Advertise on podcast: Careers Under Construction

After 14 years in government, Sandra Hodzic realized she couldn’t do it anymore and it was time to go. Today, she runs Sorella Strategies, a government relations firm that helps organizations understand government decisions and policies and prepare for what’s ahead. In this episode, Sandra talks about: Why she left government twice and what finally made it stick How she translates government jargon into plain language clients can use Why she brings her own folding chair to rooms that weren’t built for her Her work on First Nations citizenship and why it feels personal Why she might run for office one day and why she might not The difference between being nice and being kind Learn how she walks into rooms with prime ministers and international leaders and makes every moment count when she has 10 minutes or less.

Ryan Behie had just come off his best year yet. Then, on a Tuesday morning right after the August long weekend, the phone rang: 60 days’ notice. No cause. No explanation. He’d been with the company 11 years. He opened their Winnipeg office himself — first and only person there on day one. At home: a wife, a mortgage and a first-born who wasn’t a year old yet. He told his team himself. Then he called his clients. One of them stopped him mid-sentence. They hired Ryan, they said. Not the company he worked for. Two or three weeks later, he was filing the paperwork for his own brokerage. A year after that, on his own, he sold a major shopping centre — representing both sides of the deal and helping the out-of-province buyer line up financing and property management. In this episode, Ryan talks about starting out on a draw against commission, photocopying the Yellow Pages to find tenants on Pembina Highway, earning his CCIM designation, and why he still skateboards. If you’re buying, selling or leasing commercial space in Manitoba, connect with Ryan at Behie Real Estate Inc.

Early in his career, Cole Akerstream was working in commercial real estate on 100% commission, waiting months for deals to close. Today, Cole is Vice President of Facilities and Store Development at The North West Company, a 360+ year old Canadian company with roughly 230 stores across northern Canada, Alaska, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Cole shares: What playing junior hockey, going to university and selling TVs at Future Shop taught him about closing and relationships What the financial uncertainty of his early commission years really looked like Why he walked away from commission sales and took a pay cut How a failed Giant Tiger deal ended up changing the course of his career How he built the kind of trust that opens doors in remote communities Why chiefs and community leaders sometimes skip the chain and call him directly The night he had nowhere to sleep in Old Crow and an elder took him in The young boy in Alaska who had never seen an orange before Why he believes you should write your goals down and keep them to yourself

Some of the hardest conversations Jamie Wilson has walked into have started with people yelling at him. His approach? Listen, understand where people are coming from, and find common ground. He started his career as a teacher before becoming a U.S. Army Ranger, Treaty Commissioner, Deputy Minister, and eventually the first Indigenous Chair of the Manitoba Hydro board. Today, he serves as VP of Indigenous Strategy, Research & Business Development at RRC Polytech. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Jamie shares: How he got into BMX racing and became a professional racerHow he went from teaching to the U.S. Army RangersHow the Jay Treaty of 1794 played a role in his path to the U.S. militaryWhat Ranger training taught him about leadershipHow he helped get a new high school for his communityHow whitewater rafting and cliff jumping in New Zealand led to a career-changing decisionHow he handled tough conversations and angry town hallsWhy Manitoba needs to take more risks when it comes to innovationThe 5000 / 50 / 5 goals he sets at RRC Polytech Jamie says he often questioned whether he was ready for bigger leadership roles. Watch the full episode to hear how he learned to believe in himself.

Three days after David Asper started practising criminal defence in Winnipeg, he was pulled into his boss’s office. Joyce Milgaard was sitting there. Her son David had already spent 17 years in prison for a murder he said he didn’t commit. A six-year fight followed, culminating in an April 1992 Supreme Court of Canada decision. Later DNA testing confirmed another man was responsible. After helping win Milgaard’s freedom, David walked away from criminal law. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, David shares: How he challenged the Crown’s version of the Milgaard murder using a camcorder and crime scene reenactmentWhy he left criminal law after the biggest win of his careerWhat really happened at Canwest Global and his dad’s warning: “Never build empires, because empires never survive”Becoming chair of the Blue Bombers during years of financial and operational strugglesWhy fans wanted legroom, bathrooms, concessions and a better game-day experienceGetting cut out of his stadium deal after investing more than $6 million — while in Churchill watching polar bears with his wife and no cell service Why he reconsidered retirement and started a professional basketball team after meeting immigrant families across the country• The double meaning behind the Sea Bears logo — “I’m back”Why he believes failure teaches more than success From freeing David Milgaard to building businesses and bringing pro basketball back to Winnipeg, David Asper has left his mark on the city.

