Canada’s Entrepreneur

Dr. Ken Keis is President and CEO of Consulting Resource Group International, which has served thousands of companies, associations, industry groups, and leaders in over 30 countries. In the past 29 years, Ken has personally conducted more than 3,000 presentations and 10,000 hours of coaching and consulting. He is a highly sought-after author, speaker, trainer, podcast host, TV and media guest. His latest books include: Why Aren't You More Like Me?, Deliberate Leadership, and The Quest For Purpose.

Aric Johnson is co-owner and general manager of Folding Mountain Brewing located near Jasper National Park in Alberta.

James Wu is CEO & Founder of Innerspace Technology Inc. He is also an experienced start up veteran, with a keen understanding of what it takes to develop a team, product and company from Zero to One. James has over 15 years of experience in UX design and usability, including 8 years of leadership and senior management experience with UX teams. At InnerSpace, James is involved in all aspects of the business, from fundraising and finance, to operations, to product and development. At Kobo, James was the conceptual visionary for their unique and award winning tablet user experience and primary inventor on over 30 patents related to user experience design. James managed several teams of exceptionally talented experience designers, interaction architects, industrial and mechanical designers, researchers and prototypers who delivered the world-class Kobo reading experience across all platforms.

Kirsta Franke is founder and owner of Wild Heart Collective which has succeeded in Edmonton by creating from the heart. Offering mindfully curated community events like the 124 Grand Market, All is Bright and the Winter Shake-Up Festival & Market, as well as high level dynamic celebrations like Edmonton's first Nuit Blanche.

Sheenah Rogers-Pfeiffer is founder and chief strategist at Anstice Communications. She talks about being a survivor in a very competitive industry and how she differentiates what she does from others.

Balaji Gopalan leads business development and strategy as the Co-Founder and CEO at MedStack, a digital app platform for the healthcare industry. As an expert in product management and software platform ecosystem design, Balaji is a well-respected start-up educator, advisor and mentor. He is an advocate for the role of ecosystems in industry transformation and in tackling tough problems like improving healthcare. Prior to co-founding MedStack, he launched the BlackBerry BBM service and led platform strategy at D2L, Nymi and EventMobi.

Hugo Bonjean is President of Spirit Hills Winery which makes its honey based wine in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies in Millarville, Alberta, just outside of Calgary.

Annette Smith is the Founder of Lip Service Beauty, an all-natural, plant-based beauty company based out of Grimsby, Ontario but with a presence across the GTA. After suffering a grand-mal seizure 5 years ago, Annette decided to detoxify her life, and started making her own beauty products. Annette wholeheartedly believes that INGREDIENTS MATTER in all aspects of life and business!

Connor Curran is one of the co-owners of Local Laundry, a Canadian made garments company that uses clothing as a vehicle to build community. Connor started Local Laundry four years ago after Googling: 'How To Start A T-Shirt Company' and watching a YouTube video. Now Connor works on Local Laundry full time with a commitment to donate over $1 Million to local charities across Canada. Local Laundry can be found in over 20 stores across Canada and is heralding the importance of supporting Canadian manufacturing.

Eric Fournier is a dynamic, strategic visionary with a long history of creating value for businesses. In his role as Partner and Executive Producer at Moment Factory, he has strategically overseen the growth of the studio while also providing proactive leadership and direction on major projects. Under his guidance, Moment Factory now operates in Tokyo, New York City, Los Angeles and London and soon Toronto. Creative and curious, Eric excels at identifying opportunities that will fully activate Moment Factory’s unique and diverse collection of expertise. Eric holds an MBA from McGill University and a BBA from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Steve Mesler, CEO and Founder of Classroom Champions, a non-profit that brings together children and the world’s best to mentor and teach kids the skills they need to succeed in and out of the classroom. After winning an Olympic Gold Medal in bobsled at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, Steve was inspired to bring the values, lessons, and experiences he and his fellow Olympic and Paralympic athletes had gained through sport into classrooms. Since creating Classroom Champions, over 180 athletes have taught more than 1 million students about goal setting, perseverance, and teamwork to support their mental health, wellness, and academic achievement. Listen in as we chat with Steve about being a social entrepreneur!

Victoria Pelletier (victoriapelletier.me) is a corporate executive with over two decades of executive experience. She is a visionary and innovative leader serving as an executive for a global Fortune 50 global organization and as a board member for several organizations and an entrepreneur owning several businesses. She is also a published author, in-demand public speaker and appears regularly on national TV.

