Boiling Point Podcast

Introducing Kristy O’Leary

Kristy O’Leary calls herself a vision broker and has a goal to make entrepreneurs and change makers succeed in making a positive impact on this Earth and make a profit while doing so.  Growing up her family’s business was a great example of how business should be done in a positive fashion.  She also saw the other side of the coin when large and uncaring big box stores outdid the family business.  Kristy has always had an eye for making a change or an impact.  She studied foreign policy with the goal of working in international development, but then studied art in order to express herself.

She realized the best approach was a hybrid of her two educations where she could make real change and tell great stories.  So Kristy eventually opened Scout and Burrow which is a marketing agency for mission/cause based organizations and social entrepreneurs.  Her goal is to help her clients change the world AND make a profit while doing so.

Kristy is a big proponent of B Corps.  A B Corp is a third party certification that is given to companies that certifies that they are fair and ethical across their entire supply chain.  You might buy fair trade coffee, and that means that a farmer was treated fairly.  What about the farm workers, the shippers, or the barista the ends up making your latte?  A B Corp certification proves that a company is ethical in its governance, to its workers, to the environment, and to the larger community.  Instead of a corporation only being loyal to its shareholders, B Corps have to be loyal to all stakeholders.  Currently there are over 1,100 B Corporations worldwide in 35 countries and across 60 industries.  

Check out the following video to get a better idea of what B Corps are all about.

In this episode

Kristy explains her passion for B Corps and what they are all about.  Greg gets inspired to get Hemmings House on the B Corp route and is reminded of an article he wrote on the differences between Kevin O’Leary and Sir Richard Branson.  Kristy threatens a cage match between herself and “Mr. Wonderful”.  Dave is reminded of a time when he was left with an impression that corporations were mean and ugly but is pleased to find out that there are so many do-gooders.  Both Greg and Dave have a takeaway that you can become wealthy by doing the right thing or through a destructive path.  It is up to you to decide the better path.

Links

Kristy's Twitter

Scout and Burrow Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Boiling Point, Greg and Dave sit back to reflect on our first 16 episodes.  Dave points out that Ken Blanchard once said, "feeback in the breakfast of champions."  That doesn't include audio feedback, right?  

We are looking for your feedback.

What did we do right?  

Where did we drop the ball?  

Who do you want us to interview?

Are you enjoying the show?

How can we make the show better?

Please send us emails to [email protected], tweet at us @boilingpointpod, or send us a message on Facebook.  You can also leave a comment on our website, boilingpointpodcast.com.

Also, we want to remind everyone to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes or your favorite podcast service.

Also, remember to share our conversations with your family, friends, colleagues, and even enemies :)

We will be back next week with a whole new guest and another Boiling Point.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Boyd Sharpe

Boyd Sharpe is the true Renaissance man.  As a young man, and graduating with a degree in theatre arts and a bachelor of education, his father asked him whether he was prepared for a career as a teacher.  Boyd thought about it and responded that he wanted to have 10 jobs across five career paths over the following 30 years. 

He’s definitely on his way.  Boyd was a teacher for six years before he retrained in IT.  He was a web designer and systems analyst, and then retrained as a project manager.  Most recently he trained to become a professional MMA fighter and a producer with Greg Hemmings in their recent series Cubicle to the Cage.  All of the above, plus becoming a basement quail farmer, boat builder, and podcaster on the BS Show.

Boyd is the type of person who is constantly looking for a new challenge and has to move on from situations after they become easy and boring.  He has a drive to push himself to his limits and to move past fear.  What inspired him to do this?  When Boyd was working in IT within the health care system, he became introduced to Dr. Rob Rutledge, who is an oncologist and head of the Healing and Cancer Foundation.  Dr. Rutledge believes in a holistic approach to cancer treatment which includes medical intervention but also technique to improve mind, body, and spirit.  Boyd made a website for Dr. Rutledge and for five years filmed the doctor during talks and interviewed terminal cancer patients.  What was ingrained in him during this process was Dr. Rutledge’s teaching of being mindful, reducing stress, reframing negative thoughts and how to make the most of life.  He also learned from the patients that only by facing your greatest fears could you transform yourself as a person.

What did he fear and how was he going to face it?  He was scared of being beat up and of being in a cage with a trained fighter and defending himself publicly.  He teamed up with Greg and produced and starred in Cubicle to the Cage, which is a series that took ordinary people with “normal” jobs and within 14 months Boyd was in a professional MMA battle.  Training for MMA is in complete contrast to the way people normally live their lives.  Most try to live avoiding conflict, struggle, pain, and suffering.  MMA training is completely opposite; everyday is sacrifice, pain, defeat and training at techniques you perform the worst in.  This taught him to treat challenges as opportunities to become better and creative. 

