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Shapiro promoting his Red Light Hollandmagic trufflebusiness in 2020

Todd Michael Shapirois the CEO and director of Red Light Holland. Red Light Holland is a publicly traded company that Shapiro Co-Founded and took public in May of 2020. Red Light Holland Corp. (CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YX) (OTCQB: TRUFF) is a company engaged in the production, growth and sale of functional mushrooms and mushroom home grow kits in North America and Europe and a premium brand of psilocybin truffles to the legal, recreational market within the Netherlands.

Shapiro is a former Canadian broadcaster, radio host, and media personality who hostedThe Todd Shapiro ShowonSiriusXM Canada'sCanada LaughsChannel. Shapiro was also a regular fill on TSN 1050 Radio.

Early life

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Shapiro was born to a civil servant father and teacher mother inToronto,Ontario. During his podcast, Shapiro states that his parents provided him with a wonderful upbringing, but taught him little about business which is why he ended up in the arts. He graduated with asociologydiploma fromYork Universityfollowed by working at anair conditioningandheating(HVAC) business.[1]At age 26, Shapiro went back to school, enrolling inSeneca College's radio and television program.[1]

Career

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Shapiro's first experience in the entertainment business came as a reality contestant onBlind Date(hosted byRoger Lodge) in 1999 when the American show had come up to Toronto to film 5 episodes, choosing their "daters" viaCityTV's "Speaker's Corner" booths. Over 10,000 people auditioned for spots, but 27-year-old Shapiro, a student atSeneca College's radio/TV program, stood out enough for the show's producers to call him back shortly after he recorded his video.[2]

When theBlind Datefootage, that had been shot in July 1999, was to air onCityTVin November 1999, Shapiro was invited to discuss hisBlind Dateexperience onHumble & Fred,a morning show on102.1 The Edgeradio station that had a commercial tie-in withCityTVvia having the TorontoBlind Datecouples as guests on the morning of their respective episodes' scheduled air dates.[1]Shapiro came alone on theHumble & Fredshow since his date had moved toOttawain the meantime.[1]After his first ever in-studio, on air experience, Shapiro approached"Humble" Howard Glassmanand asked to be his intern to help him get experience and fulfill the 100 hours he needed in order to graduate from his college program. Humble reportedly replied, "Come back tomorrow".[2]

102.1 The Edge

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Interning atHumble & Fred,Shapiro was part of various promotional stunts, occasionally contributing with written material. He stayed with the show until his last day of school 20 April 2001; coincidentally at the same time, the show got reassigned toMojo 640,an AM Toronto station also owned byCorus Entertainmentthat functioned as 102.1 The Edge's sister entity.

Upon completing hisHumble & Fredinternship, Shapiro continued working at The Edge in their promotions department where he metDean Blundell,102.1 The Edge's new acquisition from theWindsormarket, brought in to host his ownThe Dean Blundell Show— station'smorning zooreplacement forHumble & Fred.Telling Blundell about his desire to get on air, Shapiro would soon get that opportunity.[2]

The Dean Blundell Show

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Performing alongside Jason Barr (another holdover from theHumble & Fredshow where he had worked as producer after also starting out as intern, performing promotional stunts in fake Scottish accent under the Danger Boy pseudonym), Shapiro became one of Blundell's two sidekicks. The station also had Sandra Plagakis periodically coming on throughout the morning to read news and traffic reports[3]and the three show hosts would occasionally engage her in a conversation. Shapiro's primary role on the show entailed coming up with daily content mostly through puerile and occasionally outrageous behaviour; often referred to as ReTodd on the air, his signature segment 'Todd on the Street' involved talking to homeless people on the streets of Toronto in a manner many found to be malicious, offensive, and exploitative.[2]His other notable moments from the show had him visiting his grandmother in her old-age home live on air for a round of juvenile questions about her sex life, walking aroundUnion Stationwearing only anadult diaper,and sneaking into Toronto hotels to pound on rival hockey players' doors at 6 a.m. before games against theToronto Maple Leafs.[2]

In August 2010, after Barr got released via not having his contract renewed,[4]Shapiro assumed a bigger role on the show with expanded hosting duties while Derek Welsman a.k.a. Blind Derek (who had previously during mid 2000s been involved with the show, gaining some notoriety as Derek the Blind Movie Reviewer) got added as replacement for Barr.

