Brenda MacIntyre, Medicine Song Woman
On June 21st, I had the honour of interviewing Brenda MacIntyre, Medicine Song Woman, a Juno- winning indigenous artist and keynote speaker. June 21st is Indigenous People’s Day in Canada and it also happened to be the summer solstice. I first met Brenda in 2010, when I first launched my web and TV show, Extraordinary Women TV. It was a delight to have her on my show then, and a pleasure to re-connect on Twitter Spaces, Twitter’s live audio feature, where I interviewed her a second time
Brenda’s music is healing. Through her signature medicine, song, healing work and picking up the pieces, 13 moon resilience and re awakening program, Brenda helps women manage grief, trauma and chronic pain. She’s based in Canada.
Show Notes
You will learn:
- The meaning of Indigenous People’s Day and Brenda’s perspective as an indigenous woman.
- The healing power of music.
- How a mother of a son who was murdered turned her pain into purpose and healing.
Audio Clip of Brenda’s Top Tip (sound on, 13 secs.)
Transcript (edited for length and readability)
Interview date: June 21, 2022 / Twitter Spaces / hosted by Shannon Skinner
Shannon: This space is powered by Extraordinary Women TV.
So it is Indigenous People’s Day here in Canada. What does it mean to you?
Brenda: It’s a day for our people to come together and celebrate, and to show our culture and take pride in who we are. and on the flip side of that, it’s kind of awful to know that our government is behind the scenes basically doing all kinds of, well, the genocide continues. And so this is kind of a performative day in a way for a lot of people. And then they will forget about us and go about their business, meanwhile we have missing and murdered women and girls. I mean, my son was murdered.
Shannon: That’s right. A few years ago, your son was murdered here in Toronto.
Brenda: Six years ago, still feels like yesterday. There’s still so much that’s going on that needs to be healed and the media loves to ignore it. And so does the government. So it’s a day where at least we can claim space. And have pride in our culture.
Shannon: It’s also a great day for others to learn about the culture, music, dance and art. So it’s good to raise awareness from that standpoint.
Brenda: It is. And it’s also really good to raise awareness about truth and reconciliation because that’s what really needs to happen so that our culture can be celebrated. And in an even bigger ways.
Shannon: You are an artist, a singer and you make beautiful music. What inspired you to become a singer? I’ve known you for a number of years, I’ve interviewed you in the past, so I’m familiar with your music. What inspired you to become a singer, in the first place?
Brenda: I always have been one. I couldn’t not be one. I was born to be a singer. That’s who I am. It’s in my name. It’s literally in my name – Medicine Song Woman. That’s who I am. And I didn’t know anything about my indigenous heritage at all until my thirties.
And I’m still discovering, because I was adopted in the sixties. But, I knew from the age of 11 that I was to be a singer.
Shannon: Maybe you can describe your music and what makes it unique.
Brenda: All of my songs are healing songs these days. When I started out, I was actually a rap artist in Miami.
So picture that. Right. that’s how I got my start. And I loved hip hop because it was very easy for me to just make rhyme. It was so easy and I was asked by this label to do a 12 inch single. And it was the start of my career, really. After that I went to reggae and I fell in love with reggae, and I am still in love with reggae. Roots reggae, mostly, but even a little dance hall, but I play in a way that nobody was really doing back then, which was conscious music. After just sort of doing empty rap and I don’t know, pop songs and whatever, even some house music and stuff like that, it was empty to me. But when I fell in love with reggae and started playing with the reggae band, back in the nineties, that just lit my soul on fire because now people were not just dancing and enjoying themselves, but they were listening to the lyrics and singing them.
They were singing those conscious lyrics. For me, it was about oneness and peace and coming together as people. And so that’s continued as a theme in all of my work, really. So reggae was a gift to me and became kind of part of the way that I sang too. Marcia Griffith, like I fan girl over her, she’s like one of the greats.
Because it’s conscious music and that’s kind of where I started springing into more of that. And now that’s all I do is conscious music. It’s no more of the fluff anymore. When I was 11 and when I was a teenager and even in my twenties thought that I was gonna be a pop star. That was my whole thing. And no, that’s like, not at all. I’m not even part of the music industry. My music now, kind of like my last album, there’s a little reggae. There’s a little rap. There’s a little kind of R and B styles. The thread though is that it’s indigenous reggae. So there is hand drumming and certain kind of shaker.
So it’s more like a roots reggae style, but with an indigenous flavour and foundation. And when I do my albums, everything’s done in ceremony. I’m infusing healing energy into what I’m doing.
Shannon: So, as you mentioned, your son. was killed in Toronto in 2016. And you really turned to your own music to help you with your own grief and you turned that into a way of also helping other women, too, with trauma and grief. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Brenda: First of all, music is the thing that brought me back from the shock. The first couple of years were just a mess of all kinds of weird publicity media stuff and discoveries and going to court. Then the real trial didn’t start until actually 2018. And it literally started on my birthday.
After a bunch of delays, it was supposed to start much earlier. I called that year, 2018, the year of court, not realizing half of 2019 would also be spent in court. But I prepared myself for it, so I was in ceremony that whole year. And I just did, nothing but healing for myself, but I also applied for grants.
I was like, what’s gonna get me through this as always is my music. So I decided to make an album literally while I was in the murder trial. Obviously not in the, on the benches, but in between sessions. That’s what I was doing was working on that album and it got me through it, but also those are songs for grief.
