Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network since 1996. Marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment, and project development real estate, you'll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.

Rockin' Rhonda & The Uptown Blues Band: Here comes Peter. Here comes Dave. Oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missin'. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So much laughs and insights everywhere. Peter and Dave, they're on the mics. Alright, join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.

Peter McCully: Welcome back to the Pulse Community Podcast. I'm Peter McCully, and we're looking forward to another year of interesting and inspiring stories from the perspective of mid Vancouver Island.

Dave Graham: And I'm Dave Graham. You know, I'm gonna make 2026 be the year of inspiration. I've never had a word of the year before, but it just feels like the right thing to do and we have a couple of inspiring guests this week as it happens. Both are examples of lives led with discipline and goals set.

Peter McCully: Remember Dave, you gotta keep your goals achievable and realistic.

Dave Graham: Yes, I gave up planning to be taller and better looking a couple of years ago.

Peter McCully: So what goals are you talking about here?

Dave Graham: Physical conditioning. You know, a healthy body is the start of everything. So I'm gonna lean even harder this year into keeping my health and improving my odds for more of the same.

Peter McCully: So that plate of cookies over there, is that just for decoration?

Dave Graham: Baby steps, Peter, baby steps. Now let me tell you about a lady who is chalking up the achievements. Actor Chelah Horsdal returns to the podcast, best known for her award-winning role as Helen Smith in The Man in the High Castle. Chelah is also a producer and writer.

Chelah Horsdal: The screenplay that I have written is very loosely inspired by my mom and dad meeting in the early seventies and the commune that they built together where I was born in Sooke. Beyond it being a man and a woman who meet and have a child on this commune, it's an entirely fictionalized story. Many of the things that happen in the script did happen, but the story and the arc is a complete work of fiction that I made up, which is very complicated because so many people are assuming that these are true stories and that all of these characters did the things that they appear to do in the screenplay.

Dave Graham: Chelah Horsdal coming up on this episode, her dad being folk singer Paul Valdemar Horsdal, better known as Valdy. That adds another layer of interest to her already fascinating story.

Peter McCully: Parksville firefighter Karen Petraschuk is just one of eight chosen to run in this year's Wounded Warrior Run, 800 kilometres across Vancouver Island.

Karen Petraschuk: I hope people see this run as a reminder that strength isn't measured only by endurance or resilience, but also by vulnerability, by our willingness to talk openly about the tough calls, the hard days, and the invisible weight that so many of us carry in silence. Even if one first responder or one family member or community member feels more understood, more supported, or more willing to ask for help because of the awareness we've built, then every kilometre will have been worth it.

Dave Graham: Firefighter Petraschuk speaking of the upcoming run that starts at the northern end of Vancouver Island and ends in Victoria in the south. She devotes a lot of time to staying in good physical condition. Now I'm thinking maybe I might have brought too many cookies. Hey, Peter, you want one?

Peter McCully: Maybe in a minute. Future guests to the podcast will include musician, broadcaster, writer, and goaltender Grant Lawrence. He's bringing his spring show to Errington and Tofino.

Dave Graham: Well, good for you on jumping on the cookie offer. Stay strong there. I'm pleased to say that we are going to be speaking soon to Diane Moran. Diane is engaging kids in an arts exhibition with a purpose greater than the act of creative expression. We'll be hearing more about Mindfulness in May, an arts exhibition open to grades five through twelve and home learners in District 69 in an upcoming podcast.

Peter McCully: If you would like to be part of the Pulse podcast, speak to us, head to our website under the contact page, and send us a voice message about what's on your mind or your upcoming event. Or perhaps you have a thought or two on potential guests or topics. Contact us at thepulsecommunity.ca.

Fireside Books: There's exciting news for book lovers. Fireside Books in Parksville now has a second location in Port Alberni. The Bookwyrm used books are just $5 or less. The Bookworm on the corner of Redford and Anderson opens seven days a week from 10 to 5. Building your personal library for less. Fireside Books at 464 Island Highway East in Parksville is a book dragon's dream come true. Browse their extensive collections seven days a week. Both locations make growing your personal library easier than ever. New and used books and so much more. Order online at firesidebooks.ca and pick up at either location. Details available online. Ask about returning books for a book credit. Fireside Books and the Bookwyrm, two locations, one amazing adventure in browsing.

