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Published by Jeff Humphreys
The Calgary Sessions is a podcast about the people who make Calgary interesting. Hosted by Jeff Humphreys, each episode is an honest conversation with artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, and community builders about where they came from, what they have learned, what they are building, and what life has taught them along the way. It is a way to get to know the city through the people who live here.
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Kelsey Hahn is the co-founder and CEO of Monark, a Calgary company that works with leaders and organizations. She played university hockey, studied organizational behaviour and has spent much of her career trying to understand what helps people do well at work. She’s honest about how hard it’s been to build her own company. Hearing no from investors felt personal, and there were times she wanted to quit. As a mother of two, she also talks about feeling judged for being ambitious and how she handles work and family responsibilities. Hockey is a big part of the chat too. Kelsey talks about being called bossy growing up, the confidence she got from playing and why she now coaches her daughter’s team. She wants the girls to enjoy coming to the rink, and coaching has given her a reason to leave work before everything is done. Things are going better with the business now, and she’s enjoying it more. She also admits it’s hard to say that without thinking she should be doing more. Connect with Kelsey Hahn: LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/kelseyhahn12 Website: https://www.leadwithmonark.com/ Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
After more than two decades in the corporate food industry, Jason Zaran started his first business at 40, opening The Main Dish in Bridgeland with years of experience and plenty still to figure out. Years later, business losses, his parents' declining health and strain in his marriage arrived together, leaving him close to bankruptcy and needing a job while his wife, Pam, and a small team kept the remaining business going. In this chat, we talk about the early regrets that shaped his approach to work, the decisions and people that helped him rebuild, and knowing when to keep going or change the plan. Connect with Jason Zaran: LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jason-zaran-85494118 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jzaran/ Website: https://fitkitchen.ca/ Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Monica Arora is the founder of Digital Monk Marketing in Calgary. Growing up, her parents encouraged her to ask questions and think for herself. Feeling comfortable being different took longer. We talk about finding people she connected with, taking her interest in understanding people into marketing, and building her business. We also get into trusting your gut and what a decision can give you even when it doesn't go the way you hoped. Monica likes the gray. Having to choose between this or that can mean missing what else is possible. That comes through when we talk about work-life balance and how hard she can be on herself. She kept the agency smaller when her kids were young so she could be there for them. As they've grown, she's had more room for the business. What worked then isn't necessarily what works now. Connect with Monica Arora: LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marorabir Website: https://digitalmonkmarketing.com/ Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Ryan HK is a Calgary photographer and director who spent more than 20 years freelancing before moving into an in-house role while continuing to take on selected creative work. His path started well before photography became a career. Ryan left university to pursue snowboarding, returned home when his dad became sick and eventually built a life behind the camera. After going through cancer treatment, he sold his house, lived in a truck camper and later moved onto a sailboat. The freedom he created eventually became isolating, and his mental health reached a point where something had to change. Ryan returned to Calgary and began rebuilding again through friendship, therapy, relationships and community. Connect with Ryan HK: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/RyanHK_ Website: https://www.ryanhk.com Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Yalda Kazemi is the founder of Yalda Kazemi Consulting Inc., a policy, ethics and compliance consultant, workplace mental-health educator and author of Unapologetic Truths. Born in Iran, raised partly in Italy and arriving in Calgary at nine, Yalda’s early life was shaped by displacement, family responsibility and the belief that hard work could carry her through anything. That mindset helped her build an education and career she loved. Then postpartum depression, anxiety and psychosis became something she could not outwork. Yalda speaks about resisting treatment, hospitalization, cultural stigma, returning to work and the long road back to herself. Her recovery led to writing and advocacy, but also to a different understanding of strength: knowing when survival requires accepting help. Connect with Yalda Kazemi: LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/yaldakazemi Website: https://www.yaldakazemi.com/ Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Rob Kerr spent years on Sportsnet 960 The Fan and calling NHL games, yet found himself wondering whether he should be further ahead. His broadcasting career began with volunteer television work in Fort McMurray while he was working in forestry. We talk about the pull to keep climbing, losing a dream job, burnout, and recognizing what he valued in work he once wanted to move beyond. His community work today, including Coach Santa, continues a commitment to giving back that began long before broadcasting. Connect with Rob Kerr: LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/rob-kerr-05753034 Website: https://robkerr.ca/ Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Hayden Mayeur is a Team Canada long-track speed skater, two-time World Championship medalist and founder of Hayloft Cafe. He moved from Toronto to Calgary at 17 to pursue speed skating, switched from short track to long track and eventually competed for Canada internationally. His path included supporting himself through part-time work, recovering from burnout and learning that his strongest performances did not always fit what the sport’s systems expected to see. During COVID, Hayden started a mobile coffee business so he could control his working hours while training. What was meant to be a small side hustle grew into a private event company and eventually began creating flexible work opportunities for other Team Canada athletes. This conversation gets into sport, work, risk and what happens when something you built for yourself starts affecting