I came across Miik’s Instagram account earlier this year. Whether it was a shared hashtag or a comment from a friend, or some algorithm, I landed on his profile and was intrigued immediately. Miik Wells is an absolute force. We start this conversation chatting about how and why Miik’s move to Seattle in ‘98 changed his life forever. Miik shares a series of events that took him to his lowest low, where he was reminded of the hopeful, joyful spark within him that he could always return to. As he w...
Nov 30, 2020•45 min•Ep. 108
Katie is a Yoga teacher and a Psycho-Practitioner, mixing traditional psychology practices with holistic and spiritual healing modalities. She works with veterans, first responders and their families. She also travels across Ontario as a guest speaker and teacher offering her teachings and messages through a trauma sensitive/ trauma informed lens. Katie’s first career was as a social worker. Not long into her studies and career path, she hit rock bottom, carrying baggage from each case, which im...
Nov 23, 2020•45 min•Ep. 107
From spinal surgery, not feeling in control, to feeling outrageous trust in the unknown, and seeing connections to everything. From experiencing resentment towards her ailments and conditions to establishing a gratitude practice, entering a true journey of self discovery, and dedicating her life to help others. Juliana Leamen is a Nutritionist and Mind-Body Weight Release Expert, University-trained with a Masters degree in Science, certified as a Holistic Nutritionist and Functional Diagnostic N...
Nov 16, 2020•33 min•Ep. 106
Shayda’s Dad, Amir, is an Iranian immigrant. His story is captivating, raw, and full of emotional moments that have been shared recently on a podcast called The Hopeful, on the Frequency Podcast Network. In total transparency, I didn’t listen to The Hopeful before my conversation with Shayda. I wanted to be able to speak with her entirely about her perspectives on her Dad’s story and what being the daughter of immigrant parents has been like without knowing anything about the story in advance. I...
Nov 13, 2020•59 min•Ep. 105
Deborah was always into fashion, dressing up and style, and was often assumed to work in the creative industry. Most of her working career was spent behind a desk, working in tech, and modelling had never really crossed her mind. As her hair slowly started to turn silver, she decided to embrace it, and people began to notice. As people began noticing Deborah’s hair, some friends started to suggest she try modelling. One evening, left alone and unsupervised with a laptop and the internet, she sen...
Nov 09, 2020•32 min•Ep. 104
Mady and Scout are sisters and creators of an online space and podcast called “Okay Sis.” Their contrasting and complementary personalities make for entertaining, funny, engaging, relatable and sometimes serious conversations about their lives. They welcome guests into their community and onto their podcast to discuss topics of all kinds. Mady is really detail oriented and likes a solid plan, where Scout is really fly by the seat of her pants, so this is where their personalities really got to s...
Nov 06, 2020•45 min•Ep. 103
Arvin moved to Canada from the Philippines eleven years ago, and came to live with his Mom, who had moved here several years prior. Leaving his life in the Philippines behind, Arvin worked through his transition into life in Canada with his Mom’s support and encouragement to dream big. In this lively conversation, Arvin shares many personal experiences along his journey into journalism and as a journalist today. He talks about what being a person of colour was like both in university and what it...
Nov 02, 2020•40 min•Ep. 102
Valentina moved to Canada from Colombia eleven years ago to study. After her studies and settling into life in Kamloops, Valentina started thinking about ways in which she could take on business working for herself. A favourite purse of hers from Colombia was getting so many compliments, she wondered how she could bring these products made in Colombia to Canada to support herself, and the artisans from back home. This story is so much more than an entrepreneurial journey… after Valentina shares ...
Oct 26, 2020•42 min•Ep. 101
Bradford and Bryan Manning are brothers, entrepreneurs and business partners. They both share a degenerative retinal eye disease called Stargardt Disease, where you lose your central vision over time. Five years apart in age, both Brad and Bryan started losing their central vision around 5 years old. Today, Brad and Bryan explain that they really don’t know much different than living life with a visual impairment. In this episode, I sit down (virtually, of course!) with Bradford and Bryan Mannin...
Oct 23, 2020•55 min•Ep. 100
Kenzie Brenna is a self and body love enthusiast, a mental health advocate and an extremely engaging and thought provoking influencer on Instagram. Although even Kenzie rolls her eyes at the title influencer, she’s created a platform that is safe and brave, comforting to most and confronting to some. She’s educated, extremely well spoken, and incredibly inviting. Kenzie is also an Atheist. In this really rich conversation, Kenzie shares her spiritual journey and her path towards atheism, through...
