Explore the vibrant heart­beat of Win­nipeg cul­ture with Stephen Hua, a key dri­ver behind the city’s nightlife, events, and com­mu­ni­ty-build­ing. As co‑founder of Sum­mer of Sound, he helped bring huge names to local stages. Today, Stephen con­tin­ues shap­ing the Exchange Dis­trict with inno­v­a­tive ven­tures like Com­mon­wealth Kitchen + Bar, a sleek din­ner-club con­cept that cel­e­brates Winnipeg’s culi­nary arts while revi­tal­iz­ing her­itage architecture.

In this con­ver­sa­tion, Stephen walks us through his evo­lu­tion from grass­roots pro­mot­er fac­ing set­backs, to cre­ative entre­pre­neur bal­anc­ing nightlife, hos­pi­tal­i­ty, and cul­tur­al engage­ment. We talk the highs and lows of sus­tain­ing live events under pres­sure, the vision behind cre­at­ing inclu­sive spaces like Com­mon­wealth, and what it tru­ly takes to cham­pi­on Winnipeg’s grow­ing identity.

Whether you’re curi­ous about build­ing com­mu­ni­ty through live events, launch­ing a restau­rant con­cept, or lead­ing change in his­toric neigh­bor­hoods, you’ll find Stephen’s jour­ney inspir­ing, hon­est, and deeply root­ed in the city he loves.

#Win­nipeg­Cul­ture #Down­town­Win­nipeg #ExchangeDis­trict #PegC­i­tyVibes #YWGEvents #Entre­pre­neurLife #Busi­nes­sOwn­er #Event­Pro­duc­er #Cre­ativeEn­tre­pre­neur #Local­Busi­ness­Sup­port #NightlifeCul­ture #Restau­rantLife #Win­nipegEats #Din­ner­Club #Hos­pi­tal­i­tyIn­dus­try #Com­mu­ni­ty­Builder #Cul­tureShifter #Sup­port­Lo­cal #City­Mak­ers #Peo­ple­OfWin­nipeg #204Rise #204RisePodcast #Pod­castIn­ter­view #Cre­ator­Con­ver­sa­tions #BehindThe­Brand

On this episode of the 204 Rise Pod­cast, we sit down with fit­ness coach and entre­pre­neur Janelle Hill, @janellefaithill, who carved her path as a fit­ness influ­encer before it was cool. From ear­ly con­tent cre­ation to build­ing her own coach­ing busi­ness @gymwithjan, Janelle shares her jour­ney of turn­ing pas­sion into purpose.

We talk about what it was like get­ting into the fit­ness indus­try ear­ly on, how she grew her online pres­ence authen­ti­cal­ly, and the rewards (and chal­lenges) of help­ing oth­ers live health­i­er lives. Now part­nered with Meta­bol­ic Fit­ness in Win­nipeg, Janelle coach­es clients both local­ly and vir­tu­al­ly — cre­at­ing last­ing impact beyond the gym.

Whether you’re into fit­ness, entre­pre­neur­ship, or just want to hear a real sto­ry of growth and dri­ve, this one’s for you!

#Fit­nessJour­ney #Wom­enIn­Fit­ness #Fit­ness­Coach #OnlineCoach #Per­son­al­Train­er­Life #Fit­ness­Mo­ti­va­tion #GymWith­Jan #Win­nipeg­Fit­ness #Fit­nessEn­tre­pre­neur #HealthAndWell­ness #Meta­bol­ic­Fit­ness #Influ­encer­To­Coach #Fit­nessLifestyle #204Rise #Pod­castIn­ter­view

In this episode of the 204Rise pod­cast, we take you inside the Win­nipeg Sea Bears’ 2025 Media Day for an exclu­sive look at the peo­ple and pas­sion dri­ving Manitoba’s pro bas­ket­ball team.

From Head Coach and GM Mike Taylor’s lead­er­ship to the ded­i­ca­tion of play­ers l we explore how the Sea Bears are build­ing a cul­ture of excel­lence both on and off the court. We also chat with key front office staff, includ­ing Pres­i­dent Jason Smith and VP of Busi­ness Oper­a­tions Sahra Uddin, to under­stand the vision behind the franchise’s rapid growth.

Whether you’re a die-hard fan or new to the CEBL, this episode offers an authen­tic glimpse into the heart of Winnipeg’s bas­ket­ball scene.

