Pickle Barrel
SITTING DOWN TO tea with Hina Khan
on a cold, bright February morning,
it’s instantly apparent that this
Thornhill-born, television-host-cumpsychotherapist-
cum-entrepreneur
has truly mastered the art of multitasking.
“I was actually just hoping I’d make it here without spit-up on me,” says the impeccably put together 38-yearold first-time mom.
With an 11-week-old baby at home and in-laws who are eager to help, Khan is already busy planning her return to work this month as co-host of the W Network’s hit reno/reality series Save Us From Our House. On the show, Khan works as a relationship strategist helping families achieve balance amongst the chaos of home renovations.
“I’m grateful that my producers at General Purpose Pictures (GPP) are making it so easy for me to return to work with a newborn at home,” says Khan, who has been with the show since its inception in the fall of 2005.
For Khan, the opportunity to work in a job that seamlessly combines her two passions — television and therapy — is a dream come true, and so it’s no wonder she is anxious to return to it.
In its third season, Save Us From Our House profiles frantic families whose lives are being turned upsidedown as a result of chaotic living environments and unfinished renovations. While Khan deals with the emotional turmoil, taking families through a series of challenges and therapy models, her co-host, contractor Dylan Marcel, and his crew knock down walls and redesign spaces.
Khan’s goal at the end of each episode is to leave the family feeling empowered to make changes in their own lives and to free themselves from old habits. She conducts simple activities with each family in order to meet their specific therapy needs.
“Hina is very well-liked by the families and many keep in touch with her after the shooting is over,” says Scott Clark McNeil, the show’s producer. “She possesses this unique ability to make everyone in the room feel comfortable and has a way of getting close with people after just one meeting.”
One of the most-memorable challenges Khan recalls conducting was in Episode 29 — Martini Reno. The father was working three jobs in an attempt to pay for his home’s much-needed renovations, and he hardly had any time to spend with his children. Khan set up a mailbox system with the family so that the father could leave notes for his kids every night when he got home from work, no matter how late, and the kids would receive the notes in the morning and write him back before they left for school.
“At first the son was somewhat skeptical,” recalls Khan. “But, by the end of the episode all of the kids really wanted to keep this system going because it made a huge difference in their relationship with their father.”
Though Khan had no previous experience in building or design she says the greatest lesson she’s learned since starting on the show is: always hire someone to do your renovations! “It’s interesting how a living space can have such a direct effect on the emotional health of a family,” she says. “Your home should be the safe space you return to at the end of the day — your resting place.”
For Khan, the family home in the Don Mills Road and John Street area where she grew up played an integral role in her life as a child and youngadult. “We weren’t a family that moved around a lot,” she says, “so that Thornhill house still holds a lot of meaning.”
Though Thornhill was much less developed when Khan’s family moved into the neighbourhood in the early- 1970s, she says she loved watching new growth sprout up all around her. “We were all really excited when the Leslie Street and Highway 7 area started to get built-up because that meant a lot more places for us to hang out and have coffee,” she recalls.
Though her mother sold the family home 13 years ago when her father passed away, Khan says she still drives up north all the time to revisit her old stomping ground. “I love Thornhill,” she says. “It really was a great area to grow up in.”
Now raising her own family, Khan looks to her upbringing for guidance. She and her husband, Paul Silva, a chef and culinary professor at George Brown College, balance childcare responsibilities and busy careers. “Luckily, my husband is a fabulous chef so I don’t have to do any of the cooking,” says Khan. “That frees up more of my time to pursue other interests.”
And these other interests are many and varied.
After spending the first 10 years of her professional life working in the television industry as a journalist, director and host, Khan decided she wanted to go back to school and pursue a career in psychotherapy. Her journalistic endeavors — while working for CTV, YTV and Vision TV — had sparked an interest in youthissues, religion and current affairs. This led Khan to produce, direct and write her own documentary film, Jihad: Struggling with Islam. In 2004 the film won The NFB Award for Best Canadian Documentary at the ReelWorld Film Festival in Toronto and went on to be screened across North America and the UK.
“My two career-paths aren’t really that different when you think about it,” Khan explains. “Both the journalist and the psychotherapist need to have an innate curiosity and an affinity toward people and their stories.”
While the relationship between journalism and therapy is easy to understand, how Khan became the host of a reality show takes a bit more explaining.
Several years ago Khan established a private therapy practice not far from her home. Her plan was to go into practice full-time leaving the media world behind — that is, until a friend who worked for GPP was asked if she knew anyone with host experience and a background in therapy.
McNeil wasn’t convinced they’d find an experienced television host with therapy experience — especially one as beautiful as Khan. “We had Dr. Phil in our heads, so when we met Hina, we all looked at each other and said ‘Yeah! This could work.’”
For Khan the job was a natural fit. “I really thought I’d have to keep journalism and therapy separate,” Khan says with a laugh, “but this has actually been a great fusion!”
Though running a psychotherapy practice part-time and working on the TV show keeps Khan quite busy, it’s not enough to slow her down. While she was pregnant with her son, Yusef, Khan came up with an idea for a line of satin pillowcases, which she developed into a small business partnership with her husband.
“You know when you have an idea that just won’t leave you,” she says. “I figured I had to follow through on this one.”
Good Hair Dayz, Khan’s latest venture, was developed when she found that after having her long curly, locks blow-dried straight for each show, she was able to keep her ‘do much more stylish and manageable if she slept on satin instead of cotton.
Her line of luxurious pillowcases come in two colours named after her nieces — Ava’s Ivory and Sophia’s Chocolate Brown — and are sold online and in retail outlets and salons across Canada.
“You see it’s really more of a hair product than a linen,” she says of the line that was featured in this winter’s issue of Fashion Magazine, giving the company the publicity boost it needed.
Though all of this might be enough to make even the most seasoned multi-tasker frantic, Khan has an incredibly calm and grounded disposition to which she credits regular yoga practice and a fantastic group of girlfriends.
When asked what she sees herself
doing in the next ten years, Khan says
her future is wide open. “One thing I
know for sure is that I hope to be
getting a lot more sleep,” she says,
while dialing home to check on her
baby. 
The Fine Print: The contents of www.postcitymagazines.com are copyright 2008, all rights reserved, and may not be reproduced in part or in whole without written permission of the Publisher.
