It's a Theory

Melanie Nicholson
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The road from theory to reality is filled with bumps and sharp corners. But it’s through that journey, from theory to execution — with every misstep and hail Mary — that we create the beautiful, colourful, nuanced layers that form our personal and professional stories and, often, feel inspired to try again. So…what’s your theory?

  1. The Benefits of Cannabis with Dr. Rob Sealey

    2023-10-31

    The Benefits of Cannabis with Dr. Rob Sealey

    Melanie Nicholson welcomes Dr. Rob Sealey, Cannabinoid Medicine Specialist, to the show to discuss the benefits of cannabis in a medical use capacity. Dr. Sealey breaks down misinformation and differentiates between recreational and medicinal cannabis use for listeners.  Dr. Sealey recounts how he was initially a GP but found his way into cannabinoid medicine through the encouragement of a particularly challenging patient who wanted to be the first to use cannabis medically in 2001. Through his experience advocating for her, everything he learned about cannabis and the benefits he witnessed in his cannabinoid patients, he eventually  left his family practice to focus on cannabinoid medicine full time. Dr. Sealey explains how cannabis can work with the body’s endocannabinoid system to help with receptors otherwise overloaded or unresponsive, thus shutting down pain from various ailments. He clarifies the many differences between rfull-timeecreational cannabis and medical cannabis and discusses how cannabinoid medicine can assist with arthritis, chronic pain, epilepsy, and a host of other issues. He is informative and passionate about how far research into cannabis can go in helping people manage pain. “And we're starting to look at the endocannabinoid system, when it breaks down, it's implicated in fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, PTSD, asthma, osteoporosis... The list is going on and on. We're finding out that the missing link of why we're unable to manage a lot of these conditions is endocannabinoid dysfunction. It just goes haywire or it gets depleted. And that's why the opportunity to use cannabis in a variety of conditions is there.” - Dr. Rob Sealey About Dr. Rob Sealey Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Dr. Robert Sealey, B.Sc, M.D, attended the University of Nebraska on an athletic scholarship where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. He then returned home to complete his medical degree at the University of Saskatchewan followed by a rotating internship in Akron, Ohio. Since 1991, Dr. Sealey has had a full service family practice including hospital and long term care facilities in Victoria, British Columbia. Besides his work in General Practice, he has volunteered his services around the world including South Africa, Kenya, Vanuatu (South Pacific) and the Dominican Republic. He was also co-host of the nationally syndicated radio program “WiseQuacks” for over eight years.  As an active member of the peer sharing group Physicians for Medicinal Cannabis along with the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids, the International Cannabinoid Research Society and the International Association for Cannabis, Dr. Sealey has been involved in both the clinical and research aspects of Medical Cannabis since 2001. With this background, he is acknowledged as an expert in cannabinoid medicine and accepts referrals from other physician colleagues including general practitioners, nurse practitioners, pediatricians, nephrologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, respirologists, oncologists, neurologists, rheumatologists, physiatrists, orthopedic surgeons, pain specialists, addictionologists, psychiatrists and geriatricians.  As well, sensing a void in knowledge among his peers regarding the use of Medical Cannabis in clinical practice, Dr. Sealey has travelled extensively around the world as one of the few instructors in this field of medicine. With the legalization of recreational marijuana across Canada in 2018, he is also an invited keynote speaker at public and professional events for his opinion on the potential implications of this ground breaking decision. Dr. Sealey resides in Victoria with his wife Lana. __ Contact Melanie Nicholson | Melanie Lynn Communications Inc.  Website: MelanieLynnCommunications.comInstagram: MLCSocialTwitter: MLCSocialFacebook: MLCSocialEmail: info@melanielynncommunications.comContact Dr. Rob Sealey Website: DrSealey.com__ Transcript Melanie Nicholson: [00:00:03] Hey, everyone, and welcome to It's A Theory. I'm Melanie Nicholson, and I'm taking you inside the world of leaders and entrepreneurs who are taking ideas and concepts and putting them into action. What really happened when they put theory into practice? Today we're talking about medical cannabis as a method of harm reduction with Dr. Rob Sealey. Harm reduction is an evidence-based strategy focused on safer use or managed use of drugs or substances, meeting people where they're at and not necessarily requiring people to completely stop using a substance. Dr. Sealey has been involved in both the clinical and research aspects of medical cannabis as a substitute for opioids and other substances since 2001. He's a big advocate in tackling misinformation regarding medical cannabis in clinical practice, and he currently practices in Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island. Let's chat with Dr. Sealey. Thank you for joining me today, Rob. I want to start with a bit of your background. I love your story. How did you end up specializing in medical cannabis?   Rob Sealey: [00:01:10] This is a question my mom asked me all the time. She said, what the heck happened? You took a wrong turn somewhere in the back. But, you know, I started out as a GP, so I trained over 30 years ago, went through the usual, you know, medical school and all the rest of it and set up a family practice. And I was doing that for probably about five, seven years before I came across a patient that challenged me. And not that I didn't have a lot of patient challenges, but this one particularly stood out because she was a patient that had chronic back pain and she was on disability. And there became a time when my only function was basically seeing her every couple of months to refill her opiates and she was on high-dose morphine, getting all the side effects related to it. She wasn't eating, she was nauseous. And the other aspect that I was doing was just simply filling out her insurance. And I knew that my role was pretty limited and I was pretty discouraged. And she certainly was as well. But one day she came to me back in 2001, maybe it was late 2000, and said, you know, Rob, Canada is going to have this incredible opportunity to be one of the first countries to allow cannabis for therapeutic purposes to be legal. And I went, Oh, okay, well, that's interesting, but I don't know what that has to do with me. And she said, Well, I want to be one of the first patients, if not the first patient in Canada, to go through the process. And I thought she was joking because I didn't know anything about cannabis.   Rob Sealey: [00:02:37] And I, you know, I still had the stigma growing up, you know, hearing about Cheech and Chong and going to the movies and all the rest of it. You know, it was an illegal substance and we were afraid of it. And we certainly didn't know much about it in the medical world. But she had sort of dabbled underground at that time and was having some success. And she wanted to come out of the shadows and become this patient, this advocate for others. And I said, well, you know what? I have no idea what you're talking about. I have no experience. And she said, Don't worry, Rob, I'll teach you. And I thought, Wow, that was pretty interesting. I mean, she said, I'll come along the journey with you and we can learn together. And I still put her off, you know, for a couple more visits. And she was very, very persistent. And she, you know, got the application in front of me. It took major hurdles, took nine months. We had to get second opinions. We had to get a passport photo. Anyway, she did become one of the first patients. And I was amazed at her response to using cannabis for her back pain was able to get her off of her opiates and get her back to work after she was off work for over six years at that point in time. And this was very, very unusual when a person's been on that long of a disability. So anyways, I did learn from her and after that point I kind of tried it in a few other patients here and there, but I stayed pretty underground.   Rob Sealey: [00:04:02] I didn't want to be that pot doc that, you know, my colleagues would frown upon. And so I kind of quietly did it underground for a while. And then some of my colleagues started to hear that I was doing this and some of them actually complained to the college, thought I should have my license taken away. And I continued to persevere, though, and more and more of my patients were starting to get some benefits. And I started to have some of my colleagues send me their patients. And so I did this kind of referral basis while still trying to keep a family practice going at the same time. So I was sort of seeing patients end of the day or weekends for cannabis, and it became a point where I had such a huge demand. I mean, this is, you know, in the last five, seven years ago that I decided, you know, I can't do both. I'm going to do just cannabinoid medicine. So from there, I'm full-on cannabinoid specialist in regard, there is no such thing. I make it up. I'm probably the only cannabinoid specialist. I've decided that it should be its own specialty. And so I take referrals from all sorts of other physicians and nurse practitioners, whether it be for pain management or addiction medicine. Even the oncologists are sending me some of their patients. So it's become a really interesting field of medicine that I kind of found this niche all because of this patient who really challenged me. And I was very, very thankful that she did that in the first place.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:05:30] And when you think about across the country, like is this specialty still just very, very tiny?   Rob Sealey: [00:05:37] It is. There's a number of cannabis clinics where physicians, nurses, counselling staff will gather together and they'll help navigate patients through the system and coach them on dosing and administration methods and that sort of thing.