Wel­come back Neema Naz! We catch up on his incred­i­ble jour­ney since we last spoke. Neema has been grind­ing hard­er than ever, push­ing him­self to new heights in the world of com­e­dy. We dig deep into what it real­ly takes to build a career as a pro­fes­sion­al come­di­an, from nav­i­gat­ing tough crowds and non­stop trav­el to going back to school to sharp­en his craft.

Get ready for hon­est sto­ries, behind-the-scenes insight, and plen­ty of laughs as Neema opens up about the hus­tle, the strug­gles, and the pas­sion that fuels his rise. Whether you’re chas­ing your own dream or just love a good com­e­dy sto­ry, this episode deliv­ers real talk and moti­va­tion you don’t want to miss.

00:00:00 Wel­come Neema + Drake 100K give­away
00:03:57 The Jour­ney to Com­e­dy and Parental Sup­port
00:07:53 Pur­su­ing Com­e­dy Over Kine­si­ol­o­gy
00:11:49 Com­e­dy Mile­stone: Open­ing for Rus­sell Peters
00:16:04 The Role of Roast­ing and Cama­raderie in Com­e­dy
00:20:05 Nav­i­gat­ing Entre­pre­neur­ship: Man­ag­ing Expec­ta­tions and Set­backs
00:24:47 Inter­ac­tions with Influ­en­tial Fig­ures
00:28:42 Life-Chang­ing Moment Before 30
00:32:52 Nav­i­gat­ing Tough Crowds: Com­e­dy in Aus­tralia
00:37:08 The Pres­sure and Joy of Stand-Up Com­e­dy
00:41:50 Nav­i­gat­ing the Chal­lenges of Tour Plan­ning
00:46:27 Evo­lu­tion of Com­e­dy: Embrac­ing Reps and Spe­cial­iz­ing in Style

#204Rise #Nee­m­aNaz #Com­e­dy­Grind #StandUpJour­ney #BehindThe­Laughs #Pod­castEpisode #Keep­Grind­ing

In this episode of 204 Rise, we take you behind the scenes of our most unfor­get­table moments. It all start­ed with a sur­re­al back­stage encounter with Jel­ly Roll – a raw, unfil­tered expe­ri­ence that became our high­est-viewed episode ever.

We share the chaos, excite­ment, and unex­pect­ed insights from our time with the Are­na Rock­erz at Jel­ly Rol­l’s Beau­ti­ful­ly Bro­ken Tour while he was stop­ping in Win­nipeg, reveal­ing how this viral moment shaped our jour­ney. The sto­ry doesn’t stop there though, we also open up about the pres­sure of suc­cess, over­com­ing self-doubt, and the piv­otal moment when we signed a major deal that trans­formed 204 Rise.

This episode is a mix of wild expe­ri­ences, hard lessons, and big wins. This is the unfil­tered truth behind 204rise. If you’ve ever won­dered what it takes to turn a pas­sion into a brand, this is the episode for you.

00:00:00 Excit­ing Con­tract Announce­ment Com­ing soon

00:02:26 Back­stage with a Rock­star: A Sur­re­al Moment

00:04:53 Tak­ing the Leap: Risk­ing It All to Be an Entrepreneur

00:07:28 Embrac­ing the Jour­ney of Entrepreneurship

00:10:19 Reflect­ing on Pos­i­tive Feed­back and Inter­view­ing Jasmine

00:12:40 The Psy­chol­o­gy of Late-Night Conversations

00:15:11 Net­work­ing at the Win­nipeg Entre­pre­neur­ship Scene

00:17:42 Insights from a Coun­sel­ing Experience

00:20:24 Behind the Scenes of a High-Pace Event

00:23:12 Behind the Scenes of Pod­cast­ing Events

00:25:32 Behind the Stage at a Jel­ly Roll Concert

00:28:03 Over­com­ing Imposter Syn­drome and Real­iz­ing Achievements

#204Rise #Jel­ly­Roll #Are­naRock­erz #Beau­ti­fully­Bro­ken­Tour #BehindTheScenes #Pod­castLife #Cre­ative­Jour­ney #Win­nipeg­Pod­cast #Pas­sion­To­Brand #Entre­pre­neurLife #Con­tent­Cre­ators #Sto­ry­telling #Viral­Mo­ments #MusicIn­dus­try #RealTalk #Authen­tic­Conver­sa­tions #Men­tal­Tough­ness #Pod­castEpisode #Cana­di­an­Pod­casts

They didn’t wait for a seat at the table, they made their own.

