This week we welcome/introduce Donna Harris, the Human Assignment co-creator, to join the show. Donna has been a previous guest with Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood and will now join as a co-host for most episodes. A coach at heart, Donna is continuously intrigued by all types of human performance and what people need to be at their best. Donna has extensive experience in high-performance sport. She is a former All-Canadian athlete in Track and Field. Donna transitioned from athlete to coach and held concurrent roles at the national level as a coach (University of Manitoba) and a sport administrator working full time for various organizations, including Athletics Canada, Athletics Manitoba and Racquetball Canada. During this time, she started to experience challenges with work/life balance, which led to an illness from stress when her life load was out of control. These experiences, coupled with a decision to walk away from a national team coaching pathway, led Donna to graduate research that uncovered the role that passion, culture, recovery, and connection play in sustaining performance. The research, while rooted in elite sport, has application across many contexts. There were two big takeaways from Donna’s graduate study research that led her to the Human Assignment. The first is the takeaway that there is no such thing as work-life balance, but with awareness and deliberate actions, an effective work-life blend is possible. The second big takeaway was the discovery that we tend to see those around us as one-dimensional. We do not realize that there are several dimensions to the people we interact with every day. When we learn to see people multidimensionally, we can really see them, and when we really see them, we are better able to understand them and connect with them. When this happens, we cannot only better help them be at their best, but we celebrate the holistic human within them. In this episode, we talk about Donna’s background, her research, family life and some of our visions for the Human Assignment. We hope you enjoy the show!

Eva Stordy is a Registered Psychologist and Senior Clinician with Arete.  She holds a master’s degree in Counselling Psychology from the University of Lethbridge and years of experience counselling children, adolescents and adults as well as couples and family systems—Eva understands people and thoroughly loves what she does telling us “I'm witnessing people change. I'm witnessing their resilience piece and their growth, and their capacities. And it's amazing what challenges people can overcome. And so that part I always find really inspiring.”  Our chat with Eva covered a wide range of mental health related topics including the compound impact of Covid and why she has a “hate on” for the virus.  Our discussion highlighted Eva’s diverse professional experiences where she has supported people through a wide range of presenting problems, including depression, anxiety, communication and relationship challenges, self-esteem, grief and loss, trauma and attachment, and life transitions.

“I like to say that the dreams always come in the service of growth. They're always there to help us look at our own stories. They're not here to pat us on the back and say do more of the same. They're here to show us something that we need to look at.” -Cordell Jacks Cordell Jacks describes himself as a seeker, a big ideas person and a boundary pusher. Most of his career has focused on re-imagining major social innovation initiatives in international development, ocean plastics, and cleantech start-up companies, working towards a better world in public health, environmental sustainability, and circular economies. His ideas and efforts have earned him international accolades including significant investments from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The World Bank, global awards including the INDEX: Design to Improve Life Award, Dubai International Award for Best Practices, The Lipman Family Prize at The Wharton School of Business, and speaking opportunities at Harvard Business School, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and SXSW, amongst others. More recently, Cordell has had a significant perspective shift in redefining 'impact' and 'scale,’ turning his focus towards the individual and 'going deep,’ launching an initiative that is literally teaching people how to Dream better. As a Dream Coach, Cordell shares his lifelong passion for studying the science, psychology, and global lineages of 'Dream Work' practices. He teaches people how to access and utilize the "2 most important hours of their day,"....those spent dreaming. In our conversation with Cordell, we follow his career from Canada to the developing world and back to Canada again. We discuss answering phone calls from the universe, the importance of sustainable water and sanitation in developing communities, international development work, the role that circular economies play in the sustainment of business and the earth. Finally, we take a deep dive into the power of dreams, learning how our dreams hold the keys to innovation, self-discovery and meaningful creation in our waking lives. This interview is packed with insight, honesty and inspiration.  Please enjoy our conversation with Cordell Jacks. You can learn more about Cordell and his work on his website, on Instagram, or on Facebook. Cordell offers courses, private coaching, and dream interpretation sessions.

“If you're trying to draw the absolute best out of people, they need to feel safe to fail; they need to feel safe to push themselves. They need to feel comfortable that, you know, that you'll be there for them.” Janine Stephens is a former member of the Canadian National Rowing Team, where she won an Olympic Silver Medal in 2012 as part of the women’s eights rowing team. In 2017, Janine became the head coach for the Manitoba Rowing Association, and in 2019 she was announced as the winner of Rowing Canada's Presidents Award for her dedication to the sport of Rowing. In our discussion, we talk about creating spaces where athletes and others can be themselves while striving for excellence based on how much they want to give and what they want to achieve.

