Canada’s Entrepreneur

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.

Adrian Moise is CEO & Founder of Aequilibrium - a Vancouver-based digital product development and design studio dedicated to combining an intuitive interface design with carefully crafted code, leading to an unforgetting customer experience.

Kane Willmott is the Co-Founder and CEO of iQ Office Suites, a luxury coworking company with locations in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal. Kane has 20 years of sales and entrepreneurial experience, assisting in the startup of multiple real estate brokerages as well as a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. He is passionate about creating experiential environments where top performers can do their best work. He takes great pride in building strong teams, reinforced with a culture of service excellence. In addition to running iQ Office Suites, Kane oversees the operation of a real estate brokerage, Spire Commercial Realty, as well as a real estate investment company, Spire Capital Investments. He served as President of the Global Workspace Association and has done a number of speaking engagements promoting the use and implementation of coworking strategies for entrepreneurs, organizations, and owners of commercial real estate. Kane holds a Diploma in Property Management from George Brown College as well as a Degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. He is a registered real estate broker, a level 1 ski instructor, and Air 4 certified freestyle ski coach.

Dana Bouwman is Account Executive with Insight Insurance and Risk Management in Edmonton. She talks about being a young professional and being an entrepreneur in the past.

Géraldine Jippé (www.geraldinejippe.com) est une serial entrepreneure née à Paris et basée à Montréal depuis 11 ans. Spécialiste du digital et passionnée par les nouvelles technologies et le e-commerce, Géraldine co-fonde Watergeeks, une startup cleantech, qui associe économie circulaire, environnement et Intelligence Artificielle pour développer une place de marché de revalorisation des équipements industriels au sein de l'industrie 4.0 et plus particulièrement dans le secteur du traitement de l'eau. Fière gagnante du Coopérathon Canada 2018, Géraldine et son équipe remporte le Grand Prix du Coopérathon, le Prix Hydro Québec et le prix de la Fondation Suzuki. Elle élargit ses horizons entrepreneuriaux au sein d'incubateurs de renom comme le Centech (ETS), l'École des Entrepreneurs du Québec et NextAi (École de Dirigeants - HEC Montréal). Grâce à sa maîtrise en Gestion et Marketing de Y-School ( Ex-Groupe Esc Troyes, France) et des cours suivis à l’université McGill (Montréal) en marketing numérique, Géraldine acquiert des bases solides en administration des affaires, en gestion et marketing digital. Très engagée, Géraldine est très active auprès de la communauté entrepreneuriale montréalaise à titre de bénévole d’affaires, auprès de l’association des Femmes d'Atta, et à titre de mentor au sein de AquaHacking.

Todd Rutter is owner of A Cappella Catering in Edmonton. Todd talks about his entrepreneurial journey and how he went against advice to shut down his business years ago but decided to persevere.

Miguel Diaz is the CEO and Founder of Driven Performance Fitness a fitness transformation centre with 250+ members, helping them improve their health, fitness and mindset. After losing 80lbs Miguel became a Certified Personal Trainer and a Certified Fitness Nutritionist and dedicated himself to helping others get in shape without depriving themselves. Miguel has received Best Personal Trainer in the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and Driven has received the award for Best Fitness Centre in 2018 and 2019 along with the 2019 Small Business of the Year award from the Nanaimo & District Chamber of Commerce. Miguel’s is all about helping people believe in themselves, believe and achieve better health and quality of life through fitness and nutrition. "No matter where you are at there is always hope, there's always a way. DO NOT GIVE UP!"

Paul Van Ginkel is a well-known and successful artist in Calgary known for his paintings depicting horses and western imagery such as cowboys and natives. He also is known for his paintings of flamenco dance and of Venice. On this podcast, Paul talks about juggling the artistic side of his personality with his business sense. Examples of his work can be found on his website.

Douglas Pipher is President of Gristmill Marketing in Ontario, a well-established marketing operation that has an enviable client list. Douglas is also an active entrepreneur that has worked and invested in many other growing entrepreneurial ventures – with great success... most of the time. And most importantly Douglas is a jazz musician and has a great story to tell about mixing his business and music passion. Take a listen – it is really inspirational.

Paven Nijjar is an owner with The Samosa Factory and Diamond Glass in Calgary.

Lauryn Vaughn is CEO and Founder of the upside, Canada’s largest online luxury resale retailer. Born and raised in a small town in Western Canada, Lauryn developed her passion for the resale market when she moved to Paris, learning how to look chic on a budget overseas. She recognized early there was a gap in the North American market for luxury resale, and created the upside in 2015.

Marnie Ashcroft is founder and CEO of Glow Juicery, with locations across Canada. Glow Juicery provides nourishing Juices, Cleanses or Raw Food that can be delivered right to your door.

Laura McKay is the co-founder of PolicyMe which is on a mission to make insurance simpler and cheaper for everyone who needs it. Laura’s a math nerd with a math degree from University of Waterloo with an actuarial focus. So not surprisingly PolicyMe has developed proprietary life insurance algorithms that are designed to recommend the best life insurance product for you. But Laura’s real passion, after a four year career working with a high profile consulting group in New York city, is to improve financial literacy, put an end to the industry practice of up selling / overprotecting and reduce frictional costs in the existing value chain.

