Tea With A Titan: Conversations Steeped In Greatness |achievement | Olympics | Olympians| Success | Athletes | Entrepreneurs

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 wha

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 wa

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

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 q

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, bu

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 t

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

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, Au

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 corr

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,

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 Foundatio

What we cover: Despite being a one-time pack a day smoker, Ray Zahab decided on New Years Eve 1999/2000 that it was time to be truly happy. And that quest for happiness ultimately led him to the open road. In this case though, the term Open Road is a loose one, at best. This is a guy who has run across the Sahara Desert. He’s run across the Gobi Desert. And he’s traversed the South Pole – and he was the first person to do it entirely on foot and snowshoes, and not on skis. So there’s that. In 2007, my husband Chad – himself a one-time cigarette-smoking, beer-drinking, hamburger-eating, dude – was preparing for his first ever Ultra Marathon, after being introduced to Ironman a couple years before. I bought him the book called Running for My Life: On the Extreme Road with Adventure Runner Ray Zahab. I bought it for him because Ray’s story is the one of The Every Person who made the decision to change. For Ray, his vice was partying and smoking and just living a lifestyle that wasn’t conducive to any joy – not t

What we cover: Gina Mollicone-Long knows a thing or two about greatness. After all, when you're co-founder of an organization called The Greatness Group, it just sort of comes with the territory. Gina's not only someone committed to seeking out greatness in her own life, however. Not even close. This is a woman who has a degree in engineering, and who segued into a career in marketing with some of the biggest names in branding excellence – like Proctor and Gamble and Molsons Breweries, for example. Despite the fact that her corporate career was on fire, she knew she was headed in a different, more authentic-for-her direction. She always felt the pull to greatness. To be around greatness. And to help people, as she says: "reveal greatness." She admits she fell into engineering in the late 1980s because she knew she’d need a “real job” and there was no talk back then about being a professional Peak Performance coach – the handle she uses today to lasso the passion she brings working with everyone from CEOs and

What we cover: “I just wish people would realize that anything’s possible if you try. Dreams are made possible if you try.”  – Terry Fox   In March 1977, when Terry Fox was just 18 years old, doctors confirmed that what he had thought was a sore right knee on account of a previous injury, was in fact cancer. Six days later, Terry had his right leg amputated six inches above his knee. However, the night before the surgery, a coach showed him an article about the first above-the-knee amputee to run the New York City Marathon. A flame was lit and Terry was inspired. Not long after, as he was recovering – during his front row seat to the suffering of cancer patients in treatment – Terry hatched a plan. That plan, to traverse Canada – from the eastern tip to the western tip, by running a full marathon each and every day. So it was, on April 12, 1980, Terry dipped his leg into the Atlantic Ocean and began his journey. By the time he had run across Newfoundland, the goal was official: He would collect the equivalent

What we cover: In 2006, my husband Chad was preparing for his first Ironman event when someone gave him a copy of a documentary called The Distance of Truth. The Distance of Truth fast became Chad’s favourite go-to during long rides on his trainer. The film chronicles ultra-runner Ferg Hawke on his quest to complete Badwater, which at 135 miles or about 216 kms, is said to be the toughest foot race on earth in the hottest place on earth: Death Valley, California. To have Ferg as a guest on this episode was a full circle moment for us; he represents for Chad the start of his belief that we really can redefine who we are and who we want to become. The first North American to finish the gruelling Marathon Des Sables across the Moroccan Sahara in the Top Ten, Ferg is also a two-time second-place finisher at Badwater, coming in closely behind legendary runners Dean Karnazes and Scott Jurek. Bt he wasn't always this guy. Once overweight, he dropped the pounds and changed his lifestyle, reinventing himself along the

