Chatter that Matters

This week, in honour of Earth Day, I sit down with Michael Don Ham, entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and co-founder of Wild Orchard Teas, for a beautiful conversation about purpose, resilience, and what it really means to build a business that matters. From the son of immigrants to a teacher to arriving in New York just before 9/11, to finding his passion as a regenerative farming, clean air, and human health. Michael's journey is anything but conventional. But what ties it all together is a higher calling: to help people live healthier, more connected, more meaningful lives. This is a conversation about longevity, leadership, and the courage to choose purpose over quick profit. It is also a reminder that in a world moving too fast, slowing down, sharing time with others, and building with intention may be exactly what matters most. Enjoy over a cup of Tea.

Jesse Hirsch is one of the most unbridled, unrestrained, intelligent, and entertaining individuals I know, and he doesn't disappoint in this interview. Jesse makes you think, laugh, question, and lean in all at once, on subject matter that is near and dear to all of us. We also talk about his early hacking arrest, which made him question authority; his warnings about the rising power of platforms; how our education system needs a major reboot; and his decision to leave the mainstream media behind and build a very different life through farming in rural Eastern Ontario. Jesse calls his farm the Academy of the Impossible, an experimental, high-speed fibre-connected, wired-up space that researches the intersection of agriculture, media, technology, and culture. I don't stray far from the farm to invite Lisa Ashton from RBC's Thought Leadership Team to talk about Canada's potential to become a food superpower.

If you have ever doubted the power of art to change lives, this episode will make you think again. It is a reminder that movement can be medicine, joy can be transformational, and community can be as important as any treatment plan. Above all, it shows how one person's calling can become a lifeline for thousands of others. What if dance could do more than move the body? What if it could unlock joy, restore confidence, build community, and become a vital part of brain health? In this moving episode of Chatter That Matters, I sit down with Sarah Robichaud, founder and CEO of Dancing With Parkinson's, a program that is changing lives everywhere. What began with one class and one big idea has become a powerful national movement, helping people with Parkinson's and others reconnect with their bodies, their minds, and each other through music, imagery, storytelling, and dance. Sarah shares her journey, from a young girl who knew she was meant to dance, to an artist and teacher who discovered a profound calling to help others find freedom through movement. She explains how dance can bypass limitations, spark new neural pathways, elevate mood, and create a sense of belonging that many participants describe as life-changing. Later in the episode, Wayne Bossert joins the conversation to discuss the importance of brain research, the role Brain Canada plays, and why supporting brain health matters to you, to me and to RBC. To learn more about Dancing with Parkinson's. https://www.dancingwithparkinsons.com/ To learn more about Women's Brain Health - https://www.rbcwealthmanagement.com/en-ca/insights/why-women-need-to-be-more-proactive-with-their-brain-health

John Beyer knows what it is like to grow up surrounded by chaos. Raised by two alcoholic parents, he learned early how fragile life at home could be. By his mid-twenties, both of his parents had died, grief was closing in, and alcohol was taking over his life. In this episode, I talk with John about the moment he finally faced that truth, and the long road that followed. It is a conversation about addiction, recovery, family, and the quiet power of rebuilding a life piece by piece. John shares how he found sobriety, built a business, became a husband and father, supported a son with autism, and kept moving forward through profound personal and health challenges. What makes this story so powerful is that it is not told from a place of perfection. It is told from experience, from scars, from gratitude, and from a genuine desire to help not only himself, but others live a little better. To buy John's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Live-Little-Better-Survival-Sobriety/dp/1637634013

What if one of Canada's biggest growth opportunities has been hiding in plain sight? To close out International Women's Month, I bring together three remarkable women. Shamira Jaffer, recipient of the 2023 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Innovation Award, Jennifer Menard-Shand, three-time nominee for the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards and Dr. Georgette Zinaty, President of WBE Canada and a relentless advocate for women-owned businesses. It is a conversation about barriers, breakthroughs, and the conditions women entrepreneurs need not just to start, but to scale. Because if Canada is serious about growth, it needs to get serious about backing more women to build it.

