Reaching for the Middle

In Episode 12, Season 2 Reaching For the Middle host, James Donison, answers that age old question, How To Be Successful. This is also a call to action, for you. Will you take the leap? 

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LINKS

RFTM website: https://www.reachingpodcast.com/  (with links to your favourite podcast platform)

RF...

Former Reaching For The middle guest, Dr. Cameron Norman, brings his expertise to this episode, providing five factors that contribute to workplace well-being. He'll also discuss Design Thinking and how it can assist organisations in providing a better workplace for their employees, increasing happiness and retention.

Guest

Dr. Cameron Norman is the Principal and President of Cense Ltd. He brings more than 25 years of experience as a psychologist, educator, scientist, evaluator, and designer to the challenge of innovation in human systems and services.
Cense Ltd. is committed to supporting organizations in strategic...

In this short BONUS clip, past guest, Geoff Wilson talks about his initial journey into plant medicine when faced with depression, and how he soon realised he was doing it all wrong.

In Season 1 Episode 1 (July 2021) of RFTM Geoff and I decided to cut this clip from the episode in order to share the story later, in his book Evolve: The Parables of Plant Medicine (available on Amazon). Instead of merely releasing this clip to promote the book, Geoff and I decided to record another episode of Reaching For The Middle in Season 2 (episode 10), allowing u...

Geoff Wilson was the very first guest on the Reaching For the Middle podcast; so to celebrate the season finale of his podcast, Parables of Plant Medicine, and the release of his book Evolve: The Parables of Plant Medicine (available on Amazon as an e-book), about his journey from depression to psychedelics that he feels saved his life .

Guest Info
Geoff Wilson, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffrey-c-wilson-7371528/
Parables of Plant Medicine podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2YSW8pxMTOn7XrNBPk99BN?si=cbbf5db76c0d453a
Parables...

A bonus clip from Season 2 Episodes 6 and 7 with Pancho Fonseca. We talk about his mom's good fortune, drive, and how we used to view the age of 50 as "old". We also discuss our good friend AJ Scales, an Elite BJJ competitor,  who runs a successful Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy in Regina, Saskatchewan in Canada.

Mentions

Complete Martial Arts and Fitness (AJ Scales) https://www.completemma.ca/

Buy the Host/Producer/Editor/Marketer a Coffee (donate to fuel the production of the RFTM podcast): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/reachingpoS?ref=widget-1919953

Oksana Tkachenko  is juggling a successful career and family life in Australia, with the constant worry of the horrors that are happening in her birth country of Ukraine. 

In part two of my conversation with Oksana, we discuss her ability to, seemingly, hold the weight of the world on her shoulders with a smile on her face. She'll explain the difference between success and accomplishment, and tell us why self perception is more important than how we're perceived by others. 

Through her company, Brisbane based, Lean Finance (link in description) Oksana is forming an...

With many of her family still in the Ukraine, and at the time of this writing, some trapped in a cellar in the Mariupol war-zone, Oksana Tkachenko  is juggling her successful career, and family life in Australia, with the constant worry of the horrors that are happening in her birth country. 
In part one of a two part conversation with Oksana, we discuss her childhood in the Soviet Union and the volatile conditions in the Ukraine after it gained independence in the 90's, and how she's a testament to the resilience of the Ukrainian people.
She shares ho...

This ones for all the dads and soon to be dads out there. It will also be an interest to the women in their lives who want an inside peek into our views on fatherhood and marriage. This is Part Two of my conversation with Pancho Fonseca. If you haven't listened to Part One yet, I suggest you go back an episode. You don't want to miss Pancho's 'Origin Story'.
This episode also touches upon mental health. If you or someone you know could use the help I've left a link in this description. LISTEN. SUBSCRIBE. RATE. SHARE.<...

