Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Kelly Cutrara: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1781

Episode Date: October 16, 2025

In this 1781st episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Kelly Cutrara about her time at AM 640, why she was fired, her year of loss and what's next for her. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Nick Ainis, Blue Sky Agency and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail].

A lot of pressure right now. Not going to lie. What you're about to experience is Toronto miced. And it's going to be something else. Oh, by the way, I'm Kelly Contrera. Thanks for being here. That's Kelly Contrera, everybody. You blew it.

I didn't know I was supposed to say my own name. There was a lot of instruction before this thing started. He's like that. Do this, do that. Stand on one foot. Why one? You did great. Welcome to episode 1,781 of Toronto Miked.

Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh. Homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta.

in Mississauga and Oakville. Blue Sky Agency, the official distributor of Silence's quiet, comfortable, and customizable office pods create sanctuary within your workspace. Nikaiinis! I almost choked up on that name. Nickaiinis.

He's the host of building Toronto Skyline and building success. Two podcasts you ought to listen to. Kinling! Go to shopkinling.ca. for free one-hour cannabis delivery. Recycle MyElectronics.C.A. Committing to our planet's future

means properly recycling our electronics of the past. And Redley Funeral Home, Kelly's already playing with her measuring tape. Easy now. That's right. Today, returning to Toronto Mite for the first time in over a decade, it's Kelly Katrera, everybody.

How you doing, Kelly? I'm great. You? Great. Can I tell the listenership that you have braces now? Well, they're not really braces. Tell me what they are. They're invisalines. I took them out because they make my voice sound funny. I liked you better the other way. Would you mind putting them back in?

Are you kidding? I'm only kidding if you think I'm kidding. You don't have to put them back in. But you had a beautiful smile because I've known you for quite a long time. We'll revisit that. Age is not kind. Your teeth start to shift. They do. So your smile got crooked? What's happening?

The little lateral teeth next to my front teeth, they just started to twist a little. And I was like, oh, man, my benefits are going to run out soon. So I might as well do it now. So you had benefits from chorus, like some kind of a salary continuance maybe? Yeah, yeah. I know all about these things, okay? I'm practically an HR lawyer here. Okay.

And you were taking advantage of that and got that benefits package to cover your Invisaline. And now, how long do you have to wear the, whatever? I am on liner 18 of 43 and you switch every week. Unless you take them out a lot, because you have to wear them for 21 hours a day. And if you take them out a lot, like I just did for this, then you can't eat for the rest of the day. Well, you can, but you can't eat with them in. Well, could I ask you, you took them out because you sound clearer.

Yeah. But people know why you sound. a little bit lispy or whatever. Like, so do you want to put them back in? Like, would it be better for your health if you put them back in? No, no, it's fine. Okay, Kelly. I'm just always looking out for you.

You know that, right? It's all right. I'll just skip lunch and dinner. Okay, I have your dinner. Can I give you your dinner right now before we get into it? People are very excited to hear your voice again. What did you make for me? I made a frozen lasagna from palm pasta.

It's in my freezer. You're going home with a large lasagna, Kelly Katrera. I'm very excited about this. First of all, because I'm going to the cottage this weekend. Secondly, I love Palma Pasta. And even before they sponsored your show, I used to go because they were right near Folkway Avenue in Mississauga. Yes.

Aaron Mills and Aaron Mills? Yeah. And I don't know if they're still there, but they had like, honestly, I'd go in and just load it up, ring it home. So I told the family that owns Palma Pasta is the Petrucci family. And I was talking to Anthony Petrucci yesterday, about how you were coming on. Because Lisa Brant was here yesterday talking radio. and she took a lovely photo for Instagram

and it made Anthony very happy. But Anthony told me she, sorry, Anthony loves you, Kelly Katrera. Like, how? Like, just loves you from the radio. Just loves your personality, loves your... I think we've met before. I'm pretty sure we met on the Humble and Fred podcast. Okay, so before we get to chorus and everything,

that's where you and I met. You were like a third voice on the Humble and Fred show in pretty early days. for that podcast. Yeah, they were kind enough to let me come on and hang out. It was good. And you were on every day. Like a third voice. Yeah, I feel like it was on every day for a while. And I was kind of like their news gal. So let me do this. Let me let the listenership know that you were in this very basement 10 years, almost 10 years ago to the day because it was October 15, 2020, 20, so 2015, October 15, you were in this basement. And here you are a year, in one day. I'm sorry, I'm messing up because I'm so nervous. Kelly Kachara back in the

basement. A decade and one day later. You're messing up because you've been drinking all more with these Great Lake brewery. You want some Great Lakes beer to take home? I know you don't drink and drive. Like nobody should drink and drive. No, I'll take some home. Why wouldn't I? I'm not saying no to that. So we recorded episode 137. Like three digits

there. 137. And here's what I wrote at the time. Okay. Mike chats with radio host Kelly Katrera about her years at 102.1, the edge. That's when I first heard you. I listened to quite a bit of that station in the 90s. Yep.

You took over for May Potts, as I recall. I was listening to May Potts on Boom on my way here. Not an easy position to be put into. No, like, honestly, it is, it's like, you know, when they have the Disney characters in the animated favorites that everybody fell in love with and then they try and do the real life action version. of it and people go, well, it's not really the same. It's like, no, it's not the same because nothing will be that original, excellent character

that you fell in love with. So then I had to be the, it's sort of the same, but it's not at all the same. And as I recall from May's visit to the basement, she visited here with her daughter, actually. Her daughter, Lauren's lovely too. Absolutely. And she also worked at the edge in some capacity fairly recently. But May left 102.1 for Mojo. yeah like this is mojo radio at 640 so it's all going to come back in a minute but may regrets that

decision but you did benefit from that decision may pots made that's a fact i don't know if you need to respond or not okay so just to finish the description so you're at 102.1 the edge for a while but then you're at mix 99.9.9. Yeah. Did you cross paths with Lisa Brandt when you were at mix 99.9.9 or were you many many years after she left? Well, I feel like I've met Lisa Brent before but no we don't know each other well, no. Then CFRB. Yeah, 1010. That was my first experience with talk radio. Then CBC Radio 2. Yeah, I exploded the classical music portion of that radio station. And then Fresh FM. Yeah. Can you remind me what Fresh FM was?

Oh, it was a bad move on my part. That's what that was. That was a mistake. Was that a Hamilton station? Yeah. But listen, it's nothing against Hamilton. It's just that, you know, I love music and I am not a pop music fan. So for me, it was very hard to sell Katie Perry. Because that's really what you're doing at that point. Like music, you know, those pop stations, it's all about selling that music and, you know, a lifestyle, a feeling. And, you know, I just wasn't into any of the stuff that I was supposed to be into. It was a miscast. It wasn't that it was bad. It was just a miscast. And Colleen, Rushome and I worked together on that station. Okay. And you were on the phone with Colleen when you arrived in my

driveway. Yes, and you love her, apparently. But I said I love both of you. But I absolutely do. I don't mind if you love her more, that's fine. I can't choose, to be honest, because you're both lovely human beings. Like, you're both talented broadcasters who are lovely human beings. Well, thank you. Okay, well, take that compliment. I don't just

hand these out like candies. But I would just want to remind you that when Humble Howard Glassman was the morning show host on CFNY 102. The Edge, playing, I don't know what, playing Sloan and Nirvana and Purv. Girl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots. He was at home listening to Steely Dan.

So I'm just here to tell you, many a DJ didn't give... But how are they different? It's still like, that's good music. Okay, but good music, but a completely different... Instead of Steely Dan, I could have said Iron Maiden or something. Like, the point is, you don't have to love the music that you're playing. I think it helps. I think that that's...

