PODCAST · education
Excuses to Connect
by Richard Lee-Thai
Have you ever wanted to connect with someone, but you stopped yourself? Excuses to Connect is a podcast about actively creating the conditions that make meaningful connections easier. In other words, you can make excuses to connect. Join me, Richard Lee-Thai, as I have conversations with experts, friends, and strangers on their struggles and successes when it comes to human connections. As a listener, I hope that you can take these insights and find excuses to connect with people. You never know how any one connection can transform your life. https://excusestoconnect.com/
Episodes
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46: Helping Students to Thrive through Individualized Education with Evelyn Shaw Corley
Evelyn Shaw Corley is the founder of Thrive International Academy, an organization which provides learning outside of the traditional school setting. Having been a teacher herself, she has seen some of the flaws of the educational system and aims to create an environment where each student gets...
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45: Generating Wellness through a Human Connection Movement with Pete Bombaci
Pete Bombaci is the Founder of the GenWell Project, which is a Canadian-led not-for-profit organization focused on generating wellness through connection. Their mission is to make the world a happier and healthier place by educating, empowering and catalyzing Canadians around the importance of...
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44: How to Play & Rediscover Your Inner Child with Prasanna Karur
Prasanna Karur is the Founder of the PlayGround podcast where he interviews people about their childhood and rediscovering their inner child. He is passionate about making others feel belonging and living life authentically according to your own values, rather than other peoples’ expectations.…
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43: Livestreaming on Twitch to Create Community with Brady Simpson
Brady Simpson is a Master’s Graduate from the University of Lethbridge and a Twitch streamer. Don’t know what Twitch is? It’s a livestreaming platform where people stream themselves playing video games, playing music, hosting talk shows, and much more. Brady specifically streams Guild Wars II, a...
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42: What I Learned Talking to Strangers: Street Connect NYC with Janille Hill
Janille Hill is the creator of Street Connect NYC, where she is capturing meaningful conversations between strangers in NYC. She shares these conversations on her Instagram page and she is making the world smaller one connection at a time. In this episode, she shares about her process of talking…
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41: How Loneliness Can Lead to Mass Murderers with Unni Turrettini
Norwegian-born Unni Turrettini is a best-selling and award-winning author, international speaker, and loneliness and connection expert. Her work is about helping people find deeper connection and belonging, so that they can thrive in their personal and professional lives. She is the author of…
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40: How to Be Present for Youth Adults with Cancer with Abby Westerman
Abby Westerman is the Co-Founder and CEO of the b-present Foundation, which was established in memory of her daughter Kirsten, whose battle with cancer inspired her to improve the experience for both young adults with cancer and their supporters. They are working to provide the resources that…
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39: How to Be Your Authentic Self with Kristina M. Holle
Kristina M. Holle is the author of "The Authentic You: Unleash Your Leadership Potential". She is a business leader that has had a career in Human Resources for over 20 years. She has worked in numerous companies and industries focusing her time on strategic and operational HR activities…
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38: From Birth to Net Worth
Jesse Stanton is from Alaska, and he is a motivational speaker, podcaster, business coach, real estate investor & creative finance ninja. He is the host of the Birth to Net Worth podcast, where he details how he is approaching parenting and teaching his kids to live a life of freedom from the...
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37: Spreading Happiness, Love and Positive Vibes 24/7 with Syrine Bellafi
Syrine Bellafi is the creator of a project called “Spreading Happiness, Love and Positive Vibes 24/7” where she provides doses of positivity through videos, quotes, and inspiring discussions. Living in Tunisia, she shares how she was able to connect with people from multiple countries through an...
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36: From Shy to Superconnector with Godwin Chan
Godwin Chan is the host of the Digital Introverts podcast. This is a show where introverts share their success and failure stories and discuss how they thrive in the digital age. The show is for introverts from all walks of life who are ready to just start and scale their next venture, whether…
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35: Fighting People Named “Josh” with Josh Swain
Out of pandemic boredom, Josh Swain created a Facebook group chat with other people named Josh Swain and challenged them to meet in a year to compete for the right to use the name “Josh”. The screenshot of this group chat went viral on the Internet and led to this event being dubbed the “Josh”...
