Canada has a habit of celebrating founders on the way up and chasing them on the way down. Michele Romanow has been both, and she doesn't pretend otherwise.

She started her first company at 21 by driving to New Brunswick in a Toyota Camry with $150,000 in business plan competition winnings, catching fish and cold calling restaurants from a flip phone. That company became a caviar business during the 2008 recession. What came after was Clearco, a non-dilutive financing platform that deployed over $3 billion to thousands of businesses, reached a $2 billion valuation and built a model that's now been copied in nearly every economy in the world.

Michele is 40 years old, on her 12th season of Dragon's Den, and she's building again. She's thought more carefully than most about what separates companies that last from ones that just look good, and what Canada needs to do differently if it actually wants to produce more of them.

In this conversation, we get into why she thinks the software moat is disappearing, what distribution really means when anyone can spin up a product in a weekend and why the right question when evaluating a company has always been the same: are people coming back?

She discusses:

• Why the management layer is dead and what it means to be a leader who runs alongside their team instead of above it

• How she spotted the Clearco opportunity by watching Dragon's Den pitches and seeing the same working capital problem across hundreds of companies

• Her experience stepping down as CEO after interest rates climbed faster than at any point in 30 years and who she trusted to hand it to

• Canada's tall poppy problem and why dragging founders through national news for laying off three people will cost this country more than it realizes

• Why she thinks distribution is now the real competitive advantage and what the beauty industry already figured out that most founders haven't

• The one metric that never lies to her when evaluating any business at any stage

• Why she went from being on the fence about having a child to a 10/10 recommendation and what changed when her daughter arrived

___

Between Two Brunettes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@betweentwobrunettes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweentwobrunettes

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betweentwobrunettes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betweentwobrunettes

X: https://x.com/twobrunettespod

Samantha Miller

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaj_miller

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaj_miller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamiller111

X: https://x.com/samantha_btbpod

Germana Kazazi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germanakazazi

Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@germanakazazi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germana-kazazi

X: https://x.com/GermanaKazazi

Michele Romanow

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micheleromanow

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/micheleromanow

X: https://x.com/MicheleRomanow

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@micheleromanow

___

Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.

Canadian businesses have spent decades overpaying for banking that barely works. High fees on basic transactions, in-branch visits to send a wire, FX rates that quietly drain margin, and a system that wasn’t designed with small businesses in mind.

Ahmed Shafik watched all of this up close as one of the first employees to launch Revolut in Canada. When the expansion stalled, he and co-founder Saud Aziz didn't go back to corporate. They spent two years building the infrastructure they knew Canada was missing, then launched Venn in 2023. Two years later, more than 10,000 businesses are on the platform and the company has closed a $21.5 million Series A.

In this conversation, we unpack why Canada is harder to build a fintech in than anywhere else, why that difficulty is actually the opportunity, and what it takes to raise a round in 20 days when you have spent years building the relationship before you ever need the money.

He discusses:

• Why Canada's five-bank oligopoly controls roughly 90% of assets and what that means for small businesses trying to compete globally

• The infrastructure Venn had to build from scratch because nothing on the market supported multi-currency at the level they needed

• How they went from begging their parents to test the product to 10,000 businesses on the platform through cold outreach, word of mouth, and content

• The decision to go majority US investors early on and what that revealed about risk appetite on both sides of the border

• Why Venn moved to fully in-office nine months ago and what changed when they did

• How equity is still a foreign concept to most Canadian startup employees and what founders should be doing differently

• What his immigrant background has to do with the way he thinks about risk, sacrifice, and building something from nothing

___

• 00:00:00 Early Life and Moving to Canada
• 00:03:22 Finding the Right Path
• 00:05:23 Joining Revolut: Learning the Fintech Playbook
• 00:06:51 Solving Canadian Business Banking
• 00:08:30 Building in Silence: Two Years of Infrastructure Development
• 00:10:44 Canada as the Real Fintech Battleground
• 00:16:04 The In-Office Culture: Why Venn Chose Five Days a Week
• 00:18:55 Scaling Customer Acquisition
• 00:21:20 Building a Team of 20 High Performers
• 00:23:29 Equity, Incentives, and Retention: Keeping Top Talent Bought In
• 00:38:54 Raising .5M in 20 Days and The Power of Relationships
• 00:42:49 US vs Canada VCs: Risk Appetite and Market Understanding
• 00:53:23 Building Without Validation
• 00:53:10 Advice for Aspiring Founders
• 01:04:27 The Immigrant Advantage: Minimizing Regret and Maximizing Opportunity
• 01:02:57 14-Hour Days and What it Takes to Build
• 01:05:59 Future Vision, Giving Back, and What's Next