You know what? I think that's where radio went wrong. Can you elaborate? Because there's a name of somebody you worked with who's no longer... with us. I always think about Martin Street. No, I wasn't going to be him, actually. Who were you thinking of? Bookie. Oh, yeah. Because Bookie knew the music, loved the music, and he would be kind of like, he'd tell you about

the music, and you'd learn about the music, not just hear the song. And I feel like we need more bookies in radio. Yeah, 100%. I mean, the problem was, is somewhere along the line, um, the people that started to, were in charge of, of casting for radio. didn't have a clue of what was important. And it was the product that you're selling is the music. And the DJs, their job is to introduce you to the music, to get you acquainted to why they connect with the music. And for you to form connection.

At the end of the day, it's all about connection. And there's been, you know, a disconnect for years and years. And some whoever cast me at Fresh should have known. you don't it's not going to work because I you know it was aimed at uh women with kids I don't have kids it's I was living a different reality how am I gonna sell that I don't know so it came to an end for you at fresh yeah it's an obvious okay so what I'm doing is I'm establishing last time you were in the basement so that was 10 years and one day ago okay and you were so I knew you from Humble and Fred because you were a third voice for quite a while yeah you hadn't yet

landed a full-time job at 640 when you were in this basement 10 years and one day ago. So I almost want to pick it up from there, like at the time. No, but I think was, was I at Fresh when you were talking to me? Well, no, he said Fresh FM and what she's up to now. So I think you were post-Fresh. So, okay, so I was, when I was at Fresh, I also was popping over to 640 because they were both owned by Chorus. And I, Bill Carroll has been so generous to me in, in my career.

and in helping me out. And, like, I wouldn't have ever done talk radio if it wasn't for Bill Carroll and Jim Richards. From 10-10. Yeah, both of them were at 10-10. And I was over at Standard at the time working at the mix, and we went to Africa. And we came back from Africa on this World Vision trip.

We came back from Africa, and we did a, it was a profound experience, really, life-changing. and we did a radioshawn to raise money for World Vision and they said every time you talk Kelly the phones light up because I really was just being completely honest with my experience. We're speaking from the heart.

Yeah. And, you know, I guess moving people to call in. Well, that's called authenticity. And so Bill Carroll heard something there and he said, you know, you should put her on talk, give her a chance. And that was your CFRB spell. Yeah.

And Jim said she'd be. good too, so give it a shot. And they both are very good at what they do. So they, you know, gave me a shot. But Bill, when I went over to 640, Bill was working in Los Angeles from there. A different 640, actually. And when Sandy Salerno, who I think is, was, you know, she's no longer in the industry, but I think she was one of the best news, radio news broadcasters ever. She was just to talk about authentic. She would do this round table with him. And so he's, you know, when she wasn't able to do it, he called me in for it. And then that's how I got my start. But working with Chris Creston, who's just an incredible human as well. I love people, clearly. Well, I want the names of all the people you love. But I should just tell you that even though it's been a decade and a day since you were in the basement and we're going to find out about what happened at 640 and everything and what's life like now for Kelly Katrera, you actually did come on my mics and you were recorded because I recorded live

from the GLB brew pub. Do you remember this? I think I may have had a few. And I think I've forged my way into being on your podcast. Okay, I'm going to run down this list real quick. And then we're going to talk 640 because the people demanded. But it was April 2023. Amanda Cupito was the program director at 640.

And here's what I wrote really quickly. In this 1,233 episode of Toronto Mike, Mike crashes the 640 Toronto Party. at the GLB brew pub. That's at Jarvis and Queens Key, by the way. Guests include, I'll run this down very quickly. Anthony Farnel, Troy Birch, Fabian Skidmore. Those are two chaps from GLB.

Alan Carter, Jason Chapman. A lot of these people are long gone. Corey Manuel, Dan Spearren. I think all of the people you've mentioned, except for Farnell so far, are gone. Pina Crispo, who was the Inside Edge Girl, I want to say. No, Pena Crispo. I think she did like the parenting show.

Yeah, but before that, she was at CF&Y as like the Inside Edge Girl. Okay. Patrick Malkin. Kelly Katrera. Rob Johnston, who's still at Chorus. Edward Keenan. Rebecca Cuneo, who's married to Edward Keenan, by the way. Vince Tedesco.

Danny Stover, who got it when you got it. We'll talk about that in a minute. Greg Brady, who's still there. Rachel Brady, who's married to Greg Brady. Alex Pearson, who's still there. And Dave Bradley. was like two and a half hours of me talking to all these people at the GLB brew pub and you were one of those people. Yeah, I don't think I was on the list though. I think I really, no, I really just

jumped in. No, there was no list. Like I literally was set up in a corner and anybody at that party who wanted to jump on a mic came on the mic and I'm pretty sure I yelled at you. Kelly, please come on my mic. I want to catch up with you. Oh, okay. How did you get the job at 640? Well, that's how I got the job. It just, it just happened organically. um you know filling in for sandy salerno and then uh bill would be away and they'd say okay do you want to fill in and uh i i'm like yeah good i'll do it so then i filled in an afternoon drive and then bill left for i think he left full time for los angeles something came up um i actually can't remember what happened that's embarrassing but it was 10 years ago and um and so i just

kept filling in and every um every month scotty guest who was operations manager at the time and he would call me and say, hey, do you want to fill in for another month? And I'd say, yeah, okay. So I was just playing it by year. Do you remember what year it was when you started there? 10 years ago.

10 years ago. So almost very shortly after your Toronto mic appearance, do you think that was a coincidence, Kelly? I don't know. Did the 640 people hear you on Toronto Mike? What are you going to do for me now? Wow. She's got a good rap on her.

A good rack? A good rap. A rap. I'm sorry. A great rack. I'm talking about the rap on you, Kelly. Please. Great rap on you. You got, you're a good talker. So obviously, what I remember is I would have chats with people from 640, like Mike Stafford, etc. And we would talk about how you were a fill-in for a very long time. Like, was it difficult to get that changed from like fill-in to I am now a permanent host on 640. You know what? I really liked it when I was filling in because you stay hungry because you want it. And also, I didn't have. have to do it. I could always say no. You know, like I just was myself and I could do the kind of show that I wanted to do because, you know, I didn't really belong to anybody. And then, you know, they came, one day they came to me and said, do you want to do this full time? And it wasn't the show I wanted. It wasn't the afternoon drive because I really liked it. Because mainly I liked it because the hours were great, but I also really loved working with Chris Creston. I think he's the best talk show

producer in the industry, no longer in the industry, sadly. What industry is he in? He's communications. Like with the government? For a politician, yeah. Is it Doug Ford? I don't know if I'm allowed to say. No, I don't know if he wants me to say so. I'm going to respect that he may not want me to say where he's working.

But he works for a mayor. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Anyhow, he's quite happy, but you know, it's not the same thing as radio because we worked as a team every day. it was fast-paced. But I still talk to him here and there, but I miss him. But that's so inside and boring for people that don't know him.

But I worked with him. So when they offered me a full-time job, I'm like, you know what? It's two to four. And I said, well, I'll only take it if I can take Chris. Because he had been forever the afternoon drive producer at 640. And I... Who's phoning in you? Is that Colleen Rush home?

Can you just tell me who it is? What a rookie mistake. I'll tell you who it is. Also, then you think this is boring, and I'm listening to you say this is boring, and I'm thinking, I decide what's boring, Kelly Katrina. Okay. Okay, Kelly's checking her phone. Okay, but is it anybody I know?

It's my husband. Do you want to get it? No. Because it's going to be a thing. I know where he is. I talked to him every day. Kelly, you were great last night. That's what he's going to say there.

Okay. Do you know Heather Purden? Yes. I know you do, but do you know where she's working right now? Yeah, I think she did this. She's doing the same thing. Chris Creston. Yeah, she's working for Brad Brad Bradford.