What we cover: When you’re set to have tea with an 86-year-old nun, it’s a good idea to have things like cream, sugar, and perhaps crustless cucumber sandwiches on-hand. But of course, I did not. (#EpicFail) However, Sister Madonna Buder is not your typical 86-year-old nun. Dubbed the Iron Nun – as depicted in the recent Nike commercial that debuted during the 2016 Olympic Games – this force of nature has completed over 45 Ironman events, countless marathons, and more than 400 triathlons. As active and as energetic as any athlete a quarter her age, Sister Madonna chats with me about defying age, trying new things, and recalls with tremendous emotion the special relationship she shared with her grandparents as a young girl, and how she risked it all with her decision to join the convent. All told, this is a conversation that reveals the woman behind the legend; she’s likeable, endearing, engaging, and without a doubt, inspiring. #UnlimitedYouth  

What we cover: Every once in a while, you chat with someone who is truly unstoppable. And Tanner Gers is one such person. After a March 2004 car crash left him entirely blind, rather than resort to his former lifestyle, he completely reinvented himself. He weeded the Friendship Garden, he redefined and re-evaluated his priorities, and he carved out a life that included being a world class athlete. In fact, he would go on to represent the USA in the London 2012 Paralympic Games in long jump. Today, he’s the host of the uber-popular podcast, The Creative Success Show, a much sought after speaker, an author, and founder of The Athlete Summit, a membership-based online resource that lassos dozens of this planet’s foremost coaches who share insights with athletes. A fan of the late Jim Rohn, Tanner reminds us that we are the sum total of the habits of the 5 people we spend the most time with, and if that isn’t an important Titan-specific message, I don’t know what is. And remember: No matter how bad things get, th

“No need for sight. When you have a vision,” says Lex Gillette, four-time USA Paralympian and world champion long jumper. (Yes, this is a guy who can jump nearly 7 metres.) (Cross my heart.) But the thing of it all, is that by the age of just 9, as a wee boy, Lex lost his sight entirely. Did that stop him from living a big life? Not a chance. Inspired by the force that is his mom, Verdina, and the guidance of a very awesome teacher, Brian Whitmore, Lex was introduced in High School to the idea of competing in a more meaningful way in athletics, when Mr. Whitmer let him know there was a world out there that he could conquer. In the years since, Lex has represented the USA in Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, and most recently, in Rio in 2016. In this epic chat, we discuss his life philosophy and his belief that “sight is the enemy of vision”, and the refreshing fact that – unlike too many people on the planet today -- he has little use for self-doubt. After all, as he tells it, when you overcome

What we cover: In 2006, my husband Chad and I got bitten terribly by the Ironman bug. The vibe, the paradigm-busting, the goals set and achieved. And all of this on a backdrop of the incomparable voice of Ironman Canada's long-time, much-adored announcer, Steve King. However, the more we got to know about Steve, the more we realized his contribution to Ironman was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. A decorated ultra-endurance athlete himself (we are talking world class race walker, ultra-marathoner, and UltraMan competitor, etc etc and yes, etc), Steve has leant his passion and talent to countless events in the capacity of race announcer, and as an often-heard commentator for media outlets including CBC, TSN, ESPN, and CTV, and was listed as one of this country's Top 50 Most Influential People in Triathlon. He is a multi-time author, enthusiastic musician, and well-respected addictions counsellor in his hometown of Penticton, British Columbia. In our exclusive chat, this fascinating man also discusses hi

In 1984, as a 12-year-old girl, I watched the Los Angeles Olympic Games in Avondale, Newfoundland, with my uncle Heath MacDonald. Sadly, he would die one year later. In 2009, I had the extreme good fortune of being part of the marketing team of one of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games' media sponsors. In that capacity, our goal was to create a language around the games. When we talked, as a group, about what the Olympics meant to us, I shared the memory of me and my uncle in 1984. But of all the events that held us most riveted that summer, I shared, it was the women's 3000 metre race that most captured us. In this episode, I chat with the bronze medal winner of that event, and what it was like for her to have to quickly regain focus immediately after Mary Decker's famous fall, and the controversy that would ensue. Two-time Olympian, Lynn Kanuka (and her awesome dog, Mogley) join me for tea, a lot of laughs, what it takes to defeat the negative voices in our heads -- and by the end of our chat, the dog was wearin