The Comms Major Podcast

In honor of National Indigenous History Month, Wahiba sits down with Darian Kovacs, a Métis business leader with over 15 years in marketing, communications, and PR. In this candid conversation, Darian opens up about his journey and what prompted him to become an advocate for representation, both in who sits on the jury and who's reflected in the work itself. He also shares campaign examples, advic...

George Van Rooyen may be familiar to some communications students at University Canada West, where he teaches upper-level courses including crisis communications. George comes from journalism and then made the move to public relations. At the time of taping this episode, George was a senior manager of media and communications for Flyover, an event company in Vancouver. He was also president of the...

Marzia continues her conversation with Wahiba, diving into her involvement with the BC chapter of the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators). As a self-described introvert who wasn't a fan of large networking events, Marzia found IABC's focused community of communications professionals much more approachable. She volunteered her way up from student member to Director of the Stu...

Marzia Sager was on track to become a pediatrician - until she realized the passion just wasn't there. So she pivoted into communications, and hasn't looked back. Today, Marzia is the Communications and Advancement Lead at PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs, where she crafts strategies to share the organization's stories and impact with key stakeholders. She's also the co-founder of the Glow Within Fou...

Professor and The Comms Major co-host Wahiba Chair recently invited Vancouver communicator Kelsea Arbour to speak to her communication capstone class (WORK 490) at University Canada West. Not long ago, Kelsea was a student herself at Kwantlen Polytechnic University's PR program. Now she's a Communications Specialist at FortisBC. What got her there? After applying to over 100 jobs post-graduation,...

Rashpal Rai was once told that he wouldn’t be a successful communications professional because he wears a turban. But he didn’t listen. Now, he’s one of Vancouver’s most versatile and experienced communication practitioners. Having been involved with the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) for over 25 years, Rashpal shares stories of how the CPRS has influenced his career since he graduated....

Karen sits down with Rashpal Rai, a senior communications professional with over 20 years of experience in corporate communications. Having worked for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), Vancouver Coastal Health, and the University of British Columbia, Rashpal shares his motivation for choosing a career in communications. His career journey began from the ground up, starting out...

Episode 2: Logan Findlay talks about PR campaigns and AI Wahiba and Logan Findlay of Talk Shop Media continue their conversation by sharing an exciting campaign Logan was a part of, and some insight into campaign tactics and measurement. Logan then begins to share how her team at Talk Shop has started implementing AI in their work, as well as her thoughts and predictions on whether AI will take ov...

Episode 1: How Logan Findlay Started her Career in Public Relations For the first episode of The Comms Major Podcast, Wahiba sits down with Logan Findlay, Director at Talk Shop Media, a leading public relations and communications agency with offices in Vancouver, Toronto, and Los Angeles. Logan has over five years of experience in communications, public relations, media and event management. Logan...

In this inaugural episode, University Canada West BABC student Jash sits down with his professors, Karen and Wahiba, to talk about how The Comms Major podcast got started. Learn more about Jash, Karen, and Wahiba using the links below: Jash Khatri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jashkhatri/ Karen Tankard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-tankard-ma/ Wahiba Chair: WahibaChair.com and https://www.link...