UNBeknownst

Josh O'Kane (BSc/BA '09) is a reporter with The Globe and Mail who has covered the technology sector for much of the past five years. His coverage focuses on the relationships between tech companies and human beings, governments, economies, and each other. His latest book, Sideways: The City Google Couldn't Buy, investigates the failed effort by Google sister company Sidewalk Labs to build a future-focused neighbourhood in Toronto, the many institutions that company won over, and the consequences of Big Tech's push into the physical world. Josh has extensively reported from Berlin, Halifax, Fredericton and Saint John, and is based in Toronto. He got his start on the UNB campuses – he has a science and arts degree from UNB, wrote for the UNBSJ student paper, The Baron, and was editor of The Brunswickan on the Fredericton campus.

Mitch Cobb (BA'02) is co-owner and CEO of Upstreet Craft Brewery, on Prince Edward Island. But Upstreet isn't just a brewery (even though it's grown to become a major player in the Atlantic Canada brewing industry), it's a Certified B Corp, intent on doing business differently and making a positive impact in their community. Mitch has been named one of Atlantic Canada's Top 50 CEOs by Atlantic Business Magazine. He graduated from UNB with an Arts degree in Anthropology and International Development and says that a lightbulb went off for him when he realized that community development and business are not on the opposite sides of the spectrum.

In this episode:

• The origin story for Upstreet
• The meaning behind being a certified B Corp and why it's important
• Why Mitch is drawn to purpose-driven entrepreneurship
• The passion and technology behind Upstreet reducing its carbon footprint
• An honest conversation around corporate greed and a shift in Millennial and Gen Z consumers
• How to find balance as an entrepreneur
• Leaning into shifts in society, including creating a non-alcoholic craft beer

Links and resources:

• Upstreet Craft Brewing Beer Collection: https://upstreet.ca/beer/
• Libra Non-Alcoholic Craft Beer Collection: https://drinklibra.ca/collections/all
• Partnership with Local Musicians - Serena Ryder Video - Libra's Balance Ambassador: https://drinklibra.ca/pages/our-story
• B Corporation: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/
• Bullfrog Power Utilized in Taproom: https://bullfrogpower.com/

Thanks to:

Our alumni hosts, the AAA Team: Arsham, Arash and Armin Ahmadi https://www.unb.ca/alumni/alumni-news/unb-alumni-podcast.html

Music by alumni artist, Beats of Burden: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/beats-of-burden/1451387846

Our alumni Affinity Partners, TD Insurance, Manulife, and MBNA Mastercard: https://www.unb.ca/alumni/benefitsandservices/index.html

To listen to UNBeknownst and for more info on the podcast, the hosts and how to subscribe to new episode alerts, visit our website

Julia Wright (BA'07) is the host of CBC Information Morning on CBC Radio 1 in Saint John and is also an award-winning writer and photographer. Born and raised in Saint John, New Brunswick, Julia was a contributor to Vice, Buzzfeed, and various local and provincial newspapers before taking on radio hosting duties in 2019. Earlier, she founded and edited two independent Saint John creative writing and art zines. In this episode, Julia discusses why she loves her hometown of Saint John, her unconventional path to success, journalism since COVID-19, and what she learned at UNB that is so important in her professional life.

Links and resources:

CBC bio

Julia on Twitter

Julia's LinkedIn

Thanks to:

Our alumni host, Shauna Cole

Music by alumni artist, Beats of Burden

Our alumni Affinity Partners, TD Insurance, Manulife, and MBNA Mastercard

To listen to UNBeknownst and for more info on the podcast, the hosts and how to subscribe to new episode alerts, visit our website

Brandon Mitchell (BIS'16, MEd'18) is a Mi'kmaq graphic artist, published writer and entrepreneur from Listuguj, Quebec, now residing in Fredericton. Brandon is a two-time graduate of UNB, with a Bachelor in Multimedia and Art Culture and Master in Education, Adult and Continuing Education. He is the founder of Birch Bark Comics and creator of the Sacred Circles comic series. His work includes a series of illustrated books that fuse contemporary graphic novel artistic approaches with traditional Mi'kmaq stories and language. Brandon feels that comic books and graphic novels are a path to better teach Indigenous youth about their culture, rather than from a textbook.

