The luminescent Genevieve Kang grew up between Chinese and Portuguese cultures in a small, predominantly white city, learning early on what it means to exist at the edges of belonging, to be fluent in more than one world, and to quietly build a self from whatever felt true.

She was the youngest of four to two hardworking parents, a maker & creator with her hands from a young age, someone who resisted school but fell in love with theatre and the emotional aliveness of being on stage. At 18, she was diagnosed with Lupus. And then, in a move that took deep courage and trust, she stopped medication cold turkey and chose to heal herself through food, land, and listening. Nearly twenty years later, she is symptom-free.

Food became her language and a philosophy: for care, for culture, for grief, for transition. She trained as a holistic nutritionist, is an actor & model for many beautiful brands, built a catering practice KIKAN and ran a food truck. She grew things, tended to animals. She spent long stretches alone in Ucluelet on Vancouver Island—just her and her pup partner Reishi—letting the land ask things of her that people never did.

Now she's in the midst of another unraveling. Closing chapters, simplifying, making space for what wants to come next. Portugal might be calling, or maybe Southern California. She doesn't yet know exactly what form it takes but, as she’s always done, is letting it all unfold. And she's learning to be okay with that.

[TIMESTAMPS]

5:15 – Growing up

9:45 – Finding inner belonging

12:45 – The wisdoms her parents gave her

22:34 – Creating with her hands

26:13 – What being on stage gave her that life off it didn't

29:55 – What her diagnosis awakened in her about agency and mortality

37:37 – When food became more than nourishment

44:33 – The version of herself she's grieving most

47:53 – What the land asks of her that people never have

53:32 – Who she is in two years — and what it feels like

56:35 – The throughline she can see now that wasn't visible before

58:58 – The final question

1:02:29 – Where to find Genevieve

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]

Excited to welcome Before Company as one of our season five sponsors! I’ve been using them since day one—especially the whitening formula. It turns brushing into a small, grounding ritual, and the tube looks gorgeous on my counter. Use code thecraft for 20% off your first order → www.beforecompany.com.

As some of you know, I'm also a certified sound therapy practitioner, intuitive channeler & founder of otō healing. Whether you're new to sound baths or seasoned and curious about trying one of my experiences, email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your first private, in-home sound therapy & channeled guidance session.

Braden Parker—the new CEO of Westbeach—grew up in Cochrane, Alberta—a small town of fewer than ten thousand—obsessed with the Titanic and dinosaurs, building lemonade stands with his siblings, and raised by two teachers who believed deeply in curiosity and going after what you want.

His dad was offered a sabbatical at Stanford university, moving the family from the Prairies to Silicon Valley, where Braden’s world opened wide: multicultural families, friends whose parents were shaping the future at places like Netflix, and an early sense that you could design your own path if you were willing to build it.

That instinct became a lifelong throughline, from being a snowboard coach for kids to becoming a UBC Sauder School of Business student. Then a door-design entrepreneur, followed by a career in real estate. He experimented with selling cricket pasta and conjured up concepts for a luxury toothbrush before landing on Casca—the footwear brand he co-founded with Kevin Reed at 26. He’d work his day job and fly to China for Casca on vacation days, walked factory floors, learned cross-cultural communication, and tried to create the perfect everyday shoe. Seven years later, he exited at 32, stepping into an identity shift that backpacking through East Africa helped reorient.

And now, he’s in his next era, reviving Westbeach—an iconic Canadian surf, skate, and snow brand steeped in community, quality, and technical culture. A third space, a mini skate pipe, a coffee shop, and a small, tight team building its next chapter with intention and care. It’s a return to levity, craftsmanship, and the spirit of a legacy that shaped generations.

This is a conversation about possibility, reinvention, realism, and knowing when a door is no longer the right door. About building what feels true. And about the courage it takes to begin again—especially when the legacy is bigger than you.

[TIMESTAMPS]

5:12 – Childhood & early influences
13:39 – University years and formative experiences
17:11 – Life after graduation: exploration and early ventures
22:33 – The birth of Casca: founding the brand
24:31 – Why Braden and his cofounder believed a new shoe brand could make an impact
30:00 – Cross-cultural relationship building and communication in business
35:03 – Realizing it was time to exit Casca
43:30 – Reviving Westbeach: first questions for himself, the brand, and the team
53:29 – Redlines he will never compromise on
54:23 – Advice he encourages other entrepreneurs to adopt
56:11 – His perspective on life today
58:50 – The final question
1:00:18 – Where to find Braden

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]

Excited to welcome Before Company as one of our season five sponsors! I’ve been using them since day one—especially the whitening formula. It turns brushing into a small, grounding ritual, and the tube looks gorgeous on my counter. Use code thecraft for 20% off your first order → www.beforecompany.com.

As some of you know, I'm also a certified sound therapy practitioner, intuitive channeler & founder of otō healing. Whether you're new to sound baths or seasoned and curious about trying one of my experiences, email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your first private, in-home sound therapy & channeled guidance session.

In our first episode of season five, we begin in the suburbs of Coquitlam, where a young boy sketched houses and dreamed of becoming an architect. For West Coast Modern Homes founder Trent Rodney, his story has always been about home.

