Mamta Chail is a results driven mental health advocate and the President/CEO of Youthdale Treatment Centres. Mamta’s biggest turning point happened after she gave birth to her daughter. She experienced severe postpartum anxiety and she details the impact of this experience including the cultural stigma she faced. Mamta also shares her experience im…

Based out of Brampton via Toronto, Haviah Mighty is a songwriter, vocalist, producer, and performer. Her music is complex and unique with rap, song, and instrumentals transitioning seamlessly from hip-hop to soul to Afrobeats. Haviah's biggest turning point happened in 2016 when she was part of a rap cypher that went viral. That moment gave her the…

In 2018, Mike Shoreman was thriving. He had a successful paddle boarding business in Toronto and he had just returned from a trip to California full of new ideas for excursions he could add to his business offerings. Everything changed when Mike's chicken pox virus was reactivated and he ended up with Ramsay Hunt syndrome. This neurological conditi…

Tara MacLean is a singer and songwriter known for her hit songs, “Evidence” and “If I Fall”. She was discovered singing on a BC ferry (more on that in the episode!) and has toured with Dido, Tom Cochrane and performed at Lilith Fair. Tara recently released a new book called Song of the Sparrow where she shares her whole life story for the first tim…

Emm Gryner is an award-winning singer, songwriter, actor and best-selling author. Emm sang and played keyboard in David Bowie’s band, and appears on numerous recordings with him. In this episode, we take a trip through Emm's biggest turning points including: getting her first record deal and being dropped by her label, touring with David Bowie, bec…

Meera Estrada is a radio host and the founder of Fusia Media, a company engaged in digital lifestyle publishing catered to South Asian Canadian Women. Her biggest turning point happened when she shared publicly that her family were part of the Dalit caste, also known as the untouchables or the lowest caste in the Hindu caste system. Meera found out…

Dan Shaikh is the co-founder of Speaker Slam, a speaker development agency and the organization behind North America's largest speaking competition. When Dan was a teenager, he developed a condition known as gynecomastia which caused him to develop breasts. He hid away behind baggy clothes and tried to fade into the background in general to avoid d…

Julie Lawrence is the editor of the newly launched DEFY magazine. The publication focuses on validating the experiences women have with misogyny in the workplace and offers tips and tools from professionals for how to deal with it. Julie’s biggest turning point was getting sober after years of drug and alcohol addiction almost took her life. Julie …

Leroy Hibbert is a speaker, workshop facilitator and community educator. He delivers messages of anti-racism, anti-bullying, and cross-cultural conflict and understanding to community and civic organizations, police services, schools and businesses. Through his work, he hopes to help people understand how to identify racism, interrupt it, and take …

Farah Nasser was named Global National's weekend anchor in June, 2022. Shortly before that she was co-anchor of Global Toronto's 6:00 news. Towards the end of her time at Global Toronto, Farah ended up taking a leave of absence. She spent a large part of it going to therapy and unpacking her past including the death of her son. In this episode, Far…

Bridget George is an an award-winning children’s book author and illustrator. Their debut book is a dual Language, English and Ojibwe children’s book, called “It’s a Mitig.” In this episode, Bridget opens up about taking an unconventional path. As a teen, Bridget was experiencing mental health issues and was expelled from high school but was determ…

Mary Berg won Masterchef Canada Season 3 and has since written two cookbooks, hosted two cooking shows (Mary Makes it Easy and Mary's Kitchen Crush), and makes regular appearances on morning shows and talk shows around the country. I'm so thrilled to have her as a guest for episode 50 and the final episode of season 2. There have been many turning …

Camille Dundas is a racial equity educator specializing in anti-racism and allyship and she recently released her first online course on inclusive communication. How she ended up doing this work is part of her turning point. It all started with a presentation on another topic that turned into a discussion about hiring diverse candidates during the …

Jennie Painter was one of the first people to talk about the idea of open adoption in Canada. She has spent her career counselling both birth parents and adoptive parents about the benefits of open adoption. In this episode, we learn about how she started working in this field and what changes she would like to see to the system in Canada. Before h…

Ginella Massa is the host of CBC's Canada tonight and she is also the first TV reporter and anchor to wear hijab in Canada. She made history after her biggest turning point; leaving a full-time job behind the scenes to pursue her dream of being an on-air reporter. In this episode we also hear about how Ginella was always the chatty kid in class and…

Dr. Alika Lafontaine’s biggest turning point happened when he was in medical school. He was the only Indigenous student in his class and after some negative experiences, he was left feeling like he didn’t belong. As he considered dropping out, two people came along who changed everything. Dr. Lafontaine is now the President-elect of the Canadian Me…

