Young Changemakers 2026: Madi Vanstone In Conversation with Paul Holmes

0:01Madi Vanstone: The Provoke podcast brought to you by Provoke Media and produced by the international broadcast specialist Marketeers.

0:25Paul Holmes: Welcome, everybody, to the latest edition of our Young Changemakers podcast. For those of you who have not been following along so far, the Young Changemakers Initiative is something we've been doing for about a decade now. It was initiated by We Communications, initially to honor young women who have either overcome adversity or come from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. We sort of broadened that out this year to make it an award for young people rather than be gender specific. And we're pretty delighted with the outcome. And we have four young changemakers who will be joining us on stage in Chicago later this month for our Global PR Summit.

1:21Paul Holmes: but we are also inviting them on the Provoke Media podcast. And today's guest is Maddie from Toronto and from GCI Health. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, and your story?

1:43Madi Vanstone: Absolutely. My name is Maddie Vanstone. I'm with GCI Canada. um my story starts pretty young I was born with a disease called cystic fibrosis um so I was kind of thrown into advocacy um pretty early on my family kind of jumped right in so that's my background um and that's what I love to do and I'm really happy that I get to um do it professionally and and work with uh so many amazing people um my journey really kicked off when I was 11, there was a treatment that became available for cystic fibrosis patients that was absolutely life-changing. It saved my life. I was lucky enough to participate in the clinical trial.

2:30Madi Vanstone: It was a blind study and the results were incredible. Unfortunately, when the study was over, we found out that the medication was not covered by the government in Ontario. So my mom, Beth, and I, we decided to start advocating for access, not just for myself, but for the other patients. We realized there were real gaps in the healthcare system.

2:55Paul Holmes: Can I just interrupt briefly with a question? Did your mom have any kind of background that prepared her to be an advocate or was this just of necessity she took on the role?

3:10Madi Vanstone: Yeah, she had no background. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. She left her job to take care of me. And so she really had no background in advocacy or healthcare or anything. I always say like she was the best at being a mom and she did what she had to do to make sure that I got what I needed. So together, and she always made it up to me. She said, do you want to fight for this? And I said, yes. And so we did it together. And we learned a lot together. And we're still both very involved in the space. But yeah, she came into it, no experience. And we just kind of learned as we went. Of course, there's so much to learn.

3:54Madi Vanstone: There's so many lessons. And the healthcare system is very confusing. So she was overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed. but we did it together. So it was beautiful. It was a beautiful experience to do with her.

4:06Paul Holmes: And tell me a little bit about sort of the kind of advocacy you engaged in and how you moved the needle.

4:15Madi Vanstone: Yeah, it started off as a lot of media interviews. I think we kind of learned that we had to make as much noise as we could. And so that started with reaching out to media outlets and telling them, hey, this is what's happening. It's wrong and something needs to change. We went to Queen's Park, which as an 11-year-old girl was terrifying because as a kid, I was like, these people are so important. And I was just terrified.

4:48Paul Holmes: And tell the people who are not in Canada or North America what Queen's Park is all about.

4:57Madi Vanstone: Yeah, Queen's Park is the parliament that they're based in Toronto. So that's where all the politicians are. Lots of crazy stuff happens. It's quite a popular spot. There's lots of protesting that happens there. It's a busy spot. it's a it's a beautiful building I remember going and I was looking around it's an old building it's it's beautiful um but it's scary it's very scary um I was terrified of the people because in my head I was like these people are so important they hold so much power you know um and at that time I was like I'm just a kid like what how am I going to get through to these people um

5:42Paul Holmes: it was scary yeah and tell me a little bit about how that sort of evolved because it it feels to me that sort of having having affected change at such an early age it could have gone a lot of two ways right you could have fallen in love with it which clearly to an extent you did yeah or you could have been like okay I'm done with this now I'm just going to go of a normal life. So tell me a little bit about that decision making process.

6:15Madi Vanstone: For sure. You know, it as a kid, I keep saying it was terrifying. I actually had a lot of trauma from it that I didn't realize I had until I got a little bit older. And I was like, I was just I was filled with anxiety. I ended up I did I took a step back from advocacy just because I felt I couldn't show up the way that I wanted to. And in my heart, I wanted to keep going. I think to this day, there's so many changes that need to happen. But I think I was in high school, I was like, I need to take a step back. And I did. And I ended up going to therapy. But in my heart, I knew that like, I didn't feel complete without doing advocacy.

