On this nostalgic Christmas Eve, sisters Nadine and Danielle, along with their cousin, Amy, share their memorable, often chaotic experiences working at a housewares and gift shop in St. John's, Newfoundland during their high school and university days. Reflecting on their long hours, challenging customers and youthful first-job antics, these three share insights into the exhaustion and camaraderie of retail work during the holiday season. Through humorous and heartfelt stories about Mi...

Mandie Vossenberg is back on the pod to talk about dead parents, but make it festive?! The holidays bring about a lot of feelings, especially if you've lost someone, so Nadine and Mandie wanted to share how they've been feeling in hopes that if you can relate, you won't feel so alone in it. In this heartfelt episode, they share a candid conversation about dealing with grief during the holiday season, recounting personal experiences, from the sadness and tears to the unexpected moments o...

We are officially into the Holiday Season so I thought it was a great time to chat with Tesia Bryski and Alyssa Malizia, psychotherapists and the Co-Directors at Shine Mental Health Collective in Ottawa, ON. This time of year can be challenging for many for a multitude of reasons, so in this episode we wanted to share some insights into psychotherapy, access, the impact of the holidays on mental health and the ways in which we can take care of ourselves during a busy time of year. In th...

Meet Jess Packman, hair enthusiast and stylist at JetBlack Hair Studio, who also happens to no longer suffer wildly every month since having a hysterectomy! Nadine and Jess, like many people who happen to have uteruses, have had a complicated relationship with them and hopped on the podcast to talk about their decisions to have them removed due to severe endometriosis and adenomyosis. Listen in as both women share their own personal stories, which are very different from each other but so sim...

It's the last Wednesday of the month so you know what that means. Mom and sis are back! And this time we're talking body image and aging. Listen in as the three of us, being women in our 40s, 50s, and 70s, discuss our independent decisions to age naturally in a world constantly promoting fillers, Botox, and surgeries. Each of us discuss our own personal journeys toward self-acceptance, and share insights on how we've built our relationships with our imperfect bodies, embracing the physi...

Ever been fired? Jen has, twice! And both times that it happened to her she wished she had someone she could relate to, so she's sharing her story in case she can be that someone for you. In this episode Jen recounts her journey of being terminated from two significant jobs and how those experiences shaped both her, and her career. A human rights investigator and lawyer based in Ottawa, Jen walks us through the impact these moments had on her psyche, how she got herself through those fi...

Meet Ashley Wittig, brainchild behind Honey's Ice Cream in Toronto, ON and holder of my heart through said ice cream. In this episode, Ashley shares her journey from vegan bakery owner to vegan ice cream maker/Honey's creator, taking us through her creative process (seriously, how does she continually make us drool with those flavour combinations?!) and the challenges she has faced in both her previous and current businesses. When hopping on this call I wanted to know how Ashley came to...

Meet Kirsten Duke, a 39-year-old mother of three, who carried four babies and helped create two separate, but forever linked, families. The Other Side of Surrogacy - aka, the one that made Nadine cry. In this episode Kirsten generously shares her remarkable journey as a surrogate mother. Starting from the beginning (seeing a TikTok video with two hopeful fathers from Spain) she then walks us through the medical screenings, the legal and logistical processes, the experience of carrying a...

Mom and sis are back! And this week the three of us dive into the joys and complexities of friendship. We talk about making new friends, losing old ones, and the natural ebb and flow of those lifelong friendships, including the pain of drifting apart as well as the beauty of reconnecting. Told from the perspective of women in their 40s, 50s and 70s, we explore how true friendships shape our lives, provide us with a safety net, and stand the test of time. Mom, sis and I are often found c...

If you've ever wondered how folks figure out what to do with their lives, have a listen. Regardless if you're an entrepreneur or not, this conversation highlights how there are a million different paths to take you where you're meant to go. Sometimes it's as simple as being in the right place at the right time; Mandie and Nadine like to call that kismet. Mandie Vossenberg, the owner/operator of Collective Movement, joins Nadine on today's podcast to talk about her unlikely path to entre...

Meet Tesia, a registered psychotherapist, who landed in a hospital bed with a broken back after the hammock she was relaxing in at a spa suddenly broke and sent her crashing to the ground. In this chat, Tesia recounts her harrowing experience from that day and walks us through the immense challenges of her recovery, including her personal and professional growth, setbacks, and shifting relationships. With honesty and a sense of humour that helped her through this traumatic experience, w...

Chronic pain is something that's hard to imagine unless you've experienced it yourself. That's why I wanted to hear Lisa's story. Lisa is a physiotherapist who specializes in women's and pelvic floor health, and in this episode she shares her personal journey through an excruciating experience with chronic back pain. Listen in as Lisa explains how chronic pain affected every aspect of her life - her job, her sleep, her relationships and her mental and physical health. Vulnerable and direct, L...

In this episode of the Other Side Pod, Nadine talks to Henry Assad, the CEO of Happy Goat Coffee Company. Henry shares his experiences from starting in the coffee business in 2008 to purchasing and expanding Happy Goat. He delves into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges faced during the Ottawa Freedom Convoy, and how with the critical support from friends and family he managed to still be standing on the other side of a global pandemic. Despite the setbacks, Henry remains opti...

I'm often found on FaceTime with mom and sis just ... shooting the shit. When I had this idea to record us they were all in, so here's our first go. Throughout these 50 minutes we discuss numerous topics, from family dynamics, careers, access to birth control in the 70s, to how I got my abysmal sense of time from Lorraine (the matriarch). We jump from topic to topic because, that's us. Some months we'll delve further into something, but for the first episode together we kept it light(ish).&nb...

"I think there is something really beautiful I can make of these broken pieces...to give someone else some perspective...to leave the best parts of me behind.” Part 2 of a 2-part conversation with Erin McHarge. Take this podcast on your next walk. Trust me. Though it’s about cancer, incurable cancer at that, it’s one you will easily fall in love with because Erin is simply that kind of human. At 27, Erin was dealt a brutal blow - a stage 4B endometrial cancer diagnosis. This was less than a y...

“I am not in the business of being miserable anymore.” Take this podcast on your next walk. Trust me. Though it’s about cancer, incurable cancer at that, it’s one you will easily fall in love with because Erin is simply that kind of human. At 27, Erin was dealt a brutal blow - a stage 4B endometrial cancer diagnosis. This was less than a year ago, and now, freshly 28, she kindly pulls the curtain back on her life and offers us a rare insight into her world. We talk about everything, from the ...

Listen in as Nadine and Mandie chat all things dead parents on the first episode of The OTHERSIDE Pod. Through candid and deeply personal dialogue, they share stories about their grief, unexpected signs from their loved ones, and the odd comfort found in dark humor. From the logistical aftermath of a parent's death to the emotional nuances of navigating life without them, this episode offers a raw yet relatable look at grief, filled with both laughter and tears. Mandie Vossenberg is the owner...