Evanka Osmak - Grief Changed Me

With a degree in civil engineering, she was set for a future of stability and success, and yet her passion lay elsewhere. So she returned to school to learn the world of sports broadcasting, and has since become a leader in the space, appearing every evening as co-host of Sportsnet Central. 

After years of covering hockey, she made an unexpected move at 41: lacing up her own hockey skates, joining a women’s league, and discovering a completely different relationship with the sport she’d covered for years. 

At the same time, her world shifted in a far more profound and devastating way, as she lost her mother to ALS. Now, in her upcoming book, When the Game Changes, she reflects on reinvention, grief, and gaining a new perspective.

#pivotalmoment #sportsbroadcast #ALS

Lesley Hawkins is a keynote speaker, leadership strategist, and storyteller who believes growth happens in the everyday moments that define who we become. Drawing on years of experience leading, guiding, and mentoring teams, Lesley brings authenticity, curiousity, and heart to the conversation, as each interaction is an opportunity to define what truly matters.

One question. One turning point. One powerful story. 

To learn more about Lesley: www.lesleyhawkins.ca / www.marsley.ca

@the_lesley_hawkins_podcast

The Lesley Hawkins Podcast is a Marsley Canada production.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the Leslie Hawkins Podcast. Each week, my guests and I discuss one pivotal moment in their life, what they learned from it, and their words of wisdom. With a degree in civil engineering, she was set for a future of stability and success. And yet, her passion lay elsewhere. So she returned to school to learn the world of sports broadcasting and has since become a leader in the space, appearing every evening as co-host of SportsNet Central. After years of covering hockey, she made an unexpected move at 41, lacing up her own hockey skates, joining a women's league, and discovering a completely different relationship with the sports she'd covered for years. At the same time, her world shifted in a far more profound and devastating way as she lost her mother to ALS. Now, in her upcoming book, When the Game Changes, she reflects on reinvention, grief, and gaining a new perspective. Welcome to the Leslie Hawkins Podcast. I am so grateful that you are joining us here today. Please welcome today's guest, Ivanka Osmak. So Ivanka is a sports broadcaster with Rogers Sportsnet. So if you turn on your TV every evening, Ivanka is one of the faces that you will see along with Ken Reed. And she is also an established author. So she wrote a children's book called Ally Hoops. And you will hear a little bit about a new book that she has coming out in the coming weeks. So we'll talk about that in a minute. But Ivanka and I, you and I met uh, we're going back quite a few years when you were the MC for the CP Women's Leadership Summit in Regina, actually. You were the MC, I was a panelist along with Lori Kane and some others. And so that was the first time we've met, and I've just watched your career just continue to flourish and grow. So it's been amazing.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Yeah, nice to be here, Leslie.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

So good. So this podcast is all based on one question, which is what is one pivotal moment in your life? And the reason I chose that question was first of all, it's very universal. We all have so many ups and downs and pivots within our life. But having gone through so many pivots myself, I I've learned that there is a sense of loneliness that can come with some pivots of this sense of it's just me. And yet when you start talking to people and you expose yourself to this great community around, you find out, oh, actually, I'm probably not the only person in the world that's done this or is feeling this way. And so I wanted to create this platform for people to learn from amazing other people like yourself of their stories, how they've managed through pivots, and then give them this sense of community. So glad you're joining. Yeah, thanks for having me again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

So pivots, we're talking about pivots.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

So we are talking. So my question to you is what is one pivotal moment in your life?

