Well, the time has come, BBs! We have an episode of big news for you, and it’s definitely one to listen in on. We’ve recorded over 100 episodes, done a four-month livestream hyperlocal series with Storyhive Summer Crew, and have 30 episodes up on Telus Optik TV. We’re so proud of the community that’s built itself around us, and are here today to share the next steps in our Bombshell journey. So sit back, listen in, and send us your DMs after you hear our big news! 

Love always, you beautiful humans. 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team as always! You can find out more about our team, our vision and our dreams on our website HERE

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Have you ever questioned the direction of your career just to pull the proverbial fire alarm - running across the world for an Eat, Pray, Love-esque adventure? Or at least dreamed of it? If so, this episode is one you’re going to love.  Annaliesse was born with a passion for interior design. After one semester at UVic she realized she needed to follow that dream. That week her parents packed her up and she headed off to Europe where she met a guy floating by in the Ocean in Greece which led her to a whirlwind opportunity restoring a stunning and ancient mill in France before returning to Canada to begin her design career. Join us as we discuss how to buy art as a beginner, how to invest in art, how to make your home feel like HOME and the whirlwind adventures of life. 

 About Our Guest: 

Annaliesse Kelly has been in the world of design for 20 years.Throughout her award-winning career, Annaliesse has worked with Canada’s top architectural firms, contractors and artisans to create sophisticated spaces that reflect the individual needs of her clients. AK Design’s work has been featured extensively in the press, including in Western Living, The Vancouver Sun, Canadian Home Trends, Rue Magazine and more. This recognition has been largely attributed to their passion for creating spaces that are timeless, functional and most importantly—feel like home.

RESOURCES:

AK Design

To connect with AK Design: click HERE 

To connect with COMPANY: click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team as always! You can find out more about our team, our vision and our dreams on our website HERE

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

4 Months, 38 Livestreams, Countless new connections and local obsessions later and our summer livestream series is officially OVER!

As a special super wrap-up episode we  sat down with Liam Montgomery to discuss how to produce epic livestreams while fostering connections  with your audience. We got into how to  promote, produce and host a livestream. From top gear and equipment to  Kristina and Raquelle's biggest take-aways this is not an episode to miss as we all move forward in this hyper-digital world. 

About Liam : 

Liam is an event producer, content producer, and long time audio and video technician.  Liam has toured internationally with bands such as July Talk, the Proclaimers, and the Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer.  In 2021 Liam created Showstream, a company determined to help make live-streaming and hybrid events better, easier, and more friendly. Liam actively works to educate and support organizations deliver their message and provides opportunities and sponsorship to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. 

Learn more at www.showstream.ca and on social @showstreamtechnology

To connect with Liam, click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah and Grace!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

#007 Let that Sh*T GO! 

Sara Brigz is a declutter expert who can attest to living clutter-free in a small space: she shares her 300 square foot apartment with her partner, works from home, and retains a calm composure and bright-eyed clarity that makes us both feel comparatively like mad hatters at a cluttered-up tea party. How does she seem like she’s got it all together? We find out! As we move into the winter of one weird-ass year, working and living in our smaller bubbles of existence, we’re so ready to let a LOT of sh*t go (including 2020 IMO). Sara adds to the joy of letting go with some ‘perks of tiny living’, including stronger relationships, communication skills, and release of our possessiveness over our possessions. 

So, pour that favourite drink of yours, push aside that coffee mug sitting on top of the pile of papers sitting on top of the stack of magazines next to that trinket you got three years ago from some craft fair that was attached to some memory that you haven’t quite remembered but it MIGHT come back to you at some point soon so you should probably keep it… and enjoy listening to some of Sara’s solutions to stressless surroundings. 

Just do us a favour: recycle, donate, and don’t throw your sh*t out the window. Someone could get hurt.

Sign up for Sara’s course HERE

About Sara Brigz: 

Sara Brigz is a declutter coach and founder of Let That Shit Go, where she helps people get to the root cause of clutter, confront the emotions holding them back, and live a life they’re excited about. If you’re ready to find more calm at home, check out her free decluttering guide and say hi on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok!

REFERENCES:

• Bunz Trade & Freecycle
• Sara's declutter course
• Facebook Marketplace

To connect with Sara: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE 

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Episode Six - This is Us

For our sixth episode, we wanted to try something new. Our brunches started as REAL brunches with like-minded colleagues, and we wanted to honour that, and share it with you. We reflect on our journey, as well as recap and digest the first series of episodes. We want you to see behind the scenes, candidly, as so much of the journeys we witness can be hidden, because of a need or want to only show the ‘polished product’. 

So, we brunch over our own progress, our learnings, while discussing boundaries, the importance of words in our relationship to our behaviour, the Wild West of the Internet, cancel culture, identity, past guests’ wisdom, and not giving a fuck. 

This is an info-rich, thought-invoking episode of free-flowing discussion, best paired with your favourite beverage, a lovely brunch, or sitting in a cozy space with your two new friends. 

Welcome to our brunch. Let’s chat, babes. 

Media we discuss: 

Seven Secrets to Persuasion: Click HERE 

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck: Click HERE

Article: The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake: Click HERE

Film: The Social Dilemma: Click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: Click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: Click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: Click HERE

Episode FIVE - time flies! 

We sat down with Tamara as the start of our Winter Warmer series: the weather (on this side of the world, anyway) is turning; it’s darker, for longer, we’re neck-deep in fake news, and there’s a continued global pandemic looming over us all. Tamara takes us into a deep, conversational breath of reassurance, reminding us that it’s okay to not be okay, and giving our lovely listeners some tools that we hope will hug your heart. This is an episode for all of us, filled with kindness, care, and of course, candid conversation. Cheers, babeses. Take good care of you. xx

About Tam: 

Tamara Adilman has been a therapist in private practice in Vancouver BC for over 25 years. She specializes in relationship and individual therapy .

She has dedicated her working life to help people discover who they are and how to reach their potential . She works with clients who are facing grief, loss anxiety and depression as well as with couples and/or family members who seek to heal their relationships.

She believes deeply that people can and do change and her life's work is to help clients find their path towards personal transformation.

