🎧 Listen to the Episode
Welcome to Amplify: Elevating Patient Voices, a podcast powered by Patient Voice Partners. In each episode, hosts Ursula Mann and Brent Korte bring together patients, caregivers, and healthcare change makers to spark bold conversations and build a system that truly listens.
In this episode of Amplify, Ursula and Brent welcome a new member of the Patient Voice Partners team — Izi, a recent graduate bringing fresh energy, digital storytelling skills, and a passion for amplifying underrepresented voices. She shares her journey from student leadership to nonprofit advocacy, what inspires her to pursue work that helps others, and why trust and representation are so vital in healthcare.
Why you should listen
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Discover how fresh perspectives from younger voices can energize teams and open new pathways for impact.
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Learn why trust and representation are key when amplifying patient and caregiver voices.
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Hear how Izi turned student leadership and nonprofit advocacy into a passion for healthcare storytelling.
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Be inspired by her advice on embracing uncertainty, resilience, and learning through failure.
Episode highlights
- [00:01:30] Meet Izi: her background, education, and early leadership experiences.
- [00:03:40] Launching a YouTube channel and leading a team as VP of Video.
- [00:05:00] Lessons from nonprofit work and the power of digital storytelling to build community.
- [00:06:00] Why healthcare — and how personal identity shaped Izi’s passion for advocacy.
- [00:07:30] Building trust and creating safe spaces for patients to share their stories.
- [00:09:45] What Izi looks forward to learning and contributing at Patient Voice Partners.
- [00:10:50] Embracing uncertainty, failure, and resilience as part of the journey.
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Together, we can bring more voices to the table and shape the future of healthcare.
Share this episode, leave a review, and follow Patient Voice Partners on LinkedIn to help amplify more voices.
Transcript
[00:00:00] Ursula: Welcome to Amplify Elevating Patient Voices, a podcast powered by patient voice partners, where real stories spark bold conversations. I’m Ursula Mann.
[00:00:13] Brent: And I’m Brent Korte. Together. [00:00:15] We’re talking with patients, caregivers, and the healthcare change makers who are listening and taking action
[00:00:21] Ursula: from personal journeys to policy shifts.
[00:00:24] Ursula: These are the voices shaping a healthcare system that listens.[00:00:30]
[00:00:33] Ursula: Brent and I are really excited to have somebody new on our team join us today. But Brent, you and I have been doing this for a little while, so we’re pretty experienced. What does it mean to you to have somebody with new fresh [00:00:45] ideas come around?
[00:00:47] Brent: It’s always exciting. Throws a little bit of the extra energy into the team and I think that’s really good.
[00:00:51] Brent: I think that’s just new energy, new ideas, all that type of stuff, and somebody else for Barry to argue with.
[00:00:58] Ursula: I love that, although we have to watch it ’cause [00:01:00] he’s really good. So I agree. New energy, new ideas, keeps it fun, keeps us fresh. It keeps us on our toes, although you keep me on my toes, so. I think it’s pretty good.
[00:01:10] Ursula: Izi was just been a breath of fresh air. She’s actually a [00:01:15] recent graduate with an interesting background, and I’m really excited she’s gonna join us today. Brent, are you ready? Are we diving in? Are we doing this?
[00:01:23] Brent: Yeah, it’d be great to explore Izi’s background a little bit more and get her perspective on things, so she’s got great energy, so really excited about today.[00:01:30]
[00:01:30] Ursula: Awesome. Me too. Izi, over to you. Can you share your name, your background? You’re new to Patient Voice Partners. Tell us a bit about yourself.
[00:01:39] Izi: Of course. Thank you guys so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here. My name [00:01:45] is Izi. As mentioned earlier, I am a recent graduate from the University of Ottawa.
[00:01:50] Izi: A little bit about me is I studied commerce with a specialization in marketing and throughout my university career, I’ve had the privilege to work in [00:02:00] various digital marketing and communications based roles. On top of that, I’ve had a few student leadership activities that I’ve participated in school clubs such as the Women in Management Network, the Bipoc Business Society, and then outside of school, I volunteered my time for [00:02:15] a non-for-profit called Links to Locks, where I helped them with their social media and marketing initiatives.
[00:02:21] Brent: Very cool. Thanks Suzie. And look, I had the opportunity to be involved in the interview process as you joined PVP patient focused partners. [00:02:30] So maybe just talk a little bit about some of the things you’re most proud of. Like when you were a student, you mentioned a couple of the groups that you’re involved in, but maybe just one or two of the things that you’re most proud of.
[00:02:38] Brent: Uh, revisit of an interview question.
[00:02:40] Izi: Yeah, for sure. During my time at the Women in Management Network, we [00:02:45] launched a YouTube channel. And that was something that I was a cornerstone in creating and being a part of, and I just loved the creative process of that. It was my first time ever getting to run a team.
