Anastasia Nikolakakos is a professional mixed martial artist with an amateur record of 8-0 and a professional record of 3-0. She is health and fitness coach, life coach, motivational speaker, and Instagram and business consultant. Annie is the founder of TeamAnnieAnimale, and she is full of energy. 

In this episode we talk about her knee surgery, what got her into MMA, discipline and commitment, spirituality, motivation, and having the mindset of a winner. Annie is a real pleasure to talk to. She is crazy, I love her. I hope you enjoy the episode.

You can listen to this episode wherever you listen to your podcasts. 

TeamAnnieAnimale Contact Information

Website - https://www.teamannieanimale.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/teamannieanimale/?hl=en

Please feel free to reach out to me and provide feedback at [email protected] 

On Twitter @MikeRyanG

On Instagram  @Conversations_With_Canadians 

Neelofer Mansuri has spent several years working on Parliament Hill. She is the former Stakeholder Outreach, Event Coordinator and Operations Aide to the Minister of Women and Gender Equality Maryanm Monsef.  Prior to working for a federal minister, she was the Executive Assistant to the member of parliament for Vaughan-Woodbridge. Neelo is involved in many charity organizations including: Afghan Women’s Organization, Variety The Children’s Charity, Malala Fund, IDRF, Islamic, Makeanimpact, and she runs her own charity, Vitality Sport. 

On this episode we chat about everything from her parents journey from Afghanistan to Canada, to what it was like growing up as an Afghan Muslim during 911, her time working on Parliament Hill, and what the daily life of a staffer of a Member of Parliament and Federal Minister is like. We also touch upon some of the work of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality and what the ministry has been doing to support men and boys.

Neelo is an all-around amazing human being and I hope you enjoy the show.

You can follow Neelo on Instagram or Facebook

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nee1o/?hl=en

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/neelo.mansuri

Please feel free to reach out to me and provide feedback at [email protected] 

On Twitter @MikeRyanG

On Instagram  @Conversations_With_Canadians 

Dr. Zachary Paikin is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy. He earned his Ph.D in International Relations from the University of Kent in the United Kingdom.

On this episode we chat about a number of  topics such as  how Canadian identity has shifted since confederation, the influence of American politics on Canadian culture, the consequences of an American centric foreign policy, what strategic interests Canada might share with Russia, and how Canada might contribute to a peaceful international order. We also discuss his recent piece Multiculturalism at 50: Rethinking Canadian identity and independence in a post-American world.

I hope you enjoy this episode. If you like what you are hearing please remember to subscribe and leave a review.

Dr. Zachary Paikin Contact Info

Twitter

Please feel free to reach out to me and provide feedback at [email protected] 

On Twitter @MikeRyanG

On Instagram  @Conversations_With_Canadians 

Michael Appugliese aka Mike Fresh is an exuberant Canadian entrepreneur. He is the owner of Fresh House Juice Bar and an all around motivating and inspiring dude. 

We chat about how he turned his life around, the importance of surrounding yourself with the right peers, mindset, meditation, work ethic, and secrets to running a successful business.

This is one of my favourite episodes to date! I hope you enjoy it.

If you like what you are hearing please hit the subscribe/follow button wherever you listen to your podcast.

Mike Fresh Contact Information

Website: https://www.freshouse.ca/

Instagram:  @freshouse.juicebar
https://www.instagram.com/freshouse.juicebar/?hl=en

Conversations With Canadians Contact Information

Please feel free to reach out to me and provide feedback at [email protected] 

On Twitter @MikeRyanG

On Instagram  @Conversations_With_Canadians 

Francesco Sorbara is the Member of Parliament for Vaughan-Woodbridge. He currently serves as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue. On this episode of we chat about Francesco's small town roots and his dream of serving in the House of Commons. We discuss his time working on Wall Street, the life and duties of an MP and Parliamentary Secretary, and the pressure the job puts on family life. We also dive into what Canada and being Canadian means to him.
 
 I hope you enjoy the episode. If you like what you are hearing please remember to hit the subscribe button.
 
 Francesco Sorbara

 Instagram - @sorbaraf
 Twitter - @fsorbara
 
 Please feel free to reach out to me and provide feedback at [email protected] 

On Twitter @MikeRyanG

On Instagram  @Conversations_With_Canadians 

Welcome to the Conversations with Canadians podcast. I am your host, Mike Ryan.

So What is the conversations with Canadians podcast? This is first and foremost a podcast about Canadians. 

For the last several years, an increasing concern of mine has been that the discussion in our country has been about politics and culture beyond our borders. We consume American media, follow American thought leaders, we are inspired by their entrepreneurs, scientists, academics, celebrities, and many Canadians know more about the history of the United States then they do their own country. 

Our country needs to stop being influenced in such a significant way from the outside. We need to start thinking for ourselves. 

To do this we need to shift the psychology of Canadians, to one that gets us to see ourselves as the brilliant, amazing, and inspiring people that we are. One that will get us to realize what all that we could be. 

My aim of this podcast is to showcase Canadian people doing amazing things - from all different walks of life. I plan to interview people in Politics, Academia, Science, Media, Sports, Business, and everyday folks to highlight the amazing and interesting work they are up to and to uncover what it means to be Canadian. 

I hope you enjoy these episodes as much as I love doing them. If you like what you hear, please subscribe and follow me wherever you listen to your podcasts. 

Please feel free to provide me feedback and criticism at [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram at conversations_with_Canadians

Twitter @mike_ryang

I hope you enjoy the show. 

Irvin Studin is a Canadian academic, author, public intellectual, and former two-time all Canadian soccer player who is the editor-in chief of Global Brief Magazine and the President of the Institute of 21st Century Questions. He holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Schulich Busines School. He studied at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar earning a Master of Arts degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. He studied International Relations at the London School of Economics and has a PHD in Constitutional Law from Osgood Hall Law School where he earned the Governor General’s Gold Metal. 

We chat about Irvin’s professional soccer experience and how that influenced his academic pursuits. We discuss a number of topics such as the new strategic borders facing Canada in the 21st century and the importance of China. Why Canada needs a  population of 100 million. The 6 major crises facing Canada in the post pandemic world with a particular focus on the disintegrating education system in Canada.  We talk about the future of Canada in the 21st century, and Irvin discusses his thoughts on what being Canadian means to him.

Irvin Studin can be reached on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/irvin.studin, on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/irvin-studin-28087b112/?originalSubdomain=ca.

Global Brief Magazine - https://globalbrief.ca/

Institute For 21st Century Questions - https://www.i21cq.com/

I hope you enjoy the episode. If you like what you are hearing please remember to hit the subscribe button.

 Please feel free to reach out to me and provide feedback at [email protected] 

On Twitter @MikeRyanG

On Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/mike_ryang/    @Mike_RyanG

Michael Harrison is a software developer at IBM.  He received his degree in Computer Engineering from York University. We talk about a wide range of topics from IBM, machine learning, quantum computing, to belief in god, and free will.