Celebrities & Speakers at the Ottawa Fall Home Show

Bryan Baeumler

Bryan Baeumler - HGTV Canada Celebrity Contractor

Presenting at the Sleep Country Stage on Friday September 23, at 6:00pm and Saturday September 24, at noon.

Bryan doesn’t believe he’s put in an honest day’s work unless he gets his hands dirty. A natural-born teacher, the Gemini-award winning host has been educating and entertaining viewers across Canada and the US since 2007 on the hit shows Disaster DIY, Canada’s Handyman Challenge, Leave it to Bryan, House of Bryan, Bryan Inc.  and his upcoming show Island of Bryan. Bryan’s quick wit and easy-going personality have made him a huge hit with viewers on all of his home renovation shows. 

Learning valuable tricks of the trade from his father, a meticulous aircraft engineer, Bryan spent his childhood summers building his family’s cottage from the ground up. His entrepreneurial spirit emerged at the age of 14 when he opened his own handyman business doing odd jobs for neighbours.

With so much of his youth invested in building, it’s hard to believe Bryan’s life almost took a completely different turn. After earning a dual degree in Political Science and Business at The University of Western Ontario, Bryan was headed towards a career of practicing law. Realizing he’d rather be renovating than being chained to a desk, his innate passion for building took over and he traded in his tie for a tool belt and founded Baeumler Quality Construction.

A few years, some more kids and a couple of hit TV shows later, Bryan continues to tackle home renovation projects, be the spokesperson for numerous products and expand his growing construction business. His drive, work ethic and focus have enabled him to achieve continued success professionally, while continuing to be a caring husband and father.

For more information about Bryan, visit bryanbaeumler.com

Sue Pitchforth

Sue Pitchforth of Decor Therapy Plus is an International Award-Winning Designer, media personality and speaker.

Sue’s approach to design is refreshing, unique, inexpensive, yet yields luxurious results. Believing the home is an expression of your life and personality, Sue is known for making design easy, fun and affordable. Forget everything that overwhelmed or intimated you about design, it’s a whole new world when you work with Sue.

Believing the home is an expression of your life and personality, Sue says most people usually have a lot of what they need, they just don’t know it. “My clients tell me all the time how surprised they are that we can turn a room from blah to wow- with so little investment.” Sue’s design philosophy always includes the “Three E’s”. Edit. Energy. Enjoy.

Sue is a leader in the industry with her unique virtual design sessions, helping clients all over North America.

Emma Terrell

Emma Terrell - aka The Urban Botanist

Emma Terrell is the creator and owner of The Urban Botanist. An international speaker featured in BBC news; Emma is an empowering citizen scientist who advocates for the natural world. She is the host of The Urban Botanist's Living Wilder series, and Lee Valley Tools YouTube channel.

Always bringing a fresh, inspired, and engaging perspective to the hobby of horticulture, Emma encourages people to grow their green thumbs through her eye opening and creative plant-based workshops. She has spent the last 6 years combining her education and passion with greenery to bring together The Urban Botanist! Designing and creating stunning interior feature walls using nothing but green, her designs will have you wanting to bring greenery into all of our indoor living spaces. Her mission is to encourage people to engage with nature through ecofriendly products, sustainability hacks, education, biophilic design, and more!

Emma Doucet

Grassroots Founder and Principal Designer, Emma Doucet opened the company in 2012. Her passion for design was born from an uncontrollable urge to constantly re-decorate everything around her. She was worried if she didn’t turn this into a profession, she would bankrupt herself. Her design aesthetic aims to combine function with beauty, believing these never have to be compromises. Emma finds inspiration in bold colours, unusual patters, adventurous furniture pairings and natural materials.

Emma’s designs are shaped by being a busy mother of three. Spaces need to be able to grow with you throughout the various stages of your life. Her design approach was informed by her work as the former Director of Consultation and Outreach for Heritage Canada. Emma brings that collaborative approach to design. Pride in a project is best when shared between all those who worked on it. Born and raised in Ottawa, Emma’s lifelong mission is to dispel the myth that Ottawa is boring, conservative and un-stylish city, one reno at a time.

