Creative Canadian Women

Award winning poet and writer Kim Fahner joins the show to share her creative journey and discuss the importance of forming a community of our peers. Forging nurturing and supportive connections with other creatives in a country as vast, and empty, as Canada can feel like a huge challenge - particularly for those in smaller or rural communities.

If you need a good dose of hope and inspiration this week, then Episode 177 is for you. Canadian writer and author Beka Shane Denter joins the show to talk about her latest book, Bloom Across Canada - an inspirational collection of conversations with 50 diverse women and non-binary creatives entrepreneurs from all across Canada.  

Classically trained fashion designer Rebecca Rowe talks about how she pivoted her business (and how a disaster pushed her to embrace that pivot full force!) from a designer to a stylist who helps other women find confidence in their wardrobe. And then, she took on what, at first glance, appeared to be a surprising collaboration to expand her business even further. Take a listen and it will all make sense!

Canadian photographer, recipe developer and blogger Heidi Richter talks about her work as both a commercial and editorial food and nature photographer as well as the challenges of being a small, creative business owner, juggling multiple roles, mom guilt, creative burnout and why we need to be both assertive, human and adaptable in an age of technological change and generative AI.  

Alexandra Newbould is an artist who's work you know. As a Toronto based freelance courtroom sketch artist and fashion and architecture illustrator, her work has appeared all across North America on newscasts, in newspapers and print, online and in brand marketing campaigns. She joins us to talk about the challenges and rewards of being a freelance illustrator, tattoo artist and, her newest venture,  working as an event artist who captures special moments in people's lives.  

Best selling Canadian independent fantasy romance novelist Demi Winters talks about all things relating to being a self-published fiction author - including the release of her newest book, her writing process, Book Tok and building community around her work, seeking help to take her work to the next level, balancing a private life with a public author persona and how she's running her independent author business.... as a business!

Gail Taylor left behind a successful career as an investment advisor to go all in with music - in her 50s! Now, as a Canadian songwriter, author, keynote speaker and entrepreneur, she's a passionate advocate for the power of music to inspire change.  Her new book, Curve Balls, is coming to shelves soon thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $10K.

This week, healthy aging advocate Zanna Reza joins the show to talk about shaking up the system so we can grow older on our own terms. In a world where getting older (at any age) can come with a lot of stereotyping and discrimination, we talk about why we, as women, need to own our age - and the wisdom we've earned every day. In this conversation we discuss the importance of staying passionate, curious and creative at every stage in life - and why all humans need to feel a sense of purpose at any age!

Creativity shows up in many forms and this week Jacqueline Nicosia, the co-owner of Ardo Hospitality Group, joins the podcast to chat about the creativity that goes into crafting the perfect guest experience - and the perfect cocktail! This busy mom of two who co-owns her business (which includes 3 Toronto restaurants and a food import company) with her chef husband dives into all that entails as well as the challenges of working in the restaurant industry - an arena that’s notoriously challenging for creative women.

Toronto based registered social worker and psychotherapist, Yu Tong Hannah Lin, explores how we, as working creatives, can manage and overcome the ongoing challenges perfectionism and burnout present to our work.  Hannah shares valuable insights that will help us understand and identify when perfectionism and/or burnout are creeping into our lives and businesses (and what to do when it's impacting our work). 

As working creatives, giving our audience, clients and supporters the opportunity to connect with us on a deeper level is so important to building a healthy business. But equally important, as women, we need to get past our fear of taking up space and instead, embrace being seen. Intimate portrait and personal branding photographer Michele Matues shares her journey as a photographer who empowers women and  shows us how much getting out from behind our work and in front of the camera can mean to our business... and to ourselves.

Have you ever wondered what goes into planning and executing an your own art exhibition? Heather Travis shares the behind the scenes journey to her 3 month solo exhibition at Ontario's Bruce County Museum and Cultural Cente including how the opportunity arose, how she developed her very personal exhibit theme, secured  grant funding and was able to take 9 months away from active client work to produce 35 large scale canvases!

Award winning documentary filmmaker and former Canadian Olympian, Phyllis Ellis, joins me in this episode with the release of her latest film, Category: Woman. We dive into the big themes of the documentary (gender and gender equality, body autonomy racism) as well as the power and challenges of telling stories - whether they're your own or belong to someone else.

In just one year as a food photographer, Darina Kopcok was able to match her full time corporate income. She did it by investing in her skills and with the help of a photography business coach who got her dialed into her pricing and helped her identify - and connect with - her ideal clients. In this episode she talks about how to generate quality client leads as well as how to grow your revenue streams by offering education resources to other creative service providers and makers in your niche.