Matt Lowe is co-founder and CEO of ZeroKey which produces transformational IoT sensor technology that provides wire-area, real-time, and millimetre-level 3D tracking across large spaces and buildings.

Marc Lafleur founded truLOCAL, an online marketplace that connects health conscious consumers to local suppliers, giving them a more convenient way to access clean, locally raised meat products. All orders are placed online with the ability to select everything from box size to frequency of deliveries, including the contents of each box. truLocal ships Shipping all across Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, truLOCAL is a game changer to the relatively slow-moving meat industry. Marc is an Honours grad in Health Sciences from University of Waterloo.

Paul Bain is the Tea Captain at JusTea, the first farmer-direct tea partnership between Kenya and Canada. Born and raised in Vancouver, Paul is passionate to connect tea drinkers with the small-scale farmer who made their cup possible. JusTea’s healthy new Purple Tea won the top food and beverage award in BC in 2018: Gold Medal for "Product of the Year".

In 2013 Lauren Shirreffs founded 2Social after recognizing an opportunity in the market to connect consumers with celebrated brands and multi-locational businesses though online communities. In 2017, 2Social opened its second office in Santa Monica, California, to focus on growth in the American marketplace and continue to best service our American clients. Lauren is passionate about community, and exploring ways to utilize social media to communicate positive messages and shed light on meaningful conversations. Lauren now divides her time between Toronto and Los Angeles and is fuelled by an insatiable drive for success (And coffee. So much coffee).

Merissa Myles is the Co-Founder of Tree Island Gourmet Yogurt. Based in the Comox Valley, she is sending waves from Vancouver Island and shaking up the yogurt aisle at grocery stores with her grass-fed, gourmet products. She studied Communication & Community Economic Development at SFU. Her lifework is focused on building healthy communities through business. At Tree Island Yogurt she works with stakeholders throughout the food system from farmers to production staff, customers and chefs. Merissa is a Top 40 Foodie Under 40 and recipient of the BC Food Processors Product of the Year award.

John Evans is the millennial Founder and President of EverLine Coatings and Services. He started his first business at age 21 and was the first-ever to win the International Franchise Association’s NextGen in Franchising - a global competition for young entrepreneurs.

Peter Richmond is President of the 49th Parallel Grocery Group which includes 4 community-minded grocery stores, a flower shop, 2 dollar stores and a print shop. Peter, along with his sister, their children and other relatives, represent the second and third generations in the family business his parents founded in 1977. The 49th is passionate about serving our community and we continue to focus on our customers, our employees and the needs of our community. In an industry that is extremely competitive, we have managed to succeed through listening to our customer and adjusting our instore experience accordingly. We are fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the world and we take that into account in all of our daily decisions At the 49th, we will always play a big part in our communities. Peter graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1986 and obtained his CA designation while working for Ernst & Young, Chartered Accountants in Vancouver. After four years in the Internal Audit department of Canadian Forest Products Ltd., he returned to the island in 1996 to help the family business expand from one store to two, a doubling of service area and employees.

Janice Liu is the founder of Retreat, a technology start-up, which connects users with last-minute, discounted premier spa and salon appointments in the city of Toronto, where Janice calls home. By day, Janice leads a consulting and engineering team at the consultancy firm, Magnet, that has a mission to engineer the future of marketing.

Terry Sydoryk is CEO of Chaordix which specializes in establishing online communities for brands like LEGO, Rust-Oleum, American Airlines and SMART Technologies so they can engage with consumers, fans and stakeholders on deeper level.

Doug Mochrie is the Founder and CEO of AIRO.LIFE, an innovative technology company disrupting the norm, and on a mission to bring the world free access to information, with a means to education. They do this with AIRO.LIFE’s Be Free Phone, where end-users no longer have to pay for smartphones and data plans and other incredible products that are currently being developed. Doug's journey and evolution to AIRO.LIFE has been an exciting roller coaster that led to his mission to help people and the planet. From action sports athlete to attending school for finance and marketing, then being accepted as a MARS Officer and Armoured Officer to injury to later starting a digital media company - Holeshot1 Media, his entrepreneurial journey is rich and filled with applicable insights for other entrepreneurs.

Lance Montgomery is CEO of HeyBryan, which is backed by the HGTV's star Bryan Baeumler, one of Canada's most trusted home renovation experts. HeyBryan is revolutionizing the home-maintenance industry with an app that enables people to effortlessly book small tasks around the home by matching homeowners with top-quality, local, vetted and approved home maintenance Experts.

