Beyond the Checkbox

A new episode of Beyond the Checkbox is dropping tomorrow! In this episode we are listening to the powerful story of Vince Hafeli. Like many others, several difficult personal tragedies lead him to a mental health crisis where stigma left him afraid to ask for help. Discover how he rose above an extremely difficult period in his life to eventually become the president of Ajax Paving, a large const...

Art Wlodyka is a detective who works in one of the busiest policing units in Canada. His day-to-day consists of being the first person on the scene to get people who have severe and persistent mental illness proper care. Tune in as he breaks down the wild situations he finds himself in and the strains and stressors he experiences every day. 👉 Connect for the latest insights directly in your feed:...

Avi Greenberg is a breathing expert who discovered his passion while working a high stress sales job. In this episode he takes us through his discovery of intentional breathing and the monumental impact it has had on both his life and his clients. 👉 Connect for the latest insights directly in your feed: Headversity on LinkedIn  

Breanne Everett is the CEO and Founder of Orpyx, a high growth company with a software solution that is changing the game for individuals struggling with diabetes. After seeing many people suffer through the effects of diabetes during her surgical residency, Breanne put her entrepreneur cap on to come up with a preventative solution to help these individuals take back control of their lives. 👉 Co...

Al Visram is an front line psychologist and expert in bereavement for individuals and families after losing someone to suicide. He is also an active member of the community, teaching courses on mental health first aid and suicide prevention. In this episode, Al Visram sheds light on the difficult nature of his work and the vital role it plays for clients experiencing grief. Tune in for a glimpse b...

On this special edition episode of Beyond the Checkbox, we are excited to present part two of our Women in Construction and Mental Health Podcast. We are joined by 3 new remarkable guests to discuss their experiences with mental health and wellness in the workplace within the construction industry. In recognition of women’s history month, we will be digging into the experiences and viewpoints of t...

On this special edition episode of Beyond the Checkbox, we are excited to be joined by 3 remarkable women to discuss their experiences with mental health and wellness in the workplace within an industry dominated by men: construction. In recognition of women’s history month, we will be digging into the experiences and viewpoints of these women who have achieved success and influence in their respe...

Dr. Nicole Letourneau is an expert in parent-child interaction and has done applied research in genetics. She is a Professor in the Faculty of Nursing and Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary and holds the Research Chair in Parent and Child Mental Health at the UofC. In this episode, Dr. Letourneau takes us through how early positive intervention with gene expression can have an...

Samra Zafar is a best selling author, award-winning international speaker and human rights activist. Her book, A Good Wife: Escaping The Life I Never Chose, is an international bestseller and named among CBC's Best Books of 2019, and is now being adapted to a premium TV series. In this episode Samra guides us through her journey of breaking through deep rooted patriarchy by escaping an abusiv...

The finale of Season 2 of Beyond the Checkbox features Krista Pell, VP HR at Cenovus Energy, who had the herculean task of leading employee culture during Cenovus and Husky Energy's merger, which nearly tripled their total employee population. For this episode, Krista speaks on the unique challenges of managing and building culture through a merger of two large organizations, including how to...

Shannon Abeda is a 2x Olympic athlete in Alpine Skiing, and the only Winter Olympian to represent the country of Eritrea. Just two weeks before the Olympics in Beijing, after three and a half years of training and preparation, Shannon got the devastating news that his funding through the Eritrean National Olympic Committee had fallen through, all but ending his hopes of returning to the Olympics....

Samantha Coker is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Apache Industrial Holdings, a Houston-based company the industrial services industry with an industry-leading commitment to safety. Not unlike other industrial organizations who’ve experienced high rates of turnover during the pandemic, Samantha unpacks these issues her industry has faced and some of the unique challenges experienced the past...

Katherine Salucop is the Vice President of Organizational Development at Alberta Innovates, a purpose-driven organization that has thrived through the pandemic. From her extensive background in elevating employee experience, Katherine discusses how purpose has taken a front and centre role during the pandemic, detailing some of the strategies that have helped build a winning culture in her organiz...

