Jen & Catherine – The Honest Talk holiday special 

Catherine Clark: Why don’t we launch right into this… it’s just you and me today, Jen!

Jennifer Stewart: I love this; it’s like our regular chats. I like that you used the word launch, because it was this time last year, maybe a bit earlier, that we were getting ready to launch our digital media platform, which was a labour of love. A lot of meetings, a lot of work. Our baby is a year old now, which is pretty exciting. 

We started this podcast in 2020 when the world was shut down… we’ve now done two live events; we just hosted the inaugural Women’s Summit in October in Ottawa, and I think our editor, she’s amazing, Lisa, sent us an update, we’ve had 1,200 stories posted on the site in one year. And I think we’re the same in the sense that we often don’t sit back and reflect on what we’ve done; we’re just in the go-forward mode, but when you take a moment and you look at what we’ve built and the stories, some beautiful stories from women from across Canada that we’ve told it’s pretty impactful. 

Catherine Clark: You were talking about how we started the podcast in 2020, but we started having conversations about The Honest Talk earlier than that. You and I started talking in 2019, and the fateful day was when we went to Toronto to speak with a potential partner about the idea. And that partnership didn’t actually come to fruition, but at the time, the idea was a live event series. And I remember we were waiting for a flight, and we did what women often do, we ordered a glass of wine before I had to take off for the airport, and we chatted about the outline of what this live event series would be like. And then 2020 hit. And you and I, I know it’s so overused, but we totally had to pivot. And I remember the conversation, do we shelve this and wait it out, or make it a podcast? And that’s how the podcast was born. 

Jennifer Stewart: I just got chills because I obviously remember that glass of wine but haven’t reflected on it. And I think we were at a hotel, and I remember your eyes because it was like $35 a glass…

Catherine Clark: To be honest, Jen, it was two glasses of wine. The bill came and I remember saying, “No, but we had two glasses of wine each. We didn’t have a bottle each.” And he was like, “So funny.” 

Jennifer Stewart: That is so funny. I remember that. But yes, the podcast has been a lot of fun. I actually think it’s obviously a professional highlight, but also such a personal highlight. I actually remember our first interview, and this is when I was like, okay, whether this takes off or not, I want to do this. We were talking with Lisa Raitt, and it was one of the first times she spoke of her husband, Bruce, who has Alzheimer’s. I just started crying and had to hold it together because we’re obviously interviewing her. She was obviously emotional, and it was like, You know what? There aren’t many avenues where you have these raw, stripped-down conversations with other women who are, you know, seemingly very successful from the outside looking in, but we’re all going through things. We all have challenges. We all have different opportunities and successes. It was the first interview I remember; it was during COVID. I was the only person in my office because everybody was socially distancing. And I remember thinking, “Okay, this feels really right.”

Catherine Clark: That was the impetus behind starting The Honest Talk because we wanted women to have access to this kind of space, and that’s why, frankly, we’ve kept building it. And now, we’ve gone back to the original idea of a live event through the Women’s Summit, which was a big part of our 2024, but man, what a year it was globally, too.

Jennifer Stewart: I think that’s an understatement. And I think if I can say it, it was a bit of a disappointing year globally, from a political perspective for many women, in terms of female rights and the advancements we’ve made. There’s so much going on in the world that really, honestly, it felt very unsteady from a global, geopolitical perspective. And I think that’s hard. I think that’s hard for everybody. I think that’s hard for women, particularly the women in our community. We are such advocates for advancing women’s rights and for having the opportunity to speak our minds. And you know, we both have daughters, Catherine, to think about what world we’re building today, that our daughters will live in and hopefully thrive in the future. And I think it was a little bit bleak in a lot of ways. 

Catherine Clark: I totally agree with you. So let’s look back on the year that was, you know, personally, how was the year for you? Were there things that you accomplished or didn’t accomplish or highlights? This is where you can talk about Taylor Swift.

Jennifer Stewart: Yes! Let’s talk about the Eras Tour. The year was really wonderful. Well, I turned 40 this year, and I’m a big birthday person. I read something recently, because it’s a little bit obnoxious how big of a birthday person I am, and it said people that really celebrate their birthdays were celebrated as kids, and I thought it’s obviously not always the case, but that was my case. 

So, I turned 40, and I set a goal. I couldn’t run a kilometre when I was 39, so I set a goal to run a half marathon. Of course, I made it a little self-advantageous and ran it at Disney World to tie in a trip. Might as well if I was going to do all that work. But that felt really great.