To connect with Tamara: https://counsellingbc.com/listings/tadilman.htm 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: https://www.instagram.com/bombshellbrunches 

To connect with Kristina Lao: https://www.instagram.com/mykristinalao/ 

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: https://www.instagram.com/the_raquelle/

#004 

This week's episode features professional researcher, strategist and designer, Miriam (Kemi) Havelin. We talk about aligning your passions to create your dream career, scientific research vs scientific reporting, fake news and how to identify trustworthy articles. Kemi most recently returned to Toronto from Paris where she worked as a researcher and designer and is currently completing a Master's degree in Strategic Foresight at OCAD University. Basically she is the perfect badass for this episode. 



To connect with Kemi: https://www.instagram.com/kemi.miriam/

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: https://www.instagram.com/bombshellbr...

To connect with Kristina Lao: https://www.instagram.com/mykristinalao/

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: https://www.instagram.com/the_raquelle/

#003 
Hello from episode three! 
This episode features Capilano University Lecturer and Executive Label Manager, Shannon Luttmer. The Bombshell gang and Shannon talk about the importance of knowing when to say "yes", dealing with past trauma and the weird ways it manifests when you don't, the importance of working together in smaller industries and as women in order to uplift and looking inward to set strong boundaries. Don't be fooled by Shannon's calm, cool and collected exterior, she is quick as a whip and an absolute force to be reckoned with.


To connect with Shannon: https://www.instagram.com/lilshaynay

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: https://www.instagram.com/bombshellbr...


To connect with Kristina Lao: https://www.instagram.com/mykristinalao/


To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: https://www.instagram.com/the_raquelle/

#002 Our second episode features the inimitable Kinnie Starr. A Juno award-winning artist, producer and activist, Kinnie allows us a rare glimpse into her protected personal world of creativity. We talk nature, movement, cancel culture and online safety, with takeaways to help you examine your own social, emotional and digital environmental habits. 

To connect with Kinnie Starr CLICK HERE

For Kinnie's website CLICK HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches CLICK HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao CLICK HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg CLICK HERE

#001 On our very first episode we are joined by Michelle Kavanagh. Michelle is a digital brand stylist and works with women to help them elevate their style, build their brand, grow their business and shine with confidence. We dig in to discover how to audit your current life and the content and vibes you're putting out, how to align with who you are and the secret to attract your dreams.


To connect with Michelle Kavanagh CLICK HERE
For Michelle's website CLICK HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches CLICK HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao CLICK HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg CLICK HERE

You are listening to the official trailer for Bombshell Brunches.

After three years of laughing, crying and growing alongside our group of badass babes - we have decided to open up the floor on an international scale.

Take a listen to find out why we started Bombshell Brunches, how it evolved and what you can expect to take away from each episode. 

We can't wait for you to join our community! 

XOXO
Raquelle Roodenburg and Kristina Lao

Hold onto your hats, bombshells because we have an EPISODE for you!  Today Kristina and I get schooled on all things vagina and pelvic floor health. What we learned is CRAZY! Spoiler alert - no one should be afraid to laugh, sneeze, run or jump rope for fear of peeing. Not due to age. Not due to giving birth to one or more children. It just simply shouldn't be a thing. We've got THE tips on how to keep your body and pelvis healthy as well as some seriously kick a$$ baby shower ideas.

This episode busts some major myths and brings forth some potentially life-changing tips for anyone living with a vagina. Pelvic floor health plays a major roll in posture, strength, core, and so much more.

We get into EVEN more detail on the livestream so if you were like us and couldn't get enough - make sure to check out the livestream HERE. 

About Kim Vopni: 

Kim Vopni is a pelvic floor specialist, popularly known as The Vagina Coach. Kim became passionate about spreading information on pelvic health after the birth of her first child. She is a self-professed Kegel maven, a certified fitness trainer specializing in pre and post natal, perimenopause and menopause.  She is a women’s health educator and speaker, an author, and the founder of Pelvienne Wellness Inc. Kim is also the creator of Kegels & Cocktails™, health events designed to empower and educate women on the importance of pelvic health. Kim strives to normalize discussions about vaginas, Kegels and menopause, especially when her teenage sons are in ear shot.

Learn more at www.vaginacoach.com and on social @vaginacoach 

To connect with Kim, click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

Today we sat down with one of our fav's Ocean Bloom!

We've talked about spirituality and healing  and how stress is held in the body with Ocean in the past. If you missed it make sure you scroll back to episode 58 (it's AH-Mazing). TODAY we talked all things FITNESS. As a past world fitness champion and a current world traveller we couldn't think of anyone else who would be better suited to talk about getting that fitness routine back during the endemic. It's a weird, transitional time and we need to give ourselves grace as we tippy toe into the new world in a way that is healthy for all of us.

If you're interested in Ocean Bloom's conscious movement therapy and incredible healing modalities you should absolutely check out the livestream we did HERE for a behind-the-scenes look at my now favourite healing modality. 

About Ocean Bloom: 

Ocean Bloom is an internationally renowned bodywork therapist, wellness coach and retreat leader. She has over 25 years’ experience as a Fitness World Champion, Celebrity Personal Trainer and Certified Yoga Teacher. Ocean has worked and studied extensively in South East Asia and Europe. Her pioneering approach combines fitness modalities with the ancient elements of Yoga, Chinese and Thai Medicine to facilitate the return to health not just physically but also in the mind and spirit. Ocean is the founder and facilitator\ of “Conscious Movement Therapy”. From high profile celebrities and athletes to first responders and trauma survivors, she has helped individuals release emotional blockages and reset their thinking process.

To connect with Ocean, click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, and Chris!

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Today we sat down with Golden Ears Cheesecrafters co-founder, Emma Davison. 

We talk about life as an entrepreneur, the cardinal rules of founding a business with your sister, how to communicate bad news and how to build a team that has as much excitement about your product as you do!

ANND if you're as in love with cheese as I am, you MUST check out the livestream HERE for a behind-the-scenes look at some seriously delicious cheese and to learn the art of the cheese board. 

About Our Guest: 

Two Maple Ridge sisters Emma and Jenna Davison decided to continue their family’s century-old farming traditions and start a business that produces artisan cheeses, cheddar curds and cultured butter using local ingredients. As much as they can, Golden Ears Cheesecrafters uses the high-fat milk produced by their uncle’s jersey cows.

