This in-depth conversation with Steve Heatherington explores a remarkable journey fueled by curiosity, resilience, and generosity. A graduate of the University of East Anglia with a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences and a graduate of Akimbo’s altMBA and Podcasting Workshop programs. Steve brings a unique blend of scientific discipline, creative expression, and the desire to serve others.

Steve shares how his curiosity for the natural world led him to study biological sciences, originally aspiring to become a veterinarian before shifting toward environmental health sciences. Moving to London, he began his career in environmental health with the local municipality, where he learned valuable lessons in public service, safety, and the evolving history of environmental responsibility. Through various roles, Steve developed insights into the impact of this field on community well-being.

The conversation turns personal as Steve opens up about a challenging chapter in his life. The stresses of managing a large housing project, traveling to Africa, and exposing his body to vaccinations led to chronic fatigue syndrome. He describes how that changed the trajectory of his career and life. This led to an 11-month sabbatical from work, during which a profound period of self-assessment resulted.

He reflects candidly on how that time reshaped his understanding of work, health, and purpose, driving him toward creative renewal. Insightful and fascinating!! We explore how Steve reclaimed his health through curiosity, experimentation, and rediscovery.

Channeling his technical skills through volunteer work and how podcasting came to be for him, thanks to his wife's book, “Quiet Disrupters,” is illustrated. His talents for podcasting led to coaching for Akimbo. Why he stepped away and started his podcasting workshop, how it works, and what perspective students can expect are revealed. We go full circle and discuss how Steve's love for animals comes to be through farming Alpacas. There is insight into these animals as Steve discusses his podcast, the Alpaca Tribe.

This is an insightful, informative, and thought-provoking interview. It caters to listeners interested in a career in environmental health or public safety. Raising Alpacas and podcasting are covered. Listeners with a desire for entrepreneurship or freelancing will benefit, as Steve and his wife, Sue, are an example of this lifestyle. More importantly, this interview is full of life lessons. It is about trying things, discovering what we are good at and what we want to do, and then figuring out how it can serve others. It is being generous, a quality of a leader, which Steve lives and practices.

https://watersidevoices.com

linkedin.com/in/steve-heatherington-🌔-54903334

https://thepodcastingworkshop.com

https://alpacatribe.com/

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Ronan Kennedy, a Career Coach who has built a thriving business by combining his passion for psychology, entrepreneurship, and helping others reach their potential.

Ronan starts by reflecting on his early years, a time when he lacked clear direction. His journey took him abroad, where he taught English in Japan before returning home to Ireland to work in his brother’s athletic development startup. There, he gained valuable experience in operations, business development, and working within a growing business environment.

It was during this period that Ronan discovered his true interest in psychology and human development, which sparked his exploration into coaching. He shares how he learned about coaching as a profession and why it resonated so deeply with him.

Ronan tells the story of leaving the family business, moving to Spain, and deliberately taking a less demanding job so he could devote time and energy to building his coaching career. He dives into the courses, books, and self-directed learning that shaped his expertise, and how he carefully mapped out a plan to turn his passion into a business.

Throughout the conversation, Ronan discusses the realities of entrepreneurship, including both the ups and downs of starting from scratch. He emphasizes how critical his network of family, friends, and colleagues was in defining his services, streamlining his offerings, and identifying the real issues his clients wanted solved.

Listeners will gain valuable insights into what coaching is. It will appeal to anyone interested in coaching as a career or a prospective client. The mechanics of coaching are illustrated in this episode. There is a short coaching session with your host. Entrepreneurship is covered, as Ronan provides a detailed discussion on how he built his business from nothing. We cover strategy to digital marketing. Existence, living a better life, and the importance of aligning values and well-being in both life and career are explored.

We all have talents and interests that make us unique. The willingness to explore them and pursue them is a desired quality that Ronan has. He is an example of how he developed his interests, empathy, curiosity, and the drive to support others; qualities of a leader. He is an example of how we should approach life to live better and fuller.

https://ronankennedy.ie/

https://ronankennedy.ie/masterminds

https://ronankennedy.ie/bookings

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennedyronan/

https://www.youtube.com/@ronankennedy

This interview is with Kait Dinunzio. She is known as a leader in Change Management. Her portfolio includes Executive and Leadership Coaching, Advisor for Operations, and Maintenance and Operational Integrity Management Systems. She is an author and speaker. Kait is a graduate from Mount Royal University and Yale School of Management.

In this episode, we cover Kait’s early years growing up in the Yukon. Her involvement in politics, as president of the youth wing of a political party in Canada, which led her to Parliament Hill, and her experiences there are all disclosed.

