Content warning: infant loss

Emma Mitchell is Evie's mom. She's also a pickleball obsessive, a Canadian music lover, a former open mic host, and one of the most honest and open humans I've had the pleasure of sitting across from. We start the conversation talking about pickleball outfits (because of course we do) and then we go somewhere really deep and really real.

Emma never let herself think about motherhood. Between her brother, Gord, her PCOS diagnosis, and just never really going there in her mind, she'd quietly made peace with a different kind of life. And then a chest x-ray waiting room moment sent her home to take a pregnancy test. The rest, as they say.

We talk about everything - the pregnancy she didn't see coming, the bleed that terrified them at eight weeks, a missing referral, a cervix that was nearly gone, an infection, and a baby girl named Evie who arrived at 23 weeks and 6 days weighing 660 grams. We also talk about what it means to become a mom the moment you find out you're going to be one, even when everything that follows is the hardest thing you've ever done.

This is part 1 of 2, which will be released next week x

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What happens when the rug gets pulled out from under you? Amira believes you were always meant to land exactly where you did.

This week, listen in as Nadine sits down with Amira de Vera, entertainment publicist and founder of Project Four PR, for a conversation that wanders, beautifully, from books to burnout to the Burnt Toast Theory. Amira shares how she stumbled into the Public Relations world with zero plan (just a volunteering gig at Toronto Fashion Week and a lot of nerve), built her own firm after a toxic boss finally pushed her out the door, and learned that the universe has a funny way of redirecting you right when you think you're lost.

They get into the difference between working hard and burning out, why sitting with pain is scarier than outrunning it, and how therapy, morning routines, and the occasional ugly cry over Kristin Hannah can all be part of the same healing toolkit.

Plus: Tom Cruise is apparently really lovely, Honey's Ice Cream is a life-saver, and if you haven't started The Nightingale yet — well, you've been warned.

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They're backkkkkkkk. The last Wednesday of the month means mom and sis join Nadine for a conversation that starts with a laundry disagreement and ends with all three of them in tears. This one is special <3

It began with a simple idea, a book club of sorts. All three of them agreed to read Being Mortal by Atul Gawande but when they hopped on to chat about it, it turned into something unexpected and deeply personal. Turns out the book, which examines how medicine handles aging, terminal illness, and end of life, lands differently when you've lived it. And this family has lived it.

Listen in as Nadine, Danielle, and Lorraine open up about losing their dad/husband, Ed, to stage four lung cancer in April 2020, right in the thick of COVID. They talk about the brutal treatments that no one told him to stop, the fact that only once, and while in crisis, did anyone ask about his end of life wishes, and the friend and GP who finally had the conversation that the system never could.

They wrestle with the tension between fighting and letting go, and how hard it is to honour someone's autonomy when all you want is more time with them. Lorraine reflects on Ed's unshakable will to live and his refusal to hear a prognosis. Danielle connects the book to her daily work in addictions and occupational therapy, where she fights for the same things Gawande writes about - choice, dignity, and a life worth living. And Nadine reckons with a memory she can't shake: calling her dad from Ottawa, telling him to go to the hospital, unable to accept that he was dying.

They also talk about what the book gets so right; the loneliness, boredom, and helplessness of institutional care, the couple who built their own aging community, the man who came back to life when someone put a bird in his room, and the music teacher who spent her final days doing the only thing she ever wanted to do - teach.

This one is heavy and beautiful and important. It's about how we treat the people we love at the end, and whether we're brave enough to ask them what they actually want. It's also about screaming into the void at Cape Spear, which according to this family, is excellent therapy.

Read it. Seriously. Read this book.

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Jen Alvarenga was 18 years old when she left Honduras for Ottawa with a plan - get an education, go back home and work for the family business. That was over two decades ago and well, she's still here and she's shaping her adopted city with as much love and care as if she were born and raised in it.

Jen is the co-founder of GoodStory, a real estate team in Ottawa that has quietly become one of the most trusted in the city - not by chasing sales, but by helping people through every single step of their real estate journey, even if that means telling them it's not the right time to buy or sell. They offer the kind of advice that doesn't so much make them money that day, but it definitely makes them your agent and confidante for life.

On this week's episode Nadine sits down with Jen to talk about everything from acting as her father's translator during government tenders in Honduras at just 12 years old, to fearing having to leave Canada after missing the fine print on her immigration paperwork. She shares how she built GoodStory alongside her partner and husband, Leo, what Copenhagen can teach Ottawa about joy, and all about her beloved mentor who recently passed away - the one who looked at her skepticism about this industry and said, "You could be the light in the dark space."

Though we talk a lot about real estate, this conversation is actually about what it looks like to build something from scratch in a place that wasn't supposed to be home. It's about the fire you inherit from parents who started with nothing, and what can happen when you start to see your city from a lens that takes into account walkability, community design and emotional architecture.

Grab a coffee — from somewhere local — and settle in. This one is truly a good story.

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What happens when the woman who spent years telling her partner that having kids was a 'dealbreaker' suddenly finds herself in her mid-30s wanting the exact thing she'd been against her entire life? Meet Brittany Gordon, a holistic nutritionist, founder of Healing Ginger, sister, daughter, friend, and now mom to two-year old Lillian. 

This week our conversation is focused around the experience of becoming a mother on the other side of 40, including the unexpected identity earthquake that Brittany had, the specific loneliness of being the oldest mom at playgroup, and the particular grief of looking at your toddler and realizing she's going to be fairly young when you die. 