Raised by a hardworking single mother, he inherited not only hustle, but also an early reverence for the spaces we live in. His career began in finance at the National Bank of Canada in the investment division where, over nearly a decade, his natural instinct for marketing revealed itself through cold calling and developing large-scale educational events that drew speakers like Kevin O'Leary of Dragon's Den. Post-finance and after a short stint with a start-up real estate developer, he did odd jobs and was drawn to the forest, where laying on a particular granite rock in the middle of a river helped him heal and recalibrate.

This eventually led him to architecture itself — not through blueprints, but through Frank Llyod Wright and a deep fascination with the cultural life of homes. He began researching architecture, spending hours in libraries, tracing the lineage of design. There, he found modern architecture and began cataloging British Columbia’s modern houses, even walking the streets and doorknocking to find them. Don Gurney of Openspace Architecture encouraged him to sell architectural homes in the province, which sparked something in Trent. After discovering The Modern House from the UK, West Coast Modern Homes was then born.

Trent doesn’t see homes simply as assets, but as living artifacts — vessels of culture, memory, and human well-being. And its owners, the custodians. In his work, he often likens himself as less in real estate and more as an art dealer: someone who preserves, champions, and passes along pieces of history.

In this conversation, we explore the philosophy behind that view: The genesis of his love for homes; creating marketing campaigns that stop people in their tracks; the art of architecture; what it means to treat homes as cultural touchstones; how architecture shapes our emotional and spiritual lives; and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]
5:52 - Growing up

12:12 - Where the love for design and homemaking came from

14:44 - His time in Finance

27:58 - The transition from finance to design

36:57 - Why he describes his work as being an art dealer

40:26 - How he approaches homes as cultural artifacts

58:22 - The role he sees architecture playing in shaping the wellbeing of humanity

01:02:48 - What he would say to his mother about how much she influenced the importance of a home to him

01:04:12 - Final question

01:06:11 - Where to find him

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session

There is great depth to Jess Reno, who has a soul and heart that are as deep as they are wide. He’s the founder and CEO of Nemesis Coffee and Dope Bakehouse — but these titles alone don’t come close to telling his story.

He grew up in Scarborough, Ontario, in a neighborhood that demanded toughness, in a family shaped by poverty, hardship, and resilience. It made him grow up, fast. After his dad made the radical decision to get straight in his life, he applied to Emily Carr. That choice would change the entire trajectory of their lives, eventually bringing them to Vancouver — where Jess eventually got a job at Caffe Artigiano and, unknowingly, setting himself on the path to becoming one of the most intentional and creative hospitality founders in the city.

In this episode, Jess shares parts of his story he’s never spoken about publicly — coffee as comfort & solace from a young age; what it meant to grow up quickly; navigating generational trauma; healing a long-time chip in the shoulder; running his first coffee shop with family; taking the risks that eventually allowed him to build something of his own. We talk about entrepreneurship, identity, family, leadership, heart and the quiet responsibility of creating spaces where people and patrons feel safe and seen.

[TIMESTAMPS]

7:44 - Growing up

30:39 - Who he thought he was becoming

34:12 - What about coffee provided solace for him

37:08 - What was the turning point for his leap of faith

41:03 - Things he unlearned after his travels

43:31 - The meaning of their logos

01:00:50 - If Nemesis were to vanish tomorrow, what would he hope that people will remember about how it made then feel

01:02:03 - His relationship with the chip on his shoulder now

01:03:31 - Final question

01:04:36 - Where to find him and Nemesis

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session

Catherine Roscoe Barr is a neuroscience-based wellness coach, a longtime fitness professional, and a lifestyle journalist whose work has quietly transformed the lives of many. Her new book, FEEL BETTER NOW: The Life-Changing Power of Simple Pleasures, is a powerful offering — one that invites us back to ourselves through the rituals, reflections, and rewilding that make life feel not just livable, but delicious.

Her story is one of deep personal transformation — from growing up in a home where emotions lived beneath the surface, to finding her own voice through movement, writing, and eventually, helping others do the same. She has built a life’s work from lived experience: turning her healing into curriculum, and her curiosity into a business that’s as intimate as it is expansive — from private coaching to retreats, keynotes, and now, her beautiful book.

In this conversation, we talk about how home is shaped by movement; how long love can grow when it’s met with intention; what people often misunderstand about wellness; the quiet courage it takes to rescue yourself; and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]

2:28 - Growing up

10:01 - What she started to understand about the mind-body connection

17:31 - Her meaning of wellness then vs. now

18:45 - Her book, Feel Better Now: The Life-Changing Power of Simple Pleasures

23:13 - Rewilding and why it is important

25:50 - What it is like to evolve together with her husband after many years

31:22 - If there was a point where she felt her lived experience around wellness could be translated into a medium that could help others

34:25 - The Life Delicious

36:21 - A tip for those who can’t yet feel deliciousness

38:37 - Her retreats

43:29 - How to be an expansive person for others but also being able to enforce boundaries

46:07 - What people get wrong about wellness

53:27 - Final question

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session

Raneen Nosh is an architect and designer whose path has been anything but conventional. Born into a family of Iraqi immigrants who settled in Canada before the Saddam regime, she grew up navigating two worlds—deeply rooted in heritage yet shaped by a spirit of exploration. Her parents, both seekers in their own way, introduced her to meditation at 16, fostering a perspective that would guide her through life and career.

