Tea with a Titan: Conversations Steeped in Greatness |Achievement | Olympics | Olympians| Success | Athletes | Entrepreneurs

What we cover: In this moment, we are safe. Today's guest is Dr Russ Kennedy – someone I have known since 2004, when I launched my brief stint into the stand up comedy world. Russ was a fellow comic, and I got to know him then, and I always really liked him. I eventually set that aside as I evolved as a writer and instead focused more on my foray into the world of one-woman shows – but Russ remained in my orbit because my brother Julien Dionne and his girlfriend Jennifer Grant are comics and so I continued to see Russ perform over the years. The thing I dug about Russ is that he wasn’t just a comic, he had this whole other side to him. He was a neuroscientist and a medical doctor as well. It’s not everyday you meet someone so robust in background. But that’s who Russ is. As a physician, and someone who very openly speaks about his own struggle with anxiety and his father’s battle with mental illness, he has recently launched a fantastic course and online resource called The Kennedy Method. Which you can learn more about by visiting MJDionne.com and clicking on the podcaster tab. There are so many of us – I would venture to say the majority of the population – who at one time or another experiences some form of at least temporarily debilitating self-doubt, fear, worry, anxiety. And so this is a conversation for us all. Russ isn’t just a doctor, he’s been the patient. He gets it. He knows. MJDionne.com  

What we cover: "I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference." -- Robert Frost Today’s guest is Stacey Shand. If there is a woman more easy to have a Girl Crush on that Stacey Shand, I have yet to meet her. Stacey is an ultra-extreme endurance athlete and adventurer. She is affectionately known as ‘Racey Stacey’, and she has been keeping a promise she made to herself from her hospital bed following a near tragic auto accident a number of years ago. When she was faced with the realities of what could have been, she vowed never to take her physical abilities -- her physical and mental strength -- whatever that might look like, for granted again. She went from being virtually inactive and even skipping gym class… to giving her first 5km a try at the age of 25… to the woman she is today – someone who has done approximately 100 marathons, and a woman intent on completing what are known as the toughest races on the planet. I’m not just talking about Ironman, I’m talking about Ultraman and Marathon de Sables and Badwater. One of the things she and I talk about is the idea of "the road not taken” – a concept popularized by the poet Robert Frost. So for this episode, I dug out my copy – a copy I have cherished since the mid-1980s when the dad of my best friend Erin – his name was Gordon Simons – was dying and he knew I wanted to be a writer and he shared that his favourite writer was Robert Frost, and he gave me two of his collections. The following year, this poem was read at his funeral. I have it here – so if it’s been a while since you’ve really considered the words and the message, here it is: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. MJDionne.com

What we cover: "Take the past for what it is. And then, focus on moving forward." -- Kevin Reynolds Today's guest is Kevin Reynolds. He is, of course, the Canadian figure skating super star who won silver at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, as part of the mixed team event. According to the official Olympics athlete site, he is the first skater in the world to ever land a quad-triple-triple combination, and in 2010 he became the first man ever to land two quadruple jumps in the short program – and we talk about all that goodness. But this is by no means just a talk about skating. You don’t have to be up on your figure skating lingo to follow along – despite the fact that many of us will be up on it on account of we Canadians following the recent success of our own ice dancers, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. This is a conversation about getting up after we fall – figuratively and literally. It’s about recognizing what Kevin calls that “glimmer of hope” in order to set the wheels in motion and turn a dream into reality. It’s about harnessing the adrenaline we’ve all felt at one point or another, and turning that into something positive. It’s about learning to replace the question: “What if it all goes wrong?” with “What if it all goes right?” It’s a peek behind the curtain of the present-moment focus that is required to compete and perform at this elite a level. And, it’s a conversation about the Top 5 skating movies in pop culture, and I’ve posted that complete list at MJDionne.com, under the podcaster tab. So there’s that.

What we cover: “Addiction is the body’s way of telling you that you’re not listening to your soul.” – Sherry Strong Today's guest is Sherry Strong – and strong she is. She is a woman who, after 35-years of playing the “victim”, which so many of us are guilty of from time to time – and who also struggled with an addiction to sugar to numb the sadness, took a good look in the mirror and said enough is enough. She was, as she puts it: “sick, obese, tired, and wanted to die.” Today, she is a professional chef, a nutritionist, and a food philosopher – and she can fit her entire body into one leg of her former pants. She has some really wise insights in terms of what it means to have a healthy relationship with food. And it’s all about looking to nature and our relationship to nature – look to the natural abundance of whole foods; what nature intended. She can also help you get off of sugar in as a little as 8-weeks with her famous online program. And if 8 weeks feels too daunting for you, she’s devised a new 7-day plan as well. Surely, we can all give a clean, sugar-free lifestyle a try for one week out of 52 this year. Because, despite our best efforts, sugar is everywhere. In a typical grocery store that carries 6,000 products – sugar is in 80% of what’s available. You can find all that amazing info to get you started on a sugar-free lifestyle at MJDionne.com – click on the podcaster tab. I started this series as a gift to my two daughters so that they will have a library of resources to turn to when they are in need of a new way of seeing things. Because so often, that’s all that we need to get us out of a funk. So if you’re listening to this from far off into the future, JouJou and Birdie, whatever it is you’re going through, just know that your mom believes in you and loves you and knows you’ve got the world in the palm of your hands. And that my biggest wish for you, is that you will make all your decisions from a place of self-love – and Sherry and I talk about that today. MJDionne.com

What we cover: In the interest of full disclosure, I have been ridiculously spread thin – as we all can get from time to time – and completely run down, wrapping up deadlines before I shut the office down until the new year. I have been up late into the night with a sick 2-year-old. And I have been going through this incredibly heavy sadness on account of learning that someone I cared for very much in my high school life, died – but the thing of it all is that he died many years ago. Nearly 25, in fact. And I only just found out. Grieving after-the-fact is a strange and lonely thing. If you’ve ever been there, have found out news in a delayed fashion and have had to grieve alone, I feel your pain – the solitary sadness. Long story short, I have felt anything but titan-y the last couple weeks. More sloggy than titan-y. A friend of mine once said to me: As achievers, we need to learn to cut ourselves some slack. To let ourselves off the hook just every once in a while. And so, as we near the Holiday season, that is what I am doing. I am popping in quick-like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a very Happy Holidays – wherever you are, we have listeners in 80 countries now and whatever the traditions are in your home, so long as they are centred around love and gratitude and giving and memory-making and kindness, that’s all that matters right? We will be back in January 2018, with a host of awesome guest titans – I promise, it won’t just be me with my semi-stuffed nose. It is my most sincere aim to be refreshed, and renewed, and ready to play my A-Game once again. To focus on that which truly matters – and for each of us, the answer to that will be different. Happy New Year! MJDionne.com

What we cover: “The most important things I’ve learned in life, I’ve learned on the badminton court.” – Anna Rice Today’s Guest Titan is two-time Olympian, Anna Rice – a woman who admits that, as far as life goes, everything she’s learned so far, she’s learned on the badminton court. This is a woman who is ripe with insights, and who possesses a calm wisdom that I found quite intoxicating, really. I know you’re going to love her.  This isn’t really a conversation about badminton, so much as it is a conversation about our own thought processes, the stories we make up about ourselves, our relationship with ego and Self, and even what it means and what it takes to do those things that we legitimately love. It’s also a chat that just happens to be bursting with goodness as it pertains to the way we are raising our kids and the things to take into consideration when it comes to our own desires for them and for their own achievements – like the gift of letting them fall, for one -- for those of us who have small humans around the house. I adore this woman -- she is wise, wise, wise. MJDionne.com

What we cover: "You have to lose sight of the shore, to discover new lands." -- Andre Gide, paraphrased    For those of you who listen to the show on a regular basis, it’s not news that I am a huge proponent of perspective shifting. And of gear shifting. Of being adaptable and of having the ability to readjust as needed. As we were planning our recent trip to California, I had a couple leads with amazing LA-based Guest Titans, both of which didn’t end up panning out at the last minute. Because we couldn’t get schedules to align. At first I was a bit disappointed, but that feeling didn’t last long when I reminded myself that it meant I would, instead, get two full days, and not just one, at Disneyland with my 2-year-old and my 4-year-old daughters. Time that, one day, when they have left home to create their own adult lives, I will pine for. And, since this podcast started as a gift to them, so that they will have an inventory of conversations with paradigm-busting perspective-shifters to draw from at various times whenever they feel stuck, I want to tell you now, JouJou and Birdie, that while there is much to be said for achieving and pursuing your big beautiful goals, there is also much to be said for achieving and pursuing big beautiful memories. And our second day together, a day we wouldn’t have had if my two interviews had materialized, saw us instead having breakfast with none other than Princess Ariel, and we were able to squeeze in a live performance of Frozen – two events, two memories, that, seen through the eyes of two special little kids – that were well worth all the delayed goals in the world. I share that story today because I needed the reminder to get out of my own way – to take the headphones off, to back away from the mic, to throw caution to the wind. I needed to, as I heard Elsa belt out on stage… “Let it go!” Perspective shifts happen when we twist the kaleidoscope on our traditional way of seeing things. Nearly 20 years ago, when I was a mid-20-something-year-old junior copywriter in Toronto, I was in the throes of ending a 5-year relationship with a person I knew I shouldn’t be with. The relationship had long run its course, but it was familiar. It was what I knew. And leaving, despite the mundane rut and the repeat betrayals, wasn’t easy. I eventually took a job as a copywriter with the same ad agency but in its Vancouver office, figuring that if I couldn’t completely end the relationship, then at the very least, geography would give me a push, as he finished his post-graduate studies in Toronto. However, even in Vancouver, old habits died hard – there were still phone calls and emails and even short visits. I had 9 toes in Vancouver, but still had one toe in Toronto. In those early months, when I was getting my Vancouver bearings, meeting new friends and colleagues -- a client who would go on to become a dear friend and a bestselling author and even, in fact, a Guest Titan years later, recognized the self-sabotaging pattern I was creating and said something that changed it all for me. She gave me that kaleidoscope twist. She told me: “Mary-Jo... you have to lose sight of the shore, before you can discover new lands.”   I had to let go entirely. I had to let go of what I considered a life preserver, despite the fact the relationship was, in actuality, more of an anchor keeping me from the discovery of new lands. I had to sail into the great unknown. And that night, something shifted – my perspective. And I allowed myself, psychically and emotionally, to chart new waters. All I needed was to hear Gina Mollicone-Long (episode 19) remind me that it was time for me to lose sight of the shore. It was time for me to discover new lands.  Of course learning to let go certainly isn’t relegated to unhealthy relationships. It can be a negative relationship with food or addiction. It can be moving on from a stagnant career. It can be the desire to pursue a whole new field, a whole new passion, a whole new hobby. Regardless, we have to lose sight of the shore, before we can discover new land.  I mention this today for two reasons. One, to remind JouJou and Birdie of this, when they might be hanging on to something a little too long, despite wanting so desperately to seek out the freshness, the excitement of a new opportunity. And, secondly, I mention it because I find myself faced yet again with the decision to lose sight of an old shore – an old way of doing things -- in order to discover a new land. Mark Twain said: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”   MJDionne.com

What we cover: "For temporary results, commit to temporary changes. For permanent results, commit to permanent ones." -- Karin Fortin Jackson, 3-time Ironman finisher, who lost 120 pounds   In 18 months of conversations with people I admire, this might rank as my most favourite chat yet. And I say that with the full admission that I have loved every one of my Guest Titan encounters. Karin Fortin Jackson is so honest, so unassuming, so humble, so candid. She allows us a private peek inside her very personal journey – a journey that has a clear “before” and a clear “after”. She walks us through her “before years” – from the day as a child when she was called “fatso” to her days as an adult who chose to accept the label until she ultimately found herself as a 255-pound mother of two, who couldn’t shop from the bottom shelves at the grocery store for fear of not being able to hoist herself back up again.  Part One of our conversation delves into these years – the "before years" -- who she was and what was going on in her life. Part Two takes a look at the “after years” and how things began to shift for her from January 1, 2008 to today, -- ten years later. She admits freely that there was no trauma she was sedating herself from, there was no form of self-medicating, in those years when she chose to live her life on the couch – this is just who she was, this was the definition of herself she chose to believe. And similarly, she admits that there were no trumpets, no lightening bolts, no big ahas when she finally made the decision to strive for more. Today, 120-pounds lighter, she is a 3-time ironwoman, a soon-to-be 6-time marathoner, and is as vibrant and joyful and active a participant in life as they come. With an estimated 1 in four North Americans living in and around the obesity mark, Karin’s story is certainly not unique. While the details may differ from person to person, the feelings are so often the same. She’s not special in that regard. As an obese woman, she juggled a career, two young children, and the demands of daily life – just like we all do. But eventually -- and this is why she is special -- she incorporated a slow commitment to gradual massive change, inch by inch, month by month, year by year. So if you think you don’t have the time, or if you’re waiting for your big a-ha – you just may be denying yourself your best chance to live a vibrant life. My friend and mentor Sharon Shales says: “If we wait until we are ready, we will be waiting for the rest of our lives.” This is not a conversation about following a specific diet. I have no idea if Karin is vegan or paleo. That’s not what this is about. And the food plan that works best for you is of course entirely your business. This is an open conversation about the feelings and the events that come with living unconsciously, and the gradual transformation that occurs when you instead live with your eyes wide open. When you chose to love yourself more than you love – in Karin’s case and in Karin's words – the pizza and the chocolate and the wine. The reason I started this series, is so that my two daughters, Majella (who we call JouJou) and Burgess (who we call Birdie) will have an inventory of inspiring conversations with paradigm-busters to draw upon for those times in their lives when they feel stuck. Each conversations give me the gift of at least one perspective shift – a new way of looking at the situation. And I want to thank Karin for reminding me that if we want temporary results in our lives – then commit to something temporarily. If we want permanent results, then we must stick to something permanently.  MJDionne.com

What we cover: "For temporary results, commit to temporary changes. For permanent results, commit to permanent ones." -- Karin Fortin Jackson, 3-time Ironman finisher, who lost 120 pounds   In 18 months of conversations with people I admire, this might rank as my most favourite chat yet. And I say that with the full admission that I have loved every one of my Guest Titan encounters. Karin Fortin Jackson is so honest, so unassuming, so humble, so candid. She allows us a private peek inside her very personal journey – a journey that has a clear “before” and a clear “after”. She walks us through her “before years” – from the day as a child when she was called “fatso” to her days as an adult who chose to accept the label until she ultimately found herself as a 255-pound mother of two, who couldn’t shop from the bottom shelves at the grocery store for fear of not being able to hoist herself back up again.  Part One of our conversation delves into these years – the "before years" -- who she was and what was going on in her life. Part Two takes a look at the “after years” and how things began to shift for her from January 1, 2008 to today, -- ten years later. She admits freely that there was no trauma she was sedating herself from, there was no form of self-medicating, in those years when she chose to live her life on the couch – this is just who she was, this was the definition of herself she chose to believe. And similarly, she admits that there were no trumpets, no lightening bolts, no big ahas when she finally made the decision to strive for more. Today, 120-pounds lighter, she is a 3-time ironwoman, a soon-to-be 6-time marathoner, and is as vibrant and joyful and active a participant in life as they come. With an estimated 1 in four North Americans living in and around the obesity mark, Karin’s story is certainly not unique. While the details may differ from person to person, the feelings are so often the same. She’s not special in that regard. As an obese woman, she juggled a career, two young children, and the demands of daily life – just like we all do. But eventually -- and this is why she is special -- she incorporated a slow commitment to gradual massive change, inch by inch, month by month, year by year. So if you think you don’t have the time, or if you’re waiting for your big a-ha – you just may be denying yourself your best chance to live a vibrant life. My friend and mentor Sharon Shales says: “If we wait until we are ready, we will be waiting for the rest of our lives.” This is not a conversation about following a specific diet. I have no idea if Karin is vegan or paleo. That’s not what this is about. And the food plan that works best for you is of course entirely your business. This is an open conversation about the feelings and the events that come with living unconsciously, and the gradual transformation that occurs when you instead live with your eyes wide open. When you chose to love yourself more than you love – in Karin’s case and in Karin's words – the pizza and the chocolate and the wine. The reason I started this series, is so that my two daughters, Majella (who we call JouJou) and Burgess (who we call Birdie) will have an inventory of inspiring conversations with paradigm-busters to draw upon for those times in their lives when they feel stuck. Each conversations give me the gift of at least one perspective shift – a new way of looking at the situation. And I want to thank Karin for reminding me that if we want temporary results in our lives – then commit to something temporarily. If we want permanent results, then we must stick to something permanently.  MJDionne.com