7:03Madi Vanstone: Like I, it really felt like my life purpose, that it was something I wanted to do. And so I really acquired the skills to kind of handle my anxiety and, you know, heal a little bit. And then I ended up stepping back into it. There were more cystic fibrosis drugs coming down the pipeline and those were not covered either. I was successful in my journey to get the first drug covered. And then, you know, these drugs kept coming down the pipeline and the government kept saying no. And I said, how can you do this to people like children, people that they're born with these things? Like it's just infuriating that they can just say no.

7:46Madi Vanstone: It just, it feels so heartless. And that it really, it just set a fire in me. I kept hearing the answer no. And I was like, I'm not, I'm not taking it. I couldn't. I fell in love with advocacy. I really did. And although I took a step back, I think I needed to to come back and show up fully in it. It's just, it's something I love to do.

8:11Paul Holmes: So tell me about your journey sort of through education and into your career. How did that evolve and and how did you manage to balance pursuing a profession with continuing to do your own obviously very personal advocacy work yeah um you know I so I went to school for

8:40Madi Vanstone: marketing I took classes in graphic design I just was doing classes here and there just to really get some skills behind me that I could utilize in advocacy. And my mom and I were kind of doing it solo for a while. I really didn't know how to get into advocacy as a career. Like there's no career path that's called like advocacy. You know what I mean? So I didn't really know what to do. I guess I'll just do this. Like my mom and I were doing what we were doing. We were fighting for what we had to fight for. And eventually the years went by and I was like, hey, like I need to figure out what I'm going to do as a career.

9:24Madi Vanstone: And at this time I had made so many connections in the PR and comms industry. And so I kind of started looking around. I was talking to, you know, people that I knew and they said, why don't you try PR and comms? I was like, hmm. And then I started learning more about how you can involve advocacy in that and you can really integrate it and how powerful the tool, you know, communications is and PR and like how you can really cross the two over, you know, advocacy and PR and comms. Like I just figured, I was like, oh, like I can make this work. I ended up getting connected with GCI Canada and I was really nervous because I didn't have an education in PR or comms or anything like that.

10:10Madi Vanstone: My biggest tool was like, I had my experience. So I went and I said, this is what I have. I'm passionate about it and I'm driven and I want to make change and I would love to be on the team. And I'm so grateful that they took me in and it's been great ever since. It's been, I think, almost two years now. So I'm just really thankful that they saw something in me that, I mean, at that time, I don't even know if I saw it in myself.

10:41Paul Holmes: So how much of the work that you do with GCI sort of fits the advocacy profile and how much of it is perhaps more traditional public relations? And have you found the balance pleasant or fun or interesting? Yeah.

11:02Madi Vanstone: Yeah, honestly, I feel like, I mean, when I started, I was thrown on, I was both on like pharmaceutical accounts and more of the commercial accounts. And I was happy with that. I mean, I really felt that I was learning a lot. I wanted to be really well-rounded. So really learning and acquiring all the skills that I could was, I couldn't have asked for anything more. Since I started, I've now moved on to more. I'm only on pharmaceutical clients now. I work with lots of patient groups. I think GCI Canada knows where my passion is. So they really do accommodate where my strongest skills are. And they set me up to do what I love to do.

11:51Madi Vanstone: So every day I get to wake up and I'm excited because I know that I go to work and I can help people. which is, I think, you know, it's truly a blessing because I just feel so lucky. I wake up every day and I'm helping people and I don't think everyone gets to do that. So it really fills my heart. Great. And it seemed to me, looking at the submission and thinking about it, that there was an element of both a curse and a blessing to your background.

12:32Paul Holmes: That on the blessing side, it gives you an understanding of the patient position. and I know I've spoken with people at GCI in the past about making patient centricity the heart of so much of what they do and so that gives you a very valuable perspective. At the same time you have a condition that requires managing so tell me a little bit about sort of you know what you see as the opportunities and what you see as the challenges.

