Ben Mulroney has spent his life carrying a famous last name while choosing a different path on his own terms. That is why I wanted to share his story.

We recorded the show in front of a sold-out room at The Toronto Hunt. Ben takes you behind his public persona and into the moments that shaped him, tested him, and surprised him. He shares wonderful stories that are funny, candid, and genuinely human, including what it really feels like to work on a red carpet and suddenly find yourself face-to-face with someone like George Clooney.

Over the past year, I had the chance to join Ben on his national radio show, on Corus, and I have watched his rare ability to take complex, sometimes controversial issues, synthesize competing viewpoints, then land on a perspective with clarity, confidence, and courage. In this conversation, that same clarity turns inward, toward family, fatherhood, identity, reinvention, and what it takes to build a life in your own voice.

If you like interviews that move fast, go deep, and leave you thinking, press play.

And as always a big thank you to RBC and RBC Wealth for all you do to allow me to share weekly stories of people who overcome circumstances to chase dreams and change their world and ours for the better.

One of the greatest lessons I've been gifted as host of Chatter That Matters is seeing how much impact one individual can have when they choose purpose over comfort. This episode is a powerful reminder of that truth.

At the centre is Tim Cormode, whose life changed during a moment of stillness alone on a glacier. That clarity led him to build Power to Be, using nature as a pathway to dignity, confidence, and possibility for people told their limits were fixed. Tim shares what two decades in the charitable sector taught him, not just about impact but about what is broken in how we give, from fear of risk to a scarcity mindset that holds good organizations back.

That experience sparked his next chapter, Power to Give, a bold rethinking of philanthropy rooted in trust, shared resources, and treating generosity as the investment it truly is. From a kayak on the water to a small-town skate park that drew an unexpected visit from Tony Hawk, Tim's story shows what becomes possible when imagination meets action.

The conversation then widens with Andrea Barrack, Senior Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and ESG at RBC. Andrea shares how RBC's new Purpose Framework is turning values into action. With a $2 billion commitment by 2035, RBC is focused on skills for a changing world and more equitable prosperity.

If you believe impact is built by people, not slogans, and that purpose is found by doing, not saying, you will love this episode as much as I did making it.

I open my 2026 season with fireworks of positivity. One of the best Chatter that Matters yet. A human journey marked with humility, humour and extraordinary. Someone knuckles decided to knock on the door of opportunity.

What does a Dragon, Best Selling Author, a McDonald's drive-through, a beat-up pickup truck, and a simple multi-million-dollar question have in common? 1-800-GOT-JUNK? The one and only Brian Scudamore.

Brian turned hauling junk into a $700 million empire by embracing a mindset he calls "WTF, willing to fail". His story is more than a business case study; it is a profoundly human one, marked by courage, doubt, family pressure, leadership missteps, and the power of seeing possibility where others see nothing.

Brian shares how firing his entire team saved his company, why culture is the ultimate competitive moat, and how systems, not people, fail. He opens about the moment his accomplished father said, "I'm proud of you,".

If you are an entrepreneur, a leader, a parent, someone young searching for their ladder to climb, or quietly wondering whether there is another path to follow, this conversation will stay with you long after it ends.

A special thanks and love to RBC for continuing to support the sharing of human stories that matter. Stories of ordinary becoming extraordinary.

As you listen, and if you have young adults around, listen together and then ask yourself two questions that changed everything for Brian Scudamore.

What if?

and

Are you Willing to Fail?

Happy New Year's, Everyone. Thanks for listening, and here's to a fabulous 2026.