November 14, 2025 • 46 mins
In this deeply honest episode, beloved Canadian news anchor Coleen Christie joins us for a conversation about career longevity, reinvention, and what it really means to thrive as a woman in media. From her early inspirations to the unspoken rules women faced on-air, Coleen breaks down the changing world of journalism — including social media pressure, newsroom cuts, misinformation, and the growing challenges young girls face online. She speaks candidly about confidence, ageism, mental wellness, and the power of standing firmly in your experience. This episode is a love letter to resilience, curiosity, and sisterhood.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:08):
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Creative
Sisterhood. Our guest today is basically
Canadian television royalty. She's been in our living rooms
for over 2 decades, delivering the news with intelligence, calm
and killer professionalism. She has anchored everything from
breaking news to the Olympics for both CTV and Global.
(00:28):
She's even part of the team thattook home the Edward R Murrow
Award, which, fun fact, is kind of like the Oscars of news.
She is also a Ted X speaker, an animal lover, a Baker, and a
woman who has navigated a careerin an industry that hasn't
always made it easy for women togrow older.
On screen today, we're talking about what it really takes to
last, to evolve and to keep showing up not just in front of
(00:51):
the camera, but for yourself. Let's welcome Colleen Christie
to the Creative Sisterhood. Let's get into it.
Let's. Get into it.
Such an honor that you invited me.
I'm. I'm.
I'm grateful. Thank you.
Oh. My God, we're so grateful and
happy to have you on. We are so familiar with your
face. And yes.
We've grown up with you, truly. It's.
(01:14):
Amazing. So, Colleen, do you remember the
moment or person who made you first think that you wanted to
be in The Newsroom? What was that instigating moment
or spark for you? I.
Actually, do I remember during Expo 86 all those years ago.
(01:35):
I remember I was there on. I was walking through Expo and
BCTV at the time, which is now global, had a remote studio
there at the time, so you could walk through and watch them do
live broadcasts. And I did that and it was like,
Oh my God, this is so cool. Just like these are people who
(01:56):
are working behind the scenes inthe in the control room and
there's the hosts on air. And it was just this team thing.
And I was like, OK, I love this,but I didn't, I didn't pursue it
right away because I didn't think I could do it.
I didn't have the confidence to say, Oh yeah, I could be that.
Yeah, and this is before we had,you know, social media and
(02:18):
things giving us all these ideasand it things didn't feel as
accessible to us. Not at all.
So how did you like, what encouraged you early on then
like to well take those next steps to do that?
How did you get? Necessity I became a promotion
producer, excuse me, TV in Victoria.
And for anybody who doesn't knowwhat that is it you are you do
(02:38):
the creative behind commercials that advertise TV shows.
So whether it's the newscast or any of the shows that the
channel aired, I was one of the people behind the scenes doing
that. So you would do everything from
a come up with creative for an ad campaign or work with artists
to design graphics, so work withcomposers to do music and put it
(03:03):
all together. And I had a really successful
career doing that. I did that for 10 years, got
headhunted to go to the US, won a whole bunch of awards.
But I really could see that the industry was changing and, and I
was in small town Victoria, which I loved.
It was my hometown. But I really thought if I'm
going to kind of move my career into the next level, I have to
take a leap. And I'd already been doing some
(03:24):
on camera work at check and I thought, OK, there's this new TV
station starting in Vancouver called VTV.
I'm going to throw my hat into the ring and see if I can get
something there. So I sent off whatever I had on
tape and got a job as an entertainment reporter.
They had this big entertainment reporter unit and that was I was
(03:44):
a host and reporter for them, but I knew right away that that
was not where my passion lay. I really wanted to do news.
So I just sort of tailored the kind of stories I reported on to
be kind of newsy, even though they were sort of arts and
culture, but I wanted them to have a news edge to them.
And one thing led to another andI took some opportunities and,
(04:04):
and I ended up getting an anchorjob within about two years.
So it was fast. That's incredible.
Wow, that is amazing. So when you first entered the
air or was there any like unspoken rules that women on air
were expected to follow? Was there anything that and how
has that changed if there was? Know that it's changed a ton.
(04:26):
Yeah. You know, women in traditionally
in a role of a news anchor have had to look OK, you know, Yeah.
To be a beauty queen by any stretch of the imagination.
I am certainly proof of that. Oh my gosh.
You have to be able to put yourself together and totally.
(04:47):
You also have to to know the know the news.
You have to, you know, just do the do the work.
And I don't, yeah, I don't really think that has changed.
Do you think that it's easier now, like, like keeping up with
the news and the way that news has changed, has that become
easier that everything's at our fingertips, or has it become
harder or is it the same? I think it's the same, yeah.
(05:10):
I really don't think that's changed a heck of a lot.
Yeah, yeah. Interesting.
So when what do you think kind of pulled you towards being an
anchor and why do you love beingan anchor as opposed to any
other role in your business? And on the flip side, what is
something that people think theyknow about life as a news anchor
that's completely wrong? OK, good question.
(05:30):
Well, I have to say I was drawn to news because my mother was a
big influence. She was a big news consumer.
She would pour over the morning newspaper and I it just, it made
it and we would watch the news at night, every night.
It was like not required viewing, but it was just a
family habit. We just all did watch the
nightly news. Yeah, it was a habit.
(05:52):
And I mean, I, I feel bad for families now who don't get to do
that because we would talk aboutstories.
Yeah, I totally. See the Co viewing we did too,
right? Yeah, my household was
definitely a news household. Yeah, I always had the news in
the background. Yeah, and I know there are still
families who do that, but not it's, it's not as much anymore
because fewer people have have cable now.
(06:13):
So that is true. That was the impetus for me to
get into news. And I, you know, I don't, I
don't have a moment of regret about it.
I, I loved my old career as a promotion producer.
I love the creativity involved in that.
But man, this, this has just been such a great ride.
And what we what was just the second part of your question?
(06:34):
Just on the flip side, what is something people think they know
about life as a news anchor thatis completely wrong?
Like how it's portrayed in the media or like anything like
that. Yeah, anything you see on TV
about news is it's almost completely wrong.
Have you? So a lot of our viewers are
actors or in the industry, the film industry.
And I feel like a lot of people have seen The Morning Show with
(06:54):
Jennifer Aniston and researchers.
Yeah. Is that just like wildly,
grotesquely inaccurate? And I know they're type of.
Yeah, I guess it's the same, right?
It's like supposed to be very. Politics not so inaccurate.
OK. But the but especially these
days and at that level, but what's inaccurate is when you do
a morning show, because I've done morning shows, I've done
(07:16):
morning shows for the CTV network, I've done them locally.
Your whole world revolves aroundyour job and getting enough
sleep. The.
Notion of getting up and going for a run or getting on the in
the morning. Not happening people, because
you're getting up at 2:30 in themorning and you're getting into
(07:39):
the office and it's like, get inthe chair, get your makeup done.
You're on your phone, you're doing, you're taking meetings,
you're getting the latest information like it is.
And I've done, it's the same locally, like whether it doesn't
matter what level you're at, it's a hard, hard job.
And this notion of, oh, well, we're in a commercial break.
I can just walk off set and dealwith some personal matter.
(08:02):
Not a chance. You're not reading the set,
you're there for the three hoursand that's the way it goes.
So wow, that makes a lot of sense.
So speaking like, since we're inthat, I would want to know, can
you walk us through kind of whata real day and honest, not the
glamorous version of your day feels?
Like it looks like. Yeah.
(08:23):
OK, so I do a few different jobs.
So I do the noon newscast on global and I also 1/3 day
weekend a month I do global national.
So they're very, there are different requirements to those
two jobs, but I'll do the one that most people know me for and
that is the noon. And I've done every job at, at
global lifetime shift. So I, it's fairly similar.
(08:46):
Get up in the morning, do some exercises to limber up.
I've got a, I've got a, a back issue that I've been dealing
with for a year. So it's like, OK, I have to do,
do my back exercises or I'm not,I'm going to be wrecked for the
rest of the day. Have a cup of tea, eat breakfast
and then get into the bathroom and start doing makeup.
We all do our own makeup. We don't have makeup artists.
We. Lost.
(09:07):
No, we lost our makeup artists afew layoffs ago.
Yeah, Yeah. So we y'all, y'all do your
makeup. And then I these days, I walk to
the sky train and I get on the train and I get into work
because there's a stop just outside of the station.
Amazing. Oh, convenient.
Yeah. Awesome.
(09:27):
And I didn't. I wish I'd thought about taking
the sky train sooner. Yeah.
I've been at Global for about 8 1/2 years.
I just started doing it because of my back, because it's, it
feels better. And I get a walk.
I get a 40 minute walk a day because I'm taking transit.
But it's just, it's so much morerelaxing.
It's just I don't have to deal with traffic.
(09:47):
I used to say the worst part of my job is the commute.
When I take the sky train, it's that's not a problem anymore.
So just. Keep thinking out of it and you
can just like get into your happy place or whatever you need
to. Listen to a podcast Listen to.
Yeah, the New York. You listen to the creative
sisterhood. No kidding.
Sisterhood. Yeah, no, it's.
For sure. That's great.
(10:08):
Get to work. And then I dash into the makeup
room, do my hair, and then I hitthe ground running, sit down at
my desk next to my producer. And she has already put down by
that time. Most days the rundown is
together for the noon. So she has pulled all the
content from other sources that we will be doing in the news, in
(10:32):
the newscast. Because she respects my years in
the business. She lets me juggle the content.
