A Career Shift: To Marketing and Communications I go!

 I wrote back in December that I was pounding the virtual pavement trying to figure out my next move in the marketing and communications space--as that's where I envisioned my next full-time role. 

And, to be perfectly honest, the job search has been a mental grind. Those of you who've embarked on a job search over the past few years can attest to that grind. It is exhausting searching for jobs, tailoring a cover and resume to different job specifications, filling out online portals etc.

And if you're not able to get past that first stage of the application process, the majority of companies don't even respond with 'Thanks, but no thanks' to your application. You're just applying into the ether.

I ran the numbers and, since October, I've applied for over 100 communications positions and made it to an interview round for about a dozen roles. So my success rate in just achieving an interview was approximately 1 in 10.

I have no idea if that's a good batting average or not. I'm giving out these details because I know just how mentally draining the job search can be. And it can leave you with a crisis of confidence. 

Will I ever get a job again? What's wrong with my skill-set? What am I doing wrong? 

There have been some admittedly dark days over the past few months.

But if sharing my application numbers and being honest about the process can provide some solace to other people looking for work in a highly competitive job market, then it's worth it.

And speaking of that competitive job market: the influx of remote and hybrid jobs out there are fantastic for people looking to improve their work-life balance.

However, that also means the competition is even more fierce. You're up against dozens, sometimes hundreds of applicants for each role. How do you stand out in that environment?

I found myself applying for jobs I thought I was way overqualified for, at steep pay cuts to what I've become accustomed, just to hopefully snag an easy interview and build up some confidence.

Then that plan didn't even work and I was ghosted by jobs I didn't even want!

And the holiday season is not fun during a job search. Most companies shut things down for the month of December, postings are scarce and your stress level just continues to build.

But I do have good news to share! It took me awhile to get to this part of my post, but I prefer sharing my honest preamble to this process, rather than just happily post that I have a new job.

Scratch that: I have a new career! This week, I started a full-time, permanent position at Stantec, a global engineering and architecture firm.

I am a senior content specialist. Here's a 30-second elevator pitch of a portion of what I will be doing:

I will be researching and interviewing the top engineering minds at the company to learn about the innovative products and services they have developed/will be developing. And I will be taking these technical and complex processes and creating engaging and informative written content to promote them across a varied array of multimedia platforms. 

It's a fully remote position, I am part of a team of smart, capable and interesting people, and the compensation/benefits program and opportunities for career advancement at Stantec easily surpass every other job I've applied to over the past four months.

I could not be happier with this role. I wish I could go back in time and tell Mike from December 2022 that everything was going to work out. And that I was stressing for nothing. 

When I was in the midst of my job search, a former colleague, who had embarked on a similar journey the previous year, said that the career change was going to be the best thing to happen to me.

I had a hard time believing him at the time. But he was right. And I want to echo that advice. And I know others currently in a job search will have a hard time believing me, but it's true. It may take longer than you'd like, but it will happen.

 I have seen the light at the end of the job search tunnel. And for those of you feeling like you're in the darkness of the search, keep grinding and try your best to stay positive (I know it's easier said than done).

And now I'm sounding too much like a Batman movie, so I will wrap this up now.

Thanks for reading!

Navigating that freelance life

 Well, it's almost been three months since my previous post, where I delineated the biggest job change I've had in almost a decade.

I've been pounding the proverbial pavement (i.e. spending a lot of time on email and Zoom calls) figuring out the next moves in my content creation career. 

The biggest one thus far started in October, when I signed a freelance contract with Rogers Sports and Media. It's actually to work three different roles on an on-call basis: weather radio anchor for CityNews 680, sports radio anchor for CityNews 680 and weather TV anchor for City TV Toronto.

Since I am able to perform three different roles, it's actually been really busy being plugged into their weekly schedule at different shifts throughout the week. I've really enjoyed my time at Rogers thus far and the ability to do all three of the jobs remotely from home has been great from a work-life balance perspective.

I've been averaging around 2-3 shifts per week and will continue that amount through the end of the year.

