Dr. Bonnie Schmidt planned to become a dentist. Then she failed the dental chalk-carving test, twice. That failure redirected her into graduate research and eventually led her to found Let’s Talk Science, an organization that has now reached more than 21 million youth and educators.

Bonnie joins Stacey and Jacquie to talk about why career awareness needs to begin much earlier than high school and why preparing young people for an unpredictable workforce is less about choosing the right job title and more about building curiosity and confidence. She also explains the role employers can play in creating meaningful early work experiences.

Chapters

01:17 The Chalk Test That Changed Everything
07:31 Why Failure Can Be a Good Thing
08:57 Learning Through Science
10:44 Career Awareness Starts Earlier Than You Think
15:39 Kids Start Ruling Careers Out Early
19:08 Skills for Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet
22:58 Stop Asking Kids What They Want to Be
24:24 Exploring Hundreds of Careers Through Competition
27:39 Employers Need to Play the Long Game
32:44 Making Work Experiences Meaningful
36:10 Chalk Carving, Space Travel and a Curious Generation

Links:
Let’s Talk Science
Let’s Talk Careers Competition
ChatterHigh

Hosts: Stacey Allan and Jacquie Daniels
Executive Producer: Ann Normand

Episode Overview

Jennifer McClure joins Stacey and Jacquie to talk about career ownership, better leadership and the value of asking good questions. She shares the blunt feedback that changed her approach as an HR leader: stop being the person who explains why something can’t be done, and start helping people figure out how it can.

Jennifer also makes the case for thoughtful disruption and using AI to free people up for higher-value work, rather than simply cutting tasks or jobs.

Chapters

00:51 Meet Jennifer McClure

02:14 Why HR Belongs in the Room

08:25 Who Owns Your Career?

13:33 The Feedback That Changed Her Leadership

17:24 Disrupt What’s Already Working

21:04 AI as an Empowerment Tool

26:04 Can Jennifer Defend a Terrible HR Idea?

Relevant Links / Resources

Jennifer McClure: jennifermcclure.net
DisruptHR: disruptHR.co
LinkedIn: Jennifer McClure

Hosts: Stacey Allan and Jacquie Daniels
Executive Producer: Ann Normand

Safety is about keeping people from getting hurt. But the companies that do it well often see something else too: better quality, less rework, and stronger retention.

Mark Hoosein, CEO of the Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA), joins Stacey and Jacquie to talk about what separates a genuine safety culture from a safety program. They explore why workers are especially vulnerable during their first year with a company, even when they already have years of experience; how supervisors and coworkers influence whether people feel comfortable speaking up; and why investing in safety can make good business sense.

Mark also offers practical advice for smaller employers that want to improve their safety systems and explains why, at its core, workplace safety comes down to one simple responsibility: taking care of each other.

Chapters

00:09 Introducing Mark Hoosein
00:47 Why the First Year Is Higher Risk
02:00 What “Crew Culture” Really Means
05:35 Can Workers Tell If You Take Safety Seriously?
07:42 Where Small Employers Can Start
09:16 Why Safe Companies Perform Better
12:50 COR, SECOR and the Business Case for Certification
15:39 The One Thing Employers Should Remember
16:28 Would You Rather?
19:14 Free Safety Resources for Employers and Workers

Links:

https://www.youracsa.ca/

https://www.youracsa.ca/cor-secor/

https://www.youracsa.ca/ipc/

Hosts: Stacey Allan and Jacquie Daniels
Executive Producer: Ann Normand