What we cover: “If you want something badly enough, you don’t make sacrifices. You make choices.” – Rhian Wilkinson Today’s Guest Titan chat is a wee bit of a deviation from the norm – and I am so glad about it. Today, I have a guest co-host in the form of 12-year-old Alex Vietch, herself a serious athlete – she’s a track star and a soccer freak, in a good way. She asked me once if I ever were to interview one of the women from Team Canada, if she could maybe come and say hi, but we did one better. When I found out that Rhian Wilkinson, 3-time Olympian and today’s Guest Titan was up for it, I asked Alex if she wouldn’t mind being my co-host. And, because Alex is one of those kids who personifies carpe diem, of course she was in! The impact of women athletes on the positive self-image of young girls and boys – because they too get to see another definition of what it means to be a powerful, strong woman – cannot be understated. To that end, I want to give a shout-out to two of my young friends on the east coast of Canada as well – a big hello to Elle and Lauren Davidson, sisters who themselves are so into the game of soccer in the province of New Brunswick. It was a bit of a coincidence really, on the day I interviewed Rhian – who is the aunt of one of my daughter’s friends – she was on her way back east to run a camp with teammates and today business colleagues within the scope of their incredible enterprise called iS4 -- Christine Sinclair, Karina LeBlanc, Diana Matheson. Well, turns out, one of my oldest and best friends, Alison, had put her two rock star daughters in the camp – and Alison told me that as a mother, she was moved to tears. That our girls are so privileged to have exposure to these resilient, accomplished women – women who teach girls that they are not to be relegated to the sidelines, that to be strong and powerful is the only option, that to work one another – our sisters on the field and off – is a surefire way to build a network and a life of support and love and memories and empowerment. I was so thrilled to have Alex join us for this important conversation. If you are a parent, this is one for the kids too. If you’re going on a road trip, or running errands, have this one on in the car.  MJDionne.com 

What we cover: “Boom! Gratitude.” —Mike Shaw This week’s Guest Titan – Mike Shaw — is beyond inspiring. I have thought about our chat daily since it happened. He is just that impressive. I don’t want to give too much away, his story is incredible, and it’s best if I get out of the way – and let you hear it from his vantage point. Hear what it was like to be at the top of his game as a freestyle skier and coach, and to one day, in the moment it takes to snap our fingers, experience a fluke crash and the subsequent horror of feeling nothing from the neck down – to know that there is a very good chance that he would spend his life as a quadriplegic. This is a story of grit, determination, self-identity – and above all else, gratitude. I caught Mike’s TED Talk in Vancouver, and I knew I had to meet him. And I did, and we drank Vega shakes together, and he wowed me. Every day his feet touch the ground in the morning, he says: “Boom! Gratitude. Boom! Gratitude.” His TED Talk is amazing – he is amazing – and it’s posted here, please check it out. While you’re here, Red Bull did an astounding documentary, called The Healing Agent, on Mike’s recovery – I’m not kidding, it’s one of the most unforgettable half-hours I’ve watched… the moment of Mike’s crash is captured, there is footage of that game-changing, life-altering moment, and it’s hard to watch, really hard, actually. His recovery and his unbreakable focus are also captured, and serve as a reminder that if we want something badly enough, this level of commitment is what it takes. Rehabilitation and recovery became Mike’s full-time job. And, it worked. The reason I started this series, is so that my two daughters, Majella (who we call JouJou) and Burgess (who we call Birdie) will have an inventory of inspiring conversations with paradigm-busters to draw upon for those times in their lives when they feel stuck. Each conversations give me the gift of at least one perspective shift – a new way of looking at the situation. I want to thank Mike for so much – for reminding me to be grateful for the little things. Today, as I was leaving the library, I stepped up over the curb and I thought of Mike. Of those weeks following his accident – when to step up over a curb was an unthinkable privilege. We are all living someone’s version of an unthinkable privilege. Whether it’s having the ability to see, or to hear, or to walk, or just to be alive – those are privileges. Thank you for that special reminder, Mike.

What we cover: Reinvention. I have been calling myself a writer since I was 5 years old. I’ve had a fun and memorable career as an ad copywriter in agencies in Vancouver, as an editor, as a features writer for various magazines. I’ve written my one-woman show and am currently working on the sequel. I wrote my own comedy material in the days I did standup. But for me, the dream is to one day get that screenplay written – that’s the dream. I’ll be honest, though, for some reason, it’s scary to me. It’s a new format, and a new thing, and despite the fact that I’ve read countless books on screenwriting, and have taken half a dozen screenwriting courses, I continue to fall into the category – in this one area of my life – where I talk the talk, but I don’t yet walk the walk. That is my thing – my block. What’s yours? What’s that one thing you want to rock on, but instead you continue to stand in your own way? Because that’s what it is – it’s just ourselves -- getting in the way. Terri Tatchell, of course is the Oscar-nominated writer of the 2009 blockbuster film District 9, which was directed by Neil Blomkamp, who also happens to be her main dude in life – her husband, in fact. So this is a woman knows a thing or two about filmmaking. I re-watched District 9 to prepare for our chat, and if you haven’t watched it lately – do so. I’m not sure how it’s possible, but its themes are somehow more relevant today. I actually felt sick to my stomach watching – themes of oppression, poverty, segregation. It’s all just a little too close to travel bans and walls and terror. However, this isn’t just a talk about writing, and it’s not just a talk about filmmaking, it’s a talk about reinventing -- because she wasn’t always a screenwriter. She wasn’t one of those 18 year olds, fresh out of high school who makes a bee-line to LA. She was on another track altogether. She was a corporate gal, when she made what was arguably a 180, even going to so far as to both metaphorically and literally purge her closet of 33 of her office suits… knowing that in her new life as a writer, she would no longer be needing them. She made a fresh start. She hit the reset button, which is actually something we can all do. It just takes guts. And commitment. It takes what she calls: Hand-cuffing herself to the process. The reason I started this series, is so that my two daughters, Majella and Burgess will have an inventory of inspiring conversations with paradigm-busters to draw upon for those times in their lives when they feel stuck. Each conversations give me the gift of at least one perspective shift – a new way of looking at the situation. And I want to thank Terri for reminding me that committing to a do-ever, throwing our proverbial hats in a whole new ring, is entirely our own choice. That we can get rid of our own version of our 33 suits – when we take the steps to make the decision to get to the heart of the answer to the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” MJDionne.com

This is a mini-episode. Just a wee one. It’s sort of Part Two in my chat with the unbelievably well-respected professional Ironman triathlete, Jeff Symonds Asia Pacific Ironman Champion, the year before last. But it’s also a stand-alone. So I’m not really thinking of it as a continuation of last week’s episode. By all means, go back and check that one out – but don’t feel you have to in order to really “get it”. I saved this installment, which technically is the last twenty minutes of our initial time together, because I really believes it sums up everything I believe about what makes a Guest Titan a Titan. And that is the ability to rise after a fall. The story Jeff tells isn’t just that figuratively, -- it is that literally. It’s the story of what goes on in the mind of someone with such unshakeable conviction and focus on desired outcome, that even when they crash their bike going at speeds of more than 60km/hour during the 180km ride that precedes the full marathon in his iron event – that he will get back up on his bike and persevere. So I didn’t want to largeness of his message to hide in the final quarter of our talk. I wanted it to have its own space, its own room to breathe. It’s just that important – because it applies to us all. I said it last week, and I will say it again, this is a guy who personifies all that we admire in the best of humanity – he is devoid of pretension, he personifies hard work, he is the embodiment of his life philosophy: “Get ugly.” But Jeff is anything but physically ugly – his kind of ugly is the ugly that happens when you leave it all on the line. When you let the sweat and the grime and guts of pursuit ooze from wherever it is that sweat and grime and guts ooze as you stare-down the finish line. That’s the kind of single-focused, push through the pain and discomfort “ugly” he talks about in this short story.  The reason I started this series, is so that my two daughters, Majella (who we call JouJou) and Burgess (who we call Birdie) will have an inventory of inspiring conversations with paradigm-busters to draw upon for those times in their lives when they feel stuck. Each conversations give me the gift of at least one perspective shift – a new way of looking at the situation. And I want to thank Jeff for reminding me that the most rewarding experiences aren’t the ones where we do the best, they’re the ones where we overcome the most adversity. MJDionne.com

What we cover: “A diamond is a lump of coal that did well under pressure." – Henry Kissinger This week’s Guest Titan is flipping amazing. I have loved him from afar for many years now – not like as a stalker, dressed as a plant, hiding in a corner. But just that feeling of tremendous respect you get when you know you are around someone who is truly great. Some one who personifies all that you admire in the best of humanity – he is devoid of pretension, he is the definition of hard work, he is the embodiment of his life philosophy: “Get ugly.” But professional triathlete Jeff Symonds is anything but physically ugly – his kind of ugly is the ugly that happens when you leave it all on the line. When you let the sweat and the grime and guts of pursuit ooze from wherever it is that sweat and grime and guts ooze as you stare-down the finish line. That’s the kind of single-focused, push through the pain and discomfort of “ugly” we talk about it. It’s that kind of ugly that garnered him a 3rd place finish at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas, followed by a 1st place finish at the Ironman Asia Pacific Championships in Melbourne.  However, like all of my best chats, this is a conversation that is universal in its nature – meaning, you don’t have to be a triathlete to “get it”. It doesn’t mater what our figurative finish line looks like, we can all glean from Jeff the inspiration required to dig a little deeper and get a little uglier when we’re face to face with adversity. Jeff is so totally likeable, and he has a gift for story telling and for taking us right inside from within the perspective of a champion – what it feels like, in real time, to be out on the course, picking off our worthy opponents one by one— to sit with him as I did, and as you are about it, is a unique joy. I love this guy. Jeff had a lot of great insights, and he tells one story at the end of our time together, about a time when he got particularly ugly – when he endured a bike crash, going 60km/hour, during a really important race, and how he handled the physical agony and what ultimately made him decide whether or not he would get back on his bike and resume the quest for the win, despite being horribly injured. I’ve saved it – the last 20 minutes of our time together – for a Part Two Mini-Episode, slotted for next time. Because it’s a nail-biter, and it works really well as a stand-alone. So, the good news is, you’ll get a dose – albeit a shorter dose -- of Jeff’s ugliness in Episode #59. The reason I started this series, is so that my two daughters, Majella (who we call JouJou) and Burgess (who we call Birdie) will have an inventory of inspiring conversations with paradigm-busters to draw upon for those times in their lives when they feel stuck. Each conversations give me the gift of at least one perspective shift – a new way of looking at the situation. And I want to thank Jeff for reminding me that when you want something badly enough, it’s up to us to do whatever it takes to dig deep and to let ourselves get ugly for it. Thank you for that, Jeff.

What we cover: “A fall doesn't have to be perceived as a fall. It can be a trip. Or a stumble." – Teryl Rothery This week’s Guest Titan is flipping amazing. I first met Teryl Rothery, about 18 years ago – I’ll tell you how I know it was a long time ago – I was an ad copywriter at an agency here in Vancouver, and I’d written some radio scripts for a national telco. And the product we were advertising was – wait for it – the Yellow Pages. Like, the hard copy, yellow pages phone books. One of the voice actors, we hired for the scripts was Teryl Rothery. That’s how long ago I met Teryl – we were still in the days of advertising the arrival of phone books at our doorsteps, letting people know that they were on their way. And I am going to post that radio spot in the show notes – because why not?! Go to MJDionne.com, click on the podcaster tab, and you’ll see Teryl’s show notes banner there. Easy! In between Seasons One and Two, I took the summer off from recording Tea with a Titan episodes. And it’s a good feeling to know you miss something, because I missed it. And I am so happy to be back. But one of the things I’m committed to doing is shortening my introductions, so that we can get right to the meat – or the tofu – of the episode. Which in today’s case, is my chat with Teryl. In a nutshell, to set the stage, Teryl played the role of Dr Janet Frasier for 7 seasons of Stargate SG-1. She was Grace Sherman alongside Andie MacDowell for 3 seasons of Cedar Cove, and truth told, her filmography on Wikipedia is – and I tell her this in our conversation – exhausting: X-Files, The Outer Limits, Super Natural, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Best in Show with Christopher Guest, Arrow, and, she’s also part of ABC’s new medical drama, The Good Doctor – which premiers on September 25th, 2017. Which very well could be yesterday, if you’re listening to this on the day we post. Teryl is instantly likeable, but more than that, she’s just got a wisdom to her that I’ve always admired. Acting is a profession that has a built-in level of “the unknown” to it – and no matter the field or path we each pursue, wrapping our heads around being okay with uncertainty is a skill that would do us all a fair bit of good. The reason I started this series, is so that my two daughters, Majella (who we call JouJou) and Burgess (who we call Birdie) will have an inventory of inspiring conversations with paradigm-busters to draw upon for those times in their lives when they feel stuck. Each conversations give me the gift of at least one perspective shift – a new way of looking at the situation. And I want to thank Teryl for reminding me that a “fall” doesn’t have to be perceived as a “fall”. We can perceive it as a trip, or a stumble. How liberating is that?!   MJDionne.com 

