AJ Simmonds – Networking Consultant

AJ Simmonds is from North Preston. He graduated from Auburn Drive high school in 2012. Played on the men’s basketball team at Acadia University for five years and graduated in 2017 with a degree in sociology.

He is currently working at the Halifax partnership coordinating a volunteer networking program, connecting recent graduates and newcomers to Halifax with business and community leaders in their industry.

AJ is also involved with numerous community initiatives targeted to help African Nova Scotian youth.

Check him out @ajsimmonds04

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Katherine Taylor – Letterpress Printer and Bookbinder

Katherine Victoria Taylor (BFA, NSCAD University) is a bookbinder and letterpress printer in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

She has apprenticed with master bookbinder and conservator Joe Landry, award-winning printer and publisher Andrew Steeves of Gaspereau Press, and is currently mentored by Vandercook maintenance expert Paul Moxon. Katherine is the organizer of the Letterpress Gang at NSCAD and has a passion for sharing her love of bookbinding and printing with the community.

It is her desire to use the power of the press to help amplify the voices of marginalized people. Katherine now teaches a variety of letterpress and bookbinding classes and has worked with notable clients such as The Book of Negroes mini-series, The Curse of Oak Island, University of Kings’ College and Saint Mary’s University.

Check her out @kvtprints

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Jeff Cusick – 902 Lit Clothing Co

Jeff Cusick, owner/operator of 902 Lit Clothing Co. based out of Halifax, NS is a father, husband, entrepreneur and creative.

In this episode, we talk about his family, friends, support & the future of 902 Lit.

Check him out @902_lit_clothing

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Lara Lewis – Theatre Artist

Lara Lewis is a bi as hell Mi’kmaw theatre artist carved from marble. All she wants is for someone to literally build a shrine to her, but in the meantime, she’ll settle for making art and administering it. is a theatre artist.

A writer, director and actor.

In this episode, we talk all about her experience in theatre and how that went to her working with the Halifax Fringe Festival.

She has had a number of plays in the Halifax Fringe and this year is no different.

I had a wonderful time with Lara and can’t wait to watch her play.

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Ossama Nasrallah – Future Prime Minister

 

Born in Kuwait and coming from Lebanon, Ossama Nasrallah is the former President & CEO of Saint Mary’s University Students’ Association and the Co-owner of The Harbour Watercraft. Ossama moved to Halifax in 2014 ago to study at Saint Mary’s University and he is happy to call Halifax home today.

Ossama is engaged in many societies and organizations such as Habitat for Humanity where he travelled the last 4 years to the United States to build houses for people in need, Enactus Saint Mary’s where a 135 members worked to tackle food waste in Nova Scotia and with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations where he advocated on behalf of the NS students to the Federal Government.
Ossama received the “Future Prime Minister” award from the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, the “Platinum M”  which is the highest award granted to those graduating who have given outstanding contributions in extra-curricular activities in the area of student affairs during their stay at Saint Mary’s.
I had a wonderful time talking with Ossama on this episode.
Check him out @ossamanas

Oshé – Style Blogger

Oshe {‘Oh-Shay’} is a professional cool girl, online influencer, graduated business student and blogger on the side!

She loves everything fashion, lifestyle, luxe & beauty related!

Check out her blog www.osheorifa.com and Instagram @osheorifa to get inspired with style.

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Jennifer Murphy – Makeup Artist

Jennifer Murphy is a professional makeup artist working in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In 2011 she enrolled at The Blanche MacDonald Centre in Vancouver to complete their Global Makeup Program. The yearlong program was very thorough and covered every module from beauty makeup, airbrushing, all the way to special FXs and prosthetics. She finished the program with honours and made her way back to the east coast of Canada, the place she calls home.

In 2013, she began working for MAC Cosmetics and couldn’t imagine a more wonderful opportunity! Working with amazing people and wonderful clients, her hands-on experience at MAC enabled her to meet the varied needs of her clients. The magic of a busy retail setting is that you encounter every different type of person, personality, skin tone, age, and lifestyle. It certainly helped her master her art and confirmed her passion for this industry.

She believes that continual learning and staying with new trends in the industry helps create beautiful results for her clients.

In 2017, she had the privilege of attending Mario Dedianovic’s Master Class in London, England, to learn his secrets in creating Kim Kardashian’s iconic beauty look. She also completed courses in Microblading with The Extension Academy and Eyelash Extensions with Misencil.