Erin Rochon

Sonja Ilic

Anita Murray

Maggie Huang

Maggie Huang was born in Southern China and grew up in a traditional Taoist family. She graduated from Wu Yi University with a B.A. in 1991. Maggie Immigrated to Ottawa, Canada in 1993. She managed the family business, East Wind, the Asia specialty shop and later became owner.

In year 2004, tapping into the growth of the family &community, Maggie set up Feng Shui school and office with the 2nd retail outlet in Wesboro, Ottawa, the vibrant community of new ages of well being. So Maggie Institute of Feng Shui was born and has been growing since.

Being brought up in a Taoist family, Feng Shui is part of daily life. Maggie started focusing on the serious study of Feng Shui between 1995 and 1999 and followed Feng Shui Master Peter Leung who is the co-founder of the Canadian Feng Shui Association.

In 2000 and again in 2003, Maggie made her way to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to study under Lillian Too, the world’s leading Feng Shui Master and international author, who has published over 90 books on the subject of Feng Shui. Maggie has achieved the level of Master Practitioner and Consultant. Between year of 2012 and 2018, Maggie has been studying under Pete A. Sanders an M.I.T trained scientist on Biomedical Chemistry and brain science in Sedona, Arizona, USA and become his instructor of the Free Soul Method that can tap into the Sixth sense and beyond that we were born with.

Maggie practices classical Taoist Landscape and traditional Compass Yang Feng Shui to bridge the true energy alignment between people and space for the best life forces as a foundation; she also practices the time concept school of Flying Star Feng Shui to navigate each journey with true momentum and redefine life purpose scientifically and spiritually.

Maggie also consults I Ching, the origin of Feng shui to bridge many techniques and schools to provide tailored consultation services to meet individual client needs. Maggie has been consulting with business and private clients in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, USA, Europe and China over the last 22 years, with many repeat clients with good record of success. Maggie lives with her husband and two daughters in Ottawa, Canada.

Liza Wilson

Real estate is a passion of mine but, if you told me twenty years ago that I would have a successful real estate business, I would have told you, "No way!"

I started off as a high school teacher, which was my childhood dream job, after obtaining degrees from both Carleton University and Queen's University. Teaching was all about building relationships. I spent over a decade teaching English and dramatic arts. Directing plays and musicals created some of the best memories in my career. However, throughout my decade of teaching, I was also building my real estate business.

When I first finished at Queen's University, I was told everywhere I went that teaching jobs were hard to get. Determined to succeed, I started studying for my real estate license to ensure I had another source of income. Within a year of graduating from Queen's, I was offered a full time teaching position and completed my real estate license simultaneously.

I started my real estate career selling to friends and teacher colleagues. Often, people would chat to me during their lunch hour about real estate. Eventually, my business expanded as more and more people started referring me to their friends and family. After working with many buyers and sellers, I was often told I go "above and beyond" in the job. The excitement of the business and the freedom it offered to myself and my family became more and more attractive. After a few years on leave from teaching, I decided it was time to resign from teaching. My business grew even more.

As a mom of two young boys, I understand how busy family life can be and how important the right home can be for everyone's happiness. Now, I specialize in helping families. I navigate them through the selling process so they can upsize their home to meet their family's needs.

In 2021, I was given the "Most Properties Sold" award for an individual agent in my brokerage. Through nurturing relationships and showing up for my clients with advice and knowledge, I created my successful business today. I really enjoy the process of working with people to reach their real estate goals and I think that shows in how I approach my work.

The Ottawa real estate market is constantly changing and I love being a trusted advisor to my clients. Providing market updates or real estate tips through my social media channels allows my clients to stay informed on the latest with the market. I have the joy of meeting new people and helping to build their wealth through real estate.

Speakers & Celebrities