\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"MIKE](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4529630_web1_260827-Pederson-Group-0001.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS <\/p>\n
Justis Pederson (right) president and CEO of recruitment firm Pederson Group, and creative communication director Cassidy Bezan in their media production space at 201 Portage Ave.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s here where two of the Winnipeg recruitment firm\u2019s five staff members \u2014 Justis Pederson, president and CEO, and Cassie Bezan, director of creative communications \u2014 produce Careers Under Construction, a weekly, hour-long podcast featuring interviews Pederson conducts with Manitoba business people.<\/p>\n
Depending on the source, something like 45 per cent to 90 per cent of podcasts don\u2019t make it past three episodes. Careers Under Construction has beaten those odds, publishing 57 episodes since it debuted at the end of August 2025.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all part of the Pederson Group\u2019s digital marketing plans. Recruiting typically relies on cold calls and one-on-one interactions, Pederson said. He hired Bezan in 2022 \u2014 one year after he and his wife, Melissa, started the Pederson Group \u2014 to multiply the company\u2019s efforts by creating and implementing an online strategy.<\/p>\n
Careers Under Construction is an evolution of that strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just more brand awareness for me (and) for the business,\u201d said Pederson, 36. \u201cThey see us sitting down with leaders, industry experts, subject matter experts in their industry, and then that demonstrates our expertise as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pederson Group specializes in recruiting for engineering and construction roles, so the podcast initially focused on those industries.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Construction offers) great careers, great quality of life and a lot of people just don\u2019t know about it,\u201d said Bezan, 31. The solution? \u201cLet\u2019s bring people in and talk about why you love your job.\u201d<\/p>\n
The podcast\u2019s focus has since widened, and Pederson now interviews business people from a variety of industries. Guests have included real estate mogul Sandy Shindleman, former NHL player Dale Weise, and lawyer and businessman David Asper.<\/p>\n
The founders of F\u00eate Ice Cream & Coffee, Jenna Rae Cakes, and Coal & Coal have also made appearances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the stories that we share,\u201d said Bezan, who grew up in Teulon before studying media production through Red River College\u2019s creative communications program. \u201cI just never realized how many cool stories were in Winnipeg.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pederson has noticed a few themes emerge over the course of interviewing 55-plus guests about their career trajectories. \u201cFailing over and over and over again is how they\u2019ve become successful, and sharing about what they\u2019ve learned through their failures is probably the most common theme.\u201d<\/p>\n
The interviews have also underscored for Pederson how important it is to push forward when starting a new venture, even when the results aren\u2019t immediate.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to stay consistent and be persistent and see it through for a long time, likely, before you\u2019re gonna find any success,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter talking with so many guests, that\u2019s something that\u2019s just drilled into my head now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The financial investment to get Careers Under Construction going was significant, and it doesn\u2019t have sponsors or include advertisements. Still, Pederson said, the podcast has helped him form relationships and create awareness about the Pederson Group.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s led to companies from the United States and throughout Western Canada reaching out to him and offering him work. \u201cThis podcast has certainly generated multiple six figures since the start,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nearly 16 million Canadian adults, or 46 per cent of the country\u2019s age 18-plus population, now listen to podcasts at least once a month, according to the Podcast Exchange, a podcast advertising network headquartered in Toronto.<\/p>\n
Canadian podcast listeners are increasingly interested in Canadian content, said Kattie Laur, a Brantford, Ont.-based podcast specialist and founder of Pod the North, a resource for podcasters.<\/p>\n
\u201c(It\u2019s) been pretty significant when you compare it to most Canadian media consumption habits,\u201d Laur said. \u201cCanadians are showing us with their play buttons that they are pretty stoked to listen to more Canadian content and want to hear more voices from (Canada).\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Pederson and Bezan are pleased with the response Careers Under Construction has received so far. Each episode attracts between 1,500 and 2,000 listeners, Pederson said, adding those figures are steadily growing. (Bezan also publishes a video of every episode on YouTube.)<\/p>\n
The podcast\u2019s audience is primarily between the ages of 28 and 44. Fifty per cent of listeners who start an episode finish it, Bezan said, and more than 35 per cent of listeners return the following week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not doing this to get 200,000 views,\u201d Pederson said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re never going to be The Joe Rogan Experience. That\u2019s now what we\u2019re here to do \u2026 For us, this is a long-term play. We\u2019re in it for the long haul, which is why we\u2019re consistent. We just do one episode every week, and we plan on doing that for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Aaron Epp Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. Read more about Aaron<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Aaron produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n