    34 min
  2. Solving the Crisis of Homelessness with Sandra Clarkson

    2023-10-24

    Solving the Crisis of Homelessness with Sandra Clarkson

    Melanie Nicholson addresses the big topic of homelessness with guest Sandra Clarkson, Executive Director of the Calgary Drop-In Centre, in this episode. Sandra is focused on creating opportunities for long-term systemic improvements for Canadians in need, and paints a clear picture of what is being done and why so much more is needed.  Sandra started her career in the nonprofit sector doing frontline work with sexually exploited minors which made her realized she loved working with vulnerable populations. That led to a journey of working with issues of homelessness and marginalized populations throughout Canada and the US before starting her own consulting company and eventually winding up at the Drop-In Centre. Sandra is very clear that there is no one type of person experiencing homelessness. She describes people from 18 to 90 years of age, women, men, non-binary, Indigenous, refugees, and so many more, all people who access the DI’s services with various needs. What Sandra provides Melanie is a very thorough picture of what housing means to homeless individuals, how the right house is as important as just having a house, the importance of interconnected support systems, and what everyone can do immediately to start viewing affordable housing and homeless individuals as neighbors instead of ‘other’. It’s a vital conversation on shifting the homeless dynamic of our cities. “You know, we hear a lot of talk and words around inclusive communities and community for all. They're really just words, I think, when you look at the amount of nimbyism that comes up for any development that even mentions affordable housing. There's so much stigmatization and mythology, quite frankly, around who needs affordable housing and what what affordable housing would bring to a community. And I think what we really need to focus on is moving from nimby to yimby so that communities are saying, Yes, in my backyard. We want to have diverse socioeconomic statuses in our neighborhood. We want people of all shapes and sizes and abilities in our neighborhood.” - Sandra Clarkson About Sandra Clarkson Sandra Clarkson is the Executive Director of the Calgary Drop-In Centre. With 25 years of experience working with vulnerable populations, Sandra brings a wealth of experience as an advocate for marginalized Canadians, a champion of community collaboration, and an expert in operational excellence. Sandra’s vision is to create opportunities that result in long-term systemic improvements for citizens in need.  In addition to serving on several non-profit boards, Sandra has provided strategic planning, assessment and other management consulting services to non-profits through her own business, MSH Strategies Inc. Resources mentioned in this episode: Calgary Drop-In Centre__ Contact Melanie Nicholson | Melanie Lynn Communications Inc.  Website: MelanieLynnCommunications.comInstagram: MLCSocialTwitter: MLCSocialFacebook: MLCSocialEmail: info@melanielynncommunications.comContact Sandra Clarkson LinkedIn__ Transcript Melanie Nicholson: [00:00:03] Welcome to It's a Theory. I'm your host, Melanie Nicholson, and today is a big topic. We are talking about the theory behind ending chronic homelessness in a city. Sandra Clarkson has been with the Calgary Drop-In Center since January 2017 and is committed to ending chronic homelessness in the city through the power of collaboration, transparency and accountability. Sandra is also co-chair of the Canadian Shelter Transformation Network with a focus on propelling the movement to housing-focused emergency shelters as the standard for front-line homeless service across Canada. Above all, she's focused on creating opportunities that result in long-term systemic improvements for citizens in need. Sandra has a theory and a clear vision of where communities can go when we're talking about housing-focused emergency shelters. We get really candid and frank about this issue, and it really demonstrates what can happen when you put theory into practice. Let's talk.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:01:05] Sandra, welcome to the podcast.   Sandra Clarkson: [00:01:07] Thank you. I'm happy to be here.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:01:10] I'm really excited for this conversation. I think it's such an important conversation to have and I want to start a bit with your story so people who don't know you, how did you end up at the Drop In Center Calgary? Everyone knows it as the DI but for people listening outside of Calgary, how did you get there?   Sandra Clarkson: [00:01:28] Well, it was a long journey. You know, I started my career in the nonprofit sector as doing frontline work with sexually exploited teens or minors. And that was really kind of my first foray into frontline work and exposure to, you know, working with really vulnerable populations and absolutely loved it. And then I ended up leaving that work and joining a group of anonymous donors that were granting their funds throughout Western Canada and the Midwest, US. And they were looking for somebody who was networked in the nonprofit sector in the city of Calgary. Somehow I landed that, spent the next 16 years of my career working with that group, learned a lot around issues of homelessness, vulnerable people, marginalized populations throughout both Canada and the US. From there, I started my own consulting company called MSH Strategies and really focused on the nonprofit sector, worked on building capacity, did a lot of strategic planning pieces, a number of interim executive director roles, really, you know, problem-solving, troubleshooting and did a lot of work with a great colleague of mine, Dr. Susan McIntyre. We did a lot of partnerships together. And from there, the former executive director at the Calgary Drop-In Center, Debbie Newman, had approached me to see if I was interested in coming on as associate executive director as part of her succession planning.   Sandra Clarkson: [00:03:12] And, you know, I never thought I would be an employee again, having my own consulting gig. But what intrigued me about the work at the DI was, you know, the size and the scope of the organization and the reach and the potential that it could have. I knew I was not going to get bored anytime soon and that there was lots of amazing opportunities for the agency in terms of really expanding its reach, its breadth, its depth and its impact. And so that is what brought me to the DI. I think, you know, throughout all of my career, I've been really focused on marginalized populations, even as a funder, you know, homelessness was one of the areas of my specialization through those portfolios. And just have always been drawn to working with populations that traditionally have not really had much of a voice. And it's just, it's something that's really, really important to me. And so that's how I got here.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:04:26] You talked about the size of the space, and I want to talk on that. The DI was labelled the largest shelter in North America. Is that notoriety that you want to have as a shelter? Is is, is that good? Is that bad? What does that look like when you're coming into a big space?   Sandra Clarkson: [00:04:42] You know it, I believe, it currently is the second largest in North America. There is one other that has a bit higher capacity. I think, you know, ideally we want to be known as the most effective housing-focused emergency shelter in the country and North America for that matter. So I think, you know, the size, there's certainly economies of scale that come with the ability to shelter a thousand people on any given night. Is it ideal? No. You know, I think we've worked really, really hard to house a number of our long-term shelter stayers to get our numbers down. And, you know, now right now, we're averaging around 450 individuals on any given night. On any given 24-hour period, it's closer to 700 because people do access services here that don't sleep. But I think, you know, if we could do it all over again, probably would look at doing it differently. You know, large, crowded congregate settings are really difficult to make personalized individual connections with everybody. So I think we do a great job working with what we've got at the moment. But, you know, I think as we look future-focused, I think we have to ask ourselves, Are there better ways? And I think that there are.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:06:09] And I want to talk about that. But before we do, what I'd love for you to do is give us a sense of who these people are. I think so often when you read about the social sector, if you're not in the social sector - it's the term, I mean we use it, I use it too - individuals and people, and it's a very high-level term as opposed to this is the actual story of these people. Can you give us a sense of the type of people and maybe some specific examples of who's coming in there? Because I think that there's a misperception of everyone's an addict or everyone's this or everyone's that. Who is using the drop-in center?   Sandra Clarkson: [00:06:48] Well, I mean, I wish I could answer that question in a concise way. I think, you know, you're exactly right. People in general, I think, think of homelessness or individuals experiencing homelessness as this like homogeneous group that have a lot of similarities. Well, I can tell you it's extremely diverse. There is no typical person that accesses our services. We have people of all different age groups over the age of 18 up to, you know, we've had people in their 90s come to us. There are, gosh, if you were to like really look at the sort of the sub-sections of those using the services, I mean, there's at least 10 to 12 different types of groups of people that all have very different needs. Right? We've got men and we've got women. We've got, you know, like I say, all the different age groups. We've got non-binary individuals, we have Indigenous folks, we have refugees, we have, you kno

