Accolades

I cannot recommend Michelle highly enough. She was an exceptional mentor throughout my medical school interview preparation and played a significant role in building both my confidence and my interviewing skills.

From our very first session, Michelle was incredibly supportive, approachable, and genuinely invested in my success. She created a comfortable environment where I felt encouraged to ask questions, make mistakes, and improve. Her feedback was always thoughtful, constructive, and tailored specifically to my strengths and areas for growth. I really appreciated all of the resources she offered in addition to the sessions as well for me to study on my own!

What truly sets Michelle apart is her exceptional depth of knowledge and her ability to clearly explain what admissions committees are looking for beyond simply giving the “right” answers. She helped me understand the purpose behind different interview questions, what qualities interviewers are assessing, and how to effectively communicate my experiences in a way that was authentic, reflective, and memorable. Rather than encouraging rehearsed responses, Michelle taught me how to tell my story with confidence while highlighting the personal qualities and competencies that medical schools value.

She provided practical, personalized strategies for tackling challenging and unexpected questions, helped me structure my responses so they were clear, concise, and impactful, and consistently pushed me to think more deeply about my experiences and motivations. Her feedback was incredibly detailed, specific, and constructive, allowing me to refine both the content and delivery of my answers with each practice session.

Beyond her expertise, Michelle’s encouragement and positive attitude made a tremendous difference. She consistently motivated me to perform at my best while helping me develop the confidence to present my authentic self. By the end of our preparation, I felt significantly more prepared, polished, and confident going into my interviews.

I am incredibly grateful for Michelle’s guidance and dedication. I would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone preparing for medical school interviews. Her professionalism, knowledge, and genuine commitment to her students make her an outstanding mentor and coach.
~ Jas, Instructor, UCLA

Michelle is incredible; she is very accommodating with scheduling and tailored each session to address the areas I needed most improvement. Within the short amount of time I had, Michelle provided great strategies to enhance my responses and taught me planning techniques for timed scenarios. With her guidance, my confidence increased significantly, and I felt more prepared going into the test. Michelle is exceptional at what she does, and I would highly recommend her to anyone preparing for CASPer and MMIs. 
~ Harnoor, Dental Student Candidate 

Michelle provided me with invaluable personalized coaching and mock interview sessions that helped build my comfort and become more aware of my strengths and weaknesses. Her support empowered me to present myself as best as I could and secure a spot in medical school. I highly recommend Michelle to anyone who is looking to improve their interpersonal skills!
~ Arsh, Medical Student, University of Alberta  

Michelle has helped me learn valuable skills and lessons, including my self-awareness, confidence, and communication. She always creates a safe space for our conversations, and I appreciate how much effort she puts into helping me achieve my goals. She is truly inspiring and makes me feel empowered to improve my abilities. I am forever grateful for her support in my growth. Thank you, Michelle!
~ Akash, Medical Student, University of Alberta 

Her attention to detail, organizational skills and work ethic are excellent. If you give Michelle a task, it will be done on time and accurately, even if she needs to learn the task and its context. She has been professional and has shown excellent interpersonal skills and good judgment in difficult situations.
~ Eleanor Stein, MD

Wunjo Inter-Actors bring life to simulations. Nothing beats another human for simulating human emotional reactions and physical movements. I feel deep in my bones that the magic of standardized patients is in the removal of so much of the technical stuff that students hide behind. The Inter-Actors help put the care into your healthcare providers.
~ Alan Rauk RRT, B.GS, Instructor, Respiratory Therapy Program, SAIT

Michelle is a gifted communicator with a rare combination of observation, research and assessment, and problem-solving skills. As a consultant on three of my projects, she offered powerful solutions for my company’s core issues. Armed with the strategies and processes she taught, I have improved my bottom line, streamlined communication with customers and vendors, and landed new contracts.
~ Tracey Anderson, Marketing Manager, Brasso Nissan

Michelle is creating an army of heart ninjas.
~ Chris Ippolito, Alberta Film and Television

I’ve been employed as a Standardized Patient (SP) by many different programs, and Wunjo’s debrief method provides by far the most effective learning opportunity for students because it is inquiry-based. Most feedback models are strict and limit the SP to simply stating how they felt. The depth of insight students take away from debriefs on my Wunjo contracts is unparalleled over many years of experience.
~ Natalie, InterActor with Wunjo 15+ yrs 

I struggled with certain aspects of public speaking that Michelle helped me overcome. Her patience, positivity, and encouragement motivated me to make necessary improvements in my perception of public speaking, as well as improve my confidence in my abilities. Michelle has truly been integral in my journey of self-improvement, and I am very excited to continue working with her in the future.
~ Arsh, Undergraduate Student, University of Calgary