In this episode of Reaching For The Middle, I'll speak with my childhood (and adulthood) friend, Pancho Fonseca about growing up in a lower socio-economic neighbourhood in Regina Saskatchewan, Canada, and how he managed to make so many friends, and still does to this day. We discuss how his family escaped Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship uprising, and how his mom is probably more Canadian than most Canadians. We  also chat about shenanigans in our youth, relationships, family, and the draw backs of having huge success before you're ready.  LISTEN. SUBSCRIBE. RATE. SHARE.

Guest Link

In this second half of my chat with Writer/Comedian/Podcaster Paul Bae, we talk about his move from comedic TV Host back to working in the the education system, and how he discovered the secret to becoming a great high school teacher. Paul spoke about being flat broke and  supported by his financially savvy wife, to finding his way to his real passion, writing. Paul Bae will also discuss his highly successful podcast 'The Black Tapes', critically acclaimed anthology 'The Big Loop', and how these led him to working with Method Man on 'Marvels', being courted by Network T...

A Success Podcast For The Rest of Us. Listen and Subscribe to the Reaching For The Middle podcast to hear guests from all walks of life discuss success and failure in their career, relationships and life. They'll offer key advice, perspective, strategies for a better life, and a funny story or two. Guests Include a Career Coach, Police Officer, HR Director, TV Producer, Podcaster, Actor, Psychologist, Bodyguard, Psychedelic Treatment Coach, Journalist...Your fortnightly dose of inspiration, laughter, and insight.

RFTM Guests Featured in promo

Elaine Yong S2 E2&3: https://www.reachingpodcast.com/s2...

In part one of my two part chat with Writer/Comedian/Podcaster Paul Bae, we talk about his Korean roots in a ‘not so Korean’ suburb of Ontario, Canada. And how his families determination to make Korean friends led Paul to a stint as a Youth Pastor, getting married, and then divorced after turning to Atheism. 

Believe it or not, this is a success story. We’ll talk about how his parents begged him to become a comedian, but he rebelled and became a teacher instead. Inspired by his years of teaching, he’ll talk about how he finall...

Elaine Yong is a former Canadian news reporter (GlobalTV and CityTV Vancouver), and now the Communications Manager for the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. 

In Part 2 of 2, Elaine delves further into the nightmare of her 4-week-old daughter, Addison's heart transplant. We talk about her and husband, GlobalTV News reporter, Aaron McArthur's decision to have another child and how that didn't quite go as planned. 

Elaine and I also discussed the importance of family, organ donation and the Addison Fund, a charity set up to help with Pediatric Transplant Research. 
We'll discuss paren...

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Elaine Yong is a former Canadian news reporter (GlobalTV and CityTV Vancouver), and now the Communications Manager for the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Elaine discusses her career and how she "faked it" until she really made it, family, failed relationships, hunky interns, and some amazing success stories along the way.
 
A mother of two, Elaine spoke about how their first child, Addison’s first few weeks of life didn’t go as planned, "a Horrible Nightmare", and why advocating organ donation is so important to Elaine Yong and her family...

As it’s the first podcast of 2022, and since I didn’t do it in season 1, I thought it appropriate to tell all you fantastic listeners about the host, James Donison. That’s me!

It’s a brief introduction to where I came from, how I went from Canadian Television to driving a tram on the Gold Coast, Australia, then back to my passion of video production and photography. I’ll also discuss some of my failures and successes in between.

As I expect from most of my guests, I didn’t do a lot pf preparati...

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In Part 2 of my conversation with Ashley (Ash) Gard we discuss: How he’s learning to overcome the pessimism that tends to float to the surface in the sometimes murky waters of personal protection, and how that got him to volunteer with the Queensland State Emergency Service (SES). Ash also talks about the importance of his family's involvement with his career, working almost 24/7 with his wife, Anna, and how it affects their relationships. How selling Amway changed his outlook on career and life. His definition and...

Share and Subscribe to the Reaching For The Middle Podcast, then listen to Ashley (Ash) Gard discuss how his childhood in a small New Zealand town, with parents who volunteered in victim services and a brother, who's a highly regarded bodyguard (third party protection), led Ash to a career in the military, achieve expert status in the Israeli fighting system Krav Maga, and provide third party protection to high profile clients like the Rolling Stones, Axl Rose, Paris Hilton, Harry Styles, and the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team. (Note: Host James Donison mentioned Ash was third party protection...