“We want to be a part of the centuries to come and what there used to be here from the land we originally started with.”

Golden Ears Cheesecrafters  has a retail store and bistro alongside producing cheese for some of Vancouver's hottest culinary spots, including Cartems Donuts, Elements, Araxi, Grouse Mountain and many more.

To connect with Golden Ears Cheese Crafters : click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, and Chris!

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

This week we got to chat with a modern day healer. After finishing a Living Full in Vancouver livestream with Chase where he guided us through breath work, meditation and sound bathing (find it here) we couldn't help but invite him onto Bombshell Brunches. We talked about his journey battling depression and self-identity, how he found the healing power of sound and how one can create the life of their dreams while doing what they love.

About Our Guest: 

Chase Trellert has traveled the world in search of different healing modalities to share with friends, family and those in his local community. His journeys have lead him as far as the Jungles of Peru to train with Shaman, to the Andes of Ecuador to learn ancient yogic practices and to South East Asia to Meditate with Monks. He combines many different modalities to weave a unique healing experience for all who attend his sessions. Chase’s Sound Healing Journey began while he was living in Australia, after hearing the didgeridoo for the first time. Since then he has collected all sorts of instruments with the singular goal of providing healing.

To connect with Chase : click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, and Chris!

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

If you’re like us, right now the world feels heavy. Burnout is a recurring theme, pandemic isolation and social justice fights have permeated our daily lives. Many of our friends, peers, colleagues and family, including you wonderful listeners, have voiced an inability to make strong decisions, to know where to start to help. So, Kristina sits down with local City Council Candidate Ian Cromwell to help outline, define, and un-blur some of the lines of Vancouver’s upcoming Municipal Election. 

We cannot change everything, and nor should we. This is about us taking the steps that we can, making decisions that we’re able to make, to really participate in the change that we want to see.

We acknowledge that this is one political opinion - please take a little time regularly to do your own research, in all areas - we will too. Systemic change is not easy, but it IS worth it! 

About Our Guest: 

Ian Cromwell (he/him) is a health economist at the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, where he provides advice to healthcare decision-makers to ensure the best use of public resources. Cromwell is a classically-trained violinist and founder of Locals Lounge, a grassroots incubator for Vancouver’s music community. Ian is currently a candidate for Vancouver City Council with OneCity Vancouver.

To connect with Ian : click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, and Chris!

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

As someone who has worked in the Entertainment Industry for almost 15 years, Kristina has some knowledge of the myths and busts of the glamour of the music industry. 

She has been researching, working and advocating for sustainable careers in Entertainment, and is going to dispel some of the myths and misconceptions of working as an actor, songwriter, voice artist and creative. 

This week, sit down for some hard-hitting tea about the myths and misconceptions of our beloved entertainment industry, and how to be a supportive audience member, active participant in your own career trajectory, and overall creative champion!  

RESOURCES:

• Music BC
• A life in Parts
• Creative BC
• Jumpstart Consulting
• BC Alliance for Arts (jobs board)

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, and Chris!

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Big thanks to Telus Optik TV 

WE'RE 90 EPISODES DEEP! How did that even happen?! We wish we had a super epic celebratory episode for you but maybe we'll have to do that for our 100th episode. For today you get to join us in our delirious post-livestream state. We get silly, we fill you in, it's all authentic and stuff. Enjoy laughing at us and we can't wait to see you next week!

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, and Chris!

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Telus Optik TV 

You have a SOLO episode today with Raquelle. You can expect a different vibe as Raquelle pays tribute to her Oma after losing her last week and speaks on navigating the uncertain seas of grief. Never to be times or contained grief is the ultimate lesson in letting go of control - not that Raquelle will ever do that without a fight! If you've ever lost someone, lost a version of yourself, or ended a relationship - this episode is for you.

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, and Chris!

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Telus Optik TV 

Well, Raquelle is back, and we’re in a FOREST! We took a hike up with our livestream gear, and figured we’d use it on the way down, too. So, listen in to the hilarity and honesty of our next moves as we navigate the trail AND our lives, in serendipitous existential parallel.

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, and Chris!

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Telus Optik TV 

HOLY-GUACAMOLE this was a BEAST of an episode. Seriously - you’re going to want to listen all the way to the end. Today we sat down with fighter, boxing promoter, nutritionist and personal trainer, Jana to talk about the KEY differences between “Training” and “Working out”, how to build mental toughness, THE most effective strategies to hit your fitness goals, which diet trends Jana wishes would disappear forever, how to not take sexism personally and instead use it as a challenge, AND SO MUCH MORE. Turn this episode on and go for a long walk and prepare to get fired UP. 

About Our Guest: 

Jana is a Fitness Industry veteran with over 10 years of experience. She has been an industry leader in the creation and growth of fitness brands, partnerships, events, development of products and programming. She develops culture and community everywhere she goes. As a boxing athlete she has 6 fights with more to come and has been on the other side coaching fighters, cornering and volunteering at local events as well as PPV events with her company Empire Boxing Promotions.

Jana has trained and delivered Nutrition Consulting for celebrities, athletes and fitness professionals throughout her career. She is also a partner in a Canadian based Professional Boxing Promotion Empire Boxing Promotions, a Lululemon Ambassador for Pacific Center, formerly Beverly Hills CA, Everlast Canada sponsored athlete, York Athletics sponsored athlete and Body Energy Club Van/LA Ambassador.

In her one on one sessions, she blends her knowledge of science based training with skill development, bringing it to her clients in an approachable and scalable way to suit the individual.

 RESOURCES:

Training with Jana

Empire Boxing Promotions

To connect with Jana: click HERE 

To connect with COMPANY: click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team as always! You can find out more about our team, our vision and our dreams on our website HERE

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

What really happens when you springboard into your next, bolder, braver version of you? Well, here’s Kristina’s take on the flying pains of building a braver, bolder life. 

The last few weeks, we’ve been learning to livestream, and navigating life curveballs along the way. Our beautiful BB community has taught us how to be brave in order to live full so well, that now we’re left with the blessed curse of getting what we asked for: MORE. 