13:07Madi Vanstone: Yeah I mean I think PR in comms, it's a very demanding industry. I think it's very fast paced. And I'm so lucky. I, you know, my team at GCI Canada, they're very understanding. You know, I have appointments I have to go to. When I get sick, sometimes it really just takes me out. But like you mentioned, I don't think I would be who I am or where I am without the challenges that I've faced. I really think that the challenges I have faced have shaped me into the communicator that I am and the person that I am and the empathy that I have for our clients and just people. Like I see both sides. And I think that's something very special.

14:00Madi Vanstone: I feel very lucky that I have faced the challenges I have, which it sounds really weird to say. But every single thing I've gone through has led me to where I am today. And I couldn't be happier with where I am. So I wouldn't change a thing. Of course, I still face struggles. I still have challenges. I'm sick as we speak. But, you know, I just I push through and I like I said, I wake up every day and I know I have a job to do. I have, you know, there's changes that have to be made and it makes it all worth it.

14:42Paul Holmes: So it feels like you're in a broadly supported environment. And one of the questions that I I like to ask is sort of whether you found people who have been able to mentor you. And I'm sure there's some sort of broad general mentoring. But have you come across anybody in the profession who's experienced similar challenges to you that serves as an inspiration? Or do you find yourself in a unique position?

15:21Madi Vanstone: I really find myself in a unique position. I haven't come across many people that have gone through the same circumstances, but I truly believe that everyone goes through things and everyone navigates things differently. And I think, you know, I really want to mention my first manager who brought me into GCI Canada. Her name was Rosalind O 'Connell. She just, she believed in me so much. She believed in the potential I had and the experience I brought to the profession. And I, at that time, I mean, I was terrified to come into the industry. I felt like I wasn't prepared. I felt like I wasn't capable of doing this work.

16:09Madi Vanstone: I felt like I didn't know a lot. And she just every day she would say, Maddie, you can do this like you. She just she believed in me. And I think that's a big reason of why I am where I am. And she was so understanding when I was going through things. And she has moved on from GCI Canada, but we talk all the time. And I could not thank her enough because she's the one. She's the reason I'm here. She is. She's the reason I'm with GCI Canada. She's the reason I get to work with such amazing clients and amazing patients and amazing people. And she's just an incredible person. So I have to mention her because she's awesome.

16:55Paul Holmes: And just more broadly, what have you been grateful for about the PR industry in general, and perhaps more importantly, is there anything that you would change? Is there anything that you would say to people in positions of authority in the industry that you think would make us better at accommodating this kind of diversity?

17:29Madi Vanstone: Yeah, I mean, I think that this industry has so much potential. I think being a communicator is absolutely amazing. I think you can make incredible changes. I think, you know, in the industry, it's such an amazing industry. It really is. I think just humanizing the industry and focusing on the people, you know that we're working for and that we're working with just remembering that there are humans behind every client you know there are people real people with with real problems and especially when we're talking about the pharmaceutical clients I mean I'm I'm doing it for the patients you know what I mean like I'm I'm doing it for the people that the people that need help.

18:26Madi Vanstone: But I think, you know, like I said, humanizing the industry, I think is something that, and we're getting there. I think we've come a long way and I'm seeing it more and more, you know, the talk about patient perspective and bringing that in at the beginning rather than at the end of a project, you know, like discussing with the patients while we're creating campaigns or, you know, just involving them the whole way through, I think is something that we can work on and we're so capable of. And I don't think we should ever lose sight of who we're really doing this work for, if that makes sense.

19:10Paul Holmes: Yeah, no, that makes perfect sense. Yeah. And, you know, I think it's impressive that you can balance sort of the people who pay the bills and the people who need the help. To me, public relations has always been about getting sort of the behaviours of organisations and the needs of the stakeholder into alignment. And nowhere is that more important than in healthcare. So I'm excited to hear that you've sort of found that meaning in the work that you're doing. Well, thank you, Maddie. That was a great chat. I'm looking forward to hearing even more from you in Chicago later this month and meeting you in person.

20:06Paul Holmes: But in the meantime, thanks very much for your time.

20:09Madi Vanstone: Thank you, Paul. It's been great to chat.

20:17Madi Vanstone: You've been listening to the Provoke podcast, brought to you by Provoke Media and produced by the international broadcast specialist, Marketers.