___

Between Two Brunettes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@betweentwobrunettes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweentwobrunettes

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betweentwobrunettes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betweentwobrunettes

X: https://x.com/twobrunettespod

Samantha Miller

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaj_miller

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaj_miller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamiller111

X: https://x.com/samantha_btbpod

Germana Kazazi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germanakazazi

Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@germanakazazi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germana-kazazi

X: https://x.com/GermanaKazazi

Ahmed Shafik

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shafikahmed

X: https://x.com/a_shafik

Venn

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vennca

X: https://x.com/venncanada

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/venn.ca

___

Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.

Most consumer health companies chase scale with big raises and bigger burn. Samantha Diamond took a different path.

She co-founded Bird&Be after transitioning out of a decade-long career running her own communications agency. When she made the move, she rebuilt a founding team from scratch, raised a few million dollars in two weeks, and set out to build a reproductive care company that doctors would actually trust.

Four years later, Bird&Be is profitable and on track to be in 1,000 Ulta Beauty locations across the US, stocked in fertility clinics across North America, and heading into a Series A with strong retention and clinical studies behind it.

In this conversation, Samantha talks about what it actually takes to build a credible consumer health brand without burning through capital to get there.

She discusses:

• Why male factor infertility became the number one reason for IVF in Canada, and what that means for how we approach the conversation

• What she learned across multiple fundraising rounds and how she is approaching the Series A differently

• What "trimester zero" means and the six-month prep protocol Samantha recommends for both partners

• Why reproductive health belongs in every wellness conversation as a fifth biomarker

• What it takes to land 1,000 Ulta Beauty locations

• How Bird&Be used clinical studies to build the kind of credibility that gets your product stocked in fertility clinics

___

• 00:00:00 What is Bird&Be and Why Reproductive Care Matters
• 00:00:57 The Gap in Sex Education and Reproductive Health
• 00:03:01 Male Fertility: The Missing Half of the Conversation
• 00:05:06 Age, Health, and the Biological Clock for Both Partners
• 00:09:17 One in Five: The Reality of Infertility Today
• 00:13:32 Trimester Zero: Preparing Your Body for Pregnancy
• 00:14:51 Testing Before Trying: FSH, AMH, and Sperm Quality
• 00:26:29 The Power Prenatal Packs: Science-Backed Supplements
• 00:38:02 PCOS, Inositol, and Managing Reproductive Conditions
• 00:29:22 Your Menstrual Cycle: The Fifth Vital Sign
• 00:33:23 Clinical Credibility: Studies, Medical Teams, and Real Results
• 00:40:21 From Clinics to Ulta: Building Distribution and Trust
• 00:46:04 The Origin Story: From Pregnancy Loss to Building Bird&Be
• 00:51:50 Fundraising, Bootstrapping, and Growing to Eight Figures
• 01:00:32 Building a Company While Raising Three Kids

___

Promo: 20% OFF with code ‘BRUNETTES’ at check-out

https://birdandbe.com

___

Between Two Brunettes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@betweentwobrunettes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweentwobrunettes

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betweentwobrunettes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betweentwobrunettes

X: https://x.com/twobrunettespod

Samantha Miller

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaj_miller

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaj_miller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamiller111

X: https://x.com/samantha_btbpod

Germana Kazazi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germanakazazi

Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@germanakazazi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germana-kazazi

X: https://x.com/GermanaKazazi

Samantha Diamond

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/startupmamma

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-diamond-1484a718

Bird&Be

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birdbeco

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/birdandbe

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@birdandbe

___

Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.