They’re full of love for my son. That’s the medicine, songs of love and grief. And I did that on purpose. So that all that I was going through would go into those songs as medicine and also the healing that I was getting while I was going through that. The trial ended June 2019. And then September, 2019 is when I put the album out. Every time I do music, it’s never just about the music. It’s always something attached to it for the healing. There’s always an e-book that goes with it to help people understand how to use the music for healing, and then spirit leads everything.
Spirit leads away on everything for me. So I got a download, a spiritual download. Here’s what I need to do next. And it was to create the picking up the pieces 13 minute program for women. And that program for women is how I get to literally just spend my new and full moons in play mode. I’m just playing and I’m lit on fire.
I’m just in my element and that’s because we’re singing, dancing, moving, we’re doing resilience, embodiment practices to those songs. And then on top of it, the new moons, that’s just a splash for me. That’s so much fun because I literally am channeling music live for them during the new moons for a journey every time.
So that kind of came through and it’s been amazing just seeing how the women have shifted and how they have become like sisters. It’s incredible for me.
Shannon: Give us an example of how you’ve helped someone.
Brenda: I have my medicine song healing technique that also came through from spirit in 2008. So I’ve been doing medicine song healing work for a long time. I have healed a little girl of a – she had basically came to me with a tumour and when I say came to me, they were thousands and thousands of miles away.
I do this all by distance, the healing work and the tumour had been operated on – and was there was something going on? The family contacted me and within two weeks of the healing session for that little girl, the tumour was completely gone.
So that was like my, ‘okay, now I know it works’ kind of a sign. In fact, when I started, I also had people just come into my drumming circles and literally walk away without the back pain or the headache that they came in with. Lots of stories. And the resilience piece is really important too.
Like, just to see these women who are struggling. I struggle with chronic pain still, ever since my son died, too. And I get myself as an example actually, cuz I had panic attacks all the time and now I hardly ever have them. And when I do, they’re very short instead of what I was having before with the CCP PTSD after losing my son.
I’ve seen similar shifts in others, in the women cuz we’re doing the practices. It’s not like here, go read a book, or listen to this song and now we’re done. No, we’re working with the music but really we’re playing with it. It’s getting those things into the body memory. It’s rewiring the brain and body, basically.
Shannon: Isn’t it amazing how music can be healing, but when you have knowledge and wisdom, like you do about a way of using and channeling music to heal, that’s truly a gift.
Brenda: I’m grateful to be able to do that work. It is everything to me.
Shannon: And on your website there’s some testimonials, there’s some women who wrote about their experiences. And I know that you have a video there as well about you talk like the one as a sizzle reel of you sort of speaking and whatnot.
And it’s really captivating. You can listen to your music, and we can watch how people react in the crowd to your music in the rooms. And I thought that was really quite lovely.
Brenda: Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. I really miss in person everything, I’ve been doing virtual ever since 2010 anyway, so it’s still fun. I’m still enjoying, delivering my music in that way, in those formats, still doing circle, it’s just not in person.
Shannon: What are you working on now?
Brenda: the healing sessions, the medicine song, healing work that I do.
And the picking up the pieces, 13 moon program, we open for the summer season, actually tomorrow. So, tomorrow I have a solstice event that’s happening, which is on my events page at my website medicine song woman.com. And you can join us for free for a solstice, celebration. We’re gonna do some of those resilience, embodiment practices and with the live music that I’ll sing for you.
Shannon: And, and to be clear too, people don’t necessarily need to be indigenous to work with. Though you work primarily with women?
Brenda: Yeah. For the picking up the pieces program, it’s open to women and two spirit non-binary people.
Tends to be all women that show up for me. and then the medicine song, healing work, really, anyone can book a session with me. I work privately with a number of long term clients and those are all women. Every now and then I will get an other gendered person for those healing sessions.
Shannon: I’m curious, to win a Juno is a huge honour. How did you feel when you got this award?
Brenda: It’s a little bit different of a story because it was our producer that received the award because it was for a compilation album. So really it’s like kind of 10 of us artists that got to share that honour. I didn’t even know we had submitted or anything was cuz there’s a whole process. You have to actually submit and pay a bunch of money to be considered for a Juno, or your label has to do it for you. If you have one and we didn’t have a label. I guess we were with a little label with that album. But it was exciting. Billy Bryans was my producer. He’s he was the drummer of the Parachute Club.
Shannon: So to wrap, if you can leave us with a tip on following your heart or something to do with music and healing, that would be lovely.
Brenda: I’ll always start with the breath. Always get into your body. Like we’re most of us are walking around in our heads. Most people are not living in their body. They’re living in their heads. And we need to get back into our bodies because that’s where the good stuff is.
So it helps you to feel grounded and to just be able to do anything if you get into your body and you can do that by breathing into your belly, that is the most simple thing that any of us can do to come out of a trigger, out of a panic attack.
Out of anger when you wanna like lash out at somebody or if you’re just feeling like you need to come back home, that’s the biggest and easiest thing that we can do.
Just brings you home. I learned that when I brought myself home. Literally, I sang my spirit home and you can’t sing without breath.
Shannon: So I’ve noticed that even for myself, when you’re feeling anxious about something, when you stop and just do some kind of breath work, it does center you.