For the past several years, Wunjo-is and Michelle have provided Inter-Actors for the Pre-Hospital Care programs here at SAIT. The Inter-Actors are very skilled in their craft and are always well prepared for the interactions with the students.  We primarily present cases where the students encounter “patients” who are in a crisis situation. These can range from being withdrawn and solemn to being aggressive and combative, real-life situations they will encounter in their careers.
The interactions can be very intense, and the participants are often drawn into the scenario so they can fully experience the “reality” of the situation, but in a safe and controlled environment. The facilitated debrief that follows allows the students to reflect on the interaction and develop strategies they can incorporate in the future.
Mannequins and fellow students cannot provide the passion and expertise that the Inter-Actors bring to these scenarios. I truly feel that the experiences the students have in these controlled settings prepare them for the times when they will actually have to face these situations in real life.
~ Ken Cowie ACP, Faculty Instructor, Paramedicine Portfolio, SAIT

Team Building—Michelle joined us to present her seminar “Identity Pirates.” This thought-provoking experience provided a safe space for growth. Our executives have adjusted their perspectives on interpersonal relationships and the ways they approach their friends, families, and peers. Michelle showed courage in asking questions about Indigenous cultural appropriation, and we look forward to cultivating our relationship further.
~ Indigenous Students’ Council, University of Calgary

Michelle was incredibly thorough and effective in pulling out gems along with important information from our team. In the end, we ended up with a document that is useful on many levels of our organization.
~ Amy Lafleche, Leadership Team, Natural Health Services    

Michelle is a dynamic Keynote presenter. Her passion for education and concepts on communication came through in the participant feedback from the Education conference as life-changing, interactive, lots of analogies, and a new perspective on “Identity Pirates.” Her energy filled the room, and she left the audience wanting to hear more.
~ Kimberly Wheelans, Project Coordinator, SAIT Polytechnic Preceptor Education Day  

A Discoverer: This is what one will experience if you spend any time at all with Michelle. You may not know where your strengths lie; she will help you discover them. You may be unaware of hidden potential; she will search them out and open them up to you. You may even be quietly uncertain, cautious, and unsteady…welcome to a person who will enable you, enrich you, and encourage you. In the brief weeks I spent with Michelle at a workshop, various unrealized skills and strengths emerged. I am, after a very long time, working at a job that I absolutely love at SAIT Polytechnic…and I owe much of that to Michelle Pearson.
~ Paul Miller, Tutor, SAIT Polytechnic

Wunjo-is Inter-Actors, led by Michelle, has been involved in our High-Fidelity Simulation in the Diagnostic Imaging programs at SAIT for over three years now (as of 2012). The response from students has been fantastic, with comments like “The Inter-Actors made it feel so real in labs,” and the employers indicating to us on several occasions that they noticed students better prepared for practicum. Students developed confidence in dealing with a varied population group prior to actually dealing with patients in emergency situations.
Building a student’s confidence is everything, and the Inter-Actors from Wunjo-is helped contribute to their success! We look forward to our continued relationship with the Inter-Actors and training our students, and highly recommend this for all forms of people-interaction careers to help build interpersonal skills and confidence.
~ Lisa Allen, Academic Chair, Diagnostic Imaging Programs, School of Health and Public Safety, SAIT Polytechnic

We were not sure how this would work…this “Withdrawal of Care” scenario. There was plenty of skepticism from others and some degree of foreboding from myself…Left to our own devices, we would have muddled through, no doubt. What made it truly memorable and unique were the Inter-Actors. Each one made it very believable and emotional without being maudlin or overwhelming. Their immediate feedback to the participating students was insightful, precise and given with a gentle, caring attitude…The response from the students has been overwhelmingly positive…The students will remember this learning experience for the rest of their careers.
~ Don Leishman, RRT – Respiratory Therapy Program, School of Health and Public Safety, SAIT Polytechnic 

I developed a new perspective on life through observing Michelle’s empathy for others. Michelle is an asset to any employer because she sees the world in more than black and white. Her multi-coloured approach to life means ideas, strategies and solutions that may be missed by others will be proposed by her. Michelle’s unique depth of perception enables her, as a team player, to be a “blindspot detector,” foreseeing obstacles and challenges before they arise.
~  Joshua Peters, Director of Communication, Joy Smith Foundation