Audrey Hymans Romoff has shaped the image of global icons such as Lady Gaga, Sarah Jessica Parker, Shania Twain, and Jennifer Lopez. But behind her success lies a much more personal story. Audrey grew up overshadowed by generational trauma. Her mother was one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz, and the pain carried by both her mother and grandmother was rarely spoken about. That silence influenced Audrey's life, teaching her to seem strong while carrying a heavy burden inside. Audrey lost both of her parents on the same evening, which forced her to face inherited pain and undertake a deeper journey of understanding and healing. She later shared that journey in her memoir, The Ripple Eclipse, a moving reflection on trauma, family, resilience, and the courage needed to break painful cycles. This is a conversation about ambition, identity, grief, survival, and the strength needed to survive silence by speaking out.

Wes Geer chased rock and roll the way some people chase salvation, all in, full volume, no brakes. Wes Geer went from a kid with a guitar and a dream to co-founding Head P.E., tearing through the chaos of the '90s rock scene, then playing with Korn, and living the kind of life that looks electrifying from the outside and destructive from within. Fame, excess, addiction, collapse, Wes lived every mile of that road. But this episode is not just about the rise and the wreckage. It is about what happens when someone survives the fire and comes back carrying a torch, or in this case, a guitar. Today, Wes is the founder of Rock to Recovery, using music not to fuel self-destruction, but to help others heal, reconnect, and find their way back. This is a wild, hard-living, soul-searching adventure through music, darkness, redemption, and the power of turning your greatest pain into a path for others. To learn more about Rock To Recovery: https://rocktorecovery.org To purchase Wes Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1735529974/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Everyone should be so fortunate as to follow their passion, but even then, it helps to have a Plan B. I met Elysia Racanelli, a doctor by day and avant-garde singer by night, whose haunting voice and commanding stage presence stop you in your tracks. The same day, I interviewed Jonathan Roy, son of Patrick Roy, one of the greatest goaltenders of all time, who chose to trade in his goalie pads to pursue a music career. Both are world-class artists from Montreal. In these live interviews, both share the deeper reasons behind their pivots and the lessons they are learning along the way. Their stories offer a powerful reminder that finding your path in life is rarely linear and often requires the courage to step away from expectation and toward passion. These conversations took place during the unveiling of Odience 360 by Summit Tech, the most immersive stage and retail technology I have ever witnessed. Check our Odience 360: https://youtube.com/shorts/5_Y3GkhIgyE?si=VcPE5CFv_GV9_Oon Check out FirstUp by RBC X Music: https://www.rbc.com/dms/enterprise/music/first-up.html Jonathan Roy: https://jonathanroyofficial.com Elysia Racanelli: https://www.youtube.com/@elysiaracanelli

Sports thrive on uncertainty. The drama, the underdog, the last-second miracle, the feeling that nobody knows what comes next. But what happens when that uncertainty gets hijacked — when outcomes are fixed not just in final scores, but in moments you barely notice? Dr. Declan Hill — Oxford-educated, author of The Fix, and an investigative journalist who has infiltrated organized crime fixing rings to understand how this world of sports fixing actually works and how legalized, frictionless sports gambling has added fuel to the flame. We dig into match-fixing and spot-fixing, prop bets and micro-bets, and why Declan believes a major American sports league is heading toward an existential crisis within five years. We then talk about what a 'casino in your pocket' is doing to athletes, fans, and young people's psychology. When you move from playing with fun money to your house money, or worse, when gambling becomes an addiction equal to tobacco, alcohol or heroin. When one in five gambling addicts contemplate suicide. If you love sport and feel something has shifted, if you're wondering what someone you love is really doing on their phone, or if you want to understand how organized crime quietly moves through our everyday life, this interview, 'The Fix is On' is for you. Declan Hill is an investigative academic and journalist. He specializes in the study of organized crime and international issues. He was the first journalist to break the story of Asian match-fixing gangs linked to the multi-billion dollar gambling markets destroying international football in his book 'The Fix: Soccer & Organized Crime'. It has now become a best-seller in 21 languages. In 2013, he published the academic version 'The Insider's Guide to Match-Fixing' which is now available in English and Japanese.: https://www.declanhill.com If you are concerned about sports gambling, Declan encourages you to visit: https://www.gamblingwithlives.org