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Um, first of all, whenever I hear the word pivot, I always think of friends and Ross Gelling. Yes, right. Massive couch going up the stairs. Pivot, pivot. Um so not that. Yes. It wasn't taking a couch and moving. Um I would definitely look at my life, my years of experience, and think of two moments that have definitely altered and changed my life uh in a huge way, and thankfully um have made the best of both. Uh, the first would have been when I was 24 years old and I pivoted from a career in engineering. And it was what I had studied in school, at university, it was where I was working for a couple of years, it was where my parents supposed thought I was supposed to be. It was everything was just, you know, laid out. And that was the journey I was supposed to be on because, you know, why change? And that's what I studied. And I knew I wasn't happy. Okay, I'll so at that age, you know, you don't have any real responsibilities, you don't have um people you're responsible for. I didn't have children, I wasn't married, I was living with my parents, so I didn't have, you know, any overhead um expenses. And I wasn't happy though. So I thought, I gotta, I gotta change something. Right. And so started to explore what I would love. And I was so, I am so grateful that I had someone in my life at the time that said, you know, if you were put on a different planet or a different country, wherever you want to go, and you didn't have that pressure of having to continue doing what you're doing and living up to expectations, like what would just you do for yourself? And so I thought, I'd really like to be on television. And I love sports television or I love sports. And so I started to look into how I can get into it. Like, how do I make it happen and just leave engineering and go into this? And so that was a major pivot for me because, you know, going on this one path that seemed really safe and um uh like it was going to be, you know, it was gonna make a lot good money and stability and um be close to home. All of a sudden, I did a hard ride into this business and field that I had no idea what I was entering, didn't know if I'd be good at it, didn't know um the first thing about television except for, you know, laying on the couch watching it for hours. And so I did it, uh, found a course in another college course, and thank God I did. It was a couple of years of hardship and figuring, still figuring out what I was doing and whether I could do it. And it worked out great. Um, but again, I credit the being young enough and just yeah, why not take a leap of faith and confidence in myself? And so that was a major pivot because who knows if I'd stayed in engineering where I would be today, you know, 20 plus years later. Exactly. And then um, I mean, the other huge pivot is losing my mom to ALS, Jeannie, in 2022, very early on, in uh in January of that year. And grief makes you uh do different things and think about things differently, as we all know, and we always hear it changes you. And so that was a very pivotal moment of my life where I had young children, and um, you know, without my mom, who was such a force and such uh a light for me and brought our family together, and I leaned on her for so much things I knew and things I you know subconsciously would just think of her and and reach out to her when I had questions. Um and so when I lost her, that was devastating. It still is, even four years later. Yeah. So that was a really um pivotal pivotal moment, both of us.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Yeah, yeah. And it's it's one thing to lose a parent. I always find losing a mother, though, it's a different level.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Like when I had young kids, my mom was my first phone call. Yeah. When something I was like, I don't know what's happening, help me out.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

And it's that voice of reason always in your head, and experience and just everything.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

And yeah, um, yeah. And so, so it's lost for a while, still lost, like still want to pick up the phone and and reach out to her and text her. And you know, um, so finding your way without your mom is is like really difficult. I'm so lucky that I had a mom that I respect and loved, and she was so amazing and I adored, and um because I know not everyone is even lucky to have that, and so that's but our relationship was quite unique. I know she was the glue of our family. I have an older sister and brother, and my dad is is um relied on her as well, and so losing her was just shocking. Shocking. Yeah, yeah. She must have been young. She it was two days after her 73rd birthday. Oh, that's yeah, which seems yeah, which seems young. Yes, uh, you know. Um so I think it was the the hardest part or the shocking part is just how quickly she went and how it all just uh our life just fell apart. Like the diagnosis of ALS is is a death sentence, and ALS didn't know much about it before, and then to see the deterioration so quickly is just like it's it's heartbreaking.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Okay. At the time you had young children.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Yeah.

unknown 8:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

And so you're navigating that, you're navigating this sports broadcasting career, which it's flying, so it's great. But you were were you in a moment of like, okay, so now what? And what came from that sort of moment?

SPEAKER_00 9:15

It was such a tricky time, uh especially in Toronto slash Canada, because the COVID, right? We were still still in those murky waters of what was a you know, what we were allowed to do. I still remember going to work and testing, you know, COVID and and wearing masks in some places. And so it was still a weird time. And so um everything was like not right in the world or in my world. Yes. Um yeah, it was my kids were quite small, my two boys, and just figuring out my place. Like as I said, when you lose your person that you've known your whole life and has shaped you and and helped you make decisions and never wanted to disappoint in her. So trying to figure out, you know, who I was, like it takes some time. Still figuring it out.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Yes. Okay. But you've leaned in in a big way.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

So why don't you tell the audience what you've been doing?