Listen to Kristina’s top takeaways in the wake of producing her biggest personal solo musical event and a second hugely important advocacy-based musical event, learning to live stream and taking on new contracts and committees with entirely new teams. 

As always, whatever we do, we take you with us, so I hope you enjoy this little solo spill from K-Lao! 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, and Chris!

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Telus Optik TV 

We'll keep this short - more info to come, but we're SO excited to announce this level-up move for your two bold, brave (and very tired but happy) BBs, so go ahead and listen in! 

**TRIGGER WARNING** This episode talks about reproductive culture, practices and sensitive sexual practices are discussed. We recognise that we are not from the cultures that we discuss, and that this is a complicated conversation. Our intention is to highlight Raquelle’s individual, personal experience, and never intend to place judgement on any culture or norm.  

Raquelle is completing her Masters in Communication, specialising in Health Communications, from the University of Amsterdam. Having returned from a month in Tanzania with the Masaai culture, she takes us through the difference between health culture and individual health bias, how empirical research is conducted, and why she chose to take on an across-the-globe trip to challenge her own existing bias. 

We candidly discuss the beauty and sometimes pitfalls of honouring ancient cultures, the impact of gender norms on nutrition and health, and honour the intention to inspire positive influence while creating and maintaining a safe space for others. 

RESOURCES:

The Masaai Culture - http://maasaiwilderness.org/ 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, and Chris!

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Telus Optik TV 

As we look at the gig economy, the great resignation and as more and more companies are deciding to go the direction of work-from-home indefinitely, boundaries have never been more important than they are today. 

Kristina and I sat down to talk about healthy (and unhealthy) boundaries. They’re hard to implement, important to construct, and necessary for our mental and physical health and happiness. Kristina and I dig in on the tactics we use to stick to our own boundaries and how we find ways to honor other people’s along the way.

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: https://www.instagram.com/bombshellbrunches 

To connect with Kristina Lao: https://www.instagram.com/mykristinalao/ 

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: https://www.instagram.com/the_raquelle/

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: 

Creative Director: Glen Gustard: https://www.instagram.com/glengustard/ 

Co-Producer: Hannah Gorton: https://www.instagram.com/gortonhannah/ 

Social Engagement: Grace Harvey https://www.instagram.com/gracemharvey/ 

Social Media & Copy: Elvin Sisco https://www.instagram.com/_elvinsisco 

Audio Content Supervisor: Nicole Mikala https://www.instagram.com/nicmikala/ 

Career Pathways Partner: Levels Music Pro: https://www.instagram.com/levelsmusicpro/ 

How do you exercise full sympathy towards someone, without taking on their emotions? If you’re an empath, or highly sensitive to others, it can be easy to try to comfort them in ways that aren’t helpful. So, here’s how to be a fire friend in times of need. We dive into how can we actively listen to what our loved ones are looking for, create safety on both sides, and allow ourselves to process productively. We talk coffee shop friends, leaving spontaneous voice notes of affirmation, and taking a step back in order to show up fully.

 Thank you to our incredible BB Team: 

Creative Director: Glen Gustard: https://www.instagram.com/glengustard/ 

Co-Producer: Hannah Gorton: https://www.instagram.com/gortonhannah/ 

Social Engagement: Grace Harvey https://www.instagram.com/gracemharvey/ 

Social Media & Copy: Elvin Sisco https://www.instagram.com/_elvinsisco 

Audio Supervisor: Chris Steinkampf https://www.instagram.com/chris_steinkampf/ 

Career Pathways Partner: Levels Music Pro: https://www.instagram.com/levelsmusicpro/ 

Branding Consultants: Roodenburg Design: https://www.instagram.com/roodenburgdesign/

Work Wives unite! From self discovery to big risks, Prestonne shares her yoga journey through both an entrepreneurial and relational lens. After six years of in-person classes, the pandemic gave birth to online partner yoga classes to increase play, intimacy, and relationship richness. Creating authentic community takes time, great support systems and positive, value-aligned partnership in all ways! Join us as we walk through building business partnerships, balancing ownership, motherhood and passion to create a fulfilling future for you and those you care about most. 

About Presonne: 

 In January 2014, Prestonne and  Nicole Whitman partnered to open Yoga Generation in Coquitlam bringing aerial yoga to the Tri-Cities. The two have since opened the second location of YogaGen in Pitt Meadows.

Prestonne’s goal as a yoga teacher is to inspire kindness, compassion and gratitude towards others, and most importantly towards oneself.

She has completed over 500 hours in yoga teacher trainings, specializing in Hatha Yoga, Yin Yoga, Aerial Yoga, Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga, and Yoga Nidra. Prestonne holds a BA from SFU, where she studied communications. 
In Prestonne’s class you can expect a focus on pranayama and deepening the connection with your body through the breath. Come ready to play, laugh, relax and rejuvenate your body through deep breathing and lots of stretching. Prestonne encourages her students to listen to their bodies, while simultaneously testing their limits and growing both in a physical and mental capacity.

Resources:
YogaGen

To connect with Prestonne: click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Weekend Warriors and Fab Fit Humans, we’ve got your back (and shoulders, and glutes)! If you are sitting at your desk watching this right now, we’re about to get you moving. Nadia is a physiotherapist for some of the world’s top professional athletes. From the emergency room to recovery for rugby players, Nadia talks us through how to create awareness of our bodies, what common injuries to look out for, and how to fire up the areas of your body in order to workout with purpose. 

From incontinence to high performance training, we talk about mental grit, daily activation tricks, fitness myths, and the big picture of how to approach your fitness AND health journey. 

About Our Guest: 

Nadia was born in Johannesburg (South Africa), with Greek and Italian heritage. Currently living in beautiful Stellenbosch she loves hiking, trail running, reading and good wine (so basically you found the perfect place to live). Nadia is a sports physiotherapist at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport living out my passion every day. She has been a physiotherapist for 15 years, having had the privilege of working with various professional and amateur sports teams/ individuals.

Nadia is known by some of the most elite athletes in the world as the women with the touch that makes grown men cry and I can personally attest to the fact that she is seriously impressive - having fixed issues I’d had for years in just one or two sessions.