In November, I picked up another freelance job, this one in marketing and communications. I am working as a content creator for Stock Marketing, where I produce, write and host marketing and communications video content to raise brand awareness and the communications profiles of publicly traded Canadian companies.

And it's marketing and communications where I see myself transitioning to my next full-time job. The experience I've had over the past decade, plus the experience that I'm currently gaining are all strong tools to add to my communications toolkit.

I mentioned last time that I had signed a representation agreement with AAB Talent for on-camera film and television work. I've submitted audition videos for a lot of roles, had a number of callbacks and holds and finally booked my first gig. I got a role in a Genesis car commercial that was shot in Toronto at the beginning of the month. That will air in March.

It was a great experience and I'm hopeful to pick up some more roles into 2023.

Writing-wise, I had a non-fiction feature published by the Canadian Baseball Network in November. I actually wrote it back in 2017, but some extenuating circumstances meant it went unpublished until now. Here's a link to the piece and an explanation behind the publication. 

I am continuing to work as a virtual event host, hosting trivia challenges for select corporate clients, which is a lot of fun. I've been doing that since 2020 and I'm hopeful it will continue into next year as well (I have one more scheduled in the month of December. Below is a holiday-themed session I hosted earlier this week).

I've also had preliminary discussions with production partners from CrossFit to continue working as a sideline reporter at a number of events next year. Once those details are finalized, I will share them here.

So, it has been a busy fall and it appears as though that is going to continue through the winter.

Hopefully, I will have more news to share over the coming weeks. You can check this space or also follow me on Twitter and Instagram @MikeGArsenault.

Thanks for reading and watching!

A New Beginning

I said in my previous post back in February that my blog output would be reduced to yearly submissions barring big career news.

Well, here we are in the month of September and I'm writing with potentially the biggest career news I've had since early 2020. Unfortunately, the news is not of my choosing.

A couple of weeks ago, I received notice that Corus Entertainment was cancelling Global News Weekend, effective immediately. That also meant my services were no longer needed and, after seven years working for Global News, I am now laid off.

Not exactly the news I was expecting. I really enjoyed my time, my co-workers and my career growth at Global. And I loved hosting Global News Weekend--it was the best full-time job I've had in my life thus far.

So, it was a rough few days of trying to digest the news and figure out what's next. The last time I was laid off was back in 2012, at the very start of my broadcast career. 

Reflecting how I felt 10 years ago compared to getting the news here in 2022, I soon realized that I am in a much better position now to handle this adversity than I was back then.

(And though I was surprised at the decision--considering how many different roles I worked at Global News throughout my time there--I also wasn't naïve to think that I'd be able to avoid another layoff in the media industry until I hit retirement age).

Luckily, I've been able to acquire a significant number of contacts within the freelance/contract media industry over the past decade. And I've been utilizing those contacts to set some wheels in motion for the next phase of my media career.

I will continue to work with CrossFit Media as a sideline reporter at the CrossFit Games for CBS (as I've done pretty much every year since 2015) and now I have a lot more time to work as a reporter at different CrossFit events across North America over the coming months.

At the start of the pandemic, I started hosting virtual events (like trivia) for various companies as well as in-person MC gigs for select corporate clients. I hope to be doing more of that in the months ahead as well.

I've also signed with AAB Talent Management to begin auditioning for on-camera film and television work. And there are a number of other content creation opportunities that I'm hopeful to acquire over the next few months as well.

And I have a couple of writing projects that I would like to get published. I will be working toward that goal to end 2022 and heading into 2023.

 The cliché is that everything happens for a reason. Well, everything that I've listed in the preceding four paragraphs are things that I've wanted to do over the past seven years, but was unable to do so. 

But now I have the time and the severance cushion to pursue these passions as I plan out the next evolution of my career for 2023 and beyond. And I know I wouldn't have taken this plunge of my own volition. So, in a way, I am thankful that Corus decided to make the decision for me. I can't have regrets because I didn't have another option.