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Um, so I never intended to be an author at all. And now I've got two books. Yes. About to have a second book and about to have a third book, actually. So um, yeah, how did that happen? That was definitely wasn't on my my radar. Um so the first book, Allie Hoops, I'll talk about that one because that was something I did start thinking about pre-COVID. And I I'm so passionate about women in sports. Yes. And it starts as girls in sports. And so, you know, if you're not involved in sports as a young girl or you're not encouraged, or you uh aren't pushed a little bit, um, you know, it's hard to pick it up in your adult years. And, you know, we see the statistics of just how much sports helps women. You know, you and I met in the golf world. We did. And it's not that it's rare to see women, but like that's now our bond is that we can go out and golf and you can, you know, spend hours playing a sport, being outside, socializing, networking, all the great things that come with it. Like we see that. It doesn't matter how good or how golfers. It doesn't matter, right? I know that. Um, so I wanted to do something. I wanted to write a book about girls and sports and just encouraging and and and it it the book is also Alley Hoops is for girls and boys because it's it's about not making a team and that's okay. Not everyone makes the team the first time or the second time. Not everyone is the captain, not everyone is the star, but that doesn't mean you can't be part of the team. Right. Because I just think those life lessons you get from sports and being on a team, especially are so valuable and will help you in so many ways further in your life. So that was the first book that I worked on. Um yeah, post-COVID, and then the second Alley Hoops is coming out very soon. And then the big one is When the Game Changes. And um it was I the backstory is I was approached by a literary agent um who works with Ken Reed, who you mentioned I I've been working with for almost 15 years at SportsNet, and you know, asked if I wanted to write a book. And I'm like, of course not. I don't know. What am I gonna write? And then I went into the bookstore and I'm looking in the sports section, and you notice that a lot of these authors are male. Yes. And I thought, well, I want to, why can't I be up there? Why aren't there more women? And so that's always my thinking. Um, and so I thought, okay, let's write a book. And so I pitched this idea to Simon and Schuster of I've just started to play the game of hockey, which is really weird because I've been watching hockey and I've been reporting and talking about hockey on television for, you know, more almost 20 years. And yet I've never actually played the game. I played field hockey, I played all the other sports, but I've never actually played ice hockey. And so I had just picked it up when I was 41 years old and went on, I had to buy all the equipment, right? Like I've never, never put on hockey skates before. I'd always wanted figure skates. Yes. And I wasn't even a really great skater. And I'd never, you know, worn um shoulder pads and knee pads and pants and all the stuff. And so I walked into the hockey store and I'm like, I need it all. And the guy was like, but also, okay, where do we start? Yeah. So I filled a bag, a hockey bag, and I went to hockey practice and started with skills and the basics and fell in love immediately. I was like, this is awesome. I hadn't played a team sport in decades. And also, I haven't done something that's like that's challenging and new. And when you try something new, you know, your brain has to work in different ways and you need to push yourself out of a boundary and your comfort zone. And so started playing hockey and it was so much fun. And as I was doing that and leaning into, you know, learning something new for myself at the age of 41. My mom was diagnosed with ALS. And so it was me becoming stronger in myself and my identity and my mom losing hers, and me losing the greatest person in my life and the biggest influence. So that was the story that I pitched to Simon and Schuster. And shockingly to me, uh, they said, Great.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

It sounds like a great, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

There you go, go do it. And so I'm like, oh, okay. Well, wait a minute. Yeah. Oh, shoot. Um, so thankfully, I connected with Christina Rutherford, who works at SportsNet, and she is the most wonderful human and also a brilliant writer. And so we joined forces and spent years working together on this book. And she asked the right questions and she wrote in my voice, and she um she pushed me when I was like, it's fine, or I don't have time. And she's like, No, we are doing this. And so we um we're she was such a great teammate for me in this process. And so we wrote a book about my journey of finding myself and losing my mom.

unknown 15:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

And that's what the book is, and it it goes through my childhood and the influence my mom had on me, the influence that sports has had on me over the years. Um, you know, I I had no idea at the age of eight or 10 or whatever that I would be working in sports. That was definitely not the plan. As I mentioned, I went into engineering, but sports has been a huge influence on my life. Um, and so it weaves my path and how I got to where I am, but also, you know, again, how much my mom and her loss has impacted me and the deterioration again of her into ALS and this cruel, cruel disease and how roles get reversed, as you know, you may be aware. Yes. Um, when a parent is sick and you have to take care of them like they took care of you as a child. And so um, that's what the book is about.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Oh, that's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

