Alberta Chartered Professional Accountants (CPAs) are remarkable. They’re experts and entrepreneurs; innovators and change makers; early adopters and trailblazers. And they each have a story to tell. Listen to the Uncommon Sense podcast to hear Alberta CPAs share their stories and insights on leadership, business, education, finance, technology, and so much more. Uncommon Sense is produced by the Alberta CPA Education Foundation’s Hesje CPA Knowledge Centre.
Tiffany Chow CPA, CA, CBV is a Partner with the accounting firm of Ernst and Young in Edmonton. She's also an advocate for inclusivity in the workplace-- an interest that led to her serving on her firm's Pan-Asian Professional Network, which aims to advance inclusivity across the firm. In this encore episode of Uncommon Sense, Tiffany talks about her work with that network as well as her…
On this encore episode, we're revisiting our conversation from last season featuring Jim Sand CPA, CA, CAFM. Jim is an experienced entrepreneur and business leader as well as an active, dedicated community volunteer. In this discussion, Jim shares some of his insights about what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur, and reflects on a lifetime of volunteerism in support of community health…
We kicked-off last season of Uncommon Sense with an episode featuring Cheryl Gibson KC, FCPA, FCA, a distinguished CPA who is also one of Canada's most-decorated competitive swimmers. We're happy to bring you this episode again as part of our "Uncommon Summer" series. In this episode, Cheryl talks about what it was like to earn medals at the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, and many other…
We've got a different kind of episode to kick-off the summer edition of Uncommon Sense. Regular listeners know that over the last season, we asked each guest to share a piece of "uncommon sense" with our listeners, whether that was a life hack or some words of wisdom the guest had received at some point in their career journey. For this episode, we've compiled some of the many memorable "uncommon…
We're wrapping up this season with a conversation featuring a CPA who seems to never run out of energy when it comes to supporting organizations and causes important to her—Debbie Gorsline FCPA, FCMA, a recipient of CPA Alberta's 2026 Distinguished Accomplishment Award. On this episode, Debbie talks about her career path and reflects on the work she's done to support organizations such as CPA…
Content Warning: This episode covers a variety of topics, including discussion around sexual abuse and violence, which may be upsetting to some listeners. If you or someone you know could benefit from the resources discussed in this episode, please visit https://www.sace.ca/contact/. Mika Kitagawa-Friesen CPA, CMA recently received CPA Alberta's Distinguished Accomplishment Award, in part because…
Our guest on this episode is Jason Labonte CPA, CMA, a Certified Executive Coach. Jason shares some perspectives on the value and benefits of executive coaching and how coaching can help professionals hone their leadership skills. He discusses the qualities and characteristics of successful leaders, and how the demands on leaders are changing. Jason is also an accomplished Ironman athlete, so we…
In Part 2 of Sarah Carver's conversation with host Erin Schwartz, Sarah discusses the impact of tariffs and AI on small businesses such as C-West Custom Fixtures and how these impacts are being addressed. She also talks about the path to success for women-led businesses in traditionally male-dominated business sectors. As well, Sarah shares her reasons for being a dedicated supporter and mentor of…
In the first episode of this two-part conversation, Calgary CPA Sarah Carver joins host Erin Schwartz CPA to talk about her career path and how her decision to become a CPA instead of a lawyer led to her current role as Financial Controller for C-West Custom Fixtures as well as co-founder of her own design studio. A common theme underpinning Sarah's career has been her belief in the value of…
Stephen Bergstrom FCPA, FCMA is semi-retired. Well, sort of. In Part 1 of a two-part conversation with CPA Education Foundation Director Erin Schwartz CPA, Stephen explains what he means when he says he's unclear on the concept of retirement and describes how he stays busy (very busy) during his semi-retirement. Stephen chats about his career as a CPA and accounting educator—a career that included…