I had the pleasure of presenting a lecture on personal branding and social media for healthcare professionals at a conference recently. Here are the first 10 minutes of the lecture. There will be much more on this topic in the coming weeks.
Dr. Trevor Miranda is award-winning optometrist, co-owner of a busy multi-location practice, and co-founder of a highly regarded dry eye conference. In this episode, Dr. Miranda shares his experiences in building a successful optometry practice as well valuable insights for others who are looking to build specialty practices, pursue speaking opportunities, and other ventures. Trevor's enthusiasm and sense of humor always make for a fun conversation. I hope you enjoy it!
Dr. Harkinder Khangurais a Harvard-trained, double board certified medical doctor who practices in theVancouver area and is aclinical instructor at the University of British Columbia. In this episode, Dr.Khangura shares her experiences of moving away for medical school including the cultural, societal, andprofessional barriers to she had to overcome in the process. We had a great chat touching on varioustopics from education, spirituality, mental health, and personal growth.
Sheena Taff is an award-winning optician, creator of the Optician About Town blog, founder of the #EyeStyleInfluencers event, and owner of a boutique optical in Vancouver. In this episode we chat about how Sheena went from starting out in the optical industry to becoming an innovator and ambassador in the industry. Connect with Sheena: Instagram.com/optician.about.town OpticianAboutTown.com
Images of entrepreneurs fill our social media feeds with quotes like "follow your passion". But happens during the boring days, the days that feel like a grind, when passion starts to wear thin? This is where this concept of Pursuit comes in.
Follow me on IG: instagram.com/harbirsian.od
Dr. Joseph Allen is a board certified, residency-trained, passionate optometrist who graduated Beta Sigma Kappa from the Rosenberg School of Optometry in San Antonio. But despite all of his academic and professional achievements, you might best know him from his hugely successful YouTube channel, Doctor Eye Health.
Joey has built an incredible following with his high quality, entertaining, and educational videos. He continues to grow his channel while practicing full time at a high level. In this episode we discuss a day in the life of Dr. Joseph Allen and Doctor Eye Health; his keys to keeping energy up, to being productive, and maintain some semblance of a work-life balance.
Connect with Dr. Allen:
Instagram.com/DoctorEyeHealth
YouTube.com/DoctorEyeHealth
This past weekend, I had the amazing opportunity to sit and chat with 4 all-star optometrists from around the US: Dr. Kevin Bistline, Dr. Ryan Corte, Dr. Justin Bazan, and Dr. WIll To. All four doctors are successful business owners, speakers, and marketers. In this episode, we discuss lessons they have learned while trying to build their businesses and brands as well as how they got involved in working with various industry partners such as Bausch + Lomb.
Connect with the docs:
Ryan Corte: Instagram.com/dr.ryancorte
Justin Bazan: instagram.com/justinbazan
Will To: instagram.com/thetravelingod
Kevin Bistline: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-kevin-bistline-a14a9670/
Sonia Beeksma is an award-winning television broadcaster who has previously worked on multiple large networks in Vancouver (including Global News and CTV Morning Live) and recently became a host on eTalk CTV in Toronto.
In this episode, Sonia discusses her path from being a creative kid, to starting a career in the medical field, to eventually finding her calling in broadcasting. Hard work, faith, and confidence are the pillars to her success.
You can also listen to the full episode on the following channels:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/31fRLne
Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/33yqjlX
Music: Feelo Records - If I Fall
Find Sonia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soniabeeksmatv/
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This is our very first episode of the year 2020. This is super exciting for me as an optometrist. We are always trying to get people to see 20/20 and now everybody can see. If you’ve read the show before or watched the show before, I always have a small request right in the beginning, which is, if you found any value, please share it with a friend, whether you text them, tell them in person or take a screenshot and put it up on your Instagram story and tag my lovely guest and me. Let us know what you thought of the episode.
My goal is always to bring on guests who have been successful in their respective industries but beyond that, who have inspirational stories, motivational, aspirational and sensational. This lovely lady is the epitome of all of those things. She is an award-winning television broadcaster who started her career on radio as an anchor and a reporter but quickly transitions to television, as you will see, quite clearly why very soon.
