Today I talk to Diane Allen, an author and speaker that helps people find and keep their flow state. If you’re wondering what flow is exactly, you’re not alone.  In fact, Diane didn’t know it was a thing either until one day she lost it.  She shares the story of being on stage as a violinist, and she froze.  She couldn’t play.  It was that humiliation that sent her on a quest to understand what had happened. 

If you’re like me, you probably didn’t know there was a word for the flow state.  I heard it for the first time a year ago.  But I know you’ve felt it - those moments where time seems to stand still, your creative juices are flowing, and you’re getting more done in 20 minutes than you have in a week.

To me, it always seemed like magic.  I never knew when or how it would strike.  But it turns out you can control it, and conjure it whenever you want.  

Diane takes us through the science of the flow state and a 3-step process for managing it.

I love this idea.  And I’m obsessed with figuring this out.  

Just imagine what more we could do.

Please enjoy, Diane Allen.

Key Takeaways

• What is Flow? Diane defines flow as an optimal state of mind where distractions vanish, creativity flourishes, and you feel fearless and uninhibited.
• The Science of Flow: Learn about the brain’s role in flow, including the activation of feel-good hormones like dopamine and the silencing of the inner critic.
• Recognize Your Flow State: Diane explains the “Where, What, Why” framework to identify and replicate your unique flow experiences.
• The Power of Intention: Distractions are the biggest killers of flow. Diane shares tips on managing interruptions and creating a distraction-free environment.
• Flow and Mental Health: How accessing flow helps move you from languishing to flourishing, improving your overall well-being.
• Collaboration in Flow: Discover how flow can be contagious, inspiring teams to perform at their best through a ripple effect of energy.
• Making Flow Routine: Practical tips to prioritize and practice flow, so it becomes an integral part of your life.

Connect with Diane:

Diane’s TEDx Talk: Get Into Your Life Like a Musician Gets Into the Music

Diane’s Book: Flow - Unlock Your Genius and Love What You Do.  

Website https://dianeallen.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianeallenspeaker/

Resources:

Adam Grant on languishing: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html

Book: Limitless by Jim Kwik

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Today I talk to Michelle Grocholosky, a CEO and speaker who works with leaders to build more diverse and inclusive companies.  She’s one of Canada’s top 40 under 40 and has been recognized as one of the top 100 most powerful women in the country. She’s kind of a big deal.

I recently told a friend of mine that I was doing an episode on diversity and inclusion, and she said, “yeah that’s of no interest to me at all.”  I appreciate her honesty, and it reflects how a lot of people are feeling about this topic.  There is a lot of fatigue out there.

Maybe that’s why I loved this conversation so much - Michelle is so different than any other leader I’ve heard on this topic.  She shares personal stories of how growing up in an intolerant household and working in a psychiatric hospital led her to her passion for this work.  But even as an expert in the field, she’s honest about having to combat her deeply rooted biases and stereotypes on a daily basis.

You can’t control your first thought, but you can control your second.  I take a lot of comfort in that, because I have made a lot of questionable decisions and told a lot of bad jokes. These conversations are never easy, which is kind of the point.

Please enjoy, Michelle Grocholsky.

Key Takeaways

• The DEI Dinner Analogy: Diversity is being invited, inclusion is feeling welcome, and equity is having access to enjoy the meal—each pillar is essential.
• Why Equity Lags Behind: Equity is often misunderstood as quotas when it’s really about fairness, removing barriers, and creating access for everyone.
• Overcoming Bias: You can’t control your first thought, but you can control your second. Curiosity and humility are powerful tools for growth.
• Unlearning and Relearning: Biases are often learned early, but through exposure and introspection, we can unlearn and build more inclusive perspectives.
• Navigating Discomfort: It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you’re willing to learn and adapt. Humility and compassion can create space for authentic dialogue.
• Shifting the Corporate Lens: When companies listen and act on feedback, they can create lasting, meaningful change for their employees and their bottom line.

Resources

• TED Talk: Michelle recently delivered a TED Talk at the University of Waterloo, highlighting stereotypes and strengths in the workplace.
• The Person You Mean to Be by Dolly Chugh.
• How to Be an Inclusive Leader by Jennifer Brown.

Connect with Michelle:
LinkedIn
Instagram

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Today I talk to Clarence Cachagee, an Indigenous leader, author and founder of Crow Shield Lodge - a land-based healing center for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.  

So, I don’t know how to explain this conversation and when you listen, you’ll know what I mean.  Talking to Clarence, you’re struck by how peaceful, thoughtful and hopeful he is for someone who has been through such trauma.  He talks about being placed in foster care with his sister at an early age, discovering alcohol at 8 years old, abandoning his high-school sweetheart and their two young daughters, living on the streets, being incarcerated - and then finding his way back.  He got sober, graduated from college, reconciled with his family, and, most importantly, reconnected with the land and his Indigenous roots.  