RESOURCES:

Stellenbosch Academy of Sport

To connect with Nadia: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Buckle up, BBs! A true connector, Candace Sampson takes us from her school supply business to entrepreneurial motherhood, from thriving influencer and broadcast channels to navigating the Canadian Justice system in an incredibly hostile divorce with tenacity and transparency. We talk about leaving your 9-5, the glass cliff, and what to do to prepare for a marriage and divorce- whether you’re in a good place or not! From mindfulness to time management, family courts to brainstorming support, we REALLY get into the weeds. If you’re pushing your entrepreneurial journey up the mountainside, we’re here by your side with tips, tricks and reminders to help you stay on track. 

About Our Guest: 

Candace has been in the trenches with women across Canada for over a decade sharing her self-deprecating humour on Canada’s popular YMC, her passion for travel and food on her website, Life in Pleasantville, and as a TV and Radio personality.

Candace’s reputation for approachable professionalism and a great sense of humour are demonstrated in her delivery of real-life stories that matter across all her digital and broadcast channels.

Resources: 

• Life In Pleasantville Blog - Divorce 
• What She Said
• Black & White by Stephen Dorsey: 
• Dirty John: Betty Broderick (TV Show)

To connect with Candace: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Ready to get out of debt? Don’t know how to have the “money” talk with your partner? Release your emotional attachment to money? Get financially naked with your loved ones to build your best life? WE GOT YOU! From an ambitious, money-making background, Alyssa chose to become a writer (a profession notorious for low incomes). With riddling consumer debt and student loans looming over her, Alyssa took a brave leap and started her blog in 2015. Two book deals later, we drop some HUGE gems to help you get on board and soar with your financial image - both on your own and with those you love. 

About Alyssa Davies: 

Alyssa Davies is a content manager for Zolo and a published author living in Calgary, Alberta. She is the founder of the two-time award-winning Canadian Personal Finance Blog of the Year, Mixed Up Money that has over 80,000 followers across social media. Through her work, she has been featured in many notable publications, including The Globe and Mail, FLARE, CBC Gem, and more. Her second book, Financial First Aid, is now available for preorder at any book retailer near you.

Resources: 

• Mixed Up Money
• Fair Play (Book)
• The Year Compass
• Maturn
• The 100 Day Financial Goal Journal
• KindWealth

To connect with Alyssa: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

When did you realise that self-worth was attached to looks? Have you been told “you’re so pretty - you don’t need to work as hard”, or thought to yourself “If I look ‘better’, I might get the job”? For every side of this surface-level coin, this episode is for YOU!

Let’s talk about another side of the glass ceiling: the one where you’re too pretty to be smart, you only got the job because you’re “beautiful”, and you get compliments based on outside, out-of-your-control elements. 

We dig into the dark side of the “pretty” compliments for young girls and how they combined with affection can end up linking girls’ self-worth to appearance rather than things in their control such as intelligence or humour. 

Looks in general hold so much weight in society (pun intended), so we want to encourage you to show up as YOUR best self. So let’s get real, here: from Mowgli to Erin Brokovich, from Barbie to Gigantor, we get into the weeds with the ‘unsaid side’ of ‘pretty’, and highlight some of the impactful compliments we’ve given and received that highlight the shine from within! 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Let’s get planning! Today we’re talking WEDDINGS! We talk to Grace Harvey about our own unique perspectives on unions, the importance of knowing your values and the elements that enrich your union experience: from budget to bandwidth, guests to the dress, we’re on the road to togetherness with our favorite event planner. Find out some best questions to ask your future planner, how to DIY it, and why a farm might not be cheaper than that luxury hotel. 

About Our Guest: 

Grace is a food and drink-loving Brit in British Columbia. With over 12 years of hospitality experience in some of BC and Europe’s top spaces, resorts, and fine dining restaurants, Grace designs inimitable events in exceptional settings. Grace’s love for participating in exceptional experiences is matched only by her love of a lazy Sunday brunch with her best friends. Grace’s global travels have resulted in her meticulous planning, organising and running all manner of events. A lover of small towns with big personalities, Grace now resides in Victoria, where she reads up on wine, dog-sits at every opportunity, and revels in bringing dream events to life. Grace is currently an event planner at The Good Party, based in Victoria, B.C.

 ** RESOURCES **

• The Good Party
• Real Estate: Ashley Smith Episode
• 2Paycheques Away Episode 

To connect with Grace: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

This one’s a BIG topic. We’re bringing you our breakdown of some select media and anecdotal clips, with a focus on how media looks different from around the world. 

We talk through the impact of the overwhelm of news, fear-mongering verbiage and international perspectives, to listening lightly and creating individual control over your mental and emotional health. As always, we believe in being brave and living full. We know that education is influence, and influence is personal power. So, we hope that you will take some time to do your own reading and research, too! We took this topic on because we both felt it hard to turn off media sources, and easy to feel helpless. So, in brunch break style, we’re here for you to help discuss ways to design and protect our mental sanctuaries, do what we can, and take a big, collective breath as we look at internal and external stories that impact us on countless levels.

RESOURCES:
CBC Segment
BBC Segment
SCMP Segment
SABC Segment

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

New York Times
Daily Maverick
University of Amsterdam
The Daily Podcast
CBC Ways to Help Ukraine

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

From a “Farm strong” cultivating a deep well of self-initiating music and story ideas, we sit down with a true force of nature. Barbara Lee took the “nobody looks like me” narrative, and used it as fuel to start the longest-running Asian film festival in Canada. Join us as we talk farm life to film life, creating long-term change with authentic action, and attracting a team of investors, volunteers and creatives by being your true self. Barbara is a beacon of inspiration, showing us how to walk in with a curiosity lens, relinquish those regrets, and take each opportunity as a two-way investment. So sit back, get your popcorn out, and enjoy the show!

About Barbara

Barbara has spent over twenty-five years as a community advocate for diverse representation and organizer of events to increase the profile and opportunities for Canadian Asian artists in film, television, media and music. She is the founder of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF). Co-founder of the Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM) in its 16th year and founder and producer of the Asians in Movies, Music and Media Summit (AIM3), and the recently launched Racial Equity Screen Office (RESO).

