Before the Business Before the Business

Maybe you have a great idea. Or a passion. Maybe you’re an entrepreneur looking to promote a product or service. If you want your message to reach the masses without the hustle and grind of trying to be an “influencer”, you need to understand the art that moves your brand story to a news story.

In today’s media landscape, people ofter overlook the role that traditional media plays. It’s not just about Youtube and TikTok. How do I know? I learned it from McEwen Media.

Meet Tara McEwen. She is an award winning content creator and television producer with decades of experience working with on-air talent. Today, she combines her love of storytelling with her skills developed as a producer to help people become a go-to media expert, including help with establishing expertise, working collaborative to write compelling pitches designed to attract producers, and finding contacts through her vast network of media relationships.

So if you want to take your story from your kitchen table to everybody’s kitchen table, check out Tara’s work at McEwen Media.

Co-founders Jacqueline Prehogan and Isaac Langleben started Open Farm Pet Food over a decade ago. Their goal was to do more than just change the ingredients in pet food; they wanted to completely rethink the way it was made. That meant not only sourcing the highest quality ingredients, but also supporting farmers who treat their animals right, and providing full transparency to our customers.

Open Farm was born out of simple idea that pet food can both be good for your pet, and do some good for farm animals and the environment, all at the same time.

Founder Tonia Krauser created Oshen because she saw an opportunity in the beauty supply marketplace. She wanted to create her company, her way, informed by her values. Style? Check. Function? Check. Sustainability. Check. The result? Oshen is an intentionally eco-conscious lifestyle brand that blends these values together. Their flagship product is a stunning makeup case that is practical enough to store all of your beauty products, but beautiful enough to leave on your counter.

Tonia was struck by the fact that there is an endless supply of plastic in our oceans, and more being added to waterways each day. Because plastic doesn't belong in our oceans, Oshen uses recycled ocean plastic and ocean-bound plastic to create their products. They source the recycled plastic from Oceanworks, the largest marketplace for ocean plastic, to ensure reliable traceability of materials.

Working with an ethical factory overseas with experience using recycled materials, they produce design-forward, quality products that don’t sacrifice on style or functionality.

At Colaneri Estate Winery, they share a passion for producing premium wines that respect tradition while embracing more modern production methods. The result? A boldly delicious harmony that brings wine alive. Quality begins in their vineyard where vines are meticulously maintained, and bunches are thinned out on the vine to ensure incredible flavour profile and pristine fruit. Of course, grapes are hand harvested and placed onto racks in preparation for drying.

Many of their wines are produced in the “Appassimento” style which means “Wither”. In Italy, grapes could be left to dry in the hot sun. In Canada, the process sees grapes placed, in single layer, on drying racks and placed in a drying chamber to dehydrate. This dehydration concentrates the unique varietal character, reduces the water content and produces a fuller-bodied and full flavoured wine. The percentage of the appassimento method varies from year to year and with each varietal.

It would be too easy to say that Pokko is simply a healthier chip. Sure, its made from rice and chickpeas and is suitable for those on vegan diets. It would also be too easy to say that it has a unique flavour profile, inspired by spices from South Asia. To be more accurate… well, you just have to try. Pokko is a way for you to completely upgrade your snack game.

Recorded December 2022

Andrea Scott is an award winning playwright and producer who has been writing since 2011. She has been in the playwright units at Obsidian Theatre, Cahoots Theatre, Roseneath Theatre, Factory Theatre, Theatre Direct, Nightwood, and Eastern Front Theatre.

In 2019 Andrea was awarded the Magee TV Diverse Screenwriting Award.

Her first mainstage production, presented by Nightwood Theatre at Buddies in Bad Times, ‘Every Day She Rose’ co-written with Nick Green, had its world debut on November 23 and closed on December 8, 2019 to ten rave reviews.

‘Controlled Damage’, her first mainstage production produced at Neptune Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia and was sold out before it opened on February 7, 2020. This production is being staged in London, Ontario January 17-29, 2023.