more people than you expected. Connect with Hayden Mayeur: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayden_mayeur Website: https://www.hayloftcafeyyc.ca Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Tammy Arseneau is the founder of Cortical Consulting & Coaching and a former Suncor executive whose career has moved through leadership, organizational effectiveness, change and now entrepreneurship. Tammy grew up learning to figure things out early. She lost both parents young, worked to support herself, built a career with Irving Oil, lived and worked in New Zealand, raised three boys and eventually moved to Calgary, where she spent more than a decade at Suncor. For years, moving forward was simply what she did. When her time at Suncor ended, she finally had the space to slow down and ask a different question: what did she actually want to do next? We talk about identity outside of a job title, starting a business after a long corporate career, the difference between experience and certainty, and why her growing interest in neuroscience and human performance is changing how she thinks about leadership. Connect with Tammy Arseneau: LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tammy-arseneau-mba Website: https://corticalconsultingcoaching.com/ Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Tina Mathas has spent much of her career in technology, leadership, innovation and coaching. Today, she works fractionally with businesses and founders while also making more room for writing, music and creative work. She grew up in South Africa with Greek immigrant parents who taught her about hard work, service and entrepreneurship, but also gave her a clear idea of what a practical career should look like. That led Tina through university, tech, major transformation projects, IBM, ATB, consulting and several attempts to build something of her own. Along the way came motherhood, divorce, repeated burnout, concussions and several points where she questioned whether the life she was succeeding in was actually the life she wanted. We talk about inherited expectations, why Tina kept returning to corporate life, creativity in the age of AI, faith, fear, failure, asking for help and the values that now shape her decisions. At 51, she is still figuring out what comes next, but she is doing it with a much clearer sense of what she wants to make room for. Connect with Tina Mathas : LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tina-mathas Website: https://www.tinamathas.com/ Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Deeter Schurig is the President + CEO of cSPACE Projects in Calgary, but that was never the career he was working toward. He started in theatre, spent years as a stage designer, and eventually went back to school to study architecture. We talk about getting into the acting program he wanted and deciding not to pursue it, building a creative career that was finally gaining momentum, and then realizing he was being pulled somewhere else. That path eventually brought him back to Calgary, where a research project around the former King Edward School became much more than an academic exercise. Deeter also gets into the people who helped him see things differently, the times he changed direction and the times he needed to stay, becoming a parent, his thinking around stewardship, and how those seemingly separate parts of his life eventually came together in the work he does now. Connect with Deeter Schurig : LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/deeter-schurig-51209139 Website: https://cspacemardaloop.com/ Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Reed Shimozawa is a Calgary guitarist, songwriter and founding member of Zuckerbaby who now performs with Wide Mouth Mason and other Canadian artists. Reed grew up in Lethbridge in a Japanese Canadian family shaped by internment, farm work and the expectation that he would pursue a more traditional career. Music took him in another direction, from six-night-a-week bar bands to Calgary’s original music scene, a major-label record deal, MuchMusic and national touring. When the industry changed and Zuckerbaby’s momentum disappeared, Reed had to figure out who he was without the version of success he had spent years chasing. We talk about the rise and end of Zuckerbaby, the Calgary music scene of the 1990s, becoming a father, spending more than 20 years working in a guitar store, being laid off during COVID and finding his way back into music as a freelancer. Now 61, Reed reflects on ambition, identity, past mistakes and why the time he has left feels less like a countdown and more like an opportunity. Connect with Reed Shimozawa: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reed_guitar Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reed.shimozawa/ Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Tiffany Petite is a Calgary therapist, Registered Clinical Social Worker, and co-founder of Virtuous Circle Counseling. She grew up without much confidence in what she might become, but the people and experiences around her kept expanding that picture. Social work gave her a place to belong, frontline mental health work gave her a sense of purpose, and job loss eventually pushed her toward building a counseling company with her wife. Tiffany talks about self-doubt, ambition in a helping profession, the emotional weight of caring for others, and the relationships that helped her grow into leadership. Connect with Tiffany Petite: Website: https://vccounselling.com/ LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tnpetite Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Mandy Balak has spent more than a decade building businesses, communities, and experiences across Calgary. Behind that work was a much less visible story about pressure, grief, survival mode, and the belief that more work might eventually feel like enough. In this episode, Mandy talks about building Date Night YYC, launching Branded, creating spaces for people to belong, and what was happening underneath all that momentum. She also shares how 2020 forced everything to stop, why that pause changed the way she understood ambition, and how those experiences became the foundation for her book, Chasing Enough. We get into success, identity, community, and what can happen when the drive that helped build everything becomes hard to turn off. Connect with Mandy Balak: Website: https://mandybalak.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandybalak LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/mandybalak Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Evan Birch spent nearly 20 years in emergency dispatch, including roles with STARS and Calgary 911. He became the person who could stay calm, carry pressure, and help people through some of the worst moments of their lives. Over time, that ability came with a cost: panic attacks, sleeplessness, PTSD, and the realization that he had taught himself not to feel just to keep doing the job. In this conversation, Evan talks about hiding what was happening, trying to win at therapy, and the complicated role running played in his recovery. It gave him peace, but it also gave him somewhere to keep moving. We also get into KidSport, ultrarunning, identity, and what it looks like to build a life that is no longer defined by one job. Connect with Evan Birch: Website: https://ultrabirch.