Brenda: Immediately. There’s a reason our body’s sigh. Like all of a sudden you’re like Ah.
And yawning. Yawning is the deepest breath you can take. And there’s a reason for that, too. It just brings us back home.
Shannon: Well, thank you. And thank you for sharing some of your evening with me.
AUDIO RECORDING OF INTERVIEW (RAW, UNEDITED FILE)
Shannon Skinner is an author, international speaker, radio host, creator and host of Extraordinary Women TV.com, and travel and wine writer. You can find her on Twitter at @Shannon_Skinner.
Meet jibneh cheese entrepreneur Benita Kasbo
Benita Kasbo is a cheesemaker, entrepreneur and owner of Kasbo’s Market, based in New Jersey, U.S.
I met Benita Kasbo last year on Twitter. It was during COVID lockdown last year that I had the privilege of being one of the early adopters of Twitter Spaces, the social media platform’s live audio feature. One of the first people I met in Spaces was Benita, a bright and well-spoken Syrian-American businesswoman from New Jersey, U.S., whose story and business – making a special Syrian cheese, jibneh – intrigued me.
If you are on Instagram, you may have even caught our recent Instagram Live.
Earlier this month (June 10, 2022), I interviewed Benita Kasbo on Twitter Spaces, back at the place where we first met.
Here are some highlights from our conversation in the transcript below. Note the text from the original transcript has been shortened for length and edited for readability.
“My mission is to bring authentic Middle Eastern flavors and foods to your table.”
Show Notes:
You will learn:
- what Syrian Jibneh cheese is, what makes it unique and how it is made.
- tips on getting a food brand start-up off the ground (during COVID).
- how Benita landed a feature article in the New York Times (with millions of impressions and value of more than $150K) without having any PR experience.
“I came to the U.S. with my family as a toddler from Aleppo, Syria. I’m a proud Syrian American and I’m very excited to share my favorite traditional Middle Eastern staples with you.”
Audio Clip of Benita’s Mission(13 secs.)
“
Transcript (edited for length and readability)
*Interview Date: June 10, 2022 / Twitter Spaces
Shannon: What is Kasbo’s Market? Where did you get the vision?
Benita: Kasbo’s Market is a curated Middle Eastern food brand and it was inspired by my Syrian heritage. I was born in Aleppo, Syria, and I came to America when I was two years old. However, I wasn’t really Americanized because my family was very traditional. At home, we only spoke Arabic and at the school I spoke English.
I kind of grew up in two worlds. I honestly can say the best part about growing up for me was the food that I was exposed to. I always loved it and I would get excited if we got invited to someone’s house because I thought, what food they were going to serve us, cuz that’s how much I enjoyed the food of my culture.
As I got older and became an adult, I had this idea to do a food brand, almost 20 years ago. So I’m a little late, but it’s not really late. But I do wish I did start it earlier. What kicked it into gear for me was, actually back in 2018, I started working with Syrian refugees and I started helping them with translation.
That was during the height of the Syrian war. That really inspired me to say, how can I represent this culture in a positive way? Cause that was such a very difficult time for that part of the world. It still is, but people don’t talk about it that much anymore.
So I’ve been making jibneh since I’ve been married, so a long time, and I said, I really would love to share this with people. I started giving it out to friends, and friends of friends, and people would say, you should sell this, it’s so good, and nobody knows what it is. So I did start my LLC back in 2018, but I never got it up and going.
During COVID was when everything came together. While we were all home quarantining, I was able to get all my licenses and get everything properly done to have a real business. During the pandemic, I went for it and then I launched it.
Shannon: It takes a lot of guts and grit to get a business off the ground.
Benita: Totally completely. It’s still scary. There’s still a lot of questions. I always chuckle when you wrote entrepreneur, and you said that, because I don’t think of myself that way, even though I know that I am that by definition.
I just consider myself someone on a mission to expose people to food that maybe they’re not comfortable with or they don’t know. And so that’s really what motivates me is this mission to make it happen.
Shannon: Connecting food to culture. So what makes jibneh cheese unique?
Benita: Jibneh starts with curd. So I always joke around that I don’t have a cow in my yard. I’m not like going to get milk and make curd. I purchase curd and it starts with a curd recipe.
I try to make them as uniform as possible, but it’s not always perfect. Then, I salt them and they have to go through a curing process. What the curing process does is, number one, the salt penetrates the curd to give the curd the saltiness that you taste once the jibneh is fully made. And it removes the moisture.
And that helps makes it extremely meltable. Also it doesn’t get oily. Sometimes cheeses that are high in moisture, when you melt them, they tend to get oily. Jibneh doesn’t. So once the certain amount of hours pass and it’s cured, it goes through another process with cooking and seasoning. I use this Middle Eastern spice called mahleb, derived from seeds of cherry pits from the Middle East. These little seeds almost look like pinoli nuts and are very tiny. Then I finely grind them and it turns into a powder that releases an aroma of almonds and nuttiness, and a slight floralness. And that gets incorporated into the cooking process. Then the curds, as you’re cooking them, turn into cheese and these little mahleb seeds grab onto the curd.
Once it’s fully cooked, it comes out, and you see all the speckling on the jibneh and then I have to cool it immediately after. What the cooling process does, even though I’m not a food scientist, I just am an experienced person making this, is lock in the flavor of the jibneh.
Then the next day, you have to keep it overnight, it’s ready.