Tonya Papanikolov spent years searching for a functional mushroom product she could actually trust. When she couldn't find one that met her standards, she thought to build it herself.

So in 2018, she did. Rainbo is now one of Canada's most recognized functional mushroom brands, a B Corp, seven-figure company stocked at Erewhon, Whole Foods, and Summerhill Market, built on organic growth and strong unit economics, with product quality treated as non-negotiable from day one.

What drove her there was personal. Years of health symptoms that conventional medicine couldn't explain, and a deep conviction that the answers were sitting in nature, largely ignored.

In this conversation, we unpack what functional mushrooms actually are and why most products on the market are nowhere near as clean as they appear, how Tonya bootstrapped Rainbo on $30,000 from friends and family, and why she believes the nervous system is the CEO of your body.

She discusses:

• The difference between culinary, functional, and medicinal mushrooms and why the extraction process matters more than most people realize

• Why most functional mushroom products on the market don't actually contain real mushrooms, and what to look for instead

• How a mold exposure in a Toronto house became the turning point that sent her life in a completely different direction

• What nervous system dysregulation actually looks like in the body and why corporate culture rewards it

• How she scaled Rainbo from zero marketing spend to major retail chains without institutional capital

• Bringing her husband Simon on as co-founder and what it takes to protect both the business and the relationship at the same time

• Why you don't have to choose between building something hard and taking care of yourself while you do it

___

• 00:00:00 What Are Functional Mushrooms?
• 00:09:12 The Mycelial Network: How Mushrooms Communicate
• 00:11:08 Lion's Mane, Reishi, and Chaga: The Big Three
• 00:16:01 Why Quality Matters
• 00:23:46 Bootstrapping Rainbo
• 00:26:50 From Direct-to-Consumer to Retail: Scaling Without Institutional Funding
• 00:32:00 Mold, Parasites, and the Health Journey
• 00:34:02 The Nervous System: Your Body's CEO
• 00:37:44 Corporate Burnout and Sympathetic Dominance
• 00:38:41 Somatic Release: When Your Body Holds the Memory
• 00:45:03 Launching Fungki: The Coffee Alternative Years in the Making
• 00:48:46 Working with Your Partner
• 00:57:21 Building with Community: Listening to Your Customers
• 00:58:58 The Nervous System as Foundation
• 01:01:52 Rapid Fire and Where to Find Rainbo

___

Rainbo Promo Code: 15% off with code BRUNETTES

https://www.rainbo.com/BRUNETTES

___

Between Two Brunettes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@betweentwobrunettes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweentwobrunettes

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betweentwobrunettes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betweentwobrunettes

X: https://x.com/twobrunettespod

Samantha Miller

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaj_miller

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaj_miller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamiller111

X: https://x.com/samantha_btbpod

Germana Kazazi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germanakazazi

TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@germanakazazi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germana-kazazi

X: https://x.com/GermanaKazazi

Tonya Papanikolov

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyapapanikolove

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonya-papanikolov

Rainbo

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainbomushrooms

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rainbomushrooms

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rainbomushrooms

___

Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.

What if the most important health decision you could make right now costs less than Netflix and takes 30 minutes?

That's the bet Dr. Drew Taylor has been building toward since he co-founded Acorn Biolabs in 2017. Acorn lets people bank their own stem cells, harvested non-invasively from hair follicles, before age degrades them. Acorn now operates across more than 200 partner clinics in North America and was just named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies of 2026.

Before any of this, Drew was a pitcher. He got drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, walked away from a medical school acceptance to play professionally, and when a shoulder injury ended his career, came back to the lab and never left.

In this conversation, we unpack what it takes to build a category from scratch, why your cells are aging faster than you think, and what Drew calls the biologic life insurance policy that most people don't know exists.