Oct 19, 2020•51 min•Ep. 99
No music. No podcasts. No audiobooks. No journal. No pen. No books. No radio. No shelter. No camera crew. No conversation. Just you, in the Arctic, ALONE. The History Channel’s show Alone follows a group of contestants as they explore an area – in Season 7, the most extreme challenge yet, the Arctic! – for 100 days. The stakes were high this season, with $1,000,000 as the prize for the winner. Out of the ten contestants, two were women, and one of those women was from Ontario, Canada. Sitting on...
Oct 12, 2020•50 min•Ep. 98
The Canary Yellow wasn’t started to just share his music. It was created to resonate with an audience that needs the love, support, compassion and companionship that Josh needed through his early life. Josh moved around a lot as a kid, and through various family structures and experiences, found music to be his safety. Music allows for deep insight and self exploration, and has proven that although beautiful things can come from dark places, joy and light can be found in such small moments. Grow...
Oct 05, 2020•47 min•Ep. 97
Aundra Williams is a blogger, a speaker, and a coach. She is the creator of a beautiful Christian blog, where she writes to her readers about faith and self-improvement. She teaches about biblical principals and how to put it into a lifestyle. She works with girls and young women to establish healthy boundaries, increase self-confidence, and speak their truth. Aundra moved from a small town in Michigan to California to chase her dream of being a full-time blogger. What she didn’t know when she l...
Sep 28, 2020•49 min•Ep. 96
Warning: Content relating to the death of Bianca’s sister, Katrina, who died from Ovarian Cancer. Bianca Hayes is a force. This summer, she biked from Vancouver to Halifax in 19 days and 18 hours. Bianca Hayes was never an avid cyclist. Her inspiration to ride came from the aspiration to raise money and awareness for Ovarian Cancer. Bianca’s sister Katrina died in 2018 from Ovarian Cancer, which is the fifth most common cancer but most deadly of all women’s cancers. August 2018 was the first rea...
Sep 21, 2020•59 min•Ep. 95
Over the past several months, I’ve been taking a really critical look at marketing and advertising. During my deep dives, I came across Jacqueline Carrington’s Instagram page, and her company, People of Color Beauty. After years in the hotel industry, Jackie and her husband made some big life changes and began growing their family. Along with the changes in location and jobs, Jackie took on a whole new role as an entrepreneur, and started up a nail polish company! In this episode, Jackie shares ...
Sep 14, 2020•36 min•Ep. 94
For anyone with a passion, old or new, you completely understand the time, effort, love, sweat and tears it takes to complete a project, a painting, a quilt, a new build, a new idea, and in this case, a podcast. Tara Jean Stevens is a broadcaster, an actress, a storyteller, and most recently a podcast host. In this episode, we chat about the creation of Heaven Bent, Tara Jean’s new podcast on Frequency Podcast Network, and how she was able to put this together and produce it all during a global ...
Sep 07, 2020•39 min•Ep. 93
Imagine going from near perfect health, talking, walking, working, and living your best life, to completely paralyzed and fighting for your life within days. In this episode, Mallory Bishop shares her experience with an upper respiratory infection gone wrong, with symptoms that progressed so quickly she found herself completely paralyzed from the neck down only days later. The diagnosis was Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder where your immune system attacks your nervous system...
Aug 31, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 92
Marcie is a writer, a blogger, a wife and a Mom. She’s the creator of many online spaces that she calls brave spaces, most namely Black Coffee with White Friends and Mockingbird, history lessons for adults. Marcie is one incredible person, and this conversation sits right in my heart. In this episode, Marcie shares the stories behind how these ventures began, and how at the root of them were the crucial conversations that need to be had about history, race, identity, and what it is to be Marcie....
Aug 24, 2020•52 min•Ep. 91
Jess Pinili is a Female Empowerment Coach from Perth, Australia. With her background in personal training and personal life experiences, she blends spirituality, life-experience, and strategy into her methods, working to help uplift her clients and those around her. Starting into a business degree program and getting involved in fitness, Jess realized she needed something more. Through her own personal struggles and grief and life transitions, she has created a platform and business model that h...
Aug 17, 2020•46 min•Ep. 90
*Trigger Warning – Contains content relating to sexual abuse and assault; some explicit language.** Eternity Martis is a Toronto-based journalist, author and senior editor at Xtra. She’s now a best-selling author of her first book, “They Said This Would Be Fun – Race, Campus Life, and Growing Up.” Eternity’s work focuses on issues of race and gender, taking deep dives into her own experiences and sharing them with the world. Her stories are real, raw, and relatable. Our conversation covers so mu...
