47 - Jen Hartmann: Director of Strategic Public Relations and Social Media for John Deere

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47 - Jen Hartmann: Director of Strategic Public Relations and Social Media for John Deere

Jen Hartmann is the Director of Strategic Public Relations and Enterprise Social Media for the iconic John Deere brand. We chatted about her career in communications, the state of media relations today, her advice for young communicators, her life-threatening experience with a brain tumor 10 years ago, raising a child with autism and how all of that has shaped her view of work and life.

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37 - Alan Cross: The definitive Canadian curator and contextualizer of alternative rock

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37 - Alan Cross: The definitive Canadian curator and contextualizer of alternative rock

Alan Cross is the voice of a generation. Well…to be accurate…by this point, he’s the voice of at least a few generations. Alan has been a broadcaster for 40 years and while he’s done a ton of work throughout his career, he is best known as the host of the syndicated radio series The Ongoing History of New Music, which he started (against his will…more on that in the podcast interview) in early 1993.

Today, he’s approaching 1,000 episodes of that show. They’re also available as podcast episodes and if you’re a music fan (and really…who isn’t?) I highly recommend that you check it out if you’re not already familiar with it. Alan creates shows that are insanely easy to listen to. They’re full of bits of trivia, nostalgia, storytelling and, of course, music. And the thing that brings it all together is that iconic and instantly recognizable voice. (CLICK ‘READ MORE’ BELOW TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE)

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30 - Bob Pickard: A conversation with a master communicator

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30 - Bob Pickard: A conversation with a master communicator

Bob Pickard is a well-known public relations and communications professional with more than three decades of experience under his belt. Bob is currently the Principal of Signal Leadership Communication Inc. - a consultancy that helps CEOs communicate authentically by striking the right chord in the real-time now of social sentiment.

I really enjoyed this chat with Bob, who is a kindred spirit of sorts. We’ve both been in the business for many years and it was great to get his insights and perspectives on a number of communications-related topics. Our conversation was 60 minutes and it really flew by. I think we could have easily done two or three hours. I’m looking forward to hopefully getting to chat with him in person once again once the pandemic situation is in the rearview mirror.

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29 - Dianne Martin: A nursing leader's thoughts on the pandemic and where we're headed

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29 - Dianne Martin: A nursing leader's thoughts on the pandemic and where we're headed

I had Dianne Martin (the CEO of WeRPN) on the podcast just a few months ago and we had a great chat but pretty much everything has changed since then, particularly around the world of healthcare. While our first podcast interview was done in person at WeRPN’s offices in Mississauga, we had to do this one virtually because of the continuing lockdown. We chatted about the handling of the pandemic so far, the debate about wearing masks for the general public, the state of the economy, challenges facing nurses during these strange times and much more.

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28 - Dr. Terry Flynn: How to lead and communicate in a time of crisis

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28 - Dr. Terry Flynn: How to lead and communicate in a time of crisis

Dr. Terry Flynn is a veteran communications pro who has worked for many years on the front lines of communications and crisis management and who now has a leadership role teaching others the fine art of communications. We talked about leadership in a time of crisis, communications strategy and a crisis that we both worked on in the year 2000 - the Walkerton E. coli crisis. Lots of great insights here for communicators and leaders alike.

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27 - Jay Robb: Communicator, business book reviewer and hard-core walking enthusiast

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27 - Jay Robb: Communicator, business book reviewer and hard-core walking enthusiast

Jay Robb is the Manager of Communications at the faculty of Science at McMaster University. He's also the business book reviewer for the Hamilton Spectator - a role he's had for more than 20 years, reviewing more than 500 books over that time.

I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know Jay over the past few years and one of my favourite stories about him is how he went from a relatively sedentary lifestyle to being someone who all of a sudden starting waking up at 5 am every day and doing some hard core walking - like 20,000 to 25,000 steps a day. It’s a habit that had a number of positive impacts on his life. It’s also an activity that’s accessible to everyone.

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26 - Gary Direnfeld: Strategies for managing stress and anxiety around COVID-19

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26 - Gary Direnfeld: Strategies for managing stress and anxiety around COVID-19

Gary Direnfeld is a veteran social worker with decades of experience under his belt helping people from all walks of life. He’s also been a columnist, author, conference speaker and more. I spoke to Gary about how people can manage the stress and anxiety around the current pandemic, as well as how they can help their children to better manage anxiety during these trying times.

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25 - Communicating in a crisis with Heather Spidell and John Perenack

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25 - Communicating in a crisis with Heather Spidell and John Perenack

This episode is for the professionals out there who are tasked with communicating on behalf of their organizations in this time of global crisis. You will hear back-to-back conversations with two veteran communicators and long-time friends of mine - Heather Spidell, the Principal of Heather Spidell Consulting in Halifax and John Perenack, a Principal with StrategyCorp in Toronto. Thanks to both of these consummate professionals for their time and expertise. Hopefully there are a few ideas you can use to help your organization communicate more effectively in these strange times.

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24 - Dr. Roberta Bondar: Astronaut, neurologist and friend to birds everywhere

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24 - Dr. Roberta Bondar: Astronaut, neurologist and friend to birds everywhere

Dr. Roberta Bondar is one of the most accomplished Canadians ever to walk the Earth or the travel above it. She was the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist in space when she flew aboard the Shuttle Discovery in 1992. But that’s just the beginning. Dr. Bondar has had an incredible career in which she has also been an author, professional photographer, speaker, university chancellor, the list goes on.

