The Honest Talk

Canadians from coast to coast jumpstart their mornings with journalist Anne-Marie Mediwake, co-host of Your Morning on CTV.

An award-winning national journalist, Anne-Marie has worked at every major television news organization in the country, reporting on some of the biggest news stories of our time. She is a reporter, a mom of triplets and a friend to morning people everywhere, and she joins Jen and Catherine on this episode of The Honest Talk. Listen as she generously shares the behind-the-scenes scoop on her career and family life, her advocacy, and her childhood in Saskatchewan and Alberta after her parents immigrated to Canada when she was a baby.

Meet Flora Do, a remarkable woman who is helping to reshape the face and voice of modern corporate Canada. A progressive and influential voice in Canada's largest bank, she is the Vice President of Investments, Transformation and Client Segments at RBC and the head of RBC Healthcare. She has made a big impact at Canada’s largest bank and on the generation of women leaders who are coming up behind and beside her in the workplace. Flora joins Jen and Catherine to talk about it all: her career, management style, childhood, and her incredible mother. It’s personal, it’s informative-and it’s honest. Listen now and prepare to be inspired.

Vassy Kapelos is one of the most well-known figures in Canadian media and politics, and the latest guest on The Honest Talk. An award-winning journalist, she hosted Power and Politics on CBC for five years before recently announcing a move to CTV News. There, she will take on the role of Chief Political Correspondent and host not one, but two shows: Question Period and Power Play.

On the heels of her biggest career move yet, Kapelos sat down with Jennifer Stewart and Catherine Clark for this episode of The Honest Talk. From her first job in Saskatchewan to her new national radio show and bellwether hosting gigs, her childhood, marriage, parenting and more, this interview covers it all.

A sports website for women-identifying fans? Now, that is a home run! Just ask Jacie deHoop, co-founder of The GIST, a thriving sports media company and the go-to source for sports coverage and conversations for women. Launched across North America in 2019 by three college friends — Jacie deHoop, Ellen Hyslop and Roslyn McLarty — The GIST is all about changing the game in the male-dominated sports industry, where fewer than 14% of journalists are women and less than 4% of coverage is on female athletes.
On this episode of The Honest Talk, Jacie joins Jennifer Stewart and Catherine Clark to talk about launching The GIST and creating content for women-identifying sports fans. She also breaks down the hard work, dedication and enthusiasm that have grown The GIST from a weekly newsletter to a multi-platform powerhouse in just three years.

Vicki Saunders is making her mark in a radically different way. Over the span of her career, Vicki has co-founded and run ventures all over the world. She is an acclaimed author, a mentor, a public speaker, an award winner, and a change maker. At 50 years old, she founded SheEO, now Coralus, a global not-for-profit that finances woman-identifying and non-binary entrepreneurs. Seven years later, the community has successfully expanded into the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom – with no end in sight.

Vicki joins Jen and Catherine on the latest episode of The Honest Talk to chat about her life, her values and her thriving venture capital firm that is rolling out a ground-breaking regenerative capital model and getting attention the world over.

Stephanie Dexter is the first female president of UPS Canada. From being a package handler to senior leadership, Stephanie has seen it all during a phenomenal career that has spanned over 30 years. Although things are starting to change, the feeling of being the only female in the room is all too familiar to her. In this free and frank conversation, Stephanie – who is a champion for women in a traditionally male-dominated industry – talks to Jen and Catherine about her professional journey and her inspiration. She shares how she rose through the ranks in a male-dominated corporate world and never let fear of failure affect her decisions to take on more responsibilities. She also discusses the importance of having both male and female allies and shares her valuable advice to other women looking to be in leadership roles.

“At a very young age, I seriously committed to myself that I would accept people for who they were.”

The Honourable Carla Qualtrough won three Paralympics and four World Championship medals and was named one of Canada’s most influential women in sport six times. Following her exceptional sporting career, she became a human rights lawyer and political leader, currently serving as Canada’s Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Disability Inclusion, where she lives out her deep commitment to equity and inclusivity. In this dynamic conversation with Jen and Catherine, Carla Qualtrough speaks candidly about growing up legally blind and the bullying she endured because of it. She also discloses what drove her to politics, discusses the biggest obstacles currently facing people with disabilities, and reveals how the Paralympics made her who she is today.

“If you want to be a success, you’ve got to work hard and you’ve got to give the time that is required to be a success.”

She was one of the longest-serving mayors in Canadian history, and under her leadership Mississauga grew to be the 6th largest city in Canada. Though she is retired from politics, Hazel McCallion is still living up to her nickname of Hurricane Hazel at the age of 101. Hazel is a Canadian legend, sought out by prime ministers and premiers and inspiring thousands. She joins us on The Honest Talk to discuss her childhood where she witnessed the Great Depression, her secret to political success, her thoughts on politics today, and why she has always worked to prove herself at the local level. Hazel also talks about how she would like to be remembered and gives some valuable advice to young women about speaking their minds.

“One of the enduring things that I will always take away from my time as a journalist, was how willing people were to be open and share their stories at some of their most vulnerable moments.” Shachi Kurl is President of the Angus Reid Institute, Canada’s non-profit foundation committed to independent research, and an award-winning journalist. She is often found on television, radio, and in print offering analysis of current events and news taking place in Canada and across the globe. Shachi joins us on The Honest Talk to discuss her career path, her personal journey, tokenism, leaving a legacy, and her advice to other people looking to change their career paths.

Heather Scoffield is the Ottawa Bureau Chief for the Toronto Star and an award-winning journalist. Previously, she spent almost a decade with the Canadian Press as their Ottawa Bureau Chief and also worked for the Globe and Mail. Heather has spent her career covering economics, public policy, and national politics and has been at the forefront of many of Canada’s historic moments. She has also been named as one of Ottawa’s 100 most influential people. In this episode of The Honest Talk, Jen and Catherine speak with Heather Scoffield about how journalism has changed for women over the years and the importance of having diverse representation in the news industry. Heather also talks about what made her become a journalist and issues that she thinks are critical in the current context. Finally, she dives into issues that she is passionate about and provides insight on how she managed to have a successful career while raising two kids.