I rarely have to, but there are times when I'll say, yeah, I
think we should, you know, maybewe should change this and maybe
we should lead with this instead.
And so we have a conversation, but she and I are in such
(10:52):
lockstep that it it's just, it'sseamless and.
That's so important, too. It's awesome.
We don't even have to talk, we just.
Well. She knows what she needs to do,
I know what I need to do. We both have so much respect for
each other and so we just get itdone.
Once the lineup is set, then I can start doing things like
writing the the in show promos. Coming up next we're going to
(11:14):
tell you about blah, blah, blah,writing the headlines for the
show. My kind of one of my areas of
expertise is doing rundown and promo content because I used to
be a promotion producer. So I know about that stuff, but
also because of my training at CTV for the last, I'm going to
say the last 10 years I was there, they were really
(11:36):
intensive about how to not only grab audience, but keep
audience. And not in a not in a way that
is phony or, or, or manipulative, but in a way that
is, we know you're going to be interested in this story, but we
also know you're going to be interested in this story.
So let's put this story in this part of the newscast and we'll
(11:57):
promo it so that you'll stay with us because ultimately,
yeah. And I did a whole Ted Talk on
how this works. The longer you watch newscast,
the higher the rating. The higher the rating, the
greater chance we can sell that to advertisers.
Advertisers in the private industry, unlike the CBC, for
(12:19):
example, which is publicly funded, we depend on revenue
sources. So the higher the ratings,
generally speaking, it's not necessarily true anymore.
The higher the the price, the more money we can make, which
means we can pay for journaliststo do the work that is keeping
our democracy healthy. Yeah.
So that's that's kind of in a nutshell, why I find it so
(12:42):
important to keep people watching.
So that's part of my job as well.
But then once that's done, I go through every single script and
I will rewrite to put it in my voice.
Look for content that doesn't have enough context, in my
humble opinion, especially national and international
(13:02):
stories. I don't think it's enough to
just tell people this happened. You need back story, you need to
explain why they should care. So I go through everything.
So it's a it like you say it's 9:45 until 11:45.
So that's a 2 hour go, go, go, go, go pedal to the metal focus.
(13:23):
And then at 11:45, I will sit down at the anchor desk in our
main studio and we will pre tapesome items that will be running
on the BC 1 channel throughout the afternoon.
Also, the content that we've just done that we do for the
news gets kind of cut up into pieces digitally and repurposed
(13:48):
for BC1 as well. It's it's a technology that's
really cool and it gives us so much flexibility.
So you don't know really other than the lighting is different,
the lighting in the main studiosbetter, but you don't really
know what was, what was recordedat noon, what was just
(14:08):
interesting in the afternoon, that sort of thing.
And then after the noon show is done, I'll take a break.
Short one at that, because sometimes we will, we were
butted right up against live news conferences.
For example, today the Prime Minister is speaking, he speaks
quite a lot. So, but we would take that live
and I would debrief out of it and then you'd start recording
(14:30):
new content that comes in because our content creators are
constantly churning out new material.
And so it's my job to record it.And then that runs on BC1 all
afternoon. And I also anchor the Kelowna
shows so we pre tape that content and it runs in Kelowna
in the evening. So it's full on.
(14:51):
Yeah, I had no idea. Yeah, that's me.
Neither. That's so.
Wild, something you said actually just made me want to,
before I forget it, ask you you.What I want to know is with
social media now and how information is being brought in
in such a new way, do you find that you guys are constantly
having to address misinformationor like, does any of that ever
(15:15):
come up? Because people are constantly
maybe reaching out and questioning things that they see
when they're scrolling or on their phones, you know, and they
go to you guys for for credible sources.
So what does that look like? How's that world changed?
Well, social media, I mean, and it's, it's good and it's bad.
Yeah, yeah. I I did a, the Ted talk I did
(15:36):
in, I want to say 2016, OK, talked all about how we're,
we're getting more and more siloed.
And so you're only if your politics say leans to the right,
you tend to consume only right wing information and you're so
you're getting a biased view of the world.
(15:58):
Yeah. And if you use lean hard left,
same thing, you're not understanding what the other
side is all about. So our job is to be in the
middle, right? Yeah.
And really, really work hard at being in the middle.
We're not like America. And this is where a lot of the
misconception about mainstream news comes, is people in Canada
(16:21):
consume so much American news soeasily because it's on every
channel, that a lot of people here think that we're the same
way. We're MSNBC, which is very, very
left wing, or Fox, which is veryright wing.
So we're going to take a perspective and you, you news
media people, you're also whatever.
(16:42):
Whatever. And it's like, well, actually
we're really working hard not tobe either side.
You're we're all about presenting facts and verifying
those facts. So yeah, social media has.
Do you think it's damaged viewers more than it's damaged
us? Absolutely.
(17:02):
Fair enough. Yeah, Yeah.
And how do you, how do you protect your own mental health
around that too? Like as you're trying to
navigate all that misinformationand present it in a more central
place. Well, it's frustrating to see
it. It really is frustrating to see
it at a certain. Point.
I mean, it's frustrating for us,so I yeah.
You're seeing more, like much more of it.
(17:23):
Yeah. And we, we sometimes don't know
what facts are. You know, as consumers, you're
like, what is the truth? And.
Well, and part of the problem isthat there is a, an
administration in the US right now that is putting out
misinformation. Yeah, that, yeah, is constantly
being proven to be misinformation.
That's not an opinion. No, that is fact.
(17:43):
That's a fact. Yeah, totally.
Still, you know, we're, it's notour job to have opinions.
It's just not. Yeah, yeah.
One of one of the things I've always said the toughest part of
my job is keeping my mouth shut.Not my job.
Not I don't. You know what I said that on
Saturday morning, actor. Yeah, same.
Yeah, you can't you. Can't listen to my noise, not my
(18:05):
department. Not my problem.
Yeah, like. My.
Lines that's. Yeah.
Yeah, it's tough though. It's so hard.
And and also like the young people.
So Joe and I have kids and, and you know, we see what they
absorb and what they are doom scrolling and learning and the
arguments that they'll bring to the table.
(18:25):
And we're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, where are you getting your
news from? So as a parent, it's not just,
you know, the Snapchat and like the, that side of social media
that's scary. It's also the young boys that
are seeing certain people, you know, and it's, it's the young
girl. I mean, it's, it's right.
It's so we have a job as parents.
(18:46):
The pressure on the case, I think like I miss traditional
news, like being, you know, on our TV more daily, you know, so.
That I can. Control what they're seeing.
Totally new generation. It's such a different kind of
way of looking at watching TV, watching news, right?
Like, like I said, in my household, we watch it in the
background. My mom still watches the news
all day. And we could talk about it like
(19:07):
we would have conversations, whereas.
Now like the pressure is like online for young people is
intense like what they're getting all the information
they're saying, you know that our brains are aging faster than
ever because of the amount of information that we're receiving
right compared to and the parents generation.
Right. And the cognitive dissonance of
(19:29):
I believe this, but I'm getting this and I also believe that,
and I don't know what to trust. And it's, Oh, my goodness, I'm
so glad I'm not 13, right? I'm so grateful.
I know. Me too and I have a 13 year old
girl and I feel like I'm constantly concerned about what
she's navigating Like what what do you like what concerns you
(19:49):
most about that knowing like what you see, you know it's.
Well, I, I mean, I kind of thinkof social media as like going to
a grocery store where you can fill your cart with really
nutritious food and just. Know that this is really good
for your body. Or you can go down the candy and
chip aisle and fill it with crap.
(20:12):
It's all there. It's a choice.
It's and I know I've got on my I'm an insta fan, so that's
where I I spend most of my time and.
I am guilty. I can.
Just sit there and kind of. Yeah.
Out on it it's fun but it's likeI'm I've really tailored it to
really good mental health accounts really great recipes
(20:36):
really great physical fitness accounts like just stuff that
I'm interested in even arts and crafts yes, I do follow some
politics so because. I'm but it's about knowing who
to follow because there are people that really have
dedicated their Instagram to being like are right down the
middle. We're trying to be as factual
with our news sources as possible and I feel like it's
(20:59):
just knowing who to trust and who to follow.
Maybe. Sure, easier said than done,
but. But even then, even then, and
I've been caught in my private life having an opinion on
something and bounce, bouncing it off a friend who has said
said, well, actually, if you check such and such, there's
you'll get a different view. And I've done that and it's
(21:20):
like, cool, now I learned something.
I'm glad I I had this conversation.
But it's something you consciousness is everything.
If you're aware, then you're less likely to fall down a trap.
We were Sophie, Louie and I werejust talking about a former
colleague of ours who fell down the black hole of the whole anti
(21:40):
vax thing. And it's just the anger that
this person posts about it just makes me sad.
Yeah. It's.
Not that you're so. Angry.
Yeah. I don't quite get it.
Totally. Yeah.
And stuck in those conversations, yeah.
Well, I feel like we get stuck in those conversations too, as
like parents and mentors, you know, to younger people, right,
(22:03):
too, because you have to try andthey come to you with a lot of
questions about what they're seeing in news media and stuff
like that. And we have to try and navigate
them out of it and coach them out.
Right. So yeah, it's hard.
I mean, I feel so grateful that I work in an industry where
there is a very strong team dynamic.