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Dave Graham: So Peter, are you sure you don't want a cookie? They have oatmeal in them that cancels out the chocolate chips, I believe. Of course, the phrase most often used when people think of their health is diet and exercise. So I'm gonna get back to weight training, but I need to start slow, you know, light weights. Hey, how heavy is a bag of cookies? Anyway...

Peter McCully: Well, maybe you could just shadow our next guest for a day or two and just try and keep up. Here's Marilyn.

Marilyn: Parksville firefighter Karen Petraschuk is one of eight chosen to run in this year's Wounded Warrior Run, and will spend eight days on an 800-kilometre fundraising run across Vancouver Island.

Dave Graham: Karen, thanks for joining us on the podcast today. It is nice to see you.

Karen Petraschuk: Yes, nice to see you too.

Dave Graham: We want to start, actually, before we get into this run you're about to embark upon, your time with Parksville Fire Rescue, how long you've been there, and what prompted the idea to join in the first place.

Karen Petraschuk: As of May this year, I'll be with Parksville for three years. Have you ever felt that you need to do something or you just have a gut feeling and you don't know why? And that's what it was with the fire department. I kept driving by the sign and I had this gut instinct that I needed to join, and it's been fantastic and I love it. Yes, I haven't looked back.

Dave Graham: I want to look into that a little bit deeper in terms of what it's like to be a volunteer paid-on-call firefighter. Can you walk us through what maybe a typical week is like for you?

Karen Petraschuk: So a typical week, we do have training every Monday night that runs from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30. We do have occasionally some more training that happens depending on where we're at in our service. Just to give you an example, I recently went through my Class 3 licence, so I can now drive all of the trucks, including the big ladder truck. So that was an accomplishment. And then in terms of calls, we are on call 24/7. So we carry a pager with us all the time and we respond to the calls whenever we can. So if we're at work, we have an important event or something, we don't necessarily have to reply, but we respond as much as we can. Just to give you an example, so right now it has been pretty quiet and it typically is over the wintertime, but I would say on average calls range anywhere from about maybe five to ten a week. I know for myself, I attended almost 300 calls last year.

Dave Graham: And on top of that, you have a job and you spend a fair bit of time keeping in shape.

Karen Petraschuk: I do, yes. So I go to the gym. I stay active. I like to do it, but probably about an hour a day of activities, whether it be at the gym or I swim or I bike. Right now, obviously it's a lot of running. But yes, I do that. And then I do have a job. I do work from home as a financial advisor, so that does allow me the flexibility to answer calls when the page does come through.

Dave Graham: It's about this running. Wounded Warriors Canada is a national mental health service focusing on Canadian armed forces members, veterans, first responders, and their families. Can you share what inspired you to become an advocate for Wounded Warriors?

Karen Petraschuk: I first was introduced to them my very first year when I was with the fire service. They ran through Parksville and I was fortunate enough to attend at the Legion there when they were running through, and I was immediately inspired. I knew I had to join. I felt like it was three of my worlds colliding into one. So firefighting, my running background and the, just the fact that I've just been an advocate for how being active can really affect your mental health in a positive way. So yes, I just knew I had to join and put my name in for one of the runs.

Dave Graham: Can you speak from your experience in terms of those mental health benefits, the sort of before-and-afters or however you might be able to explain that?

Karen Petraschuk: I've used it for many different things in my life through helping me get through depression, dealing with anxiety, the death of my father. So anytime there's been major events in my life, it's really helped me push through there. I feel like it resets my brain in a sense, and it just gives me that mental toughness to be able to get through the challenges, just calms me down. So I really like to run first thing in the morning or exercise in the morning 'cause I think it sets the tone for the rest of the day. Yes.

Dave Graham: You've been running for a while, since your teens. You participated, I'm told, in half marathons and triathlons, but the run that you are facing, 800 kilometres over eight days, is that a whole new level for you?