I’ve got a lot to learn about Indigenous teachings.  So  when Clarence talks about kindness, compassion, finding your purpose, and being of service - it's with a different lens than I’m used to.  I’ve got a lot of work to do, and Clarence makes me feel ok about that.

https://www.amazon.ca/North-Wind-Man-Clarence-Cachagee/dp/1990827039Please enjoy, Clarence Cachagee.

Key Takeaways:

• Prayer as a Tool for Connection: Clarence explains how “praying forward” shifts the focus from personal needs to collective healing and gratitude.
• Healing Through the Land: The land holds the wisdom and medicine needed for healing and reconnection. All our teachings, ceremonies, and belonging are rooted in it.
• The Power of a Spirit Name: Receiving his name, North Wind Man, was pivotal for Clarence. It helped him rediscover his purpose: to bring change and foster connection.
• Breaking the Cycle of Trauma: Intergenerational trauma runs deep, but healing begins with acknowledgment, patience, and working for future generations.
• Truth and Reconciliation: We’re still in the truth stage, and it’s hard work. Allyship, listening, and challenging the status quo are critical for meaningful progress.
• The Importance of Alternatives: Clarence advocates for new pathways in health care, education, and justice systems to create spaces for Indigenous perspectives and healing.
• Hope for the Future: Being a “best ancestor” today involves creating opportunities and removing barriers for future generations to thrive.

Resources:

• Crow Shield Lodge
• Donate to Crow Shield Lodge
• Follow Clarence on Twitter, https://www.facebook.com/crowshieldlodge, https://www.instagram.com/crowshieldlodge/
• North Wind Man by Clarence Cachagee

Connect with Clarence
X
Facebook
Instagram

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Today I talk to Michelle Hillier, a speaker, educator and author who helps people find their authentic self by slowing down, finding their breath and re-igniting their fire.

She’s also a recovering alcoholic.  I never thought a conversation about addiction, recovery and what’s on the other side could be so much fun.  She shares hilarious and sometimes heart-breaking stories of how drinking helped her cope, and it worked pretty good for most of her life, until it didn’t.  She talks about how the sudden death of her father made her realize she was living in the matrix - a life based on what society told her it should look like.  And how things came to a head during the pandemic when she saw the real dark side of alcohol for the first time.  

This was a really powerful and personal conversation for me.  I don’t talk about my sobriety often and this felt like talking to a smarter, more enlightened girl version of myself.  We’re all in recovery from something.  Whatever yours looks like, this conversation is for you.

Please enjoy, Michelle Hillier.

Key Takeaways

• Uncovering Patterns and True Core Values: Michelle discovered that the times she felt out of alignment with her core values, authenticity and health, were often when her drinking increased.
• Transforming Tragedy into Purpose: The passing of her father and the COVID-19 pandemic both became wake-up calls that helped her start her own business and ultimately embrace sobriety.
• Slowing Down and Finding Balance: Michelle found that slowing down and being in tune with her body allowed her to truly experience joy and authenticity, bringing balance to her naturally high-energy lifestyle.
• Breath and Fire – A New Way of Living and Working: Michelle’s platform, Breath and Fire, embodies the balance between calm and passion, helping others find their fire while staying grounded.
• Rebuilding Relationships with Deeper Connections: Sobriety allowed Michelle to reframe her relationships, leading to a more authentic bond with friends and family.
• Creativity Reignited in Recovery: With sobriety, Michelle has found herself more connected to her creativity, whether through movement, problem-solving, or planning her next steps in life.

Resources

• Breath and Fire: Michelle Hillier’s platform for coaching, speaking, and workshops on authenticity and balance.
• Breath and Fire: FREE 5 Day Awaken Your Flame Practice
• Core Values Test: A tool for discovering personal core values, which helped Michelle see the impact of authenticity and health on her life.
• Greenstone Treatment Center: The recovery center where Michelle now works as a mind-body professional, giving back to those beginning their own journeys.

Connect with Michelle

• Breath and Fire Website
• Instagram 
• LinkedIn

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Today, I talk to Jake Gold, the legendary manager of the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. Jake talks about the new film The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal and the four-year process of bringing The Hip’s raw, emotional story to life.

We go deep into The Hip lore with stories that have never been heard before about some of The Hip's iconic songs, their appearance on SNL, touring with the Stones, and the final goodbye tour before Gord Downie's death in 2017.

Now, I can’t sit here and pretend that this is just another podcast episode. The Hip has been my favourite band since they released their first album when I was turning 19. It’s no exaggeration to say they provided the soundtrack to my life.  I hope you have an artist in your life who means that much to you because then you can understand what it means to me to sit down with Jake and hear these stories.

But here’s the thing: The film and this conversation are not really about a rock band. They’re about truth, friendship, family, tragedy, and reconciliation. They’re also about the power of music and stories to bring us together.

