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If you’ve ever googled “Is this perimenopause or just me?” then this episode is for you. My sister Danielle was diagnosed with adenomyosis in 2018. Nobody told her. She found out five years later, by accident, reading her own medical chart, after my diagnosis turned up the same thing. My mom, Lorraine, didn't even know she was anemic until a lab tech tested her blood almost by chance. Her hemoglobin was under nine - about a quarter of what it should've been. She'd been bleeding heavily for years and had just quietly adjusted, because that's what you did. Three women, three decades, same fight, and the Hogans have never once sugar coated any of it. We talk about: the gynecologist who wouldn't even prescribe my mom the pill; six years of Danielle asking for a hysterectomy and hearing no, including a doctor who told her to "think it over" in case she met a man who wanted kids; the symptoms nobody warns you about, like smelling cigarette smoke that isn't there or losing a word mid-sentence; and why so many of us spend years thinking a symptom is just our personality instead of what it actually is. My sister went through the worst of this without a map. Because of her, I didn't have to. Now we're handing you the map too. If this has you thinking about your mom, your sister, or a friend who's been calling a symptom "just stress" for way too long, send them this one. And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

Two hours after giving birth at home, Sammi Dreiling passed out and lost her pulse. That's the day that started her hardest year - the one where losing her dad a month later and watching a decade of business work collapse pushed her and her husband, Dylan, to finally ask what they'd actually do if they were following their bliss. Sammi calls it her cocoon year: everything she'd built had to fall apart before Ananda Elixirs could exist at all. We talk about: the line Dylan keeps repeating - "the harder you grip it, the sooner it flows through your fingertips" - and what actually letting go looked like for them; the Fantastic Fungi documentary that had them both in tears, and how the conversation after it turned into a cream soda recipe cooked up on their own stove; a friend named Emily who watched their kids for 6 hours every weekend so they could sell at farmers markets, and ended up with equity in the company for it; how $14,000/mth in sales their first month after moving back to Canada turned into $100,000/mth in sales just five months later; and walking onto the Dragons' Den set Sammi had been watching since she was 14 - and the very deliberate reason they turned the deal down. I loved this chat with Sammi; we connected on many levels (losing our dads, watching our businesses crumble with the Pandemic) so when she said, "learn to listen to the whispers before they become a scream," I just knew we were destined to meet and remind each other of this.  If you know someone white-knuckling their way through a plan that stopped working a while ago, send them this one - sometimes letting go is the whole point. To try the sodas yourself (the cream soda in my coffee has my heart forever more), you can find them here.  And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

Clarissa Arthur spent her early teenage years angry. The skipping school, running away, in and out of trouble with the police kind of angry. Then 3 weeks after she turned 17, standing in the bathroom at her high school, she found out she was pregnant. This is when she made the decision to change. This instinct - to keep moving forward even in a situation that could easily have derailed her - is what propelled Clarissa in each stage of her life. Now the executive director of Nelson House, a first-stage shelter for women and children fleeing violence, she clearly, and thoughtfully, traces a straight line from her hardest years to the work she does today - continually reminding herself that you have two choices, give up or show up. We talk about: losing her dad to a sudden heart attack three weeks after she'd finally gotten her life back on track; surviving domestic violence herself, and what it's like to run one of Ottawa's five shelters for women fleeing exactly that; the job interview where she cried in front of six strangers and got hired anyway, and why she still tells her staff "I'm Clarissa before I'm the executive director"; and her actual, zero-apologies way of shutting her brain off after a shift (a sleep mask with built-in speakers and the Real Housewives, in case you were wondering). If you know anyone who could use a little Clarissa magic in their life, please share this one. For more information on Nelson House, whether that's becoming a monthly donor or just knowing the number is there when someone needs it, visit their website. If you'd like The Gratitude Effect Journal by Clarissa Arthur and Karen Jolicoeur, find it here.  And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

Dr. Sam Hetz cold-emailed three Ottawa clinics that were offering Botox, asking for ten minutes of their time. One doctor graciously said yes, changing the direction of Sam's life. A decade later he's a partner of a 70-clinic, L'Oréal backed medical group, as well as the co-founder of Ottawa's first personalized, private, longevity-focused clinic, LifespanMD.  What makes this conversation worth the hour isn't his resume, though, it's his attitude. Sam isn't afraid of change, accepting that nothing is permanent and using tools he's learned to remind himself (and his patients) that whatever you're catastrophizing about almost never actually happens. We talk about: leaving a full-time family medicine practice to bet on a cosmetic clinic he learned about by shadowing a mentor on vacation days and post-call mornings; why he says "no decision is finite" and the worst-case-scenario exercise his business coach taught him; building LifespanMD from a business plan on a napkin; the one health intervention Sam says beats every drug and why almost nobody does enough of it; and his real diagnostic question before burnout hits - are you good busy, or bad busy? Sam and I have known each other for years, and this was the first time I got to sit him down and ask him everything. I walked away with insights that I will apply to my own business (and my health!).  Send this to the friend who's always busy, as a reminder that taking time, especially for a conversation like this, is good for them. And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

