As a child Shelly Elsliger lost her voice to a bully. As an adult, she awoke that silence to become an advocate and powerful force against bullying on LinkedIn. She has become an agent of change focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.

My next guest is Lil MacPherson, a woman who has done many things, all with a common thread of improving the earth and the food we eat. And she has even run for political office, not once but twice. She is a successful entrepreneur and sought after advocate and speaker. Welcome to Renegade Conversations! This is Season Four, Episode 23.

Join Lil and I (host Meryl Cook) for this energetic and heart felt conversation about being a renegade, food security, saving the planet and more. Lil shares many resources you are going to want to follow up on!

Lil MacPherson was born and raised in Nova Scotia. She is the founder and co-owner of The Wooden Monkey restaurants, located in Halifax and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Serving food with a conscience is the restaurant's mission and many awards have recognized this statement.

Lil is a trained presenter for Al Gore's Climate Change Project and has attended United Nations Climate Change Conferences in Copenhagen, Cancun and Paris.  She has traveled the world, from the Slow Food International Conference in Italy to a Chalice sponsor site in Africa but her passion remains on local issues concerning food sustainability and supporting Nova Scotia farmers. Lil has been sharing her message from elementary schools to universities, private and government sponsored conferences. She often says that the people she focuses her attention on most are the people that eat food.

She has also dabbled in politics and ran for Mayor and the Federal Green party. Her focus now is back to the soil. https://thedirtgang.ca/  is one of our new projects. One of her favourite things to do is retreat to her mountain hide-a-way and hop on her tractor.

Lil is drinking Chaga tea. She describes Chaga as the king of mushrooms with many health benefits. Lil harvests the Chaga on her own farm in the country. She chops it up and boils it for three days and then drinks it. She says she even gives it to her dog because of its health benefits.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Liz has two favourite renegades. The first is Mother Theresa, a person who Lil says had no money but had so much power in the world. The second is Ray Anderson, a man who became a green entrepreneur and ran a profitable company. His book Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose - Doing Business by Respecting the Earth. is a book Lil thinks everyone should read.

Kiss the Ground documentary

Lil's latest project - The Dirt Gang

Connect with us:

Guest: Lil MacPherson

Email

Facebook

Sponsor: Meryl Cook Wearable Art

Wearable Art link

Host & Creator of Renegade Conversations: Meryl Cook

Website 
Email
Instagram
YouTube

Editor: Hamza Latif

My next guest is bringing a breath of fresh air and her whole unapologetic self to everything she does. And we have the most amazing wild woman connection. I can’t wait for you to meet her. Welcome to Season Four, Episode 22 of Renegade Conversations.

Sophie Bretag is the CEO and Founder of Metta Leaders. She blends her extensive HR and Emotional Intelligence expertise with Happiness Coaching, Positive Psychology, Meditation, and Forest Bathing Therapy. She offers practical solutions to transform workplace wellbeing and happiness.

Currently writing her first book on kind leadership, Sophie has been featured in CEO Global, SmartCompany, Body and Soul, Rise of Happiness and Wellbeing Magazines. She has also spoken on multiple podcasts, discussing leadership, kindness, and leading from the heart.

Sophie is drinking a glass of rain water with fresh mint and lemon from her garden. She and her husband made the decision to cut out alcohol from their diet about three years ago. Now she keeps it simple, and that's the way she likes it!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Sophie's favourite renegade is ⁠Holly Ransom⁠.

CONNECT WITH US:

GUEST: SOPHIE BRETAG

LinkedIn

Website

SPONSOR: WEARABLE ART CLOTHING BY MERYL COOK

Wearable Art link

HOST & CREATOR OF RENEGADE CONVERSATIONS: MERYL COOK

Website 
Email
Instagram
YouTube

EDITOR: Hamza Latif

The first word that comes to mind when I think of today's guest is brave. Liz LeClair is a fundraising professional who has spoken out about sexual harassment in the fundraising and non-profit sectors, at great personal cost to herself.

Welcome to Season Four, Episode 21 of Renegade Conversations!

In 2019, Liz published an op-ed with the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) about her experience being sexually harassed and assaulted by high-net worth donors.  This advocacy work has evolved to include advocating for a more just and equitable sector. She continues to advocate for safe workplaces for fundraisers and nonprofit employees and is a volunteer with the Can’t Buy My Silence Campaign to ban the misuse of non-disclosure agreement globally.

Liz is proud to call herself a fundraiser and a feminist.

Please join Liz and I (host Meryl Cook) for an insightful, heartfelt and enlightened renegade conversation.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Liz's favourite renegades are Dr. Julie Macfarlane and Zelda Perkins, co-founders in Can't buy my silence

Can't buy my silence, a global campaign committed to end the misuse of NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) to buy victim's silence.