Karen Petraschuk: The 800 kilometres, it is split between eight runners. So the goal is for us to do 100 kilometres per runner. So we will be running every day. It could be a run that's maybe seven kilometres up to 20 kilometres a day, but averaging 100 kilometres over the full week. It is a lot different than anything that I've done because any sort of other training that you have to do, you usually have breaks in your days. So to train or do something consistently for eight days in a row, it does impact the body quite a bit. So rather than training differently in terms of focusing on it being just a one-day event, I'm having to focus on, okay, this is a multi-day event. If I'm on say, day two of training, I have to realize, okay, am I going at a pace right now where I can last another six days? My mentality is, can I last the end of this run?

Dave Graham: So the run itself starts February 22nd. For those unfamiliar with Island geography, it starts at the tippy top at Port Hardy and ends down at the south end in Victoria. And you'll be passing through your home community of Parksville February 27th. Is that day gonna be special or what?

Karen Petraschuk: It's gonna be an emotional day for sure, just being in my hometown. I've lived here for seven years. I say only seven years, but it feels like it's been a lifetime already, just the amount of support that's in this community is unheard of. Getting to know that you're part of the community and you feel like you're part of a team. Because it is such a small community, you also run into other first responders that you see on a regular basis, so the police officers and the paramedics. So you just really feel like you're part of a tight-knit family here. And that's what I'm running for, is for not only the firefighters but for the other first responders in this area.

Dave Graham: Your team has set a goal of $250,000, every dollar staying on Vancouver Island to support local mental health programs. And how is the team doing? Are you able to tell?

Karen Petraschuk: You can go onto the website. So if you type in Wounded Warrior Run BC, it'll take you directly to our donation page. You'll be able to see what we've collected there. I would like to say that some of it stays secret in the back. A lot of communities, they like to present our cheques to us when we run through the towns.

Dave Graham: There's going to be a fundraising hockey game coming up, Parksville Fire Rescue against Oceanside Generals. That's gonna be a blast, January 30th. That's one way people can participate and help out in that sense. Any other ways you can mention?

Karen Petraschuk: Going to the website, Wounded Warrior Run BC. It will take you to the website to donate, but you can also come to the breakfast when we come through town on February 27th. The breakfast starts at 9:00 a.m. where you can meet all the other runners and meet me and hear some of the stories, and then you can see us take off from the run from there. So that's another way.

Dave Graham: When you cross the finish line in Victoria on March 1st, what kind of thoughts will be going through your head?

Karen Petraschuk: I hope people see this run as a reminder that strength isn't measured only by endurance or resilience, but also by vulnerability, by our willingness to talk openly about the tough calls, the hard days, and the invisible weight that so many of us carry in silence. Even if one first responder or one family member or community member feels more understood, more supported, or more willing to ask for help because of the awareness we've built, then every kilometre will have been worth it. Ultimately, I want the lasting impact to be a culture where mental health is treated with the same seriousness and compassion as physical health, where reaching out for help is seen not only as a weakness but as courage. My hope is that long after March 1st, the conversations we start today continue to grow, creating safer, more supportive spaces for everyone on Vancouver Island.

Peter McCully: Thanks to Karen Petraschuk for being on The Pulse podcast. The work she's doing to raise awareness about mental health challenges facing first responders is important, and we applaud her courage for talking openly about the invisible wounds that so many first responders carry.

Dave Graham: Karen's point about vulnerability being a form of strength really resonates. It's easy to think of first responders as being tough and heroic, which they certainly are when the need arises, but they are at the end of the day, human beings dealing with sometimes very difficult situations. Karen's story is inspiring.

Peter McCully: If you would like to support Karen and the Wounded Warrior Run, you can find information in our show notes.

Dave Graham: Hey, we've added more content. We now have Vancouver Island webcam links on the thepulsecommunity.ca website. You'll find the links to all of our podcasts there as well, plus events and contests.

Peter McCully: A reminder that you can also find us on Apple, Amazon, iHeart, Spotify, TikTok, and YouTube. We're also on Facebook and Instagram.

Thrifty Foods Parksville: At Thrifty Foods, we love to help non-profits, charities, and schools. Our Thrifty Foods Smile Card bulk program allows organizations to immediately save up to 6% on the purchase of Smile Cards in bulk, allowing you to keep more money in your organization's pockets. Ask for details at Thrifty Foods in Parksville.

Ian Lindsay: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network since 1996. Marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment, and project development real estate. You'll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.