Shapiro worked at 102.1 The Edge from 1999 until 2013. On 24 July 2013, Blundell announced that Shapiro would no longer be with the show without any further explanation to the sudden and unexpected news.[5]After the announcement, 102.1 The Edge'sTwitterandFacebookaccounts were blasted by angry fans who wanted to know what happened with Shapiro's position at the radio station and demanded his return. An official explanation was never given but within months of Todd Shapiro departure from theDean Blundell Show,102.1 The Edge announced the show's cancellation in early January 2014, after having put the show on hiatus in mid-December 2013.[6]

SiriusXM The Todd Shapiro Show

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In January 2014 Humble Howard and Fred Patterson announced during their show onSiriusXMCanada's Canada Laughs channel that Todd Shapiro would be getting his own one hour 9 AM show followingHumble & Fred's two-hour slot in the morning.[7][8]

Shapiro's show, entitledThe Todd Shapiro Show,launched on 3 March 2014. One of his first bits on the new show was a discussion with a parody of Apple's Siri which asked him questions about his sudden departure from 102.1 The Edge. During the discussion about the situation, Shapiro did not go into many details and kept it all as polite and general as possible.[9]

In June 2014 it was announced by SiriusXM Canada's program director Joe Thistel that due to its early success,The Todd Shapiro Showwould have its running time expanded to 2 hours along with a move to the "drive home" 4–6 p.m. time slot on weekdays.[citation needed]

Scott Weiland interview

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Shapiro interviewedScott Weilandin late November 2015 live over the phone on The Todd Shapiro Show.[10]This interview turned out to be Weiland's last live on-air interview.TMZ,Billboard,BlabberMouth.net,Radar Online,Entertainment Tonight Canada,CP24,andCTVNational News all featured Shapiro's interview with Weiland as this was the last time the public would hear from Weiland before his death on 3 December 2015.

Yuk Yuk's

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In October 2017 Shapiro premiered his new Comedy Show called Comedy Virgins at Yuk Yuk's in downtown Toronto. The premise is to allow a first timer to get on a stage to break their "Comedy Virginity".[11]

Dart Guy and Todd Shapiro

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Later in 2017, Shapiro announced his collaboration with "Dart Guy," aToronto Maple Leafsfan, for a TSN1050 radio show.[12]

Red Light Holland Corp

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Shapiro is a very charismatic and engaging CEO of Red Light Holland Corp, Toronto, Ontario--(CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YX) (OTC Pink: TRUFF) ( "Red Light Holland" or the "Company" ), an Ontario-based corporation engaged in the production, growth and sale of a premium brand of magic truffles. Shapiro's passion is to help make positive change in the world. While his company can't make medical claims, Shapiro is an advocate for legal psilocybin via microdosing which he hopes can prove out to show positive impacts for a Mental Health crisis.[13]

Red Light Holland which has raised over 30 million dollars owns a farm in The Netherlands, a distribution company called SR-Wholesale in The Netherlands, A technology company called Radix Motion in Silicon Valley and a Mushroom farm called Happy Caps in Halifax, Nova Scotia has their iMicrodose product in 30 different stores for legal purchase and hope to expand to other markets like Brazil, Canada, Caribbean and United States (Oregon via Measure 109) as more regulatory bodies take a hard look at legalizing psychedelic substances.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

Red Light Holland supports their sales with an app to learn behaviours and data (collected consensually) from their end consumers, VR and AR and as well has telecounseling support available. [22]