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ultrabirch LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/birchevan Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Louis-Julien Roy moved west from Quebec in 1996 to climb and guide. What started with construction work, long days in the mountains, and a small sales territory eventually became Mountain Exposure, a Calgary-based business he has been building for more than 20 years. We talk about starting without a financial backup, learning how to grow through relationships, and why the business did not take off all at once. Louis also shares how his approach to goals, risk, mentorship, and responsibility changed as the company grew. This is a conversation about the steady work behind a business that lasts, and what it takes to build something that can eventually continue without you. Connect with Louis-Julien Roy: Website: https://www.mountainx.ca/ LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/louis-julien-roy-575b9538 Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Matt Gillespie is the President, CEO, and Executive Producer behind Joe Media Group, but his path into production started long before the company did. In this episode, Matt talks about growing up in Wetaskiwin, finding video through community television, getting into SAIT, building a network, and learning the business side of creative work through a lot of real-world trial and error. The conversation gets into business dips, partnerships, borrowing money to get started, buying out partners, acquiring V Strategies, and why Calgary has been the right size of city for the kind of work and life he has built. Episode 211 of The Calgary Sessions with Jeff Humphreys. Connect with Matt Gillespie: Website: https://joemedia.tv LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-gillespie-9920b013 Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Colby Delorme is a Métis entrepreneur, President of Imagination Group of Companies, and co-founder of Influence Mentoring Society. In this episode, Colby talks about growing up in Winnipeg, moving to Calgary, and figuring out where he fit as a kid from different backgrounds in a city that felt very different from where he started. We talk about getting kicked out of high school, starting his first business at 18, working in construction, learning some hard lessons, and eventually building a career around Indigenous business, consulting, ceremonial tobacco, mentorship, and community. A big part of this conversation is also about his relationship with his mom, Dr. Marie Delorme, and how their work together shaped both the business and the way he thinks about responsibility, trust, and opportunity. Hosted by Jeff Humphreys. Connect with Colby Delorme: Website: https://imaginationgroup.ca LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/colby-delorme-cist%C3%AAm%C3%A2w-napio-icd-d-71212315 Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Danijel Slisko has been self-employed for almost 30 years, starting in commercial painting before building a wider path through Calgary construction, marketing, technology, and publishing. In this episode, Danijel talks about learning business from his parents, earning trust with demanding clients, using systems before they were common in the trades, selling the company, and moving into a new chapter built around people, magazines, and community. Connect with Danijel Slisko: Website: https://www.danijelslisko.com/ LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/danijel-sli%C5%A1ko-1639a61b Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danijel_slisko/ Connect with Jeff Humphreys: Website: https://www.jeffhumphreys.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffhumphreys TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffhumphreys_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffhumphreysyyc Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios: https://www.offsetstudios.ca
Andrew Ferguson is the owner of Kensington Wine Market, but his story started long before he owned the shop. He began as the delivery driver. It was supposed to be a short-term job over Christmas, but he liked the people, the place, and the work enough to stay. Over time, he became known as the Scotch Guy, helped build Kensington Wine Market’s whisky reputation, and eventually took over the business. In this episode, Andrew and Jeff talk about growing up in Calgary, not having a clean path after school, becoming a young parent, finding his way inside a small independent shop, and learning how trust gets built over time. They also get into whisky, sales, supplier relationships, taking over an existing business, and why Andrew still wants the shop to feel personal, even as more of the world moves online. This is a conversation about Kensington Wine Market, but it is also about finding the right place, becoming useful, and building something slowly. Connect with Andrew Ferguson: Website LinkedIn Instagram Connect with Jeff Humphreys Website Instagram TikTok LinkedIn Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios
Chris Cederstrand is a former hockey player, firefighter, Team Canada sledge hockey player, public speaker, and founder of AMP Hockey in Calgary. In this episode, Chris shares the story of growing up in Saskatchewan hockey, leaving home young to chase the game, and having that part of his life taken away after a series of concussions. He also talks about becoming a firefighter, surviving a workplace accident that led to the amputation of his right leg, and the long process of rebuilding his life after everything changed. This conversation is not just about getting through hard things. It is about identity, recovery, family, chronic pain, PTSD, adaptive sport, and learning that the mindset that once helped you survive may also need to change. Chris speaks openly about the small wins that helped him move forward, the people who supported him, finding his way back to hockey through sledge hockey, and why pushing harder is not always the answer. At its core, this is a conversation about starting over when the old version of your life no longer fits. Connect with Chris Cederstrand: Website LinkedIn Instagram Connect with Jeff Humphreys Website Instagram TikTok LinkedIn Podcast Location & Production: Off Set Studios
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Apple Podcasts rankings via the Mato Topic Intelligence Platform.
Observed November 4, 2026.
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