Shannon: I know on your website, you have pairings ideas. You talk about, growing up, you would eat watermelon and cantaloupe with it. It sounds refreshing.
Benita: It’s so delicious with watermelon or cantaloupe, because you get that sweet and savory combo. Also because the jibneh is low moisture. I don’t want to say it’s semi soft. I’d say it’s semi hard. So it’s softer than cheddar, but not as soft as mozzarella. So the texture of it along with fruit is delicious.
Shannon: Also you pair it with apricot jelly. I suppose probably any kind of fruit jelly or jam would be good on it. And then toast it.
Benita: In the Middle East, we love apricot jam. We love fig, even cherry would be so good with it because it has the seeds from the cherry itself.
So any of those types of flavors where you’re getting sweet with the salty is so delicious and whenever you have a warm piece of bread with a cold jam and then something salty on top, you’re getting so many different flavors and textures as well as the heat from the bread. It just makes for such a delicious bite.
Shannon: Where is your cheese available?
Benita: I do a farmer’s market right now for the whole month of June, in Madison, New Jersey, which is where my commercial kitchen is. And then it’s available at Ideal Cheese Shop in Manhattan, as well as Day Bars now in Manhattan, that happened recently and then, and also West Side Market in Chelsea.
Benita: And in Maplewood, New Jersey, it’s available at a store called the Maplewood Wheelhouse. So right now it’s four locations. Then there’s actually one coming in about 10 days and then, something even bigger is happening probably within the next month.
Shannon: Your mission… can, if we can just circle back to that for a moment because I love this idea of connecting food with culture. For you, you know, it’s not so much teaching people about Middle Eastern culture, but you love for people to be able to experience the Middle Eastern culture through food. Is that what I’m understanding?
Benita: Yeah, absolutely. Unfortunately, because of the news that comes out of that part of the world, it’s never positive. And I think that there’s a perception of what that is. People are enjoying hummus and falafels, but they’re not thinking about the people that come from there, I think sometimes. I really want that to be a focus, like where you’re thinking like, oh my gosh, like these people make these, this amazing food it’s, you know, a beautiful country. I wanted to start being a broader picture of where these places are and how wonderful they can be and just kind of dilute that image that they see on the news about all the war and all the stress.
So if I can be a voice for that, that’s really is my part of my mission. Sometimes people can be intimidated by foods from other cultures because they might think it’s complicated or they’re unfamiliar with. So I think that if I can simplify it for them, that’s another way for people to learn.
Shannon: When you got started, what was the greatest challenge for you?
Benita: I think the biggest challenge is actually just taking the first big step. I think that’s the biggest hurdle. Taking down the mental barriers that we put up for ourselves to go after it.
So that was like the first big thing, because I do have a young family, I have three children. It’s very busy. It’s a very complicated schedule and you know, it would be easy for me to make excuses as to why I can’t.
And then once I knew I was like, all right, that’s it, I’m doing this, after that, of course like logistically it’s challenging in the beginning, especially because it was during COVID, was getting my licenses and having people come inspect my kitchen. Those logistics were very hard.
But I made it work. I got it done. And then off I went. And you have to be okay with rejection because there is a lot of rejection. You have to be willing to go out there and knock on the door of places and ask if you can meet with the owner.
Shannon: One thing you did extremely well, and I was really proud of you, is that you managed to land a feature in the New York Times. As somebody who has over 25 years experience in PR as a public relations consultant and in media, I know how difficult it is to get publicity, but in particular, the New York Times. And here you are a small business owner, you didn’t have a big agency behind you, you didn’t have a big publicity budget as well, but you did it. You got this amazing piece. So congratulations.
Benita: Thank you so much. It was very exciting.
Shannon: How did you do it? Because maybe there is an entrepreneur or a small business owner listening. They may be in your industry or any other industry, and they want to do it themselves, too. And maybe by you sharing how you did it, that will inspire others to do the same.
Benita: I knew who Florence Fabricant [New York Times food writer] was, in terms of her name and what she’s about. And I said to myself, she’s in New York city, New York Times is obviously in New York. I’m not far from the city. And I said to myself, why not just try? She’s she may not email me back. Like if that’s the worst of it, I’ve had worse things happen to me. So what I did was I put together an email. And I wrote an email that was kind of personal. I talked about how I came from Syria when I was two years old. And how one of the best parts of my childhood was the food I was exposed to. I even threw in a joke. I said, I’ve been eating hummus and falafel before it was trendy. I explained to her what I was doing. I told her that I had started this food business during COVID and that, I would love for her to try it.
I said, okay, now we’ll just leave it out to the universe and we’ll see what happened. I thought it was a catchy subject line and the way I positioned it was I wrote there’s a new cheese in town. Have you tried it? And I thought that that would be a little eye catching. It was new to New York city. So I was like, she needs to know that this new thing is there and she’s a food lover. She’s a cookbook writer. I just thought that might grab her eye and, so off it went and then I just waited. I didn’t give it a lot of thought because I’m so busy. And then one day, six, seven [weeks later, I get an email directly from her, from Florence Fabricant, and she writes back to me and she says, hi, Bonita, I’m sorry in my delay getting back to you. I would love to try this cheese and I’d be happy to go buy it.
I was like blown away. When I got the email, I was shocked. I quickly replied and they said don’t worry about buying it. I’ll deliver it to you. So, that evening I put together a beautiful package and I personally delivered it to her building in New York city.