Brittany is equal parts funny and raw, with a dash of quiet radical, as she explains what it was like to go from successful entrepreneur to mom to somehow finding a rhythm between both when she went back to work at just three months postpartum because ... small business owner! 

Join us as she also shares the unexpected gifts of becoming a later-in-life mother - the steadiness, the self-knowledge, the friendships that have already survived their hardest tests along with the ability to slow down and actually appreciate the slowing. 

This conversation is really about identity, how we build it, how we lose it, and how we piece it back together when life hands us something we didn't see coming. 

Grab yourself a salty-snack and settle in. This one's a keeper. 

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This week sisters Angie and Amanda Cambareri, owners of Vincent Boutique in Ottawa, Ontario, join Nadine for a candid chat about closet staples, owning a clothing store, and how they protect their tight bond while also ensuring they make the necessary decisions to continue growing their business.

Growing up in a close-knit Italian family, they both share how their early creativity and love of shopping was encouraged, and how their contrasting personalities - Angie being the responsible helper and Amanda the rule-bender - became a strength for them as business partners and entrepreneurs. 

From bootstrapping inventory and continuing to hold their full-time jobs in the early days, Angie and Amanda share their hard-learned lessons and their hopes for continued growth as they reflect on this last year as being the toughest they've ever experienced. Tariffs and shifting behaviours in their customers changed the landscape and prompted a strategic reset, diversification, and refreshed social media. 

Long story short - these two are not ones to rest into routine. They are continually learning, pivoting, testing markets and hosting events, all the while focused on the same thing since day one - making their clients feel seen. 

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Calling all music lovers! This week Nadine welcomes Erin Benjamin - mom, golfer, former touring singer-songwriter, and now President & CEO of the Canadian Live Music Association - for a wide-ranging conversation about music, identity, and community. 

Having loved music all of her life, but not really able to carry a tune, Nadine wanted to take some time to listen to (and maybe live vicariously through) Erin's story, which begins at the age of five when she begged for her first guitar. 

Over this hour we are gifted with stories about the realities of writing and touring in the 1990s as an independent artist, and we learn how and why Erin retired from performing to become the first Executive Director of the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals (now Folk Canada), choosing impact over the stage.

Reflecting on the healing power of live shows, unforgettable concerts and the joy of connection, Erin shares the importance of the Canadian Live Music Association and talks about how COVID helped propel their relentless advocacy for live music through the #ForTheLoveOfLIVE campaign, which resulted in a historic $70M federal investment. 

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They're backkkkkkkk <3 The last Wednesday of the month means mom and sis join Nadine for another funny, candid chat that starts with favourite breakfasts and spirals into bigger life questions. 

Bucket lists. When Nadine admits her dream trip to South Africa has stayed a “someday” fantasy since she was 16, the three unpack why that may be so, which leads to a conversation about the meaning we attach to bucket lists and how perhaps doing the thing we've always wanted to do means that the dream is over. 

This leads to a raw conversation as they revisit how their dad avoided talking about dying and delayed making a will because of a superstition. They then reflect on the legal realities of death, including generational attitudes and how grief can turn into conflict over money or even small possessions. 

This episode ends on a light note, with what travel means to each of them, sharing chaotic road-trip stories from Germany and dreaming about their future “Vera” filming-locations tour in England.

nh x

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In a candid conversation, Donna - an artist, musician, and mom - shares what she’s loving lately in music (Louis Tomlinson, thanks to her nine-year-old daughter) before diving into the story behind her decision to choose to become a single mother at 40.  

Donna first walked into a fertility clinic at 38 when it occurred to her that time was slipping by and waiting for the right partner was no longer something she could entertain. Women’s biological clocks are a real thing, and if she was going to be a mom, it was now or never. 

Throughout this episode Donna talks to us about the decision to use a sperm donor, walking us through the steps while openly and honestly sharing how she felt each part of the way. She shares the challenges and joys, the worries and wins, and how she finally got the courage to tell her Catholic mother about the pregnancy, leaning on her supportive father and friends along the way. 

Raising Maria has been the reward she always hoped for, and she talks about raising her with honesty about being donor-conceived, including connecting her with donor siblings via the Donor Sibling Registry. Reflecting on postpartum fears, finances, therapy and screen-time challenges, this is ultimately a story about finding joy in single mothering, soaking up the love that is Maria, in all her humour, imagination and strong will.

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In this week's episode Nadine chats with Ottawa portrait, brand, and commercial photographer Amanda Thirkill about road-trip music, growing up in Sudbury with summers on Manitoulin Island, and how her dad's film-camera candids sparked her love of photography and shaped how she positions herself behind the lens. 

Having previously worked with Amanda, Nadine was most curious to talk about her process and how she not only captures an image, but manages to capture the humanness in each of her subjects. Taking great care to set folks at ease, Amanda has a gift of creating trust, comfort, and a sense of spontaneity in even the most well-curated shoots. 

We talk about the vulnerability of being perceived, and why it's so hard, yet so incredibly important, to have your photo taken - to capture yourself just as you are and show the world how you want to be seen. 

Amanda is a wealth of knowledge, inspiration and vulnerability, sharing the life experiences that shaped her, and giving us a sneak peek into her growing International Women's Day portrait series, the third of which she just shot this past Sunday, March 8th, on IWD. This beautiful series is her brainchild and brings together an incredible community of talented women to help support, celebrate and lift other women they've met along the way.  

View her IWD series on her Instagram, or visit her website for inspiration/inquires. 

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