When Stefanie Henderlin first started formulating her products it was with an eye to helping her midwife clients. But, she quickly discovered just how much she loved the process and the result was the birth of Mangata Apothecary. Stefanie shares her journey and how failure has resulted in growth for her and her business to the point where she's now auditioning for Dragon's Den and sourcing investment to scale!

All of us have money mindset challenges. Whether they're rooted in our childhood or our choice of a career (starving artists, anyone?), we can carry around a lot of money baggage that gets in our way and stops us from being financially empowered women. That's where today's guest, Ottawa based financial literacy consultant Pamela George, steps in. Today, with the help of her powerful story,  she's helping us get rid of that starving artist mindset and align our money mindset with our values.

The inner struggle between artist, maker, creative and female business owner is real for many of us. But as this week's guest, creative business coach and advisor, Sara Roach-Lewis, likes to remind us... if you earned money this year but didn't get a T4... you're a business owner.

So how do we learn to embrace the business side of creating for a living while still being the creators we want to be? That's our conversation this week! 

This week, Toronto based podcaster and c+p digital co-founder, Susan Diaz joins Melissa to talk about how creatives, artists and makers can get smarter and more efficient about making social media work for them - without wanting to pull their hair out or needing to be digital content creators.

The secret? Repurposing content. Susan breaks it down for us this very practical and sanity saving episode!

Toronto based sisters Katrina and Lexie von Hahn have known for years that they wanted to create a business that reflected their Latin American roots and that has resulted in Gallola - a fashion and lifestyle brand launching soon with their first product: a shoe they designed that's inspired by the timeless Argentine carpincho style and handmade in Mexico.

Janice Lawandi thought a PhD in chemistry had cut out a clear career path for her. But like many grad students, she started baking to relieve her doctoral stress which led to completing a Pâtisserie de Base certificate from Le Cordon Bleu and a food blog. Now this doctor of chemistry shows other bakers how understanding the science of baking can unleash their creativity - and has opened up multiple streams of revenue for her in the process!

Vancouver based writer and PR professional Dee de los Santos talks about her creative journey and how, after spending a decade building the popular blog Gastrofork, she is now leveraging her platform, social presence and relationship building skills to give back to the causes she's passionate about.

Canadian children's book author Liliana Tommasini joins us to talk about her journey from programmer to first time children's book author (after becoming a Nonna!) and the process of independently publishing her first book (in English and French), Octavia Can Do It!

There is a hidden gem - right in your neighbourhood - that's an astonishing wealth of inspiration, resources, and community building opportunities. And it's all FREE. University librarian, Dr. Christina Neigel stops by to help us navigate this amazing resource we all have access to!

As a multi-passionate creative herself, creativity coach and host of the Multi-Passionate Artists Podcast, Diane Foy understands how difficult it is for multi-passionate creative entrepreneurs to present themselves to the world. This week she joins the podcast to talk about the power of personal branding and showing the world all the wonderful things you do instead of trying to keep them under wraps!

Alberta singer/songwriter Sharon Marie White talks about her deep roots as a musician and performer and how she let her music move to the background as she found other ways to contribute to her family. Now, after putting her music on hold for decades, she's back and she's just getting started - in an era where women are no longer willing to put up with ageism as working creatives!

Raj Thandhi, the Creative Director and owner of Pink Chai Media as well as the blogger behind Pink Chai Living joins Melissa this week to talk about choosing a word of the year and why this has been such a beneficial exercise for both of them over the years - in their businesses and their personal lives.

Author, journalist and freelance writer Tiffany Mayer joins Melissa to talk about some of the biggest mistakes we tend to make as freelancers in the creative services. Are you making these mistakes?

Saskatoon's Kristen Raney of Shifting Roots went from being a professional singer to an urban gardener, floral artist and content entrepreneur. In this episode, Kristen shares how she created a successful multi-revenue stream business. Operating from an abundance mindset with a belief in the power of collaboration and education, Kristen has not only brought her audience along for the ride, she's turned the power of growing that community into a revenue generating business strategy.

Multi-passionate creative entrepreneur, nutritionist and 2x best selling author Meghan Telpner sits down with Melissa to talk about her creative & entrepreneurial journey, the importance of building community, experimenting & inspiration, and finding alignment and coherence through the heart-brain connection to foster happiness and creativity.

Louisa Hrennikoff is the designer and maker behind Vancouver based jewellery brand, Luli Designs and she's a craft market veteran. This week she shares her best tips for prepping for craft market season! Everything from how much inventory to stock to how to build your booth display (and much more!)