Finding Your Bliss Zoomer Podcast Network

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by Samantha Tradelius!

Samantha is a mother, wife, philanthropist and entrepreneur. She is fast-moving and a supporter of all things SHE.

A born go-getter from early on, Samantha always knew she was destined to do big things. Armed with her brokerage licence and natural gift for being a connector, Samantha began her entrepreneurial journey by co-founding Commercial Coverage Insurance Agency (CCIA) alongside her husband. From humble beginnings, the pair quickly turned CCIA into a wildly successful business, valued at an impressive eight figures.

Following her success with CCIA, Samantha knew it was time to lean into a passion that had inspired her from a very young age. Having never stopped thinking about the stories her grandmother and hero, GG, would tell her about raising three children as a single mom in the 1950s. Samantha always noticed that in all her stories, her grandmother never mentioned anyone helping her... or asking for help. She knew her grandmother had done everything she could to rub her nickels together to make everything possible for her children.

Inspired by this story, Samantha wanted to utilize her skills as a self-starter and born networker to create a non-profit that provided the much-valued support that many single mothers need. Not one to waste any time, Samantha got straight into establishing The Sparkle Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping single women throughout the Bay Area, the Inland Empire, and the Cities of Los Angeles and Sacramento.

In just a few short years, The Sparkle Foundation has seen an unprecedented amount of success, thanks to Samantha’s sheer determination and passion for giving back to her local community. The Sparkle Foundation supports single mothers and children with an array of initiatives, including enrichment scholarships for children, a Christmas holiday gift drive and a back-to-school backpack drive.

In addition to The Sparkle Foundation, Samantha established SparkleBiz, which provides micro-loans for female-owned small businesses, and access to a large, connected network. Since its founding in 2016, The Sparkle Foundation has raised more than $1 million—with every dollar reinvested in the community.

Not one to stop there, Samantha wrote and self-published a book, "Impact: Stories of Change Makers, Creators, and Everyday Women Doing Extraordinary Work" and she is also the host of a growing weekly podcast; "InspiHER’d".

Samantha’s mission to support and uplift women shines through every project she takes on!

Also on the program, we have Jaime Saibil, a psychotherapist and organizational consultant with over a decade of experience providing counselling and consulting in the healthcare and weight loss industry.

Jaime works within a variety of areas including stress, anxiety, depression, couples-related issues, communication and conflict resolution, alcohol and substance abuse, eating disorders, infertility/IVF, and weight management. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling & Organizational/Industrial Psychology and began working in the field of mental health in 2002.

She has worked with Accenture’s Talent & Organizational workgroup as an analyst to Fortune 500 companies, is a registered member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario, a Fellow of Massey College, and a published author in the Individual Journal of Psychology.

Also on the show, in honour of the recent passing of Gordon Lightfoot, we have featured his song "If You Can Read my Mind", which you can listen to at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5tr_L31StI

For more on Finding Your Bliss. You can follow us @theblissminute on Instagram and Facebook. Or you can visit our online magazine at findingyourbliss.com and take one step closer to finding your bliss.
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This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by Dr. Nita Landry!

Dr. Nita Landry, known as “Dr. Nita,” is a board-certified OB/GYN, sought-after speaker, and the author of "Dr. Nita’s Crash Course for Women: Better Sex, Better Health, Better You".

Dr. Nita was the co-host of the Emmy Award-winning, daily syndicated talk show "The Doctors" for six seasons, covering thousands of medical topics, answering questions from viewers all across America, and proving herself equally adept at interviewing newsmakers, celebrities, and those appearing on TV for the first time.

Her energetic, engaging and clear communication has made her a go-to medical expert for "Good Morning America", "The Today Show", "Dr. Phil", "Iyanla: Fix My Life", "CBS National News", and "Black Entertainment Television". Dr. Nita has also been featured in national media outlets like US News & World Report, The Atlantic, Women’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Essence, Healthline, Health Digest, Huff Post, Shape, and Self.

Dr. Nita is a sought-after keynote speaker to organizations and associations across the country. She is also a popular speaker at college campuses where she inspires and teaches students how to pursue their dream careers while balancing their health and well-being.

With the goal of inspiring future generations, Dr. Nita founded A Healthier, Happier Me, a non-profit dedicated to providing students with life-saving knowledge and awareness about their bodies and a clear understanding of the importance of physical and emotional well-being.

She is board-certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Nita currently practices medicine as a Locum tenens physician (a "travelling doctor") with clinical experience ranging from rural Alaskan Indigenous Reservations to the Mayo Clinic Health System.

Her mission is to equip all women to be powerful partners in their healthcare decisions.

For more on Finding Your Bliss, you can follow us @theblissminute on Instagram and Facebook. Or you can visit our online magazine at findingyourbliss.com and take one step closer to finding your bliss.
Listen live every Saturday at 1pm on Zoomer Radio

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by acclaimed and award-winning actress, director and Canadian icon, Sheila McCarthy!

Sheila McCarthy stars as ‘Greta’ in Sarah Polley’s Oscar-winning film “Women Talking”, for which she received a Career Achievement Award at the Denver Film Festival. She also shares in the Film Independent Spirit Awards’ “Robert Altman Award”, given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.