She’s been on multiple large networks here in Vancouver, Global News and on CTV Morning Live early in the morning and has a huge transition coming up, which we will talk about. I’ll let her reveal the big news. It is some exciting news there. She’s also a highly sought-after MC and host for a lot of the big events around Vancouver. She is truly kind, humble, genuine and super fashionable if you’ve seen her online. Please welcome my lovely friend, Sonia Beeksma.
Thank you for that intro.
Building Confidence: Many think that they need to know their paths even at a young age. But there’s the big guy up there who’s also directing your path and feeding these little images and vision to guide you.
My pleasure. Thank you so much for doing this. Everybody will say that they’re busy. You do have a lot going on.
I don’t like the word busy. We’re all busy. Life is supposed to be full, so my life is full, and that’s a good place to be at.
Full, busy, lot’s going on, however you phrase it, I appreciate you being here because I know you have a lot to do. I like to start with a little bit of a backstory, where you grew up, how you got into doing what you’re doing and we’ll go from there. Tell us where you were born and raised.
I was born in New Delhi, Faridabad. My dad has always been a huge entrepreneur. When I was born, my dad started the first paper mill in Iran. He lived in one of shell’s corridors. I didn’t know my dad for the first four years of my life because he was always in Iran. I used to call him uncle but it’s interesting. They always say, “The first five years of a kid’s life are crucial.” Not in this case. Those studies are always a little bit confusing but my dad and I are so close. He eventually moved back because of the second Gulf War. He had to flee. He always had this desire to move his family somewhere better.
Not that India is not a great place to live but you and I both understand what I say, a better life for the kids and more opportunities. My brother moved to Canada and we all moved there eventually in ‘91. I was only eight years old. I had no idea what was going on. That’s where our journey started as becoming Canadian citizens and embarked on a whole new path. I didn’t speak a word of English. Although, I went to an awesome private school in India where they claim that they’re teaching English but we didn’t. It wasn’t a huge effort. I came here and did not speak a word of English.
My parents put me in an all-English private school. There were no ESL students in that school. I hated them for that but now I’m so thankful because that pushed me to learn the language right off the bat. A lot of people say, “You don’t even have an accent.” I’m like, “A, I was young when I moved. B, when I get tired, you can hear it.” I’m wide awake. That’s pretty much it. I’ve been in Canada ever since. I’ve never visited my homeland yet but I will. I’ll take my daughter one day and show her where she’s from. Part of my childhood was in India then the rest of it here.
My family moved to Canada in ‘94 but we were in the transition period in the early ‘90s from England, so it’s a slightly different scenario. I know the feeling of people asking you about your accent. The problem is almost a desirable accent but I lost mine quickly. I was young and I wanted to assimilate as well. I’ll put it on from time to time. I’m not as good as I used to be but a little more desirable maybe. It depends. Different things and phases. Indian accent might be cool one day. Tell me about how you got into broadcasting.
I was always a performer. Even in India, I did. When we came here, I’ve always danced but I made the transition to hip hop and jazz. I always had this artsy side to me. I was the performer in the family. I was about twenty when I decided I wanted to get married because I had found my dream man. I’m not mocking this. At that time, you do think this is it. I wanted to get married. My dad said, “You’re not getting married until you’re educated. You have something under your belt because you need to be able to take care of yourself.” I went on to become a medical lab technician. I got married at 21. That was that journey.
I’ve always been very driven and ambitious. I knew that even though I was on this medical lab technologist path, that wasn’t it. I knew it was to please my dad. Even during those times, I was acting, doing commercials, modeling and all the fun stuff. Some broadcasters have the story where they’re like, “I used to stand with a mic and deliver the news.” I don’t have that. To be honest, I’ve fallen into it. Someone said, “You’d be a great broadcaster. You’re so confident.” I was like, “I’m going to look into this.”
I looked into the program, BCAT. At the time, there was a private college that was offering an intense broadcasting program. I signed up for it. I’m like, “Let’s see what happens. Give it a shot.” Honestly, the rest is history. Sometimes we think we need to know our paths but I always feel like there’s the big guy up there who’s also directing your path and feeding these little images and vision. At that point, you’re so young. You have no idea what you want but I always knew that was something I was going to fall back into. I didn’t know when and how. I said, “God, whatever way you want this to go down, let’s do this.” That’s how I fell into it.
Having that faith is hard for a lot of people because you have to trust that your path will be shown to you or you’ll have to know when the opportunity’s presenting itself.