Lorenzo DeCicco is chief executive officer for GAME CHANGER - as professional leadership organization that delivers sales and Executive mastery methodology focused on driving specific, predictable and measurable business outcomes. He's a former Telus executive with Fortune 500 experience and has a passion for soccer.

Josephine Kwan, Founder of Flow 2 Freedom Apparel, is a visionary and self-motivated entrepreneur with over a decade of diverse business experience in commercial real estate, sales and marketing, negotiations, acquisitions and dispositions, operations, finance and management. Josephine has a Bachelor of Human Kinetics from UBC, has volunteered with the Breakfast Club of Canada, Habitat for Humanity and the Make-a-Wish Foundation, has been a performance coach for CEO’s and Executives, and in her own consulting business reconnects visionary business leaders to their purpose, including operations, business development, marketing, team building and performance coaching then build their future business strategies and ensure effective and timely execution. Today, this Vancouver based entrepreneur is applying those techniques to her latest entrepreneurial pursuit, and is leveraging the power of a childhood trauma to transform the lives of niche elite athletes and active women with an innovative line of sustainable activewear.

Michael Buhr is the President and CEO of Filld, the last mile mobile fueling company that delivers fuel to vehicles so drivers and fleets never have to stop for gas again. Previously, he was the President and Co-CEO of Zerve, and has business and product experience at Apple, Adobe, and Palm. Michael holds a degree in Engineering from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada.

A serial entrepreneur with extensive experience starting, growing & selling businesses, Raghwa Gopal is one of the most recognizable names in BC’s tech sector. In addition to his current role as President + CEO of Innovate BC, he’s a member of the Emerging Economy Task Force, the former CEO of Accelerate Okanagan, and started Kelowna’s first ever tech company.

Barbara Miller, a former pack and a half smoker is the founder of BMP Production and the creator of the BMP Method. In 2017 her 3rd improved edition of "How To Quit Smoking Even If You Don't Want To", won the Gold Seal literacy Award as it came back recommended by The US Review. Her book inspired her to teach the method in a one-day event. Now many years later she is preparing to tour across Canada and the US performing much larger 3-day interactive events. Barbara believes this needs to be a company benefit for workers.

Justine Barber is the co-founder of Poppy Barley, a BCorps certified footwear and accessory company that prioritizes foundational style and ethical manufacturing. Justine has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta (U of A) and a Master of Arts in Conflict Analysis from the University of Kent. Prior to starting Poppy Barley she worked in conflict prevention, and on Alberta's 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness. Justine is married with two young kids; in her (limited) spare time she enjoys running, reading and playing outside.

Craig Skauge is President and CEO of Olympia Trust Company in Calgary.

Wayne Wachell is the CEO & Chief Investment Officer (Founding Partner), Genus Capital. Wayne co-founded Genus Capital in 1989 and is the architect of the firm’s investment process. Genus Capital is a pioneer in Canada’s divest-invest movement and is home to Canada’s first fossil-free mutual fund family.

Lauren Dary is founder of Gus Sloan in Edmonton.

John Datseris has worked in the digital world since 1998. His knowledge of technology and marketing helps companies better understand the digital space – how it is changing, how to leverage it, how to measure it and how to integrate it into their business. John is an expert in digital and new media and in developing and building actionable strategies and properties that are results focused. He has successfully led digital transformation programs for traditional marketing and media companies and is known for designing business and marketing solutions that develop social and financial capital for enterprises. Six years ago he co-founded GNR8R Marketing Group – which generates strategies and solutions for the connected consumer. At GNR8R John and his team work with clients, agencies, technology companies and strategic service groups to build higher value marketing solutions.

Derick Hsieh is the Product Manager of Liv.Rent. A serial entrepreneur, he had several start up engagements under his belt prior to this, performing a variety of roles including consulting on agile development and building biomedical solutions. He specialized in human computer interaction for biomedical applications - technologies that facilitate touchless interactions with medical imaging technology in surgical settings - think Minority Report. A curious software engineer at heart, Derick's interest in emerging technologies and innovative user experiences lead him to join Liv, build a team, create and oversee the product from inception to launch this summer.

Jacqueline Jacek is Cocoanista at JACEK Chocolate Couture in Edmonton.

Leslee Montgomery is the mother of 3 teenage girls and founder of Kyote Fitness & Counselling, a Burnaby based personal training facility that is tackling the mental health ripple effects of bullying. After 10 years working Health and Safety in the construction industry Leslee realized that everyone wants to be heard and listened to and that mental health was an area she wanted to get more involved with. Physical fitness has always grounded Leslee and then one day it came to her, what if you could provide the customer with a complete experience, providing a safe place to tackle mental health and physical fitness at the same time.

Catherine Vu is Chief Uptime Officer of Pro-Active IT Management.

