Life Stories Markham is intended to reflect the personalities, incidents and anecdotes surrounding the community of Markham. The interview with Paul Couperthwaite provides a unique insight into our community from someone who represent a third-generation member of the Markham community. In fact, Paul recalls how as a child his visited the local farms of his grandfather and his uncle. Paul also recounts his days as a teenage volunteer Fire Fighter and how dinner time and even softball games were terminated when the bell on the arena rang out.

Paul has been an active member of the Unionville Curling Club for the past 30 years but you will her how his connection the community curling club goes back much further, Paul tells the story of how his father helped to build the curling club and then how his father frequently would get up at midnight to help to flood the ice.

It would be difficult to see how any episode of Life Stores Markham could better encapsulates our mission than the discussion we had with Jane and Ron Morgan. For those that know this couple, they know Jane and Ron as a pleasant, reliable and down-to-earth duo and yet their story shows that there is much more to these lives well-lived.

Find out how Jane and Ron’s honeymoon scuba-diving adventure left them stranded in the ocean with no boats in sight and sharks circling their feet – seriously! Discover more about how Ron’s need for speed took them in the arena of high-speed motor boat racing and how Jane rode as a Motorcycle Mama on a Harley Davidson for several years. Ron recounts his days as a professional hockey player and how his toughest opponent by far was none other than Gordie Howe.

We have all had fun and interesting experiences in our life but after listening to the Life Stories Markham episode featuring Jane and Ron Morgan you will undoubtedly prefer to live vicariously through their adventures

In this episode of Life Stories Markham, find out more about the multi-talented and dynamic Renée Deighton.

 If you are a fan of The Shopping Channel (TSC), you may already know of Renée as a popular host on the channel for many years. You will however find out how Renee accidentally fell into that role at TSC. What you may not know is that Renée’s life has spanned a wide range of varied and interesting experiences. In this episode, you will learn how Renée took over an Animal Shelter in the Caribbean. You will hear Renée’s heartfelt description of how she battled a serious hormonal disease while maintaining the inspiration and positivity that got her through this ordeal.

Our conversation with Renée will take us back to her youth when she competed in the Miss Canada beauty pageant. You will find out at that Renée’s first love is music and that she loves to perform. She recounts her first on-stage performance at the ripe old age of four – yes, that’s right: 4 years old! (You may even get to hear an excerpt of that performance.) Renée still maintains a connection to the performance arts as a director, and occasional performer, of the Unionville Theatre Company. You will also discover the reason why Renée was selected as a winner of the prestigious Queen’s Jubilee Medal award.

 Join us for a journey of inspiration, motivation, and charity as we discuss the many aspects of the life of award-winner Renee Deighton.

As a long-time resident of Markham since the age of 4 years old, Jordan Mills is proud of his roots which is why he chose to establish Markham’s first Craft Brewery in 2016. In this episode of Life Stories Markham, Jordan tells us how he left the security of a job at one of Canada’s more successful breweries to pursue his dream. The result is Rouge River Brewing Company - a multi award winning brewer of small batch, hand-crafted ales, lagers and many other types of beer. 

You will hear Jordan tell us how he first started brewing beer in the very same space where Rouge River now resides – even though that was several years prior to Rouge River ever being dreamed of. This ignited Jordan’s dream of crafting his own brews which took him into his parent’s garage and then eventually into the current location of Rouge River. 

Despite his modesty, we get Jordan to talk about his journey to be an Advanced Ciceron. Many of us know about Sommeliers and how it relates to wine, but did you know that beer has its own title known as Ciceron. Jordan tells us how he is one of a small number of Cicerons in Canada that have reached the third of four levels and he describes just how incredibly difficult is to reach the final pinnacle.

In his typical down-to-earth manner, Jordan describes the essence of being an entrepreneur – from recipe development to brewing and even to the canning and packaging of the beer. True to his roots, Jordan even employs a local artist to come up with the artwork for his beer can labels. 

If you like a story about a local resident who followed his passion in an uncompromising way, then you will love the Life Stories Markham episode featuring Jordan Mills. Whether or not you like beer, you will feel an affinity for Jordan and how he has stayed true to his beliefs while building a unique and vibrant space within our community. 

Many of you may know Mark Cullen as an expert gardener, author of over 20 books and a TV and radio broadcaster over the decades but do you know how Mark’s entry in the Gardening industry reluctantly started as a boy working part-time in his father’s gardening store?  Mark will describe how he eventually saw a huge void in plant and gardening information that was available to people, and he decided to fill that void by writing newspaper columns that led to radio and eventually TV spots culminating in the authoring of many books.

At the same time as Mark was educating the world on gardening, he was also successfully running the family business known as Weall & Cullen. Not satisfied with the business and educational side of the Gardening business however, you will hear how Mark has worked to make our country and our world a better place. Mark gushes with enthusiasm as he describes the Highway of Heroes initiative that resulted in the planting over 2 ½ million trees: one for every Canadian who has served in uniform since the War of 1812. Not satisfied with that program. Mark is now working on another one called Trees for Life whose goal is increase the number of trees in urban areas as way to improve the health of all human beings.   

 Mark brought several items with him to this episode of Life Stories Markham including his Order of Canada medal and an example of one of the first tulip flowers that arrived in the Netherlands from its surprising country of origin. You will hear the hilarious story of how Mark learned that he was to be a recipient of the Order of Canada medal as well as the unique back story of how Mark secured his rare and treasured tulip.

 Please join us for one of our most interesting, informative, and captivating episodes of Life Stories Markham with Mark Cullen.