“Sometimes that’s all a person needs is to just know that somebody sees them…That little spark of hope can ignite a blaze.” This quote from Calan Breckon's episode is still on my mind. Calan is a life coach and his biggest turning point came from a low point when he didn't know how he was going to pay his rent. After hitting rock bottom, he got a j…

Dionne Sinclair is VP Clinical Operations and the Chief Nurse at CAMH, Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital. Her biggest turning point happened when she was laid off from her job as a nurse. At the time, she had two young kids and decided to move back in with her parents so she could go to university. She already had a diploma from Fans…

Everyone who knew Michelle Kwok as a child knew she wanted to be a doctor. She was already doing health research in high school and often talked about her dream of going to medical school. It wasn't until she started university at a school where no one knew about her childhood dream that she started to think about what would truly make her happy. A…

Humza Mian is known in drag as Mango Lassi. In this episode, we start by hearing about Humza's childhood and the pressure he felt to be hyper masculine. It was meeting a queer, brown person who was living his life happily that changed everything for Humza when he was in his late teens. We'll also find out about Mango Lassi's rise to fame in the wor…

Vanessa Ferlaino was 23 years old when her father died from brain cancer. It was around the same time that she left an abusive relationship and decided to move across the country. The move to Calgary marked a major turning point in her life. One of the most impactful decisions she made after her move was to take acting classes, which is where she s…

Daniel MacQueen was in his twenties and living in the UK when he started getting terrible headaches. The first time he went to the hospital, he was told he had vertigo and advised to get his eyes checked. He went to an optometrist and that appointment ended with Daniel being sent back to the hospital. Hours later, he was having emergency brain surg…

Zeba Khan is the founder of Free Periods Canada and her biggest turning point happened after she watched a video showing the discomfort that people experience when they don't have access to menstrual products. It led her to buy and distribute pads and tampons to homeless shelters in Vancouver. Her next step; putting out a call to action on Facebook…

Erika Casupanan is the first Canadian and the first person of Filipino descent EVER to win Survivor. She's also the first woman to win in several seasons and in this episode we get all of the details about her strategy and what was going on behind the scenes and. It's no surprise that winning Survivor is Erika's biggest turning point. You'll also h…

Inventor Erfan Nouraee is just 19 years old and his work is already being recognized by the United Nations; He received an award for his most recent invention in 2021. Erfan has been on the path of being an inventor since he was a child. He started with household items; one of his first creations was a pair of goggles with fans on the sides for his…

Dr. Jenny Liu has a new take on how we should define resilience. I found it refreshing that she doesn't limit her definition of resilience to innate qualities, but also connects it to external factors (more on that in the episode). Jenny's research on resilience started after one of her biggest turning points; reporting a man who had been cyberstal…

Mani Jassal is a fashion designer who focuses on luxury evening and bridal wear inspired by South Asian fabrics and culture with a western twist. Her biggest turning point; the moment her father came around and decided to support her dream of being a designer. He initially hoped she would pursue engineering but after seeing how talented she was as …

Adrian Sutherland is a singer, songwriter and advocate from the Attawapiskat First Nation. His biggest turning point happened in 2016 when he left his position as CEO at a development company to pursue music and spend more time with his family. In this episode, Adrian shares the moment he made the decision and the challenges and rewards of making s…

Parween Mander is a Millennial Money Coach and her passion for helping others manage their finances comes from her biggest turning point; when she was 16-years-old, her family almost lost their home. Parween's parents didn't speak much English so she was going from bank to bank with them and relaying the information when their mortgage applications…

Ayomide Bayowa is Mississauga, Ontario's Poet Laureate and in this episode we hear how poetry has shaped who he is today. It all started with a turning point in high school in Nigeria when he first felt a connection to poetry. Ayomide isn't afraid to take on tough topics either. After the death of Ejaz Chowdry, a man killed by Peel Police during a …

Dr. Andrew Boozary grew up in a house where human rights and inequity were often topics of conversation. His mother was trained as a human rights lawyer and his father is a doctor who came to Canada as an Iranian refugee and went back to school in order to practice medicine in Canada. Advocacy and a passion for equity in healthcare continue to be a…

Perdita Felicien became a household name in Canada as a world champion hurdler in her early twenties. Recently, she shared her family's story in her book, My Mother's Daughter, where we learn that the hurdles that were part of her track and field career came after her family overcame some major hurdles of their own. Her mother Catherine came to Can…

Jodie Pappas is the founder of the vegan, cruelty free beauty company, Clean Kiss. In this interview, we go back to her twenties for her biggest turning point; discovering she had Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). She and her husband were trying to have a baby at the time and this lead to her needing fertility treatment. She was one of the lucky on…