So, here's to seven great years, but I'm excited to see what's next.

This also probably means that this blog and my social media accounts will be a little more active going forward. Hopefully, I will have lots of media work coming in that I will be able to share here.

So, check this space over the next few weeks and you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @MikeGArsenault.

Thanks for reading and watching!

A 2021 Recap (Six Weeks Late)

I recently realized that I have become lax with my monthly updates--evidenced by the fact that my last update was May of last year. And it's not that I had nothing to discuss, I suppose the lame, but real excuse is that life got in the way.

But it also made me realize that a yearly recap is probably the best form for this website to take from now on. So, that's what I'm going to do. I will collate my career highlights from each year and distill them in an end-of-the-year post format.

I am starting with this post, even thought it's almost two months late.

In my last update, I showcased the latest episodes of my Drive To 300 Yards golf series, which started as a New Year's Resolution and turned into my new obsession. Here's the final episode of the series.

To read and watch each monthly golf update, check out my Global News website page and scroll down to Author Archive.

Other highlights from me include creating, producing and hosting a Summer Olympics series called Training for Tokyo. And after the summer Games wrapped, I created, produced and hosted a Winter Olympics series called Building for Beijing.

In December, I also wrote and hosted a 30-minute Olympic preview special on Global TV and spent four days in Hamilton covering the Grey Cup for affiliates across the Global News Network.

And of course, my regular duties co-hosting and creating content for Global News Weekend, Globals' national weekend morning show. That continues for 2002 and hopefully beyond.

Hopefully more exciting things to come for the remaining 10 months of 2022.

Thanks for reading and watching!

May Update: More Ontario restrictions

 Well, last month I talked about all of the outdoor shoots I wanted to do for Global News Weekend and I was excited for the outdoor golf season for my Drive to 300 Yards series.

The Ontario government has decided to make that very difficult with the outdoor activity restrictions that were enacted in the middle of April. So, my outdoor location shoots will basically be on hold until the middle of May.

It wasn't easy working on my golf swing this month with courses closed. Here's the May episode of my series.

And here's the link to the written portion of this episode. I didn't include the video for my April episode where I received a 3D analysis of my swing from Swing Lab Performance and Therapy.

In my monthly Training for Tokyo series, I spoke to mountain biker Haley Smith about her preparation for the Olympics which, as of now, are still scheduled to take place in July.

A reminder that you can watch Global News Weekend every Saturday and Sunday morning from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on the Global TV app, on Amazon Prime Video, and at this link (make sure to click National News).

Thanks for reading and watching!

April Update: Three Series for Global News Weekend

 It's finally spring! Which of course means warmer and, for me on Global News Weekend, the opportunity to do more on-location shoots. I've been doing 90 per cent of my interviews since the pandemic began over Zoom. 

In one respect, it's been beneficial as it's allowed me to interview people from around the world who I would not be able to speak to under a typical morning show format. But I have missed going on location and meeting people in different environments and talking to them in person. 

Nicer weather means outdoor shoots are a lot more palatable than a few months ago, so I am able to get out into the community once a week to shoot some feature stories.

One story took me to Oakville to interview the founder of Canada's first and only all-female auto body shop.

The April episode of my golf series, The Drive to 300 yards takes me to a swing performance centre to get a 3-D analysis of my swing. That will be posted online this weekend. Here's the episode from last month, which focuses on club fitting, and the corresponding article.

My Training for Tokyo series on Canadian Olympic athletes featured a sprint track cyclist from Quebec for March.

I have more on-location shoots planned throughout the month of April, but the Training for Tokyo series will most likely stay virtual as I want to feature athletes from across the country.

A reminder that you can watch Global News Weekend every Saturday and Sunday morning from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on the Global TV app, on Amazon Prime Video, and at this link (make sure to click National News).

Thanks for reading and watching!

 

March Update: Training x 2 and golf

 Things are really clicking creatively on Global News Weekend. I currently have three different series I am producing on the go right now. The second episode of my golf resolution series is all about fixing my golf swing during the pandemic.

