Tea with a Titan: Conversations Steeped in Greatness |Achievement | Olympics | Olympians| Success | Athletes | Entrepreneurs | Actors | Authors | Philanthropy | Business | Artists

Tea with a Titan: Conversations Steeped in Greatness |Achievement | Olympics | Olympians| Success | Athletes | Entrepreneurs | Actors | Authors | Philanthropy | Business | Artists

Tea with a Titan is a weekly podcast during which seasoned interview-buff Mary-Jo Dionne speaks with those people who have one thing in common. The quest for authentic greatness. Be it entrepreneur, athlete, entertainer, artist, philanthropist, thought-leader, or difference maker, if the target is greatness -- even in the face of hurdles -- Mary-Jo will be having tea with them.

Episodes

May 28, 2018 67 mins

What we cover: In this moment, we are safe.

Today's guest is Dr Russ Kennedy – someone I have known since 2004, when I launched my brief stint into the stand up comedy world. Russ was a fellow comic, and I got to know him then, and I always really liked him. I eventually set that aside as I evolved as a writer and instead focused more on my foray into the world of one-woman shows – but Russ remained in ...

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What we cover: "I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference." -- Robert Frost

Today’s guest is Stacey Shand. If there is a woman more easy to have a Girl Crush on that Stacey Shand, I have yet to meet her.

Stacey is an ultra-extreme endurance athlete and adventurer. She is affectionately known as ‘Racey Stacey’, and she has been keeping a promise she made to herself from her hospital bed following a near...

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What we cover: "Take the past for what it is. And then, focus on moving forward." -- Kevin Reynolds

Today's guest is Kevin Reynolds. He is, of course, the Canadian figure skating super star who won silver at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, as part of the mixed team event.

According to the official Olympics athlete site, he is the first skater in the world to ever land a quad-triple-triple combination, and in 2010 he became ...

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What we cover: “Addiction is the body’s way of telling you that you’re not listening to your soul.” – Sherry Strong

Today's guest is Sherry Strong – and strong she is. She is a woman who, after 35-years of playing the “victim”, which so many of us are guilty of from time to time – and who also struggled with an addiction to sugar to numb the sadness, took a good look in the ...

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What we cover: In the interest of full disclosure, I have been ridiculously spread thin – as we all can get from time to time – and completely run down, wrapping up deadlines before I shut the office down until the new year. I have been up late into the night with a sick 2-year-old. And I have been going through this incredibly heavy sadness on account of learning that someone I cared for very much in my high school life, died – bu...

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What we cover: “The most important things I’ve learned in life, I’ve learned on the badminton court.” – Anna Rice

Today’s Guest Titan is two-time Olympian, Anna Rice – a woman who admits that, as far as life goes, everything she’s learned so far, she’s learned on the badminton court. This is a woman ...

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What we cover: "You have to lose sight of the shore, to discover new lands." -- Andre Gide, paraphrased 
 

For those of you who listen to the show on a regular basis, it’s not news that I am a huge proponent of perspective shifting. And of gear shifting. Of being adaptable and of having the ability to readjust as needed. As we ...

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What we cover: "For temporary results, commit to temporary changes. For permanent results, commit to permanent ones." -- Karin Fortin Jackson, 3-time Ironman finisher, who lost 120 pounds
 
In 18 months of conversations with people I admire, this might rank as my most favourite chat yet. And I say that with the full admission that I have loved every one of my Guest Titan encounters. Karin Fortin Jackson i...

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What we cover: "For temporary results, commit to temporary changes. For permanent results, commit to permanent ones." -- Karin Fortin Jackson, 3-time Ironman finisher, who lost 120 pounds
 
In 18 months of conversations with people I admire, this might rank as my most favourite chat yet. And I say that with the full admission that I have loved every one of my Guest Titan encounters. Karin Fortin Jackson i...