Yeah, it was very therapeutic. I bet. Um Christina has heard a lot. She has I have opened up my soul and so vulnerable in this state. And so um she uh she helped me get to those places that are that were hard to open up to, but super proud of of the book and where it how it's turned out. That's incredible. Uh a little bit scared. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was wasn't very nervous about how it's going to be received and that I've just been so vulnerable and open and now it's coming out for all to read. But um, but excited as well.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Yeah. Yeah. That's fantastic. Yeah. Honestly, congratulations. Because people talk about, oh yeah, I'm gonna write a book, but it's there's a difference, right? There's the act, the not only taking the time to write it, but the putting yourself out there and being fully vulnerable. Yes, right? Yes, which is next level.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Yeah. I I mean, if you had if I were to do it again, it's it's I I don't know, would I do it again? It was just a moment in time. I'm not one to back down from being asked, uh, I wouldn't even say a challenge, but being asked to do things. I'm I'm like 10 toes down, you know, like let's do this. Um, but I but again, it was it was like very therapeutic in that I could just talk about everything. And so um now I'm like encouraging my friends and people to write a journal. They don't necessarily need to do a book, yes, yes, but write a journal and talk about these things because um yeah, it's been really, really helpful. Like, oh, this is why I am the way I am. Yeah. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Yeah, yeah, I might just take you up on that.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Yeah, yeah. Or like I never wrote a diary, I wasn't a dear diary person.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Um and and I know so many people recommend journaling and just getting everything off your chest, or just just yeah, how many times do we sit down with our thoughts and um or talk to other people about what's happening in our lives and the it's life is just so busy, it's so easy to just move from one thing to the next to the next and not taking time to pause.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Yeah, exactly. That's amazing. Um but I'm I'm so excited about this book. And one of my new year's resolutions actually for 2026 was believing in myself and believing in this book because it's been um, as I said, I've been scared to put it out to the world, but I'm really like I'm just excited, is not the right word, but it it's like this has been this is a real like passion of mine or or sharing. And um I I hope the message that comes through is perhaps will leave to a pivotal moment for someone in your audience, yes, who's who's, you know, whether they've been struck with grief, unfortunately, or to try something new, pick something up, yeah, do something that scares them a little, do something that out of their comfort zone, and maybe it's sports, yes, maybe it's art, maybe it's journaling, um, just to to do something, you know. Obviously, 40 is not old. Not at all. But I think we get so stuck in our ways. I mean, you picked up podcasting in the past few years, right? Exactly. Which is new and can be scary and a new adventure, and it can lead to meeting interesting people and talking about things you didn't necessarily know what you were gonna talk about or leads you to new conversations. Um, and that's what life is all about is is trying something else, try something different and not be so stuck in a box.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

So when you walked out of that hockey store with your bag of stuff, I how did you find the community in which you could walk in and say, Okay, I'm a newbie?

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Yeah, help me out.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

Like, was there an organization you joined or a group that was already existing? So that actually came first.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Okay. Um, so I found I had heard from a friend that there was a women's hockey group and it was near my house. So I thought, okay, well, that's first hurdle. Yep. Yeah, I don't have to put up with the drive. So okay. Right. And it was during the day, which again works for my hours of work. And it was uh again, all women. So I thought, okay, I feel safe already.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

And so, and all skill levels. So I looked into that first and I signed up and I realized two days before the skate, oh, I better go buy all the stuff. Like this is I've already signed up. So I actually did that first, which I almost recommend that you sign up and you put money down. And so now you are, you know, you're already committed. Yeah. So yeah, it was it was a two days before my first skate where I thought, oh, I can't just borrow my husband's. I better go and do this. And let and now I am even more committed because now I'm going to buy the gear and uh and getting that. So so the program came first. I found that and and got the gear and I went out and it was like these women, I was expecting everyone to be newbies and rookies, and that was not the entire case. There were people who, like women who have been skating for decades, you know, started as kids, some that picked it up. I've met so many women though that have picked it up in their 30s and 40s, who are just like, well, the rest of my family was doing it. So if you can't, yeah, if you can't beat them, join them. Right. Um, attitude, which was mine. So it's been so many different stories of why these women are skating, you know, when we do. And even the organizer of of the program, she started it because you know, her family was doing it. And so it kept growing and growing because there was more. Interest from women who are like, I want to sign up. Oh, when can I get a nice time? You know. Um, and it just it's snowballed really. It started with a small group, and now she's got four different times on a Wednesday. Amazing. In addition to skills on another day. So um there's great interest, and and it's it's fantastic, it's awesome. And I love getting out with these women. And and it's just a skate, it's it's not too serious, but it's serious enough that like I am out there to score and to win. Like there is, you know, I go in and also to just have a great time and get a workout in. And it's it's so much fun. And I mentioned earlier when the last time I had played team sports was decades ago. Yes. And I missed it. And I didn't realize how much I missed it. Like when you're playing with teammates and you're playing for, you know, to work together, it's um, for me at least, it brings so much joy and it's uh it's it's great. That's amazing. Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