He discusses:

• What regenerative medicine actually is and how it differs from the longevity and preventative health space

• Why hair follicles turned out to be one of the most valuable and accessible sources of adult stem cells

• The "biologic life insurance policy" and what it means to bank your cells before you need them

• How he navigated leaving a venture capital salary to start a company with a newborn at home

• Why Covid nearly stalled Acorn, and what kept them going

• The NK cell research that has shown early results suppressing ovarian, cervical, and breast cancer cells in the lab

• How Acorn thinks about the long road from aesthetics to advanced therapeutics and why that sequencing is intentional

___

• 00:00:00 What is Regenerative Medicine?
• 00:03:14 Stem Cells: The Connective Tissue Powerhouse
• 00:05:22 The Future of 3D Printing Organs with Stem Cells
• 00:06:43 From Baseball to PhD: Drew's Journey
• 00:10:11 How Acorn Biolabs Was Born
• 00:11:48 Navigating the Patent Process: Lessons for Scientific Founders
• 00:15:24 The Acorn Process: Banking Your Stem Cells from Hair Follicles
• 00:20:43 Your Own Biology as an Aesthetic Treatment
• 00:24:11 The Science Behind Secretome: Growth Factors, Exosomes, and More
• 00:28:19 Secretome vs PRP
• 00:28:49 The Future of Injectables: Clinical Trials and Regulatory Approvals
• 00:29:48 Regulatory Landscape: Canada, US, and the Medical Tourism Problem
• 00:33:49 Clinic Partnerships and Business Model
• 00:37:54 Fundraising Strategy
• 00:38:13 COVID's Impact: Turning Crisis into R&D Opportunity
• 00:43:56 Balancing Fatherhood and Entrepreneurship: Drew's Approach to Family
• 00:49:52 Turning Hair Follicles into Cancer-Fighting NK Cells
• 00:54:49 Growing Acorn and Expanding Clinical Applications
• 00:55:28 How to Get Started: Banking Your Cells with Acorn

___

Bank Your Stem Cells with Acorn

Acorn’s Live Cell Preservation service allows you to collect and cryogenically store stem-cell-rich hair follicles for future regenerative use.

Investment:

Standard collection ($945) + first year of storage ($190): $1,135

Exclusive Offer:

First year of banking ($190 value) for FREE with code BRUNETTES

Step-by-Step Purchase Instructions:

• Visit www.acorn.me 

• Select ‘Start Your Journey’, ‘Cell Banking + Storage’

• At checkout enter promo code: BRUNETTES

• Acorn’s team will reach out to coordinate their clinic visit

Note: While Acorn has a wide network of practices, they do not yet have full coverage across Canada/USA. You can view their locations here: https://acorn.me/find-providers/

___

Between Two Brunettes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@betweentwobrunettes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweentwobrunettes

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betweentwobrunettes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betweentwobrunettes

X: https://x.com/twobrunettespod

Samantha Miller

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaj_miller

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaj_miller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamiller111

X: https://x.com/samantha_btbpod

Germana Kazazi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germanakazazi

Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@germanakazazi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germana-kazazi

X: https://x.com/GermanaKazazi

Dr. Drew Taylor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdrewtaylor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-taylor-65b6ab10

Acorn Biolabs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acornbiolabs

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/acornbiolabs (https://www.linkedin.com/company/acornbiolabs/posts/?feedView=all)

___

Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.

John Ruffolo has spent decades helping shape Canada’s technology and venture capital ecosystem. From building Deloitte’s technology practice to launching OMERS Ventures and now founding Maverix Private Equity, John has been at the center of many of the country’s most important moments in innovation, investment and economic policy.

Over his career, he has helped build and back some of Canada’s most important technology companies while advising governments and institutions on the future of the digital economy.

In this conversation, we unpack the forces shaping Canada’s digital economy, the hard lessons that come with building industries from scratch and why this moment may be one of the most consequential for the country’s future.

He discusses:

• The unlikely path from Deloitte partner to building OMERS Ventures and why many thought the idea would fail

• Why digital sovereignty is becoming critical to Canada’s economic future

• What we need to see more of from Canadian venture capital to build the next generation of tech champions

• The policy and talent shifts needed for Canada to compete in a digital economy

• The cycling accident that left him paralyzed and and how it reshaped his perspective on resilience and purpose

• His mission to make Toronto a global center for spinal cord and neurological research