Michelle Weger fell asleep at a microscope in her first year of university and woke up with two black eyes. It took five years before anyone figured out why. As Michelle talks about living with narcolepsy we speak about the tendency to hide the parts of us that aren't so polished, and what can happen when we let our guard down. What you'll hear about: the 5 years of dead-end doctor visits and the friend, Rebecca, who changed her life for the better; what it actually felt like to sleep 20 hours a day and never once feel rested; the 4-month trip to Africa that turned into an accidental blogging career, and how the desire to share elephant photos with her grandparents became a website development and SEO business that has generated millions of dollars; a service dog named Quinn who has her own piece of internet fame now; and the exact moment Michelle decided to stop hiding her diagnosis, and what happened right after. Know someone quietly managing something they're sure would change how people see them - a diagnosis, a body that doesn't cooperate, a business they're scared to be honest about? Do me a favour and send them this one. If you'd like more from Michelle - her book, her talks, or her service dog Quinn's Instagram - find her website, her instagram and Quinn's IG  over here. And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

My mom is 77. Her closest friends are four women she met when she was 16 and for almost a decade of their lives, she barely spoke to them. I went into this conversation expecting a nice story about a friend group that's lasted 60+ years. What I didn't expect was how the silence actually ended - not with a big reconciliation talk, but with two of them showing up at her door with a pie. She still calls it an olive branch. This week I chose one of the top downloaded podcasts of the year to re-release - the one where mom, sis and I talk about friendships. The ones that go quiet. The ones that end in divorce. And the ones that stay, in different ways, through the many ebbs and flows of life.  I've thought of this conversation often since we recorded it last Fall. It's made me nostalgic for friends I've lost, and it's made me feel the deepest of love for the ones with staying power.  Mom has a theory that friendships just have a clock that runs out on them. I'm still not sure if that's the most comforting thing I've ever heard or the hardest. Do me a favour and share it this episode with your friend - the one you thought of while listening. And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

Erin McHarge was a 27 year old PhD student going about her life when she was told she has stage 4B endometrial cancer - and it's incurable.  But this isn't a "cancer episode". It's a conversation with someone more curious about her own life than afraid of it - and it changed how I think about mine. This is one of the most highly downloaded podcasts of the year and within minutes you'll see why. I originally released it as a two-part but now I'm letting it be what it was - a long conversation with a good friend who also happens to be living people's worst nightmare.  We talk about what it costs to be calm and articulate while doctors dismiss you for it; the 13 days her diagnosis sat in her chart before anyone told her; getting married in front of a fireplace because the dock wedding got rained out; finishing a PhD you might not live to use; and grieving a future that was never guaranteed to begin with. This episode has never left me, and I don't think it will leave you either. Do me a favour and share it. Pass it along to someone you thought of while listening.  If you'd like more from Erin, here's her Substack.  And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

One of the most downloaded episodes in the history of this show - and it's the very first one I ever recorded 3 My friend Mandie lost her mom to cancer, and then her stepdad, 11 months later. Two parents, back to back, in under a year. We get into what actually gets you out of bed the day someone dies, running the Chicago Marathon four hours after finding out her mom had two months left, and the dead-parent jokes that only make sense once you're on the other side of it. It's heavy. It's also really funny, in the way grief actually is when nobody's performing for the room. This is why I started this show. If you fall in love with Mandie like I did, be sure to check out her business, Collective Movement.  And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

He spent 25 years inside some of the highest-stakes rooms in the Canadian government and he still describes himself as "not really a social guy." This past January Nadine sat down with Fraser Valentine to talk about what happens when the thing you built your whole identity around is about to end. It was just months before his retirement date and the conversation was so well received it remains as one of the most downloaded - so here's the re-release.  Listen in as we get into the Sunday-night ritual his father ran him through as a kid, why he calls the public service "a parent" - one that can reward you and quietly punish you in the same breath - and the moment he realized he'd spent decades accomplishing things without ever stopping to actually feel them. This isn't really about retirement. It's about what's left of you once the title's gone.  And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

This month Mom & Sis joined me to talk about the moment a parent-child relationship quietly turns into a friendship - and the phone call Nadine got from a hotel in Quebec that made her realize her mom had already made that shift, years before she even noticed. This isn't a how-to-raise-your-kids episode. It's the other side of it: what it actually takes for a parent to step all the way back, and what happens once they do. We talk about: the one-ingredient answer Lorraine gives for how this works ("I like each of you"); why she calls stepping back from parenting "a relief," not a loss; what each of her three kids has, unknowingly, taught their mother; and Lorraine's one piece of advice for any parent hoping to end up actual friends with their adult kids. I don't think I'll ever take these monthly conversations with my mom and sister for granted. This one reminded me why we keep doing them. Did this episode make you think of someone who mothered you into being? Send it along to them. And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