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34: Venn - The App to Make Friends with Jesper Algaard
Jesper Algaard is the Founder and CEO of the Venn app. Venn is Norwegian for “friend” and it’s an app designed to help people make friends. This is done by matching people based on similar interests and personalities, as well creating activities to move the online conversations to in-person...
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33: How to Build Your Dream Network with J. Kelly Hoey
J. Kelly Hoey is the author of Build Your Dream Network: Forging Powerful Relationships In A Hyper-Connected World. She’s currently working on her second book which focuses on the unique networks women need for career success. Kelly has been lauded by Forbes (“1 of 5 Women Changing the World of...
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32: Finding Your Passion and Being an Everyday Leader with Zach Hose
Zach Hose runs the ZAP! Podcast where he has conversations with people from diverse backgrounds and dive deep into what they’re passionate about. He is also an author, a singer/songwriter, and completing a Masters in HR Administration and Leadership. In this episode, we explore various…
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31: Igniting Your Inner Flame with Mohsen Youssef
Mohsen Youssef is also known as “The Ignited Flame.” That’s because he found his flame, which is his passion and love for life and people. He is currently running the 3000 Flames project, which is about meeting as many people as possible in a span of a year, and having these meaningful…
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30: Being Unapologetically You with Alif Huq
Alif Huq is actually a mutual friend of one of the previous podcast guests, Ahmad Jabbir from Episode 9. He is a Digital Marketing Automation Specialist, and he excels in this role because of his ability to connect and network. However, he was once painfully shy and awkward. In this episode, he...
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29: Leading a Limitless Life with Lionel Migrino
Lionel Migrino identifies himself as a Filipino-Canadian living with cerebral palsy. He is proud of his Filipino roots and to be a member of the disability community. In this episode, he emphasizes how he does not solely define himself as a person with a disability, because he lives his life...
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28: Talking Politics and Religion Without Killing Each Other with Corey Nathan
Corey Nathan is the host of a podcast called Talkin’ Politics & Religion Without Killin’ Each Other. His aim is to have a home for engaging conversations about the topics that matter most in our culture. He talks about the screamers that are taking all the oxygen out of the room, and instead he...
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27: Unleashing the Potential of Immigrants with Hyder Hassan
Hyder Hassan is the CEO of Immigrant Services Calgary. Immigrating from Pakistan in 1999, he had a one-liner about his dream in Canada. It was the line: "I want to create massive change within myself and others around me." Since then, he has been at the head of the innovative Gateway Program…
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26: The Struggle is Real - Building Connections in Your 20s with Justin Peters
Justin Peters is a fellow podcaster and runs a podcast called The Struggle is Real - I love the name by the way - on his podcast, he chats with a variety of experts on topics that are relevant to people in their 20s. In other words, the things we should've really learned more about in school, but...
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25: Personal Branding as a Tool for Connection with Isaac Mashman
Isaac Mashman is a businessman, podcast host, and public speaker. Over the span of several years, and nearly a dozen various business ideas, it was in 2020 that Isaac launched his company Mashman Ventures, a public relations firm that specializes in working with people who want to be followed,...
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24: Fostering Community through Deaf and Disability Theatre with Col Cseke
Col Cseke is the Artistic & Executive Director at Inside Out Theatre, which is a Deaf and disability theatre company in Calgary invested in artistic excellence, community development, and deepening our cultures’ accessibility. He also runs a podcast called Mad Practice with his best buddy JD…
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23: Task-Oriented and Relationship-Oriented People with September Plumer
September Plumer is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) currently working towards her MBA. She is also currently the President of the Dinosaur Toastmaster club. She sees Toastmasters as a great middle ground of having activities for both task-oriented and relationship-oriented people. What...