The unknown is very scary but for me, it is very exciting. If I knew everything, I feel like that’d be very boring.
That’s a scary step that you made there to go because it’s two completely different paths. This path you do in the medical field. You had some background there. You like to perform in that stuff and you’re comfortable in that sense but that’s a completely different path for you to take. How was it? Was there any pushback from family?
Not really because I was married off. They were like, “You’re not our problem anymore. Do whatever you want.” It’s funny you say that because when I was a technologist, I was always so intrigued by the heart. My thought was like, “I’m going to go back and become a cardiologist.” That was my intellectual part of me going, “I want more schooling, learn more about the heart and save lives.” The artsy part of me was going, “You are going to be so bored by the time you’re 30. This is not going to be fulfilling.” It was one of those things that I was torn in between.
When the whole broadcasting schooling started, it was one of those moments. When I sat in that chair for the first time and pretended that I was doing my radio show, something clicked and I went, “I know what I’m supposed to be doing.” Not the full picture but I was like, “This is cool.” Telling my stories and other people’s stories is fascinating. I get to do it in my way with my style. I was in love with it that very second.
Building Confidence: Having faith is hard for many. You have to trust that your path will be shown to you or know when an opportunity presents itself.
I hope that everybody gets to have that moment. That’s a hard moment to find. My story is similar in the sense that I didn’t know what my path was. I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field and eventually, through a more calculated process, I found myself in optometry but it was during optometry school, sitting in front of what we call the slit lamp with this microscope and being able to see inside the eye. It was like this light bulb in my mind that was like, “That is insane.” From that point, I was all in. I do all random things when it comes to my profession, like making YouTube videos and shows. It’s cool when you can have that moment. You’re like, “I am on the right path. We can go.”
That will always be your foundation but who says you can’t build your house in different ways and add another wing and floor? That’s how I look at it too.
Within this broadcasting profession of yours, you’ve had multiple jobs. Tell me about the challenges. You’re on TV every day and that’s not an easy thing. I’m sure there’s a lot of people trying to be in the same position that you’re in. What challenges do you face? What work does that require on your end to get to that position?
This is one of those things where I’ve worked very hard and everyone knows that. With these young ones, I feel like we’re always attacking them. I’m not that old but we’re on that border where I’m like, “I’m not in that group. Thank God. That means I will own a house.” I find the work ethics are missing because people are so used to quick and overnight results with social media and all these different platforms where they’re rewarded so quickly for their very little effort. I’m not downplaying these things but the biggest challenge where people don’t understand in this industry is you have to work very hard.
You have to work long hours. You look at the hours and say, “How is this humanly possible?” You do it because you’re so passionate. The ones who are committed to it because they understand their own purpose within that industry are the ones that somehow miraculously find the energy to go forward with it. That’s the biggest challenge. That’s when a lot of people do fall off in the beginning because they don’t realize how many hours, work and energy. It’s art and a craft. I don’t only show up and do my thing. Maybe some days that’s about to change. That’s a challenge with this industry.
This industry is shrinking in the sense where conventional television is changing. We don’t make appointments with TV anymore. We have access to everything like this. That’s also evolved. People think that traditional jobs are not available anymore but if you’re willing to evolve, grow and move in the direction this industry is going, there’s always room for everyone. It’s all on your timing, you being at the right place at the right time and being prepared. I don’t believe in competition and taking your neighbor down to get to something. I’ve never had to do that and I never will. I know that people say, “Never say never,” but I will never ever do that. It depends on what it is that you want to do.
I’ve had a lot of potential students or young optometrists who are getting out there. They’re worried about it being saturated. “Should I go into this field because it’s saturated? There’s a lot of competition. Is there more room for another optometrist or another clinic?” If you put in the work and you’re good at what you do, there’s always room. I tell people, “Our profession has been saturated for many years. That doesn’t stop new people from succeeding.”
If you are willing to put in the time and effort and come in with a passion, that will take you a long way. Energy is so important. I’m learning this from doing this little show. You got to be ten times your normal energy for you to come across your average level of energy through the camera. You do that at what time in the morning?
5:00 in the morning.
Is it when you start on camera?
5:30 in the morning but I say 5:00 because mentally, I have to be ready to go in half an hour before. I don’t leave it until the last minute. I’m pumping myself up, doing vocal exercises and waking myself up. By the time the viewers tune in, we’re ready to go. I’m not waking up with them.