The only person so far to, announced he's running for mayor in 2026. Oh, okay. So Heather's got a lot going on over there. Okay. So you get the full-time job. I do have a question. You said you like the fill-in because of whatever,

the pressure and you can say no. But you can't get invisaline when you're filling. No, benefits are great. I love benefits. People that say they never use their benefits, don't be a fool. They have no teeth. They're part of your package.

It's your salary. If you're not using your benefits, that's why you're so stressed out. go get your massage. It's included. Right. And even if it's just like a therapist to talk to. I never used that benefit. You know, actually, I did not use that benefit. And strangely enough, in the last, you know, 10 months, I haven't used it.

Well, that's because you just, you phone me up and we have these lengthy conversations and you don't have to pay me. That's not true. Okay, so you're now full time at 640. Yeah. Okay. Loved it. Who is the program director when you got that full-time gig? that was

Nathan Smith, I believe. Nathan Smith. Does Amanda Capito replace Nathan? No. Okay, who's between these people? Jeff Storia is. Okay. And then Amanda.

Okay. And who is the program director when you get your pink slip, which we'll discuss in a moment? That would be Mike Ben Dixon. You don't get pink slips, by the way. There's no slip. You don't go to your mail slot and see a

Pink slip? You know, it's more like an HR person and somebody you report to ask you to meet them in an office and they have like a folder? Do you remember how you got it? Like usually, that's how it typically is. It's like they call you into a meeting and you'll see. Listen, if you're in radio and you're called into a meeting with your boss, because it happens every once in a while. If you're called in into a meeting and you walk in and you don't recognize the other person in the room, guess what? but you are going to be handed an envelope.

And then they'll tell you, you don't have to sign anything right away, just blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's usually a really uncomfortable, nice person from HR that you've never had before. Imagine going to school and your job is that you're in the room with the folder to tell somebody their services are no longer required. You know what I think a worst job is, though,

is the person that has to hand the person in the folder and say your services are no longer required. But that's never really said. They don't say that. No, it's implied. This is what's said. We're going in a different direction. Is that what they said to you?

No, but they were. I can't say what they, I signed an NDA. So I can't really reveal any of that. But I'll tell you what happened was, you know, one of these kids is not like the others. And when I started 10 years ago, one of these kids is not like the others was a good thing, right? It was like Mike Stafford was there and John Oakley.

And we were all different, right? there was no homogeneous sound for that station. What it was was you're going to spend time with someone from this time to this time, and then from this time to this time you'll spend time with somebody else. And I think that was a really good thing because, you know, this one sound and this one opinion, I think, is very, it's limiting. And I think like, geez, why limit it? yourself and I think I think the audience is too smart the audience knows but obviously they feel like

a AM talk radio audience will be politically slanted to the right well I think the operative word is think because I that just isn't true because you know for the other day I was what am I up to now well we're going to cover a lot of ground here but we will but can I jump you ahead for a second The other day I was talking to a woman who I've been doing yoga with for well over a year. And, you know, she realized somehow what I did for a living. And she said, oh, my gosh, you're Kelly Contrera. And she said, my husband and I used to listen to you all the time. And we really liked you.

We miss you. My neighbor liked you. They don't listen to the station anymore. And I said, yeah, well, it was going to the right a lot farther than, you know, I was comfortable with. and they knew it. You know, the thing is that they knew it there. They knew, if you were, I knew it, if you were to sit down and go,

um, who's out of their comfort zone? It's me with the direction you want me to go in. You know, from the first day that Mike Ben Dixon came in, and I really liked Amanda Caputo because what she wanted to do was allow us to, uh,

experiment and be who we were fully. And I really liked that. I just don't think she had enough time to, to make that happen. And, you know, this is right now where we are at with radio, currently, you need to make things happen quickly. Or the expectation is things will happen quickly. And, you know, nothing good happens quickly.

Everything good happens slowly. Like, what, you know, wasn't it, what was canceled? It was, I feel like it was family guy. Was family guy canceled when they brought it back? Yeah, 100%. Yeah. It had high DVD. desales, and they say, oh.

Slow grow, right? And it, arguably, it was, you know, it's just so good. Well, look at Seinfeld, for example, right? Like, Seinfeld out of the gates was a ratings disaster. It was called the Seinfeld Chronicles, I think. And I don't even think they had an Elaine character at the very, very beginning. But basically, it wasn't a success right away. There's another show, even older than that.

Cheers. I'm pretty sure Cheers out of the gate was not successful, and it was given time to grow and find its audience. and look what happened to Cheers, look what happened to Seinfeld. Well, the reason why I brought this up was, you know, day one, you know, Mike Ben Dixon comes in from Amanda Caputo in very different management styles. I had worked with Mike in the past at 10-10. At CFRB, yeah.

So I knew who he was. You know, and I, you know, people were, oh, this is what he's like. This is what's happening. And I'm like, you know, and I'm just going to, I love what I do is what I thought. I'm just going to not judge him before I get to know him again. So he comes in. And, yeah, I had an open mind. And Chris Creston and Dave Spargalah, who is our technical producer, Chris Creston was the producer at the time.

Shaggy Dave. Yeah. We go, we're called to this meeting. We sit down with Mike. It's very, you know, it's a very casual meeting. And I'll never forget what he said to me. He said, I don't get your show. And I just went, well, like, you know, the voice in your head.

I mean, there were a lot of things that it was saying. One of them was, fuck you. The other one was, I'm fucked. Yeah. When the PD doesn't get your show, you're in trouble, right? I don't get your show. And I'm like, and I just looked at him. I'm like, I don't know what to say.

Like, what's sort of get. It's like hanging out at a dinner party. Sometimes it's serious. Sometimes it's light. We like to have fun. You're just hanging out. We're talking about the day. news stories. We're trying to make them relevant and

and easily digestible for someone that's busy on their way home. And, you know, we're talking about some other stuff that you might want to bring up at a dinner party so you're not so boring. I don't know. Anyhow, it wasn't. It, it didn't, it never improved from that moment on. So in November 2024, big changes at 640. A number of people got it that day. including you, Kelly Katrera. I was going to get a mammogram.

Good. Get a mammogram, man. That's a Bart Simpson Post. So I had taken the day off for a mammogram. Yeah, to get, and so that, you look at, it is so uncomfortable. Like, you've got it in the groin before, like with like a hockey puck or something. Oh, sure, of course. It's like that, except you can't move or breathe. I'm sure that happens after you get it.

But yeah, you're just letting this happen. There's a lot of nerve endings. Yeah, wait, it's just, it's so painful, but it's so, you have to get it done, but. Yeah, how often do you need to get that done? I'm just curious. Oh, once a year, actually, yeah, because I, I am in the category of women that have dense breasts. It's like a bonus, and it's not, because if you have dense breasts, apparently they stay where they should be longer as you age. Firm.

Yeah. You know what I'm keeping eye contact through this conversation? Yeah, well, look, I'm just telling it as it is, but it's also very hard to detect cancer. Okay. So, you've got to do it a lot. So you need to do it once a year and you were doing it that day. So you took the day off to get your mammogram like you do every year. And then I was going, then I was, had his Zoom call.

So they did it via Zoom? Yeah. Okay, in November 2024. They didn't say, like just say come in tomorrow for a meeting or something. They did it via Zoom. Yeah. Would you rather they did it via Zoom than make you? Sure.

Why not? Because at this time, are you broadcasting from home? We don't have to talk about where home is. I did through the pandemic. I did through the pandemic. So you're at Chorus Key. Yeah. Every day we went into Koreski, yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Not as many people there now as there used to be. Oh, you know what? That was the most depressing thing going back from the pandemic. It's almost like we just let us work from home because we can't see, you know, how the mighty have fallen. And what I mean by that is when I first started in radio and in Koreski, you know, it's like the building is infamous, infamous for having this slide. The slide you're not allowed to slide on. Yeah, and foosball tables and, you know, like a lot of great stuff. And Delvana, the animation house was on the second floor.