It is her pleasure to help clients create their perfect look for every day or even their special day.

Check her out @jennifermurphybeauty

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Mike Swiech – Photographer

Mike Swiech is a Haligonian transplant from Ontario. He moved here with his then-wife and daughter back in 2013. He is an internationally published photographer. He is a self-taught photographer that has honed his craft by learning from his mistakes and keeps on improving. His passion right now is empowering women to showcase their beauty from within with emotionally charged images via boudoir and emotive portraits. His motto that he strives to ensure his clients adapt is “Embrace your imperfections”. He tells his clients that no one is perfect and everyone has some form of imperfection but rather than try to hide or mask it, you should rather embrace it. 
He currently is pursuing a 35mm film project that he hopes to release some time in 2020 and have his first gallery exhibition from this project. 
 
He is most proud of his daughter and the woman that she has become and no award or publication can touch that. 
 
If you want to follow his work you can do so via these social media outlets
 
Instagram – 
 
Facebook – 

Justin Gaudreault – Creative Audio Specialist

Justin Gaudreault is a multi-talented recording artist, award-winning audio engineer and overall
creative powerhouse hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Having expertise in audio editing,
music composition and mixing for film, augmented and virtual reality. Justin’s commitment to
excellence and passion for his craft have allowed him to carve out a lane all his own.

Not one to settle for mediocrity, after graduating with his Audio Engineering degree in 2012, Justin
received the Daniel Gaynor Spirit Award, which is the highest form of recognition at the Centre for
Arts and Technology. Shortly thereafter in 2013, Justin was nominated for the National Association
of Career Colleges Graduate of the Year award, which recognizes a new graduate currently
working in the field with outstanding success and work ethic. Justin’s achievements were also
recognized the following year by the City of Halifax when he received the HRM Volunteer of the
Year Award.

In addition to academic and civic achievement, Justin has helped clients of Current Studios win
various professional awards while working for the studio. One of the notable awards is 2018
Webby Awards “Augmented Reality Award” Presented to MullenLowe U.S. / Los Angeles &
Current Studios for “ACURA TLX: What A Race” where Justin created the Sound Design, Mix and
the music used in the event and commercials.

2018 proved to be a great year for Justin, as he additionally helped Dream Street Pictures win at
the Screen Nova Scotia Awards for “Best Documentary Film” with “Sickboy” contributing his work
as Sound Editor & Re-Recording Mixer.

Following up on 2018’s achievements, Justin’s work helped clients gain two more award wins for
2019’s Screen Nova Scotia Awards. They include, “Best Feature Film” Splinters (Thom
Fitzgerald)for his work as a Sound Editor, “Best Documentary Film” The Social Shift (Mirror Image
Media) as Sound Editor & Re-Recording Mixer and one nomination “Best Television Series”
Forgive Me – Season 3 (Emotion Pictures) as the Re-Recording Mixer.

Justin has solidified his reputation as a seasoned and forward-thinking professional. With 12+ years
of experience in audio, Justin’s sheer talent, professionalism and leadership skills have allowed him
the opportunity to work on top-tier feature films, documentaries, television series and augmented
reality games, such as Sony PlayStation’s “God of War” AR app. Additionally, Justin’s track
record of achievements further presented opportunities to work with notable clients, such as Marvel,
Samsung, LEGO, Acura, 3M, Fuggler and Subway. Further cementing Justin’s status as a
creative powerhouse and all around dedicated professional.

Check him out @audiobyjustin

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Sam Hatfield – Shotgun Vintage

Born and raised in Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia. Sam had a resume of working with people who have disabilities before changing her career path to pursue the Fashion Industry. She quickly got a Corporate retail job and worked her way up to Visual Merchandiser. After working in retail for a number of years and seeing all the waste that it produces, she decided that it was time to build a brand for herself that she believed in.

Shotgun Vintage was born in April 2018 as an Instagram page. It started as thrifting and selling vintage clothing but after pulling out an old sewing machine to make easy modifications — it soon grew to be a reworking obsession. Completely self-taught on the sewing machine, Sam started to quickly receive a lot of traction through the Maritimes through Instagram. This approach allowed her to be more connected with the customer than it would as a normal web store.

She worked her full-time job and simultaneously worked on Shotgun during nights and weekends for eight months before taking it full time.

Shotgun is completely owned and operated by one person.

Check her out @shotgunvintage

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