Krystyn MacKinnon started her career in banking at 19 and became an assistant branch manager a year later. She went on to help launch a title insurance startup across Western Canada, lead 100% commission sales teams, and is now Principal at Colliers Project Leaders—with no technical background in engineering or project management. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Krystyn shares: The feedback that changed how she leads Why she had to learn to lead herself first How achievement became tied to her identity How a startup and layoff changed her career The “will vs. skill” question she uses with underperformance Why leaders can’t create motivation in others How she turned her personality down from a 10 to a 4 Why psychological safety comes before high performance Why she never wants to be the subject matter expert #CareersUnderConstruction #Leadership #Winnipeg #PsychologicalSafety

Catch Fire Group helps mid-sized business owners sell the companies they’ve spent a lifetime building. Gary Brownstone’s job is to help owners see their business the way a buyer does.Sellers look back at the sacrifices, risks and legacy they’ve built. Buyers look at cash flow, growth and what happens when the founder leaves. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Gary shares: Why he never puts a price on a business and lets the market decideThe question every owner should ask: “If I disappeared for 30 days, what would break?”Why one seller accepted $1.5 million less to protect his employees and legacyWhy “sellers look back, buyers look forward”Why Gary tells owners “their baby is ugly”Why recurring revenue can be worth more than a bigger top lineWhat drives a multiple — and why American strategic buyers often pay the most Because for most owners, the number Gary gets them isn’t just a payout — it’s the rest of their life.

Those little paint colour cards you flip through at the hardware store? There's a good chance they were made by one family right here in Winnipeg. The Duha Family. Rick's first job in the family business was screwing posts into paint fan decks. Now, a robot does it. Rick isn't buying robots to replace his team. He's buying them to replace the repetitive tasks. That's where people get AI wrong. It's not about replacing people — it's about making time for the tasks that keep getting pushed down your to-do list. At 16, Rick wanted out. The Duha Group, the family paint-chip business, seemed boring. When he came back, he realized he'd been looking at it all wrong. Today, Duha is the world's leading paint-chip manufacturer. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Rick shares: How a Winnipeg garage became the world's leading paint-chip manufacturerWhy paint companies can't make their own paint chipsWhy he left and what brought him backThe mistake that taught him the mostDuha's unique employee training systemWhy "Ready. Fire. Aim." became the company's mindsetWhat it took to buy their biggest competitorWhy he believes AI will create better quality jobs, not eliminate them How did the son who couldn't wait to leave the family paint business become the 11th Duha to run it?

Kyle Romaniuk is a serial entrepreneur who started selling T-shirts on consignment at just 10 years old before launching his own design agency straight out of Red River College. That agency grew into Cocoon Branding, where he worked with brands like Red Bull and GoodLife Fitness. When COVID wiped out 80% of his agency's revenue, Kyle changed direction and launched FRAKXION. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Kyle shares: How he started his first business at age 10 and built a successful design agency. Why losing 80% of his revenue during COVID led him to start FRAKXION. What "operational quicksand" is, and why so many business owners become the biggest roadblock in their own companies. How surviving childhood cancer led to a full-circle moment with the organization that granted his childhood wish. Kyle is also the author of Embark, a book about helping leaders build stronger teams and better workplaces. Grab a copy of Embark, learn more about FRAKXION by hitting play.

In 2018, 20-year-old Hailey Dugay was sitting in the back seat of her boyfriend's truck, heading home with friends. Earlier that night, Jesse Paluk had been involved in an altercation at a bar near Fraserwood. Later, when three vehicles approached on a gravel road, Paluk stood in the road holding a rifle and told William Comber to have his back. What no one inside the truck could see was Comber standing off to the side. As Hailey's boyfriend drove away, several shots were fired. A bullet from Comber's hunting rifle struck the truck and hit Hailey. Her boyfriend rushed her to the hospital, but she did not make it. It took almost a year for Dana to learn who fired the shot that took her daughter's life. Years later, Manitoba's highest court reduced Comber's second-degree murder conviction to manslaughter. The court found there wasn't enough evidence to prove he intended to harm someone inside the truck rather than damage the vehicle. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Dana shares what happened that night and why it took nearly a year to learn the truth, how a jury ended up being selected from a Walmart parking lot and how Hailey's Way has supported more than 100 youth across the Interlake. To support youth programs in Hailey's memory, follow Hailey's Way on Facebook and Instagram.