Keely Shaw was the first Canadian Paralympian to win a medal at the Tokyo Paralympics but her journey to this bronze medal wasn't easy. After some dark times dealing with an eating disorder, she credits cycling with saving her life. At the age of fifteen, Keely was an elite hockey player with Olympic dreams when she was injured in a freak accident …

Valerie Azinge has always loved cooking, baking and finding creative ways to make delicious and healthy meals. While her passion for food has been part of her life since she can remember, a life changing accident gave her a new perspective. Valerie was seriously injured when she and her friend were hit by a drunk driver, her friend was killed. Duri…

We're kicking off Season 2 of Turning Point with an episode we recorded at a live event as part of Turning Point's partnership with Fanshawe College. Cheryl Hickey is a Fanshawe alum who you likely recognize from ET Canada. She has been hosting the show since it launched in 2005 and in this episode you'll find out how late nights spent learning to …

It's the last episode of Season 1 of Turning Point and it's time for me to share my own turning point. I've had so many guests ask me about my own story this season and I'm finally ready to tell it. All of the young women of colour who have asked me for advice really inspired me to share my experiences with racism and discrimination in journalism. …

Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa is in her second year of residency in psychiatry at the University of Toronto. When she started medical school, she was surprised to learn that she was the only Black student in her class. Not long after, she started sharing her story to help increase the number of Black applicants. Her work has been incredibly successful and…

Dr. Alyson Kelvin is a virologist currently working at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO). Her turning point happened in December 2019 when she got an email about a mysterious respiratory illness that left 30 people hospitalized in Wuhan, China. Not long after, she was packing her bags to move from Halifax to Saskatoon for what …

Many of you will know Brandon Gonez from his television career. He worked at stations across the country, including CTV's national morning show where we worked together. Brandon now hosts his own news show, the Brandon Gonez show, on YouTube. In this episode, we talk about one of his early turning points; pivoting from studying business and finance…

Xenia Chen is the founder of Threads, a direct to consumer tights company. She started the company while she was working in finance and in 2019, she took a leap of faith to pursue entrepreneurship full-time. That turning point led to some pivotal conversations, including explaining her decision to her Mom by comparing it to her parents' decision to…

When Tareq Hadhad and his family left Syria in 2012, they had no idea where life would take them. Their livelihood was their chocolate factory in Damascus and it was destroyed in a bombing that Tareq’s father narrowly escaped. They went to Lebanon and Tareq describes a time when he lost faith after his family’s refugee application was denied by sev…

Camille Knowles is the founder of the brand “The Beauty of Eczema” and the idea came from her biggest turning point; ending up in hospital with an infection when she was 21-years-old and covered head-to-toe in eczema. She describes this as her darkest moment and says what helped her start to heal was seeking mental health treatment and support. She…

What a thrill to have award-winning Canadian hip-hop artist and producer Classified as a guest on Turning Point! He's been making music for 26 years, releasing his first album called "Time's up, Kid" in 1995 and his most recent called "Time's Up" in 2020. In this episode we talk about those albums and everything in-between including his big turning…

Jennifer Harper is the founder of Cheekbone Beauty, a cosmetics company committed to sustainability and making a difference in the lives of Indigenous youth. In this episode we also hear about Jenn's experience with addiction, struggling with her identity and losing her brother to suicide. Jenn shares the hard parts of her life openly and honestly.…

Dr. Naheed Dosani is a palliative care physician and health justice activist. His turning point happened during his residency when one of his patients named Terry died. Terry was experiencing homelessness at the time and Naheed saw how the systems in place failed him. This experience led Naheed to found an organization called Palliative Education a…

Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir skated together for 22 years and during that time they became the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history. In this episode, Tessa reflects on her biggest turning point; deciding to come back to compete in 2016 after a two year break. Tessa and Scott would change coaches, move to Montreal and…

Celina Caesar-Chavannes is an entrepreneur, a former MP for Whitby, a mental health advocate and she’s now added author to her growing list of accolades. Her book Can you hear me now? came out earlier this year. In the book Celina gets personal sharing intimate details of her childhood, her marriage and her mental health. In this episode, we discus…

In this episode we hear from mental health advocate and one of CAMH’s 150 difference makers, Asante Haughton. Asante speaks for the first time about the stigma he faced from friends and family when he became a father at a young age. We discuss the impact that had on his mental health and the challenges he faced in his relationships. Asante also sha…

Rebecca Thomas is an author, a poet, an award-winning spoken word artist, and an activist for Indigenous rights. In this episode we talk about her biggest turning point; the first time she read one of her poems on stage. That first poem was about reconnecting with her Mi'kmaq heritage and her relationship with her father who is a residential school…