Mike Mulligan is the founder of Moving Forward Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. In June 1996, Mike sustained a spinal cord injury in a car crash. Since then, Mike has done everything an able bodied person would do, including earn a University degree, get a great job, buy a house, and travel throughout the United States and Australia. He was very happy with his life and the accomplishments he had made but he never gave up on the goal of one day walking again.

Mike’s primary motivation for founding Moving Forward is to ensure that he and others can have access to the tools, facilities and support required for them to continue Moving Forward with their recovery right here in London.

Andrew Young: My name is Andrew Young. You may recognise me from the Internet. I love my life, my cats, my job, and my community. I'm taking up your time today because on this journey of life, I've met wonderful people who make our city better, and I want you to meet them, too. This is Andrew Young's Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People. 

AY: Modest. Magnanimous. A masterclass in motivation. Our guest has transformed a cataclysmic event into an opportunity to affect countless lives. His energy is infectious and his laugh contagious. Let's unleash the awesome that is Mike Mulligan. Mike, welcome to the show, man. 

Mike Mulligan: Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. 

AY: Aw dude, thanks for coming by. I really appreciate it, man, and every time that we get to hang out, it's, it's always a pleasure. So I'm looking forward to kind of cracking this nut open and getting some, some really great answers from you, okay?

MM: Sweet. 

AY: Often when we're faced with tragedy, we have a decision to make. You can become half a man or a man and half, right? You've chosen the latter route, alright? You now have an incredible business: Moving Forward Rehabilitation and Wellness Centre. What, what motivated you to turn the accident that you experienced into something unbelievably inspirational and a vehicle to help other people? 

MM: Well, it really came down to- for me, it was... I had my accident when I was 16 years old, and I, I promised myself I was going to walk by the time I was 40, and as years went on, I did my, I did my stretches. I did my therapy. But I realised, probably about 15 years in, that I wasn't going to walk if I really didn't take that step to actually do it. And so, I found a facility out in California and went down there and just saw the amazing things that they were able to do with someone of the quad- that was a quadriplegic and didn't really move a whole lot, similar to me, and being able to stand for the first time and look at someone in the eye, ride a bike, being able to get on the treadmill. It was those things that I was like, maybe this is possible, and maybe it can happen. It was when my parents came down too that, you know, them seeing me walk on the treadmill for the first time and my mom crying. It was like, you know, this doesn't just affect me, this affects families. So that's why when I came back home to London, I realised something like that needs to be done, and I decided to open up Moving Forward to help other people and other families and make people reach their goals, set goals, and, you know, one day hopefully walk again. 

AY: Absolutely. I've, I've gone on your Web site and I took a look, and I just love how you celebrate the people that come to your business and through your business. That's, that's obviously important to you and important to them. 

MM: It really is, because we really want to highlight, you know, their accomplishments, you know? Like that they're doing these- it might be the littlest thing, but it's huge for them, you know, and we like to highlight all those things they're doing, just so that their family and friends that can't come to the gym with them can, can see that, and that's the joy of the Internet nowadays, too. 

AY: So that's great. While I was doing more research about your business, the one piece that I, I guess I never considered... There's a section on the website that, that gives help to students with disability, with disabilities. So I guess I never, I never conceived that and never thought about that about- just because you go through, you know, life doesn't just, doesn't just stop, right? So I guess I never considered that students need help and people of different age ranges need that help. I guess my question to you is, what message do you have for people who have experienced a traumatic event? 

MM: My biggest thing for me was, and that's really where the name of Moving Forward came from is it's moving forward. It's continuing on with life, and I've always said this chair is just a means of transportation for me. It gets me around no different than what my legs would have. So just keep looking forward to what life has to offer and, and go and grab it. 

AY: You know, it's, it's a positive message coming from, you know, coming from, from someone like, like me and say, you know, move forward, everyday is a blessing. Do you think that it holds a little bit more weight with what you've, what you've been through? 

MM: Yeah, because I look back at everything that I have accomplished and I, I've had a lot of support. You know, my family was really there for me and just looking back at everything I've done, you know, finishing high school with honours, getting an engineer- engineering degree at Western, you know, finding a job, which is the hardest thing really for someone in a wheelchair. That's the hardest thing is finding in a wheelchair. So like looking back at everything I've done, it's a, you know, I kind of pat myself on the back, and I'm happy that I've done it and just keep looking forward to what's next in my life. 

AY: It's, it's great words of wisdom, no matter what, what situation you're in at the time, right? The March of Dimes. It's been a pretty positive inspiration in your life. Have you considered how you've affected the people over the years with your involvement of March of Dimes, and you know, consulting, you know, businesses and another organizations to sort of open up their doors to people with disabilities, and how has that affected your life and how do you feel about that sort of trend? 

MM: Yeah, the March of Dimes, that was really one of my very first jobs was working at the March of Dimes, and for me, it was a huge eye opener. I thought, I'm going into this program with the March of Dimes for helping people with disabilities and, you know, home and vehicle modification. I'm expecting everyone to be in a wheelchair, and I was the only one. 

AY: Right. 

MM: So going in there was like, oh okay, so they kind of took me and my guidance, and "Mike, I need your help with this, and what should I do with that?" But the really- the best part of that job was, you know, as much as you couldn't help everyone that you wanted to, right, when they were applying for the program, but it was those parents that were calling in to say, you know, I finally can get my daughter into our house, into her own bed, into the bathtub. You know, we can finally be together as a family and crying on the phone, I mean, that was why I did it every day, you know, and I loved it. And it's why I continue to support the March of Dimes and anything they do, because, you know, they they are trying to help as many people as they possibly can, so.

AY: It's, it's interesting to hear you say that- how much March of Dimes impacted in your life, but I think that your involvement with the March of Dimes and just, just the staff alone, right? You're the only one in a wheelchair. So I imagine, I imagine it helped them take their support to a different level when fundamentally sort of understanding what it is that you go through on a day to day. 

MM: It really was, because for them, they just kind of like, you know, they took these case files and did their job, but when they can then start to see it from another set of eyes in a different lifestyle, it kind of was like, oh, yeah, we maybe can't do that for that person. Not everyone is the same. You have to look at each individual case and what's going to work for them, so. 

AY: Yeah. A really fun night that you and I shared, going back to 2016 was the Community Living London's Night of Heroes. 

MM: Oh, what an honour. 

AY: Man. It was so good. And the crowd, you know, clapping their hands and everybody's cheering for you and for that, you know, two, two and a half minutes, you're, you're a rockstar, man. It's fantastic, right? When we're considering, you know, the title of champion in the community, do- do you take some time and realise what, what a champion you actually are, man? 

MM: I never look at it that way, and that's why that night was like- when, you know, when you got that phone call, I was just so overwhelmed, you know, with, with being honoured by the community in such an honourable way. You know, and then to help an amazing cause too, you know, I got to wear that amazing red suit jacket too, that I wish I would have kept. My biggest thing was don't fall off the stage because, you know, with all the lights and everything. But, you know, I don't look at it, you know, being, you know, considered a champion in the community or whatever, I just- I do what I do because I enjoy it, and I want to help as many people as I possibly can, and I know I can't help everybody, but I want to. 

AY: Yeah, you you can't help them help themselves right? 

MM: Yeah. 

AY: But, you know, you're an absolute inspiration to kind of get them hopefully to the, to the next level and- and- and push forward, right? You know, kind of continuing on with that, do you have any advice or words of wisdom for someone who's looking to get involved in the community? 

MM: Find something you're passionate about, that you really want to put a lot of time and effort into. You know, for me, it was... It's always been about helping people in need, you know, and I know when I had my accident, there was so many people that helped me out, you know, and get through this situation, so to be able to help out somebody in the same situation and kind of push them and help them through it, it's... And that's, for me that was- that was my love and passion. So that would be my advice would be just to like find something that you really enjoy and want to give a hundred percent to, because you'll, you'll find enjoyment in that. 

AY: Yeah. There's a- I don't think there's any, any better advice than that. You know, on that note, it's- it's an absolute inspiration being beside you, being in your presence. You're always smiling, man, and you know, I'm a guy that smiles all the time. When I see another guy smiling, it just compounds it, right? So I always appreciate our time together, and I applaud you for everything you're doing in the- in the community, and I think it's really, really special. So I want to thank you again for joining us, and thank the Wolf Performance Hall for being such great hosts for unbelievable people today. And from the bottom of my heart, man, keep doing what you're doing, keep pushing, and I love your story and thanks for sharing it with us today. 

MM: Thank you. 

AY: Awesome. 

MM: Thank you. 

Announcer:  Season one of Andrew Young’s Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People, including this episode with Mike Mulligan, was proudly produced by webisodes and The Community Mortgage Movement at The Wolf Performance Hall in beautiful downtown London, Ontario.

Adam Caplan, Sammy Roach and Andrew Young produced this episode, the sound was recorded and mixed by Eric Altomonte from The Watershed Studios. Sammy Roach edited the episode, Nicole Coenen handled camera and the jib, and Rory Morris was our Lighting Director and Stage Manager at the Wolf Performance Hall.

We want to extend a special thanks to our guest today, Mike Mulligan for making the time for us, and to Catherine Coreno at the Wolf Performance hall for graciously hosting us.