In this episode:

• How Brandon realized he could write and how he got into graphic novels
• His initial experience teaching Indigenous youth in his home community, and how it inspired creating Mi'kmaq graphic art stories
• The challenge of starting and growing an Indigenous business, and in being both an entrepreneur and a creative
• Growing a career as a published author
• Why Brandon feels incorporating the Mi'kmaq language into storytelling is a better way to expose young readers to culture and pride

Links and resources:

Birch Bark Comics

Brandon's books

Beaverbrook Art Gallery exhibit

Brandon on Twitter

Thanks to:

Our alumni host, Ian Smith

Music by alumni artist, Beats of Burden

Our alumni Affinity Partners, TD Insurance, Manulife, and MBNA Mastercard

To listen to UNBeknownst and for more info on the podcast, the hosts and how to subscribe to new episode alerts, visit our website

Tom Liston (BBA'96) is one of the most sought-after minds in Canada's tech investment sector. Tom currently serves on several Board of Directors for public and private technology companies, and he has a strong track record of shareholder value creation in that capacity. As Chief Investment Officer of a leading technology-focused venture capital firm, he made investments in SaaS, FinTech, and Healthcare IT fields – two of which were among the top exits in Canadian technology in the past decade. Tom is consistently ranked among the top technology analysts in industry surveys and has received more StarMine stock-picking awards than any other technology analyst. He also volunteers his time as a mentor at the Future of Sport Lab in Toronto, has raised over $100,000 for the MLSE Foundation to support kids' sport, and just recently was a lead investor and advocate for refurbishing Canada's oldest basketball court in St. Stephen, NB.

In this episode:

• How Tom broke into the big leagues on Bay Street
• Why he strategically chose technology companies as his focus
• Tom's secrets to investment success
• Tom's thoughts on cryptocurrency as part of a portfolio
• Blockchain tech used in everyday practices
• The need for more homegrown large Canadian tech companies and the investment needed to do it
• The lessons in life that come from team sports
• Why Tom values giving back to the community

Links and resources:

• Canadian ICT Sector Performance
• Well Health, a Canadian Telehealth company
• CubicFarm Systems, a Canadian AgTech company
• World's oldest basketball court
• Tom's LinkedIn
• Tom's Twitter

Thanks to:

Our alumni hosts, the AAA Team: Arsham, Arash and Armin Ahmadi https://www.unb.ca/alumni/alumni-news/unb-alumni-podcast.html

Music by alumni artist, Beats of Burden: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/beats-of-burden/1451387846

Our alumni Affinity Partners, TD Insurance, Manulife, and MBNA Mastercard: https://www.unb.ca/alumni/benefitsandservices/index.html

Mike Harrison (BScKin'02, MScExSS'05) is a flight surgeon as well as an emergency medicine and critical care physician at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. He was recently one of the flight surgeons for SpaceX's Crew-1 Dragon - which launched in 2020 and returned in 2021. Mike graduated from UNB with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology and a Master of Science in exercise and sport science. We talk with Mike about his work as a physician during these strange times, what it's like to be part of a space crew, and what it takes to follow your dreams and shoot for the stars.

In this episode:

• What is aerospace surgery and how Mike got into it
• How emergency medicine has changed since the pandemic
• The different perspectives of health care workers during the pandemic
• Why the longer path to getting to where he's supposed to be was helpful
• The excitement of being part of the future of space travel
• The unknown physiologic effects on humans in space

Links and resources:

Mike's Twitter

UNB Kinesiology

Thanks to:

Our alumni host, Ian Smith

Music by alumni artist, Beats of Burden

Our alumni Affinity Partners, TD Insurance, Manulife, and MBNA Mastercard

To listen to UNBeknownst and for more info on the podcast, the hosts and how to subscribe to new episode alerts, visit our website

Alexandra Pope (BPhil'06) graduated from UNB's Renaissance College Bachelor of Philosophy in Leadership program and went straight to work in social media and journalism for local newspapers. She jumped to The Weather Network and then joined Canadian Geographic as digital editor – a dream job. Recently, she was named Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Geographic magazine and its sister publication, Canadian Geographic Travel. Alexandra has had the opportunity to travel to many amazing places in pursuit of interesting stories, including a tidal energy platform in the middle of the Bay of Fundy, a fur trading post in northern Saskatchewan, and the Vimy Ridge battlefield.