What we cover: “Where will we be 5 years from today?”   Welcome to Season #2 of Tea with a Titan: Conversations Steeped in Greatness. This is the series where I get to sit down and have tea with entrepreneurs, athletes, entertainers, artists, philanthropists, thought-leaders, difference makers, -- those people who have one of five, or sometimes five of five, things in common. After evaluating the learning I was so blessed to be on the receiving end of throughout Season #1 (episodes 1 through 55), I have come to the realization that what makes a titan a titan comes down to five recurring themes and qualities -- every time.  1) A titan is self-made; they do not depend on others to determine their fate. 2) A titan has a high adversity quotient -- when they fall, they get back up. 3) A titan believes in reinvention – they are adaptable. 4) A titan is a dreamer. But more than that, a titan is a do-er. They set the alarm earlier, they sit at their desk longer, they hit the gym or the pool or the art easel or the laptop. They re-evaluate how they spend the minutes of their day in order to “Find a way.” 5) A titan knows that no mistake is a mistake and no failure is a failure, so long as there was a lesson learned and then implemented along the way. Those are the types of people we connect with on this series. While every week a Guest Titans is on air with me, those of you tuning in now from 70 countries – you are my Guest Titans too, and I thank you for having tea with me every week. It’s good to be back.  I hope you had an outstanding summer. Chad and I certainly did – for those of you who joined us throughout Season 1, you know that in June 2017, I had the extreme good fortune of spending a week with Sir Richard Branson on Necker Island with an organization called Change Makers and Rule Breakers. That was a worldview-shaping experience, to say the least. To be surrounded by people, Richard Branson chief among them, who think THAT big, who really believe anything’s possible… it was intoxicating. While there, I had the chance to moderate a panel of CEOs on the topic of Leadership, Culture and Growth. Feel free to check out the blog post I wrote for the HuffingtonPost, you can find it at MJDionne.com. I’m fortunate to be married to a big thinker, and a few weeks after I returned to Canada, Chad competed in an event called Ultra520 in Penticton, British Columbia – it was his 4th ultra-distance triathlon, but it was his 3rd ultra-distance triathlon in a 12 month period, so I would like to take this chance to tell him for all of the people in all of the land to hear, just how exceptionally proud I am of him. Fewer people have crossed the finishline of an ultra-distance triathlon than have successfully summited Mount Everest, and he did it three times in a one year period. The event saw him swim 10km (6miles), bike 425km (264 miles), and run 84km (which is a double marathon) over three days. And he does it, primarily plant based. We always say that our household is about 97% plant-based, with a 3% variability for when life happens. Diet -- and our choices around food -- is personal, and that formula is just what works for our family. I’ve been plant-based for 18 years, Chad for about a decade, and I bring this up, because – and this is so exciting for me – our family life, including Chad’s throughout his incredible feats of endurance athleticism – our family is fuelled in a big way on Vega… I’ve talked about Vega a lot in the past on this show, because I often have a Vega One Smoothie in my hand while I’m recording. Vega is a certified vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, nutrient-dense line of clean, plant-based nutrition products. From protein powders and snack bars to hydration during workouts, our kitchen shelves are stocked. And Season 2, drum roll please, is brought to you by Vega – which brings me no end of happiness. My relationship with Vega is such that, if you want to give it a try and you do it via this link – it’s a way for you to have amazing plant-based food delivered right to your door for free (because it’s free shipping on orders of $100 or more, true story), and it’s also a way to support “Tea with a Titan” because Vega offers me a percentage of the sales generated from my site. That’s full disclosure – I thank you in advance if you decide to give Vega a whirl via MJDionne.com, or if you’re already a Vega freak like we are, save yourself a trip to the store and have it shipped to your door for free. If you do decide to go for it, my favourite Vega One shake is Vega One chocolate protein powder, with about a cup of water, a cup of almond milk, a handful of frozen strawberries, half a frozen banana, you can even add a quick squirt of the Vega Antioxidant Omega Oil Blends, zap that bad boy in your VitaMix and you have an easy 3-minute breakfast or lunch. I am SO happy to be back at the mic. This month in particular marks a major milestone for me – it’s been 5 years since I battled my last melanoma. And in many ways, five years goes by so head-turningly swiftly. So, the seed I want to plant is if the last five years have gone by in the snap that they have, conversely, that means the next 5 likely will as well. In light of the fact that we all have the gift of 5 years ahead of us (God- or higher-being-willing) I ask you, just as I ask of myself, what are we going to do with those 5 years? I just turned 45, so what do I want to have accomplished, achieved, experienced by the time I turn 50? We have 260 weeks. We have 1,825 days. We have 5 years. What are we going to do with the next one year? The next one month? The next one week? The next one day? Whatever it is, I hope it will in one breath scare you and challenge you, and in another breath please you to no end. I thank you for spending part of your precious time, with me. MJDionne.com

What we cover: "Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson    A few weeks ago, I was speaking on a panel for the organization called Dress for Success. Dress for Success is a fantastic enterprise designed to empower women to get back into the workforce by providing professional clothing for job interviews and the first few weeks of employment, as well as providing a support network and tools for them to thrive. Because I was raised by a bum-kicking single mom who not only pulled herself up by the bootstraps, but who would then go on to “pay it forward” as they say, by serving as a beacon for others, it was an honour for me to speak at their event. While I was on stage, I noticed Pamela Martin in the crowd. And because I have been a longtime admirer of her work in broadcasting and subsequently in politics, I was sort of giddy at the thought of having the chance to meet her. Not like an obsessed fan, but more as a woman in awe of another woman for her work-ethic and her contribution. I live in an area of Vancouver called the North Shore – and within the North Shore, more specifically a tiny little seaside village called Deep Cove, and previous to our Dress for Success encounter, I was sure I had seen Pamela Martin around my neighbourhood. Turns out, her granddaughter and JouJou are in the same class at the same Montessori Pre-school. So, in the days since I pounced on her at the Dress for Success event, I have connected with her a number of times at school events. I’ve always said that there is nothing better than meeting someone who you hope and think will be awesome, and they end up being exactly that. Similarly, there’s nothing worse than meeting someone who you hope and think will be awesome, and they end up being exactly the opposite. Pamela is the former. She is a delight, she is an inspiration, and she knows the secret of success. It comes down to two words: “Hard work.” And even she admits that she’s sorry that’s what the secret is – but alas, that is what it is. Pamela was the first female reporter and on-air personality in her early days at top-rated stations and channels. And it was a role – to be the first woman – she took very seriously. To say that she has been a pioneer for women in broadcasting, would be an undeniable understatement. This is a person who talked about issues like breast cancer when it was actually not even permissible to say the word “breast” on-air, because it wasn’t considered good manners. ("Breast! Breast! Breast!") Ultimately, she would over the years, end up in the coveted seat of News at 6 anchor, alongside the esteemed Bill Good, on Canada’s CTV network’s west coast affiliate, where she would remain for the last near-decade of her broadcasting career – scooping up her fair share of awards and accolades along the way. For nearly 40 years, the name Pamela Martin was synonymous with respect and integrity and likability in the field of communications, and perhaps at no time was she more front and centre than during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games when she was not only a carrier of the torch, an interesting metaphor for someone who has been carrying a torch for decades – but she was the trusted face of the games, here in the host city. And while she most assuredly could have chilled for a while after a career as illustrious as her own, in 2011, after her retirement from the media, she announced the next chapter of her career -- in politics, alongside now BC Premier, Christy Clark and the Liberal Government, where, in true Pamela form, she would go on to be a force yet again. And after all this trailblazing, while many of us would seek the serenity and ease of the all-inclusive holiday, where the only decision we have to make is whether or not we want a mini-umbrella in our drink, Pamela recently took off to Africa for the better part of a month, where she would roll up her sleeves with the good people of Create Change – an organization dedicated to educating girls so that they are better equipped to rise out of poverty. Even in Africa, she was leaving a trail for girls and women, in the classes she taught while there. I love this woman and it is my goal to be her when I grow up. Or at least my own version of her. This is a woman who, when she decides what it is that she wants, does what it takes to go and get it. And really, couldn’t we all commit to a little more of that in our lives?   MJDionne.com

What we cover: "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." -- Burt Bacharach   About three weeks ago, my four-year-old, JouJou had her first ballet recital with North Vancouver’s stellar organization Pink Petal Ballet, designed less to teach young girls the perfect arabesque, and more to teach young girls concepts like self-love and kindness. The recital concluded with 300 young girls on stage singing in questionable harmony the classic lyrical genius of Burt Bacharach: “What the world needs now, is love sweet love,… it’s the only thing that there’s just too little love.” However, thanks to artistic visionaries and thought leaders like Wendy Williams-Watt who sees opportunity for beauty and self-expression all around her, the quantity of love shown and received and felt is growing exponentially around the world. Love for oneself, love for community, love for country, love for the planet. In fact, her most talked about project to date Big Love Ball now has a home on every continent globally. If you’re not familiar with Big Love Ball, it is the incarnation of the glue that holds societies, countries, and families together – the most powerful single-word in any language, love – written in simple type across the width of a ginormous 5-foot in diameter to be exact, inflatable ball. It’s been called inflatable sculpture; an enormous beach ball that says the one thing we most want to say and hear and feel. Love. Wendy Williams-Watt is a neat person, and the reason this conversation is so important is two-fold. One, we talk about love. Why we’re so afraid to show it. What it feels like when we’re missing it. What it feels like when we’re in it. But, we also talk about what it means to not just have ideas – which, when you’re as creative a person as Wendy is, is kind of like breathing – but actually doing something about them. I say it all the time: “The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers, but most of all, the world needs dreamers who do.” Wendy is a dreamer who does, and this episode is an invitation to you too, to be a dreamer who does. Small admin note: I typically credit that quote as having come from Eleanor Roosevelt, but alas, I went to verify it the other day and I learned it was Sarah Ban Breathnach, writer of Simple Abundance. For years, Wendy was respected in the city of Vancouver for her role concepting and operating the go-to lifestyle destination shop called Liberty – it was a place to go and just lose yourself in the awe of the finely curated pieces. The energy in that space for me, nearly 20 years ago, as a junior copywriter just starting out and living across the street from it, was the feeling of “one day…” It was like walking into a dream. When Wendy transitioned from being the décor expert, the entrepreneur with the thriving enterprise, she experienced an epiphany one day when the battery of her mouse died and she saw the words: “connection lost” across her screen. Her daughter had just moved out, a relationship had come to an end, and Wendy realized she had too much stuff and not enough love and people. She let herself walk through the pain and the loneliness and when she came out on the other side, a whole new articulation of love waited for her on the other side. If you have not seen Big Love Ball, and Wendy’s other love-enhancing, love-expressing projects like Pink Ring and Writing on Ribs, please – no, really, please – check out MJDionne.com and check out the podcaster tab. You need to see this work. I hate to say it, but I’m going to anyway. There is perhaps an underlying feeling that to talk about love is a "female" thing to do. That it’s somehow not cool for guys to engage in dialogue this potentially vulnerable in nature. Which is why, I invite you all to tune in – love is as universal as it gets. And this is a talk for us all. In this time of a particular president talking about walls, and travel bans, and pulling out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, and we have fear in London in light of last week’s London Bridge attack, and in Manchester after the Ariana Grande concert terror attack, what the world needs now, is love sweet love. Wendy talks about what it was like touring the Fire Halls around ground zero on the anniversary of 9/11 last year, and the reaction of these big, burly men – as soon as they saw Big Love Ball, it became an invitation to talk and connect and share. When they brought Big Love Ball to ground zero and invited people to pen a loving note on the ball itself, Wendy describes this feeling of eutopia – love doesn’t see religion, gender, nationality.  She was back in New York this week, with her latest project, Big Love Button as seen on Good Morning America – congrats to you on that, sister. MJDionne.com

What we cover: "We can't go over it, we can't go under it. Oh no, we have to go through it." -- Michael Rosen   JouJou very recently has taken to riding her bike up and down the carpeted hallways of our condo building in BC's wine country, and since this is the first year that Birdie can actually walk, she sort of giddily squeals and chases behind her big sister in her distinctly diaper-clad waddle. However, the other day, JouJou went out into the hallway and left our condo door open, for Birdie to come out when she was ready. I watched as Birdie made the realization that JouJou had in fact left the suite on her bike, and I watched as she processed that she too wanted to leave the unit, and be in the vicinity of the big kid who was out in the hallway. She headed over to the door, which was wide open, and then she quickly stopped. She did not proceed, despite the fact that nothing was, at first glance, physically stopping her. However, the door mat that sits at our entrance is made of sort of this grassy, sisal texture, and Birdie was in bare feet -- so to cross over it would mean a bit of short-term discomfort. I watched her process this: I watched as the realization hit her that what she wanted was on the other side of the discomfort. And, in the moment, the symbolism was just too much for me – and is the reason I share this observation with you now. How many times in our own lives, has the door been wide open – a standing invitation for us to simply walk through and embrace a new experience, to play at a bigger level -- but the thought of moving toward and through that little bit of discomfort ultimately stops us? The grassy sisal mat, can take many forms. Yet, most of the time, as soon as we approach it and tackle it, it vanishes. It’s no longer an issue. And in it’s place is a whole new reality – we have made it out of the condo and into the carpeted hallway where the big kids get to ride their bikes. JouJou has a book that my cousin Dave bought her when she was just a little thing. It’s called “We’re going on a bear hunt”. In it, the writer, Michael Rosen, identifies a number of challenges that our protagonist faces along the way, throughout the duration of the epic journey. Deep mud, raging rivers, high grass. And in every instance, the refrain is the same: “We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, oh no -- we have to go through it.” And such it is with the life we live above and beyond children’s literature, when it comes to life’s discomforts: We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it – oh no, we have to go through it. I am recording this solocast on the eve of an important and exciting trip to Necker Island, Sir Richard Branson’s private estate in the British Virgin Islands, where I will spend the next week with 20 other social entrepreneurs – the Change Makers and Rule Breakers -- in an environment of positivity, leadership, and growth. To me, it’s my hallway, the place where the big kids get to ride their bikes. However, before I get there, I first must embrace the fear of the unknown. Because for as silly as it may seem – and let’s face it, so often our own versions of the grassy, sisal mats are indeed very silly when we acknowledge them – the unknown, the complete mystery of what the next seven days will have in store for me, has me in a state of mild frenzy. And yet, a week from now, I know I will look back with gratitude and a wealth of new memories and new friends, and I will laugh at the ludicrousness of it all. So, tomorrow, I’ll be boarding a plane to Atlanta, and from there, one to San Juan, and from there one to Tortola, and from there, a small boat will zip me through the Caribbean Sea to Sir Richard Branson’s home island, where for one week, I will be surrounded by big kids on their bikes -- those people who know that when you want to get to the other side of life’s open doorways, you can’t go over it, you can’t go under it, oh no -- you’ve got to go through it. As for Birdie, ultimately, as her mommy, I carried her over the grassy, sisal mat, and popped her out onto the other side. Which, when you’re only two years old, is in and of itself its own life lesson – which is… that sometimes we get by with a little help from our friends. But that’s a topic for another day.   MJDionne.com

I’m a big believer that every once in a while, if you stay the path, dreams really can come true. And today’s episode, in my life, is evidence of that theory. Ten years ago this summer, on my 35th birthday, a group of my closest friends and I went to a party at the Playboy Mansion of all places. I’ve said it a number of times on this series: if you have a chance to peek into a portal, to experience a glimpse of life that is counter to your own everyday routine, habits, surroundings, take it. And partying at the Playboy Mansion fell into that camp. While my friends and I – I believe there were ten of us in total – had a blast overall on that special evening, there was one unique highlight that -- for me -- was what some people might call a “pinch me” encounter. I have a long history as a writer and a performer and a speaker, and I dabbled in stand-up comedy for about 3 years as I honed my comedic-writing chops. This ultimately led me to writing and producing and appearing in my one-woman show, "Glowing: A Reproduction Production", which chronicles my rocky road to motherhood in light of having been born short of one biological clock, and the challenges and hiccups, from foiled adoption attempts, to fertility issues and treatments, to all-day morning sickness, to cancer growing in my foot, to the crescendo of being hit full-on by an 18-wheeler love truck when my baby was eventually born. All that to say, in my life, I’ve always known who I was, who I am. A writer, a performer, a communicator. Someone who aims to connect with the goodness of humanity in a memorable and hopefully meaningful way. To that end, there are certain key players in my life who have stood out as real beacons – the ones whose light shines bright, as a reminder that with hard work, with abundance consciousness, with kindness, with lack of ego, with the old adage of “following one’s heart” at the forefront of decisions, and with a commitment to rising after every fall no matter how many times you do indeed fall – and one such beacon is George Shapiro. Long story short, he and his colleague Aimee Hyatt, who that night became a dear friend, were sitting at the table next to us, and when I found out it was indeed THAT George Shapiro, I’m not ashamed to say it. I attacked him. He didn’t stand a chance. He was innocently eating a chocolate chip cookie and I pounced on him and, sadly for the cookie, it went flying, and I am pretty sure I didn’t let go of him for the entire evening. When I decided last year to create this podcast for my daughters – JouJou is 4 and Birdie is 2 years old next week – so that they would have a library of inspiring conversations with fascinating people to draw upon whenever they feel stuck, the guest who I absolutely knew I needed to chat with, was indeed George Shapiro. He is the embodiment of everything I admire: He’s self-made (he literally started in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency and through grit and passion, he worked his way up to being one of the most respected agents and then managers and producers and creative collaborators in Hollywood), he knows the correlation between failure and lessons learned (he has been there as clients like Jerry Seinfeld repetitively bombed on stage, time and again, only to ultimately hit it out of the park as a result of those lessons learned), and above all else, he is kind and a believer in what’s possible. We talk about his time backstage on The Ed Sullivan Show with Elvis Presley, what is was like working with the one-of-a-kind Andy Kaufman, we talk about his years of not only working with Jerry Seinfeld and the fruition of the marginally successful sitcom Seinfeld, but just what a true and sincere love exists between the two of them – between George and Jerry. Last week, I was invited to attend the premiere of the HBO documentary “If you’re not in the Obit, eat breakfast”, executive produced by my pal Aimee Hyatt and produced by George. In his opening remarks at the historic Samuel Goldywn Theater in Los Angeles, George described the documentary as a “love letter to the human race” – and I couldn’t agree more. The film examines what it means to age, not simply gracefully, but with downright vigour. Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Norman Lear, and Betty White – all highly productive contributors to the planet today, and all in their 90s. “If you’re not in the obit, eat breakfast” airs on HBO on June 5th. The following day, after the screening, I made the trek over to the legendary offices of Shapiro/West, for the chat you are about to tune into. I was met with the warmth and the hospitality you can only dream of being on the receiving end of when you have the unique privilege of sitting down with one of your most revered and respected and admired icons. Unlike a decade earlier when we met on that night at the Playboy Mansion, this time it wasn’t my birthday, it was his. So Happy Birthday, Georgie. Danny Devito, who plays George Shapiro in the movie Man on the Moon says to Andy Kaufman – played by Jim Carey – “You are surrounded by what you create.” And George, you are surrounded by goodness and light. I know it was your birthday, George, but the gifts were all mine. MJDionne.com