We’d also like to thank Ermy Young, Mottyl Young, Jennifer Young,

Joseph’s Clothiers, Studio Kuefner, and both Cheese and Zoodles.

If you enjoyed this episode and haven’t yet explored the rest of our season, or if you have and want to tell a friend about us, fantastictalks.com is the headquarters for all the ways to have a watch, listen, read, or even a review.

This has been a webisodes podcast and produced with The Community Mortgage Movement which is powered by The Modern Mortgage Unlimited Company FSRA # 13133

Matthew Santagapita is a licensed realtor specializing in the city of London and surrounding area. Matt's hard work, sensitivity, and professionalism, as well as his personal interest in investment properties, have helped him to become one of the top producing agents in the area. 

A family man, Matthew believes in the value of community and has co-founded locorum.ca to highlight and promote the best and most exciting parts of local businesses, food, community, and events.

In addition to his professional commitments, Matthew is a strong believer in giving back to the community, and supports various charitable causes.

Andrew Young: My name is Andrew Young. You may recognise me from the Internet. I love my life, my cats, my job, and my community. I'm taking up your time today because on this journey of life, I've met wonderful people who make our city better, and I want you to meet them, too. This is Andrew Young's Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People. 

AY: Unabashedly honest. Unapologetically altruistic. Uniquely analytical. This episode's guest will move you literally and figuratively. He has brought our community closer. He has a beautiful mind and challenges you to think about things on many different levels. I am proud to be sitting down with Mr. Matthew Santagapita. Matthew. 

Matthew Santagapita: Thanks for having me. 

AY: Thanks for taking the time today, man. Are you having a good day? 

MS: Awesome. 

AY: Yeah. You got strong sock game. 

MS: So do you. Yeah, we match. 

AY: I really appreciate that. We didn't even talk about it. It's going very well so far. 

MS: I know. 

AY: The Santa Sells Houses team. 

MS: Yep. 

AY: Santa Knows Best. 

MS: Yep. 

AY: Monday Market Update. Business of the Week. Finally, Locorum. 

MS: Yep. 

AY: You've built an amazing real estate team, and you keep pushing the real estate market forward and increased the amount of business and the quality of business. You've created a stronger community because of your efforts by highlighting independent businesses on top of everything else that you do. Why have you selected these independent businesses, and what are you trying to achieve by doing it? 

MS: Why? So generally... It's kind of a tough question for me, and really, I guess what it- to summarise it in maybe a quick and easy way, it's that not enough is being done for small and medium businesses. That's what it really comes down to. You know, major corporations, they can afford lobbyists. They can afford, you know, multi-million dollar ad budgets and things like that, but... Which is great, and I'm not knocking big business because you need big business, but when you look at entrepreneurism, you know, small business owners, medium business owners, I mean, it's a grind. It's a struggle. So, you know, oddly enough, you know, this love of entrepreneurism and kind of like, you know, the local hustler and grinder stemmed from a few conversations that... Some conversations with you and kind of with some other people where... A lot of people think London is boring. And, you know, as a realtor, you know, my profession, my career, my job, we're supposed to know the city. And through these conversations, I started kind of scratching my head thinking, wait a minute, do I actually really know my city? And then as you- as we started to explore it, you start having purposeful conversations with business owners and you realise that, you know, they have the sleepless nights. They, you know, they have the thought of, are we really going to make it? Will we be here next week, next month, next year? And so we started looking at it, like you could say, maybe partially a selfish side, because let's just- let's be honest, my face gets out there, which is good for business, good for our team, and it, you know, provides income for, you know, everybody in my organisation, but you start looking at it more and more, and it almost became I would almost say like an addiction of curiosity. And it's this thing of you started- you know, we started to see like, you know, London's really interesting, and we have to help these people because, I mean, they all have like it's- they all have the same worries. And there's no easy way of, you know, there's no magic red button that you can just slap and say, OK, let's help all the entrepreneurs, let's help all the small business owners. I mean, that's the beating heart of our economy. I don't, I don't care what anybody says that... If you take entrepreneurism, let's call it, which is small, medium businesses, people who are kind of challenging the status quo. You remove that from our economy, we're in the Stone Ages and that scares me. Because- and I have young kids, that's why. I have a two year old. I have a six year old. And part of this is also, I need to be part of the, the, the movement to ensure that we have this awesomeness 10, 20, 50 years down the road. 

AY: And it can simply boil down to giving awareness about these businesses and giving them exposure. So that's, that's kind of the goal I imagine of all the different organizations- 

MS: Yeah. 

AY: -organizations that you have. 

MS: What we thought was weird when we started to, you know, kind of really get jazzed up as we were doing this. There's nothing out there to actually- like a unified platform just to, you know, I guess throw a word on it where you can, you know, if you're in the west side of London, you can understand what's going on in, you know, Old East Village. 

AY: Right. 

MS: You know, if you're up in Masonville, that you can see what's going on in White Oaks or Lambeth or... We don't travel, and it sounds weird, we don't travel as much in our city as like, we're very- we're in bubbles. And you really start to... I really started to notice that. I mean, with, you know, friends and family and then meeting new people, the amount of people who we reach, you know, who are, you know, thank you for doing the Business of the Week video, I love coffee, and I found that coffee shop, I had no idea it was there, or I had no idea that this pizza place was there. And they have the most amazing, you know, pizza. And you're just mindblown. 

AY: Right. 

MS: Because there is no mechanism. There's nowhere you can go and let's just say online where you're like, what is all the cool stuff going on in London and how can I support small businesses? 

AY: For example, when you go to Toronto, you've got blogTO. 

MS: Yeah. 

AY: Yeah. So that's a good platform. And every time you know, my wife and I go to the city, we're just looking at the new restaurants and what to do. 

MS: Exactly.  

AY: So, so good for you to sort of bring us to, to the next level. 

MS: Yeah. 

AY: I want to take a second. I want to discuss your new- your new project. Locorum.  Locorum. Break it down. What's- what is it? What's it gonna be? 

MS: So, okay. 

AY: What do you want, man? What's going on? 

MS: I want awesomeness. 

AY: You already got it. 

MS: Well, I don't know. Well, either I'm crazy or I'm onto something, and it'll be amazing. I hope, I hope it's the latter. But so, so through exploring the city and, you know, kind of trying to, you know, participate in building the awareness of all these different, you know, smaller, you know, small businesses. I kind of... like I say it's an addiction. I want more and more and more. Well, the problem when, you know, we were calling it Santa Knows Best- we're just in this middle of this transition- is it works when I'm attached to it. 

AY: Right. 

MS: Because it's like Santa, Santagapita, oh, clever. Yep. Easy to get. The problem is when the addiction of exploring the city and helping these small businesses really started to flourish, we start talking, how can we get other people involved? How can we do other things? And it's like, well, now it just kind of conflicts. It no longer makes sense because if let's say you appear on there, you know, Andrew Young, Santa Knows Best, the frequency is not the same. So we did some kind of you know, call it exploration of words and, you know, kind of started looking at things, and we kind of stumbled upon this word Locorum, which is the protector of local in Latin kind of or protector of the local people kind of thing. So it kind of fits with what we're doing, because the whole concept is, again, nothing wrong, nothing wrong with major corporations. They've never had more cash in the bank than ever before, historically speaking. 

AY: Right. 

MS: They're well off. They're doing fine. They don't, they don't, they don't need as much support. Who needs support is, you know, that, that husband-wife combo that are slugging it out at a new restaurant or a coffee shop or clothing company or a jewellery company. Those are the people who need the support. Tiffany's does not really technically need to sell another piece of jewellery for them to all stay in business, right? You know, and that's maybe a weird way of looking at it, but that's- that's just the truth. And I mean, local people, they spend money locally. They support everything local. It's a- it's a movement that's been coming and it's been bubbling up, and there's just little voids. So with the creation of Locorum, I mean, it's it's a, you know, it's a website that has a pile of blog content all about the city of London, where we highlight, you know, Business of the Week, Best of London series on every single category. Well, we want to do every single category. The thing is, we have about five hundred best of London ideas. It's just trying to get there. But it's not just through written text, it's through written text, through imagery and video. Because, you know, we we also look at the analytics. People connect to video much more than text. I mean, somebody, you know, if you're trying to showcase a burger from a restaurant, I mean, how do you really... Don't get me wrong. You could put it in text. I'm not going to read it. Image, I'll look at it, but you know what video I can- you can cut into it and see it and really kind of get someone salivating. We're also going to be creating- well we have, it's phase two this will be coming out, an interactive neighbourhood map. So the neat part is where you will be able to hover in any neighbourhood over this map for the city of London, and you will be on to just focus on small, medium businesses, and it'll all be intertwined. We're gonna be having a citywide event calendar, which I think is the first thing in London like that. We want it to be a one stop shop where every single event within the city of London ends up on there, and that's whether or not it's a big thing or a small thing doesn't matter. It's about being a spot to go and find your jam. And then we have a couple other things that are kind of coming that are bubbling up. We have a preferred, kind of like a trusted resource kind of campaign idea that we're that we're hoping to get off the ground in Q1 of 2020. And again, it's just local people who know the city get them involved. Some exciting stuff. And then a couple other things that well... We're- we've got a shop coming and we've had- there's- it's like, it's huge. We have an app. The app, I think will be interesting and again, it's all piped in. You want to find a burger joint, you'll open the app, you'll go local burger joints. You're not going to find, you know, a Burger King, McDonald's, a major chain. 

AY: Right. 

MS: It's all going to find small local, and the problem with that is there's no very easy way of getting that information. 

AY: Right. 

M: And manually doing it and having boots on the ground. Where it's even more exciting is this, this platform we've been building for the past six months in the background, it's being designed to actually expand outside of London, which that will be interesting to see if we can take this from London and go east coast to west coast with it. Who knows? That could take years. It could never happen. But we want to make sure that the option's there. 

AY: You know, community happens everywhere, right? 

MS: Yeah. 

AY: And I like the small town approach that, that you're taking. Congratulations on being, you know, a community champion, and thanks for being a community builder. I know that you're, you're much too humble to consider yourself either one of those, but I'm telling you that you are. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and here we are at the end of this, and at the end of this episode. As always, I love talking to you, man. 

MS: We always have a good time. 

AY: It's always- it's always a good time. 

MS: Yeah. 

AY: So thank you to Matt Santagapita. And thanks, thanks to the Wolf Performance Hall for being incredible hosts today as well. So thanks again for your time, appreciate it.

MS: Thank you, AY. 

Announcer: Andrew Young’s Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People, this time featuring Matthew Santapagita, is proudly produced by webisodes and The Community Mortgage Movement at The Wolf Performance Hall in beautiful downtown London, Ontario.

Adam Caplan, Sammy Roach and Andrew Young produced this episode, the sound was recorded and mixed by Eric Altomonte from The Watershed Studios. Sammy Roach edited the episode, Nicole Coenen handled camera and the jib, and Rory Morris was our Lighting Director and Stage Manager at the Wolf Performance Hall.

We want to extend a special thanks to our guest today, Matthew Santagapita for making the time for us, and to Catherine Coreno at the Wolf Performance hall for graciously hosting us.

We’d also like to thank Ermy Young, Mottyl Young, Jennifer Young,

Joseph’s Clothiers, Studio Kuefner, and both Cheese and Zoodles. I wonder if there’s any discussion of local London Zoodles over there at locorum.ca.

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend about our series and send them to fantastictalks.com so they can subscribe to our podcast or YouTube channel.

This has been a webisodes podcast and produced with The Community Mortgage Movement which, I’m given to understand by our crack team of barristers and solicitors, is powered by The Modern Mortgage Unlimited Company FSRA # 13133

Jill Wilcox is the founder of Jill’s Table, a specialty food and kitchenware shop in London, Ontario. She opened her business in 1999 with the vision of creating a central destination for food lovers built on her passion for gathering around a table with family and friends to enjoy a well-prepared meal. This richness of experience stems from her customers’ appreciation for the joy of cooking and eating with family and friends.

In the spirit of giving back to the community, Jill has chosen to establish the Jill Wilcox Foundation. Her hope is that the work of the Foundation will nurture the lives of women and children who in turn will discover the richness and joy that comes from sharing a well-prepared meal with family.

Andrew Young: My name is Andrew Young. You may recognise me from the Internet. I love my life, my cats, my job, and my community. I'm taking up your time today because on this journey of life, I've met wonderful people who make our city better, and I want you to meet them, too. This is Andrew Young's Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People. 

AY: Changemaker. Culinary Contessa. Community Queen. Entrepreneur, employer, mentor. Community advocate. Philanthropic patron. When you're in the presence of our next guest, you're in the presence of greatness. She is the very definition of a leader, whether it's sharp knives or her sharper wit, Jill's Table will win you over after your first visit. I am honoured to spend time with the Queen of King Street, Jill Wilcox. 

Jill Wilcox: Thank you, Andrew. Wow, that was quite the introduction. 

AY: You deserve every single word of it. 

JW: Thank you. 

AY: Thank you for joining me today. 

JW: It's my pleasure. 

AY: I know you're used to being on stage teaching people how to cook. 

JW: Yes. 

AY: Now you get to sit back and spend some time with me. So that's-

JW: I'm looking forward to it. 

AY: -That's kind of nice. As am I. My kitchen is filled with the products from Jill's Table. I made a stew yesterday, and I was laughing because everything I put in there has your name on it. So I will- I'll guess I'll bring you some stew and you can see how I-. 

JW: I would like to try it, yeah. 

AY: Okay. You've, you've done such an amazing job filling your shop with amazing products and even better people. 

JW: Yes. 

AY: I've been shopping at your store for 20, 20 years. As long as I can remember. You've had a lot of, a lot of the same people. 

JW: We have. We're very grateful. We have a fabulous team. We're now up to twelve people, and yes, many have been with me a long time, just like our customers. 

AY: Absolutely. So, you know, that being said- I wanted to make the what's the recipe for success joke, but that's not fair. You know, what's your secret for making and keeping your staff happy? 

JW: Well, I think we have to always understand their value. You can't do it alone. You have to have a good team, and you need to surround yourself with people with the same core values, and once you do that, it's very easy to stay together, work together as a team, and we make sure that we do things like trade shows together. I have a chance to share with them places I go to, to explore and find new foods. I make sure I bring them along with me sometimes so that they understand. 

AY: Right. 

JW: And they- it really is a lovely community just within Jill's Table, and I'm very, very grateful for having such a terrific team. 

AY: We- my wife and I, we love, we love visiting there. My mum and I, we love visiting there. 

JW: I love seeing your mum. 

AY: I know, she's so great. You've had such an amazing impact on the food culture in London. What is it about food that's so important to you? 

JW: Well, I kind of jokingly say I got really interested in food because my sister fed me Kraft dinner and hot dogs when she had to babysit me, but I think... My father introduced me to Chinese food at a very young age. He sponsored a young chef from China, and that was kind of I think, the turning point for me that food could be so interesting. And then as I was growing up, we lived very close to farmland, which is now fully developed, and I would walk down to pick corn and get tomatoes for dinner, and I really understood the value of fresh local ingredients. And that just kind of quietly... you know, never really thought anything at the time, but when I was in my late teens, I started to travel and again exploring more different types of food, and it just became such a passion for me. And knowing that there are so many different cultures, different foods, and of course, the way that brings people together is very, very important. And so I've been very lucky to be able to travel the world and travel within our own country, our own city, province, just finding really great local products as well, and trying to share with people how awesome it is to go to farmer's markets and use good ingredients and create really great food. And it doesn't have to be hard. 

AY: Right. 

JW: And that's the cooking class end of things. That's kind of one of our missions is to make sure that people understand you can create healthy, wonderful food, and it doesn't have to take a lot of time. 

AY: Right. 

JW: Yeah. 

AY: You've shared your time with people. You've shown people how to cook. The sharing that I want to talk about right now is in regards to the Jill Wilcox Foundation. 

JW: Mhm. 

AY: The Jill Wilcox Foundation improves the lives of women and children through food. 

JW: Yes. 

AY: Can you take me through that? 

JW: Absolutely. Yes. 

AY: I'd love to learn more about it. 

JW: Well, we as businesses, we get asked to donate and contribute to the community, and we've been very happy to do that, very lucky we've been able to do that. But I got thinking, back in about 2012, as much as I loved contributing to many different causes, I wanted it to be meaningful and something that was really impactful. And I got to know a woman by the name of Jane Lucas, who did a great program through Thames Valley whereby young moms could come and finish their, their high school. And Jane would share with me some of the difficulties these young moms had in providing food for themselves and their children, and we would often send things over to Jane to be able to provide to the kids, and some of these stories were just heart-wrenching. How these kids would have to dumpster dive to provide food. They didn't know how to prepare food and where to get good food. So that was kind of the, the seed that started the whole foundation, that we would direct our monies to programs and different groups that would provide food education primarily aimed at women and children. We've sponsored through the foundation. We've done Boys and Girls Club. We've done Rotholme. And many of those programs provide nutritious meals for the kids. Sometimes it's lunch, sometimes it's an after-school program. We, as you know, built Merrymount a culinary garden. 

AY: Absolutely. 

JW: And we're still working away trying to make that the best it can be, so that the families there can come out to a garden. The chef can work with things there, and again, there's a real education component there. So that's been very, very rewarding. We have been able to support many organizations and many of them are ones that fall through the cracks, through other- people that just aren't able to help. So we work with people like the London Community Foundation and finding out who's falling through the cracks, who needs help, and we do a shout out for people to send in applications. We've done work with YOU, Growing Chefs, and it's, it's just been fantastic, and we've learned a lot about all these great organizations in the city as well. 

AY: Right. 

JW: Yeah. 

AY: I adore how much you give back to the community. It's always so purposeful, and I think it's really important, important to find that focus and that passion, and you've done that very, very well. 

JW: It was a good fit. 

AY: So I know how it's affected me, but how do you think Jill's table has affected, you know, family, and the connection between, you know, food and family? 

JW: I'm really proud with what we've done, what our team has done, and it's been lovely to watch generations of kids grow up, and we've seen in some cases, three generations of families that will shop at the store, and we watch the kids grow up, and we've watched how they've been interested in food. We had one little one in yesterday, two years old, came in. We have Whole Grain Hearth on Saturdays at the store, and she went right back. She knew they were there because she loves their bread. 

AY: Right. 

JW: And so that is just fantastic. We get lots of great comments from people about meals they've had that they've learned or an ingredient that they've really enjoyed and that they can't be without, so it's been fun. Food's an incredible catalyst - sitting around the table with your friends, with your family, it's just so important. 

AY: Right. 

JW: Yeah. 

AY: I know growing up, that was the only non-negotiable, is everybody got home from work, everybody got home from school and we sat down. Back then, the phone was still hanging on the wall, but still no one's getting the phone or anything like that. 

JW: You're dating yourself. 

AY: This beard is dating me. So, you know, it was always that point where we all got together and really spent some family time. 

JW: Well, it's interesting you mention that, because I did not sit around a table as a kid. My dad worked evenings. My sister and brother were very good athletes, so they were always away at sports. And I sat at a TV tray watching TV for my meal. So I think that has a big impact on why I'm doing what I'm doing and why my store's called Jill's Table, because I realised how important it was, and it was about maybe once or twice a year that our family actually sat around a table. 

AY: Is that right? 

JW: Yeah. And so... We still had conversation despite the fact we were sitting in the living room watching football, but I realised how the table is really important. 

AY: Absolutely it is. One last question before you go. Do you have any advice for anybody that's looking to get involved in the community? 

JW: Oh, my. Just do it. You know, get- there's so many great people already that are doing things in the community, and it's extremely rewarding. You meet so many fabulous people when you just put yourself out there and you want to give and you want to do something in the community. It's, it's very, very rewarding. You get a lot more back for sure. 

AY: Excellent. Well, I always appreciate your time, whether it's in the store, whether it's out the store- outside the store, when we're having our coffees or whether it's on stage here. I appreciate your time. 

JW: My pleasure. 

AY: I definitely appreciate the Wolf Performance Hall for being such great hosts with us today. Jill Wilcox, Jill Wilcox Foundation, Jill's Table, all of the things. You're incredible and I adore you. Thank you so much for your time today. 

JW: You're very kind. Thank you, Andrew.

AY: Appreciate it. Thank you so much. 

Announcer: Andrew Young’s Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People, this time featuring Jill Wilcox, is proudly produced by web.isod.es and The Community Mortgage Movement at The Wolf Performance Hall in beautiful downtown London, Ontario.

Adam Caplan, Sammy Roach and Andrew Young produced this episode, the sound was recorded and mixed by Eric Altomonte from The Watershed Studios. Sammy Roach edited the episode, Nicole Coenen handled camera and the jib, and Rory Morris was our Lighting Director and Stage Manager at the Wolf Performance Hall.

We want to extend a special thanks to our guest today, Jill Wilcox for making the time for us, and to Catherine Coreno at the Wolf Performance hall for graciously hosting us.

We’d also like to thank Ermy Young, Mottyl Young, Jennifer Young, Joseph’s Clothiers, Studio Kuefner, and both Cheese and Zoodles. We didn’t get around to asking Jill about her favourite way to prepare Zoodles, so next time you’re in her shop, be sure to ask.

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend about our series and send them to fantastictalks.com so they can subscribe to our podcast or YouTube channel.

This has been a webisodes podcast and produced with The Community Mortgage Movement which, I’m given to understand by our crack team of barristers and solicitors, is powered by The Modern Mortgage Unlimited Company FSRA # 13133

Robert (Bob) Siskind QC, LLD, practiced law for 15 years with a prominent London Ontario law firm before deciding to concentrate full time on real estate development in 1981. Among his community work, he has been the Chair of the Board of Western University, Chair of the London Health Sciences Centre, and Chair of the successful capital campaign for Fanshawe College.  In addition to various institutional and governmental honourary degrees, Bob was recently inducted into the London Business Hall of Fame.

Andrew Young: My name is Andrew Young. You may recognise me from the Internet. I love my life, my cats, my job and my community. I'm taking up your time today because on this journey of life, I've met wonderful people who make our city better, and I want you to meet them too. This is Andrew Young's Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People. 

AY: Charismatic. Catalyst. Community developer in every sense of the word. This man could light up a dark room with simply his smile. He's one of the most genuine and thoughtful human beings I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Let's get to know this locavore legend. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Bob Siskind. Bob, thank you for gracing us with your presence. 

Bob Siskind: I didn't know who you were talking about, Andrew. Thank you, it's a pleasure to be here. 

AY: It's you, it's you. Oh my god, today is all about you. So I really, I really appreciate your time today. I just want to get into it, and I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna spout off a couple of things people have said about you or the positions that you've held, okay? So these are things that you've been called over the years and it's all positive. 

BS: That's good. 

AY: So it's going to be great. Board chair. Chairman. President. Consultant. Counsel. Hall of Famer. All really, really great titles to have, but in the short time that we spend together, it's not why you're doing what you're doing and not why you've done what it is that you have done in the community. 

BS: Not at all. 

AY: So, why have you, why have you given so much time and invested so much time in the community? What, what is it that prompts you? And what is it that drives you to give back? 

BS: It doesn't happen in a shot, that all of a sudden you change from A to B. Background, I grew up in a loving family where my mother and father were involved. Very early on, I was invited to participate. A man named Claude Pensa, who is a revered lawyer, called me when I was just a young lawyer practise- just starting law on Waterloo Street. Asked if I would come and help him on the cancer campaign. So I moved outside of the Jewish community fundraising and involvement into the general community. 

AY: Okay. 

BS: Then later on, through a lucky stroke, I got asked to sit on the board at Western. And there I met a man named J. Allyn Taylor, who was the head of Canada Trust. We took a shine to each other. We- I really liked that man, and all during his aging years, I would visit him once a month. And he would encourage me if, if I was finished with a board, almost the next day, he would call up and say, "Hey, Bob, I've been thinking about this. Why don't you do this or why don't you do that?" So, all my life I've been lucky enough to have people moving me into community work. That's how it starts. 

AY: Of course, I did some research about you as well. And you, and you, and you've passed- like passed on that mentorship, so you have mentored other people in the community. 

BS: Mentoring is a funny word for me. 

AY: Sure. 

BS: I don't think I'm old enough to be a mentor. I know, I know. But I do love talking to young people. I've always liked it. I find their energy... you just interviewed a person named Lina Bowden, who is a wonderful human being. We got involved as friends because we were coming home from Toronto on a train. We're sitting beside each other. She was working with London Life and she wanted to get involved with community. I was on the London Community Foundation at the time. She got involved, and I'm sure in your interview you found the wonderful things that she's done in the world in the area of philanthropy, so... I talk to young people, I don't mentor them. 

AY: Right. 

BS: Well, I've had mentors. 

AY: Thank you for the honesty. It's a major part of getting involved because especially when you're younger, trying to, trying to get into, you know, this whole sort of overwhelming philanthropic world, it's important to have a mentor to get you, get you involved because you don't know. It's kind of it's- it's shotgun fire. You just hope something sticks, right? 

BS: You don't where to go. That's true. You don't know how to get in, and boards and committees that I've been on, we've tried to encourage young people- for instance, on one, we said, "We don't have anybody in their thirties." So we invited two young people, a guy named Mike Eizenga, who became a very famous lawyer, and Dave Simpson, who went on to be a business professor, to sit on the board. And they said, "You know, we make enough money to buy a ticket, but nobody ever asks us." And I remember we did a strategic plan with Community Foundation, and at the end of it, Dave Simpson said a wonderful thing. He said, "I always knew what good meant, but I really didn't know what it meant for us." And we learned. So it's a, it's an obligation that most boards and committees should be conscious of- 

AY: Right. 

BS: -Is encouraging people on committees and then they go into boards and then they take leadership. 

AY: Right. Absolutely. And I'm an example of that, and thanks again to the London Community Foundation and the Engage Program, which I know you still speak at. 

BS: I love it. 

AY: You know they, they, they suggest that you're a mentor, whether you like it or not, so they'll give you that name tag that says mentor, so take that at face value. So thank you for your time on that. I'm curious to know, what do you feel your greatest success has been in the world of philanthropy? What, what hits you? What gets you right there? 

BS: It's a tough question because I don't think in terms of success in philanthropy. I've, I've chaired some campaigns, a big one at Fanshawe that exceeded its goal. It was the first major financial campaign for Fanshawe, but that was raising money. 

AY: Right. 

BS: I've been involved in organizations that have expanded their breadth of both the input and the participation. That's another kind of success. I find as I get older, cliches have more meaning. 

AY: Okay. 

BS: Because they- that's how they became cliches,. 

AY: Sure. 

BS: So you actually do get out more than you put in. 

AY: Right. 

BS: When you, when you're involved in an organisation- there are great organizations in this city- you do get out more than you put in. You meet wonderful people. For instance, I was asked a couple of months ago at a big function, "Don't you ever get tired of going to these functions?" And I looked at the person, I said, "No, not at all." I'm with a thousand people, eight hundred people, all of whom have taken money out of their pocket, bought a ticket for a good cause. These are the people that want to make London a better city. How could I ever get tired talking to those people? And of course, lots of them are the same, but you never get tired of it. 

AY: Absolutely not, and we've spent a little bit of time in a couple of different events as well. 

BS: Yeah. Right. 

AY: I mean, and it leads you to being on stage with me, which is, you know, the ultimate compliment to me is spending, you know, someone's time with them, so I appreciate that. You've invested a significant amount of time on boards related to education. Why is education such a focus for you? 

BS: That's probably also going back to my Jewish roots, which education is a very major part of our background. My experience in education, both at the university and Fanshawe and then through other organizations in the teaching aspect of it, is that that's where we're really making a difference. We're making a difference in the generation coming up, particularly now. With artificial intelligence, robots, we're not quite sure what the next generation is going to do. And if we can teach them to be good, smart generalists, having a feel for education, feel for lifetime learning, adaptability, articulation, then I think we're doing a good job, and that's the challenge. 

AY: Perfect. I definitely appreciate that. And you know, the succession planning, especially on boards, but even in the community and community leaders is, is important. I hope that everybody sort of has the foresight of developing the next, the next leader. 

BS: We're pretty lucky in this city, except for the odd time over the history of my working in the community, but most of the time, the leaders of the various big organizations get along well. When they do, they co-operate because that's- limited resources, limited number of people, you have to co-operate, and London's pretty good with that. 

AY: Right. One last question. What has been the greatest surprise in your philanthropic career? What surprised you the most? 

BS: Well, I... I'll give you a perfect example. I was soliciting funds for Fanshawe. And the person I had lunch with I knew was wealthy, but was never involved with community, who is one of those known by the fundraiser, says not a chance. Went out for lunch, we chatted, and he liked Fanshawe. All of a sudden, in the middle of the conversation, he took a rumpled cheque out of his pocket and I said, "Oh, you could pay it over the number of years." And he gave me a cheque that was almost six figures. I could have been blown off the seat. I expected to maybe get five hundred dollars, a thousand dollars, and I got this wonderful large donation. 

AY: Right. 

BS: That was a surprise doing philanthropy. 

AY: That's a, that's a great surprise to get. You are a wealth of knowledge. What I've known about you is every time you walk in the room, you light up a room. I appreciate your energy, and I appreciate your time today. I know that everybody's going to watch this video and listen to this podcast eventually. I don't know how that technology works. Maybe we'll work on it together. But somebody is going to listen to this, and I think you're going to inspire a lot of people, so I really want to appreciate, you know, show my appreciation and thanks for spending time. 

BS: I'm happy to be here. I love what you're what you're trying to do. 

AY: Thank you. 

BS: Because it's positive. I'm reading a book now called More from Less. I finished a book called Fact Fineness. I subscribe to something called Future Crunch, and these are all positive, saying, yes, we've got problems in this world, but we're doing a lot of great things in this world. And if we have a positive attitude, and people watch the podcasts and they say, "I want to get involved," we're going to nail it. 

AY: Absolutely. Well, once again, I appreciate your time and thanks for joining me again at the Wolf Performance Hall, who are wonderful hosts. Thank you Mr. Siskind.

Announcer: Andrew Young’s Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People, this episode with Bob Siskind, is proudly produced by webisodes and The Community Mortgage Movement at The Wolf Performance Hall in beautiful downtown London, Ontario.

Adam Caplan, Sammy Roach and Andrew Young produced this episode, the sound was recorded and mixed by Eric Altomonte from The Watershed Studios. Sammy Roach edited the episode, Nicole Coenen handled camera and the jib, and Rory Morris was our Lighting Director and Stage Manager at the Wolf Performance Hall.

We want to extend a special thanks to our guest today, Bob Siskind for making the time for us, and to Catherine Coreno at the Wolf Performance hall for graciously hosting us.

We’d also like to thank Ermy Young, Mottyl Young, Jennifer Young,

Joseph’s Clothiers, Studio Kuefner, and both Cheese and Zoodles. I don’t know if Bob has ever tried the Zoodles, but I suspect he would like them a lot.

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend about our series and send them to fantastictalks.com so they can subscribe to our podcast or YouTube channel.

This has been a webisodes podcast and produced with The Community Mortgage Movement which, the legal folk tell me, is powered by The Modern Mortgage Unlimited Company FSRA # 13133

With nearly 20 years of experience in financial services with RBC and as a partner in the Finucci Janitis Wealth Group, Eric Janitis has a deep passion for helping individuals and organizations realize their full portfolio and planning potential.

A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Eric has held a variety of roles with RBC, shifting from branch management to RBC Dominion Securities in 2004.

When not at work, Eric and his wife Monica are very engaged in the community in the areas of education, healthcare, and the welfare of children, and enjoys a home life shared with their cat Jinx.

Andrew Young: My name is Andrew Young. You may recognise me from the Internet. I love my life, my cats, my job, and my community. I'm taking up your time today because on this journey of life, I've met wonderful people who make our city better, and I want you to meet them, too. This is Andrew Young's Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People. 

AY: Impressively intellectual. Impeccably individual. Idealistically involved. Our friendship has spanned decades. My respect for him will live on forever. One of the most driven and purposeful individuals that I know. Every moment spent with this gentleman is an investment in happiness. The real deal, Mr. Eric Janitis. 

Eric Janitis: That's very kind, very kind. 

AY: Thank you for joining me today. I really appreciate your time. 

EJ: Thank you. 

AY: Thank you so much. Mr. Janitis, we've known each other since 1992. 

EJ: Correct. 

AY: It's been a lot of fun watching you become such an impressive human being. I truly admire your involvement in the community, and I've modeled a lot of my involvement after you. From education to the health care and wel- welfare of children, what inspired, you to give back to your, to your community. 

EJ: I think having parents that weren't born in, in Canada, you sort of tick that 'I won the lottery' box at the first level of just being born here, and then coming back to my parents, but also having parents that were very driven and actively involved in our lives and cared and nurtured and drove us for a positive outcome. And I don't know that if you don't have those things, that it's- that, that you don't tick the box because there's obviously a lot of wonderful stories of coming from challenging roots. I'm just saying, that's not me. I came from a life of really wonderful privilege, and from that standpoint, I think that you owe it to yourself, I think that you owe it to your community to give back, and ultimately, it's a big part of what to drives me professionally, but also as a citizen of London and the greater area. 

AY: Wonderful. Now, both your parents were educators. Do you think that's part of your legacy, giving back to education and giving time back to education? 

EJ: I think with having parents in the house that were educators and where there was such an importance placed on academics was more just a diversification of the diversity of our upbringing, that we had such a variety of interests and those were nurtured. We grew up in a, in a rural setting where there was no, no cable TV. Certainly reading and trying to absorb as much of the broader world was a big part of, of, of our upbringing, and also travel and seeing other cultures and interests, which really I think drove a broader interest in what was out there. And also, I think really what came down to an appreciation that there is a need in so many different fields, so you've mentioned giving back to learning and academics. That's certainly been an interest of Monica and mine, but I think more so the upbringing just drove us to be interested in a lot of things, and that's, that's never stopped. 

AY: I definitely appreciate that. I know that when I was trying to decide where to give my time, talent, treasure, education wasn't at the top of my list, but as I spent more time around the boardroom table, it's- it's just, you know, sort of igniting the next generation, become better quality community leaders, and thinking of succession planning for the current leaders that we have. Education is, is, is a mainstay and a great place to start. 

EJ: I'd agree. 

AY: Absolutely. I just want to know how giving back, whether it's your time, your talent and treasure. How has that impacted your life, and how do you, how do you feel about what you've done so far? 

EJ: I think we look at it as a household. So it's, it's definitely Monica, my wife, and I in terms of what really drives us in the community, and I think initially when we came through school and our earlier professional lives, my wife's a nurse and certainly London is a, is an absolute wonderful foundation of health care, and that's what really gave us the- a good base there, but I would argue that there wasn't necessarily anything tying us right out of university to the, to the London area, but the community has always been so good to us. Our careers and profession continue to grow in this area. And when we looked, and when we sort of continued and, and grew, I think as members of the greater society, I think, in terms of giving back to the London community, we just see that that's an important part of being able to work here and enjoy the wonderful lives that we do have. So there's an aspect of it that's, that's selfish from the standpoint that the community has given us so much, but in terms of looking at what interests us, what drives us, and where we see where we can be, I guess, a little generous as, as a, as a couple and, and promote and drive and contribute to programs that, that, that's something that's very, very important to us. 

AY: It's- it's fun to watch you speak around a boardroom table. I've had the, I've had the pleasure to listen to you a number of times, and I applaud your passion because you don't treat it just as a transaction. You don't treat it as I'm just here for half an hour. It's, it's so purposeful. And I've seen you work masterfully around the table. So kudos for being so good at what you do. 

EJ: Thank you. 

AY: Now, when you think about the future and I know, and I alluded to in your intro, your introduction was you're very purposeful. Thinking towards the future, what would you like your legacy to be? 

EJ: I think in our household and with our family, it's, it's, it's perhaps a unique way of looking at things. Monica and I, it's not part of our journey to have children. And I think when we look to legacy, very often, that's looking to the next generation and- and nurturing and hoping that, that they do well and give back, so in terms of longer term viewpoint and legacy, I think we'd... we'd like... We'd like the opinion to be that, that we led a good life. We'd like to leave some sort of mark of support on the city and the community that hopefully provides and drives some, some long-term good. We're incredibly blessed in our professional lives, and that's due to a lot of hard work and, and outcomes that are driven by us ourselves, but also understanding from the standpoint that when you do have the successes that we have had, that we'd like to try to further those on to both the current community, but also hopefully longer term, so that when we're, when we're done, done around here, that, that there's still a legacy that we've left behind, and hopefully we can further things along from a community perspective. 

AY: Absolutely. I've celebrated you many, many times, and, you know, legacy is such an interesting to think- thing to think about and consider, you know. Coming from humble beginnings, as I can say, you know, that, that legacy word didn't mean anything when I was younger. So, so learning what legacy means and developing a legacy is challenging sometimes, but it's nice to think about and nice to consider that we can do that at the stages of our lives right now. As you know, I'm, I'm a big fan of your wife, Monica. She is- she's one of my favourite people, and when she sees this video, I hope she smiles when she hears me say that, because it's it's more than true. I just wanted to sort of ask- and my wife, Jennifer, and I've had this conversation around the table- when you're trying to decide where to give back, how does that change your relationship and the dynamic of that relationship? 

EJ: I think- and if I was, if I was speaking to individuals that were coming up in their professional lives in terms of where they wanted to focus their, their giving or ultimately where they're giving their time, and it's a combination of all those items, is that I would urge to ask a lot of questions about the organisation that that you are supporting or that you're being involved in, but get involved. And as a couple, Monica is incredibly understanding on the professional side that we don't have a typical nine to five. I'm, I'm out and socializing a lot of, a lot of evenings. And so in terms of where we do wind up participating and giving and contributing, it's definitely a decision that we make as a family because she's such a support to to me professionally, but but also, I would argue that we're, we're, we're a very, very strong partnership and a support to each other, so the decisions that we make, whether it be time, whether it be participation, but also on the financial side, we make as a couple, and to us, it's been very, very meaningful to our relationship. 

AY: And once again, I've always looked up to both of you. So thank you for always inspiring, you know, what I do as well. I just want to take a second to applaud your class and grace. I wish you nothing but success, and I know you'll find that for a long, long time, and I can't wait to retire with you. I really wanna thank you for your time, and I really want to thank the Wolf Performance Hall for being such gracious host today. Mr. Janitis, always a pleasure. 

EJ: Thank you very much. 

Michelle Baldwin is the Executive Director at Pillar Nonprofit Network, an organization devoted to strengthening individuals, organizations and enterprises invested in positive community impact. As a social innovator whose personal mission is to be a community connector, Michelle is passionate about connecting people and organizations. Michelle is a firm believer that nonprofits and social enterprise are integral to our community as social and economic drivers. A productive disruptor who has co-founded and co-created Innovation Works, a shared space for social innovators and VERGE Capital, a social finance intermediary focused on local investment for local impact. Michelle is a member of the Impact Consulting team at Pillar with a focus on board governance, diversity, social enterprise, social finance and social innovation. 

Andrew Young: My name is Andrew Young. You may recognise me from the Internet. I love my life, my cats, my job, and my community. I'm taking up your time today because on this journey of life, I've met wonderful people who make our city better, and I want you to meet them, too. This is Andrew Young's Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People. 

AY: Enlightening. Exuberant. Effortlessly elegant. Purpose driven leader, community activist, disruptor, award winner. If you're fortunate enough to share time with this episode's guest, you'll leave with a smile on your face and a happy heart. Not only does she see the changes that need to be made in the community, but she'll take them from A to Z and around again. I'm thrilled to be spending time with the selfless, caring champion Michelle Baldwin. 

Michelle Baldwin: Wow, those words. 

AY: Thank you so much for joining me today. 

MB: Thank you. 

AY: I'm a big Michelle fan, so I'm really happy you're here to spend some time. 

MB: Happy to be here and chat.

AY: Thanks again. Appreciate it. It looks as though building and improving our community has been a focus for you for- for, for many years. What does community mean to you, and why has it been so important? 

MB: Well, for me, community is about connecting, and it's about creating a sense of belonging for every person in community, and it's about being there for other people when they need it and really looking across all different sectors, all people. So community for me is inclusive. So it means that, that we're there for, for people from diversity to people who are in need to people who want to do creative things in our community. 

AY: Right. I can definitely appreciate that, and you've done such a great job, which kind of leads me to the next statement and then a question. Pillar Nonprofit. You're, you're the queen of it. You're just unbelievable. And, you know, pillar, you, you are exactly that, especially to that organisation. It connects the non-profit, business, and government sectors. What have been the most important changes that you've seen in your career and experience with Pillar?

MB: I'd say with Pillar, what I've noticed is that communities change, and so an organisation has to change. And, you know, I think there's a lot of pillars that need to make a community shift, and so... People are transitioning in and out of, you know, different roles, different neighbourhoods, different part of our community, and how do we keep them connected and how does a board help to adapt to the changes that a community needs? Things haven't stayed the same since Pillar started, and I think it's been kind of cool to see how an organisation, and it's many people who have made this happen, have come together to spark change and just see, you know, what can we do together? And so, so for me, it's about the people. While sectors are really important and making sure that we're working with lots of people from those sectors, it's been pretty cool to see, you know, how do you get somebody excited about something that might be a little out there for London and really help them see that there's possibility and change that can come from that? 

AY: You've, you've really pushed a lot of ideas forward over the- after the- over the last number of years. I have to share with you, one of my favourite events of the year is the Pillar Innovation Awards. It's so near and dear to my heart, and it really... It should inspire everybody to sort of go out and help out in the different ways that you're passionate about. There's no other awards ceremony that's like it. How important do you think these awards are to the community and to the city of London? 

MB: Well, for me, it's like- I feel a big... What would you call it? It's, I'm beaming after it, during it. It's really like a whole year of preparation, of storytelling, and so I think it's about inspiring people that they too can do something. And it was a bunch of people in a room in the library who dreamed up what this could look like, and the ideas that they had over 13 years ago are still really important: collaboration, leadership, impact and innovation. And so I feel like it's something where people come, they fall more in love with London, and they leave, they're thinking, what can I do today? 

AY: Right. I've been the last three or four years, and that's exactly what happens to me after the awards is I'm on my phone and I'm on Instagram and I'm on Twitter and I'm on Facebook and I'm seeing how everybody else reacted to the evening, and then I'm making calls the next day and find out who's doing what, and then I follow up and follow this person on Instagram and find out, see if I can get involved, and how to help all these organizations I had, had no idea existed. And I think, I think that's the point. 

MB: Yes, and you are a big supporter. 

AY: Oh, gosh, thank you very much. 

MB: And for this year, my dad actually sent out his Christmas list because we do a Secret Santa and he had all things about community, and he said, "I just wrote my list after coming back from the awards" and just to see that shift in even my own dad and how it changed his perspective about what the holidays could mean. 

AY: Right. So he's not going to get black socks? 

MB: No. 

AY: OK. And that's OK. I'm a big fan of socks. 

MB: Yes. I'm loving these socks. 

AY: I appreciate that. Thank you very much. I'm going to sort of brag on your behalf for a second here. 2016, Urban League of London Green Umbrella Award. 2017, The June Callwood Award for Outstanding Achievement. And in 2018, the ACO London Heritage Conservation Awards. We know you don't serve the community to get recognised. What do these awards mean to you and to your legacy? 

MB: Oh, that's a good question. Well, I think all of those awards are about community, and so to me, it's about finding people who believe in what you're doing. I think surround yourself with people who are heart-minded, you know, really soulful and want to make a change. And so, so for me, every single one of those was about a collaborative spirit to get somewhere, whether it's Innovation Works or it was Verge Capital or, you know, just anything we're doing related to the Indigenous community, it's everybody coming together trying to shift something. So, yeah, for me, it's a sense of community that those awards... You're right, not so much about the spotlight about me, but I think any time you can amplify or elevate something that you've done with others, then it's a good story. 

AY: And I do think it's motivating. You know, when I was in grade eight, I got the attendance award and the physical education award- made me feel pretty good about myself. So you're a couple levels ahead of me, but hopefully I'll get there someday. When you're not pushing that community forward professionally, you're, you're doing that while you're volunteering and sitting on boards as well. Coming from you, this is going to be very special advice. What advice do you have for current board members, and how can they become more effective? 

MB: OK. Yeah, I'm thinking a lot about boards these days and how can we re-imagine our role as, you know, community changes the way that boards have been done in the past, I think people really want to feel like they're creating significant change. So I would say it's- find something that you feel really, really connected to. Show up. It's actually- like just showing up is a huge piece and following through on what you say you're going to do. I joke you don't have to be the best at everything, but if you follow through and show up on a board and listen to others, you're gonna get so much out of the experience. 

AY: Right. And I find that, you know, taking the grassroots approach means a lot. So, I mean, if you're going out to the events and, you know, sitting behind or around a boardroom table is one thing, but, you know, rolling up the, the sleeves and getting dirty and going to some of the events and and really serving, I think that, that helps you in becoming an effective board member. 

MB: Yes, yes. I think, you know, in our world, we talk about network building. And so, how are you engaging with the network? How are you actually seeing what an organisation does- is the best way to understand it and to be able to be strategic. 

AY: I consider you to be a wealth of knowledge, and I have the utmost respect for you. You deserve every accolade that you have received and and a lot more. Where do you see yourself and the community in 5 to 10 years? 

MB: In 5 to 10 years? Well, I think, hmm, what would I say? Right now, I've been doing a lot of think- thinking about how do you go from being a human doing to a human being? So I really believe that we kind of have to get connected to our inner self in order to, you know, be doing that kind of big community work and so... so for me, I hope it's to continue to make that time to be intentional about what I want to do and inspire other people to do that. So that's a bit of, a bit of it, and then for London, so I guess... reflection, but at the same time, how are we being bold and audacious? 

AY: Amazing. 

MB: So it's like a, you know, kind of a party and then a rest, a party and then a rest. 

AY: I love those words, and I know a lot of people will take those to heart. I celebrate you and I think that you're, you're wonderful and you're a breath of fresh air, and I love how you move everything, how you're moving everything forward and you're doing this with such grace. I wish we had all day to spend together, I really do, and hopefully we can make that happen someday. But for today, I want to thank you for your time. Thanks to the Wolf Performance Hall for hosting us today. I just adore you, Michelle Baldwin. Thank you so much for your time. 

MB: Thank you. 

AY: I really appreciate it. 

Announcer: Andrew Young’s Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People, this time featuring Michelle Baldwin, is proudly produced by webisodes and The Community Mortgage Movement at The Wolf Performance Hall in beautiful downtown London, Ontario.

Adam Caplan, Sammy Roach and Andrew Young produced this episode, the sound was recorded and mixed by Eric Altomonte from The Watershed Studios. Sammy Roach edited the episode, Nicole Coenen handled camera and the jib, and Rory Morris was our Lighting Director and Stage Manager at the Wolf Performance Hall.

We want to extend a special thanks to our guest today, Michelle Baldwin for making the time for us, and to Catherine Coreno at the Wolf Performance hall for graciously hosting us.

We’d also like to thank Ermy Young, Mottyl Young, Jennifer Young, Joseph’s Clothiers, Studio Kuefner, and both Cheese and Zoodles. If you have a favourite Cheese and Zoodles recipe, tweet it at us, we’re at fantastictalks.

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend about our series and send them to fantastictalks.com so they can subscribe to our podcast or YouTube channel.

This has been a webisodes podcast and produced with The Community Mortgage Movement which, I only mention due to legal obligation, is powered by The Modern Mortgage Unlimited Company FSRA # 13133

Bob Kayser is President of RHK Consulting Inc., providing consulting services for medical technology companies.

Bob’s board and volunteer positions focus on organizations supporting women, children, and health care. Additionally, Bob has served as Executive in Residence at the Ivey School of Business, and now mentors new generations of transformational leaders. Philanthropically, The Kayser Family Fund continues to support a variety of London-based charitable organizations.

Celebrating over 50 years with his wife Alexandra, they enjoy time with their children and 4 grandchildren.

Andrew Young: My name is Andrew Young. You may recognise me from the Internet. I love my life, my cats, my job and my community. I'm taking up your time today because on this journey of life, I've met wonderful people who make our city better. And I want you to meet them, too. This is Andrew Young's Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People. 

AY: Community connector. Humble hero. Veteran volunteer. This man was one of the first community heroes I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. We've shared time over coffee and breakfast, charity events, and at his beautiful home. He has helped mould the way that I give back. He is nationally recognised as a community champion. I'm excited that I get to spend some more time with Bob Kayser. 

AY: Bob, we first met in 2011 at the Kick-off Party for Engage London through the London Community Foundation. I understand you were the- one of the founding fathers, and had a lot of influence on the program. Can you tell me why you thought it was so important and, and your involvement in that? 

Bob Kayser: Yeah, that's a good question, and one that was sort of a watershed time for us here in London. You know, we took a very circuitous route to getting here. Alexandra and I met in Montreal. My first job took me to Kingston, Ontario in 1966, and we moved 10 times in our marriage, the last four of which were international. And we chose London as our place to retire, to be close to children and grandchildren. And we began a sort of hyper payback period. Because of all of our moves, we'd never had a chance to really put down wide and deep roots that we knew we'd have to put down here. And so we started that in spades almost 20 years ago now. And so the opportunity of Engage London came about halfway through my retirement, when my vision of what we wanted to do in the community was pretty solid, and then it was an opportunity of passing that on to others like yourself. 

AY: Well, I definitely appreciate that. Back in 2011, 2012, I didn't really have an idea of where to go. Not only did you help steward my involvement with the Engage program, but after that, you introduced me to Merrymount Children's Centre as well, where I was a board member for a number of years. So I appreciate that introduction as well. 

BK: Yeah and in fact, it's always been a bit of a philosophy of mine to try to replace myself whenever I could- 

AY: Right. 

BK: -Inside the community organizations with which I worked, so I found it very important that you agreed to follow me there on the board, and that was something important to me. 

AY: Right. There seems to be a theme of giving back to improve the lives of children. The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Merrymount Childen's Centre, Boys and Girls Club. Why have you chosen these charities specifically? 

BK: Yeah, we were encouraged back in the day when we started thinking about this to sort of put parameters around our philanthropy, and I'm not talking just about the treasure part of philanthropy, but also the time and the talent. I really think that those three things go together, and in fact, are part of the definition of the word. And so we decided we should have some filters in place maybe to channel our energies, and we chose women and children and health care because of my background in the healthcare industry. 

AY: Wonderful. I think that there's a little bit of a gap when people want to get involved and how they should get involved. I think when you- if you develop the passion first and you know what you're passionate about, then you can kind of focus in on that in the philanthropic world as well. So it's always a difficult situation from getting to A to B in that regard. 

BK: Yeah, I mean, you do a better job at that than, than I did. 

AY: Thank you. 

BK: You know, the- in our generation, giving back meant writing a cheque. And today's generation, I learned that fairly early on in this process 20 years ago, that, the modern community-minded person wants to be involved widely and deeply in the organizations that they support. And so I started right at the beginning doing the grunt work at the ground level inside the organizations to learn about them and to decide how I could contribute largely my talent at that time. And then, of course, evolved out into some board seats where certainly more of my time was involved, and then the philanthropy or the treasure part of it kind of evolved out of that. 

AY: Right. I know you're a very humble man, and I definitely appreciate that about you, and I've taken that to heart, and I, I've tried to emulate that. I want to take a second and talk about the Governor General's Sovereign's Award for Volunteerism. I know that was a couple of years ago, and I want to congratulate you on that award yet again. It's, it's a unique award and you deserve every ounce of that medal that you received. So what did that, what did that mean to you to receive that award? 

BK: Yeah, it's always nice to be recognised, I guess. I learned my early in my career, actually, that rewards follow excellence, not the other way around in life. And so when the awards or rewards come, they're, they're icing on top of a pretty solid cake and they're nice to have, but they're not the aspirations that you start out with. 

AY: Right. I guess I want to take a second and just discuss legacy. You've discussed where you started and you- you've, you've focussed a lot in London, and of course, being a fellow Londoner, I appreciate that, and that's what I'm trying to do as well. But I just, I just want to ask you, what, what do you want your legacy to be in, you know, five, ten, fifteen years? 

BK: Yeah, it's a very good question. It's one that I'm- as I end my, my eighth decade and look forward to my ninth, when I'm going to start focussing on this even more, it's going to become very up close and personal. Let's put it that way. But what I think about most now and the reason why we moved back to London after being vagabonds for, for 35 years and settled down here, was to be close to children and grandchildren so that we could involve them in our lives and they could involve us in their lives. And so, I guess what I'd like to deliver is the leadership by example basically for my kids and my grandkids on how to get started in the community a little bit earlier than I did, maybe back to some of the things that my dad did very, very well and better than me. And so I think that's probably the legacy I'd like to leave is commitment of the whole family to, to paying back. 

AY: There's no nobler cause, and you and I are very fortunate to be in a situation where we can give our time, give our talent and give our treasure as well. So once again, I do nothing but applaud all of your efforts. 

BK: Well, and I congratulate you with what you're doing, young man, certainly through, through your company and also as an individual. 

AY: Thank you very much, appreciate that. That's the point of this conversation as well is, I just want to inspire other people, and I want everybody to get an idea of where they can start, where they can go, and where they can finish up. And it's, you know, it's it's it's a long distance run. It's not just a sprint. 

BK: No, and it can be started with small steps. They don't have to be deliberate. And you can fail and you can get yourself up and figure out something else to do if it doesn't work out. But yeah, encouraging everybody to start. It's not just about 40 hours of volunteering when you're in high school, it's about changing the way you think about life in general. And 40 hours is a good start, but it needs to extend beyond that. 

AY: Absolutely. I just want to take a moment to personally thank you for influencing my philanthropic career. Your time and your advice is invaluable and has been, and I've, I've navigated the very intensive career of philanthropy because of you and a lot of your efforts and the time that we spent at Richie's Restaurant enjoying breakfast. You've acted as a mentor and a sounding board, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

BK: Cheers, Andrew. 

AY: You know, all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, we're at an end in this conversation, but not our conversation moving forward. 

BK: Hear, hear. 

AY: So I want to thank you genuinely for your time and thank the Wolf Performance Hall for being fantastic a host today. Once again. Mr. Bob- 

BK: Cheers.

AY: Bob Kayser, thank you so much. 

Announcer: Andrew Young’s Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People, this episode with Bob Kayser, is proudly produced by webisodes and The Community Mortgage Movement at The Wolf Performance Hall in beautiful downtown London, Ontario.