No one person makes decisions. I mean, the the boss ultimately
(22:26):
does, but he rarely weighs in unless it's, you know,
something, something really critical.
He just lets us do our jobs. It is, it's often it just, it's
a discussion. It's like, how do we cover this?
What are the, what are the voices we have?
What are the angles? What do we know?
What don't we know? And you, you work as this team.
(22:49):
So I think about that in, in my,my personal life, it's like,
yeah, I want different voices. I want, you know, different
opinions so that I'm well-rounded so that I can kind
of glean what I think is fact. But in our newsroom, it's a
constant, constant team, team job.
I always like to say it's it's the Ultimate Team sport because
(23:10):
no one person can do a newscast.Yeah, no.
One person it takes, it's a. Collaboration it would be.
That would be a. Podcast and and it would
probably grow pretty old pretty fast.
Yeah, excellent. It it it would lose credibility
because it wouldn't it. Would.
Yeah, yeah. So as a team, like what does
(23:30):
that look like? Are you finding that like so
moving into talking about being a female in your field, because
we have so many conversations obviously on on here about being
a female in in our chosen fields.
What, what does that look like? Like Are you guys a pretty
balanced male female team? And how does it does it feel
like as a female, you get to useyour voice in a way that you're
(23:51):
really proud of? Giggles.
And these are a lot of questions, but we want to have a
conversation about this, so. I find I don't see a huge gender
bias in our newsroom. We have senior women.
Yeah. Along with senior men, I don't
know that that's true at the very, very top, but we do have,
(24:12):
we do have middle management that is very female dominant.
So, you know, not saying that we've arrived by any stretch,
right, but we're certainly getting there.
So there has been a trend towards you're seeing more
females stepping into that middle management position.
And absolutely, yeah. Yeah, I've never personally felt
(24:35):
that my voice is lesser because I'm a woman.
That's great. Not here.
Yeah, right. Maybe else.
Maybe elsewhere, but but not. A grocery store or Yeah.
That's so good. So like speaking about women
still, like, do you think with the way things are changing and
how we're talking about how there's, you know, a lot of
(24:56):
creators doing their own news channels and, and all that kind
of stuff. And a lot of women are building
their own platforms like podcasts, like we are, you know,
TikTok channels or whatever. And that wasn't possible when
you started. And so how do you view this
shift in, like, if you were starting today, would you still
choose the traditional news route or would you kind of build
(25:16):
your own independent platform? But what kind of advice would
you give a young woman entering this field?
Well, the first thing I'd I'd want to know is why are you
interested in working in news ifthat's if that's where you want
to go? Are you passionate about news?
Do you consume news? Is it is it part of your DNA or
(25:37):
are you just kind of a naturallycurious person?
Because I think you need you need both.
But curiosity may be the the most important quality for a
journalist in who does any of the jobs.
Whether you're a content creator, a producer, a director,
an anchor, a reporter, you need to be curious.
(26:01):
So that would be the first thingI would, I would want to know.
And then I honestly don't think you can be a great journalist
from the ground up starting out on your own.
I really do. I'll go back to the comment
about the team. It requires A-Team.
You're, you can, you can be a great influencer, you can have a
(26:21):
great podcast, but you'll you'llneed other people.
You know, you don't just do it on your own.
It's it's not a solo job. It just isn't.
So if you're not into working with other people and being part
of a team, probably probably notwhere you want to be.
I feel like that's so true in like our side of the industry as
(26:42):
well, though. It's like so many people are
gatekeeping and out for themselves and like, I got to
get to the top and I've got to do this.
And then when you realize that, you know, it's actually making
the connections and leaning on the other people that maybe have
taken the steps you haven't or can fill in the blanks that you
don't know how to fill in. That's where the success comes
and that's where we all accelerate.
(27:05):
Right, we all rise. And I, I love that you brought
up the word success because I'vebeen thinking about that word
and what, what it means. Yeah.
I mean, I used to anchor a newscast at CTV, the five O
clock news. That was, that was my show and
it was a success. We were the, the first CTV
(27:27):
Vancouver newscast to be #1 in the market.
We beat Global BC we, we even beat our own 6 O clock show at
times. So so it, we were a success.
But for me the success was simply in that it was like, like
like it was a challenge that hadbeen set and we met the
(27:47):
challenge. I frankly, I didn't care how
many people were watching. If one person was watching and
they got something out of it, great.
I'm going to do my job just as well for you, for that one
viewer as I would if there were a million.
And you probably feel the same way about acting.
So it doesn't matter how many people are watching.
I just love the job. I want to do the job really
(28:11):
well. And that's what success is.
When you find you can leave the job at the end of the day and
feel like you left it all on thefield and you did the best you
could, that success doesn't matter if you're the most famous
person in the world because I mean honestly, famous?
A pain in the ass. And it doesn't mean success,
especially these. Days.
(28:31):
Yeah, No. It does not mean.
Success. No, no.
Yeah. Well, I love that.
That's so great and totally, very good reminder and so true.
I love that perspective. Gosh, yeah.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we feel that way about
this podcast, right? Like we're doing this for the
one listener who's enjoying whatwe're saying and that's the best
(28:52):
thing ever to be able to just talk and hopefully somebody's
listening and that's awesome. It's.
Like having friends. Do you want a whole bunch of
friends or you want a few reallygood ones?
Quality. I'm happy to have a few good
ones. Absolutely.
And I used to say to my kids, you just need one good friend.
Yeah. It's absolutely the truth.
(29:12):
Women in like, because you know,this podcast is about women over
35 kind of trying to make it in their industry or starting over
in their industries or, you know, reigniting, reinventing
themselves in their industries. Or for, you know, people like
you who are, you know, very successful within their
industries for many years in your industry, especially.
(29:37):
Like I was just reading the newsthis morning and TVO just had a
huge layoff again, right? And so, you know, I feel like
that that gives me like this feeling, OK, is it who's going
to be cut from, you know, when they do those layoffs?
Is it going to be the women overa certain age?
You know, what is it going to be?
(29:57):
Because women are getting kind of aged out in there, you know,
in some, in some ways, even though we feel like our
experience is at our peak, right?
Well, and, and the older you get, the longer you stay,
ultimately the more money you'remaking too, which makes you
vulnerable. A really good point.
A really good point. Yeah, so there you go.
(30:18):
So like the from your opinion and from your journey, what do
you want women to understand about ageism in your industry
and how can they push back against it as these things are
happening? Like are there any solutions to
that? Yeah, or.
Anything you still exists. It still exists and and it's not
a male female thing. Women can be ageist as well,
(30:38):
yes. Valid, yeah.
Right. Totally.
We could be the hardest on our own.
It's not, it's not right, it's not fair.
But how do you push back againstit?
Honestly, it's a societal thing.Slowly we're getting there.
Just keep doing the best job youcould do.
(30:59):
That would be my advice. It's kind of what I've I've
always tried to do. Yeah.
The challenge for me, and I knowthis is true for others, is the
older you get, the more comfortable you become with
yourself. The more comfortable you are
with yourself, the more comfortable you are to voice
opinions. Yes.
(31:20):
And to be who? Be your authentic self.
That's not always popular. And women, especially older
women, can be scary. Because yeah, why does that make
me happy? Because they are wise, they have
been there, they've seen it all.They're strong because they've
(31:43):
lived through stuff. Yeah.
So that's threatening, especially to a younger male.
Yeah, yeah. Well, it's true.
I mean, it's there's it's not even an elephant in the room.
I mean, like this is a fact thatI think, you know, it's a really
a topic and a conversation that comes up all the time.
And the good thing is, is this conversation is coming up more.
(32:05):
And I think that the more women are leaning into their power and
having these conversations some more, they're also raising boys.
They're hearing them have these conversations and and hopefully
we're raising a generation of men that like lift women up and
are, you know, going to going tocelebrate that, right?
Absolutely. I don't know.
(32:25):
I mean, that's the hope, but yeah.
Yeah. Easier said.
Well, it is easier said, but again, it's mothers.
Mothers have such a tough job. But yeah, it's a lot lessons on
their shoulders because they're raising the the men and the
women of tomorrow. And yes.
Speaking of advice, what kind ofadvice would you give to a woman
(32:45):
because you take care of yourself and you're on the air.
So, you know, a lot of women look up to you and, you know,
want to learn from you what's like a habit that you might have
that could help you, like, live in your power.
A. Bunch of things.
OK. One is sleep is really really
important and I I know that because I've struggled with it
(33:08):
for many many years. I have AI have a sleep disorder
called restless leg syndrome andI shout out to the 2 to 3% of
the population who suffer from this It's.
I get that. It's really, really horrible.
So sleep is vital because it it not only sets you up for having
more energy, but it sets up yourmood for the next day.
(33:30):
So that's important. I'm really a fan of eating well.
That doesn't mean I deny myself anything.
I don't, I don't. But I think you need to be 90%
good, 10% bad so that, you know,balance.
Balance deprived you, of course.Oh my goodness, it's like we
(33:52):
have have a treat table at work.That's Oh my gosh.
Just a couple of desks away fromme and on Friday's a snack day
and it's this dump of chips and cookies and all this stuff and
it's it's wonderful drink. That would be my whole 10% like
rate. I know.
Friday. But you know, it's like, OK, I'm
(34:15):
going to, I'm going to do it. I'm going to indulge.
