City of Champions

Ep: 49 | Bean Gill | Redefining Paralysis Recovery

Bean Gill is the co-founder and executive director of ReYu Paralysis Recovery Centre and has dedicated her life to leaving a legacy of helping others. The story of how Bean became a paraplegic is as tragic as it is curious. Bean suffered a severe attack of a condition known as transverse myelitis while on a girl’s trip in Las Vegas. Within minutes of this crazy painful attack, she had lost the use of both legs, and the course of her life was altered. Bean has an infectious excitement for life and she shares how she was able to make it through this dark time and how she pushes forward every day on her mission.

Ep: 48 | Cory Johnn | Motion and Stills Photography

Cory Johnn is an Edmonton-based motion and stills photographer and talking to him is going to bring a lot of value to many of you who are starting to get into the content creation game. Cory caught my attention with a piece he shot promoting our city for Edmonton Economic Development. It’s the one narrated by the Eskimos Mike Reilly and if you haven’t seen it yet I highly recommend checking it out before you listen to this episode. You can find it by searching on Youtube the phrase "Edmonton Video Impact 2018" and it’s the first hit. Cory and I had a great chat about getting started in the business, equipment, his creative approach, and we cover a ton of other useful bits of info for up and comers.

Ep: 47 | World Triathlon Series | Stephen Bourdeau and Christina Collins

My guests this week are General Manager, Stephen Bourdeau, and Social Media and Communications Manager, Christina Collins, from the World Triathlon Series. They join me to talk about the yearly triathlon circuit that brings some of the most elite athletes to top destinations around the world like Abu Dhabi, Bermuda, Hamburg, Australia’s Gold Coast, and Edmonton, Alberta. Being our humble Edmontonian selves, we don’t often recognize our hometown on lists of top cities, but the truth is Edmonton is one of the world’s premiere event hosting destinations. Stephen, Christina, and I talk about why that is, and we get into some interesting insights and philosophies behind the sport of Triathlon and the World Series events. 

Ep: 46 | Rob Clark | Overture Overhaul

Today my guest is a bonafide Edmonton celebrity who I’m pumped to have on the show. You’ll recognize Rob Clark from Edmonton Oilers games where he serenades 18,000 fans with the national anthems. You may also recognize Rob from Instagram as @robclarktenor, where he’s taken us through his insane physical transformation over the last year and a half that’s seen him drop 90 pounds and gain a new energy for life. Rob’s such a sweet guy and I had a ton of fun chopping it up with him about fitness, the opera, and his new lease on life.

Ep: 45 | Sebastian Barrera | CreArt A Better Edmonton

My guest today is a guy doing exceptional work around the city of Edmonton. Sebastian Barrera is a Chilean-born musician, artist, and community activist. Sebastian is the President of the Parkdale Cromdale Community League and is the creator of a social movement project called CreArt, which is dedicated to providing free, accessible spaces to facilitate art and music based education for individuals who are looking for a positive outlet for self-expression.

Ep: 44 | Dr. Pierre Boulanger | Forging Futuristic Frontiers

Another fantastic guest on the podcast this week and this one is a little different because his scope of work falls far outside any of my areas of expertise. Dr. Pierre Boulanger is a professor and researcher at the University of Alberta in both the departments of Computing Science and Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging. He is also the Director of both the Advanced Man-Machine Interface Laboratory and the SERVIER Virtual Cardiac Centre. One of Dr. Boulanger’s main focus is expanding the capabilities of Telemedicine; that is, allowing doctors to assist, or even operate on, patients from a remote location. We cover a wide array of topics of which I am admittedly undereducated in, but it was a fascinating conversation nonetheless.

Ep: 43 | KidSport | Dayna Hyman and Dr. Lauren Sulz

This week I was joined by not one, but two, lovely ladies to talk about the role sports plays in the physical and psychological development of kids. Dayna Hyman is the Executive Director of KidSport Edmonton. KidSport is a national not-for-profit organization that provides financial assistance to families to enable kids to participate in organized sports. We were also joined by Dr. Lauren Sulz from the University of Alberta, who is in the middle of a two-year study to understand the extent to which the KidSport funding and participation in school sport successfully supports attendance, grades, attitudes towards school, and wellbeing of students from low-income households.

Ep: 42 | Cody Price | Rise Up Challenge

This week I had the pleasure of meeting a truly thoughtful and engaging guy who reached out to me a couple months ago with an opportunity. Cody Price is the organizer of the Rise Up Challenge which is an obstacle course race. The word "Rise" is in the title of the race because it stands for "Resistance, Integrity, Strength, and Endurance", and is indicative of the race’s founder. 11 years ago Cody was diagnosed with MS. This is his story...

Ep: 41 | Chris Lachance | Century Hospitality

This week I had the chance to sit down with a man whose work has likely found its way into your life, and your stomach, whether you realize it or not. Chris Lachance is the founder of Century Hospitality Group who currently run six restaurants throughout Edmonton. Despite three decades in the hospitality industyr, Chris manages to stay ahead of the game in terms of new trends and tastes. In this podcast we get into some interesting stuff including social change in the hospitality industry, building culture within his organization, and creating the ultimate guest experience. Most importantly, Chris talks about what to do when that experience doesn’t meet expectations.

Ep: 40 | Master Corporal Chance Burles | The Combat Engineer and the Divine Mirror

Very excited to be talking today with former Master Corporal, Chance Burles. Chance is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who is working towards helping other vets deal with issues he has faced since leave the service such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Chance is also the lead organizer for the Edmonton edition of the First Annual Canadian Walk for Veterans happening across Canada, on June 3. Chance opens up an incredible look for us civilians into the life of the military, and some of the major issues veterans face upon their exit of the service.