What we cover:  “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” -- Napolean Hill This is a conversation about running. But not in the way we typically equate talks about running. It’s not about encouraging you to get your fastest time. It’s not about encouraging you to increase your distances. It’s not about heart rate monitors and compression socks and nutrition. Instead, this is a talk about how we can redefine what running means to us. As Ashley Wiles, today’s Guest Titan says: "Running is the most easily accessible, under utilized, readily available tool to help us build positive mental health." And yet, too many of us, continue to equate running with slogging it out and suffering through it – and not as a means simply to release endorphins and create community and foster self-love. Ashley is the founder of Sole Girls, a mentoring program for young girls, which pops them in an environment that fosters conversations about friendship, body image, and self-esteem, and ultimately sees them train to run a 5km event together.  In 2016, Brooks Running named her Inspiring Coach of the Year, and in doing so, she became the first Canadian and the first non-high school coach to be awarded this coveted recognition. And, while today, Ashley is this poised, forward-thinking, optimistic leader who is using her lifelong relationship with running to inspire a whole new generation of runners, she wasn’t always this way. In her early 20s, she suffered a debilitating depression as the result of an unhealthy relationship and she found herself drawn to the story of Amanda Todd, the Vancouver-area girl who was harassed so severely, she took her own life. Ashley knew things for her could go one of two ways – one being a finish that resembled Amanda’s story. Or the other, to take a look at what she truly loved most in life – running – and find a way to create a dialogue around what it’s like out there for people who are hurting. The result was the 2013 launch of Sole Girls, an organization that today has positively impacted thousands of girls via its innovative programs and super popular Sole Awesome 5km fun runs.  The stats are crazy, but here they are: In grade 6, only 36% of girls say they are confident. Worse though is that by grade 10, on 14% of girls say they are. That means, 86% of girls are suffering from a lack of confidence. Ashley is on a mission to change all that. Because the reality is, most of us have determined who we are by the time we are teenagers, and if we’re going through a rough patch in our younger years, we take those negative belief systems with us into adulthood. In this conversation, I admit that I struggle with that myself at times – dragging a bad phase from my teen years with me even now, 30 years later. Running is a form of relief and release. And an invitation to reexamine and redefine and realign. Thank you for this conversation, Ashley. MJDionne.com

What we cover: "Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." -- Samuel Beckett   I have known Elle Wild for the better part of the last two decades. She and I were ad copy writers together in Vancouver. And what I most admired about Elle, was that she always had a side project on the go. She always had a screenplay underway, a radio show to produce, or a treatment she was drafting. At a time in my own life when I desperately wanted to be living a more creative life on my own terms, which is one of the pitfalls of a career in advertising – for as fun and exciting as the work can be, at the end of the day, it’s a business and you are working for your client -- Elle felt light years ahead of me.   I have been so proud to sit back and watch her blossom into this incredibly well-respected figure in our nation’s literarti scene and this past fall with the release of her debut novel Strange Things Done, a title inspired by the opening lines of the Robert Service poem "The Creation of Sam McGee", I was one of the stoked attendees at the book’s launch. In the days since, Strange Things Done has gone on to be a #1 best seller on Amazon in Canada, for its genre – which, if you know Elle, is all about “noir”. The afternoon she and I chatted, she was on her way to a glamorous event to witness the unveiling of the nominees for the prestigious Arthur Ellis Awards, and sure enough, Strange Things Done was indeed shortlisted, and she will find out on May 25th at a ceremony in Toronto if her book is the winner of Best New Novel. Ironically, and a little bit of background, in 2015, Strange Things Done won the Arthur Ellis Award in the category of Best Unpublished Crime Novel. Well, now, it’s published and it’s out there doing its thing, and it was nominated again. Ours is a conversation less about the specifics of the book, although we certainly do cover that, and I assure you, it’s a page-turner and a nail-biter, and all those other things we say about books we just can’t put down, but more than that, ours is conversation about what it requires to take a creative risk. To leave a career trajectory behind and to throw caution to the wind, and to head to Canada’s north to write a crime novel. Writing a book is the ultimate metaphor to tackling any big goal – much in the same way that running a marathon serves as a symbol to life’s big undertakings. So whether you have artistic longings, or athletic longings or entrepreneurial longings, this is a conversation that is universal in nature. "There are strange things done, in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales, That would make your blood run cold." -- Robert Service's The Creation of Sam McGee   MJDionne.com

What we cover: "Just take one small step --- every day." -- Matt Hill   There are some people on this amazing planet who you just know when you meet them are the ones who are on a mission to make it an even more spectacular place than it already is. Undeniably, one of those people is Matt Hill.  A much sought after voice actor, he’s well known as having played Raphael on the Ninja Turtles, he’s Tender Heart the Care Bear, he’s Ton Ton on the Netflix and DreamWorks series DinoTrux, he’s Ed on Ed, Edd, and Eddy. He’s kind of everywhere. Which is no surprise because he is tireless. But he’s more than just enthusiastic and energetic -- he is joy filled, he oozes integrity, he is kind, and he takes action.  In May, 2008, he and his friend, Steph, embarked on an unthinkable journey; on a tour they named The Run for One Planet Tour, which would ultimately see them run from Vancouver, on the west coast of Canada, to St John’s Newfoundland on the eastern most tip of Canada, down to the state of Florida across to the state of California, and back home to Vancouver 369 days later by running a marathon each day, every one of those days. The purpose? To connect with kids, and to remind them to be kind to the planet. By that end of that gruelling yet joyous and unparalleled year, they had connected with more than 50,000 students and completed more than 22,000,000 steps… Thereby serving as the real life reminder that every great goal requires a commitment to taking that one next step, and then that one next step, and then that one next step.  You don’t have to be a runner or an athlete to get that what Matt has accomplished is a metaphor for us all – for anyone who is playing with the idea of a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. No matter the objective, it’s about taking that first step… and then not stopping until you’ve taken 21,999,000 more. This year, nearly 8 years after the initial tour wrapped, Matt and Steph were recognized with a Governor General Meritorious Award – for bringing honour to their home country, Canada. And on the day this posts, Monday, May 8th, 2017, in the city of Vancouver, it is the official Run for One Planet Day – a day set aside to get active, and to take action.  Matt being Matt, an unstoppable force, will be running through the streets of Vancouver from 8am to 8pm. If you’re in Vancouver, swing by the Terry Fox Monument in front of BC Place for his 8am send off or for his 8pm finish at the same place – an intentional location, in light of the fact that Terry remains to this day the single biggest inspiration in Matt’s life, just as he is to so many people across Canada and around the world.  A quick admin item about Terry Fox, Matt and I talk about him and the work of the Terry Fox Foundation, the uber-well-respected organization dedicated to cancer research. We were unsure of the amount that has been raised in Terry’s name and we made a guess and we were way off… When you hear us talk about it, just know the actual amount is closer to $750 million.  If you can’t join Matt from where you are, send him a shout-out on social media. Reach out to him on Twitter at: @MattHillInspire. Or on Instagram at: @MattHill_Inspire. Cheer him on from wherever you are. We are posting this episode a day earlier than we usually do, so that we can rally as much support for this stellar human and his “Let’s Be Good to Ourselves and to the Planet” message as is possible. MJDionne.com

What we cover: "You can do this. You will do this." -- Gary Robbins Every once in a while you have a conversation with a person – a person so exceptional, that’s the only word for it – that the stories they tell are universal in that they tap into the humanity of it all. Gary Robbins is one such person and the conversation we had is one such chat. Despite the fact that Gary is as decorated an ultra-distance runner as they come, this is an episode that explores deeper themes. A one-time self-admitted professional partier, Gary eventually traded in the cans of beer for a pair of running shoes, and embarked on a journey of personal transformation that is astounding to say the least. He walks us through what it felt like – the courage it took – to walk the road less travelled, to leave his home in Newfoundland in search of a non-traditional life and the decisions he had to make in order to stay true to that journey. He talks about the value in being in the right relationship when it comes to achieving an authentic life. And more than all this, he gives us a candid and inside look at quite likely this planet’s most mysterious adventure race, recently popularized by the Netflix documentary of the same name: The Barkley Marathons, a 5-lap, 100-mile course through the most unforgiving Tennessee terrain and in often-times the most bleak conditions imaginable. Gary, a two-time racer in this sadistic endeavor, walks us through the gritty details, what goes into preparing for it, how he handles the times of darkness – and his mantra: “You can do this. You will do this. You can do this. You will do this.” It will be a while before my fingernails grow back. He is an epic storyteller, which comes with being an east coaster, I suspect. To give you a sense of just how arduous the Barkley is, in its 30 years of existence, it has seen only 15 finishers. Fifteen. And yet today, people around the planet clamor to be selected as one of the 40 athletes who participate each year. And while he certainly shares some vivid and heart-stopping imagery, the details which actually occasionally made me feel physically ill on account of the sheer depths of suffering one has to subject themselves to in order to even finish one lap of this event – at the end of the day, this is a conversation about what it takes to create the person we want to become. And isn’t that something we can all relate to? This is, without a doubt,a peek into the mind, the toughness and the motivation of someone who is truly exceptional. That’s the only word for a guy like Gary Robbins. Well, that and titan, of course. MJDionne.com

What we cover: "Everything is perspective." -- Jennifer Heil A few months ago, my friend Susanne Biro, Guest Titan Episode #6, put together a dinner party of six people who didn’t necessarily know one another, but who she all thought would hit it off. And guess what? It worked! Jennifer Heil was one of the people seated at the table, and I instantly fell in love with her. She’s a three-time Olympian – both a gold medalist and a silver medalist – and she’s wise and humble and approachable. I obviously pounced on her and begged her to be a Guest Titan. Better still, turns out, she lives not far from me at all – so getting her here was all the easier. She walks us through the chronology of her time getting to Salt Lake in 2002, Italy in 2006, then Vancouver, in 2010 and the life lessons she picked up along the way.  This is a conversation about focus, about commitment to the process, about the power of visualization, about getting back up when you’re going through times in your life when the way you feel emotionally and psychologically might instead dictate you’d rather curl up on the couch. It’s about having the tools to know that if you want something bad enough, it’s up to you figure out how to make it happen. It’s about being grateful in the moment, and experiencing joy in the moment. It’s about pushing yourself beyond what you ever thought was possible for yourself -- Jenn is truly one of the most driven, accessible, inspiring, intelligent, big thinking people I’ve ever spoken with. To this day, she is the only skier to have completed the Skiing Grand Slam, winning every title in her sport. Yes, she’s a gold and silver medalist. But she’s also a four-time world champion, she’s had 58 World Cup podium finishes, and she’s won five overall World Cup Championships. She knows what greatness is – and she gives us a candid, behind the scenes look at the psychology behind what that takes. MJDionne.com  

What we cover: A few years ago, a friend of mine made me a mixed CD. One of the songs was Snow Patrol’s “Just Say Yes”, and it resonated the most for me on that playlist. “Just say yes. Just say there’s nothing holding you back.” We are so conditioned, as planners, and as a Type A list-makers, and as do-ers with goals and full daytimers, to say “no” when something we hadn’t necessarily seen coming is presented to us. If it is going to require exertion we hadn’t planned on having to exert, or thinking we hadn’t planned on having to think, or making plans we hadn’t planned on having to plan, we say “no”. We come up with reasons why it won’t work or why we can’t. I’m not talking about having the ability to avoid biting off more than we can chew. When you say no to things that do not serve you, when you say no to that which depletes you, that is a whole other story. That is to be commended. I am talking about having an ear that is so finely tuned it can tell when the sound you hear is opportunity knocking, and the time to answer the knock with a “yes!” and not a “no” is now. Because sometimes that happens – sometimes something so big, so exciting, so ginormous lands in our laps, only we’re too caught up in the weeds to notice the potential for the blossoms. We say: Oh, how can I possibly squeeze that in?! How can I possibly go along with that?! How can I possibly, with all I have going on right now, make room for that?! Our job, however, as they say, is not to ask “how?” our job is to say “yes”. Like Snow Patrol. Just say yes, just say there’s nothing holding you back. So, when a dear friend of mine, called me on the weekend and spontaneously let me know of an opportunity that had presented itself, my first reaction – on a visceral, gut level – was to think “no, this isn’t the right time for me.” That opportunity? Well, due to the last minute cancelation of a fellow participant, one spot had become available for one person to join a group of approximately 20 entrepreneurs and thought leaders for a week of big thinking and unforgettable life experiences on Sir Richard Branson’s private estate, Necker Island. Did I want the spot, she asked me? If I did, she would put my name forward to the decision makers, but I needed to act fast.  When I talked about it with Chad, and we quickly identified the logistics of what we’d need to solve for me to take off to an exclusive and remote locale in the British Virgin Islands, Chad said something that changed it all for me. Knowing that I’d love to do a trip of this nature “someday”, he said: “Jo, you’re not getting any younger.” Ugh. Now – I know for a fact he didn’t mean it in a derogatory way. Neither of us begrudges or bemoans the aging process, it’s a privilege denied to many. But he meant it in a way to remind me that time is finite. Maria Beyon Ray says: “Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in an eternity. We have only this moment. Sparkling like a star in our hand. And melting like a snowflake.” So, in just a few weeks, I’ll be boarding a plane to Dallas, and from there, one to San Juan, and from there one to Tortola, and from there, a small boat will zip me through the Caribbean Sea to Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island, where for one week, I will be surrounded by a group of the most formidable do’ers and dreamers: The change makers and rule breakers and forward thinkers – those people who know what the German poet Goethe said is all too true: “Anything you believe or think you can, do it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it.” So, this weekend, one a weekend equated with rebirth for so many, Easter Weekend, no less. I made like Snow Patrol, and I just said yes. Because there’s nothing holding me back.  MJDionne.com