Catherine Clark: That’s so impressive, by the way, Jen. As someone who actively avoids running when and wherever possible, that’s just super impressive.

Jennifer Stewart: Running is so freaking hard, and that’s what I learned. There’s no other way to do it than to put in the time. And that kind of lesson transcends. And then, you know, I’ll be able to talk about this more in the new year, but I just took a hard look at, you know, what do I want the next decade to look like? And I don’t want to slow down, but I want to be less frenetic between a number of different things and more strategic. So, I made some really intentional choices in my life that I think are going to set me up for what the next decade looks like.

Catherine Clark: What I love about how you approach your life is that you are very intentional, and you do think things through like you make choices and you’re unafraid to take risks, and that’s kind of you’re walking the talk of The Honest Talk and the messages that we give to other women by talking about how it’s okay to make big decisions, it’s okay to take risks without knowing the actual outcome. So, I find that incredibly admirable.

Jennifer Stewart: Oh, well, I appreciate that. And you know, I admire and adore you and everything you do. So, how was your year?

Catherine Clark: Yeah, it was a pretty decent year. All in all, I started 2024 feeling a real sense of trepidation because I had signed up for a course, which was something I had always wanted to do. It’s that Institute of Corporate Directors training, but I knew it was going to take a chunk of my time, and I was really worried about how I was going to manage to fit it all in. I was doing it in Toronto. It involved, you know, back and forth. And so I feel absolute gratitude that it’s done. I also feel a real sense of pride that I was able to accomplish it because it wasn’t without its challenges. 

Frankly, going back to school midlife is not an easy task. And you know, you walk into a classroom and think to yourself, “Oh boy, there’s a reason why I left this 25 years ago.” 

All that aside, it’s holiday time, and I’ve told you and a couple other people that I’m not just leaning into the holidays; I’m lying down on top of them and smothering them. I love Christmas. I celebrate Christmas. You celebrate Christmas. What are the traditions in your household?

Jennifer Stewart: My husband used to be in the armed services, so we wait until November 12 to decorate, out of respect for him, but come November 12, at 7 am the house is, you know, full of Christmas cheer, and the tree is up and everything is decorated. 

For me, it’s about family time. It’s seeing both sides of the family spending time with the kids. I love Christmas Day, but for me, it’s the music at night, the Christmas movies, the baking, and just the family time. But we are doing something a little different this year. We are going south, so we’ll see. I’m excited for a break. Christmas is the only time my clients are mutually off throughout the year. So I’m excited about that, but I will miss Christmas morning at home if I’m honest.

Catherine Clark: I have a feeling when you wake up somewhere glorious and I think warm that you’re not gonna feel too bad!

Jennifer Stewart: I’ll text you from the beach and be like JK, that was a lie. What are you doing for the season and Christmas?

Catherine Clark: Well, you gave me permission this year by saying that as of November 12, this house is going to be totally decorated because I usually feel a slight sense of shame. I am so committed to Christmas so early, but we were all in; the tree was up in mid-November, and the house was totally decorated. My son was a little bit frightened that we might continue decorating, and he now understands that the decorating is final. He doesn’t have to worry about coming home and finding pine boughs somewhere that he didn’t expect them, but I love this time of year so much, and so I am taking time to put aside things that I don’t have to do now, and focusing on the things I love to do.

We actually ran a review of a new Christmas movie on The Honest Talk, which I completely dismissed, but the review was so funny. My daughter Alexandra came home from work the other day, back from university, and told me that one of her colleagues is actually an extra in the movie. So now I have a genuine reason to watch Hot Frosty because I’m being supportive.

Jennifer Stewart: Well, I hope you have the absolute best holiday. And I’ve got a grin ear to ear. I love doing this with you, and I know this is a cliche, but I feel like we’re just getting started, and I’m proud. Going into the holiday season, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together. 

Catherine Clark: I am, too. And I think that’s partly a sense of relief that we both feel we’ve survived. But we both want to ensure that anyone listening understands how tremendously grateful we are for the support our growing community has provided to The Honest Talk by listening, reading, and engaging with us. We are so fortunate to have the community that we do, and everything we do is to ensure that that community has access to information and inspiration. 

Jennifer Stewart: We will also launch in mid-January, the date for the 2025 Women’s Summit! And we can’t wait to see members of our community there in person. 

Catherine Clark: It’s gonna be great. I’m so looking forward to that!