Unpacked Podcast

This week on Unpacked Evan and Tara chat about  Evan's life and story as a pastor. Evan is leaving his role as the Lead Pastor at Lake Ridge Community Church in Chestermere and stepping away from Pastoral Ministry after 28 years. Tara and Evan chat about the importance of stories and the transformation that takes place by sharing the stories that change us. The Unpacked Team discusses the vul...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Christine Marie, Owner of Canadian shop Awasis Boutique in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  The Unpacked Team chats with Christine about her life growing up as an indigenous person, starting her business as a female indigenous entrepreneur and single mama to her sweet boys. She shares the story of the powerful realization of representation  that inspired her bus...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Rachel Vanderploeg-Wiesel, Knowledge Management Specialist at Alberta Health Services, wife, mama and autism advocate. The Unpacked Team chats with Rachel about their family's journey with autism. Rachel's son, Henry was diagnosed when he was four years old and since then they have spent time learning all about the way Henry sees the world. Auti...

This week on Unpacked Evan and Tara chat about transitions and the process to making a transition . A life transition is any change or adjustment that impacts your life and we all experience them. Using the lens of the enneagram triads (head, heart and body) we chat about the process of discernment (to separate - and the faith way of going about making important decisions). Transitions can be mess...

Sergeant Joe Stubbs is a local RCMP officer in Chestermere. Sergeant Joe has been in policing for over 35 years and served in small and large communities. The Unpacked Team chats with Sergeant Joe about the importance of knowing your neighbours and creating a sense of community is the best way to prevent crime where we live. We talk about the challenging  of the role in experiencing  vulnerability...

Connor Sarazin is the Partnership and Communications Coordinator, KAIROS Blanket Exercise with KAIROS Canada. Connor lives in Ontario, is First Nations and an artist. The Unpacked team chats with Connor about the KAIROS Blanket Exercise and how the 2-3 hour workshop engages participants to use blankets representing land and explores the historic and contemporary relationship between Indigenous and...

Dr. Mitch is a Registered Psychologist and founder of Hexagon Psychology. He has a  Ph. D. in  Applied Child Psychology from the University of Calgary. Dr. Mitch has graduate training and research primarily focused on how individuals build resiliency and effectively navigate large challenges in life. The Unpacked team chats with Dr. Mitch about his observations around the increase in children and...

Jeremy Allen (Death Ed) is a funeral director and embalmer in Provost Alberta, husband, father and works to normalize the conversation around grief and loss. Jeremy works alongside individuals, professionals and communities to enter into the loss and help navigate the grief process. He chats with the Unpacked team about the winding road to becoming a funeral director and how he has learned to care...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Jessica Geffrard, administrator, wife, mama and former leader of the Petite Anse Kids Feeding Project in Haut Limbe, Haiti. The Unpacked Team met Jessica several years ago when travelling to Haiti with  the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada. Jessica shares about her life growing up in Haiti as the daughter of a single parent and the oldest in her hous...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Heather Roy. Heather is an advocate medical mama for paediatric cancer and a force of nature. She is the founder of Team Evelyn Foundation, a wife, mama, and soon to be social worker. The Unpacked team chats with Heather about her daughter and family's journey with cancer and grief. She shares about Evelyn, receiving the diagnosis, lessons she has le...

This week on Unpacked Evan and Tara chat about the growth and transformation through the lens of the enneagram triads (head, heart and body). We chat about how we are all made to grow mentally, physically and spiritually. Growth and transformation can be messy and we all take it at different speeds depending on our personal capacities. Tara and Evan explain the three triads (head, heart and body)...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Christy Morgan. Christy, Director of Indigenous Initiatives with Trellis Foundation. The Unpacked team chats with Christy about her life and story growing up as an indigenous woman. She shares about her culture, the pain and trauma that was and continues to be inflicted. She talks with us about the ways she cares for herself when she experiences racism an...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Jeff working in the Middle East and North Africa. Jeff is a pastor, former mentor and long-time friend to Evan. We chat with Jeff about life as a former leader of pastors and his current role with his wife Darlene as Canadian Leaders for the Middle East and North Africa. Jeff shares stories of the incredible people he has learned from and partnered with a...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Joel Fournie Captain with Chestermere Fire Department, dad, husband and entrepreneur. We chat with Joel about life as a fire fighter, self care as a first responder and the necessary work he and his team do in order to cope and manage stressful environments daily. He shares vulnerable moments as a husband and parent, the hard lessons it's his turn to...