Why she left the Yukon and went about exploring life and figuring herself out is talked about. She discusses some of the career choices she made and how they developed her, which led her to discover her calling, “To Serve Others”.

How she discovered change management or how it found her is a conversation. In doing so, we cover her first encounter in this area, where she worked on a complex project for the Department of Justice with the Yukon Government. The lessons gained from this and how that established her for her future endeavors are conveyed.

With this experience, Change Management is discussed. Kait provides many examples of how she works with clients. Surprisingly, it’s not about telling people what to do; rather, it’s getting them on board. We cover storytelling, respecting others, empathy, passion, and communication, and how these attributes mix for a successful outcome.

Her education, experiences, and the pros and cons of being book smart versus street smart are covered. We talk about her new book, “Unbreakable: From Abandoned to Abundant & the Strength to Lead.” The premise is discussed, and how the book came to be. The movement she is initiating through this and her calling to serve people to make the world a better place is conveyed.

This episode will interest listeners pursuing a career in or who are in change management. We cover leadership and how to get people on board in any endeavor. Life and humanity (social engineering) and how to live fully and joyfully are discussed. We cover topics regarding purpose, values, discipline, communication, attitude, success, and, more importantly, Kait’s mission to serve others. This is authentic leadership, and Kait's story has many examples throughout this episode on this topic. She’s an example to follow, as it's not about us but what we can do for others that matters. This is creating a legacy and that’s what Kait is all about. She is motivational, thought-provoking, insightful, and a delight to listen to.

Her contact information

For Professional services https://pyxisadvisory.com/

For people wanting to connect professionally, linkedin.com/in/kaitdinunzio

For more on Unbreakable: https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/people/Unbreakable-Legacy/61575849122753/

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/tag/unbreakablelegacy

This interview is with Scott Ivers, owner and founder of Ivers Guitars. Scott graduated from the Drafting Engineering program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (S.A.I.T). He is also a graduate of Grant McEwan University’s music program.

Scott’s story is how he has remained true to himself. He explains that his vision to follow his passion in music was altered due to the deal he made with his dad. This was to follow a more practical career path in construction. He explains that he attended S.A.I.T. first and then, upon graduating, he pursued his desire for music at Grant MacEwan. Detailed discussions illustrate Scott's experience from both of these endeavors.

With his education behind him, there are conversations regarding how and why Scott decided to pursue a career utilizing his drafting skills. There are reflections on how computers were making an inroad into organizations and the ramifications for his career. We cover the history of Information technology (IT), providing the listener insight into this sector.

Scott's move from Alberta to the interior of British Columbia and how he furthered his IT career is discussed. He highlights his sabbatical from music and how he re-ignites it by experimenting with making guitars. We talk about how he established his knowledge of making this instrument. We cover his research on the schooling for this craft. The path he pursued and how that helped him is conveyed. In essence, there is an inside look at how someone develops their skill in making guitars. Furthermore, we cover the instrument’s components, and functionality.

Listeners interested in a career in IT will benefit from this interview as Scott presents his experiences working in this field. History is encompassed in these conversations, which can provide insight into the future of technology and its implications.

Audience members considering music as a career would be interested, as Scott conveys his experiences pursuing this career. His knowledge from this and IT can be applied to any facet of career development. For guitars, anyone interested in this instrument, from making them, playing them, or as a consumer, be it off the shelf or custom-made, this episode covers all of this.

Above all, this episode will appeal to anyone who wants to hear an inspirational story of how someone like Scott had expectations and passion but learned to vary them as he grew. It is about resilience while maintaining passion and being true to oneself, and Scott is a perfect example of this. In addition, it's about balance, and this is evident throughout this interview, as Scott has maintained his IT career while pursuing his passion in music. This is furnished by his current employment at Kicking Horse Coffee, working four days a week and three days following his passion. There are some valuable lessons in this episode.

https://iversguitars.ca/

This interview is with Kurt Villanueva, owner and founder of Audio Dream Distributions and Co-owner of The Audio Room in Calgary, Alberta. The Audio Room has been awarded the People's Choice Award and the Fastest Growing Business from The Calgary Business Commerce.

In this interview we cover Kurt's early years. This includes the development of his values, the ability to build relationships, and the discovery of his passion for music and audio equipment. The development of Kurt’s entrepreneurial skills, his knowledge of audio equipment, and his salesmanship are discussed.

His experiences from attending post-secondary studies at Mount Royal University are talked about. There are insights into computer science and business, as these were his majors. His story escalates as Kurt explains the development of his first business, Audio Dream Distributions.