Here is a link to the written portion of the episode. This month's episode will be all about club fitting and finding the right clubs to maximize your ability.

The ninth episode of my monthly Training Ground series featured Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. This was a fascinating interview and it was tough edit it down to less than five minutes.

A new series that I launched this month is called Training for Tokyo. Each month from now until the start of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, I will feature a different Canadian athlete and their journey to the postponed Games. First up is BC swimmer Kierra Smith.

 A reminder that you can watch Global News Weekend every Saturday and Sunday morning from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on the Global TV app, on Amazon Prime Video, and at this link (make sure to click National News).

Thanks for reading and watching!

February Update: Getting better at golf

 A new series I am creating for Global News Weekend this year is a monthly New Year's Resolution video trying to achieve a goal of hitting a golf ball 300 yards. 

With each video, there will be a blog article as well, diving a little bit deeper into my aim of getting better at golf and taking a look at golf in Canada (once the weather warms up).

Here's the first episode.

And here's a link to my first article, which gives a little more context into why I'm doing this. Each new episode will premiere the first Saturday of the month for the rest of the year.

So, that's the new series I am working on, but I am still producing episodes of The Training Ground once a month. The first installment of 2021 was about a female chess champion from Quebec. Check it out.

The February episode of the Training Ground will feature a Canadian astronaut. Very excited about that one!

Pandemic-aside, things are at a really great point creatively with Global News Weekend and the original content I get to produce.

A reminder that you can watch Global News Weekend every Saturday and Sunday morning from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on the Global TV app, on Amazon Prime Video, and at this link (make sure to click National News).

Thanks for reading and watching!

January Update: Farewell 2020

Okay, we did it! 2020, a year unlike any other is now behind us. And it's a year that we won't soon forget. 

Yes, 2020 presented challenges for everyone, some much worse than others, but, for me personally, it also included some professional highlights. In last month's post, I promised a look back at the year that was professionally.

Back in my January 2020 post, I wrote out my yearly highlights from the previous decade of my media career. It was a nice way to take stock of what I've been able to accomplish and see the evolution of my broadcast career. So, I will add the 2020 blurb now:

2020 -  Hired as host of Global News Weekend morning show, became a Digital Broadcast Journalist, created and produced The Training Ground series, worked as the Host/MC of virtual award shows and virtual trivia events.

In February, I created a new fitness series at Global called 'Fitness Served Cold', I completely skipped the March update because of the start of the pandemic, and April was the month that Global News Weekend launched.

And Global News Weekend was off and running throughout the spring and summer. The initial plans to have Global News Weekend on broadcast TV in the fall were put on hold. That is now planned for Spring 2021.

I launched 'The Training Ground' monthly series in the spring as well. It has been really enjoyable discovering and learning about different types of careers, competitors and performers. I have some cool interviews lined up for this series in 2021.

Here's my most recent interview with a cardiac surgeon.

In the summer, I looked at back at 5 years with the Global News/Corus Entertainment family.

At the end of the summer, I reflected on my tennis and golf games. Golf is going to be a major focus for me in 2021. I am doing a deep dive on golf in Canada for a monthly New Year's Resolution series that is going to premiere next week.

Halloween 2020 was an absolute blast on Global News Weekend. I was Tiger King Joe Exotic, Ron Swanson and Andy Dwyer.

For 2021, I am looking forward to creating and producing my golf series, creating and producing a series on some Canadian Olympians and seeing Global News Weekend continue to get even better.

A reminder that you can watch Global News Weekend every Saturday and Sunday morning from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on the Global TV app, on Amazon Prime Video, and at this link (make sure to click National News).

Thanks for reading and watching!

December Update: Looking Ahead to 2021

Well, the strangest year of our lives is finally, mercifully coming to a close in just a few weeks. I'll have a career-related recap of 2020 in my January post, but I wanted to post a couple of short updates on two bigger features I am working on for next year.

But first, for my November episode of The Training Ground, I was able to interview Canadian PGA Tour Pro Michael Gligic about his 10-year odyssey to get his PGA Tour card.