What we cover: "The cave you fear to enter, is the one that holds the treasure." -- Joseph Campbell   A few years ago, Chad and I were with another couple at the Vancouver attraction called Playland. We were in our ‘20s and we thought that going on the famously rickety old roller coaster would be a good idea. And it was,… until, about 90% of the way through the ride, the engine – or whatever it is that lies at the heart of a roller coaster’s propulsion – broke down, and we were essentially stranded on the tracks. If I had to estimate today, I’m pretty sure we were only there for about 10 minutes or so. And thankfully, we were right-side up, and not suspended, head-down in some sort of horrible inversion when this happened. Nonetheless, I suffered a debilitating panic attack. In that moment, everything for me changed. I went from being the kind of person who felt completely free to try anything and do anything, to the kind of person who first needed to consider how long I might be in an enclosed space without the ability to take my exit at a time of my own choosing. Because what happened on the roller coaster turned out not to be a one-off. Rather it would be the first in a long-line of what I can only call panic attacks, because I’ve never figured out what else to call them. What I have endured all these years, isn’t claustrophobia, per say. If I am in a small space and know I can come and go as I please, there’s no anxiety. If I’m in the same small space and someone else is left to decide when I can leave – it’s a significantly different outcome. I have an irrational fear of being “stuck”. Last week, when Chad and I were in Mexico, we made the decision to experience what is called a Temazcal; a beautiful and ancient spiritual ceremony conducted by a shaman in a sweat lodge type environment. A Temazcal is meant as a purification process: Purify the body, purify the mind, purify the soul. The Temazcal is essentially a cave – it’s like a circular dome – and hot volcanic rocks are placed in the centre with participants seated around the rocks. Leading up to the ceremony, in my mind, I was sort of prepared for a 90-minute sauna, perched above the ocean, on a backdrop of native Mexican drumming. When we arrived, I casually mentioned to the shaman that I certainly meant no disrespect but I might need to come and go a few times throughout the ceremony, if I were to experience any panic. This woman, who exuded all the calm and wisdom of the ages, gently and lovingly and firmly explained to me that what we were about to experience was a very intricately designed healing ritual. It was important for me to feel and acknowledge the negative emotions, not to run from them. When I run, I give those feelings permission to return. In short, in many ways, she was inviting me to stare my panic down. I trusted her – nothing about this setting was physically unsafe. The Temazcal was expertly constructed, this wasn’t just some makeshift structure sort of thrown together at a whim – for all intents and purposes, it was a miniature church -- and the heat itself would not be unbearable. The only obstacle I might face would be the darkness of my own mind. And sure enough, there it was. As soon as the doors closed – that awful wave of dread. The thought of sitting there for 90-minutes in the pitch black, unable to leave was too much. In the quiet, before the ceremony even began, I said: “I’m so sorry, I can’t do this. I have to leave.” And while I most assuredly could have, I wasn’t being held against my will, and there were no locks on the doors, she instead invited me to stay: “Breathe through what you’re feeling. Inhale and exhale. Focus on your breath. And remember,” she said: “Fuerza! Fuerza! Fuerza!” Strength, strength, strength. Every once in a while, the perspective shift hits when we least expect it to and when we most need it to by a trigger we just didn’t see coming. For me it was “Fuerza! Fuerza! Fuerza!” Suddenly I was in a staring contest with this monster that I had allowed to follow me for the last 18 years, and I knew I was going to win. Strength, strength, strength… Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Joseph Campbell said: “The cave we fear to enter is the one that holds the treasure.” And here I was, not in a figurative cave, but in a literal one, experiencing a miraculous shift from the height of anxiety to the height of euphoria. MJDionne.com

What we cover: “Surf the cosmic wave.” – Nancy Johnston Not long ago, I had an email from a good friend in London, Jennifer Cameron, letting me know that her good friend, Nancy Johnston, would be coming to Vancouver for Vancouver Fashion Week. And that not only did she have an incredible story – one that would shape her as someone who can rise time and again in the face of adversity – but that she is the creator of a brand that is literally knocking the fashion world on its socks. (Mixed metaphor?) Before we get into the awe-inspiring brand, Tengri, we get into what makes Nancy – Nancy. With a past straight out of an Oscar winning movie, she is the personification of self-made. Her family fled Vietnam in the mid-1970s, taking up in a Malaysian Refugee Camp for a full year just before she was born in Los Angeles when the family first arrived in the United States.  Her life in LA wasn’t easy – she and her siblings didn’t have toys, violence was right outside the front door, high school stabbings weren’t unusual. And in her early years, when her parents couldn’t secure childcare but still had to earn a living, Nancy was brought to the sweatshop where her mom was employed and she too was put to work on the factory line. But as she tells it, even at the age of 4, she was excited to be there – to earn her own money. This is a woman who gets the notion of owning her perspective. It’s this perspective, this taking life by the horns, this propensity for not looking back but for instead just focusing on moving forward, on being a do-er, that has bode her well. And, after initially pursuing an education in pre-med, landing instead in pharmacy, then ultimately in social work and in the charitable sector, and making her home in London with her British husband, she acknowledged a long-time pull to the vast and desolate terrain of Mongolia. She arrived as a traveller, and soon, the idea for Tengri was born. So, what is Tengri?  Well, you’re going to love the concept. While staying with a nomadic yak herding family in Mongolia, she saw firsthand their struggles. She understood that combed yak fibre was a commodity that was simply not being utilized in the way it could be. She knew she had to do something so that these combings, these fibres, typically considered “waste” could be deemed of value in the fashion and luxury goods supply chain.  So she got to work and created a brand. Launched in 2014, Tengri is a London-based globally-conscious company that creates sustainable luxury knitwear and yarns from the Mongolian yak fibres. It’s as soft as cashmere, it’s breathable and hypoallergenic. Yet it just wasn’t being used to the degree it could've been.  Today, Nancy and her team work directly with more than 4,500 nomadic herder families in Mongolia, and with the best designers back in the UK, and the result is a 100% transparent supply-chain process.  Tengri has been listed as one of the Top 100 businesses in the Sustainai100 guide. Tengri fashion pieces are now carried in Selfridges. The brand has a presence on Saville Row, which is pretty much as big as it gets. And Nancy herself was listed as one of 20 Women in Luxury to watch as well, as presented with the Asian Women of Achievement Award in the category of entrepreneur.  When I ask her which of her pinch me moments feels most surreal – having a window in Selfridges? Designing luxury bedding for The Savoy Hotel? – no, it’s none of that. It’s seeing the lives of these 4,500 yak herding families in Mongolian improve dramatically.  That’s the kind of person Nancy is. She’s self-made, and she’s bringing thousands of others along on her rise. And she’s not even 40-years-old. MJDionne.com  

What we cover: "Have the courage to have the courage." -- Melissa Haynes   Melissa Haynes knew from the age of six exactly who she was. She was a writer and an adventurer. She cut out the pages of the National Geographic and carried them around with her in a little basket. She wrote stories about elephants and lions. However, at a very young age, after a humiliating experience of sharing her young ambitions and feeling belittled, she put the dream aside – buried it deep where it would, essentially, fester for decades to come. She embarked on a corporate journey, and ultimately was a key player in the planning of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games and when that all wrapped, she took a good look in the mirror and asked herself some really tough questions. In particular: Where had the dream gone? Offered another gig as a corporate big shot, one most of society would drool for, she instead boarded a plane and committed to many weeks living alone in a tent on a Big Five Game Reserve in South Africa. Where, alone in the quiet she was able to dig deep and confront the resistance – the ghosts -- that had plagued her for so many years. When she came face to face with a cheetah, she knew she was not only living her childhood dreams but she was slaying the fear she had let stop her for so much of her life. Her book, Learning to Play with a Lion’s Testicles – the African slang for having the courage to have the courage – is what came out of that rebirth. It’s a celebration of the understanding that so many of the answers to life’s questions exist in nature – but we’re too busy to notice. Melissa is a wonderfully insightful, joyful and just all round warm person. Because she’s meticulous, she followed up with me as soon as we wrapped our chat, because she wanted to clarify what the five animals are in a Big Five reserve. They are lion, elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, and leopard. (Not unicorn or mermaid, as I had suspected.) You can drop that wee bit of 411 at parties and sound extra smart – and be sure to thank Melissa when you do. This is one of my favourite talks ever. By the time we finished, I wanted to kidnap her and have her as my new best friend. Although, holding someone captive typically backfires when it comes to accumulating new friends. We talk a lot about this idea of ghosts – preconceived ideas, usually false, that ultimately haunt us, until we do what it takes to slay them once and for all. And she most assuredly has. This is a woman who, when in a starting contest with a cheetah, made a decision in that moment to be fearless – and I think it’s time we all do a little bit more of that. Cheetah or no cheetah. How you can learn more: MJDionne.com

What we cover: To say that guest titan Shaun Frankson and his business partner David Katz are thought-leaders would likely be one of the bigger understatements of our time. With the launch of their company The Plastic Bank in 2013, they have essentially turned plastic into funds and in doing so – by monetizing a resource that was once only considered garbage to millions of people living in impoverished conditions – they are not only preventing plastic from building up in our oceans, but are creating a global opportunity for collectors to earn an income and alter the trajectory of their lives.  Their goal is to reach and impact 1 billion people – people they call recycling entrepreneurs – positively. They have launched The Plastic Bank in countries like Haiti, for example, where 75% of the population has no power, where 12,000,000 people live in dire poverty. They are helping these people take back control over their own destinies. And it’s working.  In simple terms, how The Plastic Bank works is like this: a collector, or a recycling entrepreneur, collects the plastic from off the ground and in the waterways and brings it in to one of The Plastic Bank’s recycling centres. From there, the collector is given access to things like cash, or cooking oil, or the ability to charge their phone – which may seem insignificant to those of us who have a charger, but we have power to do that, right? (In Haiti, when you’re making $2 a day in some cases, and spending upwards of 30- to 60-cents just to charge your phone, you’re spending 30% of your income on this pricy task. So The Plastic Bank is changing that.) But they haven’t stopped there. They are in the process of digitizing a currency, so that collectors won’t have to put themselves in the dangerous position of carrying cash, which can be risky. The Plastic Bank is enabling collectors to house their families, feed and clothe families, and even pay for tuitions – they are changing lives and they are changing the world. I saw Shaun speak at a recent TED event here in Vancouver, and I knew I had to reach out to him. He is one of the neatest guys I’ve had the good fortune of connecting with. This is a guy who is fully sleeved, the most impressive tattoo artwork I’ve ever seen up-close. But it’s not like bad guy tattoo-ness; instead he’s plastered in his positive life affirming philosophies. Create, inspire, strategize. And in case he deviates, he’s got the 7 habits of highly effective people tattooed on his arms to serve as his guideposts. One of the things Shaun said in his TED that really struck me was that caring for our planet and caring for the people on it is not a hippie thing, it’s not a millennial thing, it’s a human thing. Yes, being a responsible consumer is a human thing.  And how do we do that?  Well, for starters, Shaun made a really cool distinction for me when I asked him why plastic is ‘bad”? It’s not that it’s bad, it’s that our habits around it are bad. Yes, we need to recycle, but we also need to reach out to the brands we love and ask them -- demand of them, really -- to use #SocialPlastic, which is ultimately what The Plastic Bank’s team makes with the plastic that’s being kept out of water ways when it is amassed by collectors.  Go ahead: Hop on Social Media and directly address the companies and brands we most use and say: "Hey @place brand here, here’s hoping you’re considering the use of #SocialPlastic." Shaun will inspire you to think big -- really big -- there's just no way around that simple fact.   MJDionne.com  

What we cover: “If we all create a daily habit of giving? Holy Hell, we’ll change the world.” – Jacqueline Way On her son, Nick’s 3rd birthday, Jacqueline Way decided to consciously turn her back on the idea of wrapping up a bunch of “stuff” and adding to piles of toys, and instead came up with an idea for she and he to embark on a one-year challenge: Every day, for 365 days, they would commit to one simple act of giving. Long story short, she blogged about the experience, about watching her son develop and hone his innate desire to do for others – an innateness that too many of us, both adults and kids alike don’t tend to tune into nearly often enough today. And what started as a beautiful journey between mother and son has snowballed into the beginnings of a global movement. The 365give program and what it stands for has been adopted by both individuals and schools around the world; it’s not uncommon for Jacqueline, based in Vancouver, to get emails from as far away as countries in Africa, Europe, and beyond – from people who have been touched by 365give, as either an inspired giver or a grateful receiver. I recently had the extreme good fortune of listening to Jacqueline speak at a recent TED event, and I knew when I heard her that hers is a voice the world needs to hear more of right now. Right now, at a time of great division politically in so many parts of this planet – we need to set politics aside and just be nice to each other. One give. One person. One day at a time. As Jacqueline says: Hey, it’s so easy, even a 3-year-old can do it. MJDionne.com  

  What we cover: “No matter what happens, I have me.” – Jody Vance I have loved Jody Vance for the better part of a decade. She was instrumental in introducing me to my first regular role in an on-air segment with a Vancouver radio station, the ShoreFM where she was host of The Jody Vance Show. From there, she would go on to become the 5-year co-host of this city’s morning show, Breakfast Television, where she had me on as a guest in the realm of animal welfare, at least half a dozen times. And when my mom, Sheila, donated a kidney to my husband’s mom, Jane – yes, you heard that right – it was Jody who interviewed Sheila on-air. But her career certainly goes back a heck of a lot further than just the years since I’ve known her. She is as accomplished as they get in this country’s media world. In fact, for many years -- and in many ways this continues today -- her name was synonymous with our national obsession: Hockey. Yes, Jody Vance was the first woman in Canadian history to host her own sports show in primetime. What I love most about Jody and her story though isn’t her success -- while that’s of course admirable -- it’s her hustle. If she wants something, she goes for it. She aims high. She embraces change. She gets prepared, and when opportunity presents itself – she strikes. So you don’t have to be a sports-fan or a broadcast buff to love Jody and this chat; the themes are universal. (Best of all, she metaphorically “leaps” knowing unshakably that the figurative net will appear, because -- as she tells it -- she knows she is her own net.) She’s had a fascinating career. She tells some heart-warming stories about the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Dan Aykroyd, Eric McCormack, and her #1 guy, Gord Downie. All in, this is a conversation that’s full of insights and inspiration, and it’s uplifting and fun. MJDionne.com  

What we cover: “You cannot synthetically produce passion.” – Brent Johnson Part Two in a Three-Part Series Every once in a while, you have a conversation with someone who is legitimately hilarious. Legitimately insightful. And legitimately fascinating. And you want to bottle it and crack the formula and then multiply it and sell the patent. But since you can’t, instead you pop it onto the cyberwaves and you call it a podcast episode. Brent Johnson. There aren’t a lot of names in Vancouver that are more, or even as, synonymous with greatness, with leadership, and with humility than his. So of course it was my dream to get him to sit down and chat with me. And, because he’s as generous as they get, when I reached out to him, he responded in under two minutes with an all-caps ABSOLUTELY. Brent, just so you know: I am framing that email. Brent is about as respected an athlete as they come. The Vancouver Sun once said of Brent: “He is humble, polite and straight-shooting by nature. He was not a football player whose validation and self-worth were tied up in his job, or whose ego contained lopsided control over who he is.” As an 11-year key member of the CFL team The BC Lions, Brent has lots of shiny hardware to his name. He has two Grey Cup wins. He was presented with The CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian Award. He’s been named a CFL All-Star more than once. He was the recipient of the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award. And, most recently, he was inducted into the BC Lions Ring of Honour, the highest honour they can give a player. But despite all of this, this is not a conversation about football. At least, not in the traditional sense. Of course it comes up – it’s the thread. But more than anything, this is a conversation about life. About vulnerability. About commitment. About what Brent identifies as “giving yourself over to something entirely.” It’s a conversation that is ripe with insights. He talks openly about what he sees as being his role as a dad when it comes to guiding the opportunities for his own young son. He talks openly about the loss of his mother, in a tragic car accident, when he was just 12-years-old, and how that event, in many ways, impacted him. He talks openly about the intensity of 5-years playing with Ohio State, his stint with the NFL, and ultimately his journey to an impressive career with the BC Lions. He talks openly about the “if onlys” – those events in all of our lives that make us pause and take stock. And more than all of this, it’s a conversation about what it means to be passionate – what does that look like, and how do we tap into it. Because, as he says, passion cannot be “synthetically” produced. It needs to boil and bubble and generate from deep within. This conversation is fast-paced and super-charged – because that’s what Brent brings to the table. He’s warm and witty and charming and, to be honest, when we eventually wrapped up three hours – yes, really – three hours after he arrived, I swear I was vibrating at a higher frequency for a few days after. Catch all three parts of this awesome chat, one where we continue the drill down into greatness and what that means to Brent. It just so happens, he’s got a lot of unforgettable thought-provoking perspectives on the matter. MJDionne.com