And then she communicated with me that she received it. And then her team contacted me and they said it will be in the New York Times next week.
And there you go.
And it was actually a pretty large article as well as the picture was about a four by six size. So that really blew me away..
Shannon: Congratulations because I do know how difficult it is. What business owner wouldn’t want to be in the New York times?
So thanks for sharing that. And hopefully your little journey getting yourself some publicity [00:14:00] has inspired others. I’m sure that has opened or will open in the future some doors for you.
Benita: It did. It actually helped me get into Zabars. Zabars is a very big name in New York and outside of New York as well.
So it has been helpful having that article in my pocket. My advice would be just try. Even if you’re not a food entrepreneur, whatever type of entrepreneur you are, is if it’s just an email, don’t say, oh, it doesn’t matter. Or they won’t read it. You don’t know. And you also don’t know what’s going on on their end. They may be in need of what you’re providing them. What was interesting about my timing with the New York Times was, even though I don’t celebrate Ramadan, my family’s Catholic, it coincided with Ramadan. Eid was actually that following Monday after the article was published. And so, it was just such a perfect timing for something that is Middle Eastern to coincide with the Ramadan holiday. That worked out great for Florence as well. And then that story was shared.
When it came out, I didn’t see as just like a win for me. It was a win for our culture. Like now people across the world are reading about something that comes from the Middle East. So it was a win for my people. It wasn’t just a win for me. And that really excites me.
My neighbour next door is Egyptian and he felt that way, too. He said, oh my God, it’s such a big deal that people will know about this thing that we eat. And I said, exactly, I’m like, great. It’s we eat? It’s not, you know, Syrians eat it. It’s across the Middle East. And that’s part of bringing it back to culture and tying it back into food and educating people. So it’s a win overall.
Shannon: If you had one piece of advice or one tip?
Benita: Just give it a try. You don’t know the timing, you don’t know what’s going on with the other person. You don’t know what their needs are. I have a friend whose husband does a lot of marketing and PR for corporations. And he said to me you helped her out, too. He goes, you gave her information about something that is so new and that helps her. And so just try, you just never know, reach out to people, DM them.
I mean, I’ve spoken to so many people that I never in my life thought I would ever speak to because of Twitter and emails and Instagram. I’ve connected with so many great people for my business. Just by trying. Don’t sell yourself short and just go out and do it.
Shannon: I would just like to acknowledge that this interview was powered by ExtraordinaryWomenTV.
AUDIO RECORDING OF INTERVIEW (raw file)
Shannon Skinner is an author, international speaker, creator/host of ExtraordinaryWomenTV.com, and a travel and wine writer. She can be found on Twitter at @Shannon_Skinner. Tweet to her.
Benita Kasbo Spaces interview (text)
Q&A with comedian Jessica Holmes
Jessica Holmes is a Canadian comedian, author and life/career coach. She has opened for comedians Jerry Seinfeld, Leslie Nielsen and Ellen DeGeneres, as well as hosted events for Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins and Oprah. She performed with the Second City and Just for Laughs, and recently authored the book, I Love Your Laugh: Finding the Light in My Screwball Life. During her years on Air Farce, Jessica launched into motherhood. Today, she blends her love of comedy with motivational speaking.
I wanted to find out more about this comical woman beforehand. I am sure her fans would love to know a little bit more about what makes this beauty tick. So here it is, my Q&A with Jessica Holmes…
SS: How important is it to laugh in life?
JH: Laughter and resilience go hand in hand. No, you can’t laugh during all awful situations, like, I don’t usually crack jokes in the emergency room, but if you can lessen the time between when you lose your wedding band…again (yup, gone through 3 myself) and when you let go of the angst, you’ll be a lot healthier.
SS: Do we laugh enough?
JH: Some people are born with a completely laid back attitude – like Don Ferguson of Air Farce, or Mike Bullard, or my aunt Wendy. They can find something funny in every awful situation, and are the least stressed people I know. The rest of us can lighten up by remembering that tragedy + time = comedy.
SS: What drew you to comedy?
JH: I was one of those daydreaming kids who enjoyed my own company. But making your idea of funny something that translates to real comedy takes time. I gave my mom panic attacks by yelling “the house is on fire” or painting a toilet paper roll brown and leaving it in her bed. She’d yell “what the hell is wrong with you?!?” while I chuckled “can’t you take a joke?” So I always had the funny bone, but getting laughs from others didn’t come till high school.
SS: Why did you decide to become a Life and Career coach? How does that fit in your lifestyle/business model?
JH: I decided to become a wellness coach a year after recovering from post-partum depression. I still loved performing impressions and songs, but I wanted to add a touch of positive psychology. Re-branding was exciting because I was following my heart the whole way.
SS: How has becoming a mother impacted your work?
JH: Work/life balance is key, and a work in progress in my case…probably for a dozen more years! my kids don’t like that I travel for work (even though it’s only one or two nights per week max) and come up with gems like “but how can the audience laugh at your jokes when they know how much we suffer when you leave”. And that’s just from my 6 year old!
SS: What is your view on what a successful life looks like?
JH: I am following my instincts, and using my talents the best way I know how. I’m fulfilled, active, and in love with my kids. That feels like success for me, and I acknowledge that each persons success is different – it has to do with a person lining up life to reflect their specific values and gifts. As long as you don’t count tax season, I feel like I’m living my own type of success.