Why not? But most of the time, no.
So yeah, eating. I try to get as much exercise as
I can. I think that's super important.
Lifting weights is really important.
And if you don't know how, no shame.
I would suggest hire a trainer for even a month, go once a week
for a month and just learn some things because it's expensive.
(34:38):
So I totally get that. I had a trainer for a long time
because I, I don't have kids. So I I had the disposable income
that I could afford to have a trainer and, and I learned so
much and it's really changed my life.
So I absolutely think exercise is a key component.
And the other thing, so it's like sleep, nutrition, exercise.
(35:01):
And the other thing is mental health.
If I could wave a magic wand andgive everybody in the world a
gift, it would be. You get whatever kind of
psychological counseling you want as often as you want, as
much as you want. Yeah.
To work on the things in your life that aren't working and get
(35:21):
to know yourself better so that you can be the best person for
you and for everybody around you.
I mean, I've dealt with anxiety my entire life and.
Really. Yeah, right.
It's it's only in the last few years that I've been able to do
(35:42):
the work and discover why. And when you know why you can,
you can help fix it. You know, it's like knowing that
you've got a broken leg. Well, you can set the broken
leg, but if you don't know you've got a broken leg and it
just hurts, how do you fix it? So that that's what I would,
that's what I would recommend us.
All of those. Things.
Things to do. Well.
You know what? And I have no qualms whatsoever
(36:04):
with women who want to do whatever they want to do to
their faces. I like personally, I, I don't
have the courage and I don't have the money.
So I can relate to that too. But you know, you're not going
to be seeing, seeing me doing some kind of deep playing facial
years from now. But but if you want to do it.
(36:27):
Hey. How are you talking to you?
Totally no judgement, you know, and I, I don't want to be one of
those people says, oh, she's done this.
I remember when I was a kid, theback talk would be about women
who dyed their hair. Can you?
Imagine like who Dye. Their hair now.
Oh my God, yeah. Exactly.
She's not a real bond like. Nobody is.
(36:48):
Who is? Yeah.
Who? Is.
There over the age of 10. Right.
Oh my gosh, that's so wild. Yeah, but it's true.
I mean, the, the, the beautiful thing is that women, and now we
didn't and the, the topic of self-care is such a big one.
And I think that we're finally realizing that yes, self-care
looks different for everyone, but it is so essential to put
(37:10):
gas in your tank if you want your engine to go.
And you know, we can't be the most successful version of
ourselves if we're not. You know, we can't just go, go,
go and expect everything to workproperly, fall into place.
Especially as we age. Yeah, we need to take the time.
Yeah, for sure. So now what are you curious
(37:30):
about outside of global these days?
Like what lights you up? Yeah.
All sorts of things. OK, we know food.
I just, I just knitted tea cozy.So I'm very proud.
I'm very proud of that. It's kind of my first big
knitting experience. I love it.
So fun. But yeah, I know, I love, I love
(37:51):
baking. That's kind of a passion.
Always has been. I I was raised by mom, who was
just a genius Baker. She was just amazing.
And I I would come home from school.
I mean, she worked part time andwas raising two kids.
My dad was in the military. He was gone a lot.
So she's like the single mom doing all this stuff.
But I, I don't recommend that women do that.
(38:14):
But we would come home from school and there the table would
be filled with cinnamon buns andcookies and brownies and Oh my
gosh, it was like, wow. And.
We just step up. Seriously so.
She taught me that if you can read, you can cook.
Yeah, she said nobody, Nobody was born doing it right.
(38:35):
You have to learn somehow. So learn like there's a book.
Learn how. And this is a woman who
graduated grade 8 because she worked on a farm and then was
shipped off to live with people she didn't know and lived a
horribly abusive childhood. So I figure, you know, what, if
she could sort of battle her waythrough that and turn out the
way she did, We're, we're doing OK.
(38:57):
So I, that's where I get my, my passion for baking.
And I've I've developed a recipefor sourdough discard crackers
that have become a bit of a thing with my friends.
Can you share? This on can.
We can we put a link to this on her?
You have a. What is your?
Book No. Gatekeeping, Yes.
(39:18):
You know what you you should write a book like a cookbook,
you know, or like a baking book about your mom's story and
including like all your favoriterecipes of hers and yours That
would be. Such a cool project.
That's such a. Great idea.
That's like a legacy idea. A restaurant owner once said to
me, he said cookbooks in Canada are the most expensive business
cards you can ever create. They're Oh my gosh, they don't
(39:42):
make you any money and they costto a Fort.
Yeah. I never thought about that,
yeah. I know I.
Know why is? Everything so hard Yeah, it
would be fun. That would be a fun.
Why can't? Things just be easy.
I don't know. I wish I could tell you.
So, yeah. So creatively that's what you're
exploring is some wonderful baking and some arts and crafts
I love. That so much Yeah, you know,
(40:03):
and. And getting to hang out with my
friends and, you know, and. OK, we have two questions that
we always ask all of our guests.First one is what women in your
life have inspired you? You OK?
We know about your mom? Obviously, Yeah.
Is there any women? In the in the industry or?
One that comes to mind is PamelaMartin.
(40:24):
I just did a post on on her on my Instagram account recently
because she was just in the studio.
Oh, she's a total legend. She was in because we're Global
is celebrating its 65th birthday.
Wow. And so.
I had no idea. She was not there that long, let
me tell. I was going to say.
It was really nice to run into her because we worked together
(40:47):
for 10 years at CTV. So she left Global for 10 years
and and worked with us. I was the 5:00 anchor and she
was the 6:00 anchor. And I just think she was such a
trailblazer. She did all these things in
journalism when women weren't being given an opportunity and
she made things happen for herself.
And I have nothing but respect. She's just a lovely, lovely
(41:10):
person out of the industry. I'm going to I include my
stepmother who immigrated to Canada when she was 16.
She lived through the Second World War in Germany and her
mother and and her immigrated. She lived a life she didn't
speak English when she moved here.
She ended up owning her own business, owning multiple condos
(41:33):
in Victoria, became this businesswoman self-taught.
She had a horrible first marriage to a man who was
abusive. She ended up having two
marriages after that, including my dad, who was the last one,
and she outlived both of them. So she's been through, you know,
a lot of heartbreak and even including nursing my dad at the
(41:56):
end of his life when he had Parkinson's disease and dementia
and in long term care during thepandemic.
It was horrible. Oh, my goodness.
And I look at her now and just think, you know, she gets up in
the morning and she goes for an hour long walk.
She's 86. And she just keeps chucking.
We were just texting back and forth.
I sent her a picture of the tea cozy that I made because she
(42:17):
bought me the teapot that I madethe tea cozy for.
That's so cute. Yeah.
We've we've really become good friends.
That's so sweet. I just, I look at her and I just
think I wanna be like her. She wakes up every day with a
positive attitude and just thinks the best of things.
And yeah, I just, I just got. Grit.
(42:37):
Yeah, no, yeah, she's cutting. That is definitely an inspiring
woman, Yeah. OK.
And then the last question that we ask everybody is what does
sisterhood mean to you? So that's a big theme for us
Sisterhood. Sisterhood is being there for
each other when times are bad and when times are good.
(42:58):
So it's the being the support network when your friends are
down and struggling and they need a compassionate ear or, or
help in any way and celebrating them when when things are good.
I think that's a part that I think that often gets missed.
It's like see me and celebrate me when I'm when I'm doing.
(43:18):
Well, yeah, lift each other up. Not yeah, not just when I'm down
because, you know, women are often accused of being
competitive and catty with each other.
That hasn't been much of my experience.
I've experienced it for sure. But I think for the most part,
the women in my life have been really supportive.
(43:40):
That's. So that's beautiful.
Well, you're, you're choosing true sisters.
It's all about we choose to havearound us, right?
Yeah. Yeah, very.
Very, at a certain age, we startto learn about who's great and
who's not great for you, right? And so you kind of keep those
few people in your life and absolutely.
They're the easy people to keep,yeah.
Exactly. They can't.
They can't leave. It's like me and Chelsea, like
(44:02):
we've been friends for 20 years.I I just can't.
Shaker. Yeah, like.
We just get rid of each other. No matter how hard you try on
Instagram the other day that I loved it was If you're
struggling with a relationship, whether it's a friendship or a
romantic relationship, ask yourself, how do I feel in my
body when I'm with them? What is it?
(44:25):
What does it feel like? Does it feel easy?
Does it feel safe? Does it feel comfortable or does
it feel anxious and scary and tentative?
Ask yourself those questions when you're, when you're with
someone who you're in relationship with and, and maybe
it's not quite gelling. That's, that's a great test, I
(44:46):
think anyway. And fortunately I I don't have
to use it very often. Yeah, but it's like intuition,
right? That's that's what it is.
And we always ignore way off. Listening to our gut.
Yeah, listening to your gut. Listening.
To your gut. Yeah, I love that.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
So much so grateful for. You and with that, we have taken
up way too much of your time today.
Thank you, it has been a pleasure to talk to you guys.
(45:09):
I love your podcast and I wish you nothing but success.
Aw, same with you. And we're looking forward to
that legacy cookbook because we need to make those crackers.
Oh, now I have to do. It percent thank you take care
you. Guys, take care.
Bye. Today's episode lit a fire under
you. Share it with a fellow creative
(45:30):
or screenshot this episode and post it to your socials.