[00:02:56] Izi: I was the VP video and I had three directors under [00:03:00] me. So my first time really in a leadership position where I had people reporting to me and learning how to delegate tasks while still being a warm place for my directors to come to for advice if needed, and support. During [00:03:15] that school year, we actually were able to win the most Inspiring Club award.
[00:03:19] Izi: A key to success as to why we won that was because of our YouTube channel. So that was something I was really proud of during my time.
[00:03:25] Ursula: Izi, that’s amazing. You were driving some innovations. You had leadership roles as [00:03:30] a student early on, and even incredible volunteer experience early on. Now you’ve graduated, which is a huge, exciting area to be stepping into.
[00:03:39] Ursula: And what are you most excited about as you start your working career?
[00:03:44] Izi: By being in [00:03:45] candid, what I’m most excited about being recently graduated is no more exams. I’m most excited to just grow both professionally and individually. I believe that those go in hand in hand. I’m excited to see where [00:04:00] this journey takes me with patient voice partners.
[00:04:02] Izi: I’ve always enjoyed doing work that helps individuals other than myself, I think. A lot of times you can get a job and work for a company that is simply just self-serving and beneficial. But here at PVP, [00:04:15] we’re advocating for those who often are forgotten and don’t have a voice, and coming to work every day knowing that I’m helping other people.
[00:04:22] Izi: That inspires me to put my best foot forward always.
[00:04:25] Brent: It’s inspiring for us, and I think it’s not a surprise that for [00:04:30] your background and your experience, that we went to a Gen Z person, not someone that was a boomer like myself or. Ursula who’s much younger than I am. You’ve built that strong foundation, and I know even when we went through the early interview process, some of the platforms that you talked about, I haven’t even [00:04:45] heard of, but I’m an older down the road a little bit, but just the various blogs, reels, you mentioned, YouTube, different things, and some of the work you’ve done for nonprofits.
[00:04:55] Brent: What did those experiences teach you? What did you learn about that as more around the power of [00:05:00] storytelling?
[00:05:00] Izi: It really taught me just how you can reach people personally through the internet. I think that was one of the biggest things, especially working most recently at Cystic Fibrosis Canada, there was a lot of storytelling that we did and a lot of [00:05:15] advocacy we did through our work.
[00:05:16] Izi: Just going through comments on our social media platforms, hearing people share their stories, and knowing that people felt connected. People felt they had a community no matter where they were. They felt that just coming onto a social media page and seeing
[00:05:28] Izi: advocacy posts. [00:05:30] It made them feel as though they had a community.
[00:05:32] Izi: That was one of the most important experiences that I’ve learned from the power of storytelling through digital media is just the fostering of a community.
[00:05:41] Ursula: Izi, I love the way you connect your creative skills to [00:05:45] amplifying real voices and really making it happen. When you think of amplifying voices, Izi, what does that mean to you personally?
[00:05:51] Ursula: I really appreciate you shared earlier how it’s really motivating for you to get up every day you move from a business background to healthcare. I guess I’m [00:06:00] wondering a little bit about why
[00:06:01] Izi: healthcare? That’s a great question. If I being honest, when I was younger, I always thought I would work in healthcare going into university.
[00:06:10] Izi: I was actually first enrolled in kinesiology. I wanted to be a [00:06:15] physiotherapist or work pt, and I wanted to work more so like in sports health, but I still wanted to work in that healthcare setting. Although just as I was taking courses, I took a sports administration course and I completely fell in love with the administration [00:06:30] aspect of things, and I decided to make that switch because I felt as though I would still be able to work in healthcare if I wanted to.
[00:06:36] Izi: But I’d also be able to explore other industries as I saw fit and see really where I could shine and grow. But coming back to healthcare was exciting for me [00:06:45] because I was able to actually, like I mentioned earlier, do work that helps people. I think beyond that, as someone from two, I guess three backgrounds that are underserved, I’m a woman, I’m black, my family immigrated here.
[00:06:58] Izi: I think oftentimes I [00:07:00] know the firsthand the experience of not having your voice heard, not having your story told, or there only being a single story about who you are. And I want to change that for everyone in vulnerable groups, whether that’s through healthcare or [00:07:15] other vulnerable groups. So they might feel they
[00:07:16] Ursula: are it.
[00:07:18] Ursula: Thank you for sharing that, Izi, and I think that’s so important. I think a big factor that sometimes is overlooked is the trust factor. And I’d love for you to comment on, in addition to having your voice heard, [00:07:30] what does it mean to build trust in the space so that people even feel comfortable sharing their backgrounds and information?
[00:07:38] Izi: I think for building trust, knowing that for the audiences that their integrity will be maintained throughout the [00:07:45] process. I think that’s an important part of building trust. I think being honest with what is going to be shared, what will be used, and also letting people have freedom and liberty to share what they feel like they wanna share at the time.
[00:07:59] Izi: I think that’s a [00:08:00] good way for us to build trust, and I think also having trust fosters real genuine connections within what we’re trying to do here.
[00:08:08] Brent: It was a great answer. I think what you’re talking about, just how you build trust, it’s such an important component [00:08:15] and such an important aspect of us engaging with patients.