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In this episode we’ll listen back to our Best of 7 guests. Of course, being only 7 guests thus far it’s more about the inspiring, and sometimes controversial, things they’ve said that resonated with myself and my fabulous listeners. I’ve chosen the theme ‘Perspective and Redefining Success’.

If you’re new to the Reaching For the Middle Podcast, this will give you a good ‘jump in point’. If you find a guest(s) that appeals to you, listen to their entire episode and share it with friends, family and that lady work...

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Megan Cameron works as a Line Producer for Unscripted Television in Vancouver, Canada. 

In this episode, Megan explains what she feels is the big difference between unscripted and Reality TV, and why her job preferences tend to side with the former. She talks about her slow rise into TV Production, and how barely anyone spoke to her at her first major TV job. Now in a career she loves, Megan discusses sexual harassment on set, and how the unscripted genre she works in may have l...

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Melissa Stone makes an impact wherever she goes. Whether it be as a high level HR Director in Australia, or back home in Ireland coaching those of us in our careers that can’t seem to figure out how to get to that next level, or perhaps the passion for the role has floundered.

In this episode, Melissa discusses what differentiates her from other Career Coaches, why she lied to a reporter, as a teen when asked “What do you want to do with your life...

Subscribe to the Reaching For The Middle Podcast. Kevin Li is a Canadian TV Producer (Little Ram Productions) best known for the viral sensation reality show 'Ultra Rich Asian Girls'. You can watch full episodes on YouTube as well as 'Canadianize Me' (What it means to be Canadian), upcoming trailers for 'InFURencers' (social media influencer pets) and 'Agent Unbreakable' about controversial Vancouver real estate agent Layla Yang. 

In this episode Kevin Li discusses what it was like growing up Chinese in Vancouver, how past and current racism influences the type of programming he produces, some b...

In this episode of Reaching for the Middle, Jeff Buck shows why he's the father that all men should be, and the father all kids deserve. We talk about how he gave up careers and pushed aside friendships in pursuit of a healthy relationship with his children. He talks about love, love lost, and his passion for cooking. This episode has many pearls of wisdom and a few movie quotes thrown in for good measure. 

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Hosted By: James (Jimmy) Donison 

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Subscribe to the Reaching For the Middle podcast, Watch clips on Yo...

Corporal Kelly Risling (Riz) is a member of Canada's esteemed RCMP police force, founder of the Unidentified Human Remains Unit, and Bourbon aficionado.

Listen and Subscribe to the Reaching For the Middle Podcast to hear Corporal Risling's thoughts on police perceptions, politics and mismanagement in the RCMP, his experiences in the counterterrorism unit, why, and how, he created the Unidentified Human Remains Unit (UHRU), and his love for cranking Celine Dion's music. He’ll also talk mental health and suffering from PTSD, and offer advice and tips to people in similar situations.

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Subscribe to the Reaching For The Middle podcast now, then listen to Dr. Cameron Norman discuss the wisdom of midlife and the foolishness of youth, how the key to a successful life is to not plan it, the secret to true happiness and why he's not there yet, how he is, and isn't, coping with the solitude during the COVID pandemic, the pettiness of academia, and why the best things seem to come from left field. 

A Dr. of Psychology and Master of Design Thinking, Cameron Norman resides in Toronto, Canada. He is the Principal and President o...

He’s not only a dynamic thinker, Geoff Wilson is a BTTY Certified Change Coach, Instructor at Acorn Wealth, an online Creator, MMA Show Host and Commentator.

Listen to the full podcast episode where host, James Donison, and Geoff Wilson discuss:

His upcoming book on psychedelic treatments and his personal experimentationthe psychedelics tie-in to being a Being True To You (BTTY) Change Coach Our mutual connection to retail men’s store Randy River (now closed), famous for tacky silk and rayon shirtsWhy he moved from Canada to Costa Rica to live with his momHis thoug...