    29 min
  3. Repairing Workplace Culture with Michael Sondermann

    2023-10-17

    Repairing Workplace Culture with Michael Sondermann

    Melanie Nicholson welcomes workplace investigator, educator, and trainer Michael Sondermann to the show to talk about repairing toxic workplace culture. Michael has more than 20 years of senior management experience and he helps organizations identify, investigate, and respond to workplace conflict. He discusses what that looks like.  Michael Sondermann identifies toxic workplace cultures as being dysfunctional, containing harassment, abusive, and unethical but also points out that a place does not create the culture, the people do. A workplace culture is the collective behaviors of individuals in an organization. He describes to Melanie how that guides his work in repairing the environment. Everyone has to be involved in identifying the root causes of the toxicity. It can often be from the top, the leadership level, but that isn’t always the case. Michael investigates all aspects of a workplace culture, from the public-facing sides to the interactions nobody else ever sees, and then works to get everyone communicating and creating solutions. This conversation is a valuable aspect of toxic workplaces that is often overlooked when addressing the identification of toxicity - namely, what happens next? How can that toxicity and negativity be repaired?  “I think there's a way that you go and you resolve all of your problems, but it requires a lot of trust and faith in each other in an organization to do it. And one of the major ways that you do it is you put aside those prototypical job expectations that don't exist on paper in your job description. So no one at a company is expecting a boss to be a bulletproof, genius, ascendant, flawless human being. No one expects their boss to know everything. So get rid of that. Open yourself up to the possibility that you have created some things or done some things that have prevented your organization from being where you want it to be. And then open up and ask the people in your place what the problems are. And more valuably, ask how they can be repaired.” - Michael Sondermann About Michael Sondermann Michael Sondermann is a dynamic leader with more than 20 years of senior management experience in law, business and higher education. As a partner at Method Workplace Investigations, Michael helps organizations identify, investigate and respond to workplace conflict. With a people-first approach to health, safety and wellness, he works to empower employers with the training and tools they need to effectively investigate and resolve workplace issues that affect their business. Michael has spent over a decade in a variety of strategic leadership roles at higher education institutions. From Legal and Risk Management Coordinator to Associate Registrar and Director of Student Services, he focused on developing an empowered and respectful workplace by conducting more than 400 investigations of student and staff conduct. During this time, he also restructured and improved policies and procedures, and led several committees to achieving success on a myriad of complex issues. __ Resources mentioned in this episode: "Trauma-Informed Care in the Workplace with Jennifer Berard"__ Contact Melanie Nicholson | Melanie Lynn Communications Inc.  Website: MelanieLynnCommunications.comInstagram: MLCSocialTwitter: MLCSocialFacebook: MLCSocialEmail: info@melanielynncommunications.comContact Michael Sondermann Michael Sondermann on LinkedInMethod Workplace Investigation Law__ Transcript Melanie Nicholson: [00:00:03] Hey, everyone, and welcome to It's a Theory. I'm your host, Melanie Nicholson and today we're talking about repairing broken workplace cultures. There has been so much conversation around toxic workplaces, bullying, harassment at work and more. So somewhere is identified as toxic. Great. Well, then what? What happens to actually deal with the problem? Today we're talking with Michael Sondermann. Michael is a dynamic leader with more than 20 years of senior management experience in human resources, law, business, and higher education. As a workplace investigator, he’s helped organizations identify, investigate and respond to workplace conflict. Michael is currently the manager of human relations at the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service. And while this conversation does stand on its own, I really encourage you to also listen to our chat with psychologist Jennifer Berard where we talk about the impact of trauma at work and the opportunity for employers to be more trauma-informed. These two episodes together are invaluable for anyone who has a team of people that they're responsible for. Today, Michael is sharing more about what it's like to walk back into a broken work environment and how they work to slowly put things back together. Let's dive in.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:01:28] Michael, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for being here today.   Michael Sondermann: [00:01:32] Thanks for having me, Mel.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:01:33] This is an interesting topic, and I've always been curious about the theory behind repairing broken cultures. So we hear about them being broken, getting broken. But I think we hear less about coming out the other side. And when we're talking about a toxic workplace, we're talking about one that's disrespectful, non-inclusive, abusive, unethical. I've seen cutthroat in the mix. But I was reading a poll recently on fortune.com that said 64% of respondents have experienced a toxic work environment and 44% blamed the entire leadership team. It sounds low.   Michael Sondermann: [00:02:14] So 64 and 40 does seem low to me, but I'm not particularly surprised at and I think a lot of it is because where we start off in our lives, right? So we generally as teenagers or young adults start off in minimum wage service jobs and those tend to be really toxic by their nature. So, you know, I think that that's where some of those bigger numbers come from. It's not always the case that as we get older and get into our real jobs in the real world, um, that things are as bad as they are necessary. That's part of the reason why people talk about, why So many people talk about having been in a toxic work culture at some point.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:03:03] Yeah. I mean, I would argue everyone has in some way, shape or form at some point in their career working.   Michael Sondermann: [00:03:10] Yeah, because because of what the nature of what workplace culture is, right?   Melanie Nicholson: [00:03:15] Absolutely.   Michael Sondermann: [00:03:16] And, you know, you've framed this those numbers in this conversation in a really interesting way because those things that you talk about, you know, dysfunction, toxicity, harassment, all of those things are elements of a larger culture that allows those things, that propagates them, that allows them to continue, that oftentimes rewards people that do those sorts of things, right? So lots of us have been in terribly dysfunctional cultures, but we may not have experienced those things, those elements of those cultures. But, you know, the fact that people are taught to that degree, talking about those kinds of culture, things that destroy us as individuals, is pretty disturbing about work, right? Because, you know, one of the things that we know, for example, about work is that the bad things that happen to us at work have a greater impact on our lives outside of work than those terrible things that happen outside of work have in our work lives, right? So once you begin to have that toxicity at work, it begins to destroy us as human beings too.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:04:32] It's fascinating that it's not reversed.   Michael Sondermann: [00:04:34] I know I was surprised by that too. And one of the things I think is because work is oftentimes viewed as a safe haven and a place to go to escape those stresses and pressures of life. And as you get older, you know, life is full of so many stresses anyway. If your work is not one of those places you can escape then, you know, you get caught up in this terrible cycle where you begin to really question yourself and really begin to traumatize us into damage. And there is, I think, something too about the nature of work that when we experience high levels of toxicity at work or abuse or harassment, it begins to eat us as individuals. Right? And that is something that we take into other relationships outside of work.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:05:23] You're going into these workplaces when there I would say at the lowest of lows, they've realized they have a problem there. They're bringing in support to help fix a problem. Can you describe for us what that mood is like when you first get there? I know you've worked with first responder organizations, municipalities and large-scale organizations. When you first arrive, what's the mood like?   Michael Sondermann: [00:05:50] Uh, that completely depends. So it depends on who I'm dealing with. Generally speaking, the mood of the people who are retaining me. So your executive director, CEO, president level, head of HR is hopeful, um, sometimes panicked. Um, you know, it's interesting to walk in or have a conversation with somebody who leads an organization who has just found that people in their organization have been tremendously damaged. It's an interesting eye-opening experience. Sometimes, most of the times it's hopeful, with the people that I'm interacting with that I've been retained with. Another emotion, once you begin to talk to the people who have been damaged is that there's oftentimes a feeling of hopelessness. Um, there is a really palpable sense of the damage to individuals that has been done at work. It's amazing how often people I speak to cry within the first five minutes of meeting me, and it's not anything to do with me, I don't think. Someone said to me not long ago, you know, you're a heck of a good guy and I hate talking to you, which is a good thing, right?   Melanie Nicholson: [00:07:08] Right. No kidding.

