Angela Heck on Creative Careers, Creeping Ageism, and Staying Curious | STRONG LIKE a GIRL

Angela Heck on Creative Careers, Creeping Ageism, and Staying Curious | STRONG LIKE a GIRL

Angela Heck rolled into Tanya's life in 1995 driving a hand-painted VW bus, and she never stopped moving: the National Film Board, CBC, the Whistler Film Festival, award-winning documentaries, and now the Executive Director's chair at Jazz Winnipeg. Thirty years of friendship later, the two sit down for an honest conversation about building a creative career, the creeping ageism facing accomplished women, resilience as a choice, and why women need to stop apologizing. CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open 0:58 Meet Angela Heck 2:46 A polka dot VW bus and the 1997 Canada Games 5:35 The storm before opening ceremonies 7:30 An only child in Winnipeg 14:41 From diplomat dreams to arts and culture 16:30 Jazz Winnipeg and the Whistler Film Festival 20:32 Never planned on marriage or kids 22:50 Making films and meeting Ivan 30:02 Gender equity in film and music 36:03 Women in jazz and the power of stories 41:11 Rejection, resilience, and creeping ageism 45:56 A family of nine and motherhood 51:21 A wild heart and Everest Base Camp 56:32 Success, tomatoes, and life after 50 1:00:16 Stop apologizing 1:02:16 Rapid fire MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Jazz Winnipeg: https://jazzwinnipeg.com Whistler Film Festival: https://whistlerfilmfestival.com National Film Board of Canada: https://www.nfb.ca Folklorama: https://folklorama.ca In the Shadow of the Chief (2003), Angela's first documentary CONNECT WITH STRONG LIKE a GIRL Website: https://stronglikeagirl.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stronglikeagirl.ca/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strong-like-a-girl/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/STRONG-LIKE-a-GIRL If this episode resonated with you, leave a review and share it with a friend. Chin up, chest out, stay wild

Treena Innes on Reclaiming Fun, Solo Backpacking, and Releasing Guilt | STRONG LIKE a GIRL

What happens when a woman decides, somewhere around 40, that she is not going to shrink as she gets older? She gets wilder. That is the heart of this episode of STRONG LIKE a GIRL, where Tanya sits down with Treena Innes, the self-described Life Fun Expert, author of Mind Doodles: This Is What I Know, and host of The Finding Fun Experiment podcast. Treena built an entire movement around one idea that sounds simple and turns out to be radical: fun is not frivolous, it is essential. She walks through how a bucket-list book project turned into a calling once women over 40 started asking her how she lived the way she did. Her answer was that she is not special. She just never let go of the thing most of us get trained out of somewhere between summer jobs, mortgages, and the long list of things we are supposed to be responsible for. The conversation goes to some real places. Treena talks about the three things that block women from fun, guilt, judgment, and a lost habit, and the science that connects joy to better sleep, more energy, and aging well. She shares how caring for her dying mother became one of the most fun seasons of her life, not because it was happy, but because fun and happy are not the same thing, and fun is what gave her the resilience to carry the heavy part. Then there are the trips. Treena has been to roughly 55 countries, most of them off the beaten path, often solo, with everything on her back. Japan with her teenage son. Colombia, where she felt safer than she expected. A cooking school in a Tuscan castle. The Amazon, where she got as remote as a person can get. Through all of it runs one message she repeats to anyone who will listen: stay wild, find your people, and stop apologizing for the guilt that is not even yours to carry. If you have been craving more freedom, more spark, or simply permission to begin again, this one is for you. ═══════════════════════════════════ TIMESTAMPS / CHAPTERS ═══════════════════════════════════ 0:00 Cold open 2:53 Welcome and meet Treena Innes 4:45 The book that started a fun movement 8:40 Why women stop prioritizing fun 11:40 Play personalities and fun at work 14:25 Born wild: reclaiming our spirit 15:44 The science of fun, health, and aging 18:49 Find your fun buddy 20:28 Fun vs. happy: resilience in the hard times 24:00 Becoming a backpacker at 40 28:35 Managing risk and a surprising Colombia 33:35 Tuscany and the most remote Amazon 38:43 When the world can't handle a bold woman 48:00 What women need to stop apologizing for 49:50 Rapid fire and closing reflection

Amy Doerksen on Fierce Female Hockey, Women in Coaching, and Confident Girls | Strong Like a Girl

Amy Doerksen ran for her local hockey board, lost, and decided she did not need permission to build the thing she wanted to see. That thing became Fierce Female Hockey, a camp in Brandon, Manitoba where everything is designed for girls. In this episode of Strong Like a Girl, Amy and Tanya talk about crossing over from ringette to hockey, the difference between being invited and being welcomed, why young women coaches get undermined, and what real male allyship looks like. LINKS AND RESOURCES Amy Doerksen: https://amydoerksen.com Fierce Female Hockey: https://fiercefemalehockey.com Esso Fun Days (Hockey Canada): https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/hockey-programs/female/esso-fun-days Future of Hockey Lab: https://www.futureofhockeylab.com PWHL: https://www.thepwhl.com CONNECT WITH STRONG LIKE A GIRL Website: https://stronglikeagirl.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stronglikeagirl.ca/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strong-like-a-girl/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/STRONG-LIKE-a-GIRL If this conversation stayed with you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Chin up, chest out, stay wild.