SS: What is your proudest moment?
JH: I’ll spare you my first answer, which is of course, seeing the love I give my kids pay off in their joy. My other pride in life comes from challenging myself intellectually to match up my performance with what will give the audience the best bang for their buck. I love to hear someone say “it felt great to laugh – thanks!” thank you right back, buddies!
SS: If you could do it all over again, what would you change?
JH: I would have quit Second City when they didn’t give me a night off to attend my parents Anniversary party, I would have put myself ahead of my career when my kids were babies so I didn’t collapse under all the pressure, and I wouldn’t have forgotten to show up to my photo shoot for Vancouver TV guide a decade ago. A few regrets for which I forgave myself, and learned from.
Jessica’s photo credit: Tim Leyes
Girlfriend Spring Weekend Getaway at Horseshoe Resort
Grab Your Girlfriends for a Spring Weekend Getaway!
Gather your besties for a weekend of fun, food, fitness, wine tasting, dancing and bonding. Introducing a girls’ only weekend trip at Ontario’s Horseshoe Resort on April 17-19th. It includes an opening Women, Wine & Chocolate reception, four fitness classes, gourmet breakfast, workshops hosted by Women in Biz Networking, dinner, and a live taping of Shannon Skinner’s Extraordinary Women TV. PLUS entertainment from Canadian comedian, Jessica Holmes.
Girlfriends’ getaway is the ultimate celebration of friendship offering ladies a chance to relax, unwind, reconnect and getaway for fun, laughter and women empowerment.
Join us at Horseshoe Resort (located near Barrie, just 45 mins north of Toronto).
For information and to purchase your tickets:
http://www.horseshoeresort.com/girlfriends-getaway-package.htm
Season 3, episode 5 of Extraordinary Women TV airs tonight on Rogers TV
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TORONTO, Nov. 25, 2014 – Season 3, episode five of Extraordinary Women TV with Shannon Skinner airs tonight featuring on-location interviews with Toronto’s iconic art entrepreneur, Jane Corkin, founder/director, Corkin Gallery; and Fay Athari, founder/director, Arta Gallery. Both guests share insights into the business of art. The show airs tonight at 7pm ET on Rogers TV Cable 10/63 in Toronto/Scarborough.
The show aims to empower women get their dreams into action by providing the tips and tools from some of today’s most extraordinary women. This season, Shannon goes on-location around the city of Toronto to speak with women from a range of pursuits about their passions and challenges — and how they overcome them.
Now in its third season on Rogers TV, the television series began as a live web TV talk show for women in Canada, and has grown into an inspirational, relevant and informative resource for women who want to follow their hearts and dreams, and live extraordinary lives. In January 2013, the show began airing on Rogers TV in Toronto/Scarborough, with 46 episodes being produced and aired over the first two seasons. The show has also aired in several other Rogers’ Ontario markets. And last season featured the “Woman to Watch” regular segment.
Shannon’s guests are women from all walks of life and industries, including: arts and entertainment, business, charities, media, sports, experts – and more. Some past notable guests include: entrepreneur Debbie Travis; actress Mariel Hemingway; singers Jully Black and Sarah Slean; philanthropist, The Hon. Margaret McCain; dean of law faculty at the U of T, Mayo Moran; fashion designer and Canadian icon, Linda Lundstrom; president/CEO, ROM, Janet Carding; Rebecca MacDonald, founder, Just Energy; actress Sarena Parmar; Plan Canada’s president/CEO, Rosemary McCarney; among many others.
Nearly 300 episodes have been posted and archived on the web for public access since its inception in September 2010, when it began as a live web TV series, and 52 episodes have been produced to-date for Rogers TV. Extraordinary Women TV is produced and owned by Shannon Skinner and Comfy Chair Productions Inc., and is filmed in Toronto.
Rogers TV Toronto’s full scheduling information: click here.
* photo courtesy of Corkin Gallery
Season 3, Episode 4 airs tonight on Extraordinary Women TV on Rogers TV
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TORONTO, Nov. 18, 2014 – Season 3, episode four, of Extraordinary Women TV with Shannon Skinner airs tonight featuring special coverage and interviews from the Canadian Beauty Innovation Awards. Shannon speaks with Natalie Lewis, founder, Canadian Beauty Innovation Awards; Linda Leatherdale, VP Marketing and Business Development, Cambria and financial columnist; Mary Tripi, hair stylist icon and entrepreneur; and Academy Award-nominated actress and wellness advocate, Mariel Hemingway. Also featured are interviews with founder and executive director, Re-Think Breast Cancer, MJ DeCoteau; and renowned Toronto artist, Beverley Jenkins.
The show airs tonight at 7pm ET on Rogers TV Cable 10/63 in Toronto/Scarborough.
The show aims to empower women get their dreams into action by providing the tips and tools from some of today’s most extraordinary women. This season, Shannon goes on-location around the city of Toronto to speak with women from a range of pursuits about their passions and challenges — and how they overcome them.
Now in its third season on Rogers TV, the television series began as a live web TV talk show for women in Canada, and has grown into an inspirational, relevant and informative resource for women who want to follow their hearts and dreams, and live extraordinary lives. In January 2013, the show began airing on Rogers TV in Toronto/Scarborough, with 46 episodes being produced and aired over the first two seasons. The show has also aired in several other Rogers’ Ontario markets. And last season featured the “Woman to Watch” regular segment.
