The Calgary Sessions

Colby Delorme is a Métis entrepreneur, President of Imagination Group of Companies, and co-founder of Influence Mentoring Society. In this episode, Colby talks about growing up in Winnipeg, moving to Calgary, and figuring out where he fit as a kid from different backgrounds in a city that felt very different from where he started. We talk about getting kicked out of high school, starting his first...

Danijel Slisko has been self-employed for almost 30 years, starting in commercial painting before building a wider path through Calgary construction, marketing, technology, and publishing. In this episode, Danijel talks about learning business from his parents, earning trust with demanding clients, using systems before they were common in the trades, selling the company, and moving into a new chap...

Andrew Ferguson is the owner of Kensington Wine Market, but his story started long before he owned the shop. He began as the delivery driver. It was supposed to be a short-term job over Christmas, but he liked the people, the place, and the work enough to stay. Over time, he became known as the Scotch Guy, helped build Kensington Wine Market’s whisky reputation, and eventually took over the busine...

Chris Cederstrand is a former hockey player, firefighter, Team Canada sledge hockey player, public speaker, and founder of AMP Hockey in Calgary. In this episode, Chris shares the story of growing up in Saskatchewan hockey, leaving home young to chase the game, and having that part of his life taken away after a series of concussions. He also talks about becoming a firefighter, surviving a workpla...

Ann Zee is the founder and director of the Holistic Institute of Health and Fertility in Calgary, a clinic focused on fertility, acupuncture, women’s health, pregnancy, postnatal care, and perimenopause. In this episode, Ann shares the story behind the work, from growing up between countries and losing both parents young to finding music, struggling with gambling, discovering Traditional Chinese M...

Dan Owen owns Owen Construction and OCL Studios, whichsounds like two completely different worlds until you hear the story. Dan started out playing drums in Calgary, then spent yearson the road with his band, playing bars, hauling gear, sleeping where they could, and trying to make it work. When the band ended, music basically disappeared from hislife for a long time. He went into construction, st...

In this episode of The Calgary Sessions, Alex talks about growing up in Buenos Aires, finding theatre as a young person, moving to New York, studying arts education, working at Lincoln Center, and eventually making his way to Calgary. Alex is the author of The Audacity of Relevance and the President and CEO of Werklund Centre, formerly Arts Commons. We talk about why the arts mattered to him early...

Kim Shore is a safe sport advocate, former gymnast, speaker, writer, and mother. In this episode, Kim shares her story of growing up in gymnastics, moving to Calgary as a young athlete, competing at a high level, and later realizing how much harm had been normalized inside the sport. The conversation follows her path from athlete to parent to advocate. When her own daughter entered gymnastics, Kim...

Paul Boucher is a Calgary-based bilingual voice actor andnarrator whose career has moved through radio, corporate narration, eLearning, commercials, and voiceover work for clients around the world. In this episode, Paul shares the story of building a creative career without a clean plan. He talks about growing up in Northern Ontario, learning English through encyclopedias, finding his way into rad...

Karly Jacobsen went from working hospital shifts to helping build a beverage company with her brother. After a hiking accident pulled her out of nursing, she stepped into the early days of Rviita, a Calgary-based better-for-you energy drink company, and started helping build the business from the ground up. We get into family business, retail, customer connection, storytelling, and what it actuall...

Rob Sawchuk returns to The Calgary Sessions as the first repeat guest on the show, and this conversation carries a lot more than the episode 200 milestone. Jeff and Rob talk about what changed over the past six years, from building for other people and working out of the basement to opening Turkey & Pistols, stepping further into music, and trying to build a life that actually fits. It’s a con...

Lana Rogers is the founder of Gentle Lion Communications, but this conversation is about a lot more than marketing. We talk about burnout, self-awareness, hospitality, accidental entrepreneurship, and what it looks like to build a business without following the usual blueprint. Lana shares how years of working in restaurants shaped the way she reads people, creates experiences, and leads a team. S...