Don't forget to subscribe, rate and leave us a review.
Want more? Follow us on Instagram at The
Creative Sisterhood and check out Grand Blvd.
Entertainment to get plugged into the movement.
Until next time, keep telling your story, stay bold and
remember. We don't play by the.
Rules we make our own.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Creative
Sisterhood. Our guest today is basically
Canadian television royalty. She's been in our living rooms
for over 2 decades, delivering the news with intelligence, calm
and killer professionalism. She has anchored everything from
breaking news to the Olympics for both CTV and Global.
(00:28):
She's even part of the team thattook home the Edward R Murrow
Award, which, fun fact, is kind of like the Oscars of news.
She is also a Ted X speaker, an animal lover, a Baker, and a
woman who has navigated a careerin an industry that hasn't
always made it easy for women togrow older.
On screen today, we're talking about what it really takes to
last, to evolve and to keep showing up not just in front of
(00:51):
the camera, but for yourself. Let's welcome Colleen Christie
to the Creative Sisterhood. Let's get into it.
Let's. Get into it.
Such an honor that you invited me.
I'm. I'm.
I'm grateful. Thank you.
Oh. My God, we're so grateful and
happy to have you on. We are so familiar with your
face. And yes.
We've grown up with you, truly. It's.
(01:14):
Amazing. So, Colleen, do you remember the
moment or person who made you first think that you wanted to
be in The Newsroom? What was that instigating moment
or spark for you? I.
Actually, do I remember during Expo 86 all those years ago.
(01:35):
I remember I was there on. I was walking through Expo and
BCTV at the time, which is now global, had a remote studio
there at the time, so you could walk through and watch them do
live broadcasts. And I did that and it was like,
Oh my God, this is so cool. Just like these are people who
(01:56):
are working behind the scenes inthe in the control room and
there's the hosts on air. And it was just this team thing.
And I was like, OK, I love this,but I didn't, I didn't pursue it
right away because I didn't think I could do it.
I didn't have the confidence to say, Oh yeah, I could be that.
Yeah, and this is before we had,you know, social media and
(02:18):
things giving us all these ideasand it things didn't feel as
accessible to us. Not at all.
So how did you like, what encouraged you early on then
like to well take those next steps to do that?
How did you get? Necessity I became a promotion
producer, excuse me, TV in Victoria.
And for anybody who doesn't knowwhat that is it you are you do
(02:38):
the creative behind commercials that advertise TV shows.
So whether it's the newscast or any of the shows that the
channel aired, I was one of the people behind the scenes doing
that. So you would do everything from
a come up with creative for an ad campaign or work with artists
to design graphics, so work withcomposers to do music and put it
(03:03):
all together. And I had a really successful
career doing that. I did that for 10 years, got
headhunted to go to the US, won a whole bunch of awards.
But I really could see that the industry was changing and, and I
was in small town Victoria, which I loved.
It was my hometown. But I really thought if I'm
going to kind of move my career into the next level, I have to
take a leap. And I'd already been doing some
(03:24):
on camera work at check and I thought, OK, there's this new TV
station starting in Vancouver called VTV.
I'm going to throw my hat into the ring and see if I can get
something there. So I sent off whatever I had on
tape and got a job as an entertainment reporter.
They had this big entertainment reporter unit and that was I was
(03:44):
a host and reporter for them, but I knew right away that that
was not where my passion lay. I really wanted to do news.
So I just sort of tailored the kind of stories I reported on to
be kind of newsy, even though they were sort of arts and
culture, but I wanted them to have a news edge to them.
And one thing led to another andI took some opportunities and,
(04:04):
and I ended up getting an anchorjob within about two years.
So it was fast. That's incredible.
Wow, that is amazing. So when you first entered the
air or was there any like unspoken rules that women on air
were expected to follow? Was there anything that and how
has that changed if there was? Know that it's changed a ton.
(04:26):
Yeah. You know, women in traditionally
in a role of a news anchor have had to look OK, you know, Yeah.
To be a beauty queen by any stretch of the imagination.
I am certainly proof of that. Oh my gosh.
You have to be able to put yourself together and totally.
(04:47):
You also have to to know the know the news.
You have to, you know, just do the do the work.
And I don't, yeah, I don't really think that has changed.
Do you think that it's easier now, like, like keeping up with
the news and the way that news has changed, has that become
easier that everything's at our fingertips, or has it become
harder or is it the same? I think it's the same, yeah.
(05:10):
I really don't think that's changed a heck of a lot.
Yeah, yeah. Interesting.
So when what do you think kind of pulled you towards being an
anchor and why do you love beingan anchor as opposed to any
other role in your business? And on the flip side, what is
something that people think theyknow about life as a news anchor
that's completely wrong? OK, good question.
(05:30):
Well, I have to say I was drawn to news because my mother was a
big influence. She was a big news consumer.
She would pour over the morning newspaper and I it just, it made
it and we would watch the news at night, every night.
It was like not required viewing, but it was just a
family habit. We just all did watch the
nightly news. Yeah, it was a habit.
(05:52):
And I mean, I, I feel bad for families now who don't get to do
that because we would talk aboutstories.
Yeah, I totally. See the Co viewing we did too,
right? Yeah, my household was
definitely a news household. Yeah, I always had the news in
the background. Yeah, and I know there are still
families who do that, but not it's, it's not as much anymore
because fewer people have have cable now.
(06:13):
So that is true. That was the impetus for me to
get into news. And I, you know, I don't, I
don't have a moment of regret about it.
I, I loved my old career as a promotion producer.
I love the creativity involved in that.
But man, this, this has just been such a great ride.
And what we what was just the second part of your question?
(06:34):
Just on the flip side, what is something people think they know
about life as a news anchor thatis completely wrong?
Like how it's portrayed in the media or like anything like
that. Yeah, anything you see on TV
about news is it's almost completely wrong.
Have you? So a lot of our viewers are
actors or in the industry, the film industry.
And I feel like a lot of people have seen The Morning Show with
(06:54):
Jennifer Aniston and researchers.
Yeah. Is that just like wildly,
grotesquely inaccurate? And I know they're type of.
Yeah, I guess it's the same, right?
It's like supposed to be very. Politics not so inaccurate.
OK. But the but especially these
days and at that level, but what's inaccurate is when you do
a morning show, because I've done morning shows, I've done
(07:16):
morning shows for the CTV network, I've done them locally.
Your whole world revolves aroundyour job and getting enough
sleep. The.
Notion of getting up and going for a run or getting on the in
the morning. Not happening people, because
you're getting up at 2:30 in themorning and you're getting into
(07:39):
the office and it's like, get inthe chair, get your makeup done.
You're on your phone, you're doing, you're taking meetings,
you're getting the latest information like it is.
And I've done, it's the same locally, like whether it doesn't
matter what level you're at, it's a hard, hard job.
And this notion of, oh, well, we're in a commercial break.
I can just walk off set and dealwith some personal matter.
(08:02):
Not a chance. You're not reading the set,
you're there for the three hoursand that's the way it goes.
So wow, that makes a lot of sense.
So speaking like, since we're inthat, I would want to know, can
you walk us through kind of whata real day and honest, not the
glamorous version of your day feels?
Like it looks like. Yeah.
(08:23):
OK, so I do a few different jobs.
So I do the noon newscast on global and I also 1/3 day
weekend a month I do global national.
So they're very, there are different requirements to those
two jobs, but I'll do the one that most people know me for and
that is the noon. And I've done every job at, at
global lifetime shift. So I, it's fairly similar.
(08:46):
Get up in the morning, do some exercises to limber up.
I've got a, I've got a, a back issue that I've been dealing
with for a year. So it's like, OK, I have to do,
do my back exercises or I'm not,I'm going to be wrecked for the
rest of the day. Have a cup of tea, eat breakfast
and then get into the bathroom and start doing makeup.
We all do our own makeup. We don't have makeup artists.
We. Lost.
(09:07):
No, we lost our makeup artists afew layoffs ago.
Yeah, Yeah. So we y'all, y'all do your
makeup. And then I these days, I walk to
the sky train and I get on the train and I get into work
because there's a stop just outside of the station.
Amazing. Oh, convenient.
Yeah. Awesome.
(09:27):
And I didn't. I wish I'd thought about taking
the sky train sooner. Yeah.
I've been at Global for about 8 1/2 years.
I just started doing it because of my back, because it's, it
feels better. And I get a walk.
I get a 40 minute walk a day because I'm taking transit.
But it's just, it's so much morerelaxing.
It's just I don't have to deal with traffic.
(09:47):
I used to say the worst part of my job is the commute.
When I take the sky train, it's that's not a problem anymore.
So just. Keep thinking out of it and you
can just like get into your happy place or whatever you need
to. Listen to a podcast Listen to.
Yeah, the New York. You listen to the creative
sisterhood. No kidding.
Sisterhood. Yeah, no, it's.
For sure. That's great.
(10:08):
Get to work. And then I dash into the makeup
room, do my hair, and then I hitthe ground running, sit down at
my desk next to my producer. And she has already put down by
that time. Most days the rundown is
together for the noon. So she has pulled all the
content from other sources that we will be doing in the news, in
(10:32):
the newscast. Because she respects my years in
the business. She lets me juggle the content.
I rarely have to, but there are times when I'll say, yeah, I
think we should, you know, maybewe should change this and maybe
we should lead with this instead.