Tell me about your morning routine if you could give us a few tips on how you could get up early. You’re a morning person, so that helps. I’m not a morning person but I had tried for a long time to get up early, go to the gym at 5:00 AM and do whatever I can do to get it. Since our second baby was born, I’m not so good at that. It’s a little bit different. If you can give the average person who’s trying to get up a little earlier, trying to be a little more energetic in the morning, what do you do that helps?
First of all, you have to train yourself to understand that morning is the magic hour. It’s before the rest of the world is awake. It’s your one opportunity before you dive into the day to say, “What are my intentions? What I didn’t accomplish yesterday?” It’s like a restart button. I find that very exciting every single day where I’m like, “How am I going to make this day count and little bit better than yesterday? What am I going to do that I had on my list yesterday? Not things to do but things that I had intentions for. How can I get that done today?” It’s not so much of pressure but I always say, “I love Mondays.”
People are always saying, “It’s Monday. Case of a Monday.” I’m like, “Are you kidding me? It’s a whole new week.” We get to do so much. Mondays are awesome. It means routine. I am a routine person. I don’t like lounging around and doing nothing. Sometimes, I may need that. My friends say, “Maybe you should try that one day.” I don’t like wasting time. Time is so precious. You probably get that you have children. It becomes even more precious because they’re growing up so fast right before our eyes. I get excited when I get up.
I’m a person of faith. To me, it’s like, “God, what are we going to do today? How are you going to amaze me?” Don’t get me wrong but my alarm goes at 3:15 sometimes. There are some days where I’m like, “Are you kidding me? I have to do this again?” On most days, I wake up with excitement but that is when my alarm goes off. To be honest, I’m a coffee person. I love my coffee. I usually wake up looking forward to my coffee. I love good beans.
The number one thing I took from there is the intention. I found those mornings where I was waking up quite as early at 4:30 or 4:45. Setting the intention the night before was so keen. Getting amped up for tomorrow like, “Tomorrow’s going to be such a good day. I’m going to get this crazy workout at the gym. I’m going to feel so pumped, then we’re going to go to the office and do all these things.”
I might be taking Junee to her strong start. Different things that you got to get pumped up the night before. In my mind, not to speak for anyone else but I would think, “In the morning, when my alarm goes off, I got to pump myself up.” You got to rewind the clock for about 12 or 8 hours and tell yourself the night before what you need to be excited about.
I won’t look at my entire day the night before because that can also be very overwhelming. Your brain is going and so you can’t sleep. I always pick a couple of things. I say, “These are the two things that I want to get done tomorrow. I’m excited to get them done.” To be honest, this is something I’ve been doing for a very long time. The second I opened my eyes, I thanked God for the day. Right there, I take a deep breath. I never jump out of bed. I take my time. I give myself at least 2, 3 minutes but people are like, “Don’t you fall back asleep?” I said, “Don’t close your eyes. No matter what you do, open your eyes.” Honestly, I’m up and ready to go.
That gratitude piece is key if you ever hear highly successful people speak about it. There’s a guy named Dean Graziosi. He’s a highly successful motivational speaker. He always says that, “First thing in the morning, the second you open your eyes, be grateful.” We have the saying, “I have to open two gifts and it’s my eyes.” It’s the simple things.
We take it for granted that we get to do life every day and be so rich in many ways. I will never forget that.
Speaking of things to be grateful for and excited about, you have these big changes coming up. You’re leaving town. Tell us what’s going on.
Building Confidence: Work ethics are missing today. People are so used to quick and overnight results with social media. All these different platforms reward people so quickly for very little effort.
My last day with CTV Morning Live was such an emotional day. I said it on air. The reason it was so emotional is because we have such a beautiful team there. We’ve all worked so hard to create this awesome show that people tune into and walk us into their homes. You forget that. You are in people’s bedrooms and living rooms, having coffee with them. They feel like they know you. We share a lot of personal things in our lives. They do know you.
I’ve never taken that for granted. It was a very emotional day for me because of the team that I’m leaving. I always said to myself that I would never leave this team unless I knew I was going into something that was beyond me. It was part of the big plan and picture. I’m moving to Toronto, joining the team at Etalk, which has been my goal from day one.