Aug 10, 2020•46 min•Ep. 89
Jermaine Fowler is a Public Educator and Historical Storyteller, and his passion is undeniable. Jermaine explores society, culture, biographies, and politics, through a historic lens, and shares his learnings through a variety of mediums, most recently, his podcast, The Humanity Archive. I came across Jermaine’s page after my time with Lettie Schumate, my guest from June 22. Lettie and Jermaine have a shared interest in passion for history, and connecting the dots, bringing knowledge forward and...
Aug 03, 2020•38 min•Ep. 88
As this heart-driven networking continues, Jenny Jay was the one who put Lauren Russ-Constant and I in touch. This led me to a video on Lauren’s Instagram page that was so raw, so real, and so relatable, and ultimately sparked the conversation around Lauren sharing some of her personal experiences and perspectives with me on the podcast. Lauren is an incredible person. She’s taken her own personal growth to create safe spaces where people feel less alone and can communicate openly about their em...
Jul 27, 2020•57 min•Ep. 87
Matthew Hayes has so many layers to his story. From navigating depression and his own identity through pain and trauma, he’s grown and designed a life that aims to help others move forward from a place of compassion. People are hurting. We’re all finding our own ways to cope. We all have different life experiences and have met different people to have helped inform us, teach us, or direct us as we grow and heal. Matt has learned how to name his own narratives and patterns, and helps others do th...
Jul 20, 2020•47 min•Ep. 86
Brianna teaches special education. She works with students with a variety of needs and ability levels, and moves through her life heart first. From her own lessons and struggles in life, she’s developed a sense of empathy that runs deep, and works hard to create a safe and engaging learning environment for her students. Her love of Disney and yoga led us into some fabulous chats about finding balance in life. We talk about hanging around in the background to fit in, and her experience navigating...
Jul 13, 2020•49 min•Ep. 85
You know those people you meet – in person or online! – that you instantly feel drawn to and connected with? That’s how I felt about Leah Brathwaite! In her own words, is a Soul Advisor, Best-Selling Author, an Entrepreneur, a Truth-Telling Sagittarius, World-Class Hugger and Travel-Loving Sweat Junkie. I connect with all of this! Real connection feels so good. It’s the kind of thing that lights my soul on fire. Leah’s story is woven with a constant and deep drive to chase her soul’s desires. Sh...
Jul 06, 2020•49 min•Ep. 84
As I continue on my anti-racism journey, I’ve found several accounts on Instagram that have taught me so much. When you follow a hashtag on Instagram, photos will often come up on your feed that will lead you to a profile you may not have come across before. This is what led me to Dr Tiffany Bowden’s profile. At the top of her page, it says anti-racism educator, TED Speaker, Cannabis, Tech and Mental Health Influencer. As a TED talk lover who is chasing the depths of anti-racism and understandin...
Jun 29, 2020•54 min•Ep. 83
Lettie Shumate is an Historian, educator, a social justice supporter and a podcaster from North Carolina. The way Lettie shares her knowledge is seriously moving. She’s direct, passionate, and extremely enjoyable to listen to. In total transparency, I’ve been taking notes while listening to her podcast! She discusses a variety of topics in history and their connection to social issues. She has an ability to connect the dots in history and is incredibly talented. “Heart-work” is work that has bee...
Jun 22, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 82
Earlier this year, looking into events going on in Ontario related to personal and professional growth and development, I came across an event in Vaughan that was right up my alley. I booked it right away. It was an event that aligned with my values in ways no other event I’d attended had before. Sandra Chuma is from Zimbabwe. She is a storyteller, a filmmaker, a podcaster and an entrepreneur. Sandra’s passion in storytelling, empowering women and sharing stories helped ignite her desires to cre...
Jun 15, 2020•49 min•Ep. 81
Jenny is a creator, a storyteller, and an entrepreneur. She has recently learned the power of voicing her truth and embracing her culture living as her most authentic self. She holds space with such compassion that getting uncomfortable with Jenny actually feels like a safe space to learn and to ask questions. If today is the start of your journey into the depths of anti-racism, learning and unlearning old ways, be kind to yourself. Try not to feel burdened by shame or guilt. Keep moving. Keep g...
Jun 08, 2020•55 min•Ep. 80
Elaine Kapogines is the owner and publisher of Wiltshire Media, a wife, and a Mom of two. She’s ambitious and driven towards success with her business, and has explored different avenues in the media world, from podcasting to production and social media to running a successful magazine called The Holistic Parent. She and her husband work hard to create a life that allows her to work from home and to be the best role model she can be for their daughters, demonstrating balance and commitment to se...
Jun 01, 2020•37 min•Ep. 79