On occasion, I break format, step out of interview mode, and speak directly to you about what I believe matters to you, to me, and to our country. In this episode, I talk about Canada's K economy and the growing, dangerous divide between those who have and those who have very little. I look at the human cost, the impact on our psychology and our society, and five things we can do to rebuild our economy. To grow our way forward, versus borrowing on the backs of future generations just to cover today's bills. I hope you can find ten minutes over the next few days to listen, and to share your thoughts. Thanks for listening to Chatter That Matters. Let's chat soon.

The future will not look like the past. There will be no neatly paved road. No ladder with perfectly placed rungs. No guaranteed script. There will be headwinds. Industries reshaped by technology. Jobs collapsing, new ones emerging. Which is why I invited The K3 Sisters Band to join me this week. Three sisters who did not follow the standard path. Homeschooled. Fourth-generation musicians. On a flight home from Disney, they sketched the name of a band that did not yet exist. They kept the drawing. They kept the dream. Playing in churches, fairs and nursing homes across Texas while other kids were lining up at lockers. They did not wait for a record label to find an audience. They did not wait for permission to choose their destiny. Fifteen years later, they have released 15 albums, built a global audience across dozens of countries, became one of the earliest true TikTok breakout acts during the pandemic, and just recorded 24K Gold live with no digital modification. Their philosophy is simple. Do it yourself. But do it. In a culture that often feels dystopian, they chose a utopian view. In an industry obsessed with shortcuts, they chose craft. In a digital world addicted to filters and AI, they chose authenticity. And when faced with bullying, they created a motto and a platform for their fans: Believe in yourself. Celebrate your life and the lives of others. Stand against bullying. Choose love over hate. This episode is not just for young people or music fans. It is for parents wondering how to prepare their kids for an uncertain future. And anyone who feels the ground shifting beneath their feet. To learn more about The K3 Sisters Band: https://www.k3sistersband.com To find out more about RBC Future Launch to support Canadian Youth: https://www.rbc.com/en/future-launch/about/

Vancouver's Chinatown was never built to be trendy. It was built because people had nowhere else to belong. Shut out of opportunity. Pushed to the margins. Told where they could and could not live. So they built anyway. Store by store. Family by family. A place that began to pulse and then became magnetic to all who lived in and visited Vancouver. And then slowly, the pulse weakened. Rising costs. Aging buildings. Poverty. Then the pandemic. The streets emptied. Businesses struggled to survive. Anti-Asian racism surged. Fear replaced foot traffic. Absence replaced community. This week on Chatter That Matters, you will hear the story of how one woman turned darkness into light. Carol Lee looked at decay and did not see failure. She saw a break in belonging. Carol's approach can be replicated by any struggling community. Joining the conversation are Martin Thibodeau, Regional President of RBC in British Columbia, and Carmen Stossel, Regional Director of Community Marketing and Social Impact at RBC. They share what makes Carol Lee special and why they got involved. If you care about your community and humanity. You will want to hear this conversation. Because sometimes lighting up a neighbourhood is really about lighting up belief. Hit play to Light Up Chinatown.

Some people become famous because they find a sound. Others become unforgettable because they find the truth. In this episode of Chatter That Matters, I sit down with Bif Naked for a candid conversation captured by one line: "I am who I am." Born in New Delhi, adopted, and raised across borders, Bif shares what it means to grow up feeling different, and the moment her story came full circle when she met her birth mother at 21. From there, we get into the forces that shaped her voice, punk, poetry, feminism, and the decision to live out loud, even when it comes with a cost. Bif also opens up about being diagnosed with breast cancer at 36, then facing a stroke two years later, and how those chapters rewired her priorities and deepened her purpose, including the peer support work that continues to ground her. We talk about her philosophy of "save the rage for the stage," and we step into her current chapter: Champion, her first studio album in over a decade, unpacking the song Snowblind and why the lyrics matter now more than any time in our history, and her documentary BIF NAKED, which made her realize this story is still being written. To find out more about Bif Naked: https://www.bifnaked.com To find out more about First Up with RBC X Music: https://www.rbc.com/dms/enterprise/music/first-up.html

