the decision to try her first “corporate job”. In t...
May 03, 2018•24 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Shraddha has always pursued opportunities that feel right, for right now. She currently works remotely as a digital marketer and previously worked in retail, micro-finance and has experimented with social entrepreneurship. Shraddha advocates for non-linear career paths and embodies the freedom lifestyle by jumping from one exciting opportunity (and often country) to the next. In this episode, Sam and Shraddha discuss: The benefits and drawbacks of non-linear career paths How you can make remote ...
Apr 26, 2018•20 min•Season 2Ep. 11
As part of a two-woman team, Elle Bulger lives the Freedom Lifestyle while still working for someone else. She’s the Director of Client Success at Pinch Social (the team bringing Social Media Week to Toronto), and has the perks of startup life without the burden of being an entrepreneur. It hasn’t all been a home run; Elle gets real with her previous roles and the negative impact they had on her mental health. She also shares the charming and oh so inspiring story of how she “flipped the script”...
Apr 19, 2018•24 min•Season 2Ep. 10
As Jacqueline Leung starting to climb the corporate ladder, she noticed how hard it was to push ideas through years of set processes and red tape. She knew this was preventing her from pursuing her full potential so she quit and focused on building a startup. Jacqueline is the founder and editor-in-chief of Pressed News , a digital media company that makes the news easy to understand by being concise, speaking like your friend, and giving you context on difficult topics. We had the opportunity t...
Apr 12, 2018•26 min•Season 2Ep. 9
It was just nine months ago that Diana Ross embarked on her journey to the freedom lifestyle. After getting married and turning 30, Diana started to think about her future, her values and her personal freedom. She courageously quit her job as the Director of Sales at a fast growing technology company, to design a business and lifestyle that worked for her. Diana Ross is the founder of Greater Marketing, a full service digital agency in Toronto, Canada. Diana loves to work and jokes about actuall...
Apr 04, 2018•22 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Rachel Kelly is the queen at turning life’s woes into deliciously memorable lemonade. As the Founder of Make Lemonade, a coworking space for women in Toronto, Rachel is on a mission to help others build community while “getting shit done”. She does this in her new 3000 square foot space that’s thoughtfully designed and totally instagramable. After spending years freelancing and jumping all over the city to fulfill her various gig work, Rachel wanted to create a permanent space she could call hom...
Mar 29, 2018•23 min•Season 2Ep. 7
In this bonus episode of the Freedom Lifestyle podcast series, we salute shamelessness and discuss the importance of conquering our fears of self-promotion. Putting yourself out there on social media and going public with your entrepreneurial identity is scary. It takes vulnerability and a confidence in the value you’re providing. This episode showcases just how normal those fears are and provides actionable tips for putting your doubts to rest. Discover The Art of Shamelessness. Links: Get Reso...
Mar 06, 2018•18 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Kyla is an empathetic badass who found freedom for herself by creating it for others. Through online and one-on-one coaching programs, Kyla helps women feel light, sexy and connected. She’s created a business that empowers women and showcases just how easy it is to fall in love with yourself. Kyla tried working a traditional 9-5, but couldn’t conform to its glaring limitations. She wanted to be free to live the life she knew she deserved. She wasn’t going to let a job prevent that from happening...
Jan 17, 2018•17 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Carrie quit her job, moved to a new city and reinvented herself as an entrepreneur. She did all of this at 40 and I'm blessed to call her my mom; the original girlboss in my life. As the owner of Chaos Control Home Staging , Carrie leverages her natural talents of organizing and decorating homes to create freedom for herself. For over twenty years, Carrie worked an office job that provided minimal flexibility, while balancing the parenting of two children. When she remarried and had the opportun...
Jan 04, 2018•20 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Hannah Kovacs started HIIT with Hannah as a side hustle while working at a technology startup in Toronto. After a year of building her fitness brand on evenings and weekends, she took the leap and is now living the Freedom Lifestyle full-time. Freedom Lifestyle represents the movement towards freedom in life and work. We interview entrepreneurial people who've created a lifestyle of independence, that's on their own terms. We discover their version of the Freedom Lifestyle, learn how they got th...
Dec 21, 2017•20 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Vanessa is a serial entrepreneur who quit corporate life and found the freedom lifestyle. She now manages several businesses and advocates for women having multiple income streams. As the founder of The Ladies Community in Toronto, LA and Houston, Vanessa has leveraged her personal brand to make money in many interesting ways. She coaches, hosts events, sells social / network marketing products AND she helps men propose. Vanessa is living the Freedom Lifestyle and loving it. ~ Links: Follow Sam ...
Dec 06, 2017•32 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Marisa is a freelance entrepreneur who quit her job at Google to turn storytelling into her full-time gig. She now travels all over the world coaching senior executives on their presentations while pursuing the Freedom Lifestyle. Links: Follow Sam Get Resources for Freedom Seekers Join the Freedom Lifestyle community Enrol in Launch a Podcast on a Budget About the show: ✨ Freedom Lifestyle represents the movement towards freedom in life and work. We interview entrepreneurial people who've create...
Nov 17, 2017•34 min•Season 1Ep. 1