In this episode, we’re joined by Han­nah Pick­nic­ki and Emma Novak of the Track Talk Pod­cast, two con­tent cre­ators carv­ing out space in one of the most male-dom­i­nat­ed sports on the plan­et: motor sports. What start­ed as a pas­sion project quick­ly turned into a pod­cast with seri­ous trac­tion lead­ing to exclu­sive pad­dock access, brand col­lab­o­ra­tions, and a grow­ing com­mu­ni­ty of fans who final­ly feel seen.

We talk about the hus­tle behind the high­lights, the real­i­ty of being women in the motor sports media space, and how trust­ing their vision helped them go from record­ing in their bed­rooms to show­ing up trackside.

🎙️ Whether you’re a rac­ing fan, a con­tent cre­ator, or just some­one with a dream — this one’s for you.

#Track­TalkPod­cast #204Rise #Wom­enIn­Mo­tor­sports #F1Podcast #Formula1 #Rac­ing­Cul­ture #Pod­cast­nter­view #Con­tent­Cre­ators #Wom­enIn­Media #Motor­sport­Media #Female­Cre­ators #F1Community #Cana­di­an­Pod­casts #Break­ing­Bar­ri­ers

In Episode 172 of 204 Rise, we sit down with Gio­van­na Minen­na — founder of Brows by G and Browluxe — to explore her jour­ney from a one-chair brow stu­dio in her Win­nipeg apart­ment to build­ing a nation­al beau­ty brand. Gio­van­na shares how she scaled her busi­ness to over $1.5 mil­lion in rev­enue with­in two years, secured a $2 mil­lion val­u­a­tion deal on Drag­ons’ Den, and expand­ed her cos­met­ic prod­uct line to over 150 loca­tions worldwide.

Beyond her entre­pre­neur­ial ven­tures, Gio­van­na dis­cuss­es her role as a busi­ness coach and men­tor, offer­ing insights into her Finan­cial Flow Method — a blend of mind­set mas­tery and busi­ness strat­e­gy designed to help entre­pre­neurs achieve last­ing success.

Tune in to hear how Gio­van­na bal­ances her roles as a moth­er, wife, and busi­ness leader, and gain valu­able lessons on resilience, inno­va­tion, and the pow­er of trust­ing your vision.

#Gio­van­naMi­nen­na #204Rise #Wom­enIn­Busi­ness #Entre­pre­neur­ship #Beau­tyIn­dus­try #Drag­ons­Den #Brows­ByG #Browluxe #Busi­ness­Coach #Mind­set­Mat­ters

This one was spe­cial. On episode 171, we got exclu­sive access to sit down with Are­na Rock­erz right inside Cana­da Life Cen­tre, moments before they lit up the stage along­side Jel­ly Roll on his Beau­ti­ful­ly Bro­ken Tour. Known for their pow­er­house per­for­mances and abil­i­ty to move are­nas full of peo­ple, Are­na Rock­erz opened up to us about life on the road, work­ing with mas­sive artists, and how they bring raw emo­tion to every show. From back­stage ener­gy to sta­di­um-sized dreams, this con­ver­sa­tion cap­tures the heart of the hus­tle and we’re grate­ful to have been right there for it!

00:00:00 Life on Tour with DJ hylyte and DJ Chill

00:01:42 Cana­di­an Tour Ener­gy and Expe­ri­ence with Jel­ly Roll

00:03:26 The Birth of ​“Are­na Rock­erz” and DJing Evolution

00:05:00 Mas­ter­ing Crowd Engage­ment: DJing and Host­ing Techniques

00:06:35 The Pow­er of Friend­ly Ban­ter in Friend­ship Dynamics

00:08:09 Craft­ing the Per­fect Playlist for a Diverse Audience

00:09:46 Expe­ri­enc­ing Cana­da: Cul­ture Shock and Com­par­isons with the US

00:11:28 Music Cul­ture Dif­fer­ences: Cana­da vs. US

00:13:11 The Real­i­ties of Tour­ing Life: Highs and Lows

00:14:57 The Price of Fame: Bal­anc­ing Sac­ri­fice and Success

00:16:33 Achiev­ing Suc­cess: From Dreams to Reality

00:18:10 Bal­anc­ing Suc­cess and Humil­i­ty in the Cre­ative Industry

00:19:42 Shoutout to 204 Rise Podcast

#Are­naRock­erz #Beau­ti­fully­Bro­ken­Tour #Jel­ly­Roll #Live­Mu­sic­Ex­pe­ri­ence #TourLife #204Rise #BehindThe­Mu­sic #CanadaL­ife­Cen­tre #MusicPod­cast #ArtistIn­ter­view #Con­certVibes #OnTheRoad #Rock­erzUn­plugged