Craig Dowden is an award-winning author, a renowned speaker, and a thought leader when it comes to progressive leadership styles and positive psychology in today’s workplace to take organizations to the next level. From his 20+ years consulting business leaders on best practices, Craig shares some tips from his methodology that help leaders and organizations get through turbulent times, which has...

As the son of a superintendent, Zeke Smith literally grew up in construction. Now as the head of the People Operations at a large Houston commercial construction company, Satterfield & Pontikes, he’s seen the ugly side of construction rear its head in recent years: suicide. Suicide is now the leading cause of fatality in construction, an industry that prides itself on worker safety. This episo...

Leigh-Ann Ing is the Director of Global Wellness and Benefits Strategy at OMERS. Beyond her professional experience in employee mental wellbeing, she has lived through burnout at various points in her career. In this episode, she walks us through handling burnout in high performance cultures and how organizations can better support employees dealing with excessive stress to build a culture of psyc...

Dr. Scott B Patten is a professor at the University of Calgary and one of the leading Psychiatric Epidemiologists in the world. Dr. Patten’s research focuses on Major Depressive Disorders, and in this episode he talks about how machine learning is influencing his field, how the pandemic has impacted his work, as well as the research around how our mental health has been affected through the pandem...

Stephane Grenier is a Canadian veteran, Mental Health Innovator, and author of "After the War: Surviving PTSD and Changing Mental Health Culture". Stephane is known for his efforts to rehumanize workplaces through peer support, as well as for coining the term Operational Stress Injury to describe psychological injuries caused by military service. In this episode, Stephane discusses his t...

Do you ever wonder how athletes like Andre De Grasse deal with immense stress so they can perform consistently under pressure? How they appear so calm in the big moment despite the gravity of the situation? Elite athletes are not just physical specimens - they put in serious work on the mental side to prepare for big performances. This special episode we had a special chance to visit with 10x Olym...

Gregory John is the President of Four Peaks Development, a company built around creating opportunities for Indigenous people in the energy sector. As someone who is Metis, Gregory has done amazing work brokering relationships between First Nations and organizations, particularly in resource development. Gregory speaks with us about Indigenous relations with corporate partners in the oil & gas...

Andrea Hardie is the Director of Health & Safety at Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC), an organization that looks after important health, safety, and environmental initiatives in the Oil & Gas sector, working with over 200 organizations in Canada. She and Ryan discuss the progress of mental health in the Oil & Gas sector, how stigma still affects change, and how mental he...

A special episode of Beyond the Checkbox took place live at the HRD HR Mental Health 2021 conference on May 11th, where Ryan had the opportunity to moderate a panel that included Nabeela Ixtaban, EVP of People & Corporate Affairs at Walmart Canada, Sandy McIntosh, EVP People & Culture and CHRO at TELUS, and Sapna Mahajan, Director, Genomics and Society and Genome Canada. This group of powe...

Rob Vanstone is a Sports Editor and Columnist with the Regina Leader-Post, where he is well known for covering the Saskatchewan Roughriders football team. On Bell Let's Talk day in January of 2021, Rob disclosed to the world that he has been suffering from mental illness for much of his life, living in the shadows of stigma, where it took years to even admit to his wife what he was going thro...

Gethin Nadin is an award-winning psychologist and employee wellbeing expert. His book, titled A World of Good, saw him travel around the world and glean lessons from what organizations are doing - or not doing - when it comes to engaging with employees on a human level. This episode covers the shift to putting employee experience front and center for organizations and why this is now so critical. ...

Dr. Bill Howatt joined us nearly one year ago, early in the pandemic, and spoke about the effects he anticipated COVID-19 would have on workforce mental health. Now one year later, and on the cusp of releasing his new book, "The Cure for Loneliness", this conversation covers the full spectrum of workplace mental health, where we've been, and where things are going. If you enjoyed th...