Shannon’s guests are women from all walks of life and industries, including: arts and entertainment, business, charities, media, sports, experts – and more. Some past notable guests include: entrepreneur Debbie Travis; singers Jully Black and Sarah Slean; philanthropist, The Hon. Margaret McCain; dean of law faculty at the U of T, Mayo Moran; fashion designer and Canadian icon, Linda Lundstrom; president/CEO, ROM, Janet Carding; Rebecca MacDonald, founder, Just Energy; actress Sarena Parmar; Plan Canada’s president/CEO, Rosemary McCarney; among many others.
Nearly 300 episodes have been posted and archived on the web for public access since its inception in September 2010, when it began as a live web TV series, and 52 episodes have been produced to-date for Rogers TV. Extraordinary Women TV is produced and owned by Shannon Skinner and Comfy Chair Productions Inc., and is filmed in Toronto.
Rogers TV Toronto’s full scheduling information: click here.
We must do more to support Canadian artists
About 50,000 years ago, a creative explosion occurred in our human evolution when Homo sapiens suddenly developed new skills and forms of self-expression. They began painting, created music and designed musical instruments. They made decorative jewelry from ostrich eggshells, fashioned clothing and invented advanced tools. This “dawn of culture,” according to authors Richard Klein and Blake Edgar, is when humans began to display abstract thinking and develop culture and art, and is considered to be the most significant cultural event in human history.
Symbolic thinking – that is, thinking and communicating through abstract symbols — is the foundation of arts, music, language, mathematics and science.
(Art courtesy of Julie Himel)
Fast-forward to the 21st century, human beings have come a long way in our creative arts since decorating ostrich eggshells, and one thing is for certain: artists make our world a colourful and interesting place. Innately curious and inquisitive, artists create beautiful, dramatic, thoughtful forms of art that please and engage the human eye and ear, or get us to think — or move our bodies. Artists also play an important role in society because they document history in the making. Think of all the artifacts and works – ancient and modern — that are in museums and institutions around the globe.
And yet, given their importance, many artists — from painters to filmmakers to dancers to writers — are still today unable to survive economically from their art alone. Often times, they are asked, almost expected, to provide their talents or skills for next to nothing, or nothing at all. As Jenn Goodwin, Toronto-based dance artist and programmer for Scotiabank’s Nuit Blanche, put it: “You would not ask a plumber to give their services for free.”
As a nation, we do not support them enough.
Historically, artists have always had to rely on personal patrons, like a rich uncle. Today, we are fortunate in this country that our governments have become larger-scale patrons with their various funding and resources for arts and culture, but the arts is always vulnerable to cuts and economic down-turns. Fortunately, we do have a number of philanthropists who support the Canadian arts, such as The Honourable Margaret McCain, who I interviewed last season.
And so, this season, on my show Extraordinary Women TV, I wanted to bring out the stories of local independent artists, the challenges they face and how they get their support to continue doing their art. I wanted to play a role, albeit a small one in the bigger picture, in advocating for them.
So I went on-location over the summer to various art shows, such as the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition and Distillery District, and visited galleries. As I walked around with my cameraperson and spoke with these artists, I realized they are truly extraordinary — not because of status or financial wealth, but because it takes bravery to not only create art, but to share your art with the world. As Toronto-based artist, Karen Taylor, says: “As an artist, you feel naked and exposed.”
Artist Julie Himel, an award-winning Toronto painter and mother of a young child, has managed to find support to do her art full-time and balance it with having a family. On a personal level, during difficult times, she turned to her art as a means of healing, as so many artists do. Her work, which is nothing short of magnificent, can be found in public and private collections internationally. “If you keep your eye on beauty and simplicity, life can be a lot happier,” says Himel.
Abstract artist, Kate Taylor, works out of her studio home in Toronto and her art appears in private collections around the world. Blending art with business, she spearheads The Artists’ Network, an organization geared to helping and supporting visual artists create sustainable businesses and professions.
And so, if I have a take-away from filming this season’s show it is this: Toronto has many remarkable and talented artists, women and men, who make our city a colourful and interesting place. Their art has value — and so do they. My wish is to see many more Canadian businesses, and those with deep pockets and rich resources, taking a greater role in supporting independent artists. Surely today we are much more awake than we were at the dawn of culture 50,000 years ago. The stereotype of the “starving artist” should no longer linger in our collective consciousness.
Check out my coverage at the Toronto Art Exhibition on my YouTube Channel.
On the topic of creativity, check out my book, The Whispering Heart, Your Inner Guide to Creativity.
Welcome to the team, Anne-Marie Short
I am so grateful to introduce a valued member of my team on Extraordinary Women TV: Anne-Marie Short, founder and CEO of Your Global VA. Anne-Marie is our social media manager.
Coming from a background in the corporate world, but always having an entrepreneurial spirit, Anne-Marie founded Your Global VA in 2008 when she discovered that social media was about to become mainstream.
Anne-Marie offers Social Media Marketing and Virtual Assistance to clients all over the world. She provides customized strategies for busy entrepreneurs in order to assist them in building a strong online presence, and ultimately increasing their business growth.