I believe in vision and goals but not getting disappointed when you don’t reach those certain things. We’ve heard of this quote before, “Aim for the stars, you’ll land on the moon.” I was told in the beginning, “No way. You’re starting. You’ll be too old by the time you’ve experienced enough. A lot of negativity.”
That’s another thing. When you set your vision and goals, you should be careful with whom you share them. Don’t cast your pearls among swine. You have to protect your vision. Only share it with those who believe in you like your tribe. Have people in your friends who believe in your future. Not people who keep reminding you of your past. That’s an important thing.
I never shared that with too many people but in the beginning, you get excited. You’re like, “This is what I’m going to do.” Right off the bat, these negative intentions were spoken. I had to bring them down and say, “I’m not going to receive that. I know what I want to do.” It’s like I’ve made this whole circle. It’s honestly like a 360 because I started as an intern at Etalk. When I graduated from broadcasting, I went to Toronto for six months and I interned there. That’s when I was like, “I’m going to come here and work one day.” I am years later.
That’s such valuable insights there of setting your intention and creating a vision for multiple reasons, not sharing it with everybody all the time. You have to be careful and protective of that.
We overshare, especially when it comes to social media and all these things. It’s okay to keep some things to yourself.
I want to say a couple of things on that. One, there’s some humility in that like keeping it to self. You stay grounded, have a vision and a goal. The other thing is on social media, it’s too easy to say, “I’m going to be of whatever,” then you somehow have this feeling of achievement from putting it out there because you get that instant like, “Good for you.” That feeling of achievement, since it’s there already, you don’t start to put in the hard work or as much hard work as you need.
There are some scientific studies on that. People who say, “I’m going to be this,” get the feedback in their minds. They feel like they’ve already achieved it, so they don’t have to put in as much hard work. There’s some value in keeping it small to a tight group of people. People who will give you positive feedback or the encouragement that you need along the way. That’s super exciting news. I’ve only been to Toronto a few times myself but I love it there. I feel like the energy is different. It’s a much bigger city than Vancouver. You will be leaving behind the ocean and mountains. You’ll fit.
I have been there a few times. I’ve co-hosted, guest co-host on The Social a few times. I’ve been in that building. I’ve lived in Toronto for six months, so I get the energy. I do fit that level of energy and that hustle, so that excites me. Sometimes I get frustrated with West Coast because sometimes people are so chilled. For example, when I was looking for something and making calls about it. I got a call back days later like, “You were inquiring about something.” I’m like, “I’ve already hired someone. You’re following up days later.”
My pace is I like to get things done. I feel like I will fit that but having said that, it’s going to be very difficult. People don’t realize that I’m leaving all my friends behind and my friends are my family. I have had such an incredible core of friends that have been in my life for years. Some of my girlfriends are like my sisters and family. It’s not going to be easy, for sure. There’s a lot of change coming.
Good for you. You’re willing to accept that, go through all of that, pushing your boundaries and broadening your horizons. It sounds like such an incredible opportunity. It’s going to be awesome. I’m very happy for you. One thing you’ve touched on along the way, which I was intending to bring up with you was that spirituality. This can get a little sensitive for some people who don’t want to talk about God or whatever it might be. I’m totally fine with it too. I believe that there’s a higher power guiding our path, whether you want to call it the universe, God or something else. It’s super important and that means a to you. Tell me how you integrate that into your life day-to-day. First thing in the morning, you say something to yourself.
I was introduced to God at very young age at sixteen. I went to White Rock Christian Academy. I’m a very proud Christian. Right off the bat, when you say that to a lot of people, they right away judge you because they feel that there are certain things that you stand for and don’t stand for. When I say I’m a Christian, we all know what that means. I believe in Jesus. Mainly, it’s I believe in the love of God. That’s what Christianity and religion to me are. I don’t even like to say religion, to be honest. When people would say, “You’re religious.” I’m like, “No, I’m a person who believes in love and God to me is love.” That’s when I say I’m a believer in that sense.
It’s one of those things that, whether it’s all real or not, the hope that it brings to believe in something and what it does for you in your spirit and mind, nobody could ever talk me out of that. My journey and path is my path. It is my relationship with God. It wouldn’t make sense for me to try to bring on another relationship that I have with someone and try to push it on someone else. That’s my relationship. Whether people want to judge me for having a relationship with God or not, I don’t care because that is what grounds me. That is my number one blessing in my life. This is what I truly believe is why I’m so blessed.