Staying on the sports front, the Canadian Olympic Team is searching for prospective Olympians in a virtual fitness challenge tastefully named the RBC Training Ground. There are three virtual fitness tests that people age 14-25 can take and, depending on how they do, they can be invited to a camp to see if they excel in a number of Olympic sports for potential selection.

I did a story on the program and obviously had to find out where I stacked up.

With Christmas around the corner, I should suggest a copy of my novel, 60'6": Balls, Strikes and Baseball Mortality, which would make a great stocking stuffer for any sports fan. There are only 10 copies remaining and you can get a signed copy from me at the link above.

Preliminary content plans for 2021 include continuing my Training Ground series on a monthly basis. Later this month, I have an interview with a cardiac surgeon.

I am working on an Olympic series called Training for Tokyo, which will includes features on athletes from different sports. 

I am looking at profiling the fitness requirements to become a member of the Canadian Forces and the RCMP.

And I am developing a year-long New Year's Resolution series that will be golf-related. That's all I can say so far.

You can watch me on Global News Weekend every Saturday and Sunday morning from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern on the Global TV App and Amazon Prime Video.

Thanks for reading and watching!

November Update: Halloween 2020

 Well, I somehow missed last month's update. My aim for monthly posts here has become somewhat lax in 2020. I blame the pandemic.

I was very busy with producing content over the past two months, with a big focus on our Halloween show. With Halloween being on a Saturday this year, it would fall on an actual show date. Both Aalia and I are big fans of Halloween and I wanted to do something big this year that included the entire Global News Weekend team.

We're all big fans of the TV show Parks and Recreation, so I wrote a scene that imagined what would happen if the characters in Parks and Recreation worked on our show:

It turned out really well and everyone did a great job with their roles (even if some took to it grudgingly). The musical part at the end was supposed to be longer until I realized none of us can actually sing and my guitar playing wasn't as good as I'd hoped. 

Aalia and I also dressed up as Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic from Tiger King.

It wouldn’t be a 2020 Halloween on Global News Weekend without an appearance by Carole Baskin and the Tiger King himself, Joe Exotic @Aalia_Adam pic.twitter.com/2KnyeUm5zg

— Mike Arsenault (@MikeGArsenault) October 31, 2020

For some non-Halloween content, the October episode of The Training Ground featured Canadian country music stars, The Reklaws.

Thanks for reading and watching!

 

September Update: The end of summer sports

 Well, tennis season is winding down. I've been really happy with how my game continues to evolve. I think I am a much better player now than I was at the end of last season (and my results in matches underscore that statement).

Now that I am in my mid-30s, I'm hopeful I can continue to improve my skills, while maintaining the same level of fitness. Once I hit 40, my goal is to enter Masters-level provincial tennis tournaments and see where I stack up against the top 'old guys' in the province.

Also, I have started to play a lot more golf. Typically, I play twice a year. That's what I've done for the past 15 years. But this year, I've put some focus into actually learning how to play properly and construct a real golf swing. I've played 10 times this year and I can now break 100 on a regulation, 6,000-yard course. 

Bogey golf is my next goal. I am cautiously optimistic that I can reach that goal by the end of next year. I want to play 8-10 times a year going forward. I don't have the time to play more than that and my main athletic focus is still tennis, but I definitely enjoy golf a lot more than I have in the past.

Work-wise, I produced the fourth episode of my Training Ground series. I had the opportunity to interview Master Warrant Officer Norm Penny about his career as a Search and Rescue Technician with the Canadian Forces.

Global News Weekend is going very well. The entire team enjoys working together and we are producing interesting and engaging content. Look out for a very fun Halloween segment that will be coming on Halloween (which actually falls on a show date this year).

Thanks for reading and watching!

 

August Update: A Surprise Anniversary

I was checking my email earlier this week and was surprised to see an email from the 'Corus Service Awards', congratulating me on my 5th anniversary as a member of the Global News team. I had no idea!