Sexual harassment runs rampant in non-profits — and it's time for our #MeToo moment 

CONNECT WITH US:

GUEST: LIZ LECLAIR

Twitter/X

LinkedIn

SPONSOR: LEGALMYBIZ, OWNER CORINNE BOUDREAU

Website

LinkedIn

MERYL COOK, HOST & CREATOR OF RENEGADE CONVERSATIONS:

Website 
Email
Instagram
YouTube

EDITOR: Hamza Latif

My next guest is an artist, anti-capitalist business consultant and social justice educator. Welcome to Season Four, Episode 20 of Renegade Conversations.

Join Bear Hebert and I (host Meryl Cook) for this very insightful conversation. I hadn't known very much about anti-capitalist business before my friend ⁠Anita Kirkbride⁠ (who is an anti-hero social media consultant) suggested I should connect with Bear. And I'm so glad I did!

If you've ever struggled with how to align your personal values with corporate culture, or being in business you will want to tune in to this episode. And wait until you hear what Bear has to say about how being a renegade connects with having a sense of purpose that goes beyond and enhances their sense of personal wellbeing!

Bear Hebert (they/them) is an artist, anti-capitalist business consultant and social justice educator. They spent most of their life in south Louisiana, and for the past 2 years, they've called Brooklyn home.

Bear has been self-employed since 2014, and now they help fellow tiny business owners build thriving livelihoods while sidestepping the traps of capitalism.

Bear is drinking a lilac syrup with soda water. The lilac syrup was made from fresh lilac blossoms that were surplus from an order in their partner's flower business. They immersed the blossoms in hot water, strained them and added sugar to make a syrup. Bear says the syrup is stable for about six months. Sounds delicious!

RESOURCES SHARED IN THIS EPISODE:

Bear's favourite Renegade is ⁠Alexis Pauline Gumbs⁠

⁠Survival is a Promise. The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde⁠ by Alexis Pauline Gumbs

⁠UndoingPatriarchy.com⁠⁠

CONNECT WITH US:

GUEST: BEAR HEBERT

⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠Instagram⁠⁠

SPONSOR: MARY JANE COPPS, THE PHONE LADY

⁠Website⁠

HOST & CREATOR OF RENEGADE CONVERSATIONS: MERYL COOK

⁠Website ⁠⁠Email⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠YouTube⁠

Editor: Hamza Latif

I must admit to being somewhat starstruck by this next guest. Dr. Julie Macfarlane is an advocate for access to justice and for survivors of sexual violence. She has written seven books, including Going Public, a vulnerable account of her fight back from an early history of sexual violence. Join Julie and I for this stellar conversation, where she talks about not quite understanding why speaking up isn't totally normal and why doesn't everybody (especially those with privilege) do it. In this conversation in which she describes herself as a relentless optimist, Julie shares some of the struggles she has had with trying to change the legal system from within.

Welcome to Renegade Conversations! This is the first episode of Season Four. I can’t believe it’s one year since I started Renegade Conversations. We are still having so much fun and meeting the most amazing women.

Dr. Julie Macfarlane has worked in universities around the world for 40 years. She is Emerita Distinguished University Professor of Law and a Member of the Order of Canada for her advocacy on access to justice and on behalf of survivors of sexual violence.

Julie is Co-Founder with Zelda Perkins of Can’t Buy My Silence, campaigning to make the misuse of non-disclosure agreements illegal. Her books include The New Lawyer  (2nd ed, UBC Press 2017),  Islamic Divorce in North America (OUP 2012), and her description of her personal fight back from an early history of sexual violence in Going Public (Between the Lines Press, 2020).

Julie was previously the Founder and Director of the National Self-Represented Litigants Project.

Julie’s work has been recognized with a number of honours, including the Order of Canada (2020), named as one of Canada’s 25 Most Influential Lawyers (2017), the David Mundell Medal for Legal Writing (2016), the Scholar of the Year Award from the Institute for Social Policy Understanding (www.ispu.org) (2012), and the first-ever Canadian recipient of the International Academy of Mediators Award of Excellence (2005).

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Going Public A Survivor's Journey from Grief to Action by Julie Macfarlane

Can't Buy My Silence campaign

Dr. Macfarlane will be visiting Nova Scotia as part of the Can't Buy My Silence campaign. There are several public events the week of September 23, 2024. Here's the link to register.