McCarthy is a two-time Canadian Screen Award winner for “I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing” and “Lotus Eaters”, and was awarded the 2018 ACTRA Award for Best Actress for her role in the film, “Cardinals”.

Sheila’s recent television credits include “Star Trek: Discovery”, “The Good Doctor”, and a recurring arc on Netflix’s “Umbrella Academy”.

Recent features include “Happy Place”, “Broken Hearts Gallery” and “The Middle Man”.

Other notable credits include “Die Hard 2” with Bruce Willis, “Being Julia”, “The Day After Tomorrow”, and “Martin’s Hagge” and “Night Shoot”, both opposite the late great Gordon Pinsent.

For more on Finding Your Bliss you can follow us @theblissminute on Instagram and Facebook. Or you can visit our online magazine at findingyourbliss.com and take one step closer to finding your bliss.
Listen live every Saturday at 1pm on Zoomer Radio

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by Sherry Gallant!

Sherry always knew she was intuitive, but it wasn’t until March of 2002, when she experienced a horrible car accident, that she truly believed in her abilities. Months before her accident, Sherry began to feel premonitions — something bad was on the horizon. On that day in March, a driver made a quick decision resulting in his vehicle colliding with Sherry’s, and the car ultimately spun out of control towards her door. With Sherry’s life in danger, she felt as if someone took her out of her car, giving her no recollection of the impact or pain of the crash. When she came to, she was in a cemetery only steps away from a loved one’s grave - her very close friend who had passed away in 1993, whom Sherry had named her son after in 1994.

Sherry’s experience reaffirmed her connection to the spirit world; she knew that it was her friend who saved her life on that March day. Even her injuries, which should have been much more severe in light of her accident, were relatively minimal. Sherry knew then that this moment was her spiritual re-awakening and vowed to accept all spiritual signs and signals from then on.

Now, with over 15 years of experience, Sherry has become a leading voice in the movement surrounding mediumship, self-help and connections to the spiritual world. Sherry’s hope is that her experience will inspire others to connect with their own loved ones who they have lost and find their own spiritual connection. Sherry knows that she was put on a journey to help as many people as possible, by using the best of all her gifts, talent and knowledge. Using her training as a Grief Coach, Regulated Acupuncturist, Holistic Nutritionist, Reflexologist, and a member of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (retired), Sherry is able to provide her clients with perspective like no other.

Also on the program, we have talented jazz singer extraordinaire Geneviève Marentette, also known as Gigi, and guitarist and singer/songwriter KC Roberts, singing their version of, “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”.

Geneviève has been singing professionally under her mother's wing since the age of five. Gigi is a very well educated vocalist - yet she sings with a rawness and soul that one might attribute to a unique hippy parentage and her teenage exposure to the Detroit music scene. She's known primarily for her fearless live approach to song interpretation and her recordings and collaborations are many and diverse. She has been a frequent guest on Finding Your Bliss and is one of our favourite singers of all time! And when you’ve seen this torch singer perform live, bearing her soul, you see the real star exactly where she is meant to be - onstage.

As Don Thompson once wrote: “She is, to me, the perfect balance of fragile beauty and a burning intensity that makes her and her music irresistible.”

KC Roberts is the frontman and founder of Toronto's “KC Roberts & the Live Revolution” – a nine-piece original funk band. He leads the group with dynamic and distinctive guitar and vocals.

To hear more from Gigi and KC, you can go to their websites: https://www.genevievemarentette.com/ and https://www.kcroberts.com/

For more on Finding Your Bliss, you can follow us @theblissminute on Instagram and Facebook. Or you can visit our online magazine at findingyourbliss.com and take one step closer to finding your bliss.
Listen live every Saturday at 1pm on Zoomer Radio

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by former Chatelaine editor and author, Rona Maynard!

Rona found happiness at 65—a story she tells in her new memoir "Starter Dog: My Path to Joy, Belonging and Loving This World". She first broke into print at 14 with a short story about bullying and still receives fan mail from teens who are reading it in class. Rona capped a stellar career in magazines with a decade at the helm of Chatelaine, where her column garnered a loyal following. Her disclosure of a struggle with depression helped to kickstart a national conversation about mental health. After Chatelaine, Rona had to learn to unwind — and found that her best teacher was a rescue mutt who had received his basic training in a prison. She has been married for more than 50 years and is a firm believer that road trips go better with a dog in the back seat.

Also on the program, we have jazz singer, Whitney Ross-Barris!

Part of the Toronto jazz scene since 2008, Prairie-born, Ontario-based jazz singer Whitney Ross-Barris has quickly built a respected name for herself among players and listeners alike.

As a solo jazz artist, Whitney has appeared frequently in the TD Toronto Jazz Festival. She has been featured recurrently in JAZZ.FM91’s One Stop Vocal Jazz Safari and performs regularly in clubs, restaurants and concert halls across South Western Ontario.

