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Tea with a Titan: Conversations Steeped in Greatness |Achievement | Olympics | Olympians| Success | Athletes | Entrepreneurs | Actors | Authors | Philanthropy | Business | Artists

Tea with a Titan is a weekly podcast during which seasoned interview-buff Mary-Jo Dionne speaks with those people who have one thing in common. The quest for authentic greatness. Be it entrepreneur, athlete, entertainer, artist, philanthropist, thought-leader, or difference maker, if the target is greatness -- even in the face of hurdles -- Mary-Jo will be having tea with them.
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Tea with a Titan: Conversations Steeped in Greatness |Achievement | Olympics | Olympians| Success | Athletes | Entrepreneurs | Actors | Authors | Philanthropy | Business | Artists
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Now displaying: 2017
Mar 28, 2017
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

Mar 21, 2017
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

 

Mar 14, 2017

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

 

Mar 7, 2017

 

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

 

Feb 28, 2017

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

Feb 22, 2017

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

Feb 16, 2017

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

Feb 7, 2017

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

Jan 31, 2017

 

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.”

 

 

Jan 24, 2017

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

 

Jan 17, 2017

 

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.

 

 

 

Jan 10, 2017

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.

 

Jan 3, 2017

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. 

 

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