    38 min
  4. Thriving During Trying Times as a Doula with Lindsey Bowns

    2023-10-10

    Thriving During Trying Times as a Doula with Lindsey Bowns

    Melanie Nicholson is joined by Lindsey Bowns, owner of Adora Birth + Wellness and a certified doula, to talk about exactly what a doula is and what a doula does. Lindsey explains the original theory behind being a doula and why having one can be so helpful, as well as how she made her business thrive during the pandemic. Lindsey did not start her career in anything related to birth, she started in marketing for research and development. When she had a doula for her own birth, however, it was so impactful that, combined with the physiology and psychology knowledge she gained about birth, it moved her to change careers. Lindsey and Melanie discuss the impact having a doula can make, including reduction in caesareans, and how the information they give can help cut through all the conflicting pieces of advice available. Lindsey understands what is needed in a birthing situation, the emotional safety required as well as the physical safety, and throughout the conversation, a greater understanding and admiration for the work of doulas is fostered. “You know, even we as doulas say and feel that we need to be doula'd through things because when you are in the medical world and when you are mired in the feelings that come with all these big changes that are happening to you or to your person or to your family, you get so deep in the emotional side and thinking about how it's going to change your life that it can be really hard to navigate. So to have a person in your scenario who can be a guidepost as to making care decisions, knowing all your options, presenting you with additional information that could improve things, I would highly recommend taking advantage of that in whatever form you can access it.” - Lindsey Bowns About Lindsey Bowns Lindsey Bowns is a Certified Doula and Birth Photographer in Calgary. She's also a girl-mom, a self-proclaimed sour candy sommelier, and a sweat-enthusiast. Need proof? She wore running shoes during her own labor, WITH her hospital gown!  Her excitement about birth, parenthood, and genuine friendships led her to doula work in 2019. Her modern, judgement-free outlook makes her feel like a safe place to land as your friend who is cool with discussing placentas during pedicures and breastfeeding over brunch. — Contact Melanie Nicholson | Melanie Lynn Communications Inc.  Website: MelanieLynnCommunications.comInstagram: MLCSocialTwitter: MLCSocialFacebook: MLCSocialEmail: info@melanielynncommunications.comContact Lindsey Bowns | Adora Birth + Wellness WebsiteInstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebook__ Transcript Melanie Nicholson: [00:00:03] Welcome to It's a Theory. I'm your host, Melanie Nicholson, and I love hearing about entrepreneurs who are not only building a business, but also making waves in an industry as well. Which is why I wanted to talk to Lindsey Bowns, the owner of Adora Birth and Wellness. Lindsey is a certified doula and birth photographer in Calgary. She's also a girl mom, a self-proclaimed sour candy sommelier and a sweat enthusiast. Need proof? She wore running shoes during her own labor with her hospital gown. Lindsey's excitement about birth, parenthood and genuine friendships led her to doula work in 2019. She's built a massive following on Instagram with a modern judgment-free approach to birth and babies and the whole space. Today, we're diving into the original theory behind being a doula. Why it matters and how Lindsey's working to change the game, all through a pandemic, no less. Let's talk. Uh, Lindsey, welcome to the podcast.   Lindsey Bowns: [00:01:07] Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:01:09] I'm so excited to have you here. I have known Lindsey a very long time. We'll tell you a bit about our cross-parallel stories as we go through this conversation. I want to start, we're talking about the theory behind being a doula, why it matters, some of the work Lindsey's done there. But I do want to start, for people who do not know, what is a doula? Especially when you think about doulas and midwives and the different pregnant support people. What is a doula?   Lindsey Bowns: [00:01:39] In its simplest form, the word doula is of Greek origin and it means one who serves or a woman who serves, so in the context of birth and postpartum, now, obviously that can cover a wide range of topics, and so I like to relate it back to being like a concierge, for myself, more so birth, pregnancy and birth, providing information, providing referrals to practitioners, suggesting things to buy or not buy, helping you with decision making, anything that is feeling mentally taxing on you during your pregnancy or birth experience is something that I would be able to help you with.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:02:19] How did you get there? You were in marketing?   Lindsey Bowns: [00:02:22] I was.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:02:23] In post-secondary, in research and development. How do you go from that space to being a doula?   Lindsey Bowns: [00:02:30] Yeah, that's a great question. And I think before the time of being in marketing, there was always something that resonated with me about physicality. And, you know, I had different aspirations of getting into chiropractic or massage therapy kinesiology. And so that was always in the back of my mind. And then as part of my own birth experience, I had a doula. This was very impactful to my birth story. And between putting together kind of that physiology and psychology knowledge about my birth, as well as working with a doula and knowing how that impacted my story, it made sense to pair those two things together and be able to give this back to other people.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:03:15] I want to talk about that for a second. You and I were pregnant at the same time. Our children are three weeks apart. You had a doula. I did not. The amount of misinformation, confusion, mixed messages, it is exhausting and it is stressful. I remember one day over the course of four hours, I had two different doctor's appointments because I had two different clinics. That's a whole other story. But in the space of four hours, one of them told me that my weight was too high and one of them told me my weight was too low and they gave over, the whole doctor's appointments, each of them were so contradictory. And so I came home and, well, I stopped and bought cookies on the way home because I was sad about life and I was confused and I was overwhelmed. And I felt like that the whole pregnancy, it can be a very overwhelming experience. Is that where you can come in and help? Like, is that part of where you help that?   Lindsey Bowns: [00:04:15] Absolutely. You know, Dr. Google provides us so much information but also gives us so much incorrect information or leads us down these paths with mommy bloggers and mom Facebook groups and these places that can give us poor information or make us feel bad about ourselves or can validate misinformation that we've already received. You know, from your doctor's appointment, you probably could have gone online and researched that, oh, you were underweight or you were overweight and that wouldn't have left you in any better of a place. So I always recommend to my clients that instead of Dr. Googling and going down the rabbit hole, they reach out to me and we start in a place of evidence and also start in a place of uncovering their feelings about any given topic. Something that was so impactful to my birth experience was that when certain interventions were recommended to me, rather than respond immediately with a like, Oh, that's too bad, or Oh, that's great news, my doula's first response was to say, okay, well how do you feel about that? And that would always recenter me on okay, how do I feel about that? What do I even know about this to shape my feelings about it? And lots of times we haven't even had space to think about that because people start layering on us like, Oh, that's unfortunate. Oh, that happened to me and it was fine. People are putting a tint on the information that we're receiving. So to be able to pull it back and go, okay, what does this mean to me? And is it problematic and something that I want to rectify or like apply some kind of change to, or is it something that I'm happy about, or happy to sit with, that can change things?   Melanie Nicholson: [00:06:00] What do most people get wrong about doulas and the entire profession?   Lindsey Bowns: [00:06:05] I think the most common misconception is that we are pregnancy care providers, that we are someone who comes in place of a midwife and that we provide medical care in the birth space. We do not. You would still have a medical care provider, a doctor, an OB-GYN or a midwife, looking after the medical, the safety aspects of your pregnancy. Is baby safe on the inside? How is their heart rate? How's your heart rate? Blood pressure, rashes, nausea, morning sickness, all these things that come up during pregnancy, they're there for that. We are there for the social, emotional side and more of the logistical learnings that will play into your birth experience and afterwards.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:06:51] But you're still really focused on science and research. And that's one of the things I really want to talk to you about in terms of how you're really changing the narrative around being a doula that, yes, it's that social emotional support, but you have built a business, mostly using Instagram, with science and research at the foundation. What does that look like and was that strategic or was that accidental, how you made that leap?   Lindsey Bowns: [00:07:17] I think it was a little bit strategic in that it is very easy to find that misinformation and be peppered with that. And so to make it equally as easy to find the good information was important to me. To make it bite-sized and accessible, easy to understand. I also find, and maybe you had found as part of your pregnancy as well