Galen Nuttall describes himself as a father, husband, triathlete, photographer, volunteer and, of course an entrepreneur. Originally set for a career in teaching with a Masters in Education, he is a citizen of three countries and came to Canada nine years ago. Based in Belleville he’s been building a business in financial services across Canada. Galen is also a podcaster, a writer and a really interesting life observer.

Adam Kreek is one of North America’s top Management Consultants and Executive Coaches with degrees and certifications from Stanford University, UBC Sauder School of Business, and Queens Smith School of Business. He is a guest lecturer at the University of Victoria and teaches strategies and skills of self-leadership, leadership, high performance and perseverance to corporate and government teams globally through keynotes, workshops and online seminars. Adam has coached, trained and taught hundreds of thousands of people, including teams at Microsoft, General Electric, Mercedes-Benz, L’Oreal, Shell, YPO, EO, TEDx, and most importantly, Adam walks the talk. As an Entrepreneur, Adam runs two small corporations – KreekSpeak Business Solutions and Ergo Eco Solutions, a low carbon initiative that connects small businesses with small governments. A two-time Olympian, Adam holds 60 international medals, including Olympic Gold, and multiple hall of fame inductions. In 2013, Adam made the first ever attempt to row unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to America.

Fawn Annan describes herself a builder of ideas, teams, community and business growth. Her domain is digital media. I know her as an executive Leader and a high achiever in business. She know the world of IT and technology deeply and is driven by innovation and striving for Women’s recognition in business. Amongst her responsibilities, Fawn is the President and Group Publisher of IT World Canada/IDG Canada, the largest global IT media company located in 87 countries. In 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Award for her contribution to the IT industry. In 2017 she was awarded the MISA/ASIM Dennis Steen Award and the RBC/CATA Sara Kirke Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation recognizing her contributions to the industry.

Francis Gagnon est le fondateur de Pratico Plastique, une entreprise dédiée à l'éducation des masses sur la réutilisation et le recyclage du plastique pour une grande variété de produits. Il est du type ""Idéateur"", ""Inventif"", ""Puriste"" et ""Rassembleur"". Il démarre toujours d'un enjeu ou d'une problématique et il prends le chapeau de l'architecte de solutions. Il va trouver 1000 solutions à un problème avant de réduire ce nombre et trouver la solution la plus viable. Il n'est pas un architecte, un ingénieur, un médecin ou un biologiste, mais il comprend beaucoup de choses, mais surtout il sait s'entourer des gens de qualité assurant la réussite d'un projet grâce à la co-création. Il aborde les modèles de coopérative, d'entrepreneuriat social, d'économie solidaire, d'inclusivité et d'économie locale avec grande affection. De toute façons, à quoi sert l'argent ou une entreprise si nous ne pouvons pas faire rayonner la communauté et les personnes qui composent les lieux où nous opérons ?

Louis Stack is President and Founder of Fitterfirst, a Calgary-based company leading the world to better balance with a wide selection of balance and wellness products. The company has been operational for the past 35 years and prides itself in providing exceptional customer service and staying up to trends in the health sciences. The overall goal of the company is to improve every customer’s optimal health through the use of specially designed products. Their mandate is, balance is the essence of movement; movement is the essence of life.

Regula Estermann est graduée du Collège MacDonald (McGill University) en gestion d’entreprise agricole en 2010 et détient également un baccalauréat en administration, mineur en économie de l’Université Bishop’s depuis 2013. Elle est co-propriétaire depuis 2016 avec son frère Martin de Ferme Estermann Inc. Ferme Estermann Inc. est une entreprise laitière de 320 kg de quota et de 500 acres en cultures. Régula est responsable de la gestion du troupeau, de la gestion des ressources humaines et de la gestion financière de l’entreprise. Regula parle couramment, anglais, français, allemand et espagnol et a un intérêt pour les voyages elle est aussi la maman de Léonie 1 an.

Shauna MacDonald is Principal and Founder of Brookline Public Relations, one of Canada’s leading boutique PR agencies. Starting her career in Boston and following in her father’s entrepreneurial footsteps, Shauna launched Brookline in 2004 after serving as Vice President and Managing Director of Western Canada for an international public relations firm, as well as the Marketing Communications Practice Leader for its Canadian operations. Now in its 15th year, Brookline delivers creative ideas, solid results, and a fresh approach (as a non-billable agency!) to countless brands across Canada, defining new industry standards for excellence and delivering newsworthy and memorable moments.

