Ellipses Thinking...

"Innovation = Transforming Ideas into Value"

Leo Chan firmly believes that everyone is an innovator and his mission is to create space, opportunity and practice so that everyone might believe it to be true as well and then to make it so in their lives. Leo is a people and heart-first entrepreneur and the founder of Abound Innovation Inc. An innovator himself, Leo holds 55 US patents and over 20 years of experience supporting organizations looking to unleash the innovative potential of their employees by transforming them into confident innovators. A glance at Leo's schedule of appearances speaking at conferences and delivering hands-on workshops is evidence of the value placed upon innovation and creativity in the world today.

For more information on Leo and his work, visit: https://aboundinnovation.ca/

Poet Diana Hayes has walked with grief for over 20 years since the death of her mother. The fact that both she and her mother, whom she remembers as her confidant, muse and dearest friend, were both facing a breast cancer diagnosis at the same time, added even greater complexity to her grieving process. Diana's collection of poetry, The Language of Light serves as her tribute to her mother and has been alongside and within Diana as a central part of her creative and grieving process.

Since 1981, she has made her home on Salt Spring Island where she divides her time between writing, photography, producing literary events and festivals, and when possible, travel. In 2002, she founded the Salt Spring Seals, an open-water swim team that swims year-round in the bays around Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands.

Season 3 - Oct 27, 2023

Jeremy Schonfeld's powerful storytelling voice, reveals the heart of a man on a journey, vulnerably seeking to understand himself, his family and friends and his community. Weaving across the story-threads of Jeremy's musical tome, is his own deeply genuine exploration of fatherhood. Having been moved by his music since it first landed in my ears over a decade ago, I continue to be drawn to this recurring theme of what it means to have a father and be a father; reflective of the joys and sorrows, dreams and regrets, times of absence and presence and above all, the wisdom gathered from both sides of the role.

An award-winning Billboard-charting singer/songwriter, composer/lyricist, producer and performer, Jeremy is also co-founder of the Beacon Bonfire Music and Art Festival, held annually in Beacon, New York.

As a bonus to end Season 2, on Father's Day, Jeremy joined me in conversation about his creative process, his life as a storyteller and fatherhood.

As a musician and producer of musical performances, Zohreh Gervais is fascinated by those all too rare moments within a musical performance, when an undeniably powerful, even transcendent experience occurred within audience members as they received the power of the art. It is her pursuit of these moments of awe that get her up and out of bed every day.

Having spent most of her life on stage connecting with audiences, Zohreh is convinced that the universal human language is not math or music alone, but the emotional resonance that they can inspire. She loves exploring the intersections and overlaps between different fields and cultures. Regardless of the medium or discipline, Zohreh is on the hunt for the common threads that connect us all and allow her to build community and beauty in every project.

She and her team of innovators across multiple disciplines have recently launched the Winnipeg based company Neon Venus Productions, with the goal of creating the opportunity for audiences to experience the Magic of Awe.

When Bob Bonniol's mother took him to the opening weekend of the very first Stars Wars movie (and then every Saturday for the next 20 weeks), something stuck. While he laughs at the memory, his obsession for all things Star Wars was hardwired as a child and this core memory, well seeded would remain dormant for many years he discovered his own pathway to what has become a thrilling professional journey, working with major entertainment giants, including LucasFilm.

An Emmy Award winning Director, Production Designer, and Producer, Bob has built a reputation for his implementation of extensive media and interactive features in his productions and installations. His inter-disciplinary practice draws inspiration from traditional and groundbreaking storytelling conventions of theater, broadcast media, opera, visual art installation, and architecture. Most recently, Bob has been deploying and integrating new interactive technology and AI to elevate live concert production, with tour designs for Billy Joel, Blake Shelton, Megan Thee Stallion, and the One Night Houston Festival.

It seems that Bob finds joy in every stage of the creative process, and has, since realizing early in his professional theatre career, that with or without the actual building, the experience of theatre exists everywhere and in all our storytelling. Just as Bob imagined himself to be George Lucas, a genius at creating a whole world picture through storytelling, he has himself come to set and expect Lucas-level standards in his own commitment to creating richly layered, and fully realized experiences that invite audiences to enter a creative space with their own imaginations firing on all cylinders.

Christina Dempsey studied in the professional division of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School while still in high school, after which she went on to graduate from the Juilliard School in New York City in 2005 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Christina's professional career included performing with Koresh Dance Company in Philadelphia for two seasons before returning home to Canada in 2007, to join Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, with whom she toured the world for eight seasons. In 2015, Christina relocated to Los Angeles to join BODYTRAFFIC, dancing until she stepped away from the floor two just years later.

To a dancer, like an elite athlete, the realization that the end of the lane that you chose to commit your life's passion and pursuit to from a very young age is coming to an end and that the choice to merge, while inevitable, can appear as wildly unfamiliar territory.

In our conversation, Christina shares the moments of clarity as she came to realize that her professional life of a contemporary dancer, the role she had always identified with was soon to be eclipsed by her next; and how her challenge lay in defining the 'next' when she had always lived in the 'now'. Her willingness to step in and stay in the discomfort long enough to remain open to possibility, led her to discover her passion for new roles including teacher, yoga instructor and Mom.

An in your bones belief that each of us can live, lead, learn and be our best version of All Of Me, is the powerful frame that anchors Lisa Strogal firmly through her unique frame of Whole Person Intelligence™. While we might think of harnessing the energies of which we as humans are a part of, it seems for Lisa more important to listen deeply to the energies and focus on harnessing the wisdom to be gleaned from them.

As CEO and Founder of ShadowLight Consulting, Lisa Strogal brings over 20 years of leadership and consulting experience at a variety of Fortune 100 companies. She blends her diverse background and knowledge for leaders, teams, and individuals to support Whole Person Intelligence™ for those who are willing to explore and challenge outdated paradigms, belief structures, and assumptions. Doing the work at the subconscious level, her clients quickly build the competence and necessary awareness required to support goal achievement while integrating change at the conscious level. Lisa's approach to life resonates through her calm, witty, and meaningful interactions.

For more information on Lisa and her work with Whole Person Intelligence™ check out her website: https://www.shadowlightconsulting.ca/

See Lisa set up and demonstrate the Sound Bowl experience: https://youtu.be/eq2RyWjequg

Lolla Devindisch's life has been a creative quest to "live fully and authentically" and through it all, she has held a channel open, at first intuitive and then intentional; a space to more fully be at peace with the little girl who left her home at 7, left a life she loved and a father she adored. In her self-published memoir, A Dancer's Pilgrimage, she acknowledges the journey has been one of seeking understanding redemption and finally serenity. Always a performer, Lolla has now found a new stage on which to express her heart's voice on the page as writer of poetry, fiction and non-fiction.

Learn More:

www.ordinarypodcasts.com & www.dowlercoltman.com

On stages across Canada for over 30 years, John Ullyatt has been fortunate to build a career as actor, worthy of being considered by any measure, successful. He has played leading roles in multiple genres, singing, dancing and entertaining audiences while earning high praise and respect from his fellow artists. The joy he brings into a collaborative community is as infectious as his laughter. And yet, the title of 'artist' is one that he has grappled with assuming throughout his career. This theme wove itself throughout our conversation, which began however, not focused on theatre, but rather the art of making spirits, a role he was cast in during the pandemic shut down.