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What we cover: “If you want something badly enough, you don’t make sacrifices. You make choices.” – Rhian Wilkinson

Today’s Guest Titan chat is a wee bit of a deviation from the norm – and I am so glad about it. Today, I have a guest co-host in the form of 12-year-old Alex Vietch, herself a serious athlete – she’s a track star and a soccer freak, in a good way. She asked me once if I ever were to interview one of the women from Tea...

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What we cover: “Boom! Gratitude.” —Mike Shaw

This week’s Guest Titan – Mike Shaw — is beyond inspiring. I have thought about our chat daily since it happened. He is just that impressive. I don’t want to give too much away, his story is incredible, and it’s best if I get out of the way – and let you hear it from his vantage point. Hear what it was like to be at the top of his game as a freestyle skier and coach, and to one day, in t...

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What we cover: Reinvention.

I have been calling myself a writer since I was 5 years old. I’ve had a fun and memorable career as an ad copywriter in agencies in Vancouver, as an editor, as a features writer for various magazines. I’ve written my one-woman show and am currently working on the sequel. I wrote my own comedy material in the days I did standup. But for me, the dream is to one day get that screenplay written – that’s the ...

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This is a mini-episode. Just a wee one. It’s sort of Part Two in my chat with the unbelievably well-respected professional Ironman triathlete, Jeff Symonds Asia Pacific Ironman Champion, the year before last. But it’s also a stand-alone. So I’m not really thinking of it as a continuation of last week’s episode. By all means, go back and check that one out – but don’t feel you have to in order to really “get it”. I saved this instal...

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What we cover: “A diamond is a lump of coal that did well under pressure." – Henry Kissinger

This week’s Guest Titan is flipping amazing. I have loved him from afar for many years now – not like as a stalker, dressed as a plant, hiding in a corner. But just that feeling of tremendous respect you get when you know you are around someone who is truly great. Some one who personifies all that you admire in the best of humanity – he is ...

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What we cover: “A fall doesn't have to be perceived as a fall. It can be a trip. Or a stumble." – Teryl Rothery

This week’s Guest Titan is flipping amazing. I first met Teryl Rothery, about 18 years ago – I’ll tell you how I know it was a long time ago – I was an ad copywriter at an agency here in Vancouver, and I’d written some radio scripts for a national telco. And the product we were advertising was – wait for it – the Yellow P...

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What we cover: “Where will we be 5 years from today?”

 

Welcome to Season #2 of Tea with a Titan: Conversations Steeped in Greatness.

This is the series where I get to sit down and have tea with entrepreneurs, athletes, entertainers, artists, philanthropists, thought-leaders, difference makers, -- those people who have one of five, or sometimes five of five, things in common. After evaluating the learning I was so blessed to be on ...

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What we cover: "Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 
 
A few weeks ago, I was speaking on a panel for the organization called Dress for Success. Dress for Success is a fantastic enterprise designed to empower women to get back into the workforce by providing professional clothing for job interviews and the first few weeks of empl...

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What we cover: "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." -- Burt Bacharach
 
About three weeks ago, my four-year-old, JouJou had her first ballet recital with North Vancouver’s stellar organization Pink Petal Ballet, designed less to teach young girls the perfect arabesque, and more to teach young girls concepts like self-love and kindness. The recital concluded with 300 young girls on stage singing...

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What we cover: "We can't go over it, we can't go under it. Oh no, we have to go through it." -- Michael Rosen
 

JouJou very recently has taken to riding her bike up and down the carpeted hallways of our condo building in BC's wine country, and since this is the first year that Birdie can actually walk, she sort of giddily squeals and chases behind her big sister in her distinctly diaper-clad waddle. Howe...

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I’m a big believer that every once in a while, if you stay the path, dreams really can come true. And today’s episode, in my life, is evidence of that theory.

Ten years ago this summer, on my 35th birthday, a group of my closest friends and I went to a party at the Playboy Mansion of all places. I’ve said it a number of times on this series: if you have a chance to peek into a portal, to experience a glimpse of life that is counter...

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