___

• 00:00:00 Growing Up Italian: From Jane and Finch to Bay Street
• 00:09:56 Arthur Andersen and Early Career
• 00:16:11 The Enron Collapse: Losing Everything and Finding Hope
• 00:25:40 Building the Tech Practice and Creating Omers Ventures
• 00:39:17 The Renaissance of Canadian Tech and Digital Sovereignty
• 00:48:40 Launching Mavericks
• 01:03:09 Investing in the Digital Economy: Why Entry Points and IP Rights Matter
• 01:12:14 The Cycling Accident
• 01:26:05 Recovery, Resilience and Walking Again
• 01:36:17 The Two Doors: Hope, Purpose and Never Wasting Time
• 01:42:08 Rapid Fire and Closing

___

Between Two Brunettes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@betweentwobrunettes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweentwobrunettes

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betweentwobrunettes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betweentwobrunettes

X: https://x.com/twobrunettespod

Samantha Miller

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaj_miller

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaj_miller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamiller111

X: https://x.com/samantha_btbpod

Germana Kazazi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germanakazazi

Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@germanakazazi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germana-kazazi

X: https://x.com/GermanaKazazi

John Ruffolo

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joruffolo

X: https://x.com/ruffolo

___

Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.

Dr. Dana Sinclair is one of Canada's leading performance psychologists and author recognized for her work with elite athletes, high-level professionals, and executives. She is the author of the Globe and Mail bestseller Dialed In: Do Your Best When It Matters Most - giving practical lessons on how to deliver when the stakes are high.

In this conversation, we unpack what actually separates top performers from everyone else and why talent alone doesn’t determine who wins. Dana shares the psychological skills that matter most, the common performance traps people fall into, and how mental rehearsal can literally rewire how you show up under pressure.

This episode is for founders, leaders, athletes, and anyone serious about raising their level.

She discusses:

• How to perform when the stakes are high, even if you don’t feel confident

• Why talent is required but never sufficient for success

• Why you can’t change your personality, only your behaviours

• The performance “flags” that signal interference

• The role confidence actually plays (and why it’s overrated)

• How individuals differ across performance traits

• The role of visualization and directed “daydreaming” in rewiring performance

___

• 00:00:00 Early Awareness of Performance Under Pressure
• 00:03:38 Why Talent Doesn't Ensure Success
• 00:04:56 Red Flags in Performance Assessments
• 00:09:34 The Assessment Process: Identifying What Gets in Your Way
• 00:10:45 Debunking the Confidence Myth
• 00:12:59 Managing Tension and Finding Your Triggers
• 00:25:13 Parenting, Pressure, and Building Resilience
• 00:34:50 Breathing, Slowing Down, and In-the-Moment Strategies
• 00:37:52 Superstitions: Anxiety in Disguise
• 00:43:25 Performance Styles and Self-Assessment
• 00:57:36 The Power of Daydreaming and Imagery
• 01:02:17 Rapid Fire and Final Wisdom

___

Between Two Brunettes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@betweentwobrunettes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweentwobrunettes

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betweentwobrunettes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betweentwobrunettes

X: https://x.com/twobrunettespod

Samantha Miller

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaj_miller

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaj_miller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamiller111

X: https://x.com/samantha_btbpod

Germana Kazazi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germanakazazi

Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@germanakazazi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germana-kazazi

X: https://x.com/GermanaKazazi

Dana Sinclair

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanasinclair

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-sinclair-47a82811

___

Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.

Dan Eberhard didn’t set out to build a fintech company, he set out to fix a system that wasn’t working for people like the family he grew up in.

Raised by a single mother in British Columbia, Dan saw early how traditional financial institutions often fail the very people who rely on them most. After a mix of wins and hard lessons in prior ventures, he went on to found KOHO, one of Canada’s most successful challenger banks, scaling from zero revenue in 2017 to hundreds of millions of dollars today.

In this conversation, we unpack what it really takes to build a company by solving the right problems, not the easy ones, and what Canada needs more of if it wants to produce the next generation of enduring businesses.

Dan is the Founder and CEO of KOHO, a Canadian fintech company redefining how people manage their money.