Bill Collins is President of Cascadia Seaweed. He has lived in four countries and been on most continents. He has been involved in scientific expeditions in oceans around the world and sold products into more than 40 countries, including 17 navies. Bill has authored more than 60 publications and given presentations on topics ranging from Grand Banks sediments to dredging in the Elbe River, Germany to Big Data. As part of a trio of owners in a high-tech manufacturing firm, he has products in 18 of the major passenger rail authorities in North America, taking an award-winning business from $3M net worth to over $30M.

En l'honneur du jour du Souvenir, nous sommes fiers de vous présenter un épisode spécial présenté par le podcast canadien et la Fondation du prince au Canada une œuvre de bienfaisance nationale créée par Son Altesse Royale le prince de Galles. La Fondation du prince au Canada est une organisation patrimoniale commune qui aide les anciens combattants dans leurs nouveaux rôles et activités après avoir servi dans les forces armées. Frédéric Verville est Vice-Président chez PilKi, une entreprise qui produit des infusions à base de thé du Labrador avec des ingrédients du terroir québécois. Il commercialise des tisanes naturelles, pour rendre accessibles à grande échelle les ressources de la forêt boréale. Cumulant sept ans d’expérience dans les Forces canadiennes, il est à ce jour technicien d’approvisionnement où il gère couramment le système de planification des ressources de l'entreprise et approvisionne la mécanique des hélicoptères. Il possède aussi un baccalauréat et une maitrise en théologie, qui lui a permis de développer des techniques de recherche rapides et une rigueur intellectuelle. Frédéric est en charge chez PilKi du développent web, du marketing digital, de l’approvisionnement et leur propre système de planification des ressources personnalisé. Nous sommes fiers de vous présenter cet épisode le jour de Remembrance afin de rendre hommage à tous les anciens combattants qui ont servi et continuent de servir le Canada. Pour en savoir plus ou faire un don à la Fondation du prince au Canada, visitez leur site web la Fondation du prince au Canada. Ne l'oublions pas.

Edmonton-based entrepreneur Courtney Buhler has turned a business that started as a lash lounge into a multi-million dollar global supplier and educator in the eyelash extension industry. She is founder and CEO of Sugarlash PRO.

Antonio Aleman est Président et Cofondateur de Hyumeet. Hyumeet facilite l'humanisation du processus de recrutement et va plus loin que le "match parfait". Nous permettons de concilier la personnalité, les valeurs et les intérêts des talents avec ceux des employeurs dès le début du processus. Plus précisément, Hyumeet innove dans le processus de recrutement en utilisant une approche de contrat psychologique, à savoir les ententes non écrites et les obligations informelles entre un employeur et ses employés en ce qui concerne leurs attentes mutuelles quant à la manière dont chacun s’acquittera de ses rôles respectifs. Dans une entreprise, le contrat psychologique peut inclure des éléments tels que le niveau d'engagement des employés, la satisfaction au travail et la qualité des conditions de travail. Hyumeet utilise cette approche et la met en valeur en y ajoutant des valeurs mutuelles, des besoins personnels et professionnels, des motivations personnelles et des traits de personnalité vérifiés pour correspondre à l'offre d'emploi et à la culture de l'entreprise. L'équipe Hyumeet est originaire de Québec! Connectez-vous avec Antonio Aleman en utilisant les liens ci-dessous: [email protected] Facebook Instagram

Wendy Giuffre is the President and Principal Consultant for Wendy Ellen Inc. She is also the co-author of The Only HR Best Practice You’ll Ever Need, coming October 2019. Wendy provides a grassroots, common sense approach that helps her clients to simplify their people management and create healthy, sustainable workplace cultures where people love to come to work. She is also a sought-after HR expert for the media, keynote speaker and contributor to various HR specialty print media. Wendy consults with small to medium-sized organizations in all industries based in and around Western Canada and US affiliates.

This Remembrance Day, we are proud to present a special episode brought to you by Canada’s Podcast and Prince’s Trust Canada, a national charity established by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Prince’s Trust Canada supports veterans as they transition into new roles and businesses after serving in the Armed Forces. Kristin Topping is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran who transitioned into entrepreneurship to create her business SweetLife Flora, based out of Ottawa. Entrepreneurship wasn't always the plan for Kristin, who served 21 years in the armed forces. But after a life-altering event, it was time to re-route her trajectory, and start something she was passionate about. With the assistance of the Prince's Trust Canada, she started SweetLife Flora, a thriving e-commerce venture that transformed Kristin's love for exotic and rare house plants, as well as indoor plant care, into a full-fledged business. Listen to Kristin's story about her transition from the military world to becoming an entrepreneur, and navigating a completely different lifestyle. We are proud to bring you this episode on Remebrance Day to honour all veterans who have served and continue to serve Canada. Visit Prince’s Trust Canada’s website to learn more about their programs supporting veterans or to make a donation. Lest We Forget.

