of Kelowna - your local podcast

Send us Fan Mail Jonathan moved to Kelowna as a child and considers it his hometown. He shares memories of sports, fishing at Bear Lake, Gyro Beach, and growing up in a different era of Kelowna. His career started at Revy and Rona, where he learned about service, leadership, trades, and the building supply world. After years in corporate management, he eventually stepped away and found his way int...

Send us Fan Mail Born and raised in Kelowna, Brittani Buettner of Scenic Route Jewellery @scenicrouteco has always been drawn to creating. In this episode, we talk about growing up in West Kelowna, travel, jewelry school in Nelson, motherhood, building a handmade business, and how the mountains continue to shape her work. A thoughtful conversation about creativity, purpose, and finding your way. #...

Send us Fan Mail Kayla Mendel is the owner of Lavender and Grace Jewelry , a Kelowna based jewelry company known for delicate, dainty pieces and approachable price points. Kayla shares her unique childhood story, from being born in the Caribbean, growing up in Edmonton, and spending two years living on a sailboat with her family. She talks about the adventure, the challenges, and the way that time...

Send us Fan Mail We sit down with Val and Rachel, the couple behind The Racket House . Val shares his story of leaving the former Soviet Union as a child, living in Israel, and eventually landing in Canada. Rachel shares what it was like growing up homeschooled while training as a competitive figure skater, spending long days on the ice and chasing a very high level of sport. Together, they talk a...

Send us Fan Mail Kristen is a Kelowna based brand photographer who works with established women entrepreneurs. We talk about creativity, identity, motherhood, entrepreneurship, and how photography can help people feel truly seen. This is a beautiful conversation about resilience, reinvention, and following the creative thread that keeps showing up throughout your life. #ofKelownapodcast

Send us Fan Mail This week on of Kelowna, we sit down with Trevor from @ponderosavalleylandscape. Trevor’s path has taken him from growing up around Vancouver and Powell River, to working as a mechanic in Alberta and eventually finding his way back to something that had always been there in the background: plants, nature, and the outdoors. We talk about childhood, camping, music, basketball shoes,...

Send us Fan Mail Hayden from Brutal Condiments is a local fermenter turning Okanagan produce into pepper sauces, mustards, miso, soy sauce, horseradish, and all kinds of wild, aged condiments. We talk about his path from kitchens and pastry work to kombucha brewing, butchery, fermentation, farmers markets, and building a brand where the name really fits: because apparently, everything about making...

Send us Fan Mail Kim joins of Kelowna to share a life story that has taken her from a farm outside Prince George, to Burnaby, to the Cayman Islands, and eventually to Kelowna. Growing up around animals, 4H, hard work, and northern BC winters shaped a lot of Kim’s early life. From there, she moved to the city, studied criminology and counselling, met her husband on a flight to Mexico, and later spe...

Send us Fan Mail Cindy, owner of Baked Custom Cakes and Sweets in downtown Kelowna, joins the podcast to share her journey from being born in Guangzhou, China, to growing up in Vancouver, finding her way into baking and pastry, and eventually building a custom cake business here in Kelowna. We talk about childhood, food, creativity, culinary school, working in kitchens, motherhood, burnout, moving...

Send us Fan Mail We sit down with Chris for a conversation about cars, craft, family and the road that led him to opening his own shop. Chris’s love for European cars started in the back seat of a mid 80s BMW and eventually took him from Ontario, to automotive school in Arizona, to high end BMW dealerships, and finally to Kelowna. What I loved about this conversation is how much meaning Chris find...

Send us Fan Mail One year later. What started as me just wanting to sit down, chat, and get to know people has grown into something really special. This anniversary episode looks back at the very first recording I made into the mics.  A big thank you to everyone who helped get this off the ground and to everyone who continues to listen, share, and send guest recommendations my way. Cheers

Send us Fan Mail Luxury Muck creates art that is dark, strange, imaginative, and unmistakably original. Jordan joins me to talk about childhood creativity, the influences that shaped his style, and the way his work intertwines the edgy with a softness.

