RESILIENT PEOPLE

Jennifer Powell is a Mom and entrepreneur who lives in Toronto. She approached me to share her story about her dear friend Tracy who passed away at only 43 years old. The two were close for years, building a solid foundation of friendship and female support. They even spoke about their wish to spend their retirement years drinking gin on the porch together.   My talk with Jennifer not only revolve...

For this episode of RESILIENT PEOPLE, I'm taking you on a walk. It's a Sunday in late July and I'm looking forward to a day of doing nothing.  When was the last time you can say that you did that too? Maybe laying on a lounge chair til you fall asleep with the sun warming your face. Or taking a long leisurely walk through a neighbourhood, grabbing a drink and browsing around local shops.  How do y...

Thirty years ago, Beverley Burke lost her husband Kevin. She is the mom to a dear friend of mine, but as a fellow widow, she's also become my coach and a close friend. We spoke about her memories of being a young widow, advice for grievers to get back to living their lives and gushed over our mutual admiration for one another. Just the kind of relationship that every widow or widower needs.   In t...

Music can be one of the most healing things when you're going through a challenge. It is effective for managing stress and helping us to let go. Bruce Springsteen once said, "The best music is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with".  I can personally say that my music has been helping me face the world over and over again.  This episode of RESILIENT PEOPLE covers the im...

This episode is changing the nature of the podcast a bit. After suffering a devastating loss this past fall, with the death of my 25 year old daughter Isobel, I began to rethink what’s important to me and how I view a resilient mindset. I feel like learning to really embrace the in between moments in life is key to rebuilding ourselves. So I’ll be dedicating this season to sharing takeaways that w...

Tara MacIntosh had just discovered that she was pregnant with twins when, only hours later, her husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 Esophageal Cancer. It was during the pandemic and a very stressful time to be a patient or caregiver receiving any medical intervention. As her belly grew, Tara supported Gregor for all of his needs and was learning on the fly how to be a caregiver. She quickly learned...

Nathan and Dana Schmidt of the Mountain Seed Foundation are my guests on this episode of the RESILIENT PEOPLE podcast. Mountain Seed Foundation helps build resilience in children and families impacted by war with some of their biggest work being done in Ukraine. Nathan is a former Marine who completed three tours in the Iraq war. He and Dana met there when she went as part of the Foreign Service....

Kelli Gastis is a wife, mother, former dancer and can now add author to her list of achievements. Her book, Fabulous In Flats, is about the journey that Multiple Sclerosis has taken her on and how she has maintained a resilient mindset through her body's changes. She doesn't want to let her condition get in the way of living a fulfilling life and she wrote a book to inspire others. To learn more a...

Raymond Chhun is a registered nurse in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He's worked in clinic as well as an instructor, and is currently applying for his PhD to research building resilience in nursing. His mother grew up in rural Cambodia and met his father in Thailand. At a young age she was taken from home during the country's civil war essentially having the life she knew before taken away from her. When he...

For this episode of RESILIENT PEOPLE , Janet Fanaki speaks with Wellness Coach Sharon Summerfield .  She is the founder of The Nourished Executive and counsels clients on dealing with burnout, stress management and building healthy daily rituals.     Sharon was once a busy executive assistant and project manager for various engineering firms. She made a pivot to create the Nourished Executive by i...

Tara Pyfrom grew up in the beautiful Bahamas. She comes from a long line of family members who lived there for generations. Residents there are used to hurricanes. In 2019 Tara's beloved island experienced the wrath of Hurricane Dorian, the biggest cyclone to hit the Bahamas. Tara, her wife and daughter watched as their home filled with water, making its way all the way up to the attic. Once the s...

For this episode, I reflect on some of the learnings from past guests, the purpose that her guests have found from the challenges they faced and how a bigger purpose can be created through adversity.   Janet mentions in this episode, "a major challenge will most definitely change you, but it doesn’t need to define who you are for the rest of your life." RESILIENT PEOPLE is produced and created by...

This episode is a response to a Twitter post that I recently made that garnered a bit of attention. I was remarking on how I, as a widow, was starting to include a friend who recently lost her husband in my social plans. Inviting her to play tennis, hang out and go out for dinner. So many people replied with their own stories of living with grief and the alienation they encountered while others wr...