Eric Gilbert Williams is a Canadian entrepreneur, business mentor, inventor and author in progress. He grew his last venture to 60 people, several million in annual revenue and reached the #20 spot for fastest growing company in Canada as per the Growth 500 list. As a teenager, he struggled with drugs and gangs but found redemption through embracing the Entrepreneurial Spirit with a laser like intensity. Eric is now helping other entrepreneurs with their businesses and is writing a book to help struggling teenagers and their families experience a similar type of redemption and success in life.

Laura Fortey is Co-Founder and CMO of REITIUM. REITIUM is a platform to speed up global real estate transactions with near instant clearing and settling, lower costs, reduce fraud and help democratize real estate.

John Hakim is a solutions architect with over 10 years of experience in building mission-critical systems for telecom, public safety, and enterprise internationally. Most recently his focus has been dedicated to building advanced solutions for the financial technology industry. As co-founder and CTO of Lenmo, John drives the engineering and operation teams. He is responsible for the application’s overall development lifecycle and product roadmap. Although he comes from a blue-chip company background he has caught the entrepreneurial bug and now is actively building Lenmo, a peer-to-peer lending app that connects people looking to borrow money with investors looking to make money.

Maria Greicer is Founder of OpenMLS, which is a marketplace for resale real estate. It connects home owners and people that are looking for homes, removing the need for a real estate agent.

Robert Price is one of the founders and the CEO of Bōde, a new peer-to-peer real estate platform that just launched in Alberta. Previously, Robertwas a senior executive at Alberta telecom disruptor Axia, which brought high performing low-cost fiber infrastructure to customers in Alberta, the US, France and Singapore. Robert thrives in leading high performing teams who deliver amazing customer experiences and meet critical revenue objectives. With Bōde, he's brought together an all-star team, including his father and sister, that is shaking up the real estate industry like never before.

Mark Doble is CEO of Alexsei - an advanced artificial intelligence platform delivering affordable and high-quality answers to legal questions in memo format. He is a lawyer and a software developer with a passion for leveraging software to make the law more affordable and understandable. He received his J.D. from Queen’s University. His new venture Alexsei is using artificial intelligence to transform the practice of law in dramatic fashion. In a previous life was a professional cross-country ski racer and coach. Mark also holds a patent for snow gliding devices that allows for non-linear flex in alpine and cross-country skis.

Sugeevan Shanmuganathan is Founder and CEO of The Dunya Project. The Dunya Project is designed to provide villages the power, technology and knowledge to use a community greenhouse to grow produce more efficiently and effectively.

Tara Clark is the founder, owner, and CEO of Vancouver-based social media agency, Social T. For the past nine years she has offered executive consulting, training and management to small and medium-sized businesses around the world. As a social media architect, entrepreneur, and speaker, Tara is focused on helping businesses think differently and use social media effectively in order to achieve their goals. She helps brands engage with existing customers and tap into new audiences using their social media networks. Passionate about empowering those around her, Tara believes in building lasting connections with business owners who share her entrepreneurial spirit.

Gabriel Musso is the Chief Science Officer at BioSymetrics Inc., which applies technology and machine learning to improve drug discovery & research, improve diagnostics & precision medicine and improve institutional operations and efficiency.

When Jose Azares launched his popular Calgary burger and milkshake chain, REGRUB, five years ago, he didn’t realize he was laying the foundation for his next entrepreneurial venture - NIDUM. This impact-driven startup solves serious staffing problems for restaurants and other high turnover industries while creating more opportunities for unemployed and underemployed Calgarians.

As CEO and Co-Founder of LoginRadius, Rakesh Soni has raised over $20 million for the company and built it into a leader in Digital Identity, securing over 1 billion user identities worldwide.

Bernadette Butler is Founder and CEO of StoryTap. StoryTap helps brands tell authentic stories through video. They have locations in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Canada's Podcast host Angela Barnard stopped to talk to Bernadette while at the 2019 Collision Conference in Toronto.

Shelly MacGregor is founder of Apex Massage Therapy which has been in business in Calgary for 25 years and has survived three recessions. She talks about her personal journey which led her into this industry.

Mike Gaspar is Co-Founder and COO of HealthCasa Ltd., which connects orthotic and podiatry practitioners with people that require a home appointment. It's the only on-demand service that allows people to book an appointment online with a practitioner of their choice, at a location of their choice, and on a day and time that is most convenient for them.