And so we have a conversation, but she and I are in such
(10:52):
lockstep that it it's just, it'sseamless and.
That's so important, too. It's awesome.
We don't even have to talk, we just.
Well. She knows what she needs to do,
I know what I need to do. We both have so much respect for
each other and so we just get itdone.
Once the lineup is set, then I can start doing things like
writing the the in show promos. Coming up next we're going to
(11:14):
tell you about blah, blah, blah,writing the headlines for the
show. My kind of one of my areas of
expertise is doing rundown and promo content because I used to
be a promotion producer. So I know about that stuff, but
also because of my training at CTV for the last, I'm going to
say the last 10 years I was there, they were really
(11:36):
intensive about how to not only grab audience, but keep
audience. And not in a not in a way that
is phony or, or, or manipulative, but in a way that
is, we know you're going to be interested in this story, but we
also know you're going to be interested in this story.
So let's put this story in this part of the newscast and we'll
(11:57):
promo it so that you'll stay with us because ultimately,
yeah. And I did a whole Ted Talk on
how this works. The longer you watch newscast,
the higher the rating. The higher the rating, the
greater chance we can sell that to advertisers.
Advertisers in the private industry, unlike the CBC, for
(12:19):
example, which is publicly funded, we depend on revenue
sources. So the higher the ratings,
generally speaking, it's not necessarily true anymore.
The higher the the price, the more money we can make, which
means we can pay for journaliststo do the work that is keeping
our democracy healthy. Yeah.
So that's that's kind of in a nutshell, why I find it so
(12:42):
important to keep people watching.
So that's part of my job as well.
But then once that's done, I go through every single script and
I will rewrite to put it in my voice.
Look for content that doesn't have enough context, in my
humble opinion, especially national and international
(13:02):
stories. I don't think it's enough to
just tell people this happened. You need back story, you need to
explain why they should care. So I go through everything.
So it's a it like you say it's 9:45 until 11:45.
So that's a 2 hour go, go, go, go, go pedal to the metal focus.
(13:23):
And then at 11:45, I will sit down at the anchor desk in our
main studio and we will pre tapesome items that will be running
on the BC 1 channel throughout the afternoon.
Also, the content that we've just done that we do for the
news gets kind of cut up into pieces digitally and repurposed
(13:48):
for BC1 as well. It's it's a technology that's
really cool and it gives us so much flexibility.
So you don't know really other than the lighting is different,
the lighting in the main studiosbetter, but you don't really
know what was, what was recordedat noon, what was just
(14:08):
interesting in the afternoon, that sort of thing.
And then after the noon show is done, I'll take a break.
Short one at that, because sometimes we will, we were
butted right up against live news conferences.
For example, today the Prime Minister is speaking, he speaks
quite a lot. So, but we would take that live
and I would debrief out of it and then you'd start recording
(14:30):
new content that comes in because our content creators are
constantly churning out new material.
And so it's my job to record it.And then that runs on BC1 all
afternoon. And I also anchor the Kelowna
shows so we pre tape that content and it runs in Kelowna
in the evening. So it's full on.
(14:51):
Yeah, I had no idea. Yeah, that's me.
Neither. That's so.
Wild, something you said actually just made me want to,
before I forget it, ask you you.What I want to know is with
social media now and how information is being brought in
in such a new way, do you find that you guys are constantly
having to address misinformationor like, does any of that ever
(15:15):
come up? Because people are constantly
maybe reaching out and questioning things that they see
when they're scrolling or on their phones, you know, and they
go to you guys for for credible sources.
So what does that look like? How's that world changed?
Well, social media, I mean, and it's, it's good and it's bad.
Yeah, yeah. I I did a, the Ted talk I did
(15:36):
in, I want to say 2016, OK, talked all about how we're,
we're getting more and more siloed.
And so you're only if your politics say leans to the right,
you tend to consume only right wing information and you're so
you're getting a biased view of the world.
(15:58):
Yeah. And if you use lean hard left,
same thing, you're not understanding what the other
side is all about. So our job is to be in the
middle, right? Yeah.
And really, really work hard at being in the middle.
We're not like America. And this is where a lot of the
misconception about mainstream news comes, is people in Canada
(16:21):
consume so much American news soeasily because it's on every
channel, that a lot of people here think that we're the same
way. We're MSNBC, which is very, very
left wing, or Fox, which is veryright wing.
So we're going to take a perspective and you, you news
media people, you're also whatever.
(16:42):
Whatever. And it's like, well, actually
we're really working hard not tobe either side.
You're we're all about presenting facts and verifying
those facts. So yeah, social media has.
Do you think it's damaged viewers more than it's damaged
us? Absolutely.
(17:02):
Fair enough. Yeah, Yeah.
And how do you, how do you protect your own mental health
around that too? Like as you're trying to
navigate all that misinformationand present it in a more central
place. Well, it's frustrating to see
it. It really is frustrating to see
it at a certain. Point.
I mean, it's frustrating for us,so I yeah.
You're seeing more, like much more of it.
(17:23):
Yeah. And we, we sometimes don't know
what facts are. You know, as consumers, you're
like, what is the truth? And.
Well, and part of the problem isthat there is a, an
administration in the US right now that is putting out
misinformation. Yeah, that, yeah, is constantly
being proven to be misinformation.
That's not an opinion. No, that is fact.
(17:43):
That's a fact. Yeah, totally.
Still, you know, we're, it's notour job to have opinions.
It's just not. Yeah, yeah.
One of one of the things I've always said the toughest part of
my job is keeping my mouth shut.Not my job.
Not I don't. You know what I said that on
Saturday morning, actor. Yeah, same.
Yeah, you can't you. Can't listen to my noise, not my
(18:05):
department. Not my problem.
Yeah, like. My.
Lines that's. Yeah.
Yeah, it's tough though. It's so hard.
And and also like the young people.
So Joe and I have kids and, and you know, we see what they
absorb and what they are doom scrolling and learning and the
arguments that they'll bring to the table.
(18:25):
And we're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, where are you getting your
news from? So as a parent, it's not just,
you know, the Snapchat and like the, that side of social media
that's scary. It's also the young boys that
are seeing certain people, you know, and it's, it's the young
girl. I mean, it's, it's right.
It's so we have a job as parents.
(18:46):
The pressure on the case, I think like I miss traditional
news, like being, you know, on our TV more daily, you know, so.
That I can. Control what they're seeing.
Totally new generation. It's such a different kind of
way of looking at watching TV, watching news, right?
Like, like I said, in my household, we watch it in the
background. My mom still watches the news
all day. And we could talk about it like
(19:07):
we would have conversations, whereas.
Now like the pressure is like online for young people is
intense like what they're getting all the information
they're saying, you know that our brains are aging faster than
ever because of the amount of information that we're receiving
right compared to and the parents generation.
Right. And the cognitive dissonance of
(19:29):
I believe this, but I'm getting this and I also believe that,
and I don't know what to trust. And it's, Oh, my goodness, I'm
so glad I'm not 13, right? I'm so grateful.
I know. Me too and I have a 13 year old
girl and I feel like I'm constantly concerned about what
she's navigating Like what what do you like what concerns you
(19:49):
most about that knowing like what you see, you know it's.
Well, I, I mean, I kind of thinkof social media as like going to
a grocery store where you can fill your cart with really
nutritious food and just. Know that this is really good
for your body. Or you can go down the candy and
chip aisle and fill it with crap.
(20:12):
It's all there. It's a choice.
It's and I know I've got on my I'm an insta fan, so that's
where I I spend most of my time and.
I am guilty. I can.
Just sit there and kind of. Yeah.
Out on it it's fun but it's likeI'm I've really tailored it to
really good mental health accounts really great recipes
(20:36):
really great physical fitness accounts like just stuff that
I'm interested in even arts and crafts yes, I do follow some
politics so because. I'm but it's about knowing who
to follow because there are people that really have
dedicated their Instagram to being like are right down the
middle. We're trying to be as factual
with our news sources as possible and I feel like it's
(20:59):
just knowing who to trust and who to follow.
Maybe. Sure, easier said than done,
but. But even then, even then, and
I've been caught in my private life having an opinion on
something and bounce, bouncing it off a friend who has said
said, well, actually, if you check such and such, there's
you'll get a different view. And I've done that and it's
(21:20):
like, cool, now I learned something.
I'm glad I I had this conversation.
But it's something you consciousness is everything.
If you're aware, then you're less likely to fall down a trap.
We were Sophie, Louie and I werejust talking about a former
colleague of ours who fell down the black hole of the whole anti
(21:40):
vax thing. And it's just the anger that
this person posts about it just makes me sad.
Yeah. It's.
Not that you're so. Angry.
Yeah. I don't quite get it.
Totally. Yeah.
And stuck in those conversations, yeah.
Well, I feel like we get stuck in those conversations too, as
like parents and mentors, you know, to younger people, right,
(22:03):
too, because you have to try andthey come to you with a lot of
questions about what they're seeing in news media and stuff
like that. And we have to try and navigate
them out of it and coach them out.
Right. So yeah, it's hard.
I mean, I feel so grateful that I work in an industry where
there is a very strong team dynamic.
No one person makes decisions. I mean, the the boss ultimately
(22:26):
does, but he rarely weighs in unless it's, you know,
something, something really critical.
He just lets us do our jobs. It is, it's often it just, it's
a discussion. It's like, how do we cover this?