Please enjoy Jake Gold.

Key Takeaways:

1. No Dress Rehearsal offers a raw, emotional journey into the life of The Tragically Hip, and takes us behind the scenes of these 5 very private people.
2. Authenticity in music is what made The Hip so relatable, and it’s something people crave more than ever.
3. Music can take us back to another time and place, but hearing these new stories can give these old songs new life and meaning.
4. Managing The Hip was all about taking risks and they did things that nobody had done in the industry.
5. Festivals like Another Roadside Attraction are more than just shows—they're about building community and celebrating together.
6. The band’s final tour unified a nation as it rolled across the country and gave fans an opportunity to say goodbye to Gord Downie.
7. Every Canadian remembers where they were for The Hip’s final concert in Kingston.  It brought the country together in a way that no politician ever will. 

Resources:

• Watch No Dress Rehearsal on Amazon Prime
• The Tragically Hip's discography on Spotify
• Follow Jake Gold on LinkedIn
• Follow The Tragically Hip on Instagram

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Today I talk to Dr. Karen Wyatt, a renowned hospice doctor and author of What Really Matters: 7 Lessons for Living from the Stories of the Dying.  Now before you press skip, this is not as heavy and morbid as it sounds.  In fact, quite the opposite.  This conversation was fun, inspiring and hopeful.  

Karen shares stories of people that learned at the very end of their lives, profound lessons about what really matters in life.  They’re stories about finding our purpose, being present and the power of forgiveness.  Her patients aren’t here anymore, but we are.  Their words and these lessons are a gift.  

This conversation isn’t about how to die, it’s about how to live.

Please enjoy, Karen Wyatt.

Key Takeaways

• How Karen’s father’s suicide led her to find purpose in hospice work.
• The powerful lessons she’s learned from witnessing hundreds of patients' final moments.
• How we can live with more intention, forgive sooner, and embrace love over fear.
• When doing something like writing a book, you don’t need to know everything.  You’ll learn what you need as you go.

Resources:

• What Really Matters: 7 Lessons for Living from the Stories of the Dying by Dr. Karen Wyatt
• Dr. Wyatt’s podcast, End of Life University – Listen here
• Learn more about Dr. Karen Wyatt and her work.

What did you think of today's episode? We want to hear from you!

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Today, we talk with Marc Hogan, a renowned speaker and psychologist with a pretty interesting path from selling missiles, drugs and cigarettes to stand-up comedy and coaching leaders.

LinkedIn is a funny place.  It can be noisy and isolating like all social media is, but it can also create genuine connections - and that’s how I found Marc.  There was something about what he was saying and how he was saying it that hit me right between the eyes - brutally honest, a bit out there and funny as shit.

Marc talks about getting pulled over by the cops with a truckload of missiles, and realizing maybe he needed a change.  He’s most famous for taking a $1 bet to do a standup routine at the largest comedy festival in the world - a move that led him to psychology and traveling the world speaking to Fortune 500 companies about his unique insights on leadership.

This was so much fun, and left me with a lot to think about around how I spend the remaining years of my career and how I show up with those around me.

Please enjoy, Marc Hogan.

Key takeaways:

• From Missiles to Comedy: Marc’s wild career shift from selling weapons to performing stand-up at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival shows how taking risks can lead to unexpected and rewarding paths.
• The Power of Personality: Marc dives into how understanding your personality traits can shape your success and why some of us are wired for extroversion, while others thrive in quieter roles.
• Psychology in the Workplace: Learn how your "first team" — the family you grew up with — influences your behaviour in teams at work and why it matters for leadership.
• The Myth of the Hero’s Journey: Marc challenges the idea that hard work alone is the key to success and reveals the unseen factors like personality, privilege, and timing that really shape our journeys.
• Conquering Comedy: Hear how Marc tackled the most terrifying form of public speaking—stand-up comedy—at the world’s biggest comedy festival and what it taught him about resilience.
• Why We Don’t Always Get Along: Discover how Marc applies behavioural psychology to help teams and leaders understand and bridge differences, making collaboration more effective.
• Rethinking Success Stories: Marc breaks down why the oversimplified "hero's journey" we see on social media doesn't tell the full story and how embracing nuance can lead to a more honest understanding of success.

Connect With Marc:
LinkedIn
Website
LinkedIn

Resources:
Taming Tigers by Jim Lawless
Books on Hypnotism by Paul McKenna

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So this is a fun little bonus episode where my producer Amy and I chat about the podcast and explore what we’ve learned from our first 20 episodes.

This conversation turned out to be a lot more emotional than I expected.  Since getting sober a couple of years ago, I’ve felt this sense of urgency to make the most of this last season of my career.  I want to do more things that scare me, be more curious, get outside my comfort zone, see what else is possible.

