For over 10 years Allison Graham has been helping professionals grow their top line revenue. Her bestselling book, From Business Cards to Business Relationships: Profitable Networking & Personal Branding Made Easy is the foundation for her original work. She’s been featured as an authority on sales and networking in the media and worked with some of North America’s most influential brands.

That’s her public

Behind the scenes, she’s been dealt a series of difficult blows that magnify the collision between home and work. Her struggles have earned her the moniker, Resiliency Ninja. In her latest book, Married My Mom, Birthed a Dog: How to Be Resilient When Life Sucks! Allison makes people feel less alone in their struggles and gives them tools to ensure that tough times don’t have to dictate their level of success.

Meet Katy who is one of the fabulous speakers for Spark the Change Toronto 2017!

Katy Saulpaugh is an expert agile practitioner who has implemented culture and technology change strategies at all scales for private, public, and nonprofit clients in the US and Europe. As agile practice lead at Enterprise Knowledge, LLC, she specializes in agile coaching and facilitation and has enabled clients to become more agile at the team and organization level. She has also developed solutions to drive adoption for IT and knowledge management projects using online communications, instruction design, and employee engagement approaches. Outside of her professional work, Katy is active in both the agile and change communities, and is a founding member of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Association of Change Management Professionals.

Meet Luc Galoppin - one of our great speakers at Spark the Change Toronto 2017!

Organizational Change Practitioner and Author Luc Galoppin looks at organizations like communities that need development, not as machines that need fixing.

He is the co-author of Managing Organizational Change During SAP Implementations, Guest Lecturer of Executive Education in Core Business Integrations of Sustainability (CBIS) at Harvard School of Public Health, and founder of the largest community of Organizational Change Practitioners on Linked In (50,000+ members)

Have you ever sat and wondered what your mom might think of some of the decisions you make when it comes to business? We all know moms have the power to make us feel 9 with our hand caught in the cookie jar. Or maybe that's just my mom ;) But ultimately, if we use making our parents proud (or grandparents or favorite aunty)as part of the barometer for decision making, I think things might go differently in some cases.

Today we talk about stepping over the line and forcing someone to be the loser in a situation isn't the best way to do business. It might work out short term (*cough Trump cough*) but it will catch up with you. Your reputation will begin to precede you and people will start to get that twist in their stomach when dealing with you. Like it or not, your shady side isn't as well hidden as you'd like to think.

Relationships are not quick deal. They require time and effort and nurturing. You need to have a long term plan in your head ALL THE TIME so that when tempted to be not so awesome, you remember the plan. And that whatever decisions you make will have long term impact on you, your business, your relationships and your life.

Consider this the finger wagging that your mom would give you if she knew what you were up to. And if you're keeping everything on the level? Then this can be your cheek pinch for a job well done :)

I have to be honest - this isn't my best podcast for WWW. Further honesty - I had too many homemade Blondies (Think a brownie but without the chocolate. I'm allergic to chocolate. Yes, you read that right.) There's a connection to the book here but you'll have to read the book to put it together.

Kirstine Stewart is the current Chief Strategy Officer for Diply. Before that she worked for Twitter, was the head of the CBC and brought us reno and decorating gurus Mike Holmes and Sarah Richardson. Her resume is awesome but not as awesome as how much she will share from her personal and professional experience to help other women become great leaders.

I've tried read a few female leadership based books (Sheryl Sandberg, Arlene Dickinson) and they were awful. I know if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything so I'll stop there.

It was refreshing and revitalizing to read from an accomplished, successful female leader who didn't hold her personal life up as the hardship story that begat her success. Kirstine Stewart focuses on the innate leadership skills and abilities that all women can tap in to as the chief building block for her success. It's that relateability that allows us to see more potential in ourselves and realize that a kick ass pair of heels might not be the reason we reach the top faster, but it can't hurt.

The older I get the less I use the word hate. I think I stopped liking it mostly because I realized the power of it. The power to demean someone. The power to change the dynamics of a situation. The power to influence decisions and thought processes and personal development.

Used in passing, such as "I hate when that happens" isn't a huge deal. It's when it's used in a personal interaction that I shudder. We have no idea what that word might trigger in someone. We have no idea how much of a game changer it could be.