Professionalism is very difficult to assess without bias. The Inter-Actors have experience in assessing this and have had no prior knowledge of the students’ abilities. The Inter-Actors were well-versed in what to look for while the students performed the ultrasound. Their feedback was valuable. Some comments from the Inter-Actors were items that, as sonographers or instructors, we wouldn’t necessarily perceive. Overall, we can see a huge advantage to using Inter-Actors. I have only skimmed what was apparent to me during my short exposure as to where this might lead in future simulation labs.
~ Carrie, DMS program, School of Health and Public Safety, SAIT Polytechnic

Michelle Pearson brings a positive, dynamic leadership to her work. In my work with Michelle, I have seen her tackle complex problems with creative solutions and an assertive, collaborative style. She is a pleasure to work with, always.
~ Sherri Moore-Arbour, Director of Communications at BCSTA

Michelle is one of those gifted communicators with the ability to see issues from many sides and weigh all the evidence before jumping to conclusions. She has strong opinions but also highly respects the points of view of others and is never disrespectful. I would not hesitate to partner with Michelle on any project or business enterprise. She is highly engaged and highly committed. She gives absolutely nothing short of stellar work and is a generous, kind, giving person.
~ Scott Steele, Account Director, Corporate and Public Affairs, Argyle Communications 

I live in Greece and I was looking for some help regarding my business and life. I listen to one of Michelle’s podcasts and I get enthusiastic with the way she was thinking. I sent her an email and in a few days we had this wonderful conversation on Skype. Although Michelle live in Canada, I felt her very close to me, like I knew her from years and she manage to help me get into the right path for my work and my life balance. Thank you!
~ Spiros Paschalis, MS Paschalis, Piraeus, Greece  

The process with Michelle is really quite remarkable. I started out with anxiety and a desperate need to improve my communication abilities when public speaking. Michelle has given me new skills that I now trust and use on a regular basis. Now, I feel confident and accept the responsibility of the next level of professionalism. There is still more work to do, and this start has set me in the right direction. Thanks for all your help to date, and I look forward to my work with Michelle in the near future.
~ Geordan Clark, Asunya Strategies 

I learned a few life-altering things from you, and words can’t even express how important they were in my development. Thank you. You changed my life.
~ Rick Titan, Wrestling with Consciousness

I have worked with and observed the work of Michelle Pearson over a period of fifteen years or more (as of 2010). I have always found that Michelle brings passion, intelligence, diligence, and honesty to all her endeavours. Her expressed views, no matter how well couched in tact and humour, can be counted on to reflect her position; you can count on Michelle for a sincere and candid opinion.
~ Christopher Youngren, Medical Council of Canada

Thank you! You have a wonderful service, and you taught me a lot about my staff and myself. I feel as though I am managing with a purpose again.
~ Kondwani, General Manager, Gold’s Gym 

Thank you, Michelle. You have helped me excel in my business. I have a clearer vision of what I need to do and how I need to get there. I will highly recommend you for your outstanding work. I appreciate all your time and effort, and I am glad you believe in me.
~ Brian, Courtesy Chrysler

I have found Michelle to be absolutely honest, trustworthy, reliable, conscientious, courteous and completely dependable. She is well organized, efficient and extremely competent, having a wonderful positive attitude and a great sense of humour. Michelle is confident and able to communicate with people from all walks of life. Her communication skills, both written and verbal, are excellent.
~ Anthony Ley, Senior Partner, Alexander G. Ley & Sons, London, England

Michelle Pearson is an intelligent, highly motivated woman who approaches life with passion and integrity.
~ Carrie, Actress, owner Dance4Play 

Michelle’s passion and dedication to community, communications, and entrepreneurial spirit will, in my belief, always see her at the door of success. I always leave a conversation with her feeling inspired and energized.
~ Marshall, GT Collision Centre  

Although most of us have done the case several times in the last few years, you were still able to open new doors and bring clarity on how we could think during the case and during the feedback session. I feel my work will improve a great deal in my everyday life just from the training you gave on that day. Thank you, and keep up the good work.  
~ Tony Smith, Medical Skills Centre, University of Calgary UME

Michelle is great at managing large groups, and her one-on-one attention is second to none. She is also trustworthy and holds your standards as high as she would her own. I would highly recommend that any organization hire such a spectacular person.
~ Adrienne, PJB Primeline

Michelle’s professionalism and dedication to her clients define her ability to deliver projects on time and on target. Her creative skills enable her to deliver ideas and recommendations beyond expectations. She always puts her clients’ expectations as her greatest motivator to deliver successful and impactful work. Expect extraordinary when working with Michelle, and be prepared to look at your business in a new, brighter light.
~ Ward Stene, Project Coordinator Emergency Medical Responder Program, SAIT Polytechnic