And there was like activity. You know, you walk through the production studio area where they were making commercials and doing promos. And there were like three guys working and you could, you know, one of their doors would fly open and the noise in there was, you know, amazing and exciting. And people were planning shows and it was loud and people were being goofy in the hallways. and it was packed and then you came back and there was almost nobody in the station. I had a tour, I had a couple of tours, of course, Key, but the most recent tour was Robbie J, the aforementioned Rob Johnston.

Yeah, great guy. Yeah, great guy and tall guy. He has to watch his head down here, that is for sure. But so Robbie J, who Strombo once came on the show and said he was the last guy standing who was indicative of the spirit of radio at CFNY. He was last man standing. So that was Strombo's quote. But Robbie J, who you can still hear her,

because at the end of every ongoing history and new music, you'll hear technical production by Rob Johnston. Yes. By your former colleague, Alan Cross. Great guy, too. I've worked with some, I've worked with the greats. I'm lucky. May Potts, Alan Cross.

It's another guy you worked with. And I just, the reason I yelled out Shaggy Dave is because Brother Bill's been on this show. And he was referencing Shaggy Dave. Like, we're all going to know this name Shaggy Dave. and I had to do some investigative reporting and find out who the hell is Shaggy Dave and then you said the name and I said that's Shaggy Dave. Yeah.

So shout out to Brother Bill who's in White Rock now and Big Brother Bill head here. Okay, shout out to Neil Morrison. I love the brother as well. It's just going to be me saying I love, I love. I kind of am fine with that. You don't have to tell me the people you don't love. I'll read between the lines by absence.

I guess that's going to be clear now who I think is a dick. Well, we know it's not going to say. I love them. You were a third voice on that show for so long. You must have enjoyed their, their patter. Yeah, you know what? If it wasn't for Humble and Fred, I don't think I would have been able to do talk radio.

And, you know, I know that I've already credited Bill Carroll and... You did. You credited 10-10, but you're saying Humble and Fred played a bigger role. No, I think that they allowed me to learn how to relax and be myself. And it wasn't until I could relax and be myself on the radio that I was going to be able to do talk radio. Well, that's interesting because this podcast only exists because of the vantage point I had of the Humble and Fred podcast back in 2006.

So in a sense, your 640 career stems out of the time you spent with Humble and Fred, and this exact podcast, Toronto Mike, stems out of the Humble and Fred podcast. Good that connection. Okay, much love to Humble and Fred. Okay. So you get it at 640. You signed an NDA, so we're not going to get any specifics around this. but is your salary continuance done?

Like, have you cashed your last check? Right, now I mean. Yeah. Okay. So, and you got severed fairly. Yep. Okay, I just want to look and out for you here. I told you, I'm a part-time HR lawyer here.

Everything was fine. You know what? It's been, are we moving on to the, what am I up to now? No, not quite. Because I'm curious, when you get the news, are you blindsided by it or did you prep yourself for it? No, no, no. I think I manifested it actually. Oh, interesting.

By, because were you walking around saying, you know, dead woman walking or anything like that? No, I just think I, I knew that it was time to go. And, okay, so I'm going to read between me. Because I loved what I did. Yeah. Like I would, Chris and I would end shows some days and we'd just be like, man, that was so much fun. Or can you believe we talked to that person? The listeners were great.

Remember that caller that called in? You know, like, we would just be on a high and buzzing. And I am lucky enough to be one of those people that, you know, could, I've had the experience of leaving work and really being so pleased with being able to do what I did that day for a living and got paid for it and just, you know, blown away by that. That I totally lost my train of thought. No, you basically loved what you did. And then, you know, and then I didn't.

And then I didn't. The joy had left the gig. I think the joy left when, you know, I kept being a. agreeable and I knew that that was not the right thing to do. You know, every time, I went against my better judgment as somebody that had worked in radio for a long time and understood, I think, what the audience wanted. And every time I was asked to not do something, I'd say, okay, okay. Can I explore that a little bit?

Yeah. I feel like the Kelly Katrera show, hosted by Kelly Katrera. That's you. I feel like that was an authentic Kelly Katrera. at her most Kelly Catrera-esque nature. So you are being very Kelly and authentic. And am I reading between the lines that perhaps related, and again, these are all just connecting dots,

but when they replace Amanda Capito eventually with Mike Ben Dixon, there is an obvious move at the station to the right of the political spectrum. No, it wasn't obvious. That's not what I'm talking about. It was obvious that other people, that that's what he liked, but he, you know, we didn't have to do that. Nobody's saying, okay, I need you to go to the right. No one's saying that. But what they, what I, where I did compromise myself and where I'm willing to go is, you know, we had a lot of features that we worked on, Chris and I, that we developed throughout our show.

And they were, they were the fun parts. And he would, you know, Mike would come and say, can you, yeah, can you get rid of that? And I just knew from him saying, I don't get your show, that it wasn't, if I said, no, I don't want to get rid of that. I just knew pushing back. It was just futile. So I thought, like, okay, I'll get rid of it. I'll just show I'm agreeable. And I just agreed myself out of all the fun in my show.

And so then I ended up with a show that was just, you know, heavy. And quite frankly, that's not where I live. I don't live in a place of fear. I don't live in a place of the world is falling apart. and Toronto sucks. Because it doesn't. You know, the traffic's horrible. There are things that suck.

But, you know, as we just said in your driveway, David Byrne is coming to Toronto to Massey Hall for three nights next week. Like, that's awesome. To me, that's awesome. So that's a great thing. And that's going to touch and change a lot of lives. Those three nights are. So why is it, Kelly, though?

Why is it that when a station veers to the right, it's all like panic all the time like everything is shit everything's horrible that you know this this level of government government's not doing their job and this is terrible and that's terrible it just seems like it's it's all negative why is that because that's not kelly katrera kelly katrara as well as i know you is a rather positive person like you've got a centrist but you know what i don't think everybody that's right isn't positive on the right i just think that oh they're miserable miserable people you I mean, no, I just think, I don't, I don't want to insult anybody because, and, you know, and that might be the problem. I think that's what it was, you know.

I don't really like to offend anybody or insult anybody, and that's where you have to go if you want to do that kind of radio, and it's not my thing. Is it fair to say that you had to go to make room for the son of a former prime minister, Ben Moller? Rooney? Well, they needed time. They needed a slot for him. So I guess that's fair to say. Yeah. I feel like we're in court now. Okay. So, yeah. So, you know, um, you and Ben, Ben comes in and I believe Ben's like right after Greg Brady now. So I think it's, I think, and I could have this wrong, but I think it's Greg Brady in the morning. And he was, even Greg, who I, I used to know better than I know him now. Like I still consider him a pal, but we used to be pretty tight, you know, hanging out and stuff. Did you? Yeah.

like we would go to Wolfpack I see him at Wolfpack matches and we'd hang out and he came on several times like I think Greg Brady was a big Toronto mic fan to be quite honest but he seems to have changed a little bit where he's moved himself to the right sort of mirroring the tone you get from AM 640 these days and I wonder if that's like a chicken I don't know chicken an egg

I don't know what comes first maybe both happen at the same time but Greg Brady and then Ben Mulrooney who essentially let's face it Ben Maruni is, I don't even know, I don't know what Ben Maruni makes at 640, but he seems to be, have a platform for his own independent media empire. Like, he seems to have some sort of media or political ambitions and that this is a good platform. Me speculating here. But Ben's there. Alex Pearson, of course, still there.

And now you got the FOTM David Cooper, who's like a trust fund guy who kind of does it from his condo in Manhattan. And he used to be on 1010 and I had a chat with him then. And then he got John Oakley still there, but John Oakley was removed from mornings, or I don't know who initiated that, but he was a morning guy. And then he... That's when Stafford got moved to mornings.