Shaun O'Gorman is an author, motivational speaker, father, and a former police officer in Queensland, Australia Growing up in a police family, Shaun knew from a very young age what he aspired to be when he got older. But he wasn't aware of how much this profession would change him. Witnessing horrific events and drama of day to day life, he struggled for a long time with PTSD, attempted suicide an...

Back in 2019 I spoke with a woman by the name of Dawn Custode. She loved to sail, travel, spend time helping the causes that she held dear and having fun with loved ones. At the time, Dawn was dying of colon cancer, a disease that she had lived with for two and a half years. She was spending her remaining days imparting her wisdom on life for the living. And she had some terrific advice.  Our talk...

This episode of RESILIENT PEOPLE features tips and advice for single people to find joy on Valentine's Day . Typically focused on romance, attitudes are finally starting to change around it.  We now hear more about spending the day with our 'galentines' and 'palentines' - thanks to companies like Walmart, Edible Arrangements and Jack Astors - celebrating with family and friends and even our pets....

In 2017, Max Gruver began as a freshman at Louisiana State University. He, along with his parents, was full of hope and excitement. From Georgia, his parents heard about his first weeks away at school which included pledging at various fraternities. They never anticipated that on September 17th they would receive a call that would change their lives forever. Max had died at LSU from a hazing event...

In this episode of the RESILIENT PEOPLE podcast , I interview Toronto psychiatrist and sleep expert, Dr. Cara Ooi . Helping teens to sleep better is her main focus, but as our conversation will show, sleep disorders cover every age group. As many of us struggle to get a good night's rest, Dr. Ooi offers simple and effective tools to help us. Without getting the necessary amount of sleep, it impact...

In this episode I interview celebrated parenting and now midlife author, Ann Douglas . Her new book, "Navigating the messy middle: A fiercely honest and wildly encouraging guide for midlife women" is out now.  Canadian author Ann Douglas has been writing books about parenting for years. Popular guides to help pregnant women and new parents prepare for the exciting and very unpredictable life of pa...

The focus of this short episode of RESILIENT PEOPLE is on my takeaways from the book by Dr. Sanjay Gupta , "Keep Sharp: Build A Better Brain At Any Age" . It's a science-driven guide to preventing brain decline but I also found that the advice is beneficial for overall wellness and positive mental health. As I focus a lot of my learning for RESILIENT PEOPLE on building resilience and learning from...

Bonjour and welcome to RESILIENT PEOPLE . My guest on this episode is Katie Clark - an American in Paris. Katie is 42 years old and originally from Utah. She got married very young, had three children pretty quickly and for the last 16 years has practiced as an emergency room nurse. Like many married couples, she and her husband were going through the motions of life and marriage. Focused on raisi...

For this episode of RESILIENT PEOPLE , I was joined by Toronto divorce and family lawyer Leanne Townsend .  Running a busy law practice, the creator of the Divorcing Well podcast and mom of two adult children - Leanne is a terrific person to have on to talk about midlife issues. We spoke about some big changes that have recently happened in her life.  Namely, selling her family home and starting h...

In this episode of the RESILIENT PEOPLE podcast , Janet Fanaki introduces listeners to Audrey Guth , a Toronto entrepreneur and founder of the non-profit organization Nankind .  Audrey is a mother, grandmother, two-time cancer survivor and creator of multiple businesses. Her point-of-view to inspire  women to make a pivot in midlife is very inspiring.  Janet and Audrey spoke about: the moment when...

Hello RESILIENT PEOPLE! Welcome to Season 3 of the podcast! I am your host, Janet Fanaki.   I am so excited to be back and ready to introduce you to more EXTRAordinary people who are admired for their resilience. But this season - with a twist.   You will hear more of the voices of midlife women and how they are reinventing themselves, finding a purpose and moving through this new chapter of their...

On this episode of the RESILIENT PEOPLE podcast, I welcome Grief Coach Sherrie Dunlevy as my guest. Sherrie is the creator of the Graduating Grief Academy and her goal is to help people find joy again while living with loss. An innovative group program, her goal is to cycle you through the stages of grief where you come out of the other end with a sense of gratitude, healing and hope. We spoke abo...