    24 min
  5. Setting Up Families For Success with Krista Flint

    2023-10-03

    Setting Up Families For Success with Krista Flint

    Krista Flint, Executive Director of Highbanks Society, joins host Melanie Nicholson to talk about how organizations can break the cycle of trauma. Krista speaks about how the research-based model of Highbanks works through education, community support, and the deep dive of staff members in supporting young mothers. Krista notes that Highbanks Society operates differently from traditional nonprofits in the sector due in part to the deep dive of ongoing involvement in family care. Education is a focus in Highbanks because they are ultimately working to break the cycle of trauma and poverty for future generations. Krista and Melanie discuss how Highbanks’ focus on research and academic undergirding gives a very real learning base from which to pivot their model if change is needed. They address how breaking the cycle is effective, the fundraising that Krista spearheads to maintain Highbanks, how leaders who hire for brilliance in others realize success, and the ways in which Krista envisions Highbanks growing. This conversation illuminates how a community-minded approach to support and education with young families can break cycles of trauma and give fresh starts to those in need. “Many of our families come from, you know, situations where there is no consistency, there is no predictability. And so the very sort of bottom line of our model is the provision of emotionally corrective experiences in real-time. So consistency, predictability, those are important. … What happens is it's that daily provision of those experiences.” - Krista Flint About Krista Flint Krista Flint has spent 25 years in the field of asset-based community development and non-profit culture. She is a mom, an advocate, a writer, and a thankful participant in the non-profit community in Canada. She has served as  Executive Director at The Canadian Down Syndrome Society and at Calgary Alternative Support Services, and as Manager of Social Marketing at The Developmental Disabilities Resource Centre. Krista has extensive experience in curriculum creation and facilitation and has created models and workshops for training in the areas of Social Marketing, Social Justice, New Parent Training, and the Power Differential Evidenced in Paid Service Delivery Models. Krista has worked with non-profit organizations across North America to help them create strategic plans, conceptualize civic and economic goals, and has become innately successful uncovering and illuminating the social capital that exists in human service when combined with a compelling narrative.  She is widely published in the non-profit and mainstream literature, and is a founding member of The Belonging Initiative, a pan-Canadian initiative, which seeks to eliminate isolation and loneliness in the lives of Canadians who are often marginalized and face systemic barriers to an authentic community life. Krista has 3 “grownish” boys Oliver, Simon and Charlie – she believes they are the most creative thing she has ever done. She loves watching them blossom into citizens who understand their responsibility to each other, to their communities and to the world at large. __ Contact Melanie Nicholson | Melanie Lynn Communications Inc.  Website: MelanieLynnCommunications.comInstagram: MLCSocialTwitter: MLCSocialFacebook: MLCSocialEmail: info@melanielynncommunications.comContact Krista Flint Krista Flint on LinkedInHighbanks SocietyHighbanks Society on InstagramCanadian Down Syndrome Society__ Transcript Melanie Nicholson: [00:00:03] Hey, everyone, and welcome to It's a Theory. I'm Melanie Nicholson, and I'm taking you inside the world of leaders and entrepreneurs who are taking ideas and concepts and putting them into action. What really happened when they put theory into practice? Let's find out. Today we're talking everything from failing fast to staying motivated through periods of growth and transformation. Our guest today is Krista Flint, the executive director of the Highbanks Society. Krista has spent 25 years in the field of asset-based community development and nonprofit culture. She's a mom, an advocate, a writer, and a thankful participant in the nonprofit community in Canada. She has served as executive director at the Canadian Down Syndrome Society and at Calgary Alternative Support Services and as manager of social marketing at the Developmental Disabilities Resource Center. Krista has extensive experience in curriculum creation and facilitation and has created models and workshops for training in the areas of social marketing, social justice, new parent training and the power differential evidenced in paid service delivery models. Krista has worked with nonprofits across North America to help them create strategic plans, conceptualize civic and economic goals, and has become innately successful in covering and illuminating the social capital that exists in human service when combined with a compelling narrative. She is widely published in the nonprofit and mainstream literature and is a founding member of the Belonging Initiative, a pan-Canadian initiative which seeks to eliminate isolation and loneliness in the lives of Canadians who are often marginalized and face systemic barriers to an authentic community life. Let's talk to Krista. Krista, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for being here.   Krista Flint: [00:01:50] Thank you for having me.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:01:51] I would like if you could start by telling us about Highbanks. What is Highbanks? Why are you here? And a little bit about the story.   Krista Flint: [00:02:01] Sure. So we actually are 20 years old this year. And we're a small organization. So we're kind of, we've kind of hit our light under a bushel for quite some time. And I think that's changing now. Our organization serves young mothers, pregnant and parenting young women between the ages of 16 and 24 who are leaving situations of violence, poverty and homelessness. And I think what's super unique about our program is that all of our mothers have to be enrolled in school in order to qualify for our program. And that's really because we know that ongoing education is the single greatest determining factor for long-term socioeconomic success. So at Highbanks, we are sort of interrupting that intergenerational cycle of trauma because all of our moms come - certainly in early in life pregnancy is trauma in and of itself - but all of our mothers, you know, again, have additional and pretty deeply wounding trauma as well. So we're currently serving 17 families. We provide them residential support. So we have 17 units, five of which are on-site at our West Hillhurst Sunnyside Building, which we're right with Dairy Lane there. And the other 12 are located in housing developments through our partners like Norfolk, Calgary Housing and Horizon Housing.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:03:17] And the school thing is interesting to me because in the past, I guess my question is, was the automatic if a young lady got pregnant, then they just drop out of school. And then was that really the first step that always happened?   Krista Flint: [00:03:32] So often and certainly 20 years ago when we first started, and our founder, Bette Mitchell, and her husband, Dr. Phil Mitchell, really sort of conceptualized this program. There was an education program for pregnant and parenting teens, and that is Louise Dene School. So Louise Dene School is it houses the pregnant and parenting program for the Calgary Board of Ed, so it's a public school program and it's located about six blocks from us, which is really sort of helpful. So that has existed for quite some time. But it meant that young mothers who wanted to continue with their education either, you know, felt compelled to or were routed to that particular school. And that's why we're located where we are now.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:04:17] So we're talking about theories. We're talking about taking concepts into execution. Can you talk about the original? I mean, you've touched on it a bit, but what does that look like in terms of actually executing that intergenerational, that break in the cycle in terms of providing that care and support? And where do these girls end up?   Krista Flint: [00:04:39] That's exactly what we're doing. We're working with cycle breakers. You know, we often say to our moms, you know, it stops with you. So, you know, many of our families identify as Indigenous, for example. Those young women, their parents are often folks who are part of the 60s scoop in Canada. And their grandparents actually very often were part of the residential school system that was really in, you know, functioning fully up until 1979 in this country. When we talk about sort of cycle breakers and this theory, our theory was if we help families ensure that their basic needs are met so they have a safe place to live, that they know that there's going to be enough to eat for them and their child, that then we could free up sort of that brain space that they had to focus on, you know, the more, you know, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it sort of helps them focus on education and self-actualization and who they're going to be in the world and that role that they're going to play. So that's really sort of the theory is if we take care of the bottom part of that pyramid and we then provide support to families that include psychological services, then we will be in fact creating that pathway, that change in trajectory for them and that then these young mothers, and more importantly, their children will not be on the social services safety net in the long term. It's certainly important from a social justice standpoint, and it's the right thing to do, but it's also the economically savvy thing to do as a community, to invest in these young lives so that they can become taxpayers and renters and homeowners and contribute economically to community, which is what we want.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:06:19] What was