Red Light Holland has a cult following where #REDLIGHTARMY supporters will invest, support and share in Shapiro's message of providing legal access now to responsible adults.[23]


References

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  1. ^abcdBoon, Mike (6 February 2014)."Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 67: Todd Shapiro".TorontoMike.com.Retrieved1 August2016.
  2. ^abcdeEckler, Rebecca (2015-01-28)."Todd Shapiro, formerly known for his often offensive antics on The Dean Blundell Show, now promises a" positive vibe for listeners. "What happened?".The Toronto Star.ISSN0319-0781.Retrieved2016-02-26.
  3. ^Sandra Plagakis
  4. ^Toronto Mike (24 August 2010)."Jason Barr Fired from Edge 102".TorontoMike.com.Retrieved2016-07-16.
  5. ^Reserved.,. All Rights."Dean Blundell loses longtime sidekick after latest shock jock wrist-slap".canada.com.Retrieved2016-02-26.
  6. ^"Corus Radio cancels Dean Blundell show after controversial on-air remarks".The Globe and Mail.6 January 2014.Retrieved2016-02-26.
  7. ^"Psychic Nikki / Todd Shapiro / Dr. Odiatu - PODCASTS".www.humbleandfredradio.com.Retrieved2016-02-26.
  8. ^"Fan-celebrated morning host launches satellite radio show with SiriusXM Canada -- TORONTO, Feb. 25, 2014".www.newswire.ca.Retrieved2016-02-26.
  9. ^Boon, Mike (3 March 2014)."Todd Shapiro Spills More Details on Split from 102.1 the Edge | Toronto Mike's Blog".www.torontomike.com.Retrieved2016-02-26.
  10. ^ToddShapiroShow (2015-11-28),Scott Weiland On ISIS, Trump (*Sadly this is his Last Live Interview. RIP Scott),retrieved2016-02-26
  11. ^"Comedy Virgins".nowtoronto.com.December 28, 2017.RetrievedFebruary 2,2019.
  12. ^"Dart Guy and Todd Shapiro break down their upcoming TSN 1050 radio show".bardown.com.12 October 2017.RetrievedFebruary 2,2019.
  13. ^Archived atGhostarchiveand theWayback Machine:"Psychedelics: The Next Cannabis" Red Light Holland (CSE: TRIP) (OTC: TRUFF) w/ Bruce Linton.YouTube.
  14. ^"Red Light Holland Announces Updated Cash Position of Approximately $30 Million".23 July 2021.
  15. ^"Red Light Holland Sells Approximately 350,000 Grams of Magic Truffles and Increases Points of Sale for iMicrodose Packs to Six More Smart Shops".13 July 2021.
  16. ^"Red Light Holland Closes Acquisition of 80% of Happy Caps Mushroom Farm - Specializing in Grow-At-Home Mushroom Kits".10 June 2021.
  17. ^"Red Light Holland iMicro Digital Care App and Telecounseling Goes Live".11 May 2021.
  18. ^"Red Light Holland and Halo Collective Create Red Light Oregon, Inc. - Forwarding Intentions to Enter Oregon Medicinal Psychedelic Market".27 April 2021.
  19. ^"Red Light Holland Closes Acquisition of SR Wholesale Becoming a Leader in Distribution of Psychedelics".19 March 2021.
  20. ^"Red Light Holland iMicrodose Pack Receives Authorization for the First Legal Import and Sale of Psilocybin Truffles to Brazil".25 February 2021.
  21. ^"Red Light Holland and Headland West Indies Lead #SVGStrong, a Relief Effort in St. Vincent and the Grenadines".23 April 2021.
  22. ^"Red Light Holland Closes Acquisition of Cutting Edge Silicon Valley Applied Sciences Company Radix Motion, Becoming a Leader in Psychedelic Technology".8 June 2021.
  23. ^"Red Light Army".29 January 2021.
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