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Now or Never

Everyday innovators, inventors, and how to not give up on your idea

They see a problem, it sparks an idea and they go all in to make it come true. Meet the inventors and find out what it takes to bring their creations to life.

There are a lot of Now or Never moments when you're an inventor

CBC Radio ·
A triptich of photos shows an Indigenous woman, a small robot and a man and child. On the left, Shannon Gustafson, a First Nations woman from Snake River holds a traditional tikinagan that she made. In the middle the Bobbeebot robot smiles through it's permanent grin painted on it's face. On the right Conor McGoey smiles at the camera while he and his daughter, with a big grin on her face, play a board game.
From left to right: Shannon Gustafson makes tikinagan kits, Patrick Mitchell's BobbeeBot is just one of hundreds of his inventions, and Conor McGoey takes time away from inventing fun to play a board game with his daughter. (Submitted by Shannon Gustafson, Patrick Mitchell and Conor McGoey)
Now or Never52:14Everyday innovators, inventors, and how to not give up on your idea

You know that annoying problem that makes your life just a little more difficult? Wouldn't it be great if there was an invention to fix that?

Most of us have had that thought, few of us take action. But our guests on this week's show are all taking the leap and making it happen.

Emmanuelle Sainté never wanted to touch her garbage can again... So she created a pulley system that she was so proud of she showed it off on a date.

Patrick Mitchell has built hundreds of inventions in his basement workshop, but now is working on one final project before he has to go and get a day job.

Carolyn Ellis just wanted to give her mom a hug during the pandemic, so she made the Hug Glove out of old plastic. Now she hopes it's a product that can still prove useful.

Conor McGoey spends his life inventing fun as a board game designer, but his family has had to wait their turn too often and for too long. Now he's trying to change that.

Tikinagan, or cradleboards, were used by First Nations across North America for centuries, but now it's hard to find anyone who can make them. Shannon Gustafson is bringing them back with DIY kits and sharing the knowledge and traditions that come with them.

When Luke Anderson sees a step in front of a store he feels disappointed. As a wheelchair user he can't go inside. So he created StopGap, a non-profit that makes custom ramps to solve the problem.

And Ify jumps in with kid inventors as they let their imaginations run wild at the Ontario Science Centre.

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