    27 min
  6. Unifying Corporate and Indigenous Culture with Colby Delorme

    2023-09-26

    Unifying Corporate and Indigenous Culture with Colby Delorme

    Melanie Nicholson welcomes Colby Delorme, president of the Imagination Group of Companies and co-founder of Influence Mentoring Society, into a conversation about Indigenous inclusion into business. Melanie and Colby discuss unifying Canada with Indigenous history and culture, how corporations can take the lead, and the differences between equity and equality.  Colby Delorme has twenty-eight years of experience in business and, as a Metis person, a personal viewpoint on Indigeneity and inclusion. He addresses Truth and Reconciliation with the idea that many people think the truth part is over when all groups and people are at different stages of truth-telling and many are floundering on reconciliation. Colby and Melanie explore how corporations can include Indigenous people, communities, and businesses into company policies and procedures, how Canada as a whole is not unified and interested in its Indigenous history, and why none of us should wait for a government-led reconciliation effort. It’s an important, and ongoing, conversation that everyone should be part of. “I think Canada would be better positioned to do the work we're doing today if as a nation we were proud of our Indigenous heritage. I think the problem that we have is that in Canada we believe that we are a free country, we are a leader in the world of representing how good a country can be or is. And we haven't been honest with ourselves in understanding our own heritage and our own history and being able to come to grips with the fact that some of these atrocities that have occurred here, we actually taught other countries how to do it. And I think that has put this really difficult barrier in us being able to say, Well, who are we?” - Colby Delorme About Colby Delorme Mr. Delorme has built multiple businesses and is currently president of Imagination Group of Companies. Mr. Delorme’s experience has spanned the construction industry, brand development and marketing, a certification practice, franchise development, tobacco manufacturing, and business consulting.  Mr. Delorme is also a celebrated industry leader; in 2010, he was inducted into the Calgary Top 40 Under 40 and won the Big Idea 2. In 2014, Mr. Delorme received the Dr. Douglas Cardinal Award from the University of Calgary. He has a long and varied career in not-for-profit and corporate governance, sitting on many boards over the past 15 years.  His latest venture has been co-founding Influence Mentoring Society, a non-profit focused on creating mentoring relationships for post-secondary Indigenous students. Mr. Delorme holds an Institute of Corporate Directors Designation from the Rotman School of Management and was recently awarded the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee award in Alberta.  He remains passionate about creating new and sustainable opportunities in business and for Indigenous peoples. — Resources discussed in this episode: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of CanadaCanadian Council for Aboriginal BusinessEquity vs. Equality cartoon__ Contact Melanie Nicholson | Melanie Lynn Communications Inc.  Website: MelanieLynnCommunications.comInstagram: MLCSocialTwitter: MLCSocialFacebook: MLCSocialEmail: info@melanielynncommunications.comContact Colby Delorme | Influence Mentoring Society Influence Mentoring Society websiteImagination Consulting websiteLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitter__   Transcript Melanie Nicholson: [00:00:03] Hey, I'm Melanie Nicholson and welcome to It's a Theory. This is such an important conversation we're having today. We're talking with Colby Delorme, the president of Imagination Group of companies and the co-founder of Influence Mentoring Society. Colby's experience has spanned the construction industry, brand development and marketing, a certification practice, franchise development, tobacco manufacturing and business consulting. Colby is a celebrated industry leader. In 2010, he was inducted into the Calgary Top 40 Under 40 and won The Big Idea Two. In 2014, he received the Dr. Douglas Cardinal Award from the University of Calgary. He has a long and varied career in not-for-profit and corporate governance, sitting on many boards in the past 15 years. Colby co-founded Influence Mentoring Society, a nonprofit focused on creating mentorship opportunities and relationships for post-secondary Indigenous students. He holds an Institute of Corporate Directors designation from the Rotman School of Management and was recently awarded the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Award in Alberta. Colby is passionate about creating new and sustainable opportunities in business for Indigenous peoples, and I am excited to dive into the theory behind incorporating Indigenous culture and learnings into a corporate culture with Colby. How does it work? Is it actually working and what can companies do to move their way forward into an Indigenous space? This is a must-listen-to conversation for HR professionals and managers who are really working to gain a better understanding of how to not just talk about Indigenous initiatives, but to embed them into your company. Let's talk.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:01:47] Colby, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm really excited about this conversation. I think it's an important conversation and I wanted to start with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. So there was a clear call out, I believe it's call out 92, that the corporate sector should make more of a commitment to meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships, education to management and staff around the history and legacy of residential schools and more. There's training involved here. There's learning and growing when it comes to Indigenous engagement in the changing environment in Canada for businesses. What does this look like? Are we seeing this happening? Are we seeing this call to action taking place?   Colby Delorme: [00:02:33] Yeah, Thanks so much for having me on, Melanie. You know, I think when we hear about all of these different things, we are, we're contemplating what they mean to us. What is it that we need to do, how are we to position ourselves so that we're doing the right thing, fulfilling our fiduciary duty to our corporations, ensuring that we're being inclusive and I think in a lot of ways, we're making the correlation back to creating equitable spaces for women, maybe 25 years ago, and trying to see how that reflects to where we're at today. And what were some of those best practices? Were they good enough? Were they not? Probably navigating something in a more, maybe in a more difficult space today. We've got sort of this tentative approach where people are trying to figure out what's the right thing to say, how are we supposed to do this? And I think when you look at TRC and the calls to action, these are really difficult conversations and they are just gigantic when you look at the actual calls to action. I think for a lot of people, your end corporations, you're learning about what the history was and you're learning about what needs to be done to not correct history, but to correct things moving forward to ensure that there's equity for Indigenous people within Canada. So when you wrap all of this together, I think it becomes a really big task that people just can't figure out how to get into it. And I don't, I don't think that excludes the Indigenous community either. My community is trying to figure out what, and how do we move forward. But when is the right time? So when we talk about truth and reconciliation, these are two separate things.   Colby Delorme: [00:04:49] So there's the truth-telling. And I think a lot of people felt that the truth-telling actually happened during all of those TRC sessions across the country where people came forward and they talked about their experience and the residential school system. And then they, you know, we finished that. We made the calls to action. So now we're in reconciliation. But that's not what it is and that's not what we are figuring out. And I think Indigenous people have been asking that question too. So how long is the truth phase and when do we move into reconciliation? And this is really tough because we are still in the truth phase. You're probably seeing in the news that there's a group of Metis, Cree Metis people in Saskatchewan, who have just taken the Canadian government to court because they are excluded from all of these settlement cases around the effects of being in residential schools. They don't qualify under the specific rules that were set forward. So my elder happens to be from that community. He was in residential school. He dealt with some incredibly arduous and difficult situations. And, you know, whatever the genocide, whatever it is you want to, however you want to describe it. So he's going through this. So for him, he's still in that truth phase. He hasn't been able to get through that. And I think more than anything, what's occurring is we have got a community that is on the path to reconciliation. We have champions in Canada who have put themselves on the path as well and have decided that they need to do something. And we're all navigating what that is moving forward. So it's not a great answer to your question, but it's probably the reality of where we're currently at.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:07:04] It's that truth and reconciliation are happening at the same time in different stages for different groups and different people. Is that fair to say then?   Colby Delorme: [00:07:11] Yeah. So what we're seeing, the way I look at TRC and the calls to action in a corporate setting, and I don't know what the term is, but about every five years we go through a cycle of what corporations have been doing as what we would now call a part of their ESG strategies. Right? So we're looking at, there has been times where we've looked at environment. Most recently we've been looking at TRC. From TRC we moved into EDI. I'm pretty sure the next five-year wi