Wendy and Rob Kadlovski are as successful in their personal lives as they are in business. As the owners of a successful chain of retail convenience stores known as Nicholby’s this Power Couple has forged a unique approach to retail that values people, relationships and giving back to their stakeholders. Rob will describe how his work ethic and connection to the convenience store business started as an 8-year-old boy working at his parent’s store. Rob’s immigrant parents were fortunate to escape Nazi Poland and Rob keeps that memory close to his heart.

Wendy’s path in business started in the male-dominated oil industry where she learned tough lessons that she says still serve her well and inspire her to help the next generation of female leaders thrive. You will hear Wendy recount the early days of their relationship when Rob would call the Shell store that she managed every day until she finally agreed to go on a date.

Rob and Wendy remain prominent members of our community who strongly believe in mentoring and in giving back. Their connection to Markham is exemplified by their ownership of the unique and successful retail concept known as the Olde Firehall Confectionery. You will find out about the incredible story of how a coincidental discussion on the street led to them to secure office space that then turned into a treasured landmark on the Main Street of Unionville that is still visited by thousands of people.

Please join us for this Life Stories Markham episode that shows how business success and a strong believe in community and people can co-exist and result in benefits for all of us.

Whether Nilesh likes Peanut Butter or Jam.

Find out why the studio is called Studio 10

Michael and Nilesh tell you about upcoming guests in the fall

Caroline grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland where she witnessed first-hand the beginning of the violent conflict that would come to be known as “The Troubles”. Working as a nurse in Belfast, she relays what it was like having a front seat to a wartime scenario as the hospital where she worked saw the constant arrival of the victims of bombings and shootings. Caroline describes the difficult decision to leave her beloved Northern Ireland for the safety and security of the south of England where she met her husband and made a life-defining decision to train as a midwife. 

Caroline goes on to describe how she decided to pack up her life once again and start a new life in Canada with her husband where they raised their children and evolved their careers. Caroline’s midwife experience proved very useful in Markham as she recounts joining a committee assisting with opening of a revolutionary midwife unit at the new Markham Stouffville Hospital. From Caroline’s recollections of life, it’s not difficult to see how the key to a long and healthy life can be built around staying active in various sports such as skiing, golf and curling and pastimes such as choral singing.

Hear more about an inspiring life journey built around friendship, hard work and activity from the Life Stories Markham episode featuring Caroline Harris

How many young couples in our community have achieved the highest level of a sport in our country and yet remain grounded and humble? Well you can hear from one such couple, Lauren Wasylkiw and Shane Konings, who have done just that. These two impressive people share with us how they started enjoying the sport of curling at a young age and then how they turned this childhood game into appearances at national championships.

Find out how Lauren and Shane first met and how, many years later, they became a couple both on and off the ice. Is it easier or more difficult to be compete side by side with someone that you are in a personal relationship with? Lauren and Shane will reveal their answer to this age-old question. Shane will share his memories of growing up on a farm and how it has influenced his life in many ways. 

You may have read stories of people who have rappelled mountain peaks, competed in extreme sports events and cycled long distances well now you can hear a first hand report from someone who has done all those things. Over the last 30 years Peter Boggs has, among many other things, hiked a summit in the Rocky Mountains by himself with no GPS assistance and competed in an Ironman Triathlon that made him bend but did not break him.

Find out how Peter has managed to uniquely combine three very different aspects of life: his love of extreme sports, his strong family commitments and his dedication to his career focussed on data. There is no greater example of this combination than Peter’s Ironman Triathlon experience where you will witness just how Peter managed to take sibling rivalry, data analytics and fierce determination as a recipe for successful achievement no matter how we chose to define that.

Please join us for the Life Stories Markham episode built on a foundation of family-focus, competitiveness, and data analysis courtesy of Peter Boggs.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you quit the safety of your 9-to-5 job to pursue your passion? You can hear how Nicki Traikos, wife and mother of two children, walked away from the safety of her corporate job to focus on her love for Art. Nicki provides inspiring recollections of how she took the lessons of hard work and single-minded application from her immigrant parents and use those principles to become a self-taught artist.

When you hear how Nicki has built a successful business http://lifeidesign.com from her home studio and how she teaches people all over the world how to paint in water colours, for example, you will surely conclude that anything is possible. We can all learn from Nicki’s mantra that she is so eloquently summaries as: “Be fearless in the pursuit about what sets your soul on fire”.  Listening to Nicki describe her pursuits is sure to ignite something in your own soul.  

The podcast’s inception can be traced to their time at the Unionville Curling Club. As they engaged in conversations with fellow curlers, they realized that everyone possesses a captivating life story worth sharing. Inspired by this realization, Michael and Nilesh decided to create a platform where these stories could be heard and cherished.

Michael, originally from the United Kingdom, moved to Canada with his family. His personal experiences of relocating to a new country and adapting to a different culture have shaped his perspective on life. With a background in computer science, Michael continues to thrive in the technology field, and his thirst for storytelling and connecting with people led him to the podcasting realm.

On the other hand, Nilesh’s family history is rooted in a dramatic turn of events. Expelled from Uganda, Nilesh’s family was forced to leave their homeland and start anew. Nilesh’s journey into computer science was similar to Michael’s, but as fate would have it, he discovered a passion for media. This prompted Nilesh to venture into the captivating world of storytelling and media production, eventually leading him to cross paths with Michael.

Together, Michael and Nilesh bring a unique blend of technical expertise and creative storytelling to Life Stories Markham Through their podcast, they aim to celebrate the diverse tapestry of human experiences and the resilience that shapes each individual’s life story in the community of Markham, Ontario, Canada

Tune in to Life Stories Markham as Michael and Nilesh embark on a journey to uncover captivating life stories, weaving a tapestry of inspiration, compassion, and understanding. Each episode promises to leave you with a newfound appreciation for the power of storytelling and the extraordinary lives we encounter every day.

You can watch the video version at http://youtube.com/@lifestoriesmarkham