Dale Weise was cut multiple times during junior hockey before going on to play 513 regular-season NHL games. Today, he buys and grows established businesses in Winnipeg. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Dale shares: How getting cut built his determinationThe time he thought he made the Rangers, only to be cut two days before opening nightHow he recorded the fastest Gordie Howe hat trick in Philadelphia Flyers historyWhy signing a four-year, $9.4 million contract with Philadelphia didn’t go as plannedGetting traded while his wife was eight months pregnant with twinsWhy a business he opened in March 2020 became one of his biggest lessonsHow looking at approximately 1,000 businesses led him to buy established companies instead of starting from scratch Watch the full episode to hear Dale’s journey from the NHL to business ownership.

Jenna was studying to become a dentist when she watched an episode of Cake Boss and decided to make a cake just for fun. She made it in the tiny apartment she shared with her twin sister Ashley. She was hooked right away. Then a competitor called the city on her. That push forced her to turn a hobby into a real business. Today Jenna and Ashley run Jenna Rae Cakes: 4 locations and around 40 employees, heading into their 12th yearGrew from Jenna's solo custom cake business into a full lifestyle brand with two national bestselling cookbooksPlus their Dazzle Dust edible glitter and Liquid Flavours product linesJenna stepped away from a path toward dentistry and a hockey career at the University of Manitoba to chase cakesAshley is a graphic designer who built the logo, website and visual brand and was named a 2025 WXN Top 100 Award winnerFeatured as judges on Wall of Bakers on Food NetworkHave collaborated with brands like Coach, Mercedes-Benz and Smirnoff Ice, partnered with Loacker for its 100th anniversary, and worked as food stylists on a Hallmark movie

Jaime Mann believes one thing above all else: connection isn't soft, it's strategic. As a keynote speaker, leadership coach and partner in a construction company, she blends psychology, leadership and a little sass to help people lead with more clarity, courage and confidence. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Jaime shares: Why connection is one of the most overlooked leadership skillsWhat years of anxiety, loss and perfectionism taught her about looking fine versus actually being fineThe two-word email that made her realize how much perfectionism was quietly stealing from herWhy beating yourself up never works and what the science says to do instead• How to befriend your inner bully instead of letting it run your lifeWhy she decided to go back for her master's degree at 47

In 2019, Jason Tyler McLean put a brand new gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. It jammed. The odds of that happening are one in millions. He woke up the next day, wrote himself a letter and made a promise he has kept ever since. Long before he became a coach, Jason was just trying to make it through each day. Drugs at 13. The streets of Winnipeg at 15. Gangs. A sales career that brought financial success, but not peace. Then a two-year battle with depression brought everything to a breaking point. After his attempt, he taught himself how to heal and that work became his first book, One Drop of Water. Today he is a 3x author, runs men’s mental health retreats and coaches people out of the darkest places he once lived in. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Jason shares: Why he never joined a recovery program and built his own roadmap insteadHow drugs at 13 and life on the streets of Winnipeg at 15 shaped who he becameThe motorcycle crash that nearly killed him Losing his dad to cancerHow writing One Drop of Water became part of his healingHow his biggest failures became the reason people trust and work with him todayThe message he wrote to himself the morning after his suicide attemptHow he's helped people in suicidal crisis make it to the next dayWhat happens when men finally open up“It takes a very strong man to embrace your feelings and your emotions, and to go against the grain of society.”

When Todd Burns took over his dad’s company in 2011, it was a one-man operation running out of a basement. Today, Cypher Environmental sells green infrastructure products in more than 50 countries and Todd is on a mission to replace toxic road salts with better alternatives. In this episode of Careers Under Construction, Todd shares: Why he refused to compete on price and focused on building better productsHow he spent seven or eight years grinding before his breakthrough around 2019Why he stopped chasing the public sector and focused on mining and forestryThe project that saved nearly $6 million and 934 million litres of waterHow a competitor who bragged about putting another company out of business indirectly helped Cypher gain market share in ChileWhy Cypher donates up to 5% of project value back to local communities through its Green Roads programBecause sometimes the breakthrough comes right before you're ready to fold.