What was your relationship like of Mike Stafford? It was good. I think Mike Stafford was one of the best talk show hosts in Canadian history, quite frankly. I was a fan. I mean, I think he made me want to work at security. because he was real and the way he would talk to the guys he worked with and the way he would talk to listeners was just mesmerizing and entertaining and thought provoking and thoughtful and

you know I've listened to him on a show and it breaks my heart because I just think that kind of talent it's you know I I don't think there's a sadder story right now now in radio than, you know, Mike's story. And I heard he just lost his wife. So that I'm getting emotional, but. No, I mean, I'm a, as you know, I'm a big fan of Mike Stafford. And I know he made a lot of mistakes, but I just think he was so talented. Strictly on a talented level.

One of the best. No, and I think that emotion that you're showing now is part of that authenticity that people are attracted to and Kelly Katrera, to be quite honest with you. Like, you're feeling emotional because Stafford's going through some tough times. And you mentioned his wife just passed. And I know that's horrific. And we send our condolences to the family. And you know every once in a while, Mike Stafford will be knocking on this side door

and we'll get him down here to catch up. And he's always so brutally honest about where he's at. And I always say, thank goodness for Mike's sister. Because Mike is one of those guys where we often talk about, like, sometimes we talk about the need for shelters and stuff and people are down and we son not me i'm actually not one of these people but a lot of people will be sort of like not in my backyard like move that downtown or somewhere else and i'm like how many professionals like how many people because they didn't have a support system and they had some some some mental health challenges

or various issues would require such services mike stafford's sister is where is is putting them up and i always say thank goodness mike has his sister like we're would Mike be today without his sister? Real question. We can only speculate, but where would Mike be today without his sister? I don't know. Like, where would Mike be? I'm just sad to, you know, he's no longer on the radio.

I think they, there's another thing, right? Don't mess with it if it's working. What Mike had with Patrick Malkin and Ryan and then later, Heather, like, they should never have moved him to mornings. I don't know what, why do that? And, you know, this absurd thought that the morning show host is the most important host on a radio station. Right. It's just so archaic and ridiculous.

And, you know, people say radio's dead. No, it's not. It's a podcast now. What the hell? You know, why? Because nobody's trying to, no one is trying to control it. Right. Just get your, hire your talent.

Let them be who they are. Let them make some mistakes. Because in those mistakes, they'll either learn something. or they'll endear themselves to the audience and just allow them to play because that's why people listen because they need some escape, they need some information.

They want to find something that is missing in their lives. Or they just want someone to keep them company. Mike Stafford would keep me company back in the day. We're going way back for this, but I used to have a commute to work. Believe it or not, I used to have an office I had to go to. they wanted me in their five days a week.

Oh, yeah. And we didn't even question it. Like, this is just how it works. Because now they call these people back three days a week or four days a week and everybody can't believe it. Like, what are you talking about? Like, we didn't know any better, did we? Well, you're a radio person.

It's all different for you. You had to be in the studio, yeah. It's all different for you, but I remember the cubicle culture here. Oh, God. Which I feel like, I feel like this is going to, you know, I feel like I just need to mention that if someone is looking for dynamic and creative work environments because they're calling their employees back to the office. I urge you to chat with Doug Mills.

Doug Mills also a big Kelly fan. All right. Good guy. Great guy. I met him at a, I took him to a Wolfpack match once. This was an old rugby team. It's long gone now.

The COVID kind of killed the wolf pack. But what a great time we'd have at these rugby matches. But Doug Mills, Blue Sky Agency. He's Doug at blue sky agency. Again, if you're looking for dynamic and creative work environments at the office, Doug is your guy, write them and let them know you're an F-O-T-M. So back to my commute. Yes.

I would listen to Stafford. He had an afternoon drive show on 640 and he would sometimes it would be like Simpsons trivia. Oh my God. The best. The best. You know what I love the happy endings that Tina Trujani would put together. Tina's another great one.

Where is she today? And the funniest. Oh, Tina, another talent that unfortunately got it the same day I did. right so yeah i remember stafford came on after that and he was lamenting the two of you being no longer on the air because you're so talented oh tina's beyond me she's she's incredible you're very humble she's such a good person she is can you tell that i've been doing a lot a lot of yoga since i left radio namaste a lot of positive well you've always been positive yeah but you know now i'm doing a lot of just meditation.

I do meditation every morning. We're going to dive into the current life and times of Kelly Katrera and what's next for her very shortly. But I just want to ask you because you were there. Supriya Devetti. Did you have any relationship of Supriya? Because, you know, it's really funny. I was talking to Colleen Rush home about this. Colleen, I hope you don't mind me sharing.

Can you call her up and put her on speakerphone? No. Did I mention I love her? No. Do you? Yeah. Big Kelly. We were talking about how unusual it was.

was that we really didn't know each other that well. We've gotten to know each other throughout the summer quite well, and I feel really fortunate. But because if you work in radio and you work a different show, there's very little crossover. So unfortunately, I didn't get to know Supria. Because Supriah, who came on, I don't know when this was anymore.

Maybe in the spring, I've lost track of, time here but it was fairly recently she came over and talked about everything but she essentially had to leave because of threats she was receiving from 640 listeners who would get up she would explain it like they'd get riled up by the show they were listening to kind of in the previous evening and then they'd wake up and it would be a subria and she'd get the brunt of that like this this is a very ugly side to the whole thing you know what that's really interesting you know I know that that was her experience and I have heard that before but what I feel really fortunate about is I didn't really get that.

You know, when you, like, yeah, okay, there were some people that disagreed. But I, I, I, you could read between the lines and, there was nothing, there was nothing threatening in, in the, uh, emails that I got. You weren't getting threats. No, I didn't, I normally got really positive emails. So let me ask you this then. How much of that has to do of the fact that you're a white woman? I can't answer that question.

I don't know. It's not answerable. It's not answerable. But food for thought, perhaps, that Supria is a woman of color. And perhaps that made her bit of a magnet for this. I think that's unfortunate in 2025, if that's the case. Of course. Totally unfortunate.

But I will, maybe I was going to promote it. Maybe I'll tell you after the recording, but I'm working on something. I'm going to tell you when we stop recording, when we have our private chat here. but did enjoy my conversation with Supria, and she will absolutely be back in this basement. And as for Mike Stafford, so he did not get severed fairly, like you did. They called it cause,

and you know why it's all well documented on this program, but he did file, I don't even know what the terminology is, but he filed some kind of illegal action that you have to file it within two years of your dismissal or something. And he got in under the wire, and believe it or not, even though this has been years,

since he filed, that's still ongoing, like this whole pursuit of fair severance because he was at that station for over two decades. Yeah. I remember listening to Mike Stafford one day and I got in a car accident. Yeah. I'm the Gardner.

Yeah, I think that's Stafford's gift, I think, causes many a car accident. All right, much love to Mike Stafford, who will also, I'm just telling you, he will be back in this basement as well. That is my pledge to the listenership. okay so when you first got it even though you kind of you said you kind of um i i could see manifested it sure but how did i mean i don't this is a kind of a ugly question how did i feel

like was there any sense of i felt relieved that's what i'm looking for yeah yeah i did i felt relieved and i felt fine about it i think i think i felt so fine that i shot some people um you know what I was ready for a reset, I think. So that was fine. Well, you weren't enjoying your job anymore. No. No, and, you know, the only reason why I did radio was, it wasn't about the money money. But at the end it was.

It was, no, well, I guess it might have been sure. But, no, I think it was more of a habit at the end to tell you the truth. Like it's just what you do? Yeah, it's what you do. But I wasn't loving it anymore. But I just, yeah, I, I wasn't, I was ready for the break, so that was okay. Because it's been less than a year. Yeah.