I was very lucky to go to an incredible school that was very open inviting people to make their own decisions. Ever since then, I have always had this great relationship with God. That has been my number one foundation in my life. I’ve been through a lot of tough things as a lot of us have but I feel like that is the number one anchor in my life that has kept me on this path where I didn’t lose sight, hope and go destructive. I have had opportunities. We all have but I feel like that has kept me grounded.
There will be times of despair or difficult times on the path. You don’t have to have faith but I believe that having faith in something greater will allow you to get through those tough times.
I listened to so many different podcasts. I respect and invite wisdom from all kinds of backgrounds and different religions. Wisdom is all around us. It’s how much of it do we want to invite into our lives?
That openness is what’s missing a lot of the time. When it comes to religion or you name a specific religion, people close themselves off. Not that we need to go into politics at all but when you start talking about politics and people get closed off, defensive, open and go with the flow. There are things to learn from every single person you meet to accept those things that you can learn from them. There’s a lot of overly sensitive people.
I feel like somebody somewhere is always waiting to be offended. If I say, “I don’t believe in anything,” somebody will be offended about that. It’s like, “I’m going to do my thing. If it offends you, that’s not something that concerns me. I’ve done nothing to come into your home or life to offend you.” When people get offended, that’s their problem. You’ve done nothing intentionally to offend someone. That’s on them so let them deal with it.
The other thing I wanted to touch on was the charitable side of what you do. You spend a lot of time giving back or working with other organizations. When you do speaking engagements, you do them for free. A lot of the time, you’re doing it with these charitable organizations. One of the organizations that I know you’ve worked with, which I’ve seen personally, is Room to Read, which is an incredible organization. Tell us a little bit about that, how you’re involved in and some of the exciting stuff that’s happening there.
Room to Read is an amazing nonprofit organization. I don’t even say it’s a charity because they don’t do charity work. They go in and build a structure that’s going to last a lifetime, whereas charity is like you give a little bit and do your good deeds thing but they build to last. It’s like a gift that keeps on giving. I strongly believe in young girls being educated and a lot of these developing countries where young women and young girls are neglected.
We come from a country where very few women are presented with opportunities. Thank God that’s changing but it’s not changing fast enough. The more women we have that are not educated in our future, I worry about a future like that because women are incredible beings and they can do a lot. Especially when they’re given books and education, watch out.
It’s remarkable that we’ve gotten to this point without that, to be honest but it’s exciting if you think about the future.
Building Confidence: When people get offended by you, that’s their problem. You’ve done nothing intentionally. Let them deal with it.
I’m excited for my daughter and her future in that sense. There are opportunities that she’s going to have and all these young girls. I was introduced to Room to Read. To be honest, I was searching in that sense. I had left Children’s Wish Foundation, another organization I was a part of because I was with Global News at the time. I like to think that was the legacy I left because I was with Children’s Wish, then Global became a sponsor.
When I left Global, they stayed on as they should. It’s huge media exposure, partnership and sponsorship but I could no longer be a part of it because I was with the competitor. It was sad I had to part with them but then I went, “No, this is great.” I have an opportunity to be a part of something else. I want to be a part of an organization that educates young girls. That’s what Room to Read has been doing for many years. The founder was the head of Microsoft, who left Microsoft in its glorious times of years to pursue this.
They’ve done number of schools and libraries they’ve built around the world and continuing to. The Obama Foundation came on board, which is huge. Not that the foundation needed another stamp of approval from anything because they’re already doing such amazing work but that always helps to see strong partnerships like that. It’s an amazing organization.
I didn’t realize how big it was. It’s such a big organization in multiple chapters in different places and big names on the board as well. It’s a huge amount of support. It’s pretty cool to see. Going back to your charity comment, Sharon Davis is amazing. She has her philanthropic endeavor but she’s careful to discern between philanthropy and charity. Philanthropy is that long-term building infrastructure versus charity is like, “Here’s a quick handout.”
Both are great but with a different purpose.
