Careers Under Construction

She started with $40… and a candle kit in her kitchen after surviving an ectopic pregnancy. Three months later, her product was in the Grammys and Oscars swag bags. Amanda Buhse didn’t set out to build a business but what started as a small side project turned into a fast-growing brand, Coal & Canary — a hand-poured candle company known for bold scents and storytelling. In this episode, Amanda...

Katie Hall Hursh walked away from law just three years in. Not because she couldn’t do it — but because she wasn’t fulfilled. Today, as Board Chair of the Health Sciences Centre Foundation, Katie is helping drive real healthcare innovation across Manitoba, including surgical robotics and advanced technology that are improving patient outcomes, reducing recovery time and helping people get home fas...

She’s biking 7,500 km across Canada for cancer. Mady Kennedy spent over 10 years building a makeup brand and growing an audience, then walked away from everything and never posted again as the “makeup girl.” For two years, she felt lost. Then she got sober. Started training. Now she’s biking across Canada. Starting this May. In this episode, we talk about: • Why she’s doing it and how • Losing 30,...

At 21, Maddie Thompson dropped out of architecture school. Today, she runs MAD Social Agency with a team of 30+ and works with 400+ brands. We sit down to talk about: • The moment she decided to drop out • Why taking risks is easier when you’re young • How she went from $80/month clients to $5,000/month • Why personal brand and outbound is the “cheat code” for growth • How she built a fully remote...

Kevin Dandewich started in construction at 15. 30+ years later, he’s leading operations at Gator across Manitoba and Saskatchewan — helping grow the Winnipeg team from 1 to 20 in under 2 years. He’s worked on major builds like the Selkirk Hospital and built his career by learning on site. He’s also the kind of leader who will run to the store if his team needs something. No ego. Just gets it done....

Meet Jasmin Laine: Former Winnipeg morning radio host (Energy 106) turned independent political commentator. When things didn’t go as planned, Jasmin Laine had to make a career pivot. Most people would’ve been terrified to talk about politics publicly, especially as a conservative woman. She did it anyway. In this episode, Jasmin shares: What it really takes to grow online How she broke into a mal...

Weeks after being told he had a fatal brain disease with no cure, Garett Wong nearly drowned in a boating accident. Two close calls forced a bigger question: What do you do with a second chance? Most people would finish the PhD.Garett quit six months before graduating and bought a bankrupt $4,600 duplex in Winnipeg’s North End. Today he’s the founder of Upper Edge Property Management and Systemize...

What actually makes a great leader — and why do so many get it wrong? Allana Schmidt began her career in clinical social work, working directly with individuals and families before moving into business, operations and organizational leadership. Over the past two decades, she has led large-scale workplace transformation and global people strategy across complex, people-intensive industries, includi...

Is Manitoba holding itself back? Carly Edmundson thinks so. She grew up in a small Manitoba town. Today, she leads a 20,000-acre inland port that could reshape Canada’s trade future. As President & CEO of CentrePort Canada, Carly isn’t just talking about economic development — she’s challenging how Manitoba thinks about growth, risk, and bold action. In this episode of Careers Under Constructi...

From being born with a cleft lip and palate to becoming one of the most relentless linebackers in CFL history, Adam Bighill has built a 15+ year professional career, playing over 200 games and winning 3 Grey Cup championships. Today, Adam is both a CFL linebacker and Investment Advisor at Pejovic Bighill Private Wealth, helping families and individuals build long-term wealth off the field. In this...

Iain Crozier began his career far from venture capital, first as a competitive athlete travelling internationally as a professional squash player before entering the business world. After helping grow and exit his family’s business, Iain moved into technology and investing and eventually founded Trillick Ventures, a Manitoba-focused venture capital firm backing early-stage founders and helping bui...

Melissa Cattini is one of Canada’s go-to advisors on franchise law. In this episode of Careers Under Construction , Melissa shares how she went from a criminal justice student to a corporate lawyer, built a national franchise law practice from the ground up and became a law firm partner in just eight years. She opens up about mentorship, imposter syndrome, what big law is really like (not the TV v...