This hits you in November, 2024, and we're talking in October 2025. Yeah. So do you, like, do you take some time to lick your wounds? You know, if I said, you know, I make it sound like it was positive, I, it was still a loss. You know, I was like, well, what do I do when I wake up now? And, you know, I stepped away from reading the news for about a month entirely. I was like, well, I'm done with the news. I don't care what's going on in the world right now.

And I got right into yoga and would sometimes be at the yoga studio twice a day. But this last year, to be honest, has been a huge year of loss. Like it started with, you know, I lost my job. which at one time I loved so I you know even though I didn't like it then it's still something I loved right right at one time sort of like you know when a relationship's ending you know there was a reason you started that relationship in the first place so I felt the loss there and then one of my very best friends died of pancreatic cancer I'm so sorry in the end of February I'm sorry. Thanks. And then I lost another really close friend in, I think it was June. And so it's been a really big year of loss,

but it's been a really good time to stop. Like, I feel very fortunate and reassess what the point is, really. And when you lose somebody really close to you, you reassess everything. Like I have been purging things because you realize that the stuff we collect or hang on to means nothing. That is just, that's, you know,

this is why I love talk radio because it was really about the connection for me. It wasn't necessarily about the topic. I would get calls from people and listeners that, you know, didn't have to spend any time with me. They just chose to. And you would get a call and I would answer and the person would start with, hey, Kel. I've never called myself Kel in my life.

So there was a connection. So, you know, you just go, what's it all for? It's fleeting. you know there's no guarantee on how your life is going to go so you know with all the loss then I started to you know spend a lot of time looking at what I want as I move forward and it's really like I want to approach everything I do from a point of uh is this is this going to spark some sort of joy even though I got all teary there sorry it's hard when you lose somebody close to you it really is no i know i know uh staffer just experienced a great loss and supria experienced

a great loss too fairly recently her husband passed away oh he did yeah oh i didn't realize that very uh i won't i think it's cancer but i think but yeah awful very young with a young young child yeah a daughter i think right yeah and uh i know that was uh she's still of course it's not something you get over necessarily. You just learn to kind of cope and manage. But I really appreciate your honesty here because you've lost these two people who are very close to you. And that that is the most traumatic thing you can experience. But then the second most, I believe this is something I read, that the second most traumatic thing you'll experience is the loss of a job. Yeah. So you may have had some sense of relief that because it wasn't sparking joy at the end. But at the same time,

and I've been there. I know, I remember, I was there. in 2018, I was there, and I could tell you, there's that sense of optimism and positivity that you can do something different now, and that's exciting. But at the same time, not knowing what's next is extremely stressful and can cause great anxiety. If you want it to. Yeah. Sometimes you don't want it to, and it still does. Maybe that's where the yoga comes in.

I guess you're in charge of how you approach things, though. Attitude is everything. Yeah. Well, it really is. Yeah. And I spent the last 10 months, you know, really doing a lot of work on my mat, like not just because I'm not a very flexible person. And that's literal and figurative. But, you know, I have, I feel like, yeah, I feel like the next move will be for me. I feel like where I'm going now is, is really, truly, it's terrifying because, you know, it's. something that I want to do on my own, but I feel like it's, it's going to be good, really good. Don't even, don't even tease what that is. No, I won't. But I have a question about yoga. Yes. Were you somebody who would practice yoga before you were fired? Yes. Okay, so when you were fired, did you just find you needed to do maybe more yoga because it was good for years? No, I found

I had time. I had no time. That's it. Time. Hosting a talk show is crazy. The amount of time that you have to spend reading and you're always thinking about it and being on the air. Because it's live, okay? So there's no safety net. No safety net. And you don't want to be exposed as ignorant to something. So you need to be well versed in a wide breadth of topics so that you can speak intelligently on almost everything.

But it's not just you don't want to be exposed. It's like it's your job. You have to know stuff. You owe that to the audience. I don't know. I take my job seriously. So, you know, they're paying you to do something, but not just that. It's, it's who are you talking to?

And why are you doing this at the end of the day, right? And, you know, I don't want to be misinforming people. You're a professional. I'm responsible, I guess. You replace me pots, for goodness sakes. No one could replace me pots. I just remember what I, so before you, before there was a Toronto mic, actually, I still remember Fearless Fred on Humble and Fred's podcast.

Yeah. And you defending me, and I remember you made this very, what I found to be a very funny aside about you want pressure. Try replacing May Potts on CFNY. That's pressure. Yeah. I can hardly remember it, though. You know, now I think about it and I'm like, oh, God, get over yourself.

But I think hosting a talk show is probably the hardest thing you can do. You know, on a daily basis, three hours. it sounds like a lot of work oh it is exhausting right yeah and because you have this wheel or whatever it's called like you got to throw to traffic breaks and there's commercial breaks it's it's live and you know I have to say if I I wouldn't want to do it with anybody other than Chris Creston the safety net that he gave that a good producer gives a talk show host It is, you cannot, you cannot overstate it how important they are to a show. And I think, unfortunately, that's a big problem right now because Heather was a very good

producer as well. These producers are gone. They're gone because, you know, unfortunately, pardon me? Is that cost cutting? Of course, of course, of course. Yeah, you need to pay people what they're worth. and if you're asking people to work really hard, start paying them to work as hard as you want them to work.

But Chorus's financial troubles... Yeah, apparently. It's not... Well, it's a good thing I don't have a lot of stocks. Well, I mentioned the name Alan Carter because he was one of the great people who jumped on the mic when I was at that GLB brew pub that day for the 640,

and Alan Carter was on Global at the time. With Farah Nasser, two people who visited me and we had great conversations, But they're also victims of this, you know, chorus cost cutting that has been rampant the last few years. I want to throw Colleen Rochholm in that bucket, although Colleen says, because Colleen doesn't... I think Colleen retired. Yeah, I think we need to talk about that. Like, I think...

Well, you'll have to have her to talk in. Well, we did. We had a good chat at Neil Young, and she is going to come by because she films a TV show in the city. And then when she visits the city for that TV show, she's going to drop by. So I will get Colleen Rush home, and we will talk about that. But she, yeah, she did retire. I do have questions for her, but that's a Colleen Rusholm thing.

So I shouted out Colleen on yesterday's episode. Did you? Because Lisa Brandt disclosed to me at the end of our chat. That she loves Colleen. No. What? That Brandt is a fake name. Oh.

And then I thought to myself, because I know there's a lot of fake names in radio, so I started rhyming off. It took me a long time to come up with Catrera. Well, Ketra is your real name. I've checked you out. That's your real name, right? Okay. So, Brantth, though, if you were kind of,

coming up with a fake name, why would you pick a name like Brandt? They make really good sausage. Do they? I think so. Is it DT at the end of that? Yeah. Okay. So you think she just saw the sausage and said that's for me?

Maybe. Oh, she said she went through a white pages or something and she was going through. Yeah. And she picked Brandt. I remember once I sat down, well, it was my first day in radio and I sat down. It was at a place called CKDA and it was like honestly WKRP, but it was in Victoria in the bottom of a hotel, a seedy. hotel the Douglas Street Hotel and I sat down at the mic and the production guy ran and he goes

what name are you going to use and I'm like uh Kelly and he goes no no the last name you can't use your last name and I'm like why he's like stockers I go oh my God what am I going to do why brand changed it so I called myself Kelly Dean and you know can I I don't change your name because there's something that happens when you change your name you you lose that ability to really be yourself because you're like, authenticity. Yeah. Because you're assuming a persona. Yeah. So unless you want to play a role then don't change your name. Right. Like, oh,

that's brother Jake Edwards. That's not me. What an insert real name here. And what do I know? Because I'm sure a lot of people that are way more successful than I've ever been have, I'm freezing. Can you hear me? Are you cold? Yeah, that's why I'm like, I'm going to put on my, let me just put on my jacket. I don't have the heat on yet. because it's been sort of nice.