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22: Connecting through Wine, Food, and Traveling with Mackenzie Putici
Mackenzie Putici is a man of diverse tastes, pun intended. He is a sommelier (that’s a fancy term for someone who is a wine expert) and runs companies that provide wine and food tour experiences. He is passionate about bringing people together through the love of food, story, spaces, and travel.…
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21: Connecting Through Pluralistic Poetry with Alisha Ebrahim
Alisha Ebrahim is currently a Health Sciences student at the University of Calgary and a researcher at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. In addition to her love of science, Alisha has a strong passion for poetry. In her work, she incorporates English poetry with lines from the Qur’an and Ismaili...
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20: Everything is Possible: From Shyness to Moderating Panels with Priscilla Schelp
Priscilla is a moderator for panels with politicians, UN diplomats, and people working in the area of venture capital and business. She is also a prolific speaker, and is currently founding her own start-up where she aims to connect visionaries and changemakers with the best private member,...
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19: Multiplying Impact through Coaching with Nathalie Blais
Nathalie Blais is a Master Certified Coach (MCC) and the Co-Founder of the Canada Coach Academy. She was the facilitator for the Personal and Business Performance Coaching program which I have recently completed. In this episode, we chat about what drew her towards the coaching profession, why…
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18: Collaborating and Storytelling through Hip-Hop with KTheChosen
KTheChosen is a hip-hop artist originally from Zimbabwe, but currently residing in Calgary where he is fostering connections and collaborations through his work. The recent release of his album +Vice which acts as an audio time capsule of the pandemic space that we’ve been in, and explores themes...
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17: Connecting through Toastmasters and Travelling with Ron MacTavish
Ron MacTavish is a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) and the VP of Membership for Dynamically Speaking Toastmasters. With over 15,600 clubs in the world, Toastmasters is an international organization for people to develop their public speaking and leadership skills. In this episode, we talk about…
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16: Volunteering to Build and Serve Communities with Alice Lam
Alice Lam is the co-founder of Good Neighbour, which is the first pay-what-you-want thrift store in the city of Calgary and it’s completely volunteer-run. The store opened 3 months ago and has been a hub of connections, and a way to create a more inclusive and sustainable city. But before...
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15: The Nomad Videographer Project with Thaïs Despont
Thaïs Despont is a videographer originally from France and is the creator of the “Nomad Videographer Project.” In August 2021, she travelled across Canada to help local businesses by creating promotional videos, in exchange for providing her with a place to sleep. Over the course of that month…
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14: KOYA - The App to Send Joy to Anyone, Anywhere with Cherie Werner
Cherie Werner is the Co-Founder and Chief Kindness Officer at KOYA. KOYA is a social platform and app designed to create meaningful and intentional connections. You can send people a video or audio message along with an optional gift, like some money for coffee. You pick a location where the KOYA...
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13: A Conversation with my Junior High Teacher with Ms.Riley
Susan Riley (or more commonly known as Ms. Riley) is a junior high teacher who taught me nearly a decade ago. It’s remarkable that we’ve stayed in touch, including grabbing lunch and dinner with groups of students that she’s taught over the years. We talk about her career as a teacher and the...
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12: Unshakable Self (Belief) and Compassion Cards with Aakash Dhingra
Aakash Dhingra has started many initiatives to provide others with a platform to self-reflect and share their stories. For example, he is creating a photo-zine called Unshakable Self (Belief). Inspired by his own struggles of self-doubt, he is interviewing people about how they overcame their...
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11: Seek Discomfort: Creating Connections Around the World with Jonnie Rozin
Jonnie Rozin is the Director of Operations with Seek Discomfort. He’s been my third guest from this amazing company that I’ve had the pleasure to chat with. He actually got his position not because he applied for it, but because of a chance encounter with the CEO while walking in the streets of…
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10: Building Relationships and Hoop Dance Teachings with Sandra Lamouche
Sandra Lamouche is a Cree Woman from the Bigstone Cree Nation in Northern Alberta and married into the Piikani Nation in Southern Alberta. She is a 2 times TEDx Speaker, presenting her first talk on “The Beautiful Struggle Of Life and Other Hoop Dance Teachings”, and a second talk on “Growing...