QDoc started with a simple question: why is it so hard to see a doctor? Canada’s healthcare system is under pressure, and startups like QDoc are stepping in to improve access to healthcare and to build technology that connects patients and providers across Canada more quickly. In this episode, the founders share how they built a virtual care platform, scaled from 55 patients to 11,000 a month, and...

Sande Higgins survived a plane crash while serving in the RCMP — an experience that changed everything. Years later, struggling with PTSD, she turned to an unconventional path she never thought she’d take. After 15 years in the RCMP, Sande Higgins was carrying the invisible weight of trauma. In this episode of Careers Under Construction , Sande shares her experience with PTSD, the stigma around me...

In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Justis Pederson sits down with Alisdair Dickinson, Senior Vice President at Graham Construction and a Chartered Civil Engineer with 25+ years of experience across Canada and the UK, to unpack what truly separates successful projects from failed ones and how contracts, collaboration and people all intersect. From starting his career in Scotland to movi...

What does a full life actually look like? In this episode of Careers Under Construction , we sit down with Grant White, Managing Partner at Endeavour Wealth Management, for a thoughtful conversation about money, freedom and the moments that matter most. Grant is a Winnipeg-based wealth advisor and entrepreneur who has spent his career helping individuals, families and business owners make decision...

In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Loren Remillard, President & CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, reflects on leading through the most unprecedented time and what the pandemic meant for local businesses — COVID, economic uncertainty, inflation and political pressure — and what it takes to keep showing up when everything feels like it’s on fire. Loren shares why the Chamber c...

Jake Karls is known online as the hype man — the Rainmaker behind Mid-Day Squares. But the real story of how he got here goes much deeper and regular therapy has been a core part of that journey. In this episode, Jake opens up about the two rock-bottom moments that reshaped his life: getting rejected from 36 job interviews while pursuing a career he didn’t even want and later burning out while Mid...

We talk a lot about careers — but what about the work that happens at home? In this episode of Careers Under Construction , Justis sits down with Shauna Hewitt — a teacher, family wellness consultant and founder of Roots to Thrive, a coaching practice helping parents and educators build stronger relationships, calmer homes and healthier classrooms. With over 20 years of experience in Canada and th...

Shawn Black is the founder of Sheepdog Brew Co, a Winnipeg-based brand that grew from a church-basement side hustle into a growing business right here in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A former military member and police officer, Shawn left behind a stable career to chase a vision most people told him wouldn’t work. Even his original business partner chose to stay in the police force and handed the keys over...

If you’ve ever felt like you’re capable of more but something keeps holding you back, this episode is the wake-up call you probably need. Dr. Jason Brooks has coached everyone from surgeons to Olympic athletes and he’ll tell you straight: the biggest thing stopping most people isn’t skill or talent or opportunity — it’s the voice in their own head.   In this conversation, Jason breaks down why imp...

From sheet metal worker to Dean of Skilled Trades and Technologies at Red River College Polytech — Derek Kochenash’s career proves there’s no single path to leadership. In this episode, he shares how his dad pushed him into his first job at 6:30 a.m., what it took to balance family life while earning multiple degrees, and how he overcame imposter syndrome to lead more than 70 programs across const...

When Chris Hewitt joined SMS Engineering in 2003, he never imagined one day helping lead it from a 30-person team to a 100-plus-person firm. Now President of SMS, Chris opens up about overcoming imposter syndrome and finding his voice as a quiet and compassionate leader in one of Manitoba’s top engineering companies. He shares how SMS built a culture rooted in mentorship, trust and accountability...

Alex Akman joined Shindico in 2015 as a property analyst, spending three years learning the ropes before being promoted to Vice President of Development and Property Management and later stepping into the role of Chief Operating Officer in 2023. He’s helped lead more than $275M in real estate acquisitions, over $115M in new developments and launched Shindico’s own construction division, SNR Constr...

What happens when you take a family plumbing company and rebuild it around people? Justin and Christina Thorsteinson share how Thor Plumbing & Heating transformed from a small family business into one of Manitoba’s most connected and culture-driven teams on this episode of Careers Under Construction. From literally breaking down walls and creating a staff gym and sauna, to sitting down with ev...