Peter McCully: The Pulse community includes stories for kids featuring Captain Dave and the crew of the Mellow Submarine, and Peter and Gracie, the Eskimo dog. Our stories now include colouring pages to go along with each new episode, just look for Skookum Kids Stories. This week's episode features Peter and Gracie celebrating Gracie's birthday.

Dave Graham: You can also find the F3 podcast with Erin and Jonathan Frazier from the Comox Valley region, just up Island from here. They cover all things football, plus fantasy football and food. Jonathan happens to be a chef, so he supplies a game-worthy recipe with each episode.

Peter McCully: And for an insider's look at municipal politics, we invite you to check out Non-Partisan Hacks with Parksville councillors Joel Grenz and Sean Wood. Their latest issue includes an in-depth interview with John Rustad, the former leader of the BC Conservatives.

Dave Graham: Our Radio Archeology classic radio series brings back the original episodes from a time when radio was king. Be listening for Sergeant Joe Friday and Dragnet and Marshall Matt Dillon and Gunsmoke. You'll find these podcasts and more at thepulsecommunity.ca. Now it's time for Marilyn to bring on our next guest.

Marilyn: In the green room is Chelah Horsdal, best known for her award-winning role as Helen Smith in The Man in the High Castle. Chelah has appeared in a wide range of roles from Hell on Wheels to Star Trek Discovery. She's also a producer, writer, and a passionate advocate for women in the industry.

Peter McCully: Thanks for being with us early in the season on the podcast. Chelah, welcome back.

Chelah Horsdal: Thanks for having me back. I've enjoyed our conversation thus far.

Peter McCully: You've worked with some incredible and very well-known actors. Perhaps you could give us your experience with a few. I have some names here. If you could just give us a few thoughts on them.

Chelah Horsdal: Ooh, fun game.

Peter McCully: Ben Kingsley.

Chelah Horsdal: Oh, Sir Ben Kingsley, who by the way on set was referred to as Sir Ben. Sir Ben Kingsley has been a hero of mine since I knew what actors were and the idea that I got to be in a movie with him, nevermind in a scene with him one-on-one, is far more than I ever could have dreamed that I would be able to do one day. Elegy was the film and he was not unlike this. He was playing a journalist who was interviewing me on a radio show. So as it's just the two of us there for the day, there's what we would call the green room, which we had shot at the BCIT campus. And so it was a classroom in this classroom with the buzzing fluorescent lights above. There are all of these tables and then a couple of cast chairs that are stuck in this room and nothing else. Ben Kingsley's in one chair and I'm in the other for hours between setups and I'm so nervous. I want to ask him everything, and so I'm terrified to ask him anything. First of all, I don't want to crowd his artistic process. Everyone has their own process when they're waiting to work or when you're at work. Some people are constantly running lines in their head 'cause they're nervous. Other people are completely relaxed and fine. Neither of those are right or wrong. There are as many ways to prepare as there are actors in the world. So I didn't want to overstep anything, and so I just sat there and just waited for him to say something. And at some point he did. We had a beautiful interaction where I said to him that I had a teacher who had us do this Speak the Speech, I pray you monologue in class. I knew that Sir Ben had performed that not long before. There was a video of him out on the internet of him doing Speak the Speech, and I referred to it and said, we do this in the acting class that I take, and you are such an inspiration. You gave Shakespeare a sense of humanity in a way that I've never heard before. I had never heard someone do Shakespeare in a way that sounded so normal. Then, Sir Ben Kingsley does it in this classroom with just the two of us and the buzzing fluorescent lights overhead, and I'm sitting there in absolute awe. One of the greatest actors of a generation gives me a private performance of Shakespeare. So that's Sir Ben Kingsley.

Peter McCully: You won the LEO Award, I believe, for acting alongside Rufus Sewell.