In this episode

We hear about Boyd’s exploits as a man of many talents.  We learn from his experiences in MMA and from his current attempt to boycott technology including TV and social media.  Boyd tells us why he thinks the people over 40 years old were more successful in gaining a pro fight in CTTC.  Greg is inspired by Boyd’s energy and the concept of pushing himself to become better as a person.  Dave appreciates Boyd’s “practitioner” mentality, which keeps him off the sidelines and in the game.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing John Wesley Chisholm

Here is a math equation for you, what does an accountant plus a rocker give you?  A television producer named John Wesley Chisholm.  After finishing university with a finance degree, John Wesley had the intention of becoming an accountant. At the same time his part-time band, The Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra gets a big record deal with MCA records.  Initially, John Wesley thought he could balance his two careers, but he found it difficult to commit to either one.  But he had an idea about telling the world about the thousands of Shipwrecks near his hometown of Halifax.  He pitched the idea to the Discovery Channel and was able to sell his idea to them almost immediately.  Just like that John Wesley was a successful TV producer, he created Arcadia Productions, and the course for his career was set.

John Wesley admits that he is a “professional bullshitter.”  It is common to believe that we live in the information age, but John Wesley believes we actually live in the misinformation age.  Everyone has their version of the story of the world, and as consumers of stories we all have to sift through what we are being told and make judgements on what to believe and to what degree.  John Wesley calls this, “the age of story wars.”   When John Wesley pitches an idea, he has to convey that he has a great story to tell, but he also had to pitch that he was the perfect person to tell it.  Everyone has to pitch their story in order to achieve their goal, whether it be a grocer saying they have the best fruit or a plumber who has the best fix.  As an additional benefit, when you sell on story you don’t need to compete on price.  Crafting an effective personal story takes creativity and confidence.  It is about finding the courage to express why you do what you do, and the passion for others to believe you.  Leaders need all of these attributes to attract devoted followers.

After you have your story, John Wesley believes you need to be persistent.  He admits that he is a 99% failure at his job.  For every hundred ideas for shows he might have, only one becomes a TV show.  He has to start-up and close about 17 to 20 companies a year because each show is a separate company.  Persistence doesn’t mean being stubborn.  John Wesley has the ability to take “no” for an answer and move on to new ideas.  The broadcaster, his customer, wants nothing more than to see him succeed.  They want him to give them the greatest story they ever heard and they want to write him a cheque.  This is until you say something, “stupid or boring.”  This is a great lesson for all entrepreneurs; your customer wants to give you money if you offer the product or service they need, especially if your story is great to start with.

John Wesley believes the secret to happiness in life is the secret to success in business.  He believes that no one ever became happy from sitting around trying to make themselves happy.  If you concern yourself with others and what they need or desire and try to help you will find happiness.  If you take the same approach to business, you will be successful.  This means you need to have a keen ear to what your customer truly wants and provide it.  

In this episode

Greg and Dave are still in two different studios.  John Wesley offers a plethora of informative and philosophical nuggets on his life and business. Dave thanks God that John Wesley didn’t stop at becoming an accountant.  Greg is intrigued by the idea that any producer pitches two stories to broadcasters; the story about the subject and the story about the storyteller.  Dave appreciates John Wesley’s thoughts on not getting too attached to your ideas and having the ability to adjust, change, or scrap them and move on.

Links

John Wesley's Facebook

John Wesley's Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Ed Webber 

Ed Webber is a veteran of old-school family business in Nova Scotia.  He started in his youth by helping out his father but at the age of 16 his father died.  This left his family strapped for cash, and Ed was forced out of school and into the workforce.  He began running a gift shop out of a local hotel, and through the years went on to the buy and sell business, as well as opening a breakfast and lunch joint.  But after getting married and having a child, Ed wanted better job security and decided to take a job as an area manager for a firm, which rented televisions in hospitals.  From there he grew into a regional manager and then with a few partners became the companies only franchisee by starting VistaCare Television Services of Canada in 1989.  By 2003, Ed was getting a bit bored with hospital TV rentals and decided to leverage the reputation of VistaCare Television to start a high-end cabling and fiber-optic construction firm.  He formed VistaCare Communications Services of Canada and sold VistaCare TV in 2007.

