Femme Studios

I sit down with two women behind Truss, a cannabis beverages company. Meet Mel Smith, who leads innovation, and Lori Hatcher-Hillier, who leads marketing. Truss is one of the few companies that focuses only on beverages, and parents 5 different brands that are catered for very different customers and moments. In this episode, we talk about gender diversity within cannabis, commitment to product over profit, and what advice they wish they could have given their younger selves at the start of their career.

Irie Selkirk is a pioneer in the psychedelic and cannabis industries, focused on educating companies, individuals and doctors alike. Most recently, Irie co-founded Rise Wellness, the world’s first low-dose psilocybin retreat and Sansero Life Sciences, company focused on cultivation, research and potential applications for psilocybin and other compounds. I met Irie through MAPS Canada, the Multi Disciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies, where she founded the Toronto chapter. In this episode, we discuss growing up in Jamaica and the impact that had on her perspective of plant medicine, her experience in the cannabis industry at companies like Tokyo Smoke, her move towards psychedelics. We also get into the foundational issues of legalization as she focuses on making the benefits of these natural medicines more readily available.

Elaisha Jade is a Meditation Instructor and Founder of Your Mindful. I met her a few years ago at a gathering to Soho House members and remember being captivated by her positive energy – she was a ray of sunshine, which you’ll hear through her voice. I followed her journey through social after our first meeting as she accredited herself as a meditation instructor, finding her sessions to be soothing, grounding and frankly just so fucking necessary during the wake of COVID. We sat down to chat about how she’s navigated learnings in mental health through meditation, the racialized nature of accessing mental health care, and understanding your “why?”.

If you’ve just finished listening to part 1, welcome! Skip over this intro.

Stacie Brockman is the founder of PLZ&THX, a brand incubator and venture capital fund. She previously co-founded METIER Creative, an advertising and creative agency, and before that was an early member of The Coveteur, a media company that looks into the closets and routines of today’s culturally relevant movers and shakers. Stacie and I chatted for hours and I distilled our conversation into two episodes. In part 1, Stacie talks about experiencing burnout and the pressures of being a leader. In part 2, Stacie shares her experience with KAP, short for Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. It’s a therapy that uses psychedelics to tap into past traumas and support the process of healing. If you know me, you’ll hear me preach the power of psychedelic therapy – when done in an adequate, controlled environment of course. Set and setting are absolutely key, which is something we get into. I’ll leave it there and let Stacie tell you the rest.

Stacie Brockman is the founder of PLZ&THX, a brand incubator and venture capital fund. She previously co-founded METIER Creative, an advertising and creative agency, and before that was an early member of The Coveteur, a media company that looks into the closets and routines of today’s culturally relevant movers and shakers. We chat about the reality behind the toxic face of Girlboss, what it means to be a leader, burnout, prioritizing self-care and MSN messenger nostalgia. Stacie and I talked for hours and I distilled our conversation in two episodes – this was one of the most eye-opening episodes I’ve recorded to-date. Check out part 2 to hear us discuss her experience with KAP, Ketamine Assisted Therapy and the power of psychedelics.

Jackie Kankam who is the Director of Sustainability and Social Impact at DECIEM, also known as the abnormal beauty company. Sustainability is by far one of the most relevant but also, sadly, misconstrued topics today. So you can see why I was curious to know what a Director of Sustainability for a beauty company actually does. Jackie answers exactly this question and how she got into sustainability work to begin with. We also talk about best practices when managing a team and aspects of culture at DECIEM which have allowed for her to feel supported in taking risks, and ultimately making an impact.

To be a founder is to have one of the most popular job titles nowadays. Am I alone in thinking it has lost significance? It feels like everyone and their mom can claim that title. And yet it comes with serious weight. The person who coined a business, had a vision – it’s not uncommon to imagine founders who are stuck in their own vision and believe they are essential to a successful execution. This is the topic of today’s episode. I sit down with Susanna Kislenko to discuss “Founder syndrome”. As a researcher specialized in the area, Susanna discusses her work analyzing the role of leaders and founders, in both the profit and non-profit sectors, from a social psychology perspective. As both a PhD candidate and a yoga teacher of 15 years, Susanna also discusses toxicity in the workplace, how to identify or deal with founder syndrome and the importance of self-care.

A couple words from me, the host, to you on what to expect in this new season. 

Hi, it’s been a minute. Truth is I’ve been sitting on this season for a minute and always put this pressure on myself to release episodes ASAP. This time, I took a page out of the 2020 book and slowed the fuck down. As I’m sure a lot of us did, this year was full of events and I made the decision to take a break mid-production to make time for personal stuff that was going on in my life, hence why this season is so late to drop. Did anyone notice it was late? Probably not, but in an age where we’re all constantly trying to impress one another, I think it’s important to touch on the not so perfect parts of working on the projects we’re proud of.

I started this podcast as a passion project years ago because I had so many interesting, insightful conversations with women in Toronto, I felt there wasn’t a space that amplified their work and learnings. Over time, the themes evolved as I did -- the first two seasons were all about how to do the thing, how to get to your dream job. This season is more about how career is part of a larger growth aspiration of constantly bettering ourselves, taking care of ourselves. Mental health is covered in virtually ever episode, as is self-acceptance, balancing hard work with time off. This season speaks true to the themes that many of us went through during the pandemic, but will continue to be relevant for years to come. As always, I hope you can find one episode that speaks to you, that you can take something from — a learning, an inspiration, a piece of advice. Because we can all learn from one another’s experiences as we navigate this strange thing called life.