I am usually on top of such milestones, but this one completely slipped my mind. Blame the pandemic and the fact life has been kind of turned upside down for the past five months, but I did want to take a couple of paragraphs to reflect on the past five years.

Here's what I wrote when I started at Global back in 2015:

I've settled into a groove at my new job. I have a lot more on my plate, but the added responsibility is invigorating and I'm really enjoying the challenge. Right now my focus is on creating, producing, and presenting weather forecasts for eight markets: Toronto, Montreal, Kelowna, Saskatoon, Regina, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Winnipeg.

Sports coverage will start to be added to my job description at some point in the fall once all of the shows for all eight markets are running like a well-oiled machine.

Now here's my on-air schedule. It's a lot more consistent than my schedule at The Weather Network.

Wednesday and Thursday - Late newscast for Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Kelowna

Friday - Late newscast for Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Kelowna, Toronto, Montreal, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia

Saturday and Sunday - Eveing and late newscast for Kelowna, late newscast for Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon

Well, that's a lot to unpack.

A lot has certainly changed over the past five years. Weather was my sole focus when I first started at Global. Now, weather is decidedly on the back-burner with my role as a digital broadcast journalist and host of Global News Weekend.

I no longer do market-based broadcasting--Global News Weekend is a national show that airs on the Global TV app and Global's 24-hour streaming service, both of which didn't even exist in 2015!

I did dabble in sports anchoring over the past five year at Global, but that department doesn't even exist any longer.

I worked nights extensively back then, from Wednesday to Sunday. Now I just work mornings and day shifts, which is so much better for my work-life balance. I work 4, 10-hour shifts each week compared to 5, 8-hour shifts.

Producing series like What's Your Fitness Age, The Culture of Fitness, Fitness Served Cold, Top Dog, and The Training Ground wasn't even on my radar back in 2015.

I'm definitely proud of what I've been able to accomplish and how my career has been able to grow and evolve throughout my five years at Global News. And I'm excited to see what the future holds!

Also, speaking of The Training Ground, here's the third episode on competitive speller, Enya Huber.

Thanks for reading and watching!

July Update: Summer's Here

Global News Weekend continues to improve each and every week. The chemistry throughout our small, 5-member team is showing up on screen. We are making little tweaks to the show to put our personal stamp on it and to get the look of the show to where we want it.

That's what was so enticing about taking this opportunity in the first place--the chance and challenge of launching a show from the ground up.

Each show is better than the last and I'm excited to see where we're going to go over the next few months.

Reminder: you can watch Global News Weekend every Saturday and Sunday morning on the National feed of the Global TV app, on Amazon Prime Video and at this link.

Here are some highlights of stories I've done over the past month (all of these can be found on my Global News personality page)

- A chat with the director of The Walrus and the Whistleblower

- A discussion on race and raising children of colour

- A Father's Day chat with our dads

- A chat with the CEO of Tennis Canada

- Talking to a former Paralympian about his battles with severe depression

- The second episode of The Training Ground, on ultramarathoner Dave Proctor

Thanks for reading and watching!

June Update: Launching a new series

We're getting into a nice groove on the Global News Weekend morning show. We have over six weekends under our belts since our official launch in mid-April.

I am really enjoying this new role and the creativity it affords me in putting together stories and interview on interesting topics and people.

Last month, I launched a new series that I have been working on since January (the launch was obviously delayed due to the pandemic).

It's called The Training Ground. Here's what it's about:

The Training Ground is a series that dives into the mental, physical, and emotional journey needed to prepare for a competition or performance, athletic or otherwise. 

Every competitor or performer has their own training montage documenting their journey of how they got to where they are; what they had to sacrifice; how they had to push themselves to achieve success. And that’s what this series is about: the blood, the sweat and the tears.

It will feature guests from the sports world and beyond, men and women who have experienced success and failure.

Think of the famous quote by Teddy Roosevelt, of which I’ll paraphrase: ‘It is not the critic who counts . . . the credit belongs to the man (woman) who is actually in the arena . . . if he/she fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his/her place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.’