What are the, what are the voices we have?
What are the angles? What do we know?
What don't we know? And you, you work as this team.
(22:49):
So I think about that in, in my,my personal life, it's like,
yeah, I want different voices. I want, you know, different
opinions so that I'm well-rounded so that I can kind
of glean what I think is fact. But in our newsroom, it's a
constant, constant team, team job.
I always like to say it's it's the Ultimate Team sport because
(23:10):
no one person can do a newscast.Yeah, no.
One person it takes, it's a. Collaboration it would be.
That would be a. Podcast and and it would
probably grow pretty old pretty fast.
Yeah, excellent. It it it would lose credibility
because it wouldn't it. Would.
Yeah, yeah. So as a team, like what does
(23:30):
that look like? Are you finding that like so
moving into talking about being a female in your field, because
we have so many conversations obviously on on here about being
a female in in our chosen fields.
What, what does that look like? Like Are you guys a pretty
balanced male female team? And how does it does it feel
like as a female, you get to useyour voice in a way that you're
(23:51):
really proud of? Giggles.
And these are a lot of questions, but we want to have a
conversation about this, so. I find I don't see a huge gender
bias in our newsroom. We have senior women.
Yeah. Along with senior men, I don't
know that that's true at the very, very top, but we do have,
(24:12):
we do have middle management that is very female dominant.
So, you know, not saying that we've arrived by any stretch,
right, but we're certainly getting there.
So there has been a trend towards you're seeing more
females stepping into that middle management position.
And absolutely, yeah. Yeah, I've never personally felt
(24:35):
that my voice is lesser because I'm a woman.
That's great. Not here.
Yeah, right. Maybe else.
Maybe elsewhere, but but not. A grocery store or Yeah.
That's so good. So like speaking about women
still, like, do you think with the way things are changing and
how we're talking about how there's, you know, a lot of
(24:56):
creators doing their own news channels and, and all that kind
of stuff. And a lot of women are building
their own platforms like podcasts, like we are, you know,
TikTok channels or whatever. And that wasn't possible when
you started. And so how do you view this
shift in, like, if you were starting today, would you still
choose the traditional news route or would you kind of build
(25:16):
your own independent platform? But what kind of advice would
you give a young woman entering this field?
Well, the first thing I'd I'd want to know is why are you
interested in working in news ifthat's if that's where you want
to go? Are you passionate about news?
Do you consume news? Is it is it part of your DNA or
(25:37):
are you just kind of a naturallycurious person?
Because I think you need you need both.
But curiosity may be the the most important quality for a
journalist in who does any of the jobs.
Whether you're a content creator, a producer, a director,
an anchor, a reporter, you need to be curious.
(26:01):
So that would be the first thingI would, I would want to know.
And then I honestly don't think you can be a great journalist
from the ground up starting out on your own.
I really do. I'll go back to the comment
about the team. It requires A-Team.
You're, you can, you can be a great influencer, you can have a
(26:21):
great podcast, but you'll you'llneed other people.
You know, you don't just do it on your own.
It's it's not a solo job. It just isn't.
So if you're not into working with other people and being part
of a team, probably probably notwhere you want to be.
I feel like that's so true in like our side of the industry as
(26:42):
well, though. It's like so many people are
gatekeeping and out for themselves and like, I got to
get to the top and I've got to do this.
And then when you realize that, you know, it's actually making
the connections and leaning on the other people that maybe have
taken the steps you haven't or can fill in the blanks that you
don't know how to fill in. That's where the success comes
and that's where we all accelerate.
(27:05):
Right, we all rise. And I, I love that you brought
up the word success because I'vebeen thinking about that word
and what, what it means. Yeah.
I mean, I used to anchor a newscast at CTV, the five O
clock news. That was, that was my show and
it was a success. We were the, the first CTV
(27:27):
Vancouver newscast to be #1 in the market.
We beat Global BC we, we even beat our own 6 O clock show at
times. So so it, we were a success.
But for me the success was simply in that it was like, like
like it was a challenge that hadbeen set and we met the
(27:47):
challenge. I frankly, I didn't care how
many people were watching. If one person was watching and
they got something out of it, great.
I'm going to do my job just as well for you, for that one
viewer as I would if there were a million.
And you probably feel the same way about acting.
So it doesn't matter how many people are watching.
I just love the job. I want to do the job really
(28:11):
well. And that's what success is.
When you find you can leave the job at the end of the day and
feel like you left it all on thefield and you did the best you
could, that success doesn't matter if you're the most famous
person in the world because I mean honestly, famous?
A pain in the ass. And it doesn't mean success,
especially these. Days.
(28:31):
Yeah, No. It does not mean.
Success. No, no.
Yeah. Well, I love that.
That's so great and totally, very good reminder and so true.
I love that perspective. Gosh, yeah.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we feel that way about
this podcast, right? Like we're doing this for the
one listener who's enjoying whatwe're saying and that's the best
(28:52):
thing ever to be able to just talk and hopefully somebody's
listening and that's awesome. It's.
Like having friends. Do you want a whole bunch of
friends or you want a few reallygood ones?
Quality. I'm happy to have a few good
ones. Absolutely.
And I used to say to my kids, you just need one good friend.
Yeah. It's absolutely the truth.
(29:12):
Women in like, because you know,this podcast is about women over
35 kind of trying to make it in their industry or starting over
in their industries or, you know, reigniting, reinventing
themselves in their industries. Or for, you know, people like
you who are, you know, very successful within their
industries for many years in your industry, especially.
(29:37):
Like I was just reading the newsthis morning and TVO just had a
huge layoff again, right? And so, you know, I feel like
that that gives me like this feeling, OK, is it who's going
to be cut from, you know, when they do those layoffs?
Is it going to be the women overa certain age?
You know, what is it going to be?
(29:57):
Because women are getting kind of aged out in there, you know,
in some, in some ways, even though we feel like our
experience is at our peak, right?
Well, and, and the older you get, the longer you stay,
ultimately the more money you'remaking too, which makes you
vulnerable. A really good point.
A really good point. Yeah, so there you go.
(30:18):
So like the from your opinion and from your journey, what do
you want women to understand about ageism in your industry
and how can they push back against it as these things are
happening? Like are there any solutions to
that? Yeah, or.
Anything you still exists. It still exists and and it's not
a male female thing. Women can be ageist as well,
(30:38):
yes. Valid, yeah.
Right. Totally.
We could be the hardest on our own.
It's not, it's not right, it's not fair.
But how do you push back againstit?
Honestly, it's a societal thing.Slowly we're getting there.
Just keep doing the best job youcould do.
(30:59):
That would be my advice. It's kind of what I've I've
always tried to do. Yeah.
The challenge for me, and I knowthis is true for others, is the
older you get, the more comfortable you become with
yourself. The more comfortable you are
with yourself, the more comfortable you are to voice
opinions. Yes.
(31:20):
And to be who? Be your authentic self.
That's not always popular. And women, especially older
women, can be scary. Because yeah, why does that make
me happy? Because they are wise, they have
been there, they've seen it all.They're strong because they've
(31:43):
lived through stuff. Yeah.
So that's threatening, especially to a younger male.
Yeah, yeah. Well, it's true.
I mean, it's there's it's not even an elephant in the room.
I mean, like this is a fact thatI think, you know, it's a really
a topic and a conversation that comes up all the time.
And the good thing is, is this conversation is coming up more.
(32:05):
And I think that the more women are leaning into their power and
having these conversations some more, they're also raising boys.
They're hearing them have these conversations and and hopefully
we're raising a generation of men that like lift women up and
are, you know, going to going tocelebrate that, right?
Absolutely. I don't know.
(32:25):
I mean, that's the hope, but yeah.
Yeah. Easier said.
Well, it is easier said, but again, it's mothers.
Mothers have such a tough job. But yeah, it's a lot lessons on
their shoulders because they're raising the the men and the
women of tomorrow. And yes.
Speaking of advice, what kind ofadvice would you give to a woman
(32:45):
because you take care of yourself and you're on the air.
So, you know, a lot of women look up to you and, you know,
want to learn from you what's like a habit that you might have
that could help you, like, live in your power.
A. Bunch of things.
OK. One is sleep is really really
important and I I know that because I've struggled with it
(33:08):
for many many years. I have AI have a sleep disorder
called restless leg syndrome andI shout out to the 2 to 3% of
the population who suffer from this It's.
I get that. It's really, really horrible.
So sleep is vital because it it not only sets you up for having
more energy, but it sets up yourmood for the next day.
(33:30):
So that's important. I'm really a fan of eating well.
That doesn't mean I deny myself anything.
I don't, I don't. But I think you need to be 90%
good, 10% bad so that, you know,balance.
Balance deprived you, of course.Oh my goodness, it's like we
(33:52):
have have a treat table at work.That's Oh my gosh.
Just a couple of desks away fromme and on Friday's a snack day
and it's this dump of chips and cookies and all this stuff and
it's it's wonderful drink. That would be my whole 10% like
rate. I know.
Friday. But you know, it's like, OK, I'm
(34:15):
going to, I'm going to do it. I'm going to indulge.
Why not? But most of the time, no.
So yeah, eating. I try to get as much exercise as
I can. I think that's super important.
Lifting weights is really important.
And if you don't know how, no shame.
I would suggest hire a trainer for even a month, go once a week
for a month and just learn some things because it's expensive.
