Let's Talk About It: Whatever "It" Is

“WE ARE BACK!!! This is not a drill. This is not a joke. Oh how good it feels to be back on the air!  Where have we been? What have we been doing? Why are we back now? We answer all of these questions and more in this new episode!   Grab your headphones, start your favourite podcast listening background activity and enjoy Episode 1 of Season 5: Let’s Talk About It: Where We Have Been & Where W...

Welcome to the last episode of the 2021! In this series so far, we have talked plenty about having courageous conversations with others. But what about having a courageous conversation with ourselves? As a new year approaches and we begin to reflect on the year that has passed, we find ourselves crafting new New Year resolutions and making changes in order to become the “best version of ourselves&...

Welcome to episode two of this series: Frameworks for Courageous Conversations. We are joined by Lance Dixon - Equity Diversity Justice and Inclusion Consultant for the Calgary Catholic School District, a descendant of African American refugees who fled Jim Crow and settled in Africville, a descendant of  Irish immigrants, a lover of storytelling, an educator, and so much more.   Lance has spent y...

Welcome to our last series of the year! With the holiday season approaching and time with family and friends increases, we often have to navigate away from numerous conflict causing topics—politics, relationship status, lifestyle choices, and now healthcare, COVID-19 vaccines, and so much more.  What if, rather than avoiding particular topics and pretending the undercurrent tensions in the room do...

Welcome to the last episode of our series: Are You Happy?  If you been following closely, you will know that this series has been focused on trying to answer the question Are You Happy, and in trying to answer that question, we (and our guests) have tried to first define what happiness is. Today, as we lead up to our final attempt to answer the question "Are you happy?" we first start wo...

Welcome to the sixth  episode of season two and the third episode of our Are You Happy? Series. For this podcast, we are joined by Alex Akade, a long time friend of both of us. Alex is currently a Computer Science major, lover of stock market trading, chess, and a good thought provoking conversation. This is why we had him on to speak with us about happiness in in the midst of transition.  So far,...

Welcome Episode 2 of our Are You Happy series!  First, we are joined by sisters Jesam and Nini Onun, who provide their unique perspectives in efforts to help us help us answer the question "as adults, have we overcomplicated the concept of happiness, or as kids was the concept of happiness oversimplified to us".   Secondly, with Jesam, we explore questions around how social  and cultural...

Welcome to our newest series: Are You Happy? So much of North American culture is focused on attaining happiness. But, when we really sit down to ask ourselves what it means to be happy,  we can quickly find ourselves with more questions than answers. In this first episode, Paula and Olejuru wonder about happiness, its definition, our childhood understandings of it, and whether it relates to conce...

In this week’s episode, Olejuru and Paula reflect on a key question proposed by our guest from Episode 2: “If everything you have is taken away, so to speak, then who are you as an individual?" Too often, identity seems to be based upon the things we are doing and what we have. When it feels like we are not doing enough compared to others, we can feel a sense of loss or inadequacy. How, then,...

In this week’s Rise and Grind conversation, we are joined by guest Daniel Lawrance-Lopez. Daniel is a thriving entrepreneur, one with a mission to shift how people think about their money.  Together, we explore questions like:  “Who are you without the all of the things you use to measure your success?"  “How do you stay focused on your goals without losing focus of who you are?” “To what ext...

WELCOME TO SEASON 2. Enjoy the very special musical ensemble at the beginning of this episode. Just for you, Olejuru busts a rhyme and Paula keeps the beat as they share the essence of this month's series in a very... creative way.   To introduce this new podcast season and their new seasons of life, Paula and Olejuru take time to check in with each other. They talk about getting used to new...

Have you ever had a situation where you knew that a simple change in method would fix the problem, but you’re so used to coping with the things that are broken that you no longer have the urgency to fix them? Kitchen sinks? Doors that don’t close? Computer keys?  Well, this in this week’s episode Olejuru and Paula talk about dysfunction and comfort, and the comfort in dysfunction. Together they ta...