What we cover: “You cannot synthetically produce passion.” – Brent Johnson Part Two in a Three-Part Series Every once in a while, you have a conversation with someone who is legitimately hilarious. Legitimately insightful. And legitimately fascinating. And you want to bottle it and crack the formula and then multiply it and sell the patent. But since you can’t, instead you pop it onto the cyberwaves and you call it a podcast episode. Brent Johnson. There aren’t a lot of names in Vancouver that are more, or even as, synonymous with greatness, with leadership, and with humility than his. So of course it was my dream to get him to sit down and chat with me. And, because he’s as generous as they get, when I reached out to him, he responded in under two minutes with an all-caps ABSOLUTELY. Brent, just so you know: I am framing that email. Brent is about as respected an athlete as they come. The Vancouver Sun once said of Brent: “He is humble, polite and straight-shooting by nature. He was not a football player whose validation and self-worth were tied up in his job, or whose ego contained lopsided control over who he is.” As an 11-year key member of the CFL team The BC Lions, Brent has lots of shiny hardware to his name. He has two Grey Cup wins. He was presented with The CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian Award. He’s been named a CFL All-Star more than once. He was the recipient of the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award. And, most recently, he was inducted into the BC Lions Ring of Honour, the highest honour they can give a player. But despite all of this, this is not a conversation about football. At least, not in the traditional sense. Of course it comes up – it’s the thread. But more than anything, this is a conversation about life. About vulnerability. About commitment. About what Brent identifies as “giving yourself over to something entirely.” It’s a conversation that is ripe with insights. He talks openly about what he sees as being his role as a dad when it comes to guiding the opportunities for his own young son. He talks openly about the loss of his mother, in a tragic car accident, when he was just 12-years-old, and how that event, in many ways, impacted him. He talks openly about the intensity of 5-years playing with Ohio State, his stint with the NFL, and ultimately his journey to an impressive career with the BC Lions. He talks openly about the “if onlys” – those events in all of our lives that make us pause and take stock. And more than all of this, it’s a conversation about what it means to be passionate – what does that look like, and how do we tap into it. Because, as he says, passion cannot be “synthetically” produced. It needs to boil and bubble and generate from deep within. This conversation is fast-paced and super-charged – because that’s what Brent brings to the table. He’s warm and witty and charming and, to be honest, when we eventually wrapped up three hours – yes, really – three hours after he arrived, I swear I was vibrating at a higher frequency for a few days after. I’m releasing each of the Brent-episodes as part of a three-part series. And because, at the time, I didn’t know this is what I would be doing, I had to strategically edit each episode at a place where I could subtly, or not-so-subtly fade out, that would leave you wanting more — by just gradually sort of easing out at a natural place of transition to the next life chapter. Catch all three parts of this awesome chat, one where we continue the drill down into greatness and what that means to Brent. It just so happens, he’s got a lot of unforgettable thought-provoking perspectives on the matter. MJDionne.com

What we cover: “You cannot synthetically produce passion.” – Brent Johnson Every once in a while, you have a conversation with someone who is legitimately hilarious. Legitimately insightful. And legitimately fascinating. And you want to bottle it and crack the formula and then multiply it and sell the patent. But since you can’t, instead you pop it onto the cyberwaves and you call it a podcast episode. Brent Johnson. There aren’t a lot of names in Vancouver that are more, or even as, synonymous with greatness, with leadership, and with humility than his. So of course it was my dream to get him to sit down and chat with me. And, because he’s as generous as they get, when I reached out to him, he responded in under two minutes with an all-caps ABSOLUTELY. Brent, just so you know: I am framing that email. Brent is about as respected an athlete as they come. The Vancouver Sun once said of Brent: “He is humble, polite and straight-shooting by nature. He was not a football player whose validation and self-worth were tied up in his job, or whose ego contained lopsided control over who he is.” As an 11-year key member of the CFL team The BC Lions, Brent has lots of shiny hardware to his name. He has two Grey Cup wins. He was presented with The CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian Award. He’s been named a CFL All-Star more than once. He was the recipient of the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award. And, most recently, he was inducted into the BC Lions Ring of Honour, the highest honour they can give a player. But despite all of this, this is not a conversation about football. At least, not in the traditional sense. Of course it comes up – it’s the thread. But more than anything, this is a conversation about life. About vulnerability. About commitment. About what Brent identifies as “giving yourself over to something entirely.” It’s a conversation that is ripe with insights. He talks openly about what he sees as being his role as a dad when it comes to guiding the opportunities for his own young son. He talks openly about the loss of his mother, in a tragic car accident, when he was just 12-years-old, and how that event, in many ways, impacted him. He talks openly about the “if onlys” – those events in all of our lives that make us pause and take stock. And more than all of this, it’s a conversation about what it means to be passionate – what does that look like, and how do we tap into it. Because, as he says, passion cannot be “synthetically” produced. It needs to boil and bubble and generate from deep within. This conversation is fast-paced and super-charged – because that’s what Brent brings to the table. He’s warm and witty and charming and, to be honest, when we eventually wrapped up three hours – yes, really – three hours after he arrived, I swear I was vibrating at a higher frequency for a few days after. I’m releasing this episode as part one in a To Be Continued series. And because, at the time, I didn’t know this is what I would be doing, I had to strategically edit this episode at a place where I could subtly, or not-so-subtly fade out, that would leave you wanting more – by just gradually sort of easing out at about the one hour mark. Just as he’s getting ready to embark on an intense 5-year stint playing football with Ohio State, where he played in front of crowds of, get this, 110,000 fans. (There are cities with smaller populations than the number of people who would come to cheer at Brent’s games.) So, that’s where we conclude this week. Next time: we’ll continue with his days at Ohio State, his experience with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, and his eventual journey to the CFL. Of course we also continue the drill down into greatness and what that means to him. And, just so happens, he’s got a lot of unforgettable thought-provoking perspectives on the matter. MJDionne.com

What we cover: “Don’t let age get in your way.” – Betty Jean McHugh Betty Jean McHugh was born in 1927 in small-town Canada, never knowing that after a childhood that took place in the depression, teen years that took place during World War II, a career that began in Toronto as a nurse, and then after raising four children on the west coast, that – in her 50s, strictly out of the need to kill time while her daughter’s swim team trained, she would quite literally stumble into life as a runner. At the age of 55, she ran her first marathon, and today, 35 years later, she’s a multi-time world record holder in her age group. In 2016, at the age of 89, she ran the Honolulu Marathon, beating the previous world record by an astonishing 92 minutes. And, like so many people preparing to celebrate their 90th birthday this year, she’s doing it the traditional way – by running the Honolulu marathon yet again, and likely setting one more world record along the way. This is a woman who exudes energy and happiness and optimism -- and I like her a lot. Above all, Betty Jean is a shining example of the fact that how we live our own lives isn’t just about ourselves as individuals, it’s about being a beacon of light – of what’s possible for others as well. If you don’t find this chat completely inspiring in terms of serving as a reminder that we can find our bliss and our purpose and our sense of true joy at any age, and that that how we interpret our biological age is entirely our call, then I don’t know what – if anything – will ever serve as so blatant an example. Visit: MJDionne.com

  What we cover: In the seven months that this series has been my Labour of Love – my Love Child – we’ve been fortunate to chat with a number of those fine human specimens who fall under the “Olympian” banner. What I love about these conversations, is that these people undeniably rank as the best of the best. There is no question; it’s not up for debate. But in sitting down for tea with each of them, they’ve all proven one thing: Beneath the shiny hardware and accolades and the glory, are people. People with struggles, people with sometimes negative self-image issues, people who suffer from the famous “imposter” syndrome. People who are, in fact, just people. For me, someone who is your everyday participant in life – I will never stand on a podium while they play my national anthem – I get more comfort from these connections than I can possibly articulate. And today’s talk takes the proverbial cake. (The proverbial gluten-free, sugar-free, nut-free, organic free-range-egg cake. Because more and more that’s just what cake today looks like.) She’s a two-time Olympic rower. She’s a silver medalist. She’s supermodel gorgeous. She’s fit and smart and funny and author of her awesome and inspiring new book “Beyond the Finish Line: What happens when the endorphins fade”. She’s Krista Guloien. But despite her success, what I love best is that she’s a self-professed “functioning hot mess”. And she admits it all: That in her life, she’s occasionally been plagued with self-doubt, times of insecurity and uncertainty, times of not knowing who she is and who she’s meant to be. But she shows up. And she shows up. And she shows up. And when she falls, you know what she does? She gets back up – stronger than before. This could very well be one of the most relevant conversations I’ve been blessed to be part of. She reminds us all that how we see ourselves is not how others necessarily do. Krista has a life philosophy and it’s three simple words. “Find a way.” If something matters to her – and this is a beautiful reminder for us all – she will find a way. Because in applying this one simple mandate, she’s been able to identify what is no longer serving her. If she finds herself making excuses, saying she’s too busy, simply put – not finding a way to make it happen, she knows it’s because it’s not really a priority for her. When she shared that with me, I nearly fell off my chair. Find a way. Those words are going to live on my fridge for the next 60 years of my life. (Since I intend to live to 104, that math does work.) As Krista says: “When you really want something, you show up. You find a way.”    

What we cover: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” – Marianne Williamson Michelle Tremblay is poised and zen and calming and self-assured. But she wasn’t always this way. She was once shy, uncertain, insecure, and scattered – as she puts it. Then, after the tragic suicide of her fiancé, an event that clearly sent her reeling, she sought out the comfort and meaning and the guidance that awaited in martial arts. And she did the work – she peeled back the layers of pain, the layers of hiding, and the layers of limiting beliefs. Today she is a 2nd degree black belt in Karate, and she’s made a life for herself – both professionally and personally – as an empowerment advocate, through her company MPower Lives. That’s a capital “M” and the word power. M for Michelle. M for Martial Arts. M for Mindfulness. M for Meditation. As principal of MPower Lives, she is a speaker, a workshop facilitator, a coach, a teacher, and she’s a frequent visitor to both schools and the workplace -- places that may be suffering the ill affects of bullying, harassment, and toxicity – she comes in from a place of peace and openness, and she and her clients get to the bottom of the issues of fear and aggression and their opposites, love and inclusivity – together. She’s worked with more than 8,000 people in this capacity. Today’s chat is lovely and enchanting and warm and – at times – very emotional. It’s a bit of a departure from the past. This is not a conversation strictly about achieving authenticity in the ways that we typically address the topic -- through hard work and tenacity. This is an episode dedicated to forgiveness and love and empowerment and of dusting ourselves off when we fall, in a more caring, mindful, and fully engaged way. It’s about being present-minded. About being grounded. And about embracing the slowness. More than anything it’s a dialogue about empowerment. Being empowered from a place of compassion and empathy, and not one of belittling others in order to feel bigger. Being empowered from a place of lifting others up, not tearing them down. Being empowered from a place of showing our vulnerabilities – understanding that there is, perhaps, no stronger act than the one of sharing our weak places and asking for help. After surviving the agonizing loss of Randall, a man who she now is able to recognize wore masks in order to hide his own personal battles with hardship – battles we will all know at one time or another – Michelle became committed to encouraging others who are in pain to reach out. She has a message for us all and that is this: Do not be ashamed. And for those of us who may love someone who is going through a difficult time, she reminds us to be on the lookout for the signs of depression. Not a short-term sadness, but a deep, ongoing one. We may think someone is simply “stressed” or “struggling” and that they’ll “get over it”. But often, we only realize how bad it was when it’s too late. I want to thank Michelle for her incredible openness, the sharing in this episode is deeply admirable. And I am grateful to you for it, Michelle. Learn more at: MJDionne.com  

  What we cover: For those of us who watched the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and sat glued to our television sets for the Opening Ceremonies of the 31st Olympiad, there was a feeling -- just like there is at every Games -- that what we are seeing is a collection of the world’s beautiful people. The fittest, shiniest, most glowing versions of human potential anywhere on the planet march through one arena under one roof carrying hundreds of flags – all at one time. There’s an excitement in the air, to be sure. And if I’m being entirely honest, there can almost be a sense of envy. Look at them, having the time of their lives, celebrating the full actualization of their biggest dreams – while I am here on the couch eating rice crackers, only hypothesizing what that might look like for me. That said, make no mistake, on my end, the envy is more than out-balanced by the sense of inspiration. It’s sort of like, 2% envy, 98% inspiration, really. However, today’s guest met my envy-honesty head on. She swiftly debunked the mythology of the flawless Olympian and pulled the curtain back on what’s really going on behind the scenes. Behind the toothpaste-ad smiles and the sports gear-endorsement television spots, and behind the magazine cover photoshoots. She pulls it all back. And I love her for it. For as superficial as it may sound, she’s stunningly beautiful and, as an Olympic runner in 10,000 metre, she’s undeniably kooky fit. So, without meaning to emit it, there’s a vibe of: Well some people are just blessed, I guess. However, after the heart to heart, she and I shared, I am truly ashamed of myself for being so shallow. There, I said it. Not only is she super likeable, turns out, like the rest of us, she’s also very human. And, as we all know, being human comes with its fair share of downward spirals. She talks about the anxiety she has had to contend with, the insecurities, the injuries, the heartache, the frustrations of waiting more than a year to get the email confirming whether or not she even had a spot on the Olympic team… and having to train everyday in spite of this great unknown. All of us non-Olympians are going to go through times of incredible angst and fear of the unknown and even times of deep sadness. Tasha talks candidly about her journey, and how she had to work through the sometimes debilitating downs, then get back up, dust herself off, and then represent her country – Canada – as she performed on the world stage. This is a woman who can run a 1 hour 11 minute half-marathon. True story. She can run a 2 hour 35 minute full marathon. True story. But for as surreal as those times are on paper, this is also a woman who has overcome a tremendous amount of pain in her personal life and made the decision to run not exactly from it, but through it. Her 2013 divorce sent her reeling, and so she made the conscious choice to use the hurt and the anger and to dig deeper and run faster. The week of her separation, she ran the fastest 8km run by a woman in Canadian history with a time of 25 minutes 28 seconds. She took her hardships and made them work in her favour. And don’t we all have the power within us to do that? No matter what our difficult times look like, and no matter what our goals may be. The reason I love this chat so much, is I think as an everyday person, which is the camp I fall into (I have said many times I’m a participant not a racer. Nothing ever has come really naturally for me when it comes to those Greek God and Goddess like skillsets and attributes. And hey, I typically have kid barf in my hair or down the back of my shirt at any given time. A;; told, I’m just a normal person.) I think we can feel perhaps discouraged at times. Almost like there’s a “them” and an “us.” A “them” who slips on a pair of short shorts and makes a bee-boppy high ponytail and then has to fight off all the people who want to pay for their proseco on a night out. And an “us” who find ourselves curled up in the fetal position rocking back and forth because it can feel so hard just get it right some days. Turns out, we’re wrong. There’s not a “them” and an “us.” There’s an “us” and an “us.” And I love Tasha because she sits down and tells it like it is. Runner or not, you’ll love her too.      