(34:38):
So I totally get that. I had a trainer for a long time
because I, I don't have kids. So I I had the disposable income
that I could afford to have a trainer and, and I learned so
much and it's really changed my life.
So I absolutely think exercise is a key component.
And the other thing, so it's like sleep, nutrition, exercise.
(35:01):
And the other thing is mental health.
If I could wave a magic wand andgive everybody in the world a
gift, it would be. You get whatever kind of
psychological counseling you want as often as you want, as
much as you want. Yeah.
To work on the things in your life that aren't working and get
(35:21):
to know yourself better so that you can be the best person for
you and for everybody around you.
I mean, I've dealt with anxiety my entire life and.
Really. Yeah, right.
It's it's only in the last few years that I've been able to do
(35:42):
the work and discover why. And when you know why you can,
you can help fix it. You know, it's like knowing that
you've got a broken leg. Well, you can set the broken
leg, but if you don't know you've got a broken leg and it
just hurts, how do you fix it? So that that's what I would,
that's what I would recommend us.
All of those. Things.
Things to do. Well.
You know what? And I have no qualms whatsoever
(36:04):
with women who want to do whatever they want to do to
their faces. I like personally, I, I don't
have the courage and I don't have the money.
So I can relate to that too. But you know, you're not going
to be seeing, seeing me doing some kind of deep playing facial
years from now. But but if you want to do it.
(36:27):
Hey. How are you talking to you?
Totally no judgement, you know, and I, I don't want to be one of
those people says, oh, she's done this.
I remember when I was a kid, theback talk would be about women
who dyed their hair. Can you?
Imagine like who Dye. Their hair now.
Oh my God, yeah. Exactly.
She's not a real bond like. Nobody is.
(36:48):
Who is? Yeah.
Who? Is.
There over the age of 10. Right.
Oh my gosh, that's so wild. Yeah, but it's true.
I mean, the, the, the beautiful thing is that women, and now we
didn't and the, the topic of self-care is such a big one.
And I think that we're finally realizing that yes, self-care
looks different for everyone, but it is so essential to put
(37:10):
gas in your tank if you want your engine to go.
And you know, we can't be the most successful version of
ourselves if we're not. You know, we can't just go, go,
go and expect everything to workproperly, fall into place.
Especially as we age. Yeah, we need to take the time.
Yeah, for sure. So now what are you curious
(37:30):
about outside of global these days?
Like what lights you up? Yeah.
All sorts of things. OK, we know food.
I just, I just knitted tea cozy.So I'm very proud.
I'm very proud of that. It's kind of my first big
knitting experience. I love it.
So fun. But yeah, I know, I love, I love
(37:51):
baking. That's kind of a passion.
Always has been. I I was raised by mom, who was
just a genius Baker. She was just amazing.
And I I would come home from school.
I mean, she worked part time andwas raising two kids.
My dad was in the military. He was gone a lot.
So she's like the single mom doing all this stuff.
But I, I don't recommend that women do that.
(38:14):
But we would come home from school and there the table would
be filled with cinnamon buns andcookies and brownies and Oh my
gosh, it was like, wow. And.
We just step up. Seriously so.
She taught me that if you can read, you can cook.
Yeah, she said nobody, Nobody was born doing it right.
(38:35):
You have to learn somehow. So learn like there's a book.
Learn how. And this is a woman who
graduated grade 8 because she worked on a farm and then was
shipped off to live with people she didn't know and lived a
horribly abusive childhood. So I figure, you know, what, if
she could sort of battle her waythrough that and turn out the
way she did, We're, we're doing OK.
(38:57):
So I, that's where I get my, my passion for baking.
And I've I've developed a recipefor sourdough discard crackers
that have become a bit of a thing with my friends.
Can you share? This on can.
We can we put a link to this on her?
You have a. What is your?
Book No. Gatekeeping, Yes.
(39:18):
You know what you you should write a book like a cookbook,
you know, or like a baking book about your mom's story and
including like all your favoriterecipes of hers and yours That
would be. Such a cool project.
That's such a. Great idea.
That's like a legacy idea. A restaurant owner once said to
me, he said cookbooks in Canada are the most expensive business
cards you can ever create. They're Oh my gosh, they don't
(39:42):
make you any money and they costto a Fort.
Yeah. I never thought about that,
yeah. I know I.
Know why is? Everything so hard Yeah, it
would be fun. That would be a fun.
Why can't? Things just be easy.
I don't know. I wish I could tell you.
So, yeah. So creatively that's what you're
exploring is some wonderful baking and some arts and crafts
I love. That so much Yeah, you know,
(40:03):
and. And getting to hang out with my
friends and, you know, and. OK, we have two questions that
we always ask all of our guests.First one is what women in your
life have inspired you? You OK?
We know about your mom? Obviously, Yeah.
Is there any women? In the in the industry or?
One that comes to mind is PamelaMartin.
(40:24):
I just did a post on on her on my Instagram account recently
because she was just in the studio.
Oh, she's a total legend. She was in because we're Global
is celebrating its 65th birthday.
Wow. And so.
I had no idea. She was not there that long, let
me tell. I was going to say.
It was really nice to run into her because we worked together
(40:47):
for 10 years at CTV. So she left Global for 10 years
and and worked with us. I was the 5:00 anchor and she
was the 6:00 anchor. And I just think she was such a
trailblazer. She did all these things in
journalism when women weren't being given an opportunity and
she made things happen for herself.
And I have nothing but respect. She's just a lovely, lovely
(41:10):
person out of the industry. I'm going to I include my
stepmother who immigrated to Canada when she was 16.
She lived through the Second World War in Germany and her
mother and and her immigrated. She lived a life she didn't
speak English when she moved here.
She ended up owning her own business, owning multiple condos
(41:33):
in Victoria, became this businesswoman self-taught.
She had a horrible first marriage to a man who was
abusive. She ended up having two
marriages after that, including my dad, who was the last one,
and she outlived both of them. So she's been through, you know,
a lot of heartbreak and even including nursing my dad at the
(41:56):
end of his life when he had Parkinson's disease and dementia
and in long term care during thepandemic.
It was horrible. Oh, my goodness.
And I look at her now and just think, you know, she gets up in
the morning and she goes for an hour long walk.
She's 86. And she just keeps chucking.
We were just texting back and forth.
I sent her a picture of the tea cozy that I made because she
(42:17):
bought me the teapot that I madethe tea cozy for.
That's so cute. Yeah.
We've we've really become good friends.
That's so sweet. I just, I look at her and I just
think I wanna be like her. She wakes up every day with a
positive attitude and just thinks the best of things.
And yeah, I just, I just got. Grit.
(42:37):
Yeah, no, yeah, she's cutting. That is definitely an inspiring
woman, Yeah. OK.
And then the last question that we ask everybody is what does
sisterhood mean to you? So that's a big theme for us
Sisterhood. Sisterhood is being there for
each other when times are bad and when times are good.
(42:58):
So it's the being the support network when your friends are
down and struggling and they need a compassionate ear or, or
help in any way and celebrating them when when things are good.
I think that's a part that I think that often gets missed.
It's like see me and celebrate me when I'm when I'm doing.
(43:18):
Well, yeah, lift each other up. Not yeah, not just when I'm down
because, you know, women are often accused of being
competitive and catty with each other.
That hasn't been much of my experience.
I've experienced it for sure. But I think for the most part,
the women in my life have been really supportive.
(43:40):
That's. So that's beautiful.
Well, you're, you're choosing true sisters.
It's all about we choose to havearound us, right?
Yeah. Yeah, very.
Very, at a certain age, we startto learn about who's great and
who's not great for you, right? And so you kind of keep those
few people in your life and absolutely.
They're the easy people to keep,yeah.
Exactly. They can't.
They can't leave. It's like me and Chelsea, like
(44:02):
we've been friends for 20 years.I I just can't.
Shaker. Yeah, like.
We just get rid of each other. No matter how hard you try on
Instagram the other day that I loved it was If you're
struggling with a relationship, whether it's a friendship or a
romantic relationship, ask yourself, how do I feel in my
body when I'm with them? What is it?
(44:25):
What does it feel like? Does it feel easy?
Does it feel safe? Does it feel comfortable or does
it feel anxious and scary and tentative?
Ask yourself those questions when you're, when you're with
someone who you're in relationship with and, and maybe
it's not quite gelling. That's, that's a great test, I
(44:46):
think anyway. And fortunately I I don't have
to use it very often. Yeah, but it's like intuition,
right? That's that's what it is.
And we always ignore way off. Listening to our gut.
Yeah, listening to your gut. Listening.
To your gut. Yeah, I love that.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
So much so grateful for. You and with that, we have taken
up way too much of your time today.
Thank you, it has been a pleasure to talk to you guys.
(45:09):
I love your podcast and I wish you nothing but success.
Aw, same with you. And we're looking forward to
that legacy cookbook because we need to make those crackers.
Oh, now I have to do. It percent thank you take care
you. Guys, take care.
Bye. Today's episode lit a fire under
you. Share it with a fellow creative
(45:30):
or screenshot this episode and post it to your socials.
Don't forget to subscribe, rate and leave us a review.
Want more? Follow us on Instagram at The
Creative Sisterhood and check out Grand Blvd.
Entertainment to get plugged into the movement.
Until next time, keep telling your story, stay bold and
remember. We don't play by the.
Rules we make our own.
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