Tea With A Titan: Conversations Steeped In Greatness |achievement | Olympics | Olympians| Success | Athletes | Entrepreneurs

If there’s something on this planet that’s more inspiring than the concept of those who rise again after they fall, well, I’m afraid I just don’t know what it is. And perhaps no other Canadian athlete most exemplifies the notion of “the comeback” quite like four-time Olympic rower, three-time Olympic medalist, Silken Laumann. After a horrific 1992 rowing accident that all but completely destroyed her leg, she was told there was a strong chance that she would never row again. The thing of it all? This was 10-weeks out from the Barcelona Olympic Games, and Silken had every intention of being there. With goal setting, visualization, and pure grit (including several hospital procedures and intense rehab), Silken made it to Barcelona, and to a medal finish at that. We talk about her challenging childhood years, redefining fear, and what the Olympics mean to her.  

After I attacked him at our mutual neighbour’s house and begged him to be a Guest Titan, Mark and I talk Olympic fever and, in particular, all things luge. In fact, Mark is one of Britain’s most successful Luge racers, having raced in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City and in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turino. In Salt Lake, he achieved his goal of being the highest ranked finisher from a country without a home track. Proudly self-funded for the majority of his 12 year career, he was told he was too old to pursue a career in luge when he switched from pole vaulting to luge at 21 years of age. Mark is two-time Commonwealth Champion and six-time British Champion. Despite a fracture in his spine in 2001, through hard physical work and a fierce competitive spirit this humble but competitive dynamo overcame all this prior to his two Olympic Games. During his luge career he raced in every World Cup but one -- due to injury -- and all Major Championships, winning Great Britain’s first internationa

There aren’t too many moments in our planet’s history that inspire or connote the meaning of greatness more so than the Olympic Games. With Rio 2016 – the 31st Olympiad – just days away, I sit down for tea with this super star, Nikola Girke. The Rio games will be her fourth – not a typo – Olympic Games. While this year, she and her sailing partner, Luke Ramsay, will be representing Canada on the Nacra 17, a wee but powerful catamaran, in Olympics past she has represented Canada in both the 470 sailing and RS:X windsurfing disciplines. This makes her not only an over-achiever, but an over-achiever-cubed. When she is not being a talented and disciplined and dedicated non-TV-watching Olympian, she is a huge supporter of causes including Fast and Female, the 60 Minutes Kids Club, and KidsSport, to name a few. We talk Netflix (and her limited knowledge thereof), her special friend Felix, and her life motto: Dare to dream. Dare to achieve. Dare to succeed. And she gives an insiders take on the Olympic Opening cerem

As a sucker for the concept of re-invention, I’m more than a little bit ga-ga over all that Anothony Lemke represents. Today part of the dynamic ensemble cast of SyFy Channel’s hit series Dark Matter, Anthony left the promise of a successful career as a lawyer in one of Canada’s top corporate law firms in order to leave no stone unturned as it pertained to acting. And it’s paid off. While fans (and there are a lot of them) can catch season two of Dark Matter on Space TV, binge-watchers (and there are a lot of them) can catch season one on Netflix. (Season one was Space TV’s most watched new series, as a little FYI.) Anthony’s prolific career in television includes the role of Sergeant Brian Becker in CTV’s The Listener, as well as a two-season arc in Bravo’s award-winning crime drama 19-2. We talk bunkies (see image on Twitter, no less), 1990s big hair (see image on Twitter, no less), and doing what we can to extend awareness and kindness where it’s most needed on the planet right now – and for Anthony, that

In 2006, on an otherwise uneventful flight, actor Matt Hill (Ninja Turtles, Shanghai Knights, Dreamworks’ Dinotrux) was hit with a Big Idea, what he calls his “divine download”. That idea? To run from his home in Vancouver and complete one full loop of North America, by committing to a marathon a day for more than a year. And he did it, too. The 11,000-mile journey, called the Run for One Planet Tour, saw Matt and a friend connect with more than 50,000 students continent-wide, with a goal of inspiring positive environmental action. Most recently, he has been recognized with the Governor General’s Meritorious Award, given to Canadians who bring honour to this country. (And he certainly does that.) We talk Terry Fox, Jackie Chan, and turning adversity into triumph. Hands down, the most positive person I’ve ever met, he confesses – spoiler alert – his commitment to remaining passionate and to living a great life is a decision he made, and not something he was simply born with. A much-loved voice actor with an im

Since leaving a successful career in advertising, Susanne Biro has become a much sought-after leadership coach, having worked with the likes of top physicians at the Mayo Clinic, and top talent at organizations like New York Life and General Electric. However, despite a career rich in achievements, her recent invitation to spend a week on Necker Island -- the private home island of Sir Richard Branson -- where she took part in paradigm-busting conversations with two dozen of this planet's Change Makers and Rule Breakers, was undoubtedly her professional highlight. Together, over tea, we talk Brene Brown, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rosa Parks, and about Susanne's mission to "Tell the truth. Change the world." And of course we also talk veganism, and why she's so committed to promoting plant-based living. (She tells us what Sir Richard Branson's take is on the cow-environment connection too.)

After I pounced on her at a children's colouring contest, and convinced her to be a guest on Tea with a Titan, three-time Olympic snowboarder Mercedes Nicoll and I talk topics like the difference between a dream and a goal. The true definition of what it means to get up after a fall, Mercedes discusses what she's learned since a terrible snowboarding accident she suffered at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi -- a fall that left her suffering the debilitating effects of a concussion for nearly two years after. With 8 World Cup podium finishes, 5 National Championships, and 3 Olympic Games (Turin, Vancouver, and Sochi) under her belt, ironically in many ways this go-getter is actually just getting started. In a word, this woman is unstoppable. 

Four-time Stanley Cup winner and Original Six NHL Hockey legend, Ab McDonald shares insights about what separates the good-from-the-great. (Turns out, it comes down to loving what you do, and working hard.) We talk happy memories playing with Gordie Howe, Rocket Richard, and Jean Belliveau. As well as life highlights like meeting Muhammad Ali, Bob Hope, Ed Sullivan -- and jamming in his basement with Burton Cummings. ("American Woman...!") And we do it, all over tea. (This NHL super star loves his Earl Grey.)

Former advertising Creative Director Danielle Krysa transformed her one-time debilitating jealousy for other artists into one of the world’s most revered art blogs, TheJealousCurator.com. Since then, she’s become a trusted voice in the realm of becoming creatively unblocked – speaking at companies like Pixar and appearing as a panellist on Oprah Winfrey Network TV. Today, she is a three-time author and host of the podcast Art for your Ear. Her latest book "Your Inner Critic is a Big Jerk" launches in October 2016 at bookstores everywhere, and is also available on Audible.com.

Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Amber Fares, discusses her decision to depart her career in advertising and pursue unknown territory -- all with a camera strapped around her neck. After her eventual move to Palestine and a memorable encounter with the Middle East's first all-woman race car driving team, the genesis for her hit documentary Speed Sisters was in full fruition.

Writer/speaker/performer/philanthropist and seasoned interview-buff Mary-Jo Dionne welcomes you to the launch of her new podcast Tea with a Titan: Conversations Steeped in Greatness. MJDionne.com