    39 min
  7. Diversifying Arts and Culture with Alex Sarian

    2023-09-19

    Diversifying Arts and Culture with Alex Sarian

    Melanie Nicholson welcomes President and CEO of Arts Commons in Calgary, Alex Sarian, to the show for a conversation around building community and ensuring diversity in arts programming. Alex is dedicated to ensuring that all communities and audiences find connections that matter to them in the arts. Shortly upon arriving in Calgary, Alex Sarian realized that the city boasts a truly diverse array of communities but that many of those communities were not attending Arts Commons events. He asked the question of how Arts Commons could engage those communities in cultural experiences that aligned with their definition of their cultural identity. This is the foundation of what drives diversifying the arts, according to Alex: asking the right questions and living in that question. Alex and Melanie discuss the opportunities that Covid created, how programming can be inspired by engagement with external community artists, who is coming to arts events, and why Alex considers that audience perception may outweigh artist intent where performing arts centers are concerned. Join Melanie for an inspiring look into Arts Commons and the arts community she fervently supports.  “... So on the one hand, it's managing expectations and saying what worked in New York is not going to work in Calgary. And just because we had the answers in New York doesn't mean we're going to have the answers in Calgary. But what we do know how to do is how to ask different questions. So if we can ask different questions and surround ourselves with the right people, and if we're open to what the possibility of the answer to that question might look like, then we will truly figure out a way for Calgary to develop its own approach to engaging more people.” - Alex Sarian About Alex Sarian From Buenos Aires to Shanghai to New York City, Alex has worked with artists and arts organizations in fifteen countries spanning five continents. As an executive, he spent the past seven years at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where—most recently—he led the institution’s grant-making, global consulting, community engagement, education, and artistic programming for young audiences and families. In January 2020, Alex was appointed President & CEO of Arts Commons, Canada’s third largest performing arts center, and home to institutions such as the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Theatre Calgary. Occupying 10 acres, the Arts Commons complex features 560,000 square feet of world-class performance venues, rehearsal studios, production workshops, education spaces, art galleries, restaurants, and public community areas. Welcoming more than 600,000 visitors to 2,000 events annually, Arts Commons is embarking on a $450M expansion campaign, which will double the institution’s footprint in downtown Calgary. Resources mentioned in this episode: Arts CommonsWakefield Brewster__ Contact Melanie Nicholson | Melanie Lynn Communications Inc.  Website: MelanieLynnCommunications.comInstagram: MLCSocialTwitter: MLCSocialFacebook: MLCSocialEmail: info@melanielynncommunications.comContact Alex Sarian Website: www.AlexSarian.comLinkedIn__ Transcript Melanie Nicholson: [00:00:03] Hey, everyone, and welcome to It's a Theory. I'm your host, Melanie Nicholson and today we're talking about what it looks like to transform an arts community into one that is community-minded and inclusive for everyone. Alex Sarian is the president and CEO of Arts Commons in Calgary, Alberta, which is the largest arts center in western Canada and the third largest facility in the country. He's one of the youngest CEOs to oversee a major performing arts center in North America. And prior to being in Calgary, Alex spent 18 years in New York City, the last seven at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Alex has worked on cultural projects in 15 countries, spanning five continents. Alex and I have a shared love of storytelling and the importance of that when it comes to building a community, strengthening relationships, and the opportunity to rethink the way art is presented in a community. Today, you're really going to get a sense of how one idea might not work everywhere and while you might have the same theory going in, the outcomes are going to vary. But it really comes down to asking questions. Let's dive in.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:01:13] Alex, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining us today.   Alex Sarian: [00:01:17] Thanks, Melanie. It's my pleasure to be here. Happy Friday.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:01:19] Happy Friday. I love recording on a Friday. We're talking art today. I'm excited about it, I love art. Arts Commons. It's one of the largest facilities in the country. You're deep into transforming this space. Before we get to where you want to go, I want to start with you arrived from New York City. When you first got here what was your impression of Arts Commons, of the arts scene in Calgary?   Alex Sarian: [00:01:46] So I had done, obviously, I'd done a lot of research before making the trip out here, even for the interviews. And you know, Calgary does a really good job of pushing out certain messages. You know, we're one of the largest cities, we're the third most diverse, and all of that is true. But one of the things I realized when I got here was - so I'll be honest, I got here on like a Wednesday night at like 10 p.m. and I dropped my bags off at the hotel and I snuck into Arts Commons as all these theatre shows and concerts were letting out. So I got a chance to talk to like hundreds and thousands of people as they were leaving their experiences and seeing the smiles on the faces and seeing just how people were not just coming together, but leaving together and going back into their lives and seeing the impact that this experience had just had on them was so beautiful and so wonderful. But I will be honest, one of the things that I noticed the most is, you know, I had read a lot about how Calgary is the third most diverse city in Canada. And I remember sitting there in the lobby of Arts Commons or in one of the Jack Singer predominantly, and looking around and saying, Oh, this doesn't feel like the diversity that I read about. And what was interesting over the three-day period that I was in Calgary, I did a lot of stuff. I spend most of my time at Arts Commons, but I spent 2 or 3, I went to the downtown public library 2 or 3 times in my very short stay. And even though we're just two blocks away, I was able to sit in the atrium of the downtown public library and think to myself, Oh, here's the diversity that Calgary's been talking about.   Alex Sarian: [00:03:33] Here's the diversity that I've been reading about. And it's not accidental. And you look at the downtown library and it's just so beautiful in its design, it's so intentional in its programming. And I said to myself, if Calgary can do this with a library, it can do this with the arts. And so this is a very long-winded way of answering your question, which is to say there is so much opportunity, there are so many beautiful things here and there's so much low-hanging fruit in the sense that there's so many wins that could, that are easily available. So like the people are there, the communities are there, they're hungry for opportunities. If only we can build and design and rethink these institutions that are meant to be truly for everybody. And if we truly are meant to be for everybody, what does it look like to redesign ourselves, to rethink ourselves, to change the DNA of our organizations so that we can be this destination for truly every Calgarian. So we're talking about transformation, and certainly, we're talking about physical transformation because we're building the largest art center in Canada. But at the core, what we're transforming is our relationship with community. And one of the things I realized when I came to Calgary is just how wide a variety of communities make up Calgary, how hungry they are for opportunities to come together, and what a great opportunity we have as Arts Commons in downtown Calgary to design a city that is truly for everyone.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:05:06] How do you, you've mentioned rethink multiple times, and like you say, there's the building, but there's changing that mindset. How do you go about doing that? Like when you take your idea, the concept you're working from is let's rethink the entire framework of art in this city. How do you do that? Where do you start?   Alex Sarian: [00:05:26] You know, honestly and maybe I'm not that smart, but I don't think it's that difficult. And I was very clear when I came here, like everybody was like, oh my God, you're from New York City. This is amazing. And I had to manage expectations and I had to say to people, yes, I'm from New York City, but I need you to know that what works in New York City is not going to work in Calgary. And I was able to, I learned that lesson very quickly because one of my jobs, when I was in New York at Lincoln Center, was doing international consulting. And so you have all these clients from around the world, government agencies, cultural organizations, that are flying you out to their corner of the world assuming that because you work at Lincoln Center, you're going to know what success looks like in Shanghai or Mexico City or Barcelona. And you are very quickly disabused of that notion because so much about arts and culture needs to be hyper-local. It's how do the local community celebrate cultural identity and no two cities or communities will ever look the same. So on the one hand, it's managing expectations and saying what worked in New York is not going to work in Calgary. And just because we had the answers in New York doesn't mean we're going to have the answers in Calgary. But what we do know how to do is how to ask different questions. So if we can ask different questions and surround ourselves with the right people, and if we're open to what the possibility of t