For them to have a bigger impact, they’re looking for philanthropy and that’s what Room to Read is doing. The thing that caught my attention, the timing was when you had introduced it to me was early in 2021. I had gone on my trip to the Middle East. I’d made the trip in Jordan and they had sponsored the production of 600,000 textbooks or something like that for girls in Jordan. I was like, “How crazy that this happened at the same time?” It’s one of those things where the universe is like, “You should probably look and understand.” I loved it. It was awesome. I enjoy seeing what they were doing and going there.
That’s why that organization excites me. There are many organizations like that excite me because the connections that you also make where it give people a deeper purpose into things. We have our jobs and everyday thing but with these types of things, I feel like you find your bigger purpose in life.
There are two questions I ask at the end of every interview that I’m going to ask you. They’re longer questions but before I do that, I want to ask you a couple of real quick short answers. More quick fun things. Your time on CTV Morning Live, you’ve interviewed a lot of people. Who were maybe your top 1, 2 or 3 most fun interviews, the coolest people you’ve interviewed so far?
That’s always such a tough one. It wasn’t on the actual set but I’m a huge fan of Jay Shetty. I’ve followed his work before he made it so big. That opportunity to talk to somebody who has encouraged and motivated you without even knowing it and been part of your journey for so long was so cool. He’s been part of my journey for a long time. I talked to big stars. I’ve interviewed a lot of big celebrities. They’re people, honestly. I always tell people, “They make a lot of money and money is power,” whatever way you want to look at it but they’re regular people as well. For someone like that, that was exciting.
That same week, I had another moment with Scott Schuman. Scott Schuman’s is one of the most well-known street style photographers who is the original street style photographer. He’s the first person ever to launch a street-style blog. There were no bloggers at the time. There were a few. He is the original. He started this whole new movement of fashion photography. I love fashion. It’s a huge part of my life. That same week, I got to meet this man whose books I already had. It was so fascinating and for him to be like, “If I had my camera, I would photograph you.” I was like, “Did we get that on tape? Somebody record this.” That was cool. The reason I say that is because those are my personal people that I follow and love.
To go further, you’re going on Etalk and be probably in the presence of even more celebrities. Who would be the most iconic person you would love to interview?
This probably wouldn’t happen for Etalk, to be honest with you, which is interesting that you say that. The Obama Foundation has come on with Room to Read. Even though I cannot be part of the Vancouver Chapter anymore, we’re figuring out a way where I can still be on board and I’m going to be so close to New York. My goal is to have a sit-down with Michelle Obama. She is such a force.
I’m almost done reading her book. Her book is pretty much a reflection of what she has already shown to the world. It’s a deeper look into her life. I already had so much respect for that woman but reading about her life, the trials and everything that they had to work through, I can’t wait to be in the same room as that force. I’m sure somebody is going to see this and be like, “Knock it down.” I’m at that point where people knock me down and I keep going.
You are an icon in yourself as far as fashion goes. Who is your fashion or style icon?
To be honest, I don’t have any icons.
Inspiration.
I love Victoria Beckham. She’s pretty fascinating. I love Blake Lively. That’s more like a little huge girl crush. To be honest, I don’t have any specific names. I can’t remember her name but maybe I’ll show it to you. This is an amazing woman in her 70s from Montreal. She is so fierce and her fashion sense is so incredible. I believe she was a lawyer before she became this fashion icon and this news on Instagram. She’s got this silver hair. She’s so petite. It’s so much spunk in her end. I am fascinated by her. She’s nobody famous but I love her boldness and confidence, especially at the age that she’s at. It’s bad that I don't know her name or her Instagram handle.
You’re in fitness and staying in shape. What’s your favorite workout that you could do? Like how everybody’s got that one that if you’re not having the best day, you want to go do this. It gets you pumped up.
A 45-minute Vinyasa Yoga.
Not a weight or cardio exercise? Yoga, but not to say it’s not intense.
It’s very intense. I get very sore when I do it, depending on who your teacher is. I usually go on YouTube. I usually do this girl, Kassandra. She’s got awesome 45-30 minutes, but if I don’t have too much time, I have to do something physical every day. It has to be 30 to 40 minutes something. That’s like me-time every day. It will be weight training twice a week but all the other times, it’s either a walk but mainly it’s yoga.
The two longer final questions that I ask every guest. Number one, if we could step in a time machine and go back in time to whatever point in your life where you could speak and give yourself some knowledge and wisdom based on everything that you’ve experienced so far. You don’t have to share the exact moment necessarily but is there a point in time where you’d go back? What would you say to yourself at that time?