Send us Fan Mail A heartfelt episode about an unstable childhood, the people who stepped in with love and stability, and the resilience that can grow from difficult beginnings. It’s an honest and moving conversation with Ash from @twoblueprints.styling about family, belonging, and how even the hardest chapters can leave behind meaningful gifts. #ofkelownapodcast #twoblueprintsstyling

Send us Fan Mail Bernie Ryan has lived a life full of movement, hands on learning, and community impact. In this episode, we talk about the road that took him from his early years in Toronto to the life he’s built today through motorcycles, mechanics, and hard earned experience. We also get into Bernie’s incredible fundraising efforts and the heart he has for giving back, making this a conversatio...

Send us Fan Mail At just 15, Rocklin has already built an incredible story. In this episode, he shares how a love of fantasy, a broken wand, and a pocket knife sparked Rockwands, a handmade business that grew fast through creativity, family support, and word of mouth. A fun and inspiring conversation about building something from scratch in Kelowna. 

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of of Kelowna , I sit down with Rosemary Thomson, Artistic Director of Opera Kelowna, to talk about the journey that shaped her life in music. From growing up in St. Catharines, Ontario, as one of seven kids in a home filled with singing, instruments, and chaos, to discovering the power of music through family, teaching, and conducting, Rosemary shares a thoughtful...

Send us Fan Mail Big shoutout to Shawn from Eco Grow Tech, Jared and Jamie from Better Good Agency, formerly Sessions Agency, and Vince, who took care of the design and photography in the early days. Their support played a huge part in helping bring the concept to life and get the business off the ground as quickly as it did.  How do two Okanagan friends turn a side idea into a thriving local busi...

Send us Fan Mail 98% of Canadian businesses are small. Most have no employees. Many struggle just to be found. In this episode, we explore the story behind Bibidi — a Central Okanagan-based platform designed to connect independent service providers with their community. From early entrepreneurial sparks to startup accelerators, tech builds, failed pitches, and unexpected pivots, this is a deep div...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when the helper becomes the one telling their story? In this episode of of Kelowna , therapist Melissa Campos opens up about her path into mental health work, supporting high achievers through anxiety and burnout, and the surprising lessons she learned about failure, imposter syndrome, and self-compassion along the way. A reflective conversation about growth, ambition...

Send us Fan Mail She was told she wasn’t “McDonald’s material.” Today, she’s filling rooms with over 100 women. In this episode of of Kelowna , we sit down with a proud Rutland girl who grew up feeling like the quiet shadow in the background, introverted and unsure where she fit, convinced everyone else had it figured out. From working at Blockbuster on Friday nights to packing up her car and movi...

Send us Fan Mail Matt is a Kelowna born chef whose path into food started early and took him around the world before bringing him back home. From working in Michelin starred kitchens in Copenhagen and San Francisco to becoming a head chef in the Okanagan at just twenty years old, his journey has been driven by curiosity, discipline, and an all in approach to learning. But one unexpected idea chang...

Send us Fan Mail Musician Ben Dunnill is a pianist and vocalist whose lifelong connection to music began in a home filled with instruments, creativity, and encouragement to follow his passion. Ben shares how performing in piano bars as a teenager became his real-world education in music, eventually leading to touring experiences, viral social media moments, and a move to Kelowna sparked by both op...

Send us Fan Mail We sit down with Marie-Claude, the founder of Planty of Nosh, to explore a journey shaped by food family and resilience. From growing up near Montreal in a tight knit entrepreneurial family to training in culinary school working in France and eventually finding her way to the Okanagan her story spans continents and seasons of life. We talk about the realities of the restaurant ind...

Send us Fan Mail Tom shares the winding path that brought him from a small village in the Netherlands to building a life—and a butcher shop—in Kelowna. We talk about his upbringing, his education in food design and innovation, and the many roles he held in the hospitality world along the way. Tom opens up about the leap to Canada, the realities of starting a catering business from scratch, and the...

Send us Fan Mail Chantal’s life has been shaped by movement, adaptation, and quiet resilience. From a cross-Canada road trip as a child to growing up in Northern BC, navigating family separation, and finding unexpected belonging in Kelowna, her story is one of constant transition. As a young adult, feeling overwhelmed by academic life but pulled toward something more, she took a leap that led her...