The Todd Donald Show

Elaine Kapogines is the creator of The Holistic Parent magazine and community, in the Waterloo Region. She’s a non-stop force of media, creation and learning; figuring out more and more ways to engage her audience. Once again instead of learning TOO much about how to better what I do, I chose to ask Elaine about growing up, her personal life, and crack-wise. By the way, much like Sandra Dynka (episode 036) is another amazing person, I met on instagram via the amazing Natasha McKenty (episode 008) and the mutual admiration society, I can’t even tell ya how much it warms the heart. So much to learn from all these people!

Anna Beard is a shy yet standout personality in my opinion, with a love not unlike myself of coffee and conversation. She lead a tour around town to spotlight downtown Kitchener’s locally-owned coffee shops café’s and ethical discussion, or as she put it “socialist views”. I wanted to know what made this local public figure tick, on the personal tip; maybe she has lots to say on art, culture and dating, and could perhaps let this ol’ lug in on what’s going on in the modern scene!

Sandra Dynka (KW Miss Oktoberfest 2018/2019) is someone I met on instagram, via Natasha McKenty, and whom on their own as a health advocate, tennis pro and “champion of the underdog”, full of personality human, is enough to admire. It was only an after-discovery that being Oktoberfest 2018 would be a topic of discussion, but it’s an interesting and rare journey. We not only discussed that, but did a full heartwarming psychological of this wonderful person; to take a look back - here - and forward, at the great person she’ll be in years to come!

Ape Audio is a group of funny KW 20-something guys, showcasing the music scene in the way I only wished I could, with camaraderie, modern technology and an actual HQ! They’re providing you much better quality indie entertainment in two ways, through their HILARIOUS audio-only podcast on iTunes, Spotify etc., but also in video on YouTube, including live-streams and event coverage. I just wanted one opportunity to see if I could make them laugh, while on my show, I did it, and now I must retire. I freakin’ love these dudes!

Amanda Muse, with an empire based in Toronto and covering THE WORLD via the web, is someone whom it’s safe to say I got a little sycophantic over… there’s allot of pressure in being a good host that I wasn’t ready to feel, but for a guest with well over 60k subscribers on YouTube, basically the original real-life Truman Show star.. I think I did okay! With Amanda’s approach in agreeing to be on, and chatting with me, she couldn’t have been more kind, giving and thoughtful.. she took the time to chat over Skype, sent me her mic-recorded end of the convo, we drank coffee, chatted and found out we were born the same year!A true pioneer in internet-content making, the amazing, Amanda Muse!

As promised, here’s Waterloo Region’s musician Cuneyt Yetkiner, chatting with me for my prior podcast The iTodd Lounge, in the summer of 2016, and performing an original composition, called “Yakamoz”. In the conversation, we cover the intricacies of performing locally in various scenarios and his well employed hard-work ethic!

Cuneyt Yetkiner is one of the hardest working performers in Kitchener/Waterloo (and surrounding areas). Having mastered (in my opinion) the complex practice of flamenco guitar, which he also has albums of, he’s not only set-up shop in a multitude of performance types and opportunities, but he’s also a staple of this town’s live pub circuit in various formations along-side Craig McNair, Derek O’Halloran, Jessie T and more.. Cuneyt, having been on the show before (vault episode to follow, soon), agreed to come over and chat again, this time with no direction, to speak of. We’ve been good friends for a while, so we spun a yarn on every person, place or thing in the region, music, game apps on our phone and more!

Rashmi Sanjay is host of ‘In Conversation with Rashmi’ on CKMS in Waterloo, and yet another wonderful soul I managed to meet because of past guest Natasha McKenty, and via Instagram. She has an amazing and compelling story, it’s amazing that she’s still walkin’ and boy is she rockin’! She came over to have some coffee and chat about how and why she does what she does, both in life and with her show. I was just thrilled to meet and chat with this person in general! An additional note, please be sure to visit Rashmi Sanjay’s website - linked below - for a better look into her story, and where to catch her multi-media content!

Mathilde is a vocal & theatre trained singer/songwriter, who’s soon to be a Toronto native. I can’t however, celebrate having this guest on without reminiscing about the fact that Sara and I know each other from years ago, singing karaoke at Anchor in Listowel. So, I know from experience actually HEARING this young woman sing, that she can really belt out a song, and without breaking a sweat. I’d have to say at the heart of the interview is a look through Mathilde’s eyes at the importance of education and the arts. We looked back at those karaoke days a bit and the meat/hearty veg. of the chat is about her upcoming original music, which forecasts greatness!

The return of Kitchener singer/songwriter, teacher and more, finally! This time aronud we started off, well, I started off, talking about the last time she came on, and the KFC involved.. you have to play the podcast to understand, but we did some healing. By this time around, i’d spent ample time enjoying her album ‘You’re Gonna Hear From Me’ (still available!).. so we talked about what she’s been up to more recently. A point of interest this time around, was talking about some things that a music teacher will encounter, and this is in FULL admiration of facebook as a platform for these thoughts. This episode comes of course, with a combination of two more delicately beautiful performances from M-C P!