[00:08:18] Brent: I think we say that collectively, not just within. Patient voice partners, but us as a society within Canada and within a healthcare system and so on. But as you start this next chapter with us at Patient [00:08:30] Voice Partners, that’s exciting to think about what lies ahead for you that’s new in your career, like really getting started in your career.
[00:08:36] Brent: And as we said, it energizes you and energizes us. But what are you looking forward to most to learning and contributing here?
[00:08:44] Izi: I’m looking forward to [00:08:45] learning more about the healthcare sector and the ways in which certain communities are underserved and how we can do better to serve those communities and improve their quality of life and their quality of service.
[00:08:56] Izi: I’m also just looking as coming in here as one of the younger members of the [00:09:00] group. I’m looking to really learn and be mentored from everyone here around me. I think that’s a joy from being younger, that I can really take so many life lessons from people who have so much life experience as well. And want to see me.
[00:09:13] Izi: Well, in general,
[00:09:14] Brent: I [00:09:15] think that was very kind the way you said that. The younger member of the group. Yeah, by a little bit. And then also, I can’t remember exactly how you worded, but basically he didn’t make us sound as old as we are. So really appreciate that.
[00:09:25] Ursula: You look super young. I told you, I showed my son a picture of you and he [00:09:30] said he’s not a grandpa, so come on.
[00:09:32] Brent: Hey, I have a very proud Grandpa, but life’s good that way and looking forward to continue to share my journey through Grand Parenthood as we go through these podcasts for sure. But. I guess, Izi, is there something that you could share with our listeners really [00:09:45] from your own journey as early on as it is in your life, in your career, and so on?
[00:09:49] Brent: What would that be?
[00:09:51] Izi: I would say be accepting of uncertainty and embrace it in the sense that I started university in 2020 in the height [00:10:00] of COVID. As I was wrapping up my journey, I was going into an A time where the job market was very unstable. And there was a lot of uncertainty in my beginning and in the end of my journey.
[00:10:10] Izi: And I just trusted in myself, and I trusted in the fact that I would make [00:10:15] decisions that would lead me to the right places and the space that I was supposed to be in. The things that didn’t work out for me were never for me in the first place. And my hard work would show through regardless of uncertain times and [00:10:30] also just.
[00:10:30] Izi: Learn from your failure and rejection is redirection, and you will end up where you’re exactly supposed to be and you’ll be happier for it each time.
[00:10:39] Brent: Learning from failure – my mantra, that’s such a key. An important thing to be comfortable with [00:10:45] is learning through failure and learning through other people’s failures, quite frankly, as well.
[00:10:49] Ursula: And it’s a good lesson to learn Where you are is where you’re meant to be. Although sometimes it takes a little while to be able to reflect back and say, okay, that wasn’t such a negative experience, and here’s what I had to go through to get [00:11:00] there. But we’re so excited to have you as part of the group busy, and we know you’re gonna be working on a lot of really interesting things with us.
[00:11:07] Ursula: Some of the things that you mentioned today with our team and that you shared with us and our listeners that are important to you are also things that are important to us, and [00:11:15] that includes hearing from underrepresented communities and figuring out what’s important to them. One of the reasons Brent and I started Patient Voice Partners was exactly that reason as well.
[00:11:26] Ursula: You don’t notice what is around you until it comes [00:11:30] across your plate. I realize that representation matters and you sometimes don’t understand or know what representation is missing until you expose yourself to different situations where you all of a sudden realize what’s amis because of the [00:11:45] experiences that you’ve had personally and professionally.
[00:11:47] Brent: Great having This conversation with Izi
[00:11:50] Ursula: So thank you so much for sharing .
[00:11:52] Ursula: With your perspective about beginning your journey, things that motivate you, what drives you every day, and we’re excited to work alongside [00:12:00] you for the creativity and energy that will help us amplify voices in powerful new ways.
[00:12:06] Izi: Thank you guys so much for having me. I’m so excited to help and be here on this journey, especially early on as well.
[00:12:14] Brent: Great. Thank you Izi.[00:12:15]
[00:12:18] Ursula: Thanks for tuning in to Amplify a podcast powered by patient voice partners. If today’s story moved, you share it. Leave a review and help us amplify more voices. [00:12:30]
[00:12:30] Brent: If you’re a patient or caregiver, you can join Patient Voice Connect. To share your experience and help shape research and care, visit patient voice partners.com to sign up or learn more.
[00:12:40] Ursula: If you’re a clinician advocate, innovator, or system [00:12:45] leader, and you’d like to be a guest on the show or share a story, reach out directly through the contact form on that same page. You’re also welcome to join anonymously if preferred.
[00:12:55] Brent: Follow us on LinkedIn at Patient Voice Partners rep. Behind the scenes content and [00:13:00] to meet our upcoming guests.
[00:13:01] Ursula: Until next time, stay connected. Your voice [00:13:15] matters.