In building this enterprise, we discuss how he maintained the balance of school life and building this company, while keeping up with his parents' expectations. Kurt highlights the crossroads in his life where he had to choose between school and business, and the elements he considered to follow his passion.

Building a business is discussed. We cover bootstrapping, building sales, and developing relationships. More importantly, the obstacles he faced, specifically his younger age and the perception from his business associates. Kurt’s early relationships with the founders of the Audio Room, how that developed, and how he established himself as the co-owner are all conveyed.

Kurt illustrates the steps he took as he became the co-owner of The Audio Room. He speaks from his experiences and how he saw opportunities due to changes in the audio industry, creating a vision for the store. Furthermore, we go over the marketing strategies for expanding the store. Kurt provides a heartfelt conversation emphasizing his dad’s experiences as a businessman and, more importantly, developing a business mindset.

This interview will interest potential entrepreneurs. There are highlights on both distribution and retail. It will appeal to anyone interested in music, particularly audio equipment, as we cover the history and future of this industry. We cover leadership, as Kurt is an example of someone building communities to give back and create better lives for all.

The video link for this episode is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZurJNydeCVU

https://www.theaudioroom.ca/

https://www.instagram.com/the_audio_room/

In addition, a big thanks to Sam Tiangha from 404 Creative LBC Graphic for recording and editing the video for this episode.

https://www.404creativelbc.ca/

This interview is with Katie O’Malley, Career Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Workplace Strategist.

Katie is the founder and principal coach of (en)Courage Coaching. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Miami University and a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology from DePaul University. In addition, Katie is a board-certified coach from the Center of Credentialing & Education and has a certification from Hogan Assessments.

This interview is about how Katie made it her mission to make a difference, which is evident throughout this interview. We talk about her teen years and interests in leadership and politics. This is all furnished as she explains her roles in students' activities during university and her degree in Political Science.

Upon graduating, we discussed her experience working on John Kerry’s campaign. There is some insight into how political campaigns work. Views regarding politics and how change happens are discussed. Furthermore, if someone is interested in a career in this field, there are good dialogues and suggestions for approaching this profession.

Katie describes why she left the political arena and moved to New York City, where she worked for non-profit organizations. Insight into these firms, how they work, and the difference between working for them and being employed by a profit-based firm are discussed. More importantly, there is insight into career development as Katie reveals more about her talents and interests and how she steered her career.

Katie further describes her journey as she leaves New York and moves back to her hometown of Chicago. This leads to her experiences with the Aids Foundation and commercial real estate. She outlines that these ventures, especially real estate, failed to represent her values and identity. The consequences this had on her are illustrated, leading to a career change. The resolution led to her pursuit of a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology from DePaul University.

We cover the program and how it led to an opportunity at the University of Texas in the Leadership and Ethics Institute. She conveys her experiences, and there are some surprises. There is a dialogue on how she furthered her credentials as she became a certified coach from the Center for Credentialing and Education.

Moving her career to the executive program at Chicago Booth, her involvement with the program is discussed. Katie reflects that during this time, she was dealing with the repercussions from her employment at the University of Texas. She describes how those experiences led her to start (en)Courage Coaching.

This interview will benefit anyone searching for a career within politics or non-profit organizations, as Katie relays her experiences in both. It will interest anyone considering counselling as a career, as we cover all facets of the industry. It will appeal to potential entrepreneurs as we cover how Katie establishes herself and her business. Potential MBA students will be interested as Katie relays her experiences guiding students at Chicago Booth. More importantly, it will appeal to anyone interested in career development, as Katie describes, from her mission of wanting to make a difference, and how she grew her career from this concept.

https://encouragecoaching.org/contact/

This interview is with Debra Eckerling. Debra has a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin -Madison and is the author of 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting. She is a speaker and consultant who assists people in achieving their goals. Her specialty is coaching authors with book proposals. She is a podcast host of GoalChatLive and the Taste Buds, a food writer for non-cooks, and the founder of DebMethod.com.

In this interview Deb explains how her ambitions were to pursue a more creative direction but, as an alternative, she developed her career as a freelancer. She reflects on her early years employed at Barnes and Noble and how an opportunity to build a support group for writers came to be.

Her story continues as she talks about moving from Chicago to Los Angeles, where she constructs a support group similar to the one she did in Chicago. However, this time, it expanded to attract entrepreneurs, freelancers, and other independent professionals. She talks about how this endeavor was only part-time and highlights that her day jobs in finance and project management helped her develop skills in the above undertakings.

