Sue has been described as a Dr. Ruth/Dr. Phil hybrid, with a sass that’s all her own.
Sue cut her teeth in media starting in 1993, when she hosted a #1-rated radio call-in show for close to six years called Sunday Night Sex With Sue with Standard Broadcasting on The Bear CKQB in Ottawa. She spent a further six years with Standard Broadcasting as the syndicated host of Love and Romance on Canada’s largest talk station CFRB Toronto, and CJAD – Montreal from 2000 to the end of 2006. As an accomplished, professional clinical sex, relationship and marital therapist, Sue loved the immediacy of connecting with her audience directly through the medium of radio. Called “Canada’s funniest, and kindest relationship therapist”, by Elm Street magazine, Sue was voted Ottawa’s favorite radio show by The Ottawa Express Newspaper. She markets primarily to the Adult Contemporary market of men 25-49, and women 30-55, and her funny, irreverent, yet always appropriate talk that she delivers with enthusiasm and inclusiveness has always been a ratings winner. Sue has been described as “having a laser-like view that targets relationship problems, and troubleshoots them quickly, winning her legions of fans”. (Ottawa Citizen, 2001) She then went on to host a 13 episode series called Unzipped, which aired nationally on Global Television and The Movie network in 2005. Sue also wrote and helped executive produce this series, and worked with national and international sponsors to get this series successfully to air. She made four trips to the Banff Television Festival, NATPE, as well as visits across the country doing marketing and PR for the series. She continued her television experience hosting a lifestyle and relationship show on Roger’s Ottawa, and has been a regular contributor and featured guest on such shows as Penn and Teller, Canada AM, CBC Newsworld, and CNN.
Sue understands both the business and entertainment of media. She was the only host to ever bring in national sponsors over and above the sales team at Standard Broadcasting. Sue is the Past Chair of the Canadian Women in Communications, and CWC’s national Volunteer of the Year, as well as a member of The American Women in Radio and Television. Sue has also won the prestigious I. H. Asper Broadcast Entrepreneur of the Year Award given by The Candian Association of Broadcasters where she was mentored personally by Leonard Asper of Canwest Global. Sue continued her professional training with courses in radio, television, new media, and broadcast technology (gaming and wireless), with degrees and certificates from Carleton University (hons BA), Laurentian University (M cert sexuality), Ryerson University (broadcasting) , Algonquin College, and The Banff New Media Institute (New Media). Sue applied for and received two digital television license in 2001, (The Single’s Channel and Passion Television) and lobbied distributors, set up programming schedules, and was involved in all aspects of the regulatory and license requirements in attaining and selling of those licenses.
Sue is the past national President, and Chair of the Board of UNIFEM Canada, the Women’s Development Arm of the United Nations, and as such was answerable to the United Nations, New York. Sue conceived and started “The UNIFEM Mothers Day Card Campaign”, which is now taking hold internationally, and has captured the attention of such people as Oprah Winfrey, and Bono. She was a founding board member of The Shirley Greenberg Women’s Health Centre at the Ottawa Hospital, a Woman of Distinction Winner, and a Top 40 Under 40 nominee. She is a current board member of The Famous Five Foundation about promoting women as nation builders. Sue has been involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation in Ottawa, as well as community building activities such as Alternative education (Churchill School Association), and The United Church of Canada Amalgamation process (Kingsway United).
As a professional speaker and comic, Sue has spoken on issues of intimacy in business and media, and her much heralded talk called “Even Superwomen get Stretchmarks” to such organizations as Universities (Queen’s, York etc.), Department of National Defense, pharmaceutical companies (in Asia, and North America), women’s conventions and private companies throughout North America. She has dual Citizenship, Canadian and British, and has experience marketing to European media companies.
Sue is a regular contributor to a number of Canadian and American magazines on popular culture including Elle, Men’s Health, and Chatelaine. Sue is also the author of two books on sex and relationships, with a third to be published early in 2009. Sue currently is back on air on EZ Rock with Astral Media hosting Love and Lipstick, a call in magazine show targeting women 30-55.
Sue McGarvie (613) 355-1786 radioshrink@rogers.com www.sexwithsue.com