My first episode was with Austin Sora, a professional dancer from Ontario who lives in New York City.

I am currently putting together the second episode, which features Canadian ultrarunner Dave Proctor. Look for that in next months' update.

On a personal note, tennis courts in Ontario have thankfully opened and I've been playing at least three times a week since the middle of May. It's nice to have somewhat of a sense of normalcy during this strange time.

Thanks for reading and watching!

May Update: Off and Running!

The official launch of Global News Weekend  was the last weekend of April and we received a nice marketing push from Corus in advance of the first 'official' show.

Here's the link to the press release.

The first segment Aalia and I put together for the new show was a virtual brunch segment, which gave us an opportunity to showcase chemistry that we quickly had to come up with, never having worked together before.

I'm really happy with how our small, but talented team has put together a fairly well-oiled machine so quickly. We all work well together and have fun, which is an absolute requirement when your weekend work day starts at 5 a.m.

But hosting the morning doesn't mean I'm finished with producing fitness content, though. Ross Hull and I put together a 'Fitness at Home' piece that showcases four exercises that can give you the most bang for your fitness buck. 

 

A reminder that you can watch Global News Weekend every Saturday and Sunday morning from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on the Global TV app, on Amazon Prime Video, and at this link (make sure to click National News).

Thanks for reading and watching!

March and April Update: A New Role

Disclaimer: I initially wrote this post at the beginning of March before COVID-19 changed the world. The changes that I mention below were supposed to take place in the middle of last month, but had to be pushed to the middle of this month as society adjusts to this new normal. I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe, happy and healthy during these trying times.

I am going to ignore typical journalistic convention and bury the lede to this post. I will get to the title of this entry in a minute, but, as promised last month, here are the last two episodes of my Fitness Served Cold series.

Ice Climbing

Snow Kiting

So, what's next for me? Well, it's funny you should ask. In my February update, I forgot to acknowledge my weather and media career anniversary. It was February 1 2013 when I started my broadcast career at The Weather Network.

Therefore, February 1 2020 marked seven years in my weather career.

While at TWN, I did nothing but weather for 2.5 years and then I moved to Global where my focus was still primarily weather. However, as I've documented on this blog, over the past 4.5 years, I slowly added the following skills to my toolkit: sports anchor, reporter, anchor, morning show co-host and producer.

In fact, I produced 25 original pieces of content in 2019 on top of my full-time role as a weather specialist.

And now I embark on a new journey, although still within the Global News/Corus Entertainment family.

I am no longer a weather specialist. Now I am a digital broadcast journalist and morning show co-host.

I am moving to a four-day work week. During the week, my sole focus will be creating and producing content for Global's affiliates across the country, globalnews.ca and Global's new 24-hour streaming service.

On weekends, I am hosting Global's brand-new national morning show from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The show can be found on the GlobalTV app, at this website link (click the option for National News) and on Amazon Prime Video. And the show will be available on traditional TV in the fall.

I will still do a couple of weather hits each morning for the morning show, but my primary focus will be creating content, hosting and conducting interviews.

I'm really excited to begin this chapter as my new role is pretty much exactly what I've been looking for media-wise over the past seven years. 

A lot of hard work (and an ungodly amount of overtime in 2019) has paid off. I am looking forward to doing something different and tackling a new challenge. And helping launch a 3-hour morning show from scratch will definitely be a challenge.

Plus the new gig will be much better for my work-life balance (something that has become more important as I get older).

Thanks for reading and watching!

February Update: Fitness Served Cold

I have hit the ground running--and biking and skiing and climbing and kiting--into the new year producing, writing and hosting another fitness series for Global News.

This one is called Fitness Served Cold and the goal of the series is to give people different options to stay fit, happy and healthy during the coldest months of the year.

I filmed all four episodes in January. Two of the episodes have already aired and the final two episodes will air later this month.

The first episode was on fat tire biking. It was something I had never tried before and I wrote about the experience as well.