She conveys her experiences working for publishing firms and how this industry has changed. There is insight into how these firms work and what they look for in potential authors. From this, Debra conveys how she developed her passion for assisting authors in developing and presenting their book proposals.

Deb takes the listener through her journey as she developed her workshops on setting and achieving goals, eventually leading to her methodology, The D*E*B Method. We talked about her practice, how she established this business, and how she works with clients.

She shares her experiences as an author. We discuss her first book, which was self-published, Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages. As her practice evolved, she discussed her second book, published by Mango Publishing, called A Goal Guide a RoadMap for Setting, Planning, and Achieving Your Goals, and her recent book titled 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting & Goal-Getting. There is a detailed description of her current work, covering what it is about, how it came to be, why she wrote it, and the follow-up.

This interview will serve anybody interested in becoming a published author, there is insight into how the book industry has evolved and works. There are narratives to networking and how to build a contact list. It will appeal to entrepreneurs, freelancers, and anybody who wants to learn how to set and achieve goals. This is a motivational, thought-provoking, and informative interview. It is about learning to carve out our path and becoming the best person we can be. This is an attribute that leaders have, and Deb is a perfect example of this quality.

Find Deb on LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/in/coastbunny

https://TheDEBMethod.com

https://52SecretsBook.com

https://facebook.com/thedebmethod

https://instagram.com/thedebmethod

https://youtube.com/@thedebmethod

https://www.amazon.com/52-Secrets-Goal-Setting-Goal-Getting-Focused/dp/168481717X

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Goal-Guide-Planning-Achieving/dp/1642501506

This interview is with Anne Roche, a life and leadership coach. Anne is a certified Professional coach from iPEC. She has a doctor of law from Golden Gate University School of Law and a bachelor of arts from Beloit College.

The premise of this episode is that change is possible. This interview starts with Anne describing growing up in Connecticut in an artsy family. She explains that she stood out as the one always interested in reading, writing, and the topic of justice. Despite her differences, she maintained the common thread of strong family values from a great upbringing.

With her interest listed above, there is a discussion on how she developed this from high school to college, completing a degree in literature. Moving to California with ambitious aspirations of becoming a corporate lawyer and the process involved in attaining this goal is discussed.

She explains the obstacles she faced with these goals consequently changing her career trajectory by becoming a gardener. The fresh perspective this gave her on life and career and how this carried through the rest of her life is illustrated.

With this new outlook on her life and career, Anne relates her experiences attending Golden Gate University School of Law. There is a fruitful conversation on how she takes a sabbatical from her profession to become a homemaker. There is an insightful and new look at how she developed this segment of her life.

We touch on how Anne entered back into the workforce and the adjustments she and her family made to accommodate this new time in Anne’s life. She shares her experiences as a realtor and a defense attorney, specifically in appellate law. We go into a detailed discussion on why she pursued such an arduous career.

She explains the notion that finding justice for clients can be a challenging task and emotionally draining. She provides insight into how she set boundaries and dealt with some trying situations. She addresses how other life pressures that surfaced initiated her to examine her career. This eventually led to a career change to coaching.

With this new venture, we explore what coaching and life coaching entail. Anne conveys her experiences from the iPEC program, how it ran, its duration, and the turning point in her life from this endeavor. She discusses how she started and built her coaching practice and what perspective clients can expect. What coaching is and the differences between that and therapy are topics covered.

This interview will interest anyone interested in literature, or pursuing law as a career as we cover Anne's years as a lawyer. More importantly, listeners interested in coaching and life coaching from both the client and career perspective will benefit. As a career, the listener will develop an understanding of the course of becoming a coach and how it can be transformative.

For perspective clients, the listener who may want to live better and because of this is considering coaching will be enlightened. This episode is furnished with conversations relating to change, specifically that change is possible and we can all do it without blowing up our lives. Anne’s story is an example of how we have many facets to our lives and to give ourselves the space to examine all our desires is growing and evolving. Above all, there is no mystery to living better just small obstacles holding us from moving forward. It is dealing with those small issues that can teach us to live better. It is learning to live with our hearts above our heads as Anne is a prime example of this idea.

https://annerochecoaching.com/

This episode is with Corbett Frasz, owner of Corbett’s Rock & Roll Barbershop. It is known as the coolest barbershop in Calgary. Corbett is also recognized as a well-renowned drummer in the Canadian music industry. He has collaborated with other artists such as Aaron Pritchett, Clayton Bellamy and The Clayton Bellamy Band, Gord Bamford, Jason McCoy, and the Road Hammers.

This interview starts with Corbett describing his teen years living in Regina, Saskatchewan. He illustrates his interests in sports and particularly music. He talks about how he developed, pursued, and became proficient in playing the drums.