Ed’s vision with VistaCare Communications was to set a new standard in the cabling industry in Nova Scotia.  He took a risk and changed the way worker in his company would be paid from piecework to hourly wages and demanded the best quality of work.  Soon companies were willing to pay more for the quality of work provided.  Ed was able to hire the best technicians because they now could make a consistent pay cheque and were able to show this to banks in order to get mortgages for themselves.  In nearly a decade of running VistaCare Communications, the company grew from a single employee to 125 with over 100 trucks on the road.  Along the way, Ed never had to layoff a single employee because he built the right team and invested in them.

After Ed sold VistaCare Communications, he and his son (our producer Matt) have gone on to start Edible Matters, a restaurant in Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia.  His knack for finding opportunity told him that a restaurant was just what the community needed and that it should focus on quality food, bought locally and seasonally whenever possible.  Ed has exported his practical philosophy of business to EM and continues to run the business with “do onto other” mentality.

In this episode

Ed imparts some of his pragmatic, logical approaches to business.  He cautions of some pitfalls of starting a family business and also tells us why some good ideas fail.  Greg tells us how he met Ed, and how he became a mentor and was challenged by him.   Dave is inspired by Ed’s belief that you can’t win everything, but you can win sometimes if you just keep trying.  Everyone is reminded that by treating members of your team the best trickles down to your customers feeling like they are important.

Links

Edible Matters' Twitter

Edible Matters' Facebook

Edible Matters's Yelp

Edilbe Matters' Tripadvisor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Brooks is a podcast pioneer and marketing guru coming to the Boiling Point from Southbury, Connecticut. Our host, Greg Hemmings, met him and Dino Dogan at this past NMX (New Media Expo) and soon was on Mike and Dino’s Road to TED podcast. Check out the episode of Boiling Point with Dino Dogan here.

Mike studied IT and worked in the business for 10 years when a taekwondo school he attended was about to close up due to hard times. Mike saw this as a perfect opportunity and quit his day job in IT to help rebuild and market the martial arts school. Mike put a great deal of effort into the school and specifically its digital footprint. This was at the leading edge of when the internet was really starting to mean something for small business.  Mike created content for the school in terms of blogs, social media, videos, podcasts, etc. and soon the school at six times the number of students it had when Mike first started. Others in the community started to notice and within six years other business owners would hire Mike to consult for them and duplicate his great results. After 10 years of being involved with the martial arts school, Mike sold his share back to his partner and already had a full fledged marketing consultancy firm. He hasn’t looked back since.

Mike is the owner of Nuclear Chowder, a marketing firm that designs and hosts websites, search engine optimization, guides business in social media, develops apps for mobile devices, and something we were very interested in, reputation management. So why would someone come to Nuclear Chowder to have their reputation managed? Well, imagine you get arrested for a crime you didn’t even commit. The media writes about how you may have committed this crime and its all over newspapers, television, and the web. A few months later, the case is thrown out or you are found innocent, but all that media coverage is still out there. When a client googles your name, all they see is all sorts of bad stuff, and anything positive about you is down three pages in the results. This scenario could be disastrous for people in business and can be financially crushing. However, if you contact Nuclear Chowder, Mike has a process that can bring back more of the positive content about you and drop the negative stuff. Namely, Mike would start to flood the internet with the clients own content including websites, blogs, posts to social media, pictures, videos, etc.

As mentioned before, Mike was a pioneer in the podcasting game, starting back in 2006. For Mike, podcasting is another form of marketing. Consumers on the internet want content in every medium. The more content you put out to the world, the more credible you become, and things like podcast allow you to build a rapport with your customers without ever meeting them. There are millions of blogs on the internet and endless videos on the internet, but only around 250,000 podcasts (plus or minus). Consider as well that podcasts are more intimate and personal, and it is the next best thing to actually having a conversation in someone’s living room. Mike’s suggestions for podcasters are simple. Sound like you are smiling when you are talking, try to post at the same time each week, have charisma, and be authentic. Having engaging guests is important as well as being consistent. 

Return on investment may not seem apparent from loading the internet with content, but it works. Mike has been hired because of his podcast, but more often its a combination of all of the content he puts out into the world. Content can be just as good as a business referral because people truly believe you are an authority and your content builds trust.