Like, I guess it's colder in a basement, of course, because, you know, heat rises, Kelly. This is what they taught me. Okay. So do you want me to do this? Yeah, what? You warm up. By the way, you know who'd never changed your name

and had great success in this market? Who? Who? May pot. Is that a real name? I think so. I don't know. I don't know either, actually.

I was thinking of Aaron Davis. Oh, yeah. Who she? Erin Davis. You ever heard of her? She got fired. So don't feel bad about being fired. Oh, no, listen.

everybody gets fired. I've been fired a few times. Never for cause. It's not actually, I haven't been fired and let go. And it's always a change in direction. To be honest, it's the same thing.

The only difference is severance. Yeah, I've always got severance. You got severed fairly, which means not for cause. And that's where Stafford hit a roadblock because they just said goodbye

and gave them nothing. So I'm going to, if it's cool with you, well, here's a question for you. You mentioned the yoga. Yeah. Are you consuming cannabis? No.

So you're not consuming any cannabis. You're doing more... I'm doing hot yoga, like in a 41 degree room where you just sweat like a demon. Like you are, you look like you jumped into a swim. I think Humble Howard does that. Yeah, he does. Yeah, we've talked about it. Okay.

Have you ever done it with him? No, but I was going to once. And then I'm like, I don't know if I was. That's very intimate. So you just sweat a lot. Oh, like it is dripping. Like I have a sweat rag You're wiping your face

It's just it's going in your eyes It's like it takes a little bit of getting used to And it sounds absolutely appalling and offensive And maybe it is but I love it Well it's working for you Yeah Okay so I got more questions on the other side I'm actually going to play

A very short chat I had with a gentleman yesterday His name is Michael Davis And he's with Kinling And yesterday was the first episode where we had a new sponsorship from Kinling. So as you might imagine, as an independent guy here, a fiercely independent guy, it's always exciting to welcome new sponsors to the program.

So, Kelly, would you mind listening to this little chat ahead of Michael and we'll learn more about Kinling? I would love to. Michael Davis, tell me everything I should know and everything the listenership of Toronto Mike should know about shopkinling.ca. Well, I started Kindling to provide free one-hour delivery all day to the GTA, basically.

I found that I couldn't really find a reliable delivery service that was legal and didn't take six hours to get to my house. So, yeah, we started with one location in Little Portugal, offering free one-hour delivery from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., and it's trackable and discreet. We found a lot of success with that. People, it really resonated with people. Again, just wanting to get legal cannabis. delivered to their door, not have to go into a dispensary, not have to deal with out of stocks

once you've already, you know, left your house and driven to a dispensary. And we wanted to make it super simple and easy for people to get the product they want or need and get it delivered to their door. So an FOTM goes to shopkinling.ca, and then they can get free one-hour trackable delivery of their cannabis product every day all day? Every day all day, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. order up. Okay, Canada Kev is going to review shopkinling.ca, and he's going to report back to the listenership. Awesome to have you on board. Thank you, Michael. Thank you to the good people at shopkinling.ca.

How is your voiceover career going, Kelly? I want to know where my pot is. You know what? If you're waiting for pot, the ability to be able to track it, it's pretty good. I just put my imbecilines in. You can hear how my, it's got a little bit of the list. Be authentic, okay. Well, I wouldn't do this on the air normally, but yeah. Well, this is not really the air.

Yes, it is. To be discussed. So let's say you want some cannabis product, but you don't want to go to a store or meet a guy in a bag alley or whatever. So you go online. Yeah, you don't consume. I don't think anybody, no, no, I consume. I don't think anybody should go in a back alley to meet somebody.

I think you're asking for some trouble. But that's how people used to rule. Maybe. I thought it was you'd have to go spend some time in some guy's basement and play video games with him for a while. That's how it used to was. I'm thinking of Eric Stoltz in Pulp Fiction, right? Something like that. You've got to go hang out there and pick it up. So, but now you go online, shopkinling.ca. And within an hour that cannabis is delivered to you.

And it's not like they're wearing like a cannabis jacket or the label. What does a cannabis jacket look like? Did you see my 102.1, the edge jacket? I saw that. Sandra Plagacka sent me that from Ottawa. Yeah. Did you get one of those? No, I didn't have a nice leather one like that.

I did have one that was like a vinyl. Oh. Vegan leather. Okay, okay. Vegan leather. So you're a vegan? No. Okay, because I'm worried about the lasagna because there's beef in that lasagna.

Oh, my God. I'm looking for that. So shop kindling. CA, okay. Oh, we're still on this. Yeah, well, but now I'm back to your voiceover career. Yes.

Because you, you had it going on. I mean, CBC, the Olympics and everything. Yeah. How's it going? Well, I just, I've, you know what, as I say, it's been a year of loss and change. Right. I decided, and I was terrified about doing this,

to leave the union. What does that mean for us? So there's an actor's union, and for a long, long time, if you wanted to get any of the good, voice work, you had to be a member of the actors' union. And to get in, it's kind of hard. But I did get in and I, you know, would pay my union dues every year and it allowed me to get access to the auditions and get a shot at the jobs. So I had heard that during the pandemic, things

kind of went a non-union, which means that there were a lot of people that were doing smaller jobs for less money. Right. But the production houses had started to hire them and not hire union people as much. And so I finally just left the union. So I had to leave my agent who was so lovely.

And she said, hey, you're welcome back anytime. But I am now with Roger King. I know Roger King. He made the documentary about David Marsden and other DJs who got to play what they wanted. Yeah, he's a good friend of mine from university, actually. Okay, did you ever see that documentary?

I did not. Now I feel bad. Sorry, Roger. Did you ever meet David Marsden? Yeah, actually, I hung out with David Marsden. You know, Wolfgang Klein had a... He doesn't live too far from here. He had an edge party this summer.

You know, I was invited to that? Yeah, I know, and I think I told you should go. You told me I should go. Pete Fowler said I had to go. You missed a good one. I personally didn't feel like I should go because it was clearly a reunion of people who worked at CF and Y.

Well, Kelly, this is going to come to it. There's a shock to you. I never worked at CFN. No, but you... So wouldn't that be weird? You don't think that's even a little bit weird to show up at a reunion? You're the reason why we did it.

Well, that's not true. No, well, it is true, right? Anyhow. Well, not all listeners were invited. If you're invited to a party, you should go, don't be rude. I think if you're invited to, and I'm being sincere, because it's very close to here. I could have biked there in like 10 minutes.

God, it's a nice... Well, he did all right, right? He did all right. Shout out to Wolfgang, if he's listening at home. And, I mean, Humble and Fred were there. So I got reports, Bob Willett was there. He comes over here once. Lana Gay was there.

Yeah, Lana Gay was there. But here's my question. Robbie J. was there. Real question for you. If you aren't, let's say there's another, an unrelated industry. Let's say a newspaper. Let's say the Toronto Star is having a big reunion of everybody who worked at the Toronto Star. Okay?

You're with me? Yeah. And let's say you are a big fan of the Toronto Star and you've even blogged about the Toronto Star. Maybe on a podcast you talked about the Toronto Star. Star. And you get invited to this reunion of people who worked at the Toronto Star. Would you Kelly Catrera accept the invitation and be

a person at this party who never worked at the Toronto Star? Serious question. I don't know. The Toronto Star Party. I don't want to offend anybody. It doesn't sound as fun as the one of two point one edge party. Come on. No, it's true.

It's just so you missed a really good one. I missed a good one that I'm honored And I talked to Dave Marston for quite a while, actually. What was his hair looking like? He's got great hair. Yeah. Last time he was here, he had very long hair. But he had long hair last year.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. He has long hair. Okay. I thought he was Rob Zombie at first. Because he's like got really long hair. And you know, he's in his 80s. Yeah.