There is nostalgia in this episode as Corbett explains his musical influences, and how he grew musically. He takes the listener through his journey from rehearsing or jamming in his mom's basement, to playing bars or clubs and becoming an established musician. His experiences working with the artists listed above give the listener an inside look at the music industry during the '90s and early 2000s.

Corbett illustrates the life of a musician, which comes with many surprises. One such surprise is having a day job to provide a steady income to override the uncertainties and turmoil of a musical career.

The business segment of the music industry is discussed. This includes networking, interacting with other musicians, and moving around in the industry. Money, traveling with other artists, living in hotels, and dealing with an array of personalities that this type of life brings are all discussed.

Corbett highlights his life-changing experience as he and his bandmates were offered the opportunity to go to Nashville to sign a record deal. He reveals how he stopped and took a break to assess his values as an artist and a person and shifted his career to the hair industry.

He talks about what it was like leaving such a lifestyle, the doubts he faced, and how he overcame them. The conversation then moves into what the hair industry is like. Corbett talks about his schooling and then apprenticing in this industry. More importantly, he talks about how he developed his unique barbershop, Corbett’s Rock & Roll Barbershop.

This episode will appeal to anyone interested in the music industry and anyone wanting to pursue a career in the hair business. Listeners interested in business or entrepreneurship will also benefit as Corbett explains how his barbershop came to be and grew. In addition, there are many lessons on business and life in general as we cover topics such as networking (before social media), reading, and dealing with people.

Above all this episode illustrates how to move on and start the next phase of life as Corbett is a prime example of this. Be it in music or now his barbershop, Corbett followed his intuition. He made decisions that best suited his needs without destroying past relationships. He is true to himself and is not afraid to show his true colors, accepts his wins, and takes his losses while having fun. His story has valuable life lessons and leadership.

https://rockandrollbarber.com/

This interview is with Monique Daigneault, CEO and President of MD Consulting. She is an executive coach, radio host, and author of The Survive and Thrive Tool Kit for Leaders. Monique has an Associate degree in Business from Davenport University, a Bachelor's in Management from Western International University, and a Master's in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Capella University. Also, she has an array of licenses and certifications including a Masters Coach from the International Association of Professional Coaching and Mentoring.

This is an inspiring story about how Monique has applied lessons from her trauma, to better herself and developed this into a resource to help others become their personal best. The interview starts with Monique illustrating growing up in Michigan and moving to Phoenix. Entering the corporate world she conveys her early experiences, including her first start-up.

We cover her path, developing her skills including how she pursued her education. This is furnished by a conversation outlining her experiences doing distance education versus attending in-person schooling. In addition, the impact of higher learning on career development is illustrated.

She reflects on the pros and cons of working in the corporate world and operating her first business. The appeal of entrepreneurship, and the desire to make a difference, motivated Monique to start her current enterprise MD Consulting. We cover the path that she took starting and building her firm.

She describes how she works with clients, how coaching works, and the discrepancy between this and therapy. We cover strategies for dealing with a toxic work environment and bullying, leading to standing up and promoting oneself. The lessons come from her education, years of experience working in human resources, her coaching practice, and more importantly her personal experiences of how she overcame abusive behavior in the workplace.

Her new book The Survive and Thrive Tool Kit for Leaders is discussed in detail. The listener will develop an understanding of Monique and how she approaches coaching. There is insight for the reader on how to get the most out of the book. Her upcoming workbook is reviewed as well. These subjects are supported by the many conversations from her professional and personal experiences.

Monique conveys her knowledge from writing, publishing, and marketing her book. We cover self-publishing as opposed to working with a publisher. We talk about the mechanics of how she wrote her book. She illustrates the process used to market her book to a publisher, working with them, and working with an editor.

This interview will interest anyone considering coaching, as we cover how it works and the elements to consider. Listeners exposed to the sensitive topic of bullying and working in a toxic environment may find this helpful, as insightful views are provided. People interested in writing and publishing books will benefit, as Monique shares her experience with this topic. Entrepreneurs, there are many good discussions on the ins and outs of building a business and a brand.

Above all self-improvement, we all are capable of so much more, we are all leaders, but it takes self-reflection to get to where we want to be. Monique’s story is an example of this. She has taken adversity from her life and applied it to learn lessons and has used this skill to help others prosper. This is an act of sincere generosity a quality of a true leader and Monique is an example of this.

https://mdconsultingglobal.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquedaigneault/

https://www.amazon.com/Survive-Thrive-Toolkit-Leaders-Leadership/dp/1684816254