Links

Mike's Social Media/Contacts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Steven Fisher

Steven Fisher’s LinkedIn profile calls him a creative leader, a seasoned entrepreneur, a sci-fi filmmaker, a soon to be published author, a budding craft beer maker, a slow runner, and a fast eater. With an introduction like that, you know there is a ton we could have spoken to Steven about. To save time, Greg and Dave talked to him about his upcoming book, “The Startup Equation” and his experience making his crowd funded sci-fi fan fiction flick, “Browncoats: Redemption”.

Steven brought up an important statistic that he discovered from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, which is that one in six people on this planet will be entrepreneurs of some fashion by the end of the decade. With over six billion people on Earth, that means there could be over a billion entrepreneurs by 2020. Where can all of these go-getters discover their keys to success? One way is to follow the path beaten down by the successful business people before them. This was the inspiration behind Steven’s new book, which is co-authored by his wife, Ja-Nae Duane. 

Steven noticed that most books about startups were exclusively about the tech space. Though this space is included in the book, he wanted to speak to people regardless if they were planning to start the next earth-shattering technology or the next tasty food truck in Houston. He found the common elements that seemed to be part of a larger equation from interviewing entrepreneurs from all over the world, in many different types of businesses, including our very own David Alston from episode two. At a very basic level, three things are important for any startup: the entrepreneur, the team built around him or her, and funding. While there is a number of parts to the startup equation, for which you will need to buy the book, Steven points out three x-factors which are passion, determination, and drive. Entrepreneurs who exemplify those x-factors, will find it difficult to fail over the long haul.

In 2008, Steven used his own passion, determination, and drive to develop a new model for crowd funded fan fiction.  Steven is a fan of the ill-fated Fox sci-fi series, Firefly, which was cancelled during its first season, but developed a massive cult following. The series had such a cult following that there was also a feature film titled, Serenity. However, after Serenity, Firefly was over and left its fans starving for more content. Steven couldn’t come close to paying the licensing fees that would have been required to re-launch the series, but he was inspired by what he was seeing in fan films, so he got to work in starting the process of making “Browncoats”. A friend of his wrote the script and they made a group on Facebook, from which 80 people came from numerous states for the first table read.

Steven knew he was on to something, but did something very interesting to fund the film. He set up a non-profit which allowed the film to be made without licensing. He then chose five charities that were supported or created by the original cast and crew of Firefly, to receive any profits from the film. This engaged both the fans of the series and the former members from Firefly. In the end, Steven and his crew were able to raise $150,000 for charity and college scholarships, in the time before Kickstarter and Indiegogo. What a novel model for fan filmmaking that created content for the fans and by the fans while touching the lives of others.

In this episode

We hear the tales from Steven interviewing entrepreneurs from around the world for his new book including Jonathan Fields from the Good Life Project. We become browncoats (Firefly fans) and get inspired by the fan film story. Greg is empowered by the idea of building something people want and those people will embrace and support you. Dave is energized by the statistic that one in six people will one day be an entrepreneur and asks Steven a question inspired by Jonathan Fields.

Links 

Steven's Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Yan Simard

Yan Simard woke up one morning in 2010 with a splitting headache and an idea.  He doesn’t remember the source of his pain, but the idea ended up changing the course of his career.  The idea was actually a memory of an idea he had about five or six years before, but now smart phone technology had progressed to a point where now the idea was feasible.  

Yan spent two solid days crafting and designing and was left with the basic components of ZapTap.  What’s ZapTap?  It’s software that connects brands to customers in retail environments.  More specifically, ZapTap allows brands to create a customized experience for customers interested in a product.  The software gathers information on consumers as they shop, in a respectful way, and lets brands better know their customers.  Imagine you are an avid snowboarder who is interested in buying a GoPro camera to show off on YouTube.  If GoPro was a ZapTap client, you could get personalized content and videos showing other snowboarders using the product.  Next your friend, the rock climber, stops by the GoPro stand, and this time he gets content geared for cliffhangers.  Not only does ZapTap inform a brand to its buyers, but consumers can now make smarter buying decisions.  It’s a win-win.

Within a year of his headache inspiration, Yan had incorporated a company, quit his day job, and found angel investors to get his idea on the move.  Now ZapTap is working with major players of global business, most of which Yan cannot disclose, but one being one of the world’s foremost automakers from Germany. *hint, hint*

Yan is quick to dismiss the perception of tech start-up entrepreneurs as the rockstars of the 21st century.  Sure you can come to work with flip flops on, but if you get into business for the sexy lifestyle as soon as you encounter your first problem, it won’t be cool anymore.  Many who don’t have the focus and dedication would quit, without ever knowing the satisfaction of steering their own fate.  There are ups and downs with being a tech start-up, but volatility is definitely not boring.  Yan constantly keeps his eyes on the prize, both for himself and for his investors, with the goal to becoming the greatest company in his sector, or acquired.

