Discover #hamont Podcast With Brian Hogg

Tricia LeClair is the Executive Director of the Hamilton Children's Choir, a local choir group for children aged 5-18 years of age and winner of numerous awards and competitions worldwide.  Hear about the history of the choir and why you should attend one of their upcoming events if you haven't already!

Kathleen (Maisonneuve Music) and Michael (moon:and:6) have both been in the music business for a long time, and have been a part of the growing Hamilton music scene for the last 8 years.  We talk about everything music related - from the parallels of the non-profit sector to the music industry, some of the challenges of launching and running a label, the creative ways to make a living doing what you're passionate about and where the revenue comes from, along with what brought them into Hamilton from Toronto. If you have any part of the music industry whether in Hamilton or elsewhere, or you're interested in what it's like to be a part of it, you need to listen to this chat!

Jason Cassis is a serial entrepreneur in Hamilton, behind restaurant Aberdeen Tavern, the Dundurn Market, the Knollwood Golf Club and more.  We chat about his current and upcoming projects, what it's like to invest in Hamilton, and some of his favourite parts of the city.

Kate Flynn is co-owner and operations manager at Honest Field Farms, an organic vegetable farm based in Millgrove, Ontario, just outside the city of Hamilton.  We chat about her journey from suburban New York to Hamilton, some of the challenges with running a sustainable farm, and some of her favourite things about the city.

Dale and Roz Mugford of BraveNewCode and Double Barrel Studios both run their companies out of the beautiful Studio@41 space.  We chat about how the space which 4 companies share came together, what it's like to both live and work in the downtown core, and some of their favourite parts of the city.  A surprise musical interlude wraps up the interview.

Daniel Haartman is a local psychotherapist in Hamilton, offering cultural mentoring and psychotherapy services for individuals and groups.  We chat about the benefits of therapy wherever we are in our lives, some realizations in his own life over the years, and what drew Daniel closer to the city centre from the outskirts of the region.

Justin Hall is co-founder of Start the Cycle, a non-profit ‘bike share’ program for school aged children between the ages of 5 and 15 similar to the for profit bike share models others use.  We chat about how the program works, why this and other programs encouraging physical activity are so important, winter biking and why it's totally doable (and fun!), and some Justin's favourite parts of the city.

Paddy is the Executive Director for Mission Services in Hamilton, a charity on a mission to end poverty and create safe places to learn, heal and grow.  We talk about her career that brought her to her current role, why she decided to make the move to Hamilton, and some of her favourite parts of the city.

Jeannie Crawford is a sales representative for Ambitious Realty and founder of MoveToHamOnt.com, an excellent resource for those looking to make the move to the city.  Jeannie talks about how the site was started, the journey that took her from a condo in Toronto to a home in the north end of Hamilton, and some of the favourite parts of the city she and her husband are still discovering.

Kristin Archer is all things for I Heart Hamilton, a popular local blog and radio show created in 2011 with the concept “Be a tourist in your own city.”  She also promotes live music shows under the “I Heart Hamilton presents” banner at iconic venues such as This Ain’t Hollywood and The Casbah.  We chat about how the blog started, some of the many other things she’s working on now including her upcoming annual fundraiser show The Playlist, and some of her favourite parts of the city.

Greg Lenko is founder of the Escarpment Project, an annual escarpment clean-up day that quickly grew to become the largest volunteer environmental clean up in Hamilton and one of the largest of its kind in Canada.  We chat about how the event started and some of the challenges involved, the impact the cleanup is having, and some of Greg's favourite parts of the city.

Linda Rourke started Hamilton Life six years ago at Cable 14, the local community cable station for Hamilton.  We chat about how the show started and some of the great stories she's been able to share, the story of her return to the city after her broadcasting career with CTV and the Weather Network took her to Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver, and some of her favourite parts about living and working in Hamilton.

Kevin Browne is the catalyst and founder behind Software Hamilton, the portal for software and technology events in the city.  Kevin talks about how the community started and grew, some of the great events and conferences available, and some of the many reasons why he loves Hamilton.

Meg Smith is the Senior Designer at factor[e], a local design and technology company, and also the Hamilton chapter lead for Ladies Learning Code, a nationwide not-for-profit organization that helps both women and men learn to code.  We chat about both of her roles, and some of her favourite things about the city she's lived in nearly every corner of.

Donna Reid is owner of The Hamilton Store, a beautiful shop on James Street North showcasing quality local products.  Donna shares how she came to Hamilton, how she realized her dream of opening the shop, and some of her favourite aspects of the city.  The interview was recorded live inside the store.

Curtis Ingleton and Halden Sproule of Genius I.E. talks about how their company and a handful of others are defining the growing 3D printing space, and how advanced manufacturing companies and techniques are a great fit to Hamilton.  We also chat about what brought them to Hamilton and why they love the city, and the Hamilton Tool Library that Halden started.

Susan Morris is the Manager of Fund Development at City Kidz, an organization making a difference in the lives of over 2,300 children in the city.  Susan talks about how City Kidz started, how they make a difference for kids of all ages, and why she's loves being a part of Hamilton.

Patti Encinas is Chair of the Sherman Hub, a group of dedicated residents and business owners making change in the community, and making the whole community a great place to live, work and raise a family.  Patti shares some of the history of how the hub started, what they've accomplished, what they're working on currently, and some great parts of the area.

David Carter is the Executive Director of the Innovation Factory, located in the McMaster Innovation Park.  Innovation Factory runs numerous events and helps entrepreneurs bring their ideas to commercialization.  David shares the history of the Innovation Factory and why Hamilton is a great place to build and grow a new venture.

Justin Policarpio is helping build Spectrum, an extra-curricular support program that encourages student entrepreneurship at McMaster University.  He also runs his own entrepreneurial venture, Roboteurs Inc, creating robots for education.  Justin tells the story of how Spectrum started and why he's quite happy to stay in Hamilton.