“When I was eight years old, to be a spaceman was the most exciting thing I could imagine,” she said.

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Episode 22 - Jamie Ross: The state of sports journalism in Canada and landing your dream job

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Episode 22 - Jamie Ross: The state of sports journalism in Canada and landing your dream job

Jamie Ross is the deputy sports editor at The Globe and Mail in Toronto. Prior to joining the Globe, he covered the Toronto Blue Jays for MLB.com for two season and was also a reporter for the Saint John Telegraph and the Fredericton Daily Gleaner.

I was introduced to Jamie about five years ago — the story of how we met is one of the many things we chatted about during our conversation. We talked about the state of sports journalism in Canada, his favourite sports to watch and cover and much more, including advice for people who are trying to land a job in their ‘dream’ profession but feel stuck or are considering throwing in the towel.

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Episode 21 - Javed Khan: Entrepreneur, keynote speaker and marketing pro

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Episode 21 - Javed Khan: Entrepreneur, keynote speaker and marketing pro

Javed Khan is a fascinating, hard-working and extremely positive individual who can offer some valuable tips for upping your marketing game. I first met him at a conference we were both speaking at in the summer of 2016 at the Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood and we hit it off right away. The first thing I noticed about him was the Hawaiian shirt (his trademark outfit when speaking). The next thing I noticed was how effortless he made public speaking look, riffing without notes, incorporating the names of many people he’d just met into his talk and engaging with the audience in a way that few others can.

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Episode 19 - Fotini Iconomopoulos: Become a better negotiator to get what you want

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Episode 19 - Fotini Iconomopoulos: Become a better negotiator to get what you want

Fotini Iconomopoulos helps people get what they want. As a child, the earned the nickname ‘the Negotiator’. Today, she spends her time counselling executives to help achieve their business goals through negotiation, communication and persuasion. She’s also an instructor of MBA Negotiations at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto.

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Episode 16: Liv B - Halifax-based YouTube sensation and author of Vegan on a Budget

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Episode 16: Liv B - Halifax-based YouTube sensation and author of Vegan on a Budget

A little over two years ago, Olivia Biermann started posting videos on YouTube about how to make healthy, inexpensive vegan recipes. She slogged away, making those weekly videos for about eight months, for a relatively small audience of faithful viewers. Then, something happened that could only happen in this era of social media. One of her videos went viral, garnering over 90,000 views within a few days. The rest, as they say, is history. Although that story is still being written.

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Episode 15: Carly Weeks - An episode affectionately titled 'Spoiler Alert'

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Episode 15: Carly Weeks - An episode affectionately titled 'Spoiler Alert'

Carly Weeks is a health reporter and columnist at The Globe and Mail in Toronto. Before working at the Globe, she worked as a Parliamentary reporter specializing in consumer issues for the now-defunct CanWest News Service. Today, she spends most of her days tracking down stories related to healthcare, writing about issues that touch the lives of Canadians. In a time when the public is increasingly surrounded by myths, misinformation, lies and fake news, Carly has made it her mission to find the ‘hidden’ stories that some organizations and individuals would rather not be told.

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Episode 10 - Tim Hudak

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Episode 10 - Tim Hudak

Tim Hudak is currently the CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association. In addition to his day-job, Tim also hosts a live, weekly radio show called The Tim Hudak Show, on News Talk 1010 in Toronto. He was one of the youngest people to ever be elected as an MPP in Ontario (at the age of 27) and served in politics for more than 21 years, including three consecutive cabinet appointments and a stint as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.

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Episode 9 - David Bastedo: Photographing the Tragically Hip

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Episode 9 - David Bastedo: Photographing the Tragically Hip

While you might not know his name, you’ve definitely seen his work. David Bastedo is the man behind the lens who photographed one of Canada’s most beloved bands - the Tragically Hip. His iconic images have been reproduced everywhere and became the definitive chronicle of the band’s career and, in particular, their farewell tour in 2016. In this interview, David shares behind-the-scenes stories from his time with the band, he talks about some of the technical challenges of concert photography, the story about that famous photo of Gord Downie and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and much more.

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Episode 7 - Terry O'Reilly: The host of CBC Radio's 'Under the Influence'

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Episode 7 - Terry O'Reilly: The host of CBC Radio's 'Under the Influence'

After a very successful career as an ad man (he’s created over 10,000 ads and won scores of awards), Terry O’Reilly became the host of a radio show called Under the Influence. In that show, which has more than a million listeners per week (in addition to more than 25 million podcast downloads), Terry gives listeners a

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Episode 5 - Barbara Rybicka: Profile of a Medium

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Episode 5 - Barbara Rybicka: Profile of a Medium

What happens after we die? Is death the end? Or do we and our loved ones live on some way? And if their souls do continue to live on, is it possible for us here on Earth to communicate with them? Today's guest would say our souls absolutely do continue to live on and that yes, we can definitely communicate with our loved ones after they've crossed over…

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Episode 4 - Brett Wilson: Redefining success in a wealth-obsessed world

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Episode 4 - Brett Wilson: Redefining success in a wealth-obsessed world

Brett Wilson is an Alberta-based entrepreneur who's probably best-known for his time on CBC's Dragon's Den, during which he did more deals than any of his fellow Dragons. If you've ever seen him in action, you'll know that Brett marches to the beat of his own drum. He's got a unique perspective on life and business and it's a perspective that he earned the hard way...

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