Nagad is a therapist, and the jeweller behind Of Soleil, where she hand-shapes polymer clay into blueberries you'd swear were real, earrings inspired by basket weaving, and collections named for the instruments and scents of home. What got me wasn't the craft itself, gorgeous as it is - it's that every piece she makes is doing quiet, deliberate work: carrying her culture and memory into rooms they wouldn't otherwise reach. We talk about: the "Fruit Salad" collection that took over two years to get right; the "Oud" collection, named for an instrument and a scent tied to home and family gatherings; why she called her business Of Soleil, and what it means to return to your own light; her day job as a therapist working with African, Caribbean, and Black communities, and how it braids into the jewelry; and why she couldn't sit and "let the clay just be" the way art therapy asked her to and what that taught her about herself. As if I didn't already love my blueberry earrings enough - now every time I put them on I'll think about, and feel, all of the love and care that went into them.  Share this episode with the creative, or the homesick, in your life. And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

Dr. Jared Gerston has been treating Nadine's body for years using a technique called PDTR. When she went to see him for what she assumed was pickleball-related neck pain and walked out pain free, learning it had nothing to do with her favourite past-time and, instead, was her nervous system still reacting to an old injury, she knew it was time to mic him up!  This isn't really an episode about chiropractic care. It's about what happens when someone gently asks your body a question your mind's been avoiding - and how fast physical pain can disappear once you actually answer it. We talk about: what PDTR is and how it reads the nervous system's compensation patterns; the two-year hamstring injury nobody could solve until they changed the question; primitive reflexes we're all still walking around with as adults; why he's stepping down as owner of the practice he spent over a decade building, to make room for the parts of the work he actually loves; and the reminder that you can't pour from an empty cup, even when - especially when - you're the one everyone else pours from. I left this conversation the same way I leave every appointment with Jared - a little smarter, and a lot more in tune with myself.  Pickleball fan or not, share this one with the person who's always moving. No doubt there's an old injury that acts up from time to time.  And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

Rebecca Rowe trained at Pratt Institute and ESMOD Paris, ran her own clothing brand for eight years, and lost her entire collection - patterns included - the week a flood destroyed her apartment.   What struck me wasn't so much the flood as what came after: an insurance adjuster telling her that her patterns (which took hundreds of hours of work) were worth $9 each. That's the moment I understood why she does what she does now.   We talk about: her eight-year-old self learning how to use a sewing machine; leaving for design school in New York at 17 without telling her parents until the acceptance letter arrived; the night the flood took her sewing machines and every pattern she owned; why she refuses to do "body type" analysis with clients and teaches anchor points instead; the five fashion theories she uses to find your real style; and the real reason women say "nothing fits" when they rarely mean it literally.   I could've talked to Rebecca for four more hours. Ideally while we are both going through my closet!   Who's your favourite shopping buddy? Send this episode to them.   And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

Ro Nwosu spent years as one of the only Black movement instructors most Ottawa-area fitness studios called on when they needed to "do the diversity work" - often unpaid, feeling under-appreciated, and expected to make hard truths comfortable to hear. This is something we cannot gloss over when we talk about her burnout - in fact, it's a direct cause. Listen in as Ro tells us how she turned "I'm the problem" from an accusation into a boundary. As someone who also suffered from burnout, that reframe cracked something open in me too. We talk about the difference between being tired and being actually burnt out; why Ro now charges an extra $8,000 to "soften" how she talks about racism; the studio space she finally walked away from; the sabbatical that turned into a full identity rebuild; the two-year communication course she took because she couldn't say no without getting angry;  and the word she's chosen for who she's becoming - unmanageable. This conversation didn't feel like two former studio owners talking shop. It felt like two women finally saying out loud what almost broke us. Do me a favour and share it - pass it along to someone you thought of while listening.And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod

This month's Mom & Sis episode started as advice for my nephew Connor, who's about to graduate high school, and ended with all three of us realizing we're still graduating into something new every few years, whether we call it that or not. Our own advice, mirrored back to ourselves, even at 48, 55 and 77.  We talk about: the year Danielle and Nadine both moved out, and what Lorraine now calls the "freeing" side of watching her kids become independent; Danielle's advice to get off your phone and make eye contact with actual humans; Nadine's own post-university panic to have everything figured out immediately; the time Lorraine nearly burned down their London Airbnb, "Casa Rosa," ironing a shirt while the stovetop quietly melted a rubber mat down the hall; and why all three believe that you should surround yourself with people smarter than you and not look for the rooms where you feel smartest. Know someone who's graduating into something new right now, with or without a cap and gown? Send this to them. And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.  See you next week, on The Other Side x @the_otherside_pod