And I think a lot of us feel this way.  But we get stuck - Where do I start?  What will people think? What if I suck?

But here’s the thing.  Every one of my guests has felt this way.  They’re ordinary people who have done extraordinary things.  Their stories make anything feel possible.

Now one thing I was really hoping for that hasn’t happened…I thought it would get easier.  These conversations still care the shit out of me.  But that’s ok.  If we keep expanding our comfort zone, then stepping outside it is always going to be scary.

Maybe that’s how we know it’s worth doing.

Please enjoy, Amy and Bob.

Takeaways

• Best advice I ever got - “Just start.  Press record.”  Don’t worry about whether anyone will listen or what value you can provide.  Be curious.  The purpose will reveal itself.
• Chasing my curiosity and being true to myself is the only way to connect with people.  It’s also the only way to sustain my enthusiasm.  As soon as I start worrying about what others need, I’ll quit.
• It’s not my job to give the listener a lesson.  People take different things away from conversations.  So let them draw their own conclusions about what they take away and how to apply it to their lives.
• The most interesting parts of a conversation don’t reveal themselves right away.  The meaning changes depending on what’s going on in your life.
• What I didn’t expect?  How powerful these conversations have been and what they mean to me.  They’ve added so much richness to my life.  And they would never happen any other way.  What a gift.
• So what’s next?  Even harder conversations.  The more outside my comfort zone, the better.  The scarier and more awkward, the more powerful it is.

Resources Mentioned:
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke

Connect with Bob:
LinkedIn
Website

Connect with Amy:
Website
LinkedIn
Instagram

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Today we talk to Andrew Hunt, a history professor and best-selling author of Beatlemania in America: Fan Culture from Below. 

As a lifelong music fan, I feel like I’ve been preparing for this conversation my whole life.  The truth is I’ve always been more of a Stones fan than a Beatles guy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate that they changed everything.  I don’t care what kind of music you’re into, it wouldn’t exist without the Beatles.

So the question is…how?

How does something explode like they did?  How much of it has to do with them, and how much of it was what was happening at the time?

How did these 4 ordinary guys come together to create something so much greater than anything any of them could do on their own?

And maybe, most importantly, can it ever happen again?

I’ve been fascinated lately about creativity - where it comes from, how to harness it, and how to use it with other people.  This conversation came to me just when I needed it most.

Please enjoy, Andrew Hunt.

Key Takeaways:

• We tend to put the Beatles on a pedestal, but they were just ordinary guys with extraordinary creativity.
• Creativity flourishes in collaboration.  Individually the Beatles were talented, but together they created something that was so much greater than the sum of their parts.
• The Beatles were the soundtrack to a generation’s adolescence.  Their music over the years reflected what they were going through as individuals, which perfectly mirrored what their fans were going through.  
• Can it happen again?  Creative outbursts are seen throughout history.  They’re cyclical.  It’s just a matter of time before it happens again.
• When teaching the Beatles to a new generation, you can’t just talk about it.  You need to immerse them in everything that was happening at the time.
• Modern technology has made us lazy.  There is still lots of creativity out there, but we have to work harder to find the stuff off the beaten path.

Resources:
Connect with Andrew
Buy the book: Beatlemania in America: Fan Culture from Below

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Today, we talk to Dr. Tatiana Gwon, a renowned physicist who, after 20 years, went looking for answers in the most unconventional of places: astrology.  This conversation challenged a lot of my biases and preconceptions of astrology because frankly, I’ve always thought it was gypsy crystal ball readers and Sunday morning horoscopes.  

Tatiana does a great job of demystifying astrology as we dive into the fascinating intersection of science and spirituality.  We explore the concept of "effortless reality,” this state of flow where you align with the energy of the universe and manifest your desires without effort or stress.  We talk about the profound impact of daily, monthly and even 29-year cycles on our lives, and how we can use these laws of the universe to live a fuller, easier life.

Please enjoy Dr. Tatiana Gwon.

Key Takeaways:

• Effortless Reality: Learn how to tap into a state of flow where things come naturally, without forcing outcomes.
• Cycles: Understand how daily, monthly, and even 29-year cycles can influence our lives and decision-making.
• Resonance and Attraction: Discover the scientific basis behind the law of attraction and how it parallels physical concepts like resonance.
• Bridging Worlds: Tatiana’s journey shows us that science and spirituality can intersect in meaningful and unexpected ways.
• Personal Experimentation: Be the scientist in your own life—test new ideas and see what works for you, even if it defies conventional wisdom.

Resources:

• Book: Astrology for the Millions by Grant Lewi – A practical guide to understanding and experimenting with astrological cycles.
• Tatiana's Website: EffortlessReality.com – Explore Tatiana’s teachings and connect with her work.

What did you think of today's episode? We want to hear from you!

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Connect with Bob Mathers
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