Barbara Lee is an independent filmmaker, producer and songwriter in Vancouver. She has worked as a broadcast journalist and has received the regional and national Radio and Television News Directors’ Association (RTNDA) Award for Best Editorial for her work entitled Mother’s Day. She is also the winner of the National Film Board (NFB) of Canada’s Diversity award Pacific/Yukon and her NFB produced documentary BETWEEN THE LAUGHTER aired on CBC and PBS Northwest.  Currently, she is completing her feature documentary SING MY SONG and her horror script.

 RESOURCES:

Elimin8hate

Vancouver Asian Film Festival

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

It’s still FAB-RUARY, and we’re making fabulous moves for the second month of 2022! Join us as we discuss the morning rituals that make us the best version of ourselves. Are you team Kristina - hardcore routines and checking those dopamine boxes or team Raquelle - led by your intuition and all about cortisol reduction? Either way, dive into it with us as we talk about how to navigate the craziness of life while running like a well oiled machine. 

 RESOURCES:

Deep work - Cal Newport

Ashley Margeson Episode

Unapologetic Eating

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Chris and Elvin!  

Thank you to our Branding Consultants at Roodenburg Design and Audio Career Pathway Support from Levels Music Production!

From a performance, marketing and communications background to gathering Angel investors while pioneering remote and virtual teams, Kate has made entrepreneurship in the gig-based economy look like a beautiful breeze. We talk about the real work - living and breathing your values so that your product or service shines through! Kate’s commitment to brand integrity, transparency about attracting investors for a brand, and tips on how to align yourself for sustainable success are exactly what we could all use as we waltz into each day! Business owners, creative thinkers and wellness lovers will ADORE this episode, so sit back, and take a chill pill and then pre-order the Loba Pill Organizer to set up in style each day!

About Our Guest: 

Kate has a background in advertising and communications, and has worked with numerous healthcare organizations including Doctors of BC, BC Family Doctors, and the Health Data Coalition. She is the founder of Armature Collective, a marketing and branding company based in Vancouver. Kate believes strongly in giving back to arts and community services, and supporting personal development. She has held numerous community leadership roles, organized charity events, and provides personal coaching to a select group of

clients. 

RESOURCES:

• Loba
• Ripple of Change
• Doctor Bobby Parmer
• Dr. Creaser
• Dr. Bowen
• The Forum: Canadian entrepreneurs 

Special thanks to Jenn Wint for the connection! 

To connect with Kate: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

It's the Year of the Tiger and we're ready to ROAR! Join Raquelle and Kristina as we explore some of the biggest personal shifts brought to us in 2021. Raquelle, coming from a year which included 8 major trips living in three different continents over the pandemmy. She digs into her biggest learnings from taking bold moves, realizing that sometimes the goal isn’t everything and how this year was a big one for re-evaluating her values. Kristina, an avid traveler, talks about what it was like not being able to leave Canada for the last two years, how she navigated her industry being turned upside down and how she realized the importance of knowing when it’s the right time to leave.

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, and Elvin!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

Happy Lunar New Year! Remember when a caller left a voicemail for Missouri News Anchor Michelle Li, saying that her dumpling comment on the food segment of New Years’ Day was “Very Asian” and that she should “keep her Korean to herself”? WE DO. #VeryAsian movement starter Michelle Li takes a moment to share her badass, bombshell self with us, and we’re OVER THE MOON (just in time for Lunar New Year, too!). Michelle is an absolute beacon, lighting up the classiest ways to embrace the unknown, lead with curiosity and take baby steps towards a better world. Listen all the way to the end to hear the REST of the story with the unknown caller, and get inspired by a woman who reminds us that when you choose to lead each day with grace, forgiveness and kind curiosity, you may not feel ready for life’s adventures, but you are certainly BUILT for it!

About Michelle Li:

Michelle Li is a news anchor for KSDK, the NBC affiliate in St. Louis, less than a year, previously in Seattle at King 5. Raised in Missouri, near Kansas City. She is the founder of the Very Asian Foundation, sparked by a globally-formed movement in early 2022. 

To connect with Michelle: click HERE 

To connect with the Very Asian Foundation: click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

How do you increase confidence, lower cortisol levels, reduce stress and command influence and authority? Easy: SING IN THE SHOWER! MAKE WEIRD SOUNDS! MASSAGE YOUR JAW! And speak through a straw into a cup of water every day. Think of voice as the new meditation: it’s something that we all use, and most of the time, it’s unconsciously so. Today’s episode breaks down how our voice actually creates sound, why it’s great for your mental wellbeing, and why teachers, public speakers, managers, fitness instructors, parents and guardians, and ANYONE who’s talking for extended periods of time can create a more powerful presence, internally and impactfully to others. Three minutes a day is all it takes, so sit back, grab a glass of water, and drink in this nourishing episode with Rachael and Carol-Lynne!

About Rachael:
Rachael Schroeder is a singer, songwriter and vocal producer/editor. Pursuing her lifelong passion, Rachael has been honing her vocal technique and songwriting craft since a young age through continuous vocal training, workshops and collaborations. From 2015 to 2017, she attended an audio music school in Vancouver, studying sound engineering, music production, music business and artist development. From her heart to yours, Rachael’s lyrics express fearless truths layered with Imogen Heap inspired harmonies driven by her smokey yet powerful vocals. Currently Rachael focuses primarily on vocal work and songwriting in collaboration with creatives around the globe. 

About Carol-Lynne Quinn:
CQ Voice is a voice company founded by Carol-Lynne Quinn, an athletic science-based voice coach.  She has worked with award-winning vocalists, coaching JUNO Master Classes and Canada’s Music Incubator.
In 2021, CQ Voice launches ROAR, an online community with vocal training programs, live challenges, articles, podcasts, live group classes and a plethora of resources for all voice users. 

