The happiest people I know have faith.

Sandy Semilet, the guest for this episode, is one of those people. Sandy wears many titles including entrepreneur, registered massage therapist (RMT) and coach AND what really struck me, this woman is the epitome of a matriarch. 

Prepare to be inspired and moved by Sandy’s story and her approach to life and healing. This conversation is deep, spiritual and transformative, and I hope it will resonate with you and inspire you on your own journey, as it did me. 

In this episode we explore the following:

• Grief (as a choice)
• Unconditional love
• Self care and self celebration
• Choosing yourself and doing the “work” will improve your life, personally and professionally
• Importance of letting our children learn their lessons (the first time)
• All the terms that we use that may be interchangeable (god, creator, buddha, universe)

Filmed: July 2024

Note: All of the ideas and thoughts shared here are my own and not necessarily shared by any organization I am affiliated with. Please give my guests the same consideration.

Suzanne is back! Suzanne Anton is a leadership coach and corporate governance consultant.

In our first episode together we talked about how the people doing exceptional work that is having an impact are usually the ones that are the most authentic.

In this episode we explored different ideas on how anyone can become more authentic or at the very least start to notice where they are not quite in alignment. This is some of the work that Suzanne does 1:1 with her coaching clients.

Some of the ideas we discussed:

• Is your role the right one for you? Aligned?
• Are you pushing yourself to become proficient in an area that is inherently a weakness?
• Where are you giving away your personal authority? 
• Have you created time and space to check in with your personal authority?
• Importance of authentic and diverse perspectives at a leadership table.
• How leaders can foster authenticity amongst their team members.

Filmed: May 2024

Note: All of the ideas and thoughts shared here are my own and not necessarily shared by any organization I am affiliated with. Please give my guests the same consideration. 

A candid conversation about women and work from three women who have been there. My two guests are Leslie Doka and Leena Thomas.

Leslie, is the Director of Construction at Wright Construction

Leena, a Senior Project Manager at Hatch. Leena also holds a Masters in Women's and Gender Studies.

In episode 8 with Jake Stika (Next Gen Men), we discussed some of the expectations and limitations that have historically been put on men. In this episode we examine the other side of that issue and discuss how these same systems (patriarchy and capitalism) have limited and impacted women. 

In our conversation we discuss the following:

• The archaic views of women's roles shared by Harrison Butker in a commencement speech in May.
• What we think is important for young people to consider as they navigate balancing work and family. 
• What organizations (specifically male dominant) can do to become more inclusive (hire and retain more diverse talent).
• How leaders' specific values and traits at the top have a trickle down impact on the entire organization.

Please note: We did not specifically exclude other minority groups such as the indigenous and LGBTQ2S+ communities. Our focus was to share themes in our own personal experience.  

Filmed June 2024

Note: All of the ideas and thoughts shared here are my own and not necessarily shared by any organization I am affiliated with. Please give my guests the same consideration. 

The guest for this episode is Ritu Malhotra, President and CEO of March Consulting.

When I first met Ritu, I was initially struck by her intelligence. As we got deeper into our conversation, it became clear that her other talent, that makes her so effective, is confidence to be her authentic self.

In our conversation we got into the following:

• A strategic planning process that is comprehensive and effective
• How decisions made at the right time can impact on organization (diversifying into clean energy, expanding footprint to other cities/regions)
• Indigenous economic reconciliation
• Relationship based business
• The future of work (outcome based versus traditional metrics)

Filmed April 2024

Note: All of the ideas and thoughts shared here are my own and not necessarily shared by any organization I am affiliated with. Please give my guests the same consideration.  

• The impact on men of the inherited systems (behaviors and norms of the patriarchy).
• Masculinity is safety?
• Where traditional EDI efforts are working and what can improve?
• The limitations of traditional feminine and masculine roles.
• Care versus compliance focused organizations.

This is the first episode of my wellness series, which focuses on self care tools, resources and information that I have learned and put into practice in my own life and wanted to share with you.

This particular conversation is focused on women's health, however the principles around resistance training, sleep and nutrition apply to everyone. 

Please share with all of the women in your life that could prioritize their own health a little bit more, so basically ALL of them!