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9: Meeting 100 Strangers Around the World with Ahmad Jabbir
When the pandemic started and Ahmad Jabbir wasn’t able to go on any adventures for a long while, he challenged himself to virtually meet 100 strangers all around the world! In this episode, we chat about the inspiration behind this project and how hearing these stories from 89 different cities…
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8: Connecting and Networking in University with Kathleen Massey
Kathleen Massey is the Associate Vice-President (Students) at the University of Lethbridge, which means that she oversees various student services. She shares the role that connection and networking have played in her life and what it looks like as we transition back to more in-person…
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7: Recess for Adults: The Importance of Play and Inclusion with Tyson Bankert
Do you remember recess as a kid? Tyson Bankert has created a version of recess for adults. He is the founder of Recess Calgary, which is an inclusive space for adults to come, forget about their responsibilities for a while, and just have fun! Tyson’s personal slogan is: “Promote Justice, Edify...
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6: “You’re Not Alone” - How a Clothing Company is Raising Awareness on Mental Health with Adam Edery
Adam Edery is the Community Manager for Seek Discomfort, which is a clothing company. What does a clothing company have to do with connections? Everything! Seek Discomfort was the clothing company started by Yes Theory, a YouTube channel all about going outside of your comfort zone and enjoying...
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5: Connecting at Summer Camp for People with Disabilities with Emma Kobelsky
Emma Kobelsky works as a camp counsellor at Between Friends, which is an organization that provides social, recreational, and development opportunities for people with disabilities. We explore how this provides an important space for connections, and how summer camp has motivated her to pursue a...
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4: Building Communities for Connection and Social Justice with Steven Ngo
Steven Ngo is a musician, social entrepreneur, and lawyer. When I think of all the people I know, he is the prime example of a connector. Wherever he goes, he has the ability to create communities of like-minded individuals. This includes hosting events for people to have conversations on deeper...
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3: Through the Lens - A Photography Project in Brazil’s Favelas with Bethany Galley
Bethany Galley is an upcoming TEDx speaker and her talk is about the time she spent in the favelas of Brazil. She initiated a photography project called Through the Lens, where she gave children film cameras and asked them to capture photos in order to show their perspective of life in the…
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2: A Therapist’s Perspective on Mental Health and Social Anxiety with Brianne Erichsen
Brianne Erichsen is a Registered Clinical Social Worker as well as my former therapist while I was at the University of Lethbridge. She shares her perspective as a mental health professional on topics such as making connections and social anxiety. She also shares her own experiences with…
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1: Talk2MorePeople - Change Your Life by Meeting People with Tony Esteves
Tony Esteves is the creator of the Talk2MorePeople Project, where he challenged himself to meet one new stranger a day for a full year. In 2021, he published a book about this project, titled "Talk2MorePeople: Change Your Life by Meeting People" which contains many practical tips on how to…
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Welcome to the Excuses to Connect Podcast
Welcome to the Excuses to Connect podcast! This is a podcast about actively creating the conditions that make meaningful connections easier. In other words, you can make excuses to connect. Join me, Richard Lee-Thai, as I have conversations with experts, friends, and strangers on their struggles...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Have you ever wanted to connect with someone, but you stopped yourself? Excuses to Connect is a podcast about actively creating the conditions that make meaningful connections easier. In other words, you can make excuses to connect. Join me, Richard Lee-Thai, as I have conversations with experts, friends, and strangers on their struggles and successes when it comes to human connections. As a listener, I hope that you can take these insights and find excuses to connect with people. You never know how any one connection can transform your life. https://excusestoconnect.com/
HOSTED BY
Richard Lee-Thai
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Excuses to Connect have?
Excuses to Connect currently has 47 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Excuses to Connect about?
Have you ever wanted to connect with someone, but you stopped yourself? Excuses to Connect is a podcast about actively creating the conditions that make meaningful connections easier. In other words, you can make excuses to connect. Join me, Richard Lee-Thai, as I have conversations with experts,...
How often does Excuses to Connect release new episodes?
Excuses to Connect has 47 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Excuses to Connect?
You can listen to Excuses to Connect on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Excuses to Connect?
Excuses to Connect is created and hosted by Richard Lee-Thai.
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