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You may think that you know Betty-Jean from her many years as host on The Shopping Channel but spend just a few minutes with her one-on-one and you quickly realize that what you see is just a mere fraction of what you get.

Beautiful, petite and full of energy, by looking at Betty-Jean you would never guess that she sings, plays the electric guitar, keyboard and percussion, once single-handedly rebuilt the floor of her beloved sports car and owns a thoroughbred race horse. And if that’s not enough, Betty-Jean is also a fully licensed private pilot who is just courses away from a commercial pilot’s license. .

“I’ve always enjoyed mechanical things. I just love the sound of an engine roaring whether it’s in a sports car, 18 wheeler or a twin-engine Cessna. I guess I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie,” laughs BJ.

Before Betty-Jean joined The Shopping Channel in 1988, her infectious charm and never-ending energy lead her to a career in event planning, sales promotion and publishing. “Initially I worked for a small, local newspaper as their sales manager,” say BJ, “I just love publishing. It’s very dynamic and things happen so fast there’s never time to be bored.” After learning the business from the ground up, BJ took her entrepreneurial spirit and went out on her own working with local merchants and retailers in BIAs (Business Improvement Areas) to help them promote their areas and their businesses.

For most people, this would be busy enough, but not for our BJ. While she was running her own business, she continued to pursue her pilot’s license and continued to write and play music and sing as much as possible. Realizing that she still had some time open in her calendar from 3am to 6am , BJ responded to an ad for a host at The Shopping Channel in 1988. She was immediately hired on to fill those wee morning hours as an overnight part-time host. “I started at 3am and I just loved it!” Knowing that this was where she was meant to be, BJ slowly made the transition over to full time host where her no-nonsense style has made her a long time favourite of shoppers who know they can always trust her to “tell it like it is”.

When she’s not working, BJ and her husband Bill, a former host at The Shopping Channel, enjoy spending time with their family around their backyard pool, cooking gourmet meals and traveling around Ontario and other parts of Canada either by car or in a small aircraft with BJ at the helm.