Today's chat is about my boobs. Indirectly anyway. And no, I don't hate them. In fact, there isn't a single thing I hate about myself. Not one. I'm not a narcissist. I'm just a decent human being who believes that hate is reserved for a level of society to which I do not belong.

I hope you'll take a listen and take hate out of your vocabulary. And even take it a step further to take it out of other people's as well. Once you listen, I hope you'll understand where I'm going with this.

PS - I use the F word at the end of this podcast. I have a love / hate relationship with the F word. Mostly love ;) But for my mom who listens religiously - sorry Mom xoxoxo. I know you love me anyway!

I've spent years networking. Years I tell you. At first on behalf of my employer but for the last 3 on behalf of me. That's scary for some people. It was for me. So I went to countless networking groups and events. This had its benefits in helping me craft my message, hone my offerings and getting my face in front of a lot of people. But it also wasted a lot of time. Time my business doesn't have to waste.

Now I network smarter and make opportunities happen out of that.

One of the things I've learned is the strength behind routinely evaluating the networking that you are doing. If you've been going to a group for a while and not got a stitch of business, that should be telling you something: either your message is off or the group isn't right for you. Regardless - it's time to make a decision. Continue going or find new opportunities. My business is important to me so I went seeking new opportunities.

It was through this decision that today's podcast came to be. I hope it encourages you to make the most of your networking time, take chances on meeting people you might not otherwise get to meet and build your reputation by networking smartly. After all - your business is counting on it.

Can you whip off a white lie and not even blink? Do you commit to events or meetings and then bail? If your word is your bond, is yours crazy glue or sticky tack? If this got you feeling a bit cringe worthy, then take a seat.

I did a poll a few years ago to find out what people thought of me. I was happily surprised to find that the top 3 consistent words were: Loyal, Trustworthy and Honest. Sounds boring to some but to me it was music to my ears. I broke a fibbing habit by age 24 that most people probably weren't aware of and have spent the rest of my days making sure that those 3 words are what I'm known for.

If you think lying won't bite you in the ass at some point, you need to stop kidding yourself. And if you are over the age of 18, you need to grow up. Liars suck. I have stopped being friends and won't do business with people who prove to be liars. Even fibbers and story stretchers go on the shit list.

My advice? Take a listen and see if your honesty habits need a tune up. If so, AWESOME! Get off your butt and make a commitment to a clean slate of honesty. If you listened and said Bah! I will never get got. Well karma can be a card carrying bitch my friend and I suggest you keep one eye opener for all the people you've screwed over.

They might be listening to this podcast and thought of you ...

I will bet quite a bit of money that if you ask any business owner what their number one struggle is, 98% will answer the same damn thing.

Sales.

And if you are a solopreneur, you're not only the entire production team, communications team and admin assistant, you're also the whole sales force. That's a lot of hats and most people only have one head.

Today during Ballsy Women In Business, we talked about sales. The experience you don't realize you have and the experience you don't realize the person in front of you has had. Both are very important to your bottom line.

We touched on that tricky limbic brain and how the wrong messaging or rushing the sales cycle can trigger that fight or flight response faster than you can say used car salesman.

If you're in a position where selling is your hairshirt, then this might be the podcast for you. Sympathy will always sit between shit and syphilis in the dictionary, but we've all been there and are happy to give a little to the fellow entrepreneurs making their way through the sales cycle.

Remember: you're selling to solve a clients' problem not shiest them. So buck up and get out there!

Entrepreneurship can be challenging for anyone. For women? Sometimes you need other women to get a better understanding of what you might be going through. Carrie Green, founder of the Female Entrepreneurs Association, has developed a community that women can find business resources, emotional support and the ability to take action for your business that you might otherwise struggle with.

I stumbled upon the FEA when looking for local business building groups for women. I started to learn about FEA because of my own group Ballsy and wanted to learn all I could to make it successful. Carrie Green offers workshops, webinars, online resources and community forums. It was the opportunity to take the goal setting workshop if you bought She Means Business that gave me the experience the FEA truly provides.

Take a listen and learn how She Means Business might just be the book you need to kick your fears over, your business in to high gear and your life in to reality you've dreamed of.