Unpacked Podcast

This week on Unpacked Evan and Tara chat about the 3 basic human instincts and the enneagram. We chat about how the instincts are essential for human experience and how often unconscious they direct our way of being in relationships, decisions, work and parenting. Tara and Evan explain the three basic instincts of self-preservation, social and one to one and how one is often dominant yet we have a...

This week on Unpacked we chat with  Kevin Castanheiro. Kevin is a former executive with Mexx Clothing, a world traveller, the current leader of an aquaculture ministry in Haiti, and our good friend. Plus sponsor of the Shoulder to Shoulder series! This week we take you through the remarkable story of Kevin, a gay man, and Evan, a long-time traditional pastor. Two people on the outside over 12 year...

Connor Sarazin is the Partnership and Communications Coordinator, KAIROS Blanket Exercise with KAIROS Canada. Connor lives in Ontario, is First Nations and an artist. The Unpacked team chats with Connor about the KAIROS Blanket Exercise and how the 2-3 hour workshop engages participants to use blankets representing land and explores the historic and contemporary relationship between Indigenous and...

This week on Unpacked we chat with guests Stephanie and Lisa, retired house flippers and a sweet couple. Stephanie and Lisa share their emotional stories of coming out, navigating the challenges of finding forgiveness with their parents and compassion for their families. They share the struggles they faced, the triumphs they celebrated, and the important life lessons they've learned along the...

This week on Unpacked Tara and Evan chat about what it means to live with an invisible illness.  Tara Linsley is the owner, of Digitial Marketing Strategist and Co-host Unpacked Podcast.  We switch things up by sharing Tara's story of living with a chronic illness and rare auto-immune disease. Tara shares the journey of diagnosis up to what her life is like day to day now. She talks about the...

This week on Unpacked we chat with guest Bill White, Co-Pastor at City Church in Long Beach. Bill shares his extraordinary journey from a conservative evangelical pastor to a place of acceptance and theological diversity. Join us for an authentic and thought-provoking conversation that delves into the heart of embracing differences and holding space for diverse perspectives. Bill spent 25 years fu...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Jake Stika, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Next Gen Men. We chat with Jake on gender-based issues related to the social and emotional development of young men and boys, the health and well-being of men in communities, workplaces and their vision for a future where boys & men experience less pain, and cause less harm. We talk about power dynamics...

This week on Unpacked we chat with guest Diane Morton, Retired Special Ed Teacher and mother to a transgender person. Diane's experience as a mother of a trans child brings to light the fears and worries that many parents face when their child comes out as transgender. Through her story, Diane demonstrates her journey of acceptance, growth, and unwavering love. As a former teacher who special...

What if you didn't have to be controlled by old patterns that are playing out from unprocessed stories from your past? What if your future wasn't filled with lingering anger or unsettling worry? This week on Unpacked Evan takes us through his workbook Recess: Finding Freedom in Writing a New Story. Using this processful process and the lens of the Enneagram personality tool you will be g...

This week on Unpacked we chat with guest Brian Nietzel, Founder of Making Things Right. Making Things Right is a space to invite and equip Christians to better love and serve the LGBTQ+ community. Brian shares his mission to create new conversations and relationships between Christians and the LGBTQ+ community. We chat with Brian about his story of being gay and loving Jesus, why reconciliation be...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with guest Brad Lewis, Registered Psychologist with Inner Solutions in Calgary.  In this enlightening episode, we are unlocking the mysteries of EMDR Therapy - a transformative approach to healing trauma and unlocking personal growth.  We chat with Brad to demystify the concept of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. Discover how this...

This week on Unpacked we continue to chat with guests Erika Dewald (she/her), Raven Huery (she/they), Elizabeth Larabie (she/her), and Hailey Beynon (she/her) from the University of Lethbridge. In this round table discussion, we take Unpacked on the road to listen to the stories of university students and hear how they discovered who they are. They share their coming out stories what was most supp...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with guest Denise Withers, Change Leadership Coach & Consultant. We chat with Denise about her life as a journalist and documentarian turned leadership coach using storytelling to do good.  She shares on what lessons she learned from behind the camera of storytelling and caring for herself. Denise gives tips on the indicators for a good story, and how orga...