He discusses:

• Growing up with a single mom in BC, and how that shaped his view of money, systems, and opportunity

• Why traditional banks no longer work for modern Canadians

• The biggest structural challenges in how our government is set up

• Scaling KOHO from zero revenue in 2017 to an $800M valuation

• Why experience is overrated, and what he actually looks for when hiring and supporting A players

• Reflections on leadership, conflict, and fatherhood while building a high-growth company

___

• 00:00:00 Growing Up with Agency: Early Life and Entrepreneurial Roots
• 00:02:09 First Venture: Wind Energy and Learning to Sell
• 00:06:20 Why Hard Problems Attract the Best Talent
• 00:08:29 Canada's Go-for-Bronze Culture and the GDP Problem
• 00:12:41 Government Bloat and the Cost of Bureaucracy
• 00:19:46 Starting KOHO
• 00:23:17 Experience is Overrated: Hiring for Horsepower, Warmth, and Humility
• 00:25:04 The KOHO 50: Managing Top Performers and Building Culture
• 00:39:05 Secondaries, 10-Year Options, and Treating Employees Right
• 00:45:10 Fatherhood, Identity, and Learning Self-Compassion
• 00:49:57 Money, Agency, and Building for Impact
• 00:53:15 Rapid Fire and Final Advice

___

Between Two Brunettes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@betweentwobrunettes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweentwobrunettes

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betweentwobrunettes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betweentwobrunettes

X: https://x.com/twobrunettespod

Samantha Miller

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaj_miller

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaj_miller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamiller111

X: https://x.com/samantha_btbpod

Germana Kazazi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germanakazazi

Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@germanakazazi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germana-kazazi

X: https://x.com/GermanaKazazi

Daniel Eberhard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danieleberhard/

X: https://x.com/DanEbs

___

Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.

Alex Oosterveen was in the middle of building a company when his life changed overnight. A former investment banker turned founder, Alex was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the very start of building Caribou - a moment that forced him to confront his health and the choices that led to this moment. In this conversation, we unpack what it really takes to scale a company while navigating uncertainty, chronic illness, and building a family.

Alex is the Co-Founder and CEO of Caribou, a Canadian healthtech startup tackling one of the most overlooked challenges in healthcare: the caregiver shortage. Caribou is a caregiver engagement platform that helps home care companies better support and retain caregivers.

He discusses:

• Being diagnosed with MS while building his company and how it reshaped his relationship with work, health, and ambition

• The lifestyle and environmental changes that transformed his health (spoiler alert: it wasn’t a drug)

• The deliberate path he took to gain the insight, experience, and credibility needed before entering the caregiver industry

• The pivotal decisions that accelerated Caribou’s growth

• Building a company with his wife, and how that choice strengthened both their partnership and the business

• How he thinks about work-life integration while raising their young boy

___

• 00:00:51 The MS Diagnosis: A Life-Changing Moment
• 00:03:27 Taking Control: Treatment and Lifestyle Changes
• 00:11:15 The Origin Story: From Investment Banking to Caregiving
• 00:19:22 The Labor Shortage Crisis in Home Care
• 00:22:58 Building Caribou
• 00:55:07 The COVID Pivot: Adapting to Survive
• 00:31:42 Bringing on a Co-Founder
• 00:38:10 Working with Your Spouse
• 00:44:19 Becoming a Father
• 00:45:56 Defining Success and Future Vision
• 01:00:22 Closing Wisdom: Advice for Parents and Founders

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Between Two Brunettes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@betweentwobrunettes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweentwobrunettes

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betweentwobrunettes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betweentwobrunettes

X: https://x.com/twobrunettespod

Samantha Miller

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaj_miller

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthaj_miller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthamiller111

X: https://x.com/samantha_btbpod

Germana Kazazi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germanakazazi

Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@germanakazazi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/germana-kazazi

X: https://x.com/GermanaKazazi

Alex Oosterveen

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-oosterveen/

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Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.

In this first episode of Between Two Brunettes, we sit down together to introduce ourselves, our relationship, and why we decided to start this podcast. This episode sets the foundation for the conversations that follow. 

We hope you enjoy the show!

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@betweentwobrunettes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweentwobrunettes

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betweentwobrunettes

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betweentwobrunettes

X: https://x.com/twobrunettespod

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Produced by Thirty Two Media Inc.