What we cover: The one thing we all have in common is that no one is immune. We will all go through periods of adversity. That fact is the great equalizer. What sets us apart however, is how we choose to handle the adversity.   Today’s episode might just be one of the most important conversations I’ve had. Not just in terms of this podcast, but in the bigger picture as well. We all have a choice – every day – to be the kind of person who squeezes the juice out of the gift of life that we have all been given. Or we can be a moaner and a groaner and a grumbler and a victim. Roy McBeth is joyful and happy, and he spreads optimism. He isn’t a complainer. And yet, for many years he was growing increasingly ill on account of kidney disease. He saw members of his family succumb to the same disease, and rather than use the possibility of this eventual fate as a crutch, the reason for him to opt out of life and be miserable, he chose to use it as the opposite. It catapulted him forwarded. He is an elite cyclist and an unbelievable triathlete. He’s also a detective with the Domestic Crimes Unit with a police force in the Vancouver area, about an hour outside this city, in Abbotsford. And he talks to us about he maintains perspective in a job that is obviously heartbreaking at times. And, of course, after being the recipient of a healthy new kidney, a gift that altered the trajectory of his future, today he’s avid organ donor advocate. This is not the episode for people who may be suffering from kidney disease. Or who may be in need of a donor. Or who may be thinking about becoming a donor. This, quite simply, is the episode for every one. Literally, the demographic of today’s episode is absolutely anyone on the planet. Because, as I said, we are all going to go through hard times. And we would all do well to heed Roy’s life philosophy. To suck the marrow out of each day. When Roy was so so so sick, he was the living embodiment of what is possible even in our darkest days. He took off to Asia, with only 16% kidney function, and qualified for the XTERRA off-road triathlon World Championships in Maui. Today, on the other side of a successful transplant, he is the living embodiment of living big – of making each day count when you’ve been given another chance. Which is something we’re all given. Each morning when we wake up, we’re given another chance. Roy’s is a story that exemplifies the best of humanity. It showcases just how important the living donor program is, and what kind of person actually steps up to save someone’s life. We hear all about Kevin, the hero of this story; the colleague who changed Roy’s life when he basically said: “Here, you can take one of mine. I don’t need two of them.” On January 14th, we say Happy kidney-versary, to Roy and Kevin. And at the same time, I will say a Happy 1-year kidney-versary to my mom, Sheila, and to my mother-in-law, Jane, who share a similar story to Roy and Kevin, when my mom donated a kidney to Jane last November 30th. See? I am surrounded by greatness. There’s a lot of sniffling in this episode. While I do live with two toddlers who’ve had colds for the better part of the last couple months, the sniffling is because often I just couldn’t hold back the tears. Despite the beauty and emotion in this episode, the part I just adore above and beyond the obvious, is an added plus. For anyone out there -- we’re at the start of a brand new year -- who might have a goal they want to achieve but who feels it’s bigger than they are, Roy walks us through what it was like to be someone who couldn’t swim one length of a 25-metre pool and then go on to clock a kooky fast 1 hour 6 ironman swim just 11 months later. He walks us through the psychology of that transformation. The net take-away? We are all capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for. Wherever you are listening from -- today we have people joining in from nearly 50 countries – please let your family know your intentions to be an organ donor. Sign the back of your drivers license. Or, take that act of heroism a step further and pop into your local hospital to learn more about how you can become a living donor. Like Kevin. And like my mom, Sheila. Unrelated, but every bit as important, Roy and I talk about his role in Domestic Crimes. If you are experiencing an unhealthy relationship, and a growing sense of isolation, please reach out to someone as soon as you can. Do not suffer in silence. Keep in touch with me at MJDionne.com. And check out the Podcaster tab for all things pertaining to Roy and in particular, how you can learn more about organ donation.  

What we cover: On May 23rd 2016, Liz Rose became the 17th Canadian woman to climb Mount Everest, the 2nd youngest Canadian overall to summit, and she’s on track to becoming the youngest Canadian to climb all Seven Summits – which is to say she’ll aim to tackle the highest peak on each of the seven continents. She’s surprisingly humble, not at all arrogant, and just generally likeable and accessible, and very human. And at just 25 years old, she is already most-assuredly a titan. This is a conversation steeped entirely in greatness – ripe with metaphor – cause really, what’s more figuratively perfect for the rest of us to glom onto than the idea of finding our own Everest? It doesn’t have to be that each want to climb Everest – all that matters is that we each have our own Everest. Along the way, there will be the proverbial frozen oxygen mask – something Liz actually experienced on her climb -- for us all. But one step at a time, and before we know it, we’re on top of the world. Liz shares epic stories of what it takes to reach the top, and just how harrowing the way down really is. And she also lets us know what's coming up for her in the next six months. To paraphrase what the bear in the childhood song might have experienced: "She saw another mountain, she saw another mountain, she saw another mountain, was all that she could see..."   PS Liz, I owe you one rescue puppy called Summit.   

What we cover: What's it like to transform from a non-athletic background as a serious punk rocker with multi-coloured hair in the 1980s to a trailblazing visionary in her adult years? What does that look like, what does that feel like, where does the motivation come from, what drives her? Jenn Dawkins is a fire fighter – one of about 80 women fire fighters out of approximately 3900 career fire fighters in the province of British Columbia. She’s a mentor and the creator of the very forward-thinking Camp Ignite – intended to push girls out of their comfort zones and to reimagine what’s possible.  She’s a non-traditional philanthropist. This is a woman who, in order to bring awareness to the horrors of the sex trade, and what it’s like for the women who are trying to leave and start their lives over, rather than post a few lines on Twitter, instead Jenn swam 22km (nearly 14 miles) in the Pacific Ocean – from Vancouver’s mainland to an island off the coast of the province.  If I’m being totally honest, when I was formatting the conversation for today and drafting my top level talking points, it was the first time in 30 episodes that I didn’t really know where to start. Not for lack of material, but for so much material. She is admired for so many reasons, so I took a dart and threw it at the wall and landed on her career, and so we started there. She’s is so instantly likeable – and I know you will love her too. She’s open about the fact that in her 20 year career as a fire fighter, societally and culturally, the attitude has changed for the better so much when it comes to reactions overall toward women in the fire department. And let’s be honest, in 2016, we’ve had to digest a lot of recent events that might leave us feeling we are going backwards – at least politically – so it was refreshing to hear a bit of good news and progress as this year wraps up. If you listened to the two episodes (28 and 29) we did with Chad Bentley, one of the things I talk about with him, is his lack desire for the spot light. He turns away from it, whereas I run to it. Jenn and Chad have that in common. This is a woman who will run into a burning building, who will save lives, who is constantly and continually bringing awareness to societal issues that need some TLC --- but who is uncomfortable accepting any real recognition for her heroics. So when we talk about the prestigious award she was the recent recipient of, for her role in a Women Helping Women capacity, and I ask her about that, you can hear the modesty. And I admire her for that. Among other reasons, obviously. I loved this chat. In her candor about her own transformation and what fuels her, she gives us all permission to evolve. It doesn’t have to be – and I say this all the time – the commitment to complete an Ironman. It can be whatever pulls at you. It’s just that decision to let past limiting beliefs go – and to blossom, if you feel like you’re overdue from some personal growth. Jenn is a self-described personal growth fanatic, but she wasn’t always. Now she’s voracious when it comes to all things While we were drinking tea and engaging in this fantastic conversation, Jenn’s gorgeous rescue dog, Emma, was chewing somewhat audibly on a buffalo femur. (No! The buffalo wasn’t with us – just its femur was.) So, you will hear Emma’s contribution to the soundtrack in the background from time to time. Value-add: I want to invite anyone listening who may be in the Vancouver area on January 7th, 2017 – if you’re feeling inspired by Jenn – she is, no big shocker, part of the brains behind the sure-to-be-awesome evening called "Wine Women and Sport". Three outstanding panelists – an Olympic rower, a world record marathon runner who just happens to be 89 years old, and a martial artist, -- are going to share insights and tips and conversation with those of us lucky enough to be there. So you can get your tickets for that awesome evening – I will be there, moderating the fun – via MJDionne.com, under the podcaster tab. Township 7 Wines will be there too – and I love them. Jenn and I talk more about this in our chat.    

Part Two of Two: The quest for authentic greatness may mean a complete reinvention. A close examination of your perception of self, of your belief in what you’re capable of, in who you fundamentally are. It may mean asking the tough questions: Who do you spend your time with, how do you invest the hours of your days, what do you decide to focus on? It may mean that in order to make a quantum leap in the direction of positive personal development that you leave your old self and parts of your old life behind entirely. Today’s guest is someone I have admired for 18 years – and I’ve had a front row seat to witnessing his complete 180-degree transformation. He is someone who never craves or seeks out the spotlight, unlike his obnoxious wife. He is as close to being completely devoid of ego as anyone I’ve ever known. He is humble and unassuming and kind and driven and determined and he believes in the power that we all possess to transform our lives. To reinvent. To climb our own Mount Everest. Whether it’s from quitting smoking, giving up the consumption of fast food and meat products overall, reigning in a relationship with excessive partying and drinking, going back to school to pursue higher education, or starting on a path to see what you’re capable of when it comes to physical fitness – my guest titan has done it all. And I would know, because I am married to him. When I met Chad Bentley in February 1999 -- on the night he grabbed my bum cheeks and slurred “I think you’re awesome” at an Irish pub in Vancouver -- I knew he was special (and not because he grabbed my ass). I saw in him a beautiful person, but a beautiful person who didn’t see it in himself yet. I’ve always said that Chad is like buried treasure, the deeper you get, the more richness you find. In the last nearly two decades, I have seen Chad transform – he was always an athlete, don’t get me wrong. He was one-to-watch during his days as a rugby player in Abbotsford before a terrible knee injury took him out of the game and under the surgeon’s knife many times – and onto the sidelines, where he went into a bit of a downward spiral. Reassessing who he was: If he wasn’t this rising rugby star, who was he? Instead, he became what he calls “the club drunk” that person who would binge drink in an effort to appear that he was having a good time, but really it was to mask his own feelings of lack of worth. It was a time of tremendous uncertainty about the direction of his own life. I met Chad on the tail end of this, on the cusp of a new beginning. Almost like the space between two paragraphs. We knew one paragraph had ended and we had no idea where or when or how the next one would begin. But we needn’t have worried. Because when you’re committed to the process, and when you ask the tough questions, the answers and the beauty reveal themselves. Chad walked away from his old life. If there’s something tough that you have yet to contend with, I can safely ascertain he’s done it. An unsupportive social environment? Moving from sedentary to active? Smoking? Going back to school? Diet and nutrition? He’s dealt with it. He is a guy who not only went back to school, but in addition to tackling various business courses at the undergraduate level, obtained a certificate in plant based nutrition from Cornell University. Chad, who went from living on a diet of chicken wings, is today a vegetarian endurance athlete who represented Canada at the Ultraman World Championships in Hawaii. Ultraman, is the equivalent of doing approximately 2 and half ironman distance events in three days – a 10km (6 mile) swim, a 420km (260mile) bike, and an 84km (52mile) double marathon. I am excited to share Chad with the world -- we have listeners in 45 countries now. He is as inspiring as they get. And my daughters – our daughters – could not have a better role model. And for the first time ever, we have done a Two Part interview. Today’s is Part Two, and I encourage you to go back and listen to Part One. Chad calls himself shy. I don’t feel he’s shy, I think he’s just not showy. He’s not arrogant. He’s real and calm and never that Look At Me person – and in this chat, he is open. He’s open about his struggles over the years with self-worth, something we all go through. He’s open about his one-time binge drinking. And I want to thank Chad for that – I think when people achieve greatness as he has as an athlete on an international scale, there’s a tendency for us to gloss over the hard times. To curate a life on social media for example that it’s all about the good times. And this is what makes him such a motivation to so many people. He made the decision to transform. He made the decision to walk through the dark times and the hard times and to come out on the other side. Nature strengthens through struggle, if we look around us we see examples of that everywhere. And I am honoured to live with a titan who embodies that – Chad has struggled, and fallen (just as we all have) but he rose again, and when he rose it was a whole new him, and a whole new life. And I am so privileged to have been there to see it all. If you think Chad is someone you’d like to connect with, in 2017, Chad will be launching “Plants. Life. Sport.” coaching – dedicated to helping others transform their lives in the way he has. No, you don’t have to do an ironman to work with Chad. All you need to have is the desire to make a positive change, and he will be there for you, step by step – because guess what? He’s been there. I remember when he and I did our first 5k run together – and he remembers too. And it doesn’t matter where you live on the planet, reach out.

Part One of Two: The quest for authentic greatness may mean a complete reinvention. A close examination of your perception of self, of your belief in what you’re capable of, in who you fundamentally are. It may mean asking the tough questions: Who do you spend your time with, how do you invest the hours of your days, what do you decide to focus on? It may mean that in order to make a quantum leap in the direction of positive personal development that you leave your old self and parts of your old life behind entirely. Today’s guest is someone I have admired for 18 years – and I’ve had a front row seat to witnessing his complete 180-degree transformation. He is someone who never craves or seeks out the spotlight, unlike his obnoxious wife. He is as close to being completely devoid of ego as anyone I’ve ever known. He is humble and unassuming and kind and driven and determined and he believes in the power that we all possess to transform our lives. To reinvent. To climb our own Mount Everest. Whether it’s from quitting smoking, giving up the consumption of fast food and meat products overall, reigning in a relationship with excessive partying and drinking, going back to school to pursue higher education, or starting on a path to see what you’re capable of when it comes to physical fitness – my guest titan has done it all. And I would know, because I am married to him. When I met Chad Bentley in February 1999 -- on the night he grabbed my bum cheeks and slurred “I think you’re awesome” at an Irish pub in Vancouver -- I knew he was special (and not because he grabbed my ass). I saw in him a beautiful person, but a beautiful person who didn’t see it in himself yet. I’ve always said that Chad is like buried treasure, the deeper you get, the more richness you find. In the last nearly two decades, I have seen Chad transform – he was always an athlete, don’t get me wrong. He was one-to-watch during his days as a rugby player in Abbotsford before a terrible knee injury took him out of the game and under the surgeon’s knife many times – and onto the sidelines, where he went into a bit of a downward spiral. Reassessing who he was: If he wasn’t this rising rugby star, who was he? Instead, he became what he calls “the club drunk” that person who would binge drink in an effort to appear that he was having a good time, but really it was to mask his own feelings of lack of worth. It was a time of tremendous uncertainty about the direction of his own life. I met Chad on the tail end of this, on the cusp of a new beginning. Almost like the space between two paragraphs. We knew one paragraph had ended and we had no idea where or when or how the next one would begin. But we needn’t have worried. Because when you’re committed to the process, and when you ask the tough questions, the answers and the beauty reveal themselves. Chad walked away from his old life. If there’s something tough that you have yet to contend with, I can safely ascertain he’s done it. An unsupportive social environment? Moving from sedentary to active? Smoking? Going back to school? Diet and nutrition? He’s dealt with it. He is a guy who not only went back to school, but in addition to tackling various business courses at the undergraduate level, obtained a certificate in plant based nutrition from Cornell University. Chad, who went from living on a diet of chicken wings, is today a vegetarian endurance athlete who represented Canada at the Ultraman World Championships in Hawaii. Ultraman, is the equivalent of doing approximately 2 and half ironman distance events in three days – a 10km (6 mile) swim, a 420km (260mile) bike, and an 84km (52mile) double marathon. I am excited to share Chad with the world -- we have listeners in 45 countries now. He is as inspiring as they get. And my daughters – our daughters – could not have a better role model. Here’s the thing, he had strep throat when we recorded this chat, and he had to dart off to the dr. So we had to keep the chat to 35 minutes or so. I thought that would be enough time, to you know, give a top-level introduction to this person, this titan, I live with and talk about so much. But we barely scratched the surface. Remember: Buried treasure, right? So, for the first time ever, I am going to do a Two Part interview. Today’s is part one, and I am going to snag Chad to sit down for a part two later this week and we will post that next Tuesday. Chad calls himself shy. I don’t feel he’s shy, I think he’s just not showy. He’s not arrogant. He’s real and calm and never that Look At Me person – and in this chat, he is open. He’s open about his struggles over the years with self-worth, something we all go through. He’s open about his one-time binge drinking. And I want to thank Chad for that – I think when people achieve greatness as he has as an athlete on an international scale, there’s a tendency for us to gloss over the hard times. To curate a life on social media for example that it’s all about the good times. And this is what makes him such a motivation to so many people. He made the decision to transform. He made the decision to walk through the dark times and the hard times and to come out on the other side. Nature strengthens through struggle, if we look around us we see examples of that everywhere. And I am honoured to live with a titan who embodies that – Chad has struggled, and fallen (just as we all have) but he rose again, and when he rose it was a whole new him, and a whole new life. And I am so privileged to have been there to see it all. If you think Chad is someone you’d like to connect with, in 2017, Chad will be launching “Plants. Life. Sport.” coaching – dedicated to helping others transform their lives in the way he has. No, you don’t have to do an ironman to work with Chad. All you need to have is the desire to make a positive change, and he will be there for you, step by step – because guess what? He’s been there. I remember when he and I did our first 5k run together – and he remembers too. And it doesn’t matter where you live on the planet, reach out.  