Julie's favourite renegade - Ruth Bader Ginsburg

CONNECT WITH US:

GUEST: JULIE MACFARLANE

Websites - ⁠https://profjuliemac.com/⁠⁠

https://www.cantbuymysilence.com/⁠ 

SPONSOR: MARY JANE COPPS, THE PHONE LADY

Website

HOST & CREATOR OF RENEGADE CONVERSATIONS: MERYL COOK

Website 
Email
Instagram
YouTube

Editor: Hamza Latif

Are you taking a road trip this summer? Be sure to download this and other episodes of Renegade Conversations - The Summer Road Trip Edition to listen to on the road, at the beach, or even on your back deck!

When my guest today interviewed for her current position as President and Vice-Chancellor of Mount Saint Vincent University, it was one of the first times she didn’t feel disadvantaged by being openly part of the queer community. Join host Meryl Cook and guest Dr. Joël Dickinson for this straightforward, warm and engaging renegade conversation.

Welcome to Season Three, Episode 18 of Renegade Conversations.

Dr. Joël Dickinson was appointed President and Vice-Chancellor of Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) on July 1, 2022. Before joining MSVU, Dr. Dickinson was Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Laurentian University and held the positions of Acting Associate Vice-President of Teaching and Learning (2020-2021), and Chair of the university’s Department of Psychology. She held a leadership role with the Laurentian University Sexuality and Gender Diversity Committee and was a long-standing member of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Status of Women.

She also served as an ex officio member of the Laurentian University Native Education Council, through which she has had the honour of learning from the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nations People. Born and raised in New Brunswick, the traditional unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq Peoples, she continues to learn the history, traditions, and ways of knowing of these and other cultures as they contribute to the extended community and to her personal growth.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

My Favourite Murder podcast, hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - https://www.myfavoritemurder.com/

Connect with us:

Guest: Joël Dickinson

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-dickinson-0ab3baa4/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086115843329 - Msvu Pres Joël Dickinson

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/presd_msvu/

Sponsor: Mary Jane Copps

Website https://thephonelady.com/

Meryl Cook, host and creator of Renegade Conversations

Website - https://merylcook.ca/

Email - [email protected]

Instagram - / merylcook

YouTube - ‪@merylcookartist‬

Editor Hamza Latif

Are you taking a road trip this summer? Be sure to download this and other episodes of Renegade Conversations - The Summer Road Trip Edition to listen to on the road, at the beach, or even on your back deck!

My guest today is Dr. Kristin Williams, a polemical feminist whose specialty is uncovering neglected historical female figures. I had to look up the meaning of the word polemical, which means expressing a strongly critical attack on or controversial opinion about someone or something. I loved learning how Kristin expresses her controversial opinions as a feminist scholar in a school of business and management.

Kristin S. Williams, Ph.D. is the Director of the FC Manning School of Business at Acadia University, one of the oldest and most respected liberal arts universities in Canada. She is an Associate Professor in Management at Acadia University and holds a Visiting Scholar appointment at the University of Eastern Finland (Innovation Management).

Dr. Williams is also the Founder, Managing Director and Principal Researcher at Prudentia Institute: Youth Knowledge Exchange; home to the award-winning Student Research Lab.

She is co-editor in chief at the journal of Culture and Organization and a member of the editorial advisory board at the Journal of Management History.

Dr. Williams has received several academic awards, and she is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee Medal.

Welcome to Season Three, Episode 17 of Renegade Conversations!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

⁠Historical Female Management Theorists⁠ by Kristin Williams  ⁠https://bookstore.emerald.com/historical-female-management-theorists.html⁠

She also has two open access articles about two of the women mentioned in this conversation:

Viola Desmond ⁠https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14759551.2020.1833207⁠

Elizabeth Gaskell ⁠https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gwao.13089⁠

Connect with us:

Guest: Kristin Williams

⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-s-williams-ph-d-a3200573/

Sponsor: Mary Jane Copps

⁠Website⁠⁠ https://thephonelady.com/

Meryl Cook, host and creator of Renegade Conversations:

⁠Website ⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠YouTube⁠⁠

Editor Hamza Latif 

My guest today is funny, engaging and calls it as she sees it. She has overcome many challenges, which she shares in a practical, no holds barred way. Hold onto your seats and get ready to be inspired.

Welcome to Renegade Conversations. Season Three, Episode 16.

Join Corinne and I for a lively discussion of how she has always been a quiet renegade, the impact of  'soul sucking' situations, and how Corinne stepped away from a promising but not fulfilling law career to carve her own path as an entrepreneur that serves small businesses. Season Three, Episode 15.

My guest today is a lawyer who has transformed the way she practices law, a hockey player, and a member of a band called ‘The Mother Pluckers.” Corinne Boudreau is the daughter of a teacher and a lawyer. This probably explains a lot about her desire to share and explain the legal stuff. Being a business lawyer since 2002 has given Corinne the perspective and experience to boil things down to the essentials.

Resources mentioned in this episode