RESOURCES:

• Ingo Titze 
• CQ Voice 
• Roar Community 
• 'Fix You' Coldplay Cover by Fearless Soul ft. Rachael Schroeder 

To connect with Rachael Schroeder: click HERE 

To connect with Carol-Lynne Quinn: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

Tuesday Brunch Break Time! We revisit daily practices in this new season, and break down the ingredients that we use in our quest to Be Brave, Live Full. Raquelle and Kristina have very different ways of optimizing, and we walk through this brunch break to share knowledge, celebrate differences, and ask some big questions so that you can take away the most valuable tips for YOUR best version of you! Some key takeaways: 

• Movement, Light and Hydration as big, bold daily foundations
• Morning Mindset routine: build your own, and change it seasonally
• The Cake Analogy: get nerdy about how much YOU need of what in your life, in order to set up for your best day
• Make Space: You can’t listen if you are crowded! Make sure you have space to just sit back and observe
• Get Curious: Coming from a place of non-judgement and questioning your deeper why underneath your behaviour will help you custom bake your own Daily Practice Cake. 

We hark back to Dr. T, Diana Sadat, and Bake Daddy for some super tips on creating your best, fullest life. So sit back, relax, and tune in for our Brunch BAKE. ;)

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

Thinking larger than life is standard practice for this badass bombshell! Melody sits down with us to discuss the supercool origin story of EatArt and the work in and around sustainable machinery and art works. We talk through alternative energies, mentoring next gen energy consumers, and steering a ship on volunteer hours alone. We talk through the “Do-ocracy” of love-led organisations, the importance of delegating to others, and how to find skill exchange sweet points within a team. 

If you’re an entrepreneur with a creative mind and have passion projects that you’re looking to launch or elevate, this one’s for you! 

About Our Guest: 

Melody Copeman is a Senior UI Artist working in video games, currently working on Apex Legends – a battle royale developed by EA / Respawn. Melody has a Bachelor in Media Arts in Interactive + Social Media arts from Emily Carr University. Melody volunteers as the Executive Director of the eatART foundation (which stands for Energy Awareness Through art). Melody has helped them with organizing fundraisers, social media, and fabrication. When not doing that, Melody enjoys drinking bubble tea, designing costumes and practicing aerial silks. Melody is passionate about environmental sustainability, social justice, and creativity.

About EatART

eatART is an acronym that stands for Energy Awareness Through art. As a charity organization, we support the creation of large-scale, technically sophisticated art that invites viewers to question the social and environmental impact of energy consumption. 

RESOURCES:

EatArt
Burning Man
Taking my Parents to Burning Man

To connect with Melody: click HERE 

To connect with Eat Art: click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team as always! You can find out more about our team, our vision and our dreams on our website HERE

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

From an industrial working class town to the BBC’s Powerlist, Vick Bain teaches us how to play career chess (and WIN). From a love of performing to generating social capital in a man’s world, Vick shares how she raised twins as a single mother, found her career strengths, and rose to a position of one of the most influential people in the UK’s music industry. We’re so inspired by this lifelong learner, and know you will be too. Vick, through her own journey, reminds us that tenacity, perseverance, and solutions-based thinking are key ingredients to breaking free of the stereotypes that can try to hold us down. So get your game hat on, and prepare for a powerhouse episode!

Vick has worked in the music industry for twenty-five years.  For six years she was Chief Executive Officer of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors (the Ivors Academy) and is a Sheffield University BA (Music and Performing Arts) and Henley Business School MBA graduate. She is the author of an influential industry report Counting the Music Industry, and founder of The F-List directory of UK female musicians: a not-for-profit organisation aimed at facilitating professional opportunities for women in music.  Vick was enrolled into the Music Week Women in Music Awards Roll Of Honour and the BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour Music Industry Powerlist.  Vick is also a director of the board of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, a music tech start-up called Delic and is a trustee of Parents & Carers in Performing Arts (PiPA).

RESOURCES:
The F-List Directory: click HERE

To connect with Vick Bain: click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

What an inspiring, incredible episode to ring in the New Year! From a long love of the English language, through competitive hockey, to billboards and chart-topping tunes, Nimkish (she/they) embodies every part of the art form in order to inspire the world with socially conscious stories. We talk about the investment made into learning the language of your career, building your blue sky, and taking control of your workflow. Nimkish avidly believes that when you put what you want out into the universe, based on what you believe in, you attract your team. Every entrepreneur, creative, and life designer is a  project manager of our own careers. So get your vision board out, put in the work, and don’t settle for the status quo, because you, BBs, are worth your biggest dreams.  

About Nimkish: 

To fully immerse in the multitudes of Indigenous rising star Nimkish is to honour the past, look ahead to the future, and bask in the resplendent present all at once. The Vancouver-based marvel-in-the-making is fearless in her lyricism, confronting anti-Indigenous racism and colonial violence alongside other hard subjects like anxiety, grief and heartache. To the great tradition of singer-songwriters healing through their music, Nimkish brings a bright-eyed aim to flourish in all she has experienced. Stylistically, Nimkish exists in a realm between Kehlani and King Princess, softly orbiting Sabrina Claudio. Her lyrics give affirmation to past pain while living in the moment. To some it may sound like escapism, to others it may sound like moxie-driven R&B-pop pulsing through the club. What’s certain is her fortitude — she’s an it-girl on a mission.

RESOURCES:

• Nimkish's Music 
• Jon Lee

Nimkish’s Team:

• Matt Maw (Manager)
• Red Music Rising
• Noreen Hamid (PR)

To connect with Nimkish: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

It's our last episode of 2021!! We’re winding down with some Tuesday Rambles! After a long-drawn nerding out over retro gaming (SUPERNINTENDO ALL THE WAY), Raquelle and Kristina sit in our new virtual coffee house for a chat about social etiquette, disclosing your relationship status, and how to hold space in a, well, space. We love having these conversations and look forward to YOUR thoughts and ideas, as well all continue iterating and setting our intentional living parameters. This one’s for those of us who like to read a book at a bar, and for those who are plucking up the courage to talk to someone at a bar. 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

It’s the first official day of Winter, and we’re celebrating with our TEAM! Meet Elvin, Hannah, Bosco and Glen, four of the six of our BB team members who are behind the scenes, producing the content that reaches your glorious eyes and ears every week. 

Bombshells began as in-person brunches, to create a community of like-minded, ambitious and socially conscious people. This team is the embodiment of that, and we are so proud of our team, who they are, and what they believe it. 

So sit back, grab your favourite bevvie, and listen to our team’s top episode votes, key takeaways, career challenges and how to overcome them, and best resources for a productive and proactive 2022! 