This week on Unpacked we chat with guests Erika Dewald (she/her), Raven Huery (she/they), Elizabeth Larabie (she/her), and Hailey Beynon (she/her) from the University of Lethbridge. In this round table discussion, we take Unpacked on the road to listen to the stories of university students and hear how they discovered who they are. They share their coming out stories what was most supportive, what...

This week on Unpacked we chat with guest Pastor Judy Howard Peterson, Pastor, founder and President of Haecceitas Inc, a non-profit that seeks to provide pastoral care and spiritual hospitality for those outside the traditional confines of the church. Judy has worked as a waitress, a landscaper, a teacher, an administrator and a pastor. She is an internationally known preacher and conference leade...

This week on Unpacked are chatting with guest Kiran Mckay, Podcast Host of the Middle Fingers Up Podcast. Middle Fingers Up is a show where they keep our heads high and their middle fingers higher. The Middle Fingers Up Podcast explores relationships, mental health and everything in between. We chat with Kiran about growing up with immigrant parents and as a visible minority as a South Asian woman...

This week on Unpacked we chat with guest Joel Fortier, retired Service Director and supporter of the Shoulder to Shoulder series. Joel chats with us about his life  coming out later in life, his father's passing and being the man of the family he thought he was supposed to be. Joel shares words of wisdom for young people, how he overcame self-rejection, therapy and his not-so-typical coming o...

This week on Unpacked are chatting with guest Tanis Mitchell, Grief Coach and Certified Life Coach. Tanis is an advocate for the medical parent community and works to help families navigate grief and trauma surrounding illness. Tanis shares the extraordinary of her daughter surviving a rare multiple-organ transplant procedure and how their lives have changed after that. She shares the whole story...

This week on Unpacked we chat with guest Joel Hubbard, Cofounder of The Art of Growth and Certified Enneagram Coach. Joel chats with us about his life and as a former pastor and his journey to becoming an enneagram coach. We chat with Joel about his work on belonging and inclusion specifically in the church. We chat with Joel about how he defines belonging, why is it important to feel a sense of b...

What if you didn’t have to be controlled by your stress response? GONE is the day when we settle for being stuck or letting stress take the lead. Who’s with us?!  The Enneagram is the best tool for growth! Knowing your type is the starting point to gaining a deeper understanding of yourself, learning others brings self-compassion BUT stress and rest lines will change your life. That's why thi...

This week on Unpacked we launch the Shoulder to Shoulder series with an introduction episode on why the relationship between the church and the LGBTQ+ Community is important. Evan, Kevin and Tara chat about what the series is about, why we decided to do the series and what we hope people will hear and experience. We talk about the guests we interviewed, what to expect in the series and some of the...

The producers and co-creators of the Unpacked Podcast present a special series 10 part series Shoulder to Shoulder. Shoulder to Shoulder is co-hosted by  Evan Dewald, Tara Linsley and Kevin Castanherio unpacking the relationship between the church and the LGTBQ+ community with ex-pastors, inclusive churches, thought leaders, and LGBTQ+ members. Episodes drop weekly on Tuesdays. Evan, Tara and Kevi...

What if you didn’t have to be controlled by your stress response? GONE is the day when we settle for being stuck or letting stress take the lead. Who’s with us?!  The Enneagram is the best tool for growth! Knowing your type is the starting point to gaining a deeper understanding of yourself, learning others brings self-compassion BUT stress and rest lines will change your life. That's why thi...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with guests Lindsey Merkley and Crystal Bangle, Owners of Grow & Co in Calgary.  How do you start a small business? What is the secret to the best friend partners and business partners? Crystal and Lindsey share their story of friendship, business, and how they grew Grow & Co into a success! Let's be real who doesn't want to work with their b...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Wakefield Brewster, Poet, Participant, Producer and Promoter in Canada’s poetry and spoken word communities since  1999. He is a Black man born and raised in Toronto, by parents hailing from the island of Beautiful Barbados, and he has resided in Calgary since 2006. For 21 years Wakefield has spent fiercely and ferociously spearheading Poetry and Spoken W...