Her journey in design began in web and graphic design at Vancouver Film School, where she co-founded what would later become Invoke Media. But her curiosity led her beyond digital spaces—into architecture, industrial design, and humanitarian work across the globe. She studied in Paris, explored sustainable materials in the Philippines, and lived in Tokyo, where she developed a deep connection to minimalism as both a philosophy and a way of life.

From one of the world’s top architecture firms Herzog & de Meuron to taking on projects that deeply inspire her, Raneen has carved a path that honors both structure and intuition. Now at another pivotal moment, she’s embracing the shifts ahead, guided by a sense of timing, purpose, and play.

In this episode, we explore how spirituality and design minimalism intersect; balancing intuition with technical rigor; recognizing when it’s time to move on; design as a personal calling or part of a larger mission; and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]
1:48 - Family

17:46 - Her creative genesis

38:47 - Her work

50:13 - What she is unlearning

54:26 - Final question

55:35 - Where to find her

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]
otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session

Terry McBride is a trailblazer and veteran in both the music and wellness industries, someone who has an uncanny prescience. He is also thoughtful, kind, and—in speaking to his team during the coordination of this conversation—very beloved.

As the co-founder and CEO of Nettwork Music Group, Terry helped shape the careers of some of the most iconic artists of our time, including Sarah McLachlan, Coldplay, and the Barenaked Ladies. Under his visionary leadership, Nettwerk became a global powerhouse (with teams in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and more), selling over 150 million albums, and revolutionizing how artists navigate the digital era.

But Terry’s influence doesn’t stop at music. In 2007—after discovering yoga and experiencing it across the world—he turned his passion for mindfulness into YYOGA, a wellness company that has redefined the yoga studio experience across Canada. Terry’s commitment to innovation, whether in artistry or holistic well-being, is deeply inspiring.

In this episode, we explore Terry’s incredible journey—his youth as a national level field hockey player and budding civil engineer; the monetization of emotions in music & wellbeing; YYOGA and Nettwerk safe spaces for community; hyperlocal reasons why YYOGA has expanded into franchising; how he knows if a music artist or yoga instructor has that ‘it’ factor’; the future of music; his hope for the next generations; and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]

3:57 - Growing up

6:58 - How his mind works and how it made him different in the music industry

22:23 - Discovering yoga and founding YYOGA

29:53 - How he can tell someone has the 'it' factor and what contributes to their success

35:19 - What his other passions are looking like

36:02 - What he feels with where he is at in his life

39:56 - Truths that he lives by

55:33 - Final question

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]

otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session

Zeke Reed is pure energy in motion. Whether reporting compelling stories for KCRW or producing music in his Topanga Sessions sound studio, he’s constantly contemplating, creating, and doing.

During his early childhood, his father worked as an NAACP defense attorney while his mother pursued her PhD in Theatre at UCLA. Seeking a closer connection to nature, the family relocated from Venice Beach to Topanga Canyon, where Zeke spent much of his childhood exploring the hillsides. Although both parents were accomplished academics and professionals, they also nurtured his deep passion for creativity and music—his father had been a violinist in the University of Virginia orchestra. In fifth grade, Zeke joined a gifted school program in The Valley, broadening his horizons beyond the tight-knit Topanga community.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Zeke also attended UVA, where he pursued neuroscience. This path was inspired by a neighbor who worked in the field and led Los Angeles County’s Department of Mental Health. His college thesis on Detroit earned him a spot in the CORO Fellows Program, giving him hands-on experience in public affairs across multiple sectors. Yet, despite this academic trajectory, Zeke felt an enduring pull toward music. He formed a band with a friend, performing at college parties, and continued to develop his creative identity.

Today, Zeke bridges his academic and creative pursuits with an interdisciplinary approach. By day, he’s a values-driven journalist; by night (and any other available hour), he’s a musician/producer who recently released his first EP Mushroom Disco.

In this episode, we explore his mother’s time with a troupe of gypsy actors in Eastern Europe during the Cold War; his self-designed course of study in college that sparked an interest in urban politics and cities; and music as a lifelong thread—from playing the cello in the LA Junior Philharmonic to performing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. We also delve into his growing role in the global music community, the intersection of journalism and sustainable business models, and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]

4:03 - Growing up

11:34 - If he ever felt pressure to lean into academics

12:58 - Why he chose neuroscience at the University of Virginia

17:46 - Music as a thread and starting his college band

20:10 - The music versus academic path

25:38 - His creative process

30:05 - His values as a journalist

42:06 - His philosophy of “tastes beginning to match your abilities”

48:48 - How he feels about his life

51:57 - Final question

54:49 - Where to connect with Zeke

[TODAY'S SPONSORS]

otō healing: https://www.instagram.com/otohealing/ - email otohealing at gmail.com to get 10% off your initial sound therapy session