P.S. We’re missing Grace and Nicole today but we’re sending love their way!

We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our past BB team members  Brittni Noble and Kristie Chan, who helped us get things up and running and whom we ADORE! 

Team Votes for their top BB Episodes of 2021: 

• Building A Loyal Community w/ Natasha Jung from Cold Tea Collective
• Becoming a Better Man w/ Shea Emry
• Embracing Culture Shift for Authentic Success w/ Mayumi Yoshida  
• Warriors & Wonder Women w/ Mama Lao 
• Language Reclamation & Honouring Your Mother Tongue w/ Carmela Sison
• Honouring Your Body Wisdom w/ Jen Murtagh

GLEN RECOMMENDS

• Smartless Podcast
• Waking Up App: Sam Harris  
• Rick & Morty
• French Earl Grey Tea from David’s Tea 

BOSCO RECOMMENDS

• Book: The Silent Patient
• EmergenC

ELVIN RECOMMENDS

• Book: The Meaning of Mariah Carey 
• The Secret
• Mile Higher True Crime Podcast 

HANNAH RECOMMENDS

• Books: Mahary Macfarlane
• TV: Ted Lasso

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

Dr. Ian Cromwell has his hands in so many baskets. Ian is a Health Economist, highly sought-after multi-instrumentalist, and community champion with his collective Locals Lounge, which aims to elevate musicians across all genres and curate exceptional experiences for audiences all over the city. From hustle culture to abundance mindset, we start in science, and move into facilitative leadership models that embrace a collaborative, values-based and mutually beneficial mindset. A perfect partner to your morning beverage, this episode will inspire you to be vulnerable, build trust, and find the overlap in your skillset. We’re walking through the tastiest ingredients to a more sustainable, fulfilling career, and we’re here to help you get your next initiative going.

So let’s all sit down, find each other, and get to making some stone soup.

 About Ian Cromwell

Ian Cromwell is a musician, scientist, and community organizer in Vancouver, BC. Ian spends his days conducting reviews of health economic evidence on behalf of the Canadian health care system. By night, you can find Ian at the helm of Locals Lounge, a local music community incubator. Locals Lounge has recently launched the far-reaching 'Constellation' project - a collaboration between local music event organizers designed to welcome people back into Vancouver's music scene in the wake of COVID. Ian can also be found on stages around Vancouver, performing live with the help of his electric violin, guitar, and loop pedal.

 RESOURCES

Locals Lounge

To connect with Ian Cromwell: click HERE

To connect with Locals Lounge: click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

**CONTENT WARNING** - This episode contains information that may be emotionally triggering for some people. We ALWAYS recommend speaking to your emotional, mental and physical healthcare professionals if you have specific questions or concerns. With that said, we hope to shine a safe and kind light on the essential, sensitive topic of miscarriage.

This episode is definitely my (Raquelle’s) most vulnerable episode to date. I personally asked Ashley to come on the podcast after having a miscarriage over the summer. And what was crazy to me was the lack of information surrounding it. I had zero reference to know if what I was experiencing was normal or not and could not wade through the amount of generic or quite frankly garbage information that saturated the internet.

All I kept thinking was that I wished I could talk to Ashley about this. Especially about the hormonal changes flooding my body. And then I realized, if I’m having this problem then other people likely are too. Approximately 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. This episode is about hormones - we are not focusing on the emotional experience here, so we’re being candid, opening the door behind the scenes. We talk about the terms “not viable vs miscarriage”, the big red reset button, and the lack of control on both sides of the reproductive equation. 

When you know what’s going on with your body and you can understand what’s happening, it helps to provide a safe space to listen. From ovulation to miscarriage, join us as we talk through the facts, the stats, the hormones and how very different this experience is for every individual. 

About Dr. Margeson

Dr. Ashley Margeson is a licensed and registered Naturopathic Doctor with a strong focus on women’s health, hormonal regulation, health optimization, and burnout recovery and prevention. She has a thriving practice filled with patients who are focused on improving their quality of life. Dr. Ashley is also the host of The Superwoman Code; a weekly podcast educating young professional and busy women about how to make their health work for them, not against them. She is also a full-time stepmom to her 5 and 7-year-old children.

RESOURCES:

Dr. Ashley Margeson’s Podcast 

Dr. Ryan Funk’s Episode (Acubalance) 

Dr. Ashley Margeson’s Episode

Dr. Dixon and Carolynn Dubé’s Episode

Special thanks to Crystal Richard PR for the introduction to this amazing human! 

To connect with Dr. Ashley Margeson, click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Mayumi is a beacon of finding the possible, perfecting your pitch, and finding the best team by being your truest self. We know that feeling of not quite belonging, and that little (or loud) voice that pushes past what your culture, parents or society wants you to do. To find her unique storytelling voice, Mayumi takes us on a beautiful journey through the search for identity, a love of community, and being you above all else. A trans-national kid who danced between careers throughout her life, we talk through imposter syndrome, industry pressures, and the joy of helping others find the values in authenticity. The richness of culture brings so much more to story, and the credentials you have are only a portion of the success recipe, no matter your industry. So, sit back, take tea, and get ready to learn how to add the spice of YOU to everything you do!

About Mayumi: 

Born in Japan, raised in three continents, Mayumi Yoshida is an actor, writer, director, based in Vancouver, BC. Her role as Crown Princess (The Man in The High Castle) received a 2016 UBCP/ACTRA’s Emerging Actor nomination. For detailed acting credits please click here.

As an award-winning writer/director, Mayumi has been a leading force in emerging Asian-Canadian Cinema. She’s an alumna of Women in the Director’s Chair Career Advancement Module, Women in Focus Mentorship at Whistler Film Festival and currently the participant of the inaugural WarnerMedia x Canadian Academy Access Writers Program. She recently was also selected to be part of TIFF Netflix Talent Accelerator Fellowship and TIFF Writer’s Studio for 2022.  She is currently working on her feature film version of Akashi-あかし-.

RESOURCES: 

Women in the Director’s Chair Career Advancement Module 

WarnerMedia x Canadian Academy Access Writers Program

Akashi-あかし-. 

TIFF Netflix Talent Accelerator Fellowship  

To connect with Mayumi: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click