Collected by Unum Co. is a podcast about the power of lived experience—how stories can shape more human-centred systems, services, and spaces.
Each episode, hosts Megan and Farah sit down with people who are challenging the status quo, leading with empathy, and making an impact through their work and their stories.
Stories move us. They open eyes, shift systems, and remind us what really matters. Real change begins when people show up for people, and this is the space where those conversations live.
Fearless choices: entrepreneurship, self-advocacy, and reclaiming your power with Brandi Leifso
In this episode of Collected, we sit down with Brandi Leifso, CEO and founder of the beauty and wellness company Evio Beauty, and author of Fearless Choices: How to Reclaim Your Power, One Decision at a Time. Brandi shares the origin story behind Evio, which started while she was living in a women's shelter in Vancouver. With a laptop, and a pirated copy of Photoshop, she mocked up a fake product catalog and pre-sold it to local boutiques, before she had any idea how she'd actually make the p...
7 Jul 2026
Caring for the Parent, Not Just the Baby, with Melissa Gallagher of Alma Care
In this episode of Collected, we sit down with Melissa Gallagher, Founder & CEO of Alma Care, a company revolutionizing what postpartum care looks like for Canadian families. Melissa shares how her own fourth trimester sparked the question that started it all: is this really all the support there is? Just weeks into life with her first daughter, she realized the gaps she was experiencing weren't personal, they were systemic. Now, Alma Care brings hands-on, in-home postpartum support...
21 Apr 2026
Your health travels with you: advocacy, access, and ExploreWell with Sommer Collins
In this episode of Collected, we sit down with Sommer Collins, founder and CEO of Explore Well — a digital health platform designed to be your health-savvy local friend, no matter where in the world you are. Sommer shares the deeply personal journey that led her to build ExploreWell, from navigating her daughter's first seizure while living as an expat in Krakow, Poland, to a New Year's Eve ER visit in Madrid, to advocating for her family's health across multiple countries and cultures. ...
31 Mar 2026
Health care changemakers: Innovation, community, and the power of stories
In this solo episode, hosts Megan and Farah reflect on the incredible conversations from Season 1 (so far) of Collected. They dive into the powerful themes that emerged from speaking with seven remarkable women who turned personal challenges into health care innovation and systemic change. Key Takeaways: → The best innovations come from lived experience → Peer support should be standard practice in health care → Focus on solving the problem, not just working around it → Your story has power—...
3 Feb 2026
Building accessible, patient-centred women’s health care with Jennifer Patterson
We sit down with Jennifer Patterson, CEO and Co-founder of Coven Women’s Health, to explore how lived experience can become the foundation for more compassionate, accessible women’s health care. Jennifer shares her non-linear path from advertising and corporate strategy to entrepreneurship, and how years of navigating chronic, cyclical headaches — alongside repeated dismissal within the health care system — fundamentally shaped her understanding of what so many women are up against when seeki...
20 Jan 2026
Nourishment, Intentionality, and Building Community with Kate Taylor Martin of Nutbar
What if the key to better health care isn't just in hospitals, but in how we think about nourishment, space, and human connection? In this episode of Collected, we sit down with Kate Taylor Martin, founder and CEO of nutbar, a superfood café with six locations across Toronto. Kate's journey began in an unexpected place: the hallways of St. Michael's Hospital, where she worked after university and witnessed firsthand how strained our health care system is, and how little it prioritizes healing...
6 Jan 2026
Survivorship, self-advocacy, and designing more human health systems with Robby Spring
In this episode of Collected, we sit down with Robby Spring, a patient advocate who has been open about navigating breast cancer as a young woman, and about what it truly takes to advocate for yourself inside a complex health care system. Robby shares her experience being diagnosed at 35, after pushing for screening following her sister’s (and mother's) diagnosis. Despite having knowledge, access, and support, she describes how difficult it was to move from diagnosis to treatment, including l...
9 Dec 2025
Innovating Women’s Health Advocacy with Maria Haugen of FoXX Health
In this episode of Collected, we sit down with Maria Haugen, CEO & Founder of FoXX Health—a women’s health advocacy app designed to help patients be heard, understood, and better supported in the health care system. Maria’s mission began with a frightening personal health experience: recurring heart-attack–like symptoms that were repeatedly dismissed as anxiety. After months of uncertainty, she finally received a diagnosis—costochondritis, a condition that mimics heart attack symptoms and...
25 Nov 2025
Building Unum Co: how it started (with Megan & Farah)
In this episode, we’re taking you behind the scenes of how Unum Co. came to be. Megan shares how navigating her own health journey led to peer support, advocacy work, and a career in health care communications. Farah reflects on 15 years in pharma, the push to listen to real patient experiences, and the moment she stumbled upon a small but growing online community called The Gut Gazette. From patient storytelling to corporate decision-making, blogging to brand building, and from two s...
11 Nov 2025
The art of thoughtful connection with Wendy Smith
In this episode we sit down with Wendy Smith—entrepreneur, creative, and community-builder—to explore what it means to lead with empathy and intention. From handwritten notes to community events that bring people together, Wendy shows how small, thoughtful gestures can create lasting impact. She shares her journey of evolution (across industries, identities, and roles) and how consistency and care have shaped the way she connects with others. Together, we unpack what it means to build spaces ...
28 Oct 2025
Building a culture of patient safety with Melissa Sheldrick
When her eight-year-old son Andrew died from a preventable medication error, Melissa Sheldrick’s life changed forever. What began as unimaginable grief became a call for accountability and a movement for safer care. In this episode of Collected by Unum Co., Melissa shares how she transformed personal tragedy into pan-Canadian and global advocacy, helping to shape policies that protect patients across Canada. She reflects on what it means to trust the health care system, why error reporting an...
14 Oct 2025
Redesigning how we see dementia with Dr. Saskia Sivananthan
In the first episode of Collected by Unum Co., Farah and Megan sit down with Dr. Saskia Sivananthan—a leading data scientist and neuroscientist specializing in dementia and other neurological conditions. Together, they explore how stories, systems, and stigma shape the way we think about brain health. From her early experiences as a neighbour and caregiver to her work influencing pan-Canadian policy, Saskia shares how compassion and design thinking can transform the future of dementia care. I...
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