Chelah Horsdal: I was very fortunate to be nominated a couple of times for that show. I'm very proud of what we created together on High Castle. Rufus as a scene partner was unlike any other. I learned so much from him over the four years that we worked together. His commitment, his passion, his intensity, unapologetically, and his humour, the way that he understood a script and analyzed a script was next level. He gave me a lot of courage over the course of the years that we worked together. I learned to take up more space, to take more ownership of my character, not just from him, but from that entire experience and the number of above-the-line people we had on it, whether it was our executive producer and creator, or our showrunners or many directors. Rufus in particular has an intensity that I think translates on to screen. I no longer have any objectivity when I'm watching him because I know him too well, but his way of locking in on things was mind blowing to witness face-to-face on a daily basis, and he without question made me a better actor. I had a very small role in that show for the first season. I think I did six episodes and I, quote-unquote, was just playing his wife. The producers found that he and I had such chemistry together that they wanted to just do more and more for us. So they started writing more for us, and as that happened and my role grew, our chemistry only became better and it became deeper. And so then they would write more for us by the end of the show, as Smith's storyline was the spine of the show in many ways by the time we finished at season four.

Peter McCully: You mentioned Ben Kingsley and his renditions of Shakespeare. Another fellow that could do that was John Lithgow, and you had the chance to perform with John.

Chelah Horsdal: Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Yes. Another extraordinary talent. And so wild to watch him go from off-camera to on-camera. In that role in particular, he was playing someone who was experiencing dementia, and as the character was becoming more and more disoriented, to see John do that was so inspiring. That whole experience. You've got Andy Serkis walking around in mocap stuff, James Franco, who's reading J.D. Salinger at the side of the stage, and then John Lithgow who's delivering this performance that's dangerous and real. In fact, we had a scene where I was playing like a live-in nurse and we had a physical altercation. He grabbed my arm at one point and I was pushing back against it. And I get myself too into those sorts of things when we're doing physical stuff. I have to be very careful not to get in my head because I tend to just abandon all self-care. I ended up with this bruise on my arm. I was moving into a new home the following weekend, and I had this bruise, which I was convinced that all of my new neighbours were gonna think that something terrible had happened to me. I wrote "JL was here" with an arrow to try and make a joke, just so that people would know that the new neighbour wasn't secretly being beaten by someone. I deeply enjoyed working with him. Gosh, thanks for that reflection. I forget sometimes some of the extraordinary people I've worked with.

Peter McCully: And you had the chance to work with Kris Kristofferson as well?

Chelah Horsdal: I did, yes. I was a very late replacement for playing his wife. I believe they had lost the actor to something else who was supposed to play that role. And at the time, I want to say I was 38-ish. The great Kris Kristofferson was 72 and there was no reference to it in the script. There was no nod to this 30-year age difference between the two of us. His wife, his beautiful, wonderful wife, Lisa Kristofferson, was on set with us every day. At that point, Kris was struggling to be off book for his dialogue. So between Lisa being right by his side and the production just made allowances to try and support him in delivering the best performance because it didn't matter whether he knew his dialogue or not, which is by no fault of his own, to be clear, it was just the way that things were evolving in his life at that point. But his performance was so powerful and beautiful and electrifying, and I got to kiss him. We had a kissing scene and Lisa was, again, very gracious and lovely because after we shot it for the first time, they said, "Cut." And I was like, "Bucket list!" I kissed Kris Kristofferson. A Star is Born, like anyone who saw that film at any point, he was just so dreamy and gosh, he was so gentle and kind and funny and enigmatic and just... I had a good cry when he passed away recently. He's a real loss for all of us.

Peter McCully: Chelah, you also get to work with one of your heroes, the great Shirley MacLaine.

Chelah Horsdal: An absolute hero of mine. I think it was called Noel. There was also Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, an incredible cast. Again, Shirley MacLaine and I had a few hours together just sitting in this little waiting room and me dorking out asking her about all of her experiences in this illustrious career. I swear she's had the career of seven people as one individual.

Peter McCully: I think she wrote a book about that.

Chelah Horsdal: In the eighties. This is before a meme was a meme. There were always jokes about Shirley MacLaine and all her past lives, and I think that was the trope back then.

Peter McCully: How does the writing process compare to acting for you and what kind of stories are you drawn to telling?