"Respect for a sound, style and the practice of an art. Throw into this mix an influencers' list as rounded and iconic as these names, Chet Baker, Tom Waits, Louis Armstrong, Anita O'Day, Mel Tormé, Marvin Gaye, Oscar Peterson; then further stir up the ante with a background in theatre and you're in for the spirited original artistry of Whitney Ross-Barris." - John Devenish, Jazz.FM91

With her almost 20 years of experience as a professional theatre actor ("Assassins", Birdland Theatre; "Cavan Blazers", 4th Line Theatre; "Gorey Story", The Thistle Project, "Stormen", Follo Folkehøgskole – Vestby Norway) Whitney brings an engaging and fearless approach to solo jazz singing.

“Whitney tends to make one roar with laughter and shed a tear in the same set. Always in the moment and hotly swinging, she is one of my very favourite jazz singers in this town!” – Ori Dagan, Wholenote Magazine

Since self-admittedly bluffing her way into songwriting, Whitney’s compositions and lyrics have appeared on stage ("Woyzeck", Red Light District), on film ("Prodigals", Sociable Films) and on increasingly more recordings ("Christmas on Seaton Street", Number 9 Audio, "The Art of Breath", Volume One, John MacMurchy, "Everybody’s Here", Whitney Ross-Barris) and now on her own trio album as co-writer with guitarist Nathan Hiltz (Bright Lunch Trio).

On the heels of her self-produced debut EP in 2009, Whitney released her full-length jazz album "Everybody's Here", featuring a number of not-so-standard standards, originals and even a few long-lost compositions by her late grandfather, writer-broadcaster, Alex Barris.

Her second album - this one self-titled with the Bright Lunch Trio (jazz trio with guitarist Nathan Hiltz and bassist, Ross MacIntyre) was released in late 2017. The album features all original music by Whitney and Nathan and was six years in the making.

Whitney calls Uxbridge, Ontario home, where she whiles away the tedious hours chasing her three adorable young hellions and trying to sneak in a moment or two alone at the piano to work out a melody or twelve!

Click on this link to listen to Whitney's rendition of "I Want the Waiter (with the Water)" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvXTJdejtDA

For more on Finding Your Bliss, you can follow us @theblissminute on Instagram and Facebook. Or you can visit our online magazine at findingyourbliss.com and take one step closer to finding your bliss.
Listen live every Saturday at 1pm on Zoomer Radio

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by actress and comedian Clare McConnell!

Clare is best known for portraying 'Effie Newsome' on the popular CBC series “Murdoch Mysteries” and Klingon Leader 'Dennas' on the Paramount+ series “Star Trek: Discovery”. Additional television credits include “Slasher” (AMC), “American Gods” (Starz), “Coroner” (The CW), “Killjoys” (Syfy), “Nurses” (Global/NBC), “Wynonna Earp” (Syfy,) “Avocado Toast” (Prime/OUTtv,) and “Hudson & Rex” (Citytv). She voices Iana in Ubisoft’s “Rainbow 6: Siege” and Clarice in Supermassive Games’ “House of Ashes”. She is also an alumna of the Second City Mainstage.

This Calgary-born performer has taken the Canadian film and television industry by storm, all while holding down a gig as a Canadian Comedy Award® nominated member of the iconic theatre where legends like Bill Murray and Gilda Radner got their start. When Clare McConnell isn’t gracing our screens, she can be found onstage doing sketch and improv with the Second City Touring Company. Broadway World called her "one of the show's stand-outs with wacky facial expressions that make it impossible to contain your laughter - she's like a red-headed Jim Carrey."

Most recently, Clare has been nominated at the Canadian Screen Awards for Best Supporting Performance in a Web Program or Series, for her performance in “Avocado Toast”!

Also on the program, we have uber-talented musician, Steve Koven!

Steve Koven is a composer, performer, producer, educator and filmmaker. In 1993, he established the Steve Koven Trio. Touring the world for more than two decades, they have been coined as ‘Canadian Cultural Ambassadors’. Aside from performing worldwide with his trio, Steve also performs solo piano concerts throughout North America, Europe and the Caribbean. Dozens of Koven’s compositions have been licensed for national and international film and television productions.

As an educator, Steve has been teaching in the Faculty of Music at Toronto’s York University since 2003, teaching Contemporary Improvisation and Jazz Piano Studies. In addition, Steve teaches in the Music Department at Centennial College in Toronto. He holds a Masters in Music Composition and has presented master classes and clinics throughout Canada, China, Japan, Colombia, Barbados, Bahamas, USA and Mexico. Steve is also the Education Coordinator of the Eleuthera International Jazz Festival in Eleuthera, Bahamas, and has presented a TEDx TALK at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario. Koven is also an award-winning filmmaker, receiving first prize for his documentary, "20", in the 2015 Toronto Independent Film Festival and for his documentary, "Improvisation" in the 2018 Toronto Short Film Festival.

Click on this link to listen to Steve's song "Purple Inspiration" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h5lZQ1lLbo

Join us this Saturday at 1 PM on Finding Your Bliss. You can follow us @theblissminute on Instagram and Facebook. Or you can visit our online magazine at findingyourbliss.com and take one step closer to finding your bliss.
Listen live every Saturday at 1pm on Zoomer Radio