In this episode:

• Alexandra's role as Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Geographic and her path from local weekly newspaper journalist to leading a major national magazine
• The struggle and successes with work-life balance
• The polarization of media and influence of social media – and where journalism is heading
• Travel adventures and the rewards of doing what you love

Links and resources:

Canadian Geographic

UNB Renaissance College

Alexandra's LinkedIn

Alexandra's Twitter

Alexandra's Instagram

Thanks to:

Our alumni host, Shauna Cole

Music by alumni artist, Beats of Burden

Our alumni Affinity Partners, TD Insurance, Manulife, and MBNA Mastercard

To listen to UNBeknownst and for more info on the podcast, the hosts and how to subscribe to new episode alerts, visit our website

Ash Furrow (BCS'09) is a compassionate software developer who launched his career while still a computer science student at UNB. After graduating, Ash and his partner moved to Toronto, then Amsterdam, and then New York, where he joined Artsy as it was just beginning to grow into the world's largest online marketplace for art. He finally moved home to New Brunswick in 2020 and is now working at Shopify. Ash has authored a number of books, built many apps, spoken at conferences around the world, and is a prolific contributor to open-source software. On his blog, he writes about programming, team leadership, mental health, and his explorations of the humanities.

In this episode:

• How Ash's UNB experience helped launch his career and led to developing his own apps
• The lessons he learned through early explorations of building apps during the rise of the smartphone
• Ash's approach to compassionate software development and his motivation for building a psychologically safe work environment
• How his career with Artsy inspired his work with open-source software and building online communities of contributors
• The challenges of moving to New York and introducing the idea of e-commerce to a market that had previously resisted the internet
• Helping people gain new perspectives and grow as a community through open-source software
• Ash's advice for coders and developers to separate themselves from their work
• The transition of moving back to New Brunswick to work for Shopify, and shifting to a beginner's mindset

Links and resources:

Ash's LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashfurrow/

Ash's blog: https://ashfurrow.com/blog/

Discover Ash's published books: https://ashfurrow.com/books

UNB Fredericton Faculty of Computer Science: https://www.unb.ca/fredericton/cs/

Learn more about Artsy: https://www.artsy.net/

Learn more about Shopify: https://www.shopify.ca/

Thanks to:

Our alumni host, Ian Smith

Music by alumni artist, Beats of Burden

Our alumni Affinity Partners, TD Insurance, Manulife, and MBNA Mastercard

To listen to UNBeknownst and for more info on the podcast, the hosts and how to subscribe to new episode alerts, visit our website

James Gitau (BBA'87, MA'89) came from Kenya to Canada in the 1980s to study at UNB and later returned to Africa to cultivate an esteemed career with UNICEF across the globe. He's part of UNICEF's senior leadership and operations group, and over the years has developed cross-cultural team leadership skills and has gained international experience within the humanitarian and development context. He's currently Deputy Representative, Operations for Yemen.

In this episode:

• How taking the chance to study abroad in Canada during the 1980s changed the course of his life.
• James' perspective on travelling to over 30 countries with UNICEF, and the mystical, fulfilling, and challenging experiences of his career.
• How ensuring policy framework and policy changes were fair, transparent and ethical, was an important yet challenging task in many third world countries.
• Experiencing diverse cultures and learning the history and heritage of the places he's travelled to.

Links and resources:

James' LinkedIn page

UNB Fredericton Faculty of Management

UNICEF.org

Support the Yemin crisis response by UNICEF

Thanks to:

Our alumni host, Emily Barner

Music by alumni artist, Beats of Burden

Our alumni Affinity Partners, TD Insurance, Manulife, and MBNA Mastercard

To listen to UNBeknownst and for more info on the podcast, the hosts and how to subscribe to be alerted to new episodes, visit our website.

Olive Ozoemena is Director of Programs and Operations for the New Brunswick Multicultural Council. Olive is from Nigeria and came to New Brunswick in 2015 to study in the MBA program at UNB Saint John. She stayed in the community and has been an integral part of helping to build a multicultural society that is welcoming and inclusive for newcomers and people from all backgrounds. She is also a member of UNB's Alumni Council, and is passionate about building inclusive communities and moving beyond unconscious biases.

In this episode:

• The experience for international students
• Why Olive is optimistic about breaking down societal biases
• What individuals can do to break down and eliminate our own biases
• How organizations can intentionally include more people and build more representative teams
• The challenges of moving the needle and the reward of positive change
• What employers can do to recognize experience and enhance their workforce

Links and resources:

New Brunswick Multicultural Council: https://nbmc-cmnb.ca/

Olive's LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliveozoemena/

UNBSJ 1-year MBA program: https://www.unb.ca/saintjohn/business/mba/

Thanks to:

Our alumni host, Shauna Cole: https://www.unb.ca/alumni/alumni-news/unb-alumni-podcast-hosts.html

Music by alumni artist, Beats of Burden: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/beats-of-burden/1451387846

Our alumni Affinity Partners, TD Insurance, Manulife, and MBNA Mastercard: https://www.unb.ca/alumni/benefitsandservices/index.html