The second episode was about cross-country skiing. I had done it once before, but I wouldn't blame you if you thought that wasn't possible after watching me above.

The final two episodes are on ice climbing and snow kiting, respectively. I will post those videos in next month's update and I will also have some details on my next project.

Thanks for reading and watching!

January Update: A Decade in Review

I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions and, even though we have crossed the threshold into a completely new decade, I don't plan on listings things I would like to accomplish over the next 12 months or the next 10 years.

However, what I did want to do with this post was to take a look back ten years and see where I was at that stage in my media career and compare that to now.

In January 2010, I was living with my parents, working part-time as a personal trainer. I had a goal to have a career in media, but no concrete plan at that time on how to achieve it.

I was writing a sports and pop culture posts five times a week for a blog I created that no longer exists. I didn't get paid to write it, but I enjoyed doing it and it showed that I had the creativity and drive to do it for a living (I just needed someone to give me money to do so).

It was also at the beginning of 2010 that I completed the first draft of my baseball novel. It took another two years to get it published by a small publishing company in Eastern Ontario.

(That company is now out of business--surely the publication of my novel is unrelated!)

The steps and career check marks I hit from that point in 2010 to now, here on the first day of 2020, were incremental. I was the furthest thing from an overnight success.

Case in point:

2011 - Played semi-pro baseball for the London Majors. Then worked as a freelance sports reporter and columnist for the Metro News London. 

2012 - Named editor and sports reporter of two community newspapers: The K-W Review and the Guelph Review (now defunct. I swear it wasn't my fault!)

2013 - Worked at The Weather Network as an on-camera presenter and field reporter.

2014 - Hired by CrossFit Media to be a sideline reporter for their regional fitness competitions. Presented the weather on CBC’s The National, CBC Toronto and CBC News Network.

2015 - Worked as a sideline reporter for ESPN at the Reebok CrossFit Games. Hired at Global TV as a weather anchor.

2016 - Worked as a fill-in sports anchor for Global News and fill-in co-host of The Morning Show on Global.

2017 - Worked as a sports reporter for Global News, producing, editing and writing various sports stories. Sideline reporter for CBS Sports Network for Reebok CrossFit Games.

2018 - Joined Tennis Canada and created a monthly video and article blog for globalnews.ca called Second Serve: An Inside Look at Canadian Tennis (Interviewed Bianca Andreescu, Daniel Nestor, Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov). Individual competition sideline reporter for CBS main network coverage of the CrossFit Games.

2019 - Produced, hosted and wrote What’s Your Fitness Age and The Culture of Fitness series , covered the Rogers Cup for Global News and did sports radio segments on Global News Radio 640.

It has been a long, arduous process to get where I am today and there were many times when I didn't think things were going to work out, but I kept persevering.

Looking ahead, I am already creating and producing more content for Global in early 2020. One is a series called Fitness Served Cold and the other is a competition series called Top Dog.

Happy New Year! 

December Update: A Wrap on The Culture of Fitness

November not only included a full TV, online, radio and social media roll-out of my new series, The Culture of Fitness, for Global News, but also a trip to Jamaica at the end of the month for a friend's wedding.

It was a much needed week of relaxation after consistent overtime hours for the past couple of months putting the series together and then spending time on Global News Morning and Global News radio previewing each episode.

I posted the Capoeira episode in last month's post, but the following three episodes were about Parkour, Muay Thai and Cricket.

I now have my own page on the Global News website called The Fitness Corner where I will post all of my fitness and sports related videos and additional written content.

I have a couple of ideas for my next fitness related series, but right now the plan is to take easy over the Christmas season. But I may have a tennis tournament over the next couple of weeks as well. I can't take it that easy.

Also, I only have 10 copies of my novel, 60'6": Balls, Strikes and Baseball Mortality left available to purchase through my website. It would make a great stocking stuffer of Secret Santa gift. Here's some more info on the book and how to buy it.

And I will be co-hosting Global News Morning on December 30 and 31.

Thanks for reading and watching!