Superfan Attraction: Personal Branding for Multi-Passionate Artists with Diane Foy

With a career that spans over 30 years, dancer, choreographer Kevin A. Ormsby has performed with various companies and projects in Canada, the Caribbean, and the United States. He is the Artistic Director of KasheDance, and works as an Arts Strategies Consultant.

Toronto born and raised of Filipino descent, multidisciplinary artist Diana Reyes also known as FLY LADY DI, has been rocking stages for over a decade through Dance, DJing and Visual Art.

February is Black History Month and there are many events happening across Canada to celebrate.  TD bank held a launch event at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto this week featuring Hip Hop Pioneer Maestro Fresh Wes and Actor Tonya Williams with performances by Canada's R&B Soul Queen Jully Black and Juno Award-winning Reggae artist Exco Levi. In this episode, you will hear inspiring words from Maestro and Tonya about mentorship and their experiences in the entertainment industry.

As we are at the beginning of a new year and a new decade I thought that it was a good time to talk about future visioning. By taking a moment to really visualize what you want your life to be like in the future you can better determine the steps required to make it happen. 10 years in the future is a good time to think about because it is long enough away that anything is possible.

Widely considered one of Toronto’s Hip Hop legends, Solitair’s many contributions have made an indelible impact on the Canadian urban music landscape, and the music industry as a whole. As Solitair came into prominence as a highly sought after producer, he worked on albums by a number of Canadian heavyweights, including Choclair, Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black, k-os, Maestro Fresh Wes’ and The Rascalz.

Erin Pride is a personal dance education coach and she's also the host of the Dance Boss podcast. We had a good conversation about her career as a dancer and dance instructor, but also we share some resources of different books and podcasts that you may be interested in as a creative entrepreneur.

Andrea Hendron is a Life coach, Mindfulness Practioner, Reiki Master, and the Creator of Andrea's Soul Chats. My plan was to do a solo episode talking about future visioning and creating vision boards and as I was preparing I began thinking about my friend Andrea. She took the idea of vision boards and expanded on it to develop intuitive Oracle Board coaching sessions, workshops, and retreats. Her approach goes deeper than mine ever will so I knew that I had to invite her on the show to share her experience in this area.

Today’s guest is Robert Carli, who is one of Canada’s busiest and most in-demand composers for Film & Television. His music has received numerous industry awards and nominations, including 20 Gemini and Canadian Screen Award nominations, 5 Gemini Awards and 3 Canadian Screen Awards. He is the recipient of several SOCAN Awards for domestic television.

Today's episode is about why do some performing artists thrive while others spend years struggling to breakthrough. I've worked with hundreds of performing artists and the competitive edge for many has been that they have a clear message of who they are and what they stand for. And they know how to communicate that to connect with people. Talent is not enough. If you think about your favorite musicians, actors, dancers, I'm sure that you love them for more than just their talent. You are attracted to their image or personality, or you connect to the personal stories and experiences that they've shared

Today we have global superstar Akon. The American born Senegalese artist has sold over 35 Million albums worldwide, received 5 Grammy Nominations and collaborated with an array of A-list artists from many genres including Lady GaGa, Eminem, Gwen Stefani, Daddy Yankee, Lil’ Wayne, Michael Jackson, Snoop Dogg and many more.

I am so excited for today’s guest, Canada’s Punk Rock Queen Bif Naked! I have been a fan of hers since her 1996 self titled debut album and her follow up I Bificus with the hits “Daddy’s Getting Married,” “Spaceman” and “Moment of Weakness.” In 2001 her album Purge produced by Desmond Child had even more hits including “I love Myself Today,” “Chokin on the Truth” and one of my favourites “Tango Shoes.” The albums and tours continued and in 2011 she released BIF NAKED FOREVER: Acoustic Hits and Other Delights and in 2016 she released her autobiography I Bificus.

Today we have Christopher Leacock aka Jillionaire who staying true to his Trinidadian roots, fuses original Caribbean rhythms of soca with dancehall beats. Along with Diplo and Walshy Fire, he was a member of the electronic music group Major Lazer until this past June when he left the group to pursue solo projects. Major Lazer is best recognized for the global smash “Lean On” featuring DJ Snake and MØ and “Cold Water” with Justin Bieber and MØ. “Cold Water” became their second track to achieve one billion streams.

Broadway and Symphony Star Capathia Jenkins. I love this line from her bio that says “This woman who grappling with two dueling passions each with a strong grip: acting and music, yet she refuses to pick one because they both represent her soul. Capathia approaches a song the same way she approaches a script, like an artist. She looks for the nuances, the secret hidden within the notes or text. She seeks the melody, harmony, and rhythm. She asks herself: what am I trying to say? What do I want my audience to experience with me? She wants to take her audience on a journey."

Matthew Willson is an award-winning Canadian actor, director, producer and financier of the arts with more than 500 stage performances to his credit. A versatile and talented character actor, he also boasts numerous TV and film credits.  He also finances several projects including as the sole individual financer of the National Theatre School Drama Festival. Matthew shared fantastic advice and insight on being an actor, director, and producer in Canada and some great auditioning tips since he has been a casting director for his own projects. We also talk about our love/hate relationships with social media, the joy of podcasting and he makes a case for why I should listen to Howard Stern.

Live music producer Tom Jackson has transformed the live show for artists such as Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, The Band Perry, High Valley, Magic and many more.