He's looking. I just had a chat. This is a nice man. Just before you came here, Kelly, I had an hour conversation with a guy who's 90 years old. And this will drop in the Toronto. I'll make feed next week, I think. But this gentleman was sharpest attack and fascinating, and he's 90. Well, because he's been around for 90 years.

Geez, like that's so ridiculous. Of course he's fascinating. So, do you think your voiceover work is being affected? By the invisible lines, kind of. I hope not like it, Kelly. But I'm thinking more of the emergence of AI. Oh, yeah. Is that eating into your word?

Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Okay. I don't like AI because I don't, there's no soul to it. It's listening. It is always listening. You've got your computers on.

Oh, I know. But Rob Pruss from Spoons did put something together using AI. And I'm going to play it because I love Rob Pruss from the Spoons. Okay. So this is from Rob Pruss from the Spoons. Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling. Our electronics of the past We need to do it today

That means we need Recycle my Electronics.ca Today Today Today So don't you think it's nuts That that that's just AI

Spitting out like a piece of music? You know what? One time I would have said that But no, not anymore. Not anymore. Not anymore. Because it really sounded too polished. So there's no human flaw in there?

Yeah, you need the flaws. You need the flaws. Okay, so AI is going to pick up on this and start making mistakes. I think artwork need, well, maybe, yeah, probably will. I think artwork needs mistakes in order to be interesting and relatable. The imperfections are what make it perfect here. Okay, so we've got, you had a rough year, Kelly. I don't think I had a rough year

But you lost your job It was a year of loss I had a real year I had a real year I had a profound year So but you took this as an opportunity To kind of reset things Yeah right

So what can you say About what's next For the very young and vibrant Kelly Katrera Well Who's wearing braces for God's sakes Yeah What is next is

Straight teeth no my teeth people keep looking at me going what do you got those things in for you your teeth are fine but you said as you age things shift yeah oh fuck this house is shifting don't get me started what else what happens it's things shift clearly i'm okay in the dense breast department but no things start to change and shift i haven't looked um they start to change and shift so that's where i'm at shifting changing and what's next for you I am going to say this, though it terrifies the heck out of me because, like, when I worked with Humble and Fred on the podcast, they would say, Kelly, just start a podcast. And I'd say, I don't want to just start a podcast.

And they'd say, just do it. What are you waiting for? And I said, I just, I need to know what it's about. And they're like, I don't know, just make it about you. And I'm like, I don't want to make it about me. That's not what I want to do. I need, I need it to be about something. And so I'm not making it about me.

I am going to do a podcast. It will not be about me, which makes me very comfortable. Well, it can be a little about you. Like, my show is not about me, but parts of me will slip into each episode. Well, I'm in it, but it's not about me. Because it's, it's purpose is, uh, it's purposefully not about me. Are you ready to say what it might be about or is that something, you know, I think I'll have to come back and talk about that.

But this is big, exciting news, because you basically said on the public record, and this is binding. That I am going to do a podcast. You're going to have a podcast. Because a lot of people wanted and still want Mike Stafford to have a podcast. And that hasn't been, he has to be in the right headspace and he's not yet been able to do so. But you are now in the right head space to launch your own fiercely independent program. Yes. That's exciting.

I feel like, and it's going to be different. Like, it's not going to be a long, rambling. event, it will be, it will be put together more like a, a show. How similar will it be to the Kelly Katrera show that people would have heard on 640? Not at all. Well, it will be similar because it will be interview based. But it, it won't be, it's a different animal. We're moving on.

When did you decide you were ready to do this? Before I lost my job. Oh. Almost, yeah. I would, I would say that I wanted to do. do it, but I didn't want to lose the security of the paycheck. No, I've heard that story before. It is nice that I don't know how you get paid, but every couple of weeks of money just

shows up in your account. Yeah, that was okay. And people get addicted to that. Well, you just, you don't become addicted. You rely on it. Right. Right. I was working hard for the money, though.

Do you feel you were fairly compensated for the work you did at 640? Sure. That was okay. It was all right. I don't know. I'd like to, I don't know what's fair. I wasn't complaining. When can we possibly expect to hear the first episode of this podcast?

I wanted the podcast to launch, truth be told, last month. September. Yeah. And then the summer was so freaking nice. Because you have a cottage. Oh, the weather was great. And I went to France in May, and I went on a yoga retreat, and that was phenomenal. so time got away and I decided you know what I decided to give myself a break as well

you know what it doing it earned it well doing a podcast uh is a labor of love and you need to be ready for it and it's I know it's not easy work uh and so I needed a rest before I got started you know and when we stop recording will I get more detail about this podcast you will probably get some detail because I might need your help. And will I have to sign an NDA? No, you just have to promise to. Pinky swear? No, we'll just put it in the vault.

Is that it? Well, it doesn't have to be it. Like, that's a nice thing about having a podcast. Like, there is no one who says, I need 22 minutes. I need 44 minutes. Well, you started playing the extra music. I could turn it off, though. Yeah, but then that sounds.

Is there? And because it doesn't have to, honestly, it doesn't have to, I had something coming up that just got moved. Like, I literally don't have to end this. I just thought I was doing. you a favor after 75 minutes where you were you have we been talking you were 75 minutes this was an emotionally okay listen I want to apologize right now for wasting your time for 75 minutes thanks for you don't get it Kelly you don't get it you don't get it I know that's self-deprecating

not your time I'm talking about whoever's listening to time they love it there's anything that is going to change your life Kelly Kelly make your day hearing you share your experience what happened at 640 my weeping I think that was compelling. Like I'm telling you that's why this particular podcast exists because so that I can come on and cry. For long form conversations with people like you, because you can't get a taste of what's happening of Kelly Kachara by doing five to 10 to 15 minutes. Like you really do need to sit down, take a deep breath, take off the braces for a little bit and have like let it come out. And then at the end of it all, you've got 75 authentic minutes with somebody that people adore. I was

just warming up. Well, I didn't record it, so we have to do it again. Awesome. Can I tell you about Nick Aienis and his two podcasts that he has? We're recording tomorrow morning, actually. You could, but I want to know why Ridley Funeral Home has a tape measure. What would you like to measure with the Ridley Funeral Home tape measure? How much time I've got left?

So shout out to Nick Aeney who has a podcast called, well, let me talk to Brad about that. He's open to that. A stopwatch is a good idea. Or an alarm clock. What that cost. But Nick Aini's has podcasts called Building Toronto Skyline and Building Success. And we're recording one episode of each tomorrow morning. Brad Jones has a great podcast called Life's Undertaking.

And all three of those podcasts are worth your while. Does he work for Ridley's funeral home? He owns it. Oh. Brad Jones is the funeral director at Ridley King Home. Life's Undertaking. Yeah. And once every two weeks, he knocks on that side door and we record a half an hour.

The aforementioned Rob Pruse loves it. Can I just tell you one thing? Yeah. I'll bring it down. I did think a side thing I might want to get into for a while. This is before. Funeral services. Yeah.

Lisa Brandt said the same thing yesterday. You know why? I've been to a lot of funerals where they've not done a great job of eulogizing or, you know, walking you through this person's life. And I've been to a handful that did a great job. And those are just. I mean, that's the, that's the final show, right? You got to do it well.

What are you doing on November 29? Palma's Kitchen. I'm having a live recording. If you come out to that, I'll introduce you to Brad Jones from Ridley, General Home. Would you like that? Rob Proust put this together. But I have to speak quickly. You ready, Kelly?

And that brings us to the end of our 1,781st show. And here's Rob and Gord. wrote this song together. Romantic traffic. Go to Torontomike.com for all your Toronto Mike needs. Thank you to Great Lakes Brewery. Kelly's got her beer. Palma Pasta. Kelly's got her lasagna.

Nick Ianis. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Nick. Kinling, welcome aboard Kinling, Recycle MyElectronics.ca, Blue Sky Agency, and Ridley Funeral Home. See you all. Next week for more adventures on Toronto Miked. Thank you.