The the energy and passion you have when you're talking about it. Yes, literally palpable. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

It's so much fun because you know, again, getting back to as we get older, you know, golf is such an individual sport. So you can go out by yourself, or I go for runs, or I, you know, now we have to lift heavy because that's what all women are doing. You know, we're eating protein, eating fiber, and lifting heavy. Yeah, um, but like hockey is just hockey. Yes. And you just you go out and skate. Or you have, you know, whatever sport it is. So interesting.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

Yeah, it's interesting.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Well, I commend you for that because it's been one of the things, not that I'm gonna get into hockey, I will be honest with you. But um, I mean, sport's been part of my life forever. I grew up as a competitive swimmer, and then that I stopped that, and then it was all racket sports, and then it got into golf, and then it was all things golf. Um but over the last year, my husband and I have taken up pickleball, which it I was like, oh, this is like tennis, but you don't have to run as far. So I was like, okay, let's do this, right? Um, and it's but it's great to push yourself out. And yeah, you know, we made the financial commitment of like, no, we're actually joining the club up the road from us, and so we we have to go.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

And then it's just, it doesn't matter whether you're good or not. You just show up and I could just figure it out as you go. And it's social.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

We all need in a world where we're getting more, you know, into our phones and we go from home to work or you know, just our places. It's we could all use some more social attention. Yes. And talking to people and eye contact. And um, yeah, so that's it, it it's it's been awesome. That's it's been really fun. I love it. Yeah, yeah. Skating's not on my list, I will be honest. I'm not a strong skater. I still am not. Oh no. But again, it was, you know, we push our kids to do these activities and want them to try everything and explore. And I know, you know, no, you've got to stay with piano because you know of this, and it's good to know later on. It's like, well, why isn't it good to still do later on or learn something later on?

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Right, exactly. Yeah, we sort of need to live by what we're telling our kids. Yes. Oh no, I get that. It's not lost on me.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

So when you started to write your book, what was it like? I I because I had haven't talked to somebody who's actually worked with somebody else to write their book. It's just being them. So what was that like? Was there a next level of, I mean, obviously you'd mentioned that you had to bear your soul.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

But it's somebody else bringing the words to life. What was that like?

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Christina was fantastic in a way that she knew to ask the right questions and when to keep digging.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

You know, like we didn't know each other that well before, so she had no idea what my family history was like or what my relationships were like. And so she was so inquisitive, but again, knew knew when to ask and how to go about asking. Because it was sensitive topics, right? Like there were many an interviews between the two of us where I we're both crying. Yes. And I'm bawling because I'm recalling, you know, my mom. Um, and that's why I was therapeutic. So she um it was helpful to me because I probably not that it would have skimmed the surface, but I went a deeper level because she was able to take it there. And that's her job is as a reporter. You know, she's she's the pro at this. So I think we were able to go um deeper and and um, you know, she just she she's a writer, so she knew how to frame the book and how to f how it was to flow. Like, I I don't have that creative side of my brain. So I could I could tell her everything, and then she was able to, you know, structure it in a way that just works so beautifully. So that's a talent. Yeah. So then when I was reading it, and it was also a talent because it was in my voice. Like, you know, my husband, when he was reading the first drafts, he was like, It sounds like you. So she got it. You know, there were there were a couple of words where I was like, I would never say that. She's like, Yeah, I didn't think so. Um but but because the more we talked, we talked so much for the past few years, okay, that she was able to articulate in my language.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

And how well how long was the journey?

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Oh, years. Years, yeah, yeah. We started uh a few years ago, and um and yeah, it's all come to this.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

It's okay. Yeah, that's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

Yeah, it's yeah, it's very rewarding. I am I'm I'm it's uh I I'm can't wait to see the reaction from people.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Um that's great, yeah. And you also wrote Allie Hoops, which you talked about, but you just mentioned that there's another one.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Yeah, there's another one coming out because Allie has more of a journey to go on. And so so it's going even further of um picking up the game of basketball. That's that's where it was, Allie Hoops. Yes, uh that was easy to spot, make the connection. Uh so this time she she goes to camp and she's by herself, and she again is met with some hurdles and obstacles in sport, but continues to persevere, which um she's not totally based on me, but lessons that I want to pass on to my my kids.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Right, okay. Yeah, and but you wrote that alone, but there was somebody who illustrated it with you. Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Megan Chew, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:36