Chelah Horsdal: As a writer, the process is a solitary process, so it's the opposite of acting. Acting is purely collaborative, which is the thing that I missed the most in having taken a break for a couple of years. Being able to co-create something on a set with not just your other actors and your director and writer, but the gaffer, the props department, the costumers, you're all working together to create this thing. I love it. I feed on that interaction and that community. Writing is a discipline that is a completely different skill. No one's giving me a schedule. I have to create that schedule. I don't have to wait for someone to give me permission to write. As an actor, generally, unless you're producing something yourself, which is very rare, you're waiting for someone to give you the job, which would then allow you to have the experience of collaborating with other people. As a writer, I can sit down and do it at any time. It's also very cathartic because the screenplay that I have written is very loosely inspired by my mom and dad meeting in the early seventies and the commune that they built together where I was born in Sooke. Beyond it being a man and a woman who meet and have a child on this commune, it's an entirely fictionalized story. Many of the things that happen in the script did happen, but the story and the arc is a complete work of fiction that I made up, which is very complicated because so many people are assuming that these are true stories and that all of these characters did the things that they appear to do in the screenplay. So I'm really wrestling with that and trying to figure out how to navigate that belief because it's just not true. So as that implies, the types of stories that I'm into are ones that are very personal and that I can relate to. This particular experience has been very cathartic because I've been able to write about my own emotional journey in a fictitious set of circumstances. The catharsis that comes from that and the unearthing of things. I have a feeling now of being much more settled in my own skin, having put all of this into a screenplay, and that feels very good. Whether or not that makes it too self-absorbed, I don't yet know. My desire is to direct this, so I will be able to put on the screen exactly what my intention is. This particular story plays with timeline that is set both in the seventies and then contemporary as we see an adult version of me interviewing her father and then flashing back to scenes of her childhood. I'm more struggling with who would play the character inspired by my dad besides Jeff Bridges, 'cause I'd love to have Jeff Bridges. But we'll see.

Peter McCully: He has done a few of those roles and done them very well.

Chelah Horsdal: True.

Peter McCully: You've spoken very passionately about pay inequity and sexual harassment of women in the industry. When you look at things where they are now versus when you started, what progress have you seen and where do you think there is still work to be done?

Chelah Horsdal: In terms of pay equity, we still have a long way to go. That's not just a gender thing. That is also a Canadian-American thing. Certainly Canadians are mostly considered second-class citizens on the majority of productions that are American that come up here. Despite the fact that we have some very well-established and very talented people working in Canada, there's really no reason that there should be two different pay scales for Americans and Canadians, men, women, non-binary folks. I don't know that there's a simple way to tackle it, because if there were, it would've been tackled and dealt with at this point. The perspective that I take currently is that the only thing I have control over is what I am saying yes to and what I am willing to do, and then hopefully I can, along with many others, just push the needle ever so slightly so that whoever is coming up behind will have a slightly easier time the next time around. Ultimately, what I have found is that requires me to say no to things a lot and not as a negotiating tactic, like to actually be willing to let something go if someone is not willing to come up to what I feel that my time is worth and what my contribution is worth. It's so subjective. Other people are gonna decide that you're worth something else that suits them. The only thing that we as individuals can do is determine that for ourselves. It's a lot easier for someone in my shoes because I have been very disciplined about saving for a long time. So I'm not in a position where I have to say yes to things that I don't want to. I don't have a huge family that I am supporting. I recognize my privileged position in being able to make those really discerning choices. In terms of sexual harassment, the changes have been dramatic in the last 10 years in particular, and it's not just women, it's also men who are impacted. It doesn't appear as though there is as much of an impact on men, but that could also just be an old lens that I'm looking through or my own lens that I'm looking through. Certainly men are less likely to talk about it than women are now. The huge difference that I have seen is on every production when we start, there's generally, if not a sexual harassment workshop that we all go through, there is paperwork that is given to everyone that shows, this is how you report, this is who you report to. This is what is considered sexual harassment. Or harassment, I should be saying, as a Canadian, but I have trained myself over 24 years to speak like an American. This is what is categorized as inappropriate behaviour, along with oftentimes cartoons that go with things. There was none of this before 2017 ever on set and in the practical day-to-day. I am certainly more aware of being a voice for people who don't feel that they have a voice or the power to be able to speak up. Again, that's a privilege that comes with being a 52-year-old woman in this industry who has worked really hard for 24 years. I'm less afraid of being punished for speaking up than perhaps someone who is younger and more green. Maybe that's an awareness that wasn't there over 10 years ago. I think it was being done. Certainly I was doing it, but it wasn't something that I was conscious of. This is my responsibility to do, and that's how I feel now. It's also very difficult because mistakes can be made in the way that these things are dealt with, which isn't to say that I don't believe people who are coming forward and sharing their experiences. The tricky part is how then are networks or productions dealing with that? Are they taking the information and creating consequences that are proportional to the offence or the problem as it stands because it's not always the solution that someone should just be fired and that's the end of it. I don't know that it changes behaviour in the long run or creates any learning. Being able to find a proportional response is a really difficult needle to thread. I empathize deeply with the people who have to make those decisions. And I don't know, maybe that's something that AI's gonna end up doing at a certain point is determining, here's the set of facts, what should we do? I'm certainly not suggesting that, to be clear.

