Veronique Mandal was born in Newfoundland. After graduating from high school she headed to Montreal to study theatre and psychology (McGill). From McGill she traveled to Bermuda to work in a musical review show and host an afternoon talk show on ZBM Radio.
An audition for the Garrick Theatre Company took her from Bermuda to England where she worked with the Garrick company for five years. Like most theatre people, she needed a second job to pay bills and so worked as a lifestyles reporter for the Co-operative News in Manchester. She was soon also performing in radio drama productions for BBC North.
Acting on her mother’s advice to “Have a more stable profession to fall back on,” Veronique enrolled in the nursing school on the Wythenshawe campus of theUniversity of Manchester, where she was to graduate as a State Registered Nurse and Midwife.
Never one to get bored, she also spent time working as a tour guide in Spain and teaching English as a second language in the Canary Islands and Switzerland.
Back in Canada, she worked as a medical pensions officer for the Royal Canadian Legion, while writing the RN exams in Ontario and State Board exams in New York, Texas and Michigan.
When the arts began calling again, she went to CBC Radio with a work proposal and was to work for CBC Radio and Television in Ottawa, Windsor and Toronto for 12 years – as a news reporter, writer-broadcaster, associate producer and show host.
When the Windsor Star made her an offer she couldn’t refuse, she left the CBC and joined the Star newsroom as a senior reporter. The National Post wooed her away from the Star in 2002 but, not wanting to move permanently to Toronto, she returned to the Windsor Star and stayed there until 2004, when St. Clair College hired her to take over its journalism program and redevelop it into a 21st Century, state-of-the art department.
She is also vice president of the Advertising and Media Relations company Hargreaves Mandal Inc.
She hosts her own show – Mandal’s Media Mix – on TV Cogeco and is presently completing a joint Masters in Journalism and MBA degree.
Veronique has won 27 provincial, national and international awards for her work in radio, newspapers and magazines. After two nominations, she was chosen Ontario Journalist of the Year in 2002.
She was Windsor Woman of the Year in 1999 and for her work with numerous charities and non profit organizations, she was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal.
She has identical twin sons and is married to Chris Vander Doelen, the Windsor Star’s automotive reporter.