I have admired Annie Wood for the better part of a decade. She exemplifies the commitment to rising after a setback, and to continually moving forward. She’s as dedicated to the process of living an authentic life as anyone I’ve ever met -- and then some. You may know her from memorable appearances in movies like Good Luck Chuck with Dane Cook, and My Sister’s Keeper with Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin. But when I think of Annie, I think so much more. She’s as prolific a creative person as they get. She goes -- not stop. Her output is tremendous and admirable and head-scratching. If she were a cyclist I’m sure she’d be tested for doping – really; she’s just that good. She knows that the notion of “arriving” is a myth… that just being here is the gift. There is no “arrival”. And unless we’re celebrating all the small moments along the way over the chronology of our lives, we are missing the point entirely. In addition to being born in Hollywood and enjoying a 30+ year career here, she’s not only an actor, but she’s a writer and a producer as well. Her YouTube series Karma’s a Bitch has approximately 2,000,000 views and was awarded Best of the Web on Virgin Airlines. She’s also an artist – you can check out her super great work on her Etsy shop (I bought one of her gorgeous tiles, and you can too) via the link at MJDionne.com, under the podcaster tab. She’s the creator of the DoGoodStuff.org, which gently reminds us to be kind. On top of all this, she’s what she calls a Mindfulness Enthusiast. In the chaos and uncertainty of the journey – and hey, we’re all on one – she knows the value of stopping to breathe. Despite living the entirety of her life in a city known for being at times unforgiving and cut throat, this is a woman who does yoga every day – not “almost” every day, but actually every day. When her mom, Abby, a woman who fled an abusive relationship in Israel with Annie’s two older brothers, was dying, Annie set up her yoga mat beside her deathbed – in an effort to stay grounded during the hardest days of her own life. And we talk about that. We also talk about some super cool pop culture stuff too – those stories I love, that come from peeking in the portal of another person’s life experiences. During her tenure as the host of the nationally syndicated game show host “Bzzz”, Annie was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. And come on, don’t we all want to know what THAT would be like? Of course we do. We are all on a journey, and whether we call ourselves “creative” or not – we are all in fact creative. What could be more creative than designing an authentic life? Nothing, that’s what. And if you’re listening to this series, that’s what you’re doing, consciously or otherwise, and I applaud you for it. Anyone who decides to live more true-to-themselves, and to abandon the outside clutter, and who choses to live more courageously, more creatively, gets my full respect. So thank you. I know you will love Annie for all of these reasons.

What we cover: “If you don’t take a chance, you haven’t got a chance.” – Jillian Murray  Actor Jillian Murray is an awesome example of someone on her authentic path. She knows where she wants to be, and she’s not deviating from it. One of the stars of the People’s Choice nominated CBS medical drama Code Black, Jillian’s star is shooting skyward and beyond. When Jillian and I met at the sweet little cottage I was renting in LA, she brought someone with her, and that someone was her longtime beau, South African native Dean Geyer. Millions of fans would know him from his time on Australian Idol and then – for Aussie listeners – from his time on the TV series Neighbours. Since his move to LA, he’s been a regular fixture on series like Glee and Terra Nova he appears in Shades of Blue with Jennifer Lopez. Jillian and I were sitting at the table in the kitchen and Dean was on the couch in the livingroom. It was open-space, and occasionally we’d be talking about something and he’d yell in. So finally about half way though, I said: “Dean, pull up a chair.” And I’m glad he did, because they’re a dynamite couple and they had great banter, and it was really cool to get two perspectives on the same career and its journey. Like how they feel about auditions for one. Spoiler alert: Jillian loves them, Dean … not so much. If you have yet to tune into Code Black, please do. The cast is insanely impressive. Rob Lowe, Marcia Gay Harden, Luis Guzman. If this cast had to bring in their combined hardware, there wouldn’t be a shelf big enough. Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, Screen Actors Guild – and these are the people who Jillian gets to work with. One of the reasons I love to interview, and have loved interviewing since I started writing for magazines 15 years ago, is what I call the opportunity to “peek through the portal” – the chance to stick your head into someone else’s life and swivel neck around. And that was what this conversation was like for me. It was truly behind-the-scenes. What’s it like to get the call that you’re going to be a series regular on an all-star cast? What are the days and the hours like? (This is a medical drama, and Jillian, as the confident, almost-arrogant, self-assured Dr Heather Pinkney, is expected, on top of learning actual script lines and all that goodness, to master actual medical jargon and procedures.) (Side note: She’s a self-professed suture-queen as a result. She will challenge anyone to a suture-off.) All told, it’s an industry that is hard work, long days, and not as glamorous as we may think. (Despite getting to work one on one with Rob Lowe.) This is one person’s journey – and I love that she shares so much of her story with us. And you know what? So does Dean. Really, Dean could’ve shown up and just been this random, awkward presence, but instead he was awesome. Dean and Jillian, you guys deserve all the success that is surely coming your way.

What we cover: “Failure doesn’t move us back. It moves us forward. Failure tells us what is no longer working.” – Jen Grisanti   As a VP of CBS Paramount, overseeing Current Programming, Jen Grisanti was exactly where she wanted to be, or so she thought. Then, one day, the unthinkable happened, and without warning, she suffered a big crash when her professional reality was turned on its head and she was let go. The ladder she had been climbing collapsed from underneath her. But guess what she did? She did what Aaron Spelling -- yes that Aaron Spelling -- her long-time business mentor taught her to do: She found the gold in her story. Jen’s career began working side by side with Aaron, ultimately as head of Current Programming for Spelling Television. She was instrumental in shaping many of the shows we love today – 90210, Melrose Place, Charmed, Seventh Heaven, you name it – and in this capacity, she started to see that great stories in fiction share the same qualities as great stories in life, and vice versa. We have a hero, we have a dilemma, we have a goal, we have that rock bottom moment, and we see that hero rise again. So when Jen’s career as she knew it tumbled down around her, she knew she had two choices – to be a victim of circumstance. Or to learn from it and blossom. She chose the latter.   Hers is by no means a story relegated to those in the entertainment industry. Not by a long shot. Hers a story that is universal. The specifics may not be the same, but the message is. I love this episode, I love this woman, I love her story. And you know what? As a sucker for Charlie’s Angels, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, I loved hearing firsthand what Aaron Spelling was like as a person. Self-made and accessible and a lover of Pink’s Hot Dogs. Today, Jen Grisanti is principal of Jen Grisanti Inc. She provides feedback and guidance – notes, as they say in the bizz –  to writers who are developing projects. Forty-two of her writers have gone on to sell their series as pilots, which is huge. She’s an instructor with NBC’s prestigious Writers on the Verge program. She’s an internationally sought after speaker – having spoken in Australia, Israel, London, Toronto. And she’s the author of three books: Change your Story, Change your life; Storyline: Finding the gold in your life story; and the TV Writing Toolkit.  Our talk specifically focuses on how we can all find the gold in our own story. You may think you’ve hit rock bottom, but with a perspective shift, you will see you haven’t. Where you really are is one step away from an “a-ha” that is going to rocket you to greater heights -- if you are willing to identify it and take action. That’s the key. Despite the fact that Jen is probably one of the busiest people in Hollywood, she made time to meet with me on a Saturday morning in LA. And it was pure perfection. She speaks candidly about the collapse of her marriage, and the fact that, had she not lost the things she thought she “needed” in order to have “arrived” that she’d never be where she is today. And that is a place of authentic arrival -- a life built entirely on her own terms, using the gifts she has accrued from a 25 year career shaping the stories that have captivated millions of people around the world. When you talk to Jen and you talk about heart ache and heart break and disappointment, you soon realize that she sees those as the gold -- the “all is lost” moment, as they say in Hollywood, when truly good things are just around the corner.  

What we cover: Autumn Reeser knew at a very young age exactly who she was meant to be – an actor. But despite this clarity, she has learned to face a sometimes cruel industry -- the rejection, the heartbreak, the dashed hopes – with grace and perseverance. In the process of her journey, she has realized that the key to it all is learning, quite simply, to be kind to ourselves. You may know her as Taylor Townsend from the hit series The OC, or as Lizzy Grant from her two seasons on Entourage, or as Dr Gabby Asano in Hawaii Five-O. You may recognize her in the recently-released feature film Sully – starring Tom Hanks and Laura Linney. Regardless, there are a lot of reasons you might know Autumn Reeser. And her upcoming series The Arrangement is sure to be amazing. Whatever of our profession or path or passions, there’s unity in the theme of our stories. We fall, we get back up. And Autumn is no different. She has a really evolved perspective on things – on what it takes to continue on our climb. For example, Autumn made the decision early on that the process of going out on auditions would be empowering, not a time of vulnerability; another chance for her to hone her chops. Hers is a message that reminds us we all own our own perspective and can shift it in a flash. And when we do find ourselves in times of darkness, Autumn shares her “self-cleaning oven” metaphor. In other words: Take some time completely on our own. And just shut the door, and purge out the goop.

What we cover: Despite being groomed to take over the family business, Italy’s famed Grand Hotel of Rimini, Peter Arpesella knew life had other things in store for him. But what kind of courage does that take? To face not only your family, but more importantly, yourself – and say some version of: “Thank you for loving me. But thank you, more than anything, for respecting my need to be free.” After getting a degree in business and finance and working as an investment banker, he would ultimately leave the life he knew, and buy a one-way ticket to the United States. Today he is an actor, a voice actor, a voice coach, a screenwriter, an author – and just an all-round truly authentic, genuinely happy person. He embodies that quality that I admire more than anything in anyone – and that is he is self-made. Peter was raised surrounded by opulence, prestige, privilege. His parents were the quintessential socialite couple, gracing the covers of glossy lifestyle magazines. He was a little boy, running the gorgeous corridors of the stunning Grand Hotel Rimini; a 5-star destination that saw a non-stop stream of upscale guests come through its doors. It was the location of Federico Fellini’s classic film Amarcord. For his family, it was a life that was all about the quest for the appearance of perfection. And Peter never felt right about it. He knew something more meaningful was missing. When he was in his early 20s, it was revealed that his father -- who Peter learned was living in what he calls a “castle of lies” -- was a drug addict. Despite appearances to the contrary, his father was heavily in debt and would go on to take his own life, leaving Peter and his family to band together to rebuild. Peter went from extreme wealth to extreme hardship, and he rose to the challenge. After he did what he needed to do, he got his family back on their feet, and he knew it was time for Peter to rescue Peter. And after being moved by a particularly emotional scene in the DeNiro film A Bronx Tale, Peter packed his bags and headed to the US, to be an actor. Peter has worked with the likes of Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, and Tom Cruise. And we talk about that. Because let’s face it, who doesn’t want to know what it would be like to work with these legends of the industry? Peter's next film appearance is in Live by Night -- written by, directed by, and starring Ben Affleck -- and it opens in theatres end-2016 into early-2017. Peter became an American citizen only about 6 weeks before we chatted. This episode is posting on Election Day, November 8, 2016, as a tribute to him. (He proudly voted for Hillary, of course.)  

What we cover: “The people who get on in this world are the ones who get up and look for the circumstances they want. And if they can’t find them, they make them.” – George Bernard Shaw After 27 years of being subjected to sometimes soul-destroying auditions, the often-ridiculous expectations of wardrobe fittings, and the continual yearning for that role that would be her “ticket”, actor/comedian/writer/producer/TV personality Morgan Brayon took the power back. In her outstanding (read: equal parts hilarious and heart-stirring) one-woman show Give It Up, she pulls back the curtain on the entertainment industry in a beautiful, candid way. She covers the realities of the feelings of rejection -- and getting back up. And the frustrations of feeling “Is this it?! Is this all there is?!” – and continuing forward. Her message, one of continuing down your own authentic path, has less to do with making it as an actor and everything to do with moving forward no matter what that path may be. Her stories are hilarious, the parallels are ever-present -- regardless of what field you’re in, or goals you have, or where you are in your life. Somewhere along the line, we are all going to question our choices, we’re all going to ask: “Is there more for me?” And no one has done this – to may way of thinking – in a more memorable, hilarious, touching way than Morgan Brayton. What she realizes upon reflection is that despite not landing that one role that she can say ultimately was her Big Break, what she has in fact amassed is a richly stitched and colourful quilt. Screen time with Oscar winner Patty Duke, a touching chat on-set with Patrick Swayze, incredible highs when really connecting with an audience who are in the palm of her hand. Morgan asks all the questions that we all ask – no matter the profession, the passion, the pull. We are human, we get lost sometimes, and sometimes we need to reflect in order to see more clearly the way ahead.

What we cover: I have had an on-again, off-again relationship with melanoma for more than half of my life. And one of the things that most frustrates me is how blasé people are, generally speaking, when they think about skin cancer. There are three types of skin cancers, and melanoma is the one that kills. You might be one of the people right now, walking around living your life, knowing you have a suspicious mole that you’ve been “meaning to get checked out”. Something that itches a little. Or bleeds a little. Or just looks a bit off. Or, in Kathy Barnard’s case – a weird little lump on her elbow. Or you might know someone who fits this bill. Please listen to my chat with Kathy – and then, take action. Melanoma spreads like wildfire, and Kathy’s was no different. It spread to her lungs, her kidney, her liver, her adrenal glands, her abdomen, and her bones. She was given three to six months to live. That was 11 years ago. Today, she is cancer free and the founder of the much-respected Save Your Skin Foundation. In the summer of 1994, I was a flight attendant. It was a brief interlude for me, in between my Bachelor of Arts and my Bachelor of Education. But ultimately, that short career in airline travel would be a life-changer and a life-saver. During take off and landing, I would sit in my jump seat, and because my uniform sleeves were short, I would stare at my arms. And I noticed this one mole. It wasn’t witchy and hairy and weird – it was just sort of different. It had a couple pieces of what looked like ground pepper dotted in the center. I showed it to my GP, and she said it was nothing but if I wanted, I could see a dermatologist. Three months later, in October, the dermatologist looked at it and said the same thing: It was probably nothing. But if I wanted, she could remove it. I figured that since I was there, I might as well. I didn’t hear anything back for all of November and into December so figured it was fine. One night, I was at my apartment in Halifax, NS on the east coast of Canada and the phone rang. A receptionist had found my file, and had seen that I had yet to be notified – it was in fact melanoma. I was immediately scheduled for plastic surgery and that began what has now been a 23-year recurring presence of melanoma in my life. I have had melanoma two times since. Once in 2002, which my dermatologist found on my back. And again, and most seriously, in 2012 which I found on the bottom of my foot. I was 7 months pregnant at the time, and found this wee little red dot on my toe. My dermatologist at the time assured me it was a “blood blister” and that we should just “monitor it for six months”. Chad encouraged me to get a second opinion. I did. It was melanoma again, and it had started to spread. If we had monitored it for six months, I’m not entirely sure I’d be here today. Kathy’s story is a reminder too that we need to take it upon ourselves to not just float in the dreamy space of “oh really – it’s nothing.” If you feel it’s something, don’t stop until you know what it is. Melanoma is not something you just cut out and move on from – it spreads and it appears everywhere and anywhere. Your brain, your eyes, your lymph nodes – so really, do not wait. Hey – we go to the dentist twice a year. So go to a dermatologist while you’re at it. Kathy’s story is one of determination and rising from the ashes, unlike anyone I’ve ever met. She will inspire you to appreciate the little details in our big lives – and to take huge action when it comes to preserving your life span.