Peter McCully: Chelah, when we talk about mentoring younger female actors, what do you wish someone had told you when you were starting out, and what are the most important lessons that you try to pass on?

Chelah Horsdal: I don't even know that this is specific to being an actor, but I wish that I had learned at an earlier point that I'm enough. I don't have to be anything in particular to be an effective storyteller. I don't have to say yes to every job. I would've liked to have known that earlier, and that's certainly something that I communicate to people as they're coming up, which is not to be confused with the necessity to work really hard and create a career and a name for yourself, because with very few exceptions, it's really hard to build a career as an actor. There are very few people who book something straight out of the gates and they've got it made in the shade for the rest of their careers. It's a real slog, particularly early on, but within that, we are still entitled to say no to certain things. I wish I had known that earlier. I have only done nudity once. It'll never go away, though I don't know that I would do that again. I would've lost that job if I had said no to that. I still would've been okay. I don't think I knew that at the time that I would be okay if I didn't do this one job that was in front of me. Right now, one of the primary things that I try and impress on people who I'm lucky enough to have conversations with early in their careers is the importance of having a full life and filling up that life outside of the world of acting. We talked about my travels and the things that I had done before I became an actor. The way that those experiences have served me as an artist can't be overstated. I have a very full real life outside of my life as an actor, which gives me empathy and humanity and a perspective to be able to share in these different characters and through these different characters that if your entire world is tunnel-visioned into any career, whatever it is, how are you able to relate to other human beings, if not for the experiences that you have outside of work? I really try and encourage people to find other creative outlets, do things that bring you joy, create relationships. I'm 52 and child-free, not because I intended to be, but in large part due to the fact that I was tunnel-visioned for a really long time on work. My personal life suffered for that for a good decade, pretty much through all of my thirties. It was work was first, and then hopefully I'll be able to make lunch next week. But I don't know. I would try and impress upon younger actors to fill up the rest of life 'cause that's also the stuff that sticks with you way later in life than experiences and the relationships that you build along the way.

Peter McCully: Great advice, Chelah, thanks very much for your time today.

Chelah Horsdal: Thank you so much for this. It's been a pleasure.

Dave Graham: Thank you to Chelah Horsdal for returning to the Pulse podcast. Her journey makes for a remarkable story as it arcs from growing up in a creative household with Valdy as Dad, no less, to becoming an accomplished actor, writer, and producer in a business where just getting a break can be almost impossible.

Peter McCully: The way Chelah navigated the complexities of turning her family's story into fiction while staying faithful to the emotional truth of it all. Well, that takes some skill. It's clear that she's committed to creating meaningful work and supporting other women in the industry.

Dave Graham: Setting goals and making stuff happen again. Inspiring. That's my word. Inspiring. Oh, by the way, Peter, did you see what happened to the cookies?

Peter McCully: No, Dave, I haven't seen them, he said as he licked his fingers. Hey folks, we invite you to sign up for our weekly newsletter at thepulsecommunity.ca. It will keep you up to date on the latest podcasts, guests and contests.

Dave Graham: Did I eat them without even knowing it? Maybe I need to reexamine my relationship with cookies. Hey Peter, what's a good substitute for a cookie?

Peter McCully: Oh, I don't know. How about an apple slice?

Dave Graham: You cracked me up. Maybe I should switch to cake.

Peter McCully: Let's discuss it over coffee. It's your turn to buy.

Dave Graham: Carrot cake is healthy, right?

Rockin' Rhonda & The Uptown Blues Band: Here comes Peter, here comes Dave, oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missin'. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So to speak. Laughs and insights everywhere. What a treat. Peter and Dave, they're on the mics alright. Join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.