Corey Croft is an accidental entrepreneur and Founder of Fly Pelican Press, an independent book publishing company operating out of Vancouver British Columbia. Focusing on delivering non-commercial works of fiction in electronic and hard copy formats, and creating open-ended discourse through official publications and blogs, the company has a hard-to-forget slogan which you’ll hear in Corey’s Canada Podcast and view on his website – that is also his guiding principle for both content and delivery. Corey Croft is from Surrey British Columbia, Canada. Self-described as a user of gallows humor to help to him stumble gracefully in a meaningless world. He avoids eye contact with strangers and doesn’t understand most kinds of science. As a child he was taken to church every Sunday and worried that every time it rained it would rain, biblically. As an adult, the rain is pretty good for writing and sleeping.

Joey Pomerleau is founder and CEO of Wednesday Co. which is an online subscription condom company.

Priscilla Stanbury, was born in England but grew up in Vancouver. She taught students with learning disabilities in the post-secondary education sector in England and Vancouver. Following her second kidney failure, she is a first time author of a best-selling, award nominated book, Warriors and Heroes of a Different Kind: Battling Kidney Failure.

Glain Roberts-McCabe is the founder and President of The Roundtable, a company where leaders cultivate their leadership, together. The Roundtable is best known for their group and team-based coaching and mentoring systems that help organizations break down silos, increase collaboration and accelerate business all while building leadership capability. In 2014, The Roundtable was awarded a Gold Award by the Canadian Awards for Training Excellence in partnership with PepsiCo Foods Canada for their Roundtable for Leaders peer coaching and mentoring program and in 2016 they were named Best External Consulting Advisory in Canada at the Canadian HR Awards. In 2018, Glain was named one of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurs of the Year. All experiences were kind of like winning an Oscar but without having to wear sequins. Glain is the author of the Amazon best-selling book ‘Did I REALLY Sign Up for This?!’ and believes that leadership is a privilege. Her personal mission to inspire ambitious leaders to connect to their bigger purpose and passion so that work can be more fun and life can be more fulfilling.

In 2011 Melissa Orozco founded Yulu PR, a communications and impact consulting agency mandated to champion socially innovative organizations that are making positive social and environmental impact. Since then, Melissa was awarded a top 30-under 30 marketing professional award, was Chair of Communications for the Urban Land Institute of BC, played a key role in the ‘Fuck Cancer’ campaign earning her agency at International Stevie Award for Best Social Good Campaign, and became Canada’s first PR agency to become a certified B Corporation. With the belief that stories have the power to drive behavior and social change, Melissa and her team embarked on an evolution of public relations. Enter Impact Relations, an organization dedicated to promoting the widespread practice of PR & communications for positive impact that works with emergent change makers across North America.

Dan Berezan is founder of CultivatR.ca which is an only farmer's market - bringing fresh food straight from producers to your home table.

Jigme Love (jigmelove.com) is the Founder of the luxury resale store Mine & Yours. She has operated retails stores and pop-up shops on Hornby Street, on South Granville, Robson Street, 4th Avenue in Kitsilano, and in Yorkville in Toronto, and Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. She specializes in creating sophisticated retail shopping experiences and building long-standing community relationships. She is a passionate entrepreneur. As the Founder of the Dream Factory Mastermind, she creates community, inspirational experiences, and leads and facilitates business growth and strategic collaborations among entrepreneurs. She holds an MBA from the International University of Monaco.

Monica Kretschmer is founder and CEO of Canadian Business Chicks and the creator of the Women of Inspiration Awards.

Alexandra Nestertchouk is a serial entrepreneur with over ten years of experience in business management and technology. She has a Business Management Degree and background in Computer Science. Originally from Minsk, Belarus, she moved to Canada 11 years ago. Over the years leading to establishing HopKidz. Alexandra was in a sr. management position for a vibrant Boutique IT Consulting firm in Toronto. However she always knew she will not continue as "9-5 employee". Alexandra has started and ran few little things as a side-hustle while she was searching for the Big idea. Alexandra is a mother to a now 2.5 year boy, Cosmos. Once her maternity leave came to an end, becoming the founder and CEO of a tech startup was a natural step. Fun fact: Alexandra comes from a family of strong women with entrepreneurship running in their blood - every woman in her family is now a business owner, including her 81yo grandmother.

Colin Szopa is CEO and co-founder of Plankk, a fitness and technology company in Calgary.

Alexandre Champoux is a business entrepreneur who formerly owned and managed Alliance Pavage from 2009 to 2018. This business specialized in asphalt paving and concrete work for commercial, institutional, civil and residential jobs. This leader grew the company by tackling over 800 contracts around the island of Montreal which includes their most notorious feat "The Bonaventure Project". With over a decade of experience and observations, Alexandre lived the troublesome and outdated management techniques in the construction industry. Most notably the scaling margins of error that had to be factored into each of venture. His experience combined with his excellent orator and interpersonal skills and makes this CEO an indispensable individual of Civalgo.

Jeremy Lundy has spent over a decade working in the government and telecom sectors doing implementation consulting and product development. He has participated in all phases of the software development lifecycle from design, development and testing to pre-sales support and client implementation. He has managed large teams through DevOps and Agile transformations and co-founded Techorrect Inc. Jeremy enjoys playing basketball and watching rugby.