April Brown is the founder of Rootbar, but this conversation is about more than building a salon brand. We talk about the discipline that shaped her early, from competitive soccer to starting in the hair industry at a young age, and how that same drive carried into entrepreneurship. April opens up about burnout, divorce, COVID as a reset, and the time and space she needed to get clear on what she...

Jill Dewes spent years in the high-stakes world of advertising,eventually becoming a partner at Daughter Creative. But long before the big brand launches and the 80-hour work weeks, she was a student with a degree in Ancient Greek history—a move she admits was "really unemployable" at the time. In this episode, Jill shares the breaking point that brought her to Calgary. After a decade of...

What makes a person walk away from a decade of stability in tribal politics to start over as a "starving student" at 40? In this episode of The Calgary Sessions, Adrian Stimson shares the grit it takes to move from a position of political influence into the uncertainty of an art studio. We dig into Adrian’s "Tickle, Slap, and Hug" approach—his unique way of using humor to bring...

What does it actually take to go "all in" on a vision? Tommy Wheeldon Jr., the Head Coach and GM of Cavalry FC, joins the show to share the story behind the "Burn the Boats" mentality that helped him build a professional soccer club in Calgary from a blank canvas. This isn’t your typical sports interview. Tommy dives into thehuman side of leadership, discussing how his "no...

What does it actually take to sustain a family legacy withoutlosing your own identity? In this episode, Peter Izzo (President of CappuccinoKing) joins Jeff Humphreys to pull back the curtain on the reality of the immigrant work ethic and the transition of a multi-generational Calgary brand. Peter shares the unfiltered stories of his upbringing—from working the railroad night shift while trying to...

In this episode of The Calgary Sessions, Jeff sits down with Vince Fowler, a performance coach who works with CEOs and entrepreneurs across North America. His work focuses on understanding human behaviour, the decisions leaders make under pressure, and the psychological patterns that shape leadership and impact. Vince shares the story behind his path, beginning with a difficult upbringing and the...

Michelle Morgan has spent nearly two decades working as an actor, including a long run on Heartland, and has more recently stepped into directing. In this conversation, we look at what it actually means to build a creative career over time. She talks about nearly choosing a different path early on, how her confidence has shifted between her 30s and 40s, and whyintuition has become central to how s...

Pete Estabrooks has been part of Calgary’s fitness culture for decades, but his story didn’t begin in a gym. As a teenager, he was arrested for armed robbery and spent time in jail. In this episode, Pete shares how boxing became structure, how running replaced destructive highs, and how discipline slowly rebuilt his identity over time. We talk about responsibility, aging, addiction, and what it ac...

Drezus is a Plains Cree hip hop artist and storyteller whose work is rooted in identity, resilience and culture. We talked about what it was like growing up feeling different, carrying anger, and not really knowing where to put it. Hip hop became the place where he figured out how to speak. Not just through music, but through understanding who he was. He’s honest about masculinity, fear, ceremony...

In this episode of The Calgary Sessions , I sit down with Rob McLeod , also known as Frisbee Rob. Rob didn’t find his path early. He didn’t discover frisbee until after high school, and long before it became his work, teaching and helping others were already part of who he was. We talk about what it’s like to grow into something over time, without a clear plan or early certainty. Rob also opens up...

Templ Brewing co-founder Dane Thorogood shares the hard reset that changed how he shows up at work and at home. His path runs through high-performance sport, family business, and addiction, then into the day-to-day habits that keep him grounded. On the business side, we talk about learning sales through reps, building a scrappy system with people you trust, and growing in the non-alcoholic space w...

Felipe Alberto Paredes-Canevari performs Peruvian musica criolla and works in civil litigation. This conversation is about standards. The kind that come from taking the work seriously, whether you are carrying someone’s legal problem or stepping on stage with a tradition that has real history behind it. Felipe talks about identity as something shaped by lineage and lived experience, not a story yo...

In this episode of The Calgary Sessions, I sit down with Mike Peace. Mike talks about growing up after immigrating as a kid, experiencing trauma early, and leaving school sooner than expected. He shares how restaurant work led him into tattoo shops, what it was like to learn the craft by watching rather than being taught, and how tattooing has changed over the years. We talk about opening and runn...