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

No, it's been a busy, yeah, a busy time. Um so but all like I've learned so much from the grief of my mom that you know when the game changes would not be possible, obviously, with without losing her, which is you know, yeah, I I m want her in my life. Yes. Um, but through the grief you change priorities, and as we said earlier, it changes who you are and how you handle things. And so um so so I've also changed the way that I behave and move and prioritize my my life, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

But it's it's an incredible incredible testament to her, right? Um not only the impact that she had on you and the rest of the family, but it's part of her legacy, is what you're writing, yeah, which is incredible because you can not only share that with the world, but yeah, you I hope she'd be proud.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

She would be incredible. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Almost getting teary. Yeah. Yeah. I I still get teary, and that's you know, I didn't think, I don't know how you were um after your mom, but moments, you have these grief bursts.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Moments, moments, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:53

Yeah where you just think about them and you wish they were here, obviously, and to share them with that person. So exactly. Yeah, she's uh she was a force and she was a cheap laugh, so would laugh you you could tell her the corniest joke and she would giggle. So it was yeah, it was the best. Okay, good. She was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

While you were continuing her legacy, which is amazing. Yeah, and then her grandkids also get to be part of it, yeah, exactly. Which is fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 30:21

Yeah, and I and I you I I know that the boys, maybe not now, uh, but we'll read it and then get to know her more through the book, which I didn't even think about. Oh, you know, that was not my intent when I was reading it, but I'm always starving or like thinking of ways to give them more of my mom. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Right to live with. Exactly. Well, that's fantastic. Yeah. So um through this whole journey, through both the first pivotal moment of moving from engineering into sports broadcasting, which by the way, thank you very much because you fill our TV every evening. We appreciate that move. Um, and also obviously the loss of your mom in writing these books. What have you learned about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 31:07

Oh, oh, uh that I don't set boundaries and I say yes to a lot, uh, probably. Which I don't know if it's a bad thing all the time. Or bad, depending on the day. Yeah, exactly. Um I think that um what have I learned about myself? That I I can do it. Yes. And I just figure out a way to do it, right? Um I don't know. And not that I I I do everything, but I I I love I love uh checking things off the box and accomplishing things. And um I'm I know I get that from my mom. No offense to my dad, but I know I get that from my mom because she was such an accomplished person. And so um, yeah, I never wanted to disappoint them. And so I think just trying, oh gosh, that's not a great answer. But yeah, doing doing it.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

You can do hard things when you're done.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Yeah, I think that's what it that's what I always remember is and and try to pass on to my children too, is like figure it out and and get it done.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

Yeah, yeah. All right, my last question for you is what would be your words of wisdom for the audience, okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

Uh words of wisdom. Um for me, it has definitely uh been around grief and that it has changed my priorities in a healthy way because I prioritize laughter and family and friendship. Like I I need my friends. Um and so I have I find a way to make life more fun and take it less seriously. Yes, you know, in light of what has happened to my mom and our family with her passing, is that I just know that we need to um prioritize like the good stuff, yes, the good stuff all the time. And and you don't need grief to recognize that. No. Uh so but but for me it has been unfortunately at you know, because of my mom, but she's no longer here, but that's what I would say. My words of wisdom.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

Definitely. Yeah. Well, thank you. Yeah, thanks, Leslie. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you for sharing your stories. Absolutely. I cannot wait to see when your book comes out. Yes. When the game changes.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

When the game changes, April 7th.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

April 7th. Yeah. And uh we'll all be there cheering you on. Thank you, Leslie. Yeah, just so incredible.

SPEAKER_00 33:41

Who would have thought from 2018 in Regina to, you know, sitting here across from each other chatting?

SPEAKER_01 33:46

Exactly. So thank you. I appreciate your time. Thank you for joining me today. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with Ivanka as she is so genuine and upbeat. Her grief from losing her mother is so present. And yet, she is honoring her mother's legacy with her new book, When the Game Changes. I can't wait to read it. If this story resonated with you, please share it with someone you care about. And be sure to subscribe so you can continue to hear more pivotal stories involving one question, one turning point, one powerful story. I'll see you next week with another guest on the Leslie Hawkins Podcast.