Keith Macpherson is a Canadian mindfulness coach, speaker, musician, and author who has taught thousands of people the practice of going inward to create transformative breakthroughs that will lead to their best lives. Keith joins us to help kick off our “season 2.” As we all navigate the Pandemic, Keith acknowledges that it is not easy and that he too has days when he does not feel great.  Our conversation with Keith touches on the importance of mindfulness, his advice for navigating the rough days, the pressures on leaders and his work to support his executive coaching clients. Keith shares his perspective on the opportunity we have to emerge from the pandemic better than we were before it. He also introduces us to a new community he is creating called myconsciouslife.com. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Keith MacPherson.

In this episode, we talk to high-performance consultants, Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood and Donna Harris from Toogood Consulting, about mindset and managing the various aspects of our lives in these uncertain times. Dr. Adrienne Leslie Toogood is a licensed psychologist that has worked with clients ranging from business leaders, individual Olympic athletes, teams and coaches, to PGA Tour winners.  Donna Harris has developed and led the implementation of various national and provincial programs while in senior leadership roles with Athletics Canada, Racquetball Canada and Athletics Manitoba. Adrienne and Donna have extensive experience supporting people through uncertainty and the unknown in sport and life. This conversation felt very timely for me. I hope you enjoy it.

Aimee Gallo is a Certified Nutritionist specializing in functional medicine and fitness and the founder of Vibrance Nutrition. She discovered the impact food choices have on overall health at the age of 12 and never looked back. For over 25 years she's explored different dietary modalities and studied nutrition's role in human health, receiving two degrees in nutrition and numerous certifications and specialties in topics such as fat loss, sports nutrition, functional medicine, and holistic health. Aimee has worked in private practice for over 15 years, helping countless people dramatically improve their quality of life and health through sustainable lifestyle shifts uncovered in a collaborative, shame-free environment. She has been a contributor on topics of health and wellness for Athleta’s Chi Blog, Mother Earth Living Magazine, and was recognized as a leading Mom in Business in 2014 StartUP Nation. Through exploring the research and observing outcomes in clinical practice Aimee has become convinced that the answer to chronic disease and the healthcare crisis lies at the end of our fork and can begin with one simple action, which she will share with us today. Check out Aimee on Instagram, Facebook or on her Youtube page. Aimee has also offered a free guide to listeners called, “5 Ways to Increase Your Veggie Intake by 5 Servings in less than 15 minutes!” You can use this link to download the guide, and Aimee says that coupled with the Veg Hunter app will give you a great start to leveling up your produce intake.

Paul Dewland is a Mental Performance Coach and a certified trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (INLPTA). Paul’s clients range from corporate executives to professional athletes. He is best known for his work with professional golfers, where his client list includes players from the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour, Ryder Cup team members, Korn Ferry Tour, Champions Tour, Symetra Tour, European Senior Tour, PGA Tour Canada, PGA Latin America, and several other professional tours. Paul is a great guy, one of my dear friends, and has coached me for many years. So, I know first hand what an amazing coach he is and how impactful his work can be. In this episode, we focus on the work he does with his athletes and how we can transfer these lessons into our lives. If you want to learn more about the work Paul is doing, you can contact him through his website at www.pauldewland.com

Jaclyn Mellone (jaclynmellone.com) helps experts exponentially grow their business by becoming the Go-To Authority in their space. She is a coach, strategist, Keynote speaker, mama, guac lover, and host of the Go-To Gal podcast. She helps her clients get out of their own way, package their expertise to scale, position themselves as the go-to authority, and have their dream clients and opportunities landing on their lap!  Her signature approach combines restructuring her clients’ business models, reframing their mindset, and revamping their marketing so that they become the go-to authority from the inside out. Jaclyn supports experts at all stages from freelancer to global brands. She has spoken at marketing conferences around the US, grown her social media channels to total over 50K followers and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Yahoo Finance, Reader’s Digest, Parents, Well + Good, and in dozens of podcasts and radio appearances. Jaclyn has proudly built the Go-To Gal empire in her slippers from her living room in Rochester, NY! You can find Jaclyn at: http://instagram.com/jaclyn_mellone http://instagram.com/go.to.gal https://www.facebook.com/groups/withjaclynmellone/

Andrew Parr is a former professional golfer, a high-performance coach and the founder of Wildernest Camp. As a coach, entrepreneur and life-long learner, Andrew is focused on the pursuit of life-long human development. In his coaching work, he supports everyone from top NCAA teams, professional athletes, Olympians, executives and the general public. Andrew is one of my dearest friends, so I know first hand what an incredible individual he is. He has competed at the highest levels of golf, he’s recovered from a stroke, he’s trained with some of the best coaches in the world, he never stops learning and he’s constantly supporting and inspiring others to push the boundaries of what they think is possible. You can find Andrew on Instagram, or at andrewparr.com. You can learn more about Wildernest Camp on Instagram or at Wildernest.camp. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider giving us a review!