What happened to the truth? Lately, I find myself fixated on a troubling realization. It feels remarkably easy to win over an audience. A slogan, a promise, or a confident declaration can be wildly disconnected from people's lived reality yet quickly accepted, repeated, and amplified. I wanted to understand why. Not from a political or media lens, but from a human one. What is it about human nature that makes this possible? That question led me to two conversations at the heart of this moment. The first is with Gordon Pennycook, a highly regarded cognitive scientist whose journey from small-town Saskatchewan to a renowned thought leader at Cornell University gives him a rare lens on how ordinary people reason in extraordinary information environments. Gordon studies why we are so trusting, why misinformation spreads faster than truth, and why most of us are not irrational or malicious, just distracted. His research shows that people do not fail because they cannot think, but because the systems around them reward speed, emotion, and certainty over reflection and accuracy. We discuss why falsehood often outperforms truth online, how social platforms exploit attention rather than intention, why news has become opinionated, and why there is still hope. To ground that risk in the real world, I am also joined by Milos Stojadinovic, a cybersecurity leader at RBC who thinks like attackers so the rest of us do not have to. Milos explains how cybercrime has become organized, global, and industrialized, from ransomware-as-a-service to AI-powered scams and nation-state involvement. His insight makes one thing clear. Trust is still our greatest human strength, but it has also become the easiest point of entry for those who want to exploit it. What ties these conversations together is a sobering conclusion. Our minds have not fundamentally changed, but the tools used to target them have. And unless we become more intentional about how we think, what we believe, and what we amplify, it will remain dangerously easy to sell comforting narratives that drift far from reality.

Robyne was a high school dropout who believed she wasn't worth saving. Then her car plunged through the ice, trapping her 20 feet underwater and changing everything. This is the story of how choosing hope became a strategy for survival and healing. I sit down with Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe, bestselling author and one of the most trusted voices on resilience. As a teenager, Robyne battled addiction, dropped out of school, and was hospitalized in an adult psychiatric ward. At 16, a near-fatal accident gave her a second chance she refused to waste. This is not a glossy comeback story. It is an honest conversation about becoming. Robyn shares why pain does not have to make sense to be real, why recovery is never linear, how stress can be worked with rather than feared, and what everyday resilience actually looks like. This episode is about hope, not as a feeling, but as a practice, and choosing to show up again when life feels overwhelming. To find out more: Discover – Pre-Order 'I Hope So: How to Choose Hope Even When It's Hard' Hope isn't just a feeling – it's the key to rewiring your brain for resiliency and well-being, even in the toughest times. Stay Connected - Subscribe to Dr. Robyne's Newsletter Get exclusive tools, strategies, and Everyday Resiliency—straight to your inbox.

This is one of those episodes that stays with you long after it ends. At 19, Jane Roos was chasing Olympic dreams, fast, fearless, and focused. Then, in a single moment, everything changed. A devastating car accident took her best friend's life and ended the future she had trained for. What followed was pain, survivor's guilt, and a question that quietly redefined her life: why am I still here? From a hospital bed, with no roadmap and no safety net, Jane founded the Canadian Athletes Now Fund, an idea that would grow into one of the most important sources of support for Canada's Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Today, CAN Fund has helped thousands of athletes chase podium dreams, not by chance but by belief. Jane also shares the quieter, equally powerful parts of her journey, including overcoming survivor's guilt, choosing service over fear, and creating community through initiatives like Random Acts of Magic. Her perspective on gratitude, courage, and living fully feels both hard-earned and deeply generous. I then welcome Jacquie Ryan, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Foundation. We explore what it truly takes to get athletes to the starting line and beyond, and why long-term commitment matters. Jacquie reflects on the enduring role of partners like RBC and how investing in athletes is about more than medals; it is about identity, pride, and belief in what Canada can be. If you have ever questioned your path, your purpose, or what is possible after life takes an unexpected turn, Jane's story is a powerful reminder that the worst day can become the greatest gift, and that sometimes the most meaningful victories happen far from the podium. To learn more about the CAN Fund: https://canadianathletesnow.ca

