The WHO Project with Paul Gittens

What happens when the life that helped you understand who you were suddenly changes?
In this episode of The WHO Project™, Paul sits down with Julian for a deeply personal conversation about loss, identity and rebuilding. After losing his mother, father and sister across a period of profound change, Julian reached a point where the hardest question was no longer about career or success. It was much more fundamental: Who am I now?
Julian reflects on the people-pleasing that followed him for decades, the dream about his father that helped restore a sense of agency, the moment he realized his old professional path no longer fit, and the decision to begin building something of his own. Along the way, he discovers that self-trust doesn't require perfection, that becoming is rarely solitary, and that one of his greatest strengths is connecting people and opening doors, and that it was present all along.
This is a conversation about what remains true when life changes, and what it takes to build from there.

What makes someone willing to choose an unconventional life before there is proof it will work? Television writer Sean Jara traces that willingness back to a childhood defined by safety, play, and a father who made possibility feel normal. He joins Paul Gittens to discuss creative discovery, following his gut, learning through failure, becoming a father, and recognizing writing as the gift at the centre of his life.

Writer, producer and director Alex Zarowny reflects on how childhood loneliness and imagination shaped her creative life. She speaks about identity, fear of failure, vulnerability, becoming a director and the realization that the stories she created to survive eventually became the stories she uses to help others feel seen.

Success is easy to admire from the outside.
But what we don’t always see is the belief it takes to keep going when nobody else sees what you see.
In this episode of The WHO Project™, Paul sits down with Zechariah Thomas, founder of Swift Hockey, to explore the story behind one of Canada’s fastest-growing hockey brands.
Zechariah talks about growing up as one of the few Black kids in his Oshawa school, finding belonging through hockey, realizing early that his path would not be the NHL, and discovering that his real gift was not just playing the game — it was seeing how the game could become more accessible for others.
This conversation is about identity, belief, faith, speed, entrepreneurship, failure, pressure, and what happens when your conviction becomes stronger than everyone else’s doubt.
Because sometimes what others call delusion is really the beginning of becoming.

What happens when success, ego, and financial pressure force you to rebuild your life?
In this episode of The WHO Project™, entrepreneur and Corex Creative founder Dwayne Holness shares how growing up in Toronto's Jane and Finch shaped his identity, resilience, and ambition.
Dwayne opens up about building a business from his mother's garage, experiencing creative success, battling financial setbacks and depression, and the lessons he learned about leadership, faith, and trusting himself.
This is a conversation about identity, reinvention, and the journey from proving yourself to trusting yourself.
Performance starts with self-perception.

In this episode of The WHO Project, Paul sits down with his daughter, Justine Gittens, for an honest conversation about identity, confidence, pressure, comparison, and learning to trust yourself at 18.

In this episode of The WHO Project, Paul sits down with Cassandra James to explore how her upbringing, cultural background, and life in a single-mother household shaped the way she learned to see herself.
Cass opens up about the mirror moments that challenged her to lower her guard, trust herself more deeply, and bring more of her authentic self into her relationships, her career, and the rooms she now leads in.
Through stories of loyalty, boundaries, vulnerability, and stepping into a client-facing leadership role, this conversation reveals how self-perception evolves when you stop protecting the old version of yourself and start becoming the person you know you’re meant to be.
Because growth begins the moment you stop defending who you had to be — and start trusting who you’re becoming.

In this episode of The WHO Project, Paul Gittens sits down with Ross Cadastre for a conversation about responsibility, risk, and reinvention.
Ross reflects on growing up in St. Lucia, witnessing his father’s rise, fall, and rebuild, and how those early experiences shaped the way he came to see himself. From immigrating to Canada to building a career defined by ownership and problem-solving, Ross shares how capability became conviction, and how pressure, failure, and integrity helped shape the leader he is today.
This is a conversation about self-perception, resilience, and the weight of becoming the person others rely on.

Camille Lawrence always knew she wanted to be in the entertainment industry.
But pursuing that path required more than opportunity or ambition — it forced her to confront how she saw herself.
In this episode, Camille reflects on the early experiences that shaped her identity and the version of herself she carried into that pursuit, and the realization that she had achieved what she set out to accomplish: becoming a Television Producer.
Then, something happened that changed how she saw her life.
We explore how tragedy forced her to re-evaluate not just what she was building, but who she was becoming, and how that moment reshaped the way she makes decisions, navigates uncertainty, and defines her life on her own terms.
Because the real transformation wasn’t the dream becoming reality.It was the moment she began to find her way back to herself.
The WHO Project is not about what people do. It’s about how self-perception shapes who they become.

Karen Geller’s journey is a reflection of what it takes to confront — and transcend — the beliefs that quietly shape how we see ourselves.
From her early days in agency to senior leadership at Diageo, and now teaching the next generation at Seneca College, her path wasn’t just built on experience — it was shaped by the internal narratives she had to challenge along the way.
In this episode, Karen shares the moments that tested her — navigating setbacks, balancing motherhood and ambition, and facing the self-doubt that can show up in high-pressure environments.
But what changed wasn’t just her circumstances.
It was the beliefs underneath them.
The ones that made her question her voice.The ones that made her hesitate.The ones that no longer served who she was becoming.
This is a conversation about resilience, identity, and the internal shift required to transcend limiting beliefs — and step into a new version of yourself.