This week on Unpacked Evan and Tara chat about the 3 basic human instincts and the enneagram. We chat about how the instincts are essential for human experience and how often unconscious they direct our way of being in relationships, decisions, work and parenting. Tara and Evan explain the three basic instincts of self-preservation, social and one to one and how one is often dominant yet we have a...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Pastor Shannon Johnson Friesen from Stonehouse Covenant Church.  We chat with Shannon about loving and connecting with her neighbours, insecurities and what she's been learning about herself as a pastor in a church plant (which is a churchy word for starting a church). Shannon shares what it's been like to start a church in a pandemic and be a f...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Unpacked Team! This week on Unpacked Tara and Evan chat about the upcoming holidays, our own traditions, reflect on the year and share some updates at the end! It's just the two of us! We chat about what navigating the holidays (whether that's exciting or challenging for you), we jump into our unpopular opinions of not making new year resolutio...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Maureen Speidel of Delta Psychological  Services in Chestermere and one of our absolute favourite people. Maureen returns with the Unpacked team to chat about navigating relationships in the pandemic. We chat with Maureen about the stress and tension causing relational breakdown of all kinds due to the pandemic. We talk about how the pandemic has affected...

This week on Unpacked Tara and Evan chat about expectations. It's just the two of us! We talk about what are expectations, the emotions behind them, the challenges we experience and how we can reflect and communicate them better so we can have healthier relationships with ourself and others.  Unpacked is a podcast exploring life as messy people. It’s conversations with counsellors, leaders, s...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Jenna Fortinski and Nicki Kirlin  of Simply Jenna Podcast and Simply Counselling Services in Calgary. Jenna and Nicki are counsellors in Calgary and host a podcast together all about mental health and well-being. They give the tools and strategies to navigate challenges with real life scenarios. We chat with Jenna and Nicki about anxiety and depression, f...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Gemma Miller. Gemma is a stay at home mama to four sweet children, a wife and advocate for adoption and fostering. We chat with Gemma about her story of growing up as an adoptive sibling and how that influenced the way she created a family. She shares insights and awareness about the ways she bonded with her siblings, her memories and how all of that has...

This week on Unpacked Tara and Evan chat about adoption. We share about our personal stories as adoptive parents. Tara and Evan chat about the process of international adoption, misconceptions, support, questions we get asked, racism and advice for potential adoptive parents. In honour of National Adoption Month the Unpacked team will be continuing to share stories around adoption for all of Novem...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Magalie Knopf. Magalie is a social worker and kinship worker with Secwépemc Child and Family Services Agency in Kamloops, British Columbia. Magalie is an adult adoptee born in Haiti, advocate for adoption and former youth group student of Evan’s. We chat with Magalie about her story as an adoptee and how that has influenced her life and career. She shares...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Sheryl Proulx . Sheryl is the Executive Director and Social Worker at Adoption Options in Alberta. Sheryl is a mother, birth parent and advocate for adoption. We chat with Sheryl about her journey as a birth mom and how that influenced her career as a social worker and ultimately the leader at Adoption Options.  She shares the work she has done, the beaut...

This week on Unpacked we are chatting with Patricia Sproule . Patricia or Patty as we know her is the President and CEO of Sproule Consulting, former school board trustee,  Executive Director with Synergy, an amazing advocate for youth in Chestermere. We chat with Patty about her life growing up as an indigenous person, her story to coming to love and advocate for kids and what she has learned alo...