Ben Mulroney has spent his life carrying a famous last name, while choosing a different path on his own terms. That is why I wanted his story. Recorded live in front of a sold-out room at Toronto Hunt, Ben takes you behind the public persona and into the moments that shaped him, tested him, and surprised him. He shares wonderful stories that are funny, candid, and genuinely human, including what it really feels like to work on a red carpet and suddenly find yourself face-to-face with someone like George Clooney. Over the past year, I had the chance to join Ben on his national radio show, and I have watched his rare ability to take complex, sometimes controversial issues, synthesize competing viewpoints, then land on a perspective with clarity, confidence, and courage. In this conversation, that same clarity turns inward, toward family, fatherhood, identity, reinvention, and what it takes to build a life in your own voice. If you like interviews that move fast, go deep, and leave you thinking, press play.

One of the greatest lessons I've been gifted as host of Chatter That Matters is seeing how much impact one individual can have when they choose purpose over comfort. This episode is a powerful reminder of that truth. At the centre is Tim Cormode, whose life changed during a moment of stillness alone on a glacier. That clarity led him to build Power to Be, using nature as a pathway to dignity, confidence, and possibility for people told their limits were fixed. Tim shares what two decades in the charitable sector taught him, not just about impact but about what is broken in how we give, from fear of risk to a scarcity mindset that holds good organizations back. That experience sparked his next chapter, Power to Give, a bold rethinking of philanthropy rooted in trust, shared resources, and treating generosity as the investment it truly is. From a kayak on the water to a small-town skate park that drew an unexpected visit from Tony Hawk, Tim's story shows what becomes possible when imagination meets action. The conversation then widens with Andrea Barrack, Senior Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and ESG at RBC. Andrea shares how RBC's new Purpose Framework is turning values into action. With a $2 billion commitment by 2035, RBC is focused on skills for a changing world and more equitable prosperity. If you believe impact is built by people, not slogans, and that purpose is found by doing, not saying, you will love this episode as much as I did making it.

What do a McDonald's drive-through, a beat-up pickup truck, and a single, dangerous question have in common? 1-800-GOT-JUNK? is one of the most iconic service brands in North America. In this unforgettable episode, I sit down with Brian Scudamore, the school dropout who turned hauling junk into a $700 million empire by embracing a mindset he calls "WTF, willing to fail". What unfolds is not a business case study, but a profoundly human story about courage, doubt, family pressure, leadership missteps, and the power of seeing possibility where others see nothing. Brian shares how firing his entire team saved his company, why culture is the ultimate competitive moat, and how systems, not people, fail. He opens up about the moment his father finally said, "I'm proud of you," fifteen years after Brian walked away from university. If you are an entrepreneur, a leader, a parent, someone young searching for their ladder to climb, or someone quietly wondering whether there is another path you are allowed to take, this conversation will stay with you long after it ends. Special thanks and love to RBC for supporting these human stories that matter. Stories of ordinary becoming extraordinary. Listen now and ask yourself the question that changed everything for Brian Scudamore. What if?

This is a special New Year edition of Chatter That Matters. As Canada reaches the midpoint of the decade, I ask two defining questions. Is Canada's destiny a matter of choice, or have we left it to chance? Will Prime Minister Mark Carney become one of Canada's great leaders, or will he be even more of the same? Looking back a century to the Roaring Twenties and forward to today's world of uncertainty, conflict, and eroding trust, I connect history, leadership, and accountability to the moment we are living in right now. This is not about partisanship. It is about Canada. Please take off your partisan blinders, wrap yourself in our majestic flag, take a seat in the middle, and open your mind to our possibilities. Happy New Year. Thanks for listening to Chatter that Matters in 2025. You and this country mean the world to me. Tony Chapman