    39 min
  8. Trauma-Informed Care in the Workplace with Jennifer Berard

    2023-09-12

    Trauma-Informed Care in the Workplace with Jennifer Berard

    Melanie Nicholson welcomes Jennifer Berard, a counseling psychologist with nearly 20 years experience in the field of addiction and mental health, to the show to discuss trauma and what trauma-informed care in the workplace looks like. Jennifer has experience working with first responders, paramedics, and other individuals dealing with traumatic environments, and sheds light on what trauma response looks like in everyday life. Jennifer defines what trauma is and how it manifests in the body, explaining the different ways bodies express trauma and stress responses. Often things that get chalked up to people’s personality quirks can actually be stress responses to trauma, and understanding that reality can assist employers in being more sensitive in how they lead teams. Jennifer and Melanie discuss exactly what trauma-informed care from employers can look like, how to create a consistent and safe environment, and how to avoid moral injury after a reponse. Jennifer’s insight is compassionate, experience-based, and incredibly useful to everyone in fostering the understanding that almost everyone has a trauma history and that we can create safety for each other through recognition of this truth.   “And this is the thing that I would say to employers, too, is that just because we have to be able to have resiliencies to deal with stress and trauma, we cannot, it's not normal to expect people to adjust and manage their stress in environments that are toxic, in environments that are bullying… it is not the employee's responsibility to adhere to and to get safe in unsafe situations. In my opinion, it's the employer's responsibility to have safe places where people can then have the space to figure out whatever it is that they need to do through therapy or through their friends or through their supports or those kinds of things.” - Jennifer Berard About Jennifer Berard Jennifer Berard believes that all people have an incredible capacity for change. In her career she’s had the honour to observe individuals, with seemingly insurmountable challenges, create meaningful and lasting change in their lives. Theoretically, she utilizes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing and Solution Focused Therapy to help facilitate change. At the core, Jennifer’s approach is client centered. She believes that clients are the experts in their lives and aims to help them find their strength, in their own time, at their own pace. Therapy can be an important part of self-care, self-improvement and self-discovery. Jennifer began her counselling journey in 2003 when she graduated, with distinction, from the University of Lethbridge with a Bachelor of Health Sciences, in Addictions Counselling. In 2010, she completed her Masters of Counselling Psychology through City University of Seattle. She has been a registered psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists since March 2015. Throughout her career she has dedicated herself to helping people trying to cope with addiction and trauma. She has extensive experience and training in the Addiction and Mental Health field, with significant experience in the areas of addictions (residential and outpatient), First Responders, anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, and Forensics/Corrections.  Jennifer is a member in good standing with the College of Alberta Psychologist  (4342) and the Psychological Association of Alberta. __ Contact Melanie Nicholson | Melanie Lynn Communications Inc.  Website: MelanieLynnCommunications.comInstagram: MLCSocialTwitter: MLCSocialFacebook: MLCSocialEmail: info@melanielynncommunications.comContact Jennifer Berard Jennifer Berard & AssociatesJennifer Berard on LinkedIn__ Transcript Melanie Nicholson: [00:00:03] Hey, everyone, and welcome to It's a Theory. I'm your host, Melanie Nicholson, and today we're talking about trauma and trauma-informed care at the workplace. How can employers take the science and knowledge we have about trauma and use it to build stronger, more psychologically safe workplaces? Let's find out. Our guest today is Jennifer Berard. Jennifer is a counseling psychologist with close to 20 years experience in the addiction and mental health field. While she works with adults facing a variety of concerns, her primary focus is supporting individuals and first responders as they deal with substance use disorders and PTSD. Jennifer takes a strength-based, client-centred approach to counseling and has dedicated her career to advocating for and providing quality clinical care for those seeking change in their lives. She believes that recovery and healing is a deeply personal process, and the therapeutic relationship should be one that is developed through respect and dignity of the individual. Jennifer primarily utilizes cognitive behavioral therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, also known as EMDR, to support her clients. Jennifer is a registered psychologist with the College of Alberta Psychologists and a member of the Psychologists Association of Alberta. She holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences and Addictions Counseling and a graduate degree in counseling psychology. In 2017, she founded Jennifer Berard and Associates, a private mental health clinic in Calgary, Alberta. Let's chat with Jennifer. Welcome, Jen, to the podcast. I'm so happy to have you here.   Jennifer Berard: [00:01:37] Yeah, thank you so much for having me. It's a real pleasure.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:01:40] This is a topic I find just so interesting. I think we're hearing more and more about toxic work environments, moral injury at work, and employers have a responsibility here. And I don't know that many understand the concept of trauma-informed care, why it matters at work, how they can apply it. I'm excited to dive into this today. What I want to start with today is just helping people understand some basics. So what is trauma? Can we start there so people can wrap their heads really around the scope of trauma itself?   Jennifer Berard: [00:02:12] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, trauma, even in and of itself, is a huge topic. And so to be able to kind of narrow it down into the space that you're talking about, I think is so important. And it's actually something that I've become very passionate about over the last few years in my practice as a psychologist and as a mental health professional. But when we think about trauma, and it is one of those words that we kind of talk a lot about now, but when we think about trauma, it can be like a lot of different things and it can show up a lot of different ways for people. So in a nutshell, it can be anything from a single traumatic event that happened sometime in the past. It could be a single traumatic event that happened recently or currently, or it can also be like a long-term chronic pattern of what we would consider exposure to traumatic events. And that can be at any point over someone's lifespan. So throughout their childhood, sometimes into adulthood, if they're in abusive relationships and then also into workplaces. We know and with my experience in working with first responders and public safety personnel, their whole careers are chronic and long-term patterns of exposure to trauma. So in a nutshell, we can be looking at sort of a whole range of what that can look like for people. The other tricky thing about it is that everybody's body responds differently to trauma. And so that's why we might see an event happen where five people experienced and witnessed the same thing and then everybody has a completely different response to it. Some people develop a traumatic stress response, some people have a normal stress response that sort of evens out afterwards, and some people don't have much of a response at all. And how our bodies show up to trauma along with our experiences also kind of is a big, big factor in how and how trauma plays out.   Melanie Nicholson: [00:03:56] So talk more about that. Like how does it show?   Jennifer Berard: [00:03:59] Yeah. So, well, I mean, first let's talk about the things that can influence it, right? So some of the things that can influence it are big things, are childhood experiences, right? So if somebody grows up in a time where their brain is developing and they're developing attachment with safe people or unsafe people, we can see that being something that can both create trauma responses and resiliencies in people. Where our resiliencies are, what we're capable of managing and coping with, our own nervous systems and how they respond to things. Attachment styles are a big one. And again, just kind of like in a nutshell, attachment is primarily sort of like how we learn to bond and how we form bonds with our caregivers when we're younger and how that kind of continues to, can continue to play out in the relationships that we have moving forward. And again, environment, right? So this always kind of, that piece also brings me back to workplace stuff, right? The environment that we're in, in conjunction with all of those things that are happening, can determine how the body responds to trauma. And so how that can look is sort of a couple of different ways. So one of the things that we have is what we sort of in the field of trauma and addiction call a window of tolerance. Right? And so that's all of our ability to be able to tolerate stress or tolerate discomfort without completely and totally dysregulating.   Jennifer Berard: [00:05:22] So it's not comfortable. We all know that stress is not comfortable. Right? And we all know conflict and trauma is not comfortable, but we can be in it and tolerate it. When it feels like we can't tolerate it anymore, our body has some built-in automatic mechanisms to be able to put us into more survival mode. So we have a couple of them. So one is when we're in our window of tolerance and we go into hyperarousal. So that's when our nervous syste

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The road from theory to reality is filled with bumps and sharp corners. But it’s through that journey, from theory to execution — with every misstep and hail Mary — that we create the beautiful, colourful, nuanced layers that form our personal and professional stories and, often, feel inspired to try again. So…what’s your theory?

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    Melanie Nicholson
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  • Episodes
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    © 2023 Melanie Lynn Communications Inc.
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