Heroes in Our Midst

“I want her to know that she can chase her dreams”. That’s what Jill Officer said about her daughter, Camry, because that’s exactly what she has always done – chased her dreams. All her life, Jill wasn’t afraid to put in the work, survive the ups and downs and deal with the pressure to be her very best. And in her case – “her very best” was the best in the world!

Jill curled with Jennifer Jones for many years, winning both the Olympics, and multiple World, National and Provincial championships. She balanced being a mom, working as an RBC Olympian and being a professional athlete and excelled at them all. But it wasn’t always easy. Even winning as much as they did was done in every way imaginable.

In this episode, Jill takes us to some of her most special moments and also some of the most controversial ones too and gives us a front row seat to what it’s like to be the best in the world. Take a listen and enjoy getting to know yet another 'Hero in our Midst'.

“Cindy Klassen, Clara Hughes, Shannon Rempel, Brittany Schussler: I just want to be the next 'one of them'.” – Alexa Scott.

But who IS 21-year-old, long track speed skater Alexa Scott in her own right?

She’s a Canadian Junior champion, a 3-time Canada Winter Games gold medalist, she’s won junior world medals, a world cup medal and she’s already an Olympian having competed in the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing where she finished 12th. But wait, that’s just where she’s been and what she’s done – it’s not who she is! Once you spend some time with her, you will quickly hear that Alexa is a young woman who knows what challenge means… and I’m talking about challenges that went far beyond the track… and she shares them all with us in this episode.

Thanks to Elite Sport Injury for helping us share another story of yet another “Hero in our Midst”. If you want to be inspired by a story of a young lady with fire, passion, courage, resilience, strength and big, big goals – take the time and listen to Alexa Scott tell her story.

No doubt, when you hear the name Cindy Klassen, speed skating and Olympic medals comes to mind. SIX to be exact. The whole world was talking about Cindy Klassen in 2006 when she won FIVE of them in one Winter Games!! But who knew who she really was? YOU will, when you listen to her story. Which includes when Cindy was in Grade 5 and how she entered a bike race with one of her best friends… and her dad looked at her and told her to “Go out as hard as you can and don’t look back.” It seems she took that advice for the rest of her life and never did look back.

Cindy Klassen is a “Hero in our Midst” for more than just her speed on the ice… and she is more than happy to blend in with the rest of us. But much to her chagrin, there are so many reasons she stands out – sit back and listen as Cindy even lets us inside of her head on her way to an Olympic gold medal performance!! Just be prepared to be inspired and impressed with one of the best people we know.

It is exciting for me to introduce our special guest today – Martha McCabe. I’m excited to highlight Martha for a few reasons. First, she’s a 2-time Olympian in swimming and won a bronze medal at the World Championships. Second, she has started “Head to Head”, an incredible program which offers high level athletes a way to transition out of sport and at the same time, make a difference in other people’s lives! Third, she’s just an incredible human being who cares about the person behind every performance.

Through her athletic journey, she learned to deal with disappointment and then, to focus on and celebrate all the little improvements along the way… and she approaches life now in exactly the same way.

Listen to Martha McCabe’s story. Be inspired. Enjoy.

So, this is it. We have reached Episode #60 here at “Heroes in our Midst”. It’s our final guest of Season 2 and we truly believe we’ve saved one of the best for last. This series we’ve focused on incredible people who are “Unapologetically Human”. Dr. Peter Jensen is one of those people. He is one of the most successful performance coaches in the world, working beyond sport into the corporate world as well.

He founded the company “The Third Factor” and if you’d like to know what that is and how it can help you become the best you can be, then, listen. In fact, leaders of all kinds seek him out for help in finding the best ways to communicate with their teams and bring them to greatness… and you don’t have to look any further – we’ve got Peter right here for you to listen to… enjoy.

Today’s episode is all about professional football player DJ Lalama and it is also, all about a partnership that “Heroes in our Midst” is enjoying with ProPrep Academy. DJ is one of the founders of ProPrep and this podcast series is about more than just being an athlete. No question, the journey DJ’s been on in football has been a challenging one, but the human behind every step has never wavered. His motivation to be his very best, to contribute and to get the most out of life has never changed.

When our conversation took place back in March of 2021, DJ was signed to go back to the Montreal Alouettes, but since that was “on pause” he wanted to use his time to give back – and he’s doing that in a big way!! Today, you’ll hear a story filled with change, filled with challenge, filled with falling down but always getting back up again… and his story is definitely “to be continued”… take a listen and you will be inspired by an incredible human who doesn’t know how to ever give up. DJ Lalama is a hero in our midst. Enjoy.

Welcome to the very first “Part 2” of an episode on “Heroes in our Midst”. Last week I had the pleasure of introducing you to Dr. Curt Tribble. If you missed it, he’s at the University of Virginia School of Medicine as Professor of Surgery and the Associate Program Director of the Thoracic Surgery Residency.

A highlight from Part 1 of Curt’s and my chat was how, before surgery, whether a heart transplant or a lung transplant, he’d ask his patient what he or she wants to do when they get well. Talk about instilling hope and trust in your patient, that you are expecting a good outcome and doing your very best to ensure one.

He’s inspiring, he’s passionate, he truly cares and you might be surprised to see who he would say impacted his life in a big way.

Listen to find out. Listen to be inspired. Listen to Dr. Curt Tribble.

This is a first for “Heroes in our Midst”!! We are sharing today’s episode in 2 parts. Dr. Curt Tribble had so much to say and so many great stories to tell that we couldn’t fit it all into one episode. So, we decided to split it into two… this week and next.

Honestly, this guy has done so much in terms of all that he’s studied, all that he’s done, all the lives he’s saved and changed forever and all that he’s researched. He has countless awards to his name and has conducted research around the world.

Presently, he’s at the University of Virginia School of Medicine as Professor of Surgery and the Associate Program Director of the Thoracic Surgery Residency. So, you could say he’s been in some of the highest pressure situations there are… and while he has literally saved lives, and taught others to do the same, he knows that things won’t always end the way he hopes.

His story is inspiring. His work is literally life and death and far from finished. His humanness through it all? Unapologetic!

Listen and get to know Dr. Curt Tribble.

If there was a coach you should look forward to hearing from, it’s Tim Frick. Not just because he’s the winningest team coach in the history of the sport of wheelchair basketball and not just because he’s the only Paralympic coach inducted into the Canadian Sport Hall of Fame but because he’s a people’s coach… he loves his players… the people that they are. People like Terry Fox and Rick Hansen too.

Yeah, he coached them and was a big part of their journeys. Now, he’s more than happy to take all of the winning and the wisdom he has gained and share it with us. So, we’re the lucky ones aren’t we? That is, if you listen.  Go ahead and enjoy.

Welcome to another episode of “Heroes in our Midst” and also, another in our partnership with ProPrep Academy. This episode is all about hockey. Actually, it’s all about a pretty incredible human whose goal was to play hockey at the highest level. No question – he was relentless and time and time again, he was in a position where the coaches said, “We have our ‘pen’ guys, you’re in ‘pencil’. We can easily erase you.”

His ability and resolve to take every situation and do the best he could in it, is incredible. In his words, “At the end of the day, you just gotta keep reminding yourself, like, what am I doing to get better today.”

So, how much better did he get? And what happened in the end? Listen to Matt Bailey’s story to find out.