My guest for this episode, Marie Robertson, who runs a private boutique studio for women here in Saskatoon. (https://yxe.marierobertsonfitness.com/home)

What I love about Marie's approach to training is that she creates an environment where women not only get stronger, but they become more confident, empowered, and authentic. 

Marie makes it so simple and focuses on the concept of self care as a mechanism to ensure that your health doesn't get in the way of life, or the experience of being yourself. 

We chat about so many things including:

• Her approach to the minimum effective doses around resistance training, sleep, nutrition and hormonal health.
• We SHOW not TELL our kids how to care for themselves (yet most of us take care of them before we do ourselves).
• WE are our own biggest roadblock.
• Comparing notes on some of the common differences in the way that men and women approach self care. 

This woman is so wise and I hope this conversation inspires you to start filling your own cup!

My guest for this episode is Tom Ross, CEO and Co-Founder of Andgo (www.andgosystems.com).

I have always found the tech world fascinating, especially software as a service (SaaS). Likely because it is so different from the businesses that I manage.

In this episode, Tom shares the story of how Andgo started and evolved over the last 10+ years, including:

• Entrepreneurial mindset
• Perspectives on remote and flexible work
• Solving problems and value proposition (follow the post it notes)
• Scaling up (40% continuous annual growth)
• People and process 
• Venture capital and valuations

Towards the end, we got into some of my favorite topics, including, managing your health and energy as well as work/life balance.

Filmed January 2024

Note: All of the ideas and thoughts shared here are my own and are not necessarily shared by any organization I am affiliated with. Please give my guests the same consideration. 

• The importance of evolution and change for continued success and longevity.
• Hiring good people/leaders around you to build up your capabilities and free up your time to develop the vision.
• How marketing went from print advertising (newspapers) to social media.
• Permanent impact of COVID on retail. 
• The importance of vision and believing in yourself. 

I sat in so many of Shaina’s spin classes over the years and had the privilege of hearing so many powerful stories that she openly shared. 

Shaina is strong, magnetic, smart and someone I was inspired to get to know.

So, I reached out to her to talk about her path from policing to becoming an entrepreneur. But the conversation turned into so much more. It became a story about:

• Someone who has never allowed herself to be confined to any one occupation, role, or box (Ep. 3)
• The unique perspective of an indigenous women in policing and a desire to bridge these two worlds (Ep. 3&4)
• Her perspective on how to respond to the calls to action for both business and the public sector (Truth and Reconciliation) (Ep. 4)
• A deep love between mother and daughter (Ep. 4)

This conversation will be split out into two parts. The first (episode 3) is her journey into starting a group of spin studios (Ryde YXE) and becoming an entrepreneur. The second one (this episode) is a very personal story about loss, truth and reconciliation and another pivot. 

Shaina is a mother and wife. Shaina is a co-owner of Ryde YXE, police officer, doctoral student at the University of Saskatchewan. And in her free time she works with Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) as an innovator in residence, supporting indigenous entrepreneurs in their own journey. 

Filmed November 2023

Note: All of the ideas and thoughts shared here are my own and are not necessarily shared by any organization I am affiliated with. Please give my guests the same consideration. 

I sat in so many of Shaina’s Ryde classes over the years and had the privilege of hearing so many powerful stories that she openly shared. 

Shaina is strong, magnetic, smart and someone I was inspired to get to know.

So, I reached out to her to talk about her path from policing to becoming an entrepreneur. But the conversation turned into so much more. It became a story about:

• Someone who has never allowed herself to be confined to any one occupation, role, or box (Ep. 3)
• The unique perspective of an indigenous women in policing and a desire to bridge these two worlds (Ep. 3&4)
• Her perspective on how to respond to the calls to action for both business and the public sector (Truth and Reconciliation). (Ep. 4)
• A deep love between mother and daughter (Ep. 4)

This conversation will be split out into two parts. The first (this one) is her journey into starting a group of spin studios and becoming an entrepreneur. The second one (episode 4) is a very personal story about loss, truth and reconciliation and another pivot. 

Shaina is a mother and wife. Shaina is a co-owner of Ryde YXE, police officer, doctoral student at the University of Saskatchewan. And in her free time she works with Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) as an innovator in residence, supporting indigenous entrepreneurs in their own journey. 

Filmed November 2023

Note: All of the ideas and thoughts shared here are my own and are not necessarily shared by any organization I am affiliated with. Please give my guests the same consideration.