I don’t think I would.
Let’s not go back in time. How about something that you learned as an important lesson that you’d like to share?
I’m going to be honest. I’ve always been a very confident person. I’ve never dealt with insecurities. We all have certain days that we don’t feel so great but I’ve always been a confident person. What I didn’t realize was that sometimes your confidence can be misunderstood. People find that very intimidating. Growing up, especially in my twenties, I never understood why certain people were intimidated by me because I was so bubbly, confident and great.
There was some backlash from some people in my life through my journey that I never understood at the moment and took it personally where I understand it. I realized it wasn’t me. It was their insecurities. Something I would tell my younger self is, “Stay confident. Don’t be intimidated by other people’s insecurities. That’s their problem. Don’t try to change yourself to fit into somebody else’s box.” For a little time, I tried to do that. I tried to bring my confidence down to make other people feel comfortable. That’s something I would go back and say, “Continue being you because your strength is going to be needed in other areas for people who are feeling weak.”
The final question is, you’ve done some pretty cool things. I’m sure there are tons of big things coming still, I’m sure. Of what you’ve achieved so far, what would you say is due to luck and how much is due to hard work?
Zero luck. I don’t believe in luck. I believe in destiny, faith, a lot of hard work and being prepared. The whole fake it until you make it thing is not as real as some people throw it out there. I believe in saying yes and figuring it out after because opportunities don’t always come so easily. When they do, you need to say yes and figure it out after. I believe that everything is part of our journey. Everything happens for a reason to teach us something.
Thank you very much. I feel like I want you to do your professional teammate signup. I’m sure this won’t be nearly as emotional but before we do that, can you tell everybody where they can find you if they want to connect with you?
You can reach me on Instagram and it’s @SoniaBeeksmaTV because I’ll have a network one day named after me. I’m kidding. I thought that for the first time for no reason but you can do that. I’m not on Twitter yet. I was but I deleted it. Instagram is the only way.
For ladies who want any style inspiration, check her out if you could lead us out of the show.
Thank you so much for reading. My name is Sonia Beeksma. I hope and pray that all of you have the most incredible 2020. Make this year the year that you get to accomplish all your dreams and reach for all your goals because you are responsible for your own life.
Thank you so much. I’ll see you in the next episode.
Yoga with Kassandra - YouTube
@SoniaBeeksmaTV - Instagram
Sonia Beeksma is an award-winning television broadcaster who has previously worked on multiple large networks in Vancouver (including Global News and CTV Morning Live) and recently became a host on eTalk CTV in Toronto.
In this episode, Sonia discusses her path from being a creative kid, to starting a career in the medical field, to eventually finding her calling in broadcasting. Hard work, faith, and confidence are the pillars to her success.
Vishal Gill is a financial planner with a passion to help others. In his young career, he went from working with large financial institutions to starting his own multi-faceted financial planning company called Portfolio Financial Concierge, which offers a holistic approach to finance with a full advisory team of planners, lawyers, realtors, and brokers to best serve their clients.
Vishal discusses tips and tricks to help guide us through the three main business cycles most professionals face: student loans, starting a business, and succession planning.
Connect with Vishal for more financial advice at PortfolioPlanning.ca.
Instagram: instagram.com/portfolioplanning
Dr. Darryl Glover is co-founder of Defocus Media which is the biggest optometry podcast platform in the world. Defocus Media produces several podcast shows on various topics. Dr. Glover is an enthusiastic, entertaining guy who is involved in various initiatives across the profession and has spoken on stages across the country.
Angus Reid is a former professional football player who played 13 season in the CFL, was a multiple time all star, and won 2 Grey Cup Championships,
In this episode, we cover a ton of topics from mindset and will power, to overcoming fear, building confidence, and taking accountability in every aspect of your life. So much good content, its hard to summarize in a couple of sentences. I hope you take away as much great value from this conversation as I did!
Lesley Ann Brown is the CEO of the Whiskey Wisemen Society, a charitable organization with chapters across North America. She was also one of BC Business Magazine’s 30 under 30 professionals in 2018.
In this episode, Lesley discusses her experiences in competitive sailboat racing, to moving to Vancouver with no back up plan, to becoming a CEO. Most importantly, she discusses why, as she learned through these experience, that you can't just "fake it 'til you make it".