Shelley Wray on Grief, Rituals, and Learning to Carry Loss | STRONG LIKE a GIRL

Grief shows up in almost every story we tell on Strong Like a Girl, so this episode we sit down with someone who has spent years walking people through it. Shelley Wray is a grief seminar counsellor and certified funeral celebrant who found her calling as the counsellor at CFB Shilo during the Afghanistan war. We talk about why "what happened" beats "I'm so sorry," why rituals save us, and her belief that grief never really leaves, it just becomes a diamond you learn to carry.Chapters0:00 Telling the truth about grief1:13 Meet Shelley Wray2:44 The work she's proudest of: CFB Shiloh7:01 It isn't how they died, it's what happened10:51 Why grievers need to tell their story13:15 When grief accumulates14:48 Why everyone's talking about grief now16:46 How men and women grieve differently23:30 Rituals save us33:22 The razor blades and the diamond35:23 Why all grief is 100 percent39:05 Grief isn't about death, it's about loss44:45 Just show up: the daily ritual56:49 What still makes life beautiful59:14 The gratitude journal1:01:06 What women need to stop apologizing for1:04:01 Rapid fire1:06:18 Closing reflectionsMentioned in this episodeShelley's grief group: first Monday of every month at Brockie Donovan in Brandon, MB. Anyone can come. https://brockiedonovan.com/Grief Recovery Method: https://www.griefrecoverymethod.com/Connect with Strong Like a GirlWebsite: https://stronglikeagirl.caInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/stronglikeagirl.ca/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strong-like-a-girl/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/STRONG-LIKE-a-GIRLIf this conversation stayed with you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Chin up, chest out, stay wild, stay strong like a girl.

Willie Van Lankvelt on Immigration, Quiet Leadership, and Beating the Odds | STRONG LIKE a GIRL.

Willie Van Lankvelt was 21 when she packed up her life in the Netherlands and crossed an ocean to start over in rural Manitoba. She didn't speak much English. She'd never grain farmed. She was leaving seven siblings behind. None of that stopped her, and 46 years later she's still here, still building, still showing up. In this conversation Tanya sits down with Willie to trace a life that doesn't look loud from the outside but has been quietly remarkable from the inside. They cover the move from Holland in 1980 with her sister and brother-in-law, learning English one dictionary entry at a time, and losing her father two years in before she could get back to say goodbye. They get into Willie's decades of work with adults with developmental disabilities, including coaching Special Olympics and one unforgettable race where an athlete handed her a set of false teeth at the starting line. Willie also opens up about her 17 years leading the Shiloh Military Family Resource Centre through the Afghanistan deployment years, what it actually takes to lead an organization when your board changes every posting cycle, and what civilians don't see about the invisible weight military families carry. Her honesty about leadership friction, owning mistakes, and refusing to fake certainty is some of the most grounded advice you'll hear on this show. The back half of the episode turns to her medical journey. Willie was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2006, then lung and brain cancer in the summer of 2022 with a 10 percent chance of surviving the year. She walks through gamma knife brain surgery, the radon gas connection most Canadians have never heard of, and how she stayed at her desk through chemo because she wasn't ready to let illness pick her retirement date. She closes on what life looks like now: cuddling babies in the neonatal unit three hours a week, leaving every space better than she found it, and a refusal to entertain negativity that has earned its keep. Her definition of strong like a girl: anything's possible, and don't back down. What we covered: * Growing up the middle of nine kids on a mixed farm in the Netherlands * The decision to immigrate to Canada in 1980 with her sister and brother-in-law * Buying a grain farm north of Rivers, Manitoba without ever having grain farmed * Learning English one dictionary lookup at a time while doing home care * Losing her dad two years after the move and not making it back in time * Driving a 12-passenger van 430 km a day for adults with developmental disabilities * Coaching Special Olympics and the false-teeth moment that still makes her laugh * 17 years at the Shiloh Military Family Resource Centre as Executive Director * Leading during the Afghanistan years and supporting families through deployments * The hardest leadership lesson: when to back down and when to fight for the call * Thyroid cancer in 2006, recurrence in 2008, lung and brain cancer in 2022 * Radon gas as the second leading cause of lung cancer and how to test your home * Gamma knife radiosurgery and what the helmet actually feels like * Retiring at 65 on her own terms, not because cancer made the call * Volunteer cuddling in the Brandon Regional Health Centre NICU * Why she chooses positive people and walks away from negativity Connect with Strong Like a Girl: Website: https://stronglikeagirl.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stronglikeagirl.ca/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strong-like-a-girl/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/STRONG-LIKE-a-GIRL