In this episode

Greg shows of his new raspy jazz voice.  Yan lets us know what it takes to be a successful tech start-up, and how to avoid distractions of new ideas while remaining focused.  Yan also tells us how he was able to gain investment in a province where he wasn’t originally from and had few contacts in.  Greg is reminded that if you want to be the best in the world at something, you need to remove distractions and focus.  He also ponders, how many great ideas never come to fruition because of lack of confidence or other distractions.  Dave believes that one day Yan will be able to try some of his other ideas, but for now his discipline will make him a success.

Links

ZapTap Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shawn gives us insight into what it is like to compete on the Amazing Race and what he and his wife learned from the experience. Dave tells an anecdote about a coincidence between left and right brain thinkers. Greg sees parallels between Shawn and himself including trying out for the Amazing Race Canada. Shawn tells us about the experience, how he had to drop off the grid to be on the show, and how some of his employees thought he was in rehab instead. Dave makes a great point about taking care of yourself first, in order to take care of others by comparing it to having oxygen masks drop during an airplane ride. Greg is validated for his own lifestyle and describes how Dave helped him come up with a personal and business vision statement and how this allows him to live an integrated lifestyle.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Paul Simmonds

Independent retail is a tough business.  Independents are competing with big-box stores, large shopping destinations, and online retailers, which often have hard-to-beat pricing.  So how does an independent retailer stand out amongst the crowd?  Paul Simmonds seems to have the answer.

Paul is a 35 year veteran of the retail business and the owner of Robert Simmonds Clothing in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.  This tough but kind business man started in the business as a stock boy in a shoe store at 14 years of age, and moved himself up the ladder to success by learning from a number of mentors.  Robert Simmonds, named in homage to Paul’s father, opened in 1998 as an upscale men’s clothing store. Sixteen years later, Robert Simmonds offers upscale men’s and women’s, as well as urban style clothing.

What sets Robert Simmonds Clothing apart from the crowd?  An over-the-top customer experience.  A typical customer interaction involves a customer entering the store, being offered a choice of espresso or scotch, suggestions of proper clothing to fit their style, having a tailor size you properly before leaving the store.  The whole experience is very comfortable, you leave as a customer feeling you can trust the people you were working with, and you feel good about the whole experience and your decision to shop at Robert Simmonds.

Paul says that each retail day starts at zero.  A retailer can’t rest on the success of yesterday, or the hope for tomorrow.  Each day is a fresh start, and giving excellent customer service today will keep customers coming back in the future.  Paul sees his staff as his greatest asset and he invests in them by doing things like quarterly meetings, where they bring in speakers like our own Dave Veale.  He hires according to attitude and behaviour, and believes if you have that foundation, specific skillsets can be taught.

Paul lives by two adages as it relates to success and failure.  First, “the only thing I know for sure is that I don’t know.” Second, “today, if you don’t try it, you’ll never know the answer.”  Paul is persistent and knows that when he tries new things with his business, sometimes you fail and other times you succeed.  By being petrified to try new things, doesn’t allow for taking on new opportunities.  He doesn’t let vulnerability hold him back and he knows that at worst he will be able to learn so much from a failure.  He knows that he has be be brave enough to put a kill date on something that isn’t working and to have the courage to let it go.

Looking toward the future, Paul started using the internet to sell and promote Robert Simmonds.  In order to keep that customer experience online, he instituted a virtual closet, which catalogues previous purchases, suggests new items to customers, and will do things like find shirts and ties for the new suit you recently bought at Robert Simmonds.

In this episode

We open to soothing on-hold music provided by Robert Simmonds Clothing.  Dave tells us about his experience at Robert Simmonds and Paul gives Dave a plug for Vision Coaching.  Greg plans to get re-suited at Paul’s store… and to have a scotch.  Greg is inspired by Paul’s acceptance of e-commerce as an independent.  He sees it as an opportunity as opposed to a challenge, and has discovered a way to bring his in-house customer experience online.  Dave’s takeaway is noticing Paul’s ability to see a challenge as an opportunity and not resting on his laurels by constantly evolving his business.

Links

Robert Simmond's Facebook

Robert Simmond's Twitter

Robert Simmond's Instagram

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices