Before the Business

Recorded February 2024

When Jacqueline rescued her first dog, Bella, she set out to find a natural, nutritious pet food that would help her new friend grow happy, healthy and strong – and that aligned with her personal values. But at the time, it seemed every food option was full of ingredients that seemed to compromise animal welfare, sustainability and transparency standards. As an animal lover, not only did she want to provide her pet with the highest quality food, but also to ensure that it was made ethically, and sourced from humane family farms that treated their animals with respect. She was disappointed in the options that were available, so alongside her husband Isaac and brother-in-law Derek, they started to explore what it would take to develop a pet food that met a higher standard – knowing there were likely many others who were seeking the same.

After years of research and hard work, they started Open Farm. Their goal was to do more than just change what pet food contained; they wanted to completely rethink the way it was made. For them, that meant not only sourcing the highest quality ingredients, but also supporting farmers who treat their animals right, and providing full transparency to customers.

It’s out of that vision that Open Farm was born—from the simple idea that pet food can both be good for your pet, and do some good for farm animals and the environment, all at the same time.

Recorded January 2023

Founder Tonia Krauser created Oshen because she saw an opportunity in the beauty supply marketplace. She wanted to create her company, her way, informed by her values. Style? Check. Function? Check. Sustainability. Check. The result? Oshen is an intentionally eco-conscious lifestyle brand that blends these values together. Their flagship product is a stunning makeup case that is practical enough to store all of your beauty products, but beautiful enough to leave on your counter.

Tonia was struck by the fact that there is an endless supply of plastic in our oceans, and more being added to waterways each day. Because plastic doesn't belong in our oceans, Oshen uses recycled ocean plastic and ocean-bound plastic to create their products. They source the recycled plastic from Oceanworks, the largest marketplace for ocean plastic, to ensure reliable traceability of materials.

Working with an ethical factory overseas with experience using recycled materials, they produce design-forward, quality products that don’t sacrifice on style or functionality.

Recorded July 2023

At Colaneri Estate Winery, they share a passion for producing premium wines that respect tradition while embracing more modern production methods. The result? A boldly delicious harmony that brings wine alive. Quality begins in their vineyard where vines are meticulously maintained, and bunches are thinned out on the vine to ensure incredible flavour profile and pristine fruit. Of course, grapes are hand harvested and placed onto racks in preparation for drying.

Many of their wines are produced in the “Appassimento” style which means “Wither”. In Italy, grapes could be left to dry in the hot sun. In Canada, the process sees grapes placed, in single layer, on drying racks and placed in a drying chamber to dehydrate. This dehydration concentrates the unique varietal character, reduces the water content and produces a fuller-bodied and full flavoured wine. The percentage of the appassimento method varies from year to year and with each varietal.

The longer-term goal? Continue to provide an exceptional in-person experience at the winery, while always striving to develop and create new wine experiences for customers.

Recorded January 2023

It would be too easy to say that Pokko is simply a healthier chip. Sure, its made from rice and chickpeas and is suitable for those on vegan diets. It would also be too easy to say that it has a unique flavour profile, inspired by spices from South Asia. To be more accurate… well, you just have to try. Pokko is a way for you to completely upgrade your snack game.

At its core, Pokko is based on a family recipe. Founder Sasha Rajamani had been sharing bags of these chips with friends and colleagues for many years. In 2021, he decided to take it up a a notch and founded Pokko Chips. Now these flavours are available to everyone.

Pokko features Asafoetida, a spice that has been used for centuries in Iran and Afghanistan. In its natural form, Asafoetida (also spelled “asafoetida”) is a pungent herb but once cooked it delivers a flavour that is similar to leeks or onions. It’s the subtle hint of this flavour that make Pokko unique. Pokko currently comes in two flavours: original and spicy (which features Kashmiri chillis from India).

Remarkably, Sasha founded the business in 2021. Not only was the world still trying to navigate COVID-19, but he had also just become a new father. Obviously, balancing his family commitments as well as the time required to build a new business was difficult, so he surrounded himself with a team of experts and mentors who were instrumental in guiding Pokko in its early days.

Consider yourself warned, though. Once you experience the crunch, the taste and the spice you will find it hard to go back to “regular” snacks!

Founded by former management consultant turned entrepreneur Nima Mirpourian, his business leverages his years in social research, talent acquisition, and technology consulting to grow the influence of creators and executives on social media.

Recorded October 2022

As serial entrepreneur Paul Baron was looking for the next big thing, he came across a new concept: vertical printing. It was an idea new to America but known for years throughout Asia, India, the Middle East, and Europe. The idea of painting indoor and outdoor murals inexpensively for artists and building owners, appealed to him. To print on walls of any surface material, reliably and accurately, appealed to him.

Recorded October 2022

After owning his landscape construction business for over 10 years, GoMaterials’ CEO and co-founder Marc Elliott had experienced first-hand the headaches related to poor quality materials, last minute order changes, product availability shortages, and late deliveries. He shared his experience with long-time friends, who jointly realised that if Marc had experienced those challenges, other landscape designers would as well.

They had identified a gap in the landscape construction business. GoMaterials was born out of the need to resolve these challenges for the landscaping industry.

Today, GoMaterials represents a modern way for landscape construction businesses to source wholesale plant materials for the their projects. Their unique platform and service takes on all aspects of plant procurement, from material estimation to logistics management. With GoMaterials, landscape professionals can finally experience hassle-free sourcing and plant wholesalers can sell more efficiently.

GoMaterials is at the forefront of an evolving and changing industry. Their clients are the businesses that build the green spaces that we love to enjoy — from parks and public spaces to corporate or residential sites. Behind the scenes, GoMaterials is at the forefront of making it happen.