Adam Caplan, Sammy Roach and Andrew Young produced this episode, the sound was recorded and mixed by Eric Altomonte from The Watershed Studios. Sammy Roach edited the episode, Nicole Coenen handled camera and the jib, and Rory Morris was our Lighting Director and Stage Manager at the Wolf Performance Hall.

We want to extend a special thanks to our guest today, Bob Kayser for making the time for us, and to Catherine Coreno at the Wolf Performance hall for graciously hosting us.

We’d also like to thank Ermy Young, Mottyl Young, Jennifer Young, Joseph’s Clothiers, Studio Kuefner, and both Cheese and Zoodles, which rhymes with Googles, a fact I discovered when learning what the word Zoodles actually means.

If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend about our series and send them to fantastictalks.com so they can subscribe to our podcast or YouTube channel.

This has been a webisodes podcast and produced with The Community Mortgage Movement which, I’m once again legally obligated to mention, is powered by The Modern Mortgage Unlimited Company FSRA # 13133

Lina Bowden, FCPA, FCMA, MA is the catalyst behind VERGE Capital, a community-led collaborative that creates local investment for local impact in London and Southwestern Ontario. Since 2012, Lina has been instrumental in the creation of two social finance funds and the engagement of local impact investors and community stakeholders. Prior to 2010, Lina spent 30 years in financial services, including Partner at Highstreet Asset Management and SVP, Marketing and Product Development with AGF Asset Management.

Andrew Young: Finance, philanthropy, family legacy. These are a few words that describes this episode's guest. She has quietly bridged the gap between social enterprise and philanthropic lending and is way past the verge of greatness. Today, I get to sit down with Lina Bowden. 

AY: Lina, every time I mention your name to somebody, they smile instantly. You've had such an amazing impact on the community. And during my research, I kept noticing the term social finance. Historically, not for profit has been on one end of the spectrum, and social finance has been on the other side of the spectrum. How have you been able to bring these two things together? 

Lina Bowden: Well, first of all, I've not been doing it alone, necessarily. I probably have been the lead champion for social finance in the London community, but there are a lot of people and organizations from diverse sectors that have been playing a role in how we've been able to move social finance forward. So it really does start with looking at how do we create a strong and resilient and vibrant community, and then looking at how we can do that by using social innovation or trying things differently. So, yes, there are non-profits and charities, but what we're seeing now is there's an opportunity for any type of organisation, be they nonprofits, charities, for-profits, co-ops, all kinds of, you know, formation in terms of corporate structure, but at the end of the day, there's a lot of people and organizations that are really trying to move the needle. And so, social finance comes in when an organisation has a revenue generation model... 

AY: Ok. 

LB: ...that allows them to create change and to affect the community through some kind of revenue generation machine, and that's where social finance fits in, because that's when you're able to provide access to capital and engage investors not only to find a financial return, but to add a social return to their investment as well. 

AY: That's wonderful. You've had such a great impact on many different lines of philanthropy in the city. You've also been involved in a number of organizations such as Pillar, London Community Foundation, the Ontario Social Economy Roundtable, and Goodwill. Most of these organizations have been focussing on impact loans for- and financing. Why have you chosen these organizations, and why have you concentrated on the finance side of philanthropy and community? 

LB: Well, that's pretty easy for me, because that is my background. So I had a 30 year career in financial services, primarily working in the investment world, working with London Life Insurance Company, and then with an investment company that I was a partner in, High Street Asset Management, and then later on with AGF. So I have a background in the mainstream investment finance world. And in 2010, I made the decision to leave that world, to go back to school and study community development. And I was really very interested in the things I was learning about how finance can really change the game for communities by enabling more capital to be available to create community change. 

AY: Well, this is a perfect lead to my next question, which is actually about Verge. So Verge Capital is an organisation in London that was founded how many years ago, Lina? 

LB: Probably around 2012 when we first started doing the work. It used to be called Social Finance London, as a collaborative and, and as I said, there were lots of players involved with that, including Libro, Sister St Joseph's, London Community Foundation, and Pillar, and Goodwill was engaged as well with us in those early days as is United Way. So we had a lot of community organizations that were looking to create change in community, and looking at how can we tap into this resource of investments. So, and if I can explain sort of the difference between what I mean when we say social finance and philanthropy... 

AY: Absolutely. 

LB: You know, philanthropy kind of has its limits in terms of its walls. So, you know, donations and grants, and even family philanthropy has it's- it's- it's in a box. There's so many dollars that's available for giving. But what we also have access to is the investment world. So all of us, individuals, foundations, and institutional investors are invested in the traditional markets. And in London, Ontario, there's fifty-four billion dollars of investable assets that's out there and invested basically outside our community and sometimes outside of Canada because our investment portfolios, we just basically give them to our financial people and say, go invest this for me. And these days especially, people are investing less in Canada and more outside in the US and in international markets. So social finance gives investors an avenue to invest in something that's local, something that's going to also create a community impact. So it's really just levering those- leveraging those extra dollars that are available for creating community. 

AY: That's, that's amazing. I don't think anybody could explain it better than you. So thanks for being at the forefront of that. You know, you've been championing this for a, for a number of years, and I guess one of my questions that I have is, did this- did Verge Capital come up at a board meeting? Did it come up over coffee? Did it come up, you know, while you're in the library talking to another community champion, how, how did- how did you try and bridge the gap? How did that first originate? 

LB: Well, the first originating session, it was a, it was a half day roundtable that we had at Grosvenor Lodge, and there were thirty-five individuals there from twenty-five different organizations, including the City of London and all of those other organizations that I've made- I've mentioned. And so we just had this, this kind of roundtable discussion of how can we start to leverage some of this investment money that's out there. And then we formed sort of a small collaborative team of those organizations, Sister St. Joseph's, LCF, Pillar, and Libro, and we started to just kind of meet regularly to start talking about what would a social finance framework look like. And we all agreed that we wanted to collaborate, that no one organisation was going to own this, that we would collaborate and work together to make it happen. And then the lucky thing that happened was that the Ontario government decided that they were going to throw out some grants to organizations to build out community social finance frameworks. And so we applied for a loan, sorry, for a grant to create a loan fund. And so we created the Verge Startup Fund from that. And then we later also accessed another Ontario government grant that allowed us to start the Verge Breakthrough Fund, and the Verge Breakthrough Fund is a collective of 20 investors that have put their moneys together to create a unit trust, and then that unit trust in turn invests in affordable housing, community real estate and social enterprise. And so, we raised $2.3 million from 20 investors and have actually just finished deploying those moneys to investees. 

AY: Amazing. Well, congratulations on that, and thanks for all that you do. You know, speaking of community champion, in 2016, you were awarded the June Callwood Award for Outstanding Achievement. Can you just discuss that, what that word sort of means to you? Obviously, we're not, you know, in the, in the industry of philanthropy to get the awards, but... 

LB: Yeah. 

AY: Congratulations, and how did that feel when you received it? 

LB: Well, I think what was most important with that award, I remember for the... For my award application, a lot of the community groups that I have been mentioning had written letters of testimonials of my impact on the community, and so it was a nice pause moment. You're right. We don't go out there seeking awards, and, you know, I really only want my actions to speak for me. I often don't typically talk about my work. So it was, it was very rewarding to know that I was being appreciated for the work that I had done. And in 2016, it was probably one of the peak years in terms of the work that I've been doing. So, the work I've done for Verge, so my work in social finance and even supporting social enterprise has all been volunteer. And so probably in the year 2016, I had worked 40 hours a week, but all volunteer. So I think it was nice to be recognised for the hard work and- but also being very aware that it wasn't me that accomplished all these things, it was really our community. 

LB: Absolutely. Well, I want to thank you again for taking the time to explain what you're doing out in the community. It means so much, and I hope other people watching really get inspired by this conversation. I want to thank you for joining me here and thank you for joining me at the Wolf Performance Hall. Thank you for allowing us to host everybody today, especially Lina Bowden. Lina, thanks for everything that you're doing, the community. Thanks again for your time today. Really appreciate it. 

LB: Thanks, Andrew. 

AY: My pleasure. 

Announcer: Andrew Young’s Fantastic Talks with Remarkable People is proudly produced by webisodes and The Community Mortgage Movement at The Wolf Performance Hall in beautiful downtown London, Ontario.

Adam Caplan, Sammy Roach and Andrew Young produced this episode, the sound was recorded and mixed by Eric Altomonte from The Watershed Studios. Sammy Roach edited the episode, Nicole Coenen handled camera and the jib, and Rory Morris was our Lighting Director and Stage Manager at the Wolf Performance Hall.

We want to extend a special thanks to our guest today, Lena Bowden for making the time for us, and to Catherine Coreno at the Wolf Performance hall for graciously hosting us.

We’d also like to thank Ermy Young, Mottyl Young, Jennifer Young, Joseph’s Clothiers, Studio Kuefner, and both Cheese and Zoodles, which are - it seems important to point out - two entirely separate things.

Everyone can find out how to enjoy this show at fantastictalks.com so if you enjoyed this podcast, please tell a friend.

This has been a web.isod.es podcast and produced with The Community Mortgage Movement which, I’m legally obligated to mention, is powered by The Modern Mortgage Unlimited Company FSRA # 13133