The past few weeks we have been talking about the Five Pressures of Process but in today’s episode, we wanted to talk about what happens when plans change? Imagine you’ve stayed the course, you’ve cultivated patience, learned to navigate the pressure of people and the need to perform, figured out your priorities and stuck to them, found ways to notice and be happy with your progress, and made deci...

“Is this venture worth pushing through in this moment?” “What is the price of this pursuit?” “If I give up now, what am I losing? What am I gaining?” Sometimes in life we have to pay the price of sacrificing the temporary happiness of one moment to gain the long term satisfaction of reaching a goal. In today’s episode, we talk about the cost of working through our processes, the importance of eval...

In today’s episode we are joined by Jordan Illsley, host of the Positive Punch podcast! Through his podcast Jordan helps others to have a more positive outlook at life and learn how to influence those around them too . We sat down with Jordan in this third episode of our series to continue our conversation regarding "process".  During our time with him, we discussed the importance of sur...

In today’s episode, Gift Ogunwale, host of the Breathe Through podcast joined us for our second conversation on process. Her vision for her platform is to help navigate each season of life by learning to pause and ask, “what’s in this season for me?"   In our discussion with her, we covered topics like what it means to “show up for yourself”, the process of self discovery, and recognizing “sm...

Today, Olejuru and Paula begin a new series on "Process". That's right—they're talking about waiting, transition, and preparation for the always anticipated "next thing".  In this first episode, Olejuru and Paula share insights on what they have called "The Five Pressures of Process": -Patience -Performance/People -Priority -Progress -Price Together they ref...

Join guest Reverend Tim Wood, Paula and Olejuru in the last episode of their Faith(s)? series. Their conversation is rich with questions and reflections on living life in the “now”; narratives in the Church that need to be interrogated; the importance of doing community well,  noticing and accepting our brokenness; and the need for humility, authenticity, and truth.

“Am I even good enough for that?” “What do I do now?” “How do I let go of what I thought would be without any indication of what actually will be?” “Where. Are. You. God?”  In this episode of the “Faith(s)?” series, Paula and Olejuru get REAL and dive into the deep end about some of the (many) challenges they have faced on their faith journey. Listen in as Paula tells her stories of navigating fea...

Today Paula and Olejuru speak with best friends Alaukwu Anozie and Wasif Ali. They come from different countries, faith backgrounds, and cultural upbringings, and over the years of their friendship, they have learned how to support each other in their individual quests for knowledge and understanding. They tell us about how they have come to resolve conflict, prune their friendship circles, and co...

It is no secret that here at Let’s Talk About It: Whatever It Is, our goal is to foster safe spaces for talking about the “its” that, often, no one wants to talk about. This April, hosts Olejuru and Paula and each of their guests will be delving into the topic of faith/religion as it relates to things like questioning, friendship, and conflict.  In this first episode of our Faith(s)? series, Paula...

Is growth even growth if no one sees it? What does it look like to hold space for another person’s brokenness? How do we “deal” with our grief? Can faith and questioning go together?  Today, Paula and Olejuru wrap up their COVID-19 Professional’s Reflect Series with some reflections on  their own lessons learned, many of which are still in process. Together they wonder about the tension between se...

In the second episode of our professional’s reflect series, we are joined by Dr. Anozie. He is medical doctor with forty years of experience in the fields of medicine and public health. During this episode, Dr. Anozie reflects on what the pandemic has been like for him as a frontline healthcare worker; how he has relied on his faith to walk through fear, uncertainty, and the pressures of burnout;...

With the beginning of COVID-19 now a year behind us, Olejuru and Paula invite professionals from different sectors to provide their insight on what the year has been like for them, what lessons they have learned, and how they have found ways to cope through it all.  In this first episode of our professional’s reflect series, we are joined by Alyssa Kopec. She is a teacher at St Joesph's Colle...

Join Olejuru and Paula in this last episode of their Black History Month series as they reflect on how they've been doing this Black History Month and why it feels different,  teacher's and learner's  fatigue, diversifying your friend circles, what to do with the pressure to maintain momentum for change, and the importance of self care. But first, Paula poses one of the most difficu...