The mission of Your Global VA is to create original, distinctive, and marketable solutions while being mindful of the voice, vision and message of each individual client.
To contact Anne-Marie for a complimentary 30-minute consultation, please visit http://yourglobalva.com.
Guests on Season 3, EP2 of Extraordinary Women TV on Rogers TV
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TORONTO, Nov. 4, 2014 – Guests on season 3, episode two, of Extraordinary Women TV with Shannon Skinner are: jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson, one of Canada’s most successful female athletes; Canadian actress Sarah Fisher (Degrassi); Indy race car driver and racing team owner, Sarah Fisher; and Glenda Fordham, author of Women Racer, about her book on women in motorsport. The show airs tonight at 7pm ET on Rogers TV Cable 10/63 in Toronto/Scarborough. 
(Emma-Jayne Wilson, jockey, at Woodbine Racetrack)
The show aims to empower women get their dreams into action by providing the tips and tools from today’s most extraordinary women. This season, Shannon goes on-location around the city of Toronto to speak with women from a range of pursuits about their passions and challenges — and how they overcome them.
(actress Sarah Fisher at Toronto Indy)
Now in its third season, the television series began as a live web TV talk show for women in Canada, and has grown into an inspirational, relevant and informative resource for women who want to follow their hearts and dreams, and live extraordinary lives. In January 2013, the show began airing on Rogers TV in Toronto/Scarborough, with 46 episodes being produced and aired over the first two seasons. The show has also aired in several other Rogers’ Ontario markets. And last season featured the “Woman to Watch” regular segment.
(Sarah Fisher actress, left, and Sarah Fisher Indy race car driver/team owner, right, at Toronto Indy)
Shannon’s guests are women from all walks of life and industries, including: arts and entertainment, business, charities, media, sports, experts – and more. Some past notable guests include: entrepreneur Debbie Travis; singers Jully Black and Sarah Slean; philanthropist, The Hon. Margaret McCain; dean of law faculty at the U of T, Mayo Moran; fashion designer and Canadian icon, Linda Lundstrom; president/CEO, ROM, Janet Carding; Rebecca MacDonald, founder, Just Energy; actress Sarena Parmar; Plan Canada’s president/CEO, Rosemary McCarney; among many others.
(Glenda Fordham, author, Women Racers, at Toronto Indy)
Nearly 300 episodes have been posted and archived on the web for public access since its inception in September 2010, when it began as a live web TV series. Extraordinary Women TV is produced and owned by Shannon Skinner and Comfy Chair Productions Inc., and is filmed in Toronto.
Rogers TV Toronto’s full scheduling information: click here.
Guest line-up for season premiere of Extraordinary Women TV
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TORONTO, Oct. 28, 2014 – The guest-line up has been announced for the season premiere of Extraordinary Women TV with Shannon Skinner , which airs tonight at 7pm ET on Rogers TV Cable 10/63 in Toronto/Scarborough. In this first episode, host Shannon Skinner goes on location to the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, filmed this summer, where she speaks to a range of Toronto-based artists including: Jenn Goodwin, dancer and programmer for Nuit Blanche; Lindsay Zier-Vogel, Love Lettering Campaign artist; Kate Taylor, visual artist and Vice Chair of the Artists’ Network; Karen Taylor; Ness Lee, best known for her sumo-inspired illustrations; Sarah Gaby-Trotz; and jewelry designer, Lisa Ridout.
“This season, I wanted to highlight a number of artists because they make our world an interesting place and they yet are so often overlooked,” says Shannon Skinner, the show’s host and producer. “These women are extraordinary because they are brave enough to not only follow their dreams, but to share their art with the world, which requires courage.”
The show aims to empower women get their dreams into action by providing the tips and tools from today’s most extraordinary women. This season, Shannon goes on-location around the city of Toronto to speak with women from a range of pursuits about their passions and challenges — and how they overcome them.
Now in its third season, the television series began as a live web TV talk show for women in Canada, and has grown into an inspirational, relevant and informative resource for women who want to follow their hearts and dreams, and live extraordinary lives. In January 2013, the show began airing on Rogers TV in Toronto/Scarborough, with 46 episodes being produced and aired over the first two seasons. The show has also aired in several other Rogers’ Ontario markets. And last season featured the “Woman to Watch” regular segment.
Shannon’s guests are women from all walks of life and industries, including: arts and entertainment, business, charities, media, sports, experts – and more. Some past notable guests include: entrepreneur Debbie Travis; singers Jully Black and Sarah Slean; philanthropist, The Hon. Margaret McCain; dean of law faculty at the U of T, Mayo Moran; fashion designer and Canadian icon, Linda Lundstrom; president/CEO, ROM, Janet Carding; Rebecca MacDonald, founder, Just Energy; actress Sarena Parmar; Plan Canada’s president/CEO, Rosemary McCarney; among many others.
Sponsors to acknowledge include: The Private World of Mary Tripi; Jordane Cosmetics; Deborah Krymuza (makeup design); Your Global VA; Fresh Florals; Makara Jewelry; 69 Vintage Clothing Company; and Shannon Skinner Media.
Nearly 300 episodes have been posted and archived on the web for public access since its inception in September 2010, when it began as a live web TV series. Extraordinary Women TV is produced and owned by Shannon Skinner and Comfy Chair Productions Inc., and is filmed in Toronto.
Rogers TV Toronto’s full scheduling information: click here.
