Flagship Podcast

On this week’s show, we spoke with Caroline Codsi, President & Founder @ Women in Governance. A passionate and strategic leader, Caroline Codsi has had a successful career in the corporate world of over 25 years including the past decade in VP and SVP roles within major organizations.

Caroline founded Women in Governance in 2010 (aka La Gouvernance au Féminin), a non-for-profit organization with mission to encourage women to develop their leadership, advance their career and sit on boards. She dedicates her life to all matters relating to the access of women to executive roles and board positions in the corporate world in Canada as well as women’s equality rights everywhere in the world.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How war shaped her worldview
• Two key principles: authenticity and audacity
• How she operates her non-profit as a business
• Encouraging women to enter into STEM
• Her ambitious goal of creating an industry-wide certification

Caroline is an inspiring entrepreneur that took a huge leap to start her non-profit. She is incredible inspiring and I hope that you enjoy the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher | Breaker

On this week’s show, we spoke with Marie-José Lalande, President & CEO @ Kinessor. Relationship facilitator, passionate about management and telecoms, Marie-José is at the head of Kinessor, a company specializing in professional services and telecommunications consulting. Kinessor has a large professional team technically qualified in network, communication (voice, instant messaging, virtual meeting, etc.), wireless, security and data centers. Customers rely on their services for reliability, integrity, skills and efficiency. They can support their clients or support their telecom projects regardless of the desired technology

On the show, we spoke about:

• How she leads the firm with intuitive decision making
• The growth strategy of the firm
• The talent challenge
• Learning how to delegate
• How continuous improvement lies at the heart of the company.

Marie-José is very modest despite the success of her company. I hope you like the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher | Breaker

On this week’s show, we spoke with Martin Aubut, Vice-President Transformation & Strategic Innovation @ Cogeco. Martin is a pragmatic digital marketing executive and entrepreneur, with 20+ years of experience. He is known for transforming organization toward consumer centricity by leveraging data & digital capabilities. He is now acting as Vice-President of the Transformation Office and Strategic Innovation at COGECO Connexion one of the Largest Canadian Telecommunication organizations.

In the last 7 years, he led with success L’Oréal Canada successful Digital ACCELERATION, as CDO (Intrapreneur). He built with his team advanced E-Commerce, CRM & Data Science practice leverage around the world.

He had the chance to work on building the foundation of the Innovation lab focus on Artificial Intelligence, leveraging Deep learning and machine learning technics for L'Oréal World.

On the show, we spoke about:

• What it means to be an intrapreneur
• Focusing on the customer journey
• The challenges of business transformation
• The role of data in a transformation
• His framework of people, tech and process

Martin is a true intrapreneur and has been able to repeatedly achieve success with every company he’s worked with. I hope that you enjoy the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher | Breaker

On this week’s show, we spoke with Marc-Antoine Ross, CEO & Co-Founder @ dfuse

He has a passion for building teams and is constantly evaluating those he meets to figure out how they can bring their skills to the multitude of projects that he touches. From there, he figures out what he needs to do to make their talent shine. He is a serial entrepreneur, having started his first company at 21. He has co-founded three successful companies, two of which were acquired by major tech companies and the last one was acquired by Intel. Marc-Antoine is very well known in the tech community, personally advising several startups and mentoring companies through Founder Institute and FounderFuel. He is also an ambassador for United Way and has raised significant donations from the tech community.

On the show, we spoke about:

• Dropping out of school to work on his business
• Being a co-founder of several successful companies including PasswordBox
• Being a first time CEO and what he’s learned so far
• His new startup in the blockchain space and the problem they are trying to solve

Marc-Antoine was generous with his time and was very transparent. I hope that you enjoy the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher | Breaker

On this week’s show, we spoke with Louis Duchesne, Executive Vice-President & General Director @ Cossette Quebec. Originally from Montreal, where he attended McGill University, Mr. Duchesne spent six years working for Nurun before being recruited by Cossette in Quebec City, where he served as General Manager of the interactive division before being named Vice-President of the integrated agency in 2009. Since 2013, he has also held the position of Senior Vice-President of Cossette in Quebec, heading up national accounts such as General Motors, La Maison Simons, Office du tourisme de Québec, CAA-Québec and Gaz Métro.

On the show, we spoke about:

• The changing business model of agencies
• The importance of talent
• Transition a traditional agency into a digital one
• How the media landscape has changed
• The hype of data

I really enjoyed meeting Louis and discussing with him topics that are close to my heart. Louis was very generous with his time and insights. Enjoy the show!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher | Breaker

On this week’s show, we spoke with Marie-Pier St-Hilaire, CEO @ Edgenda. Marie-Pier is the CEO and principal shareholder at Edgenda Group. Marie-Pier St-Hilaire has always been passionate about initiating sweeping transformations. While enrolled in the MBA in information technology at Université Laval, she founded her company, which experienced remarkable organizational growth, i.e., from $0.2 million to $7.5 million in less than ten years. Now, under the umbrella brand Edgenda, the company and its AFI Expertise division employs more than 150 and is ranked among Quebec’s largest SMBs.

To attain her success, she has surrounded herself with a talented team, an impressive network of partners, and leveraged the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard University.

On the show, we spoke about:

• Starting her company at 21
• How she prioritizes her time and schedule living in in two cities
• The importance of delegation
• Building a service business and growing it to 170 people
• Taking care of yourself before others

I didn’t know Marie-Pier before the interview and was really impressed. She has a clear vision and thinking on building her company. I hope that you enjoy the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher | Breaker

On this week’s show, we spoke with Malik Yacoubi, Co-Founder and CEO @ Nesto

Nesto is in bringing more transparency and conviviality to an obscure process that is so important to the financial well being of Canadians families. Their short-time objective is to build the best multi-disciplinary team in tech, UX, Design, Data and Mortgage Brokerage.

Before launching Nesto, and for the past 8 years, Malik was Chief Digital Officer at Cossette where he managed the digital teams for Canada’s largest advertising agency Malik has deep expertise in: CRM/data operations and integration, e-commerce, mobile development and strategy, business analysts, business intelligence and analytics, products and projects management and web development.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How he launched his company after university
• Getting into mobile years before the iPhone
• How his company was acquired by Cossette
• His new venture Nesto and the opportunity he sees in mortgages
• The opportunity in Fintech

I’ve known Malik for a years and he’s one of the sharpest entrepreneurs that I know. I hope that you learn a lot from our conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher | Breaker

On this week’s show, we spoke with Anie Rouleau, Founder & CEO @ Baléco.

Transparency, socially and environmentally responsible are fundamental values by which Anie drives her personal and professional life. She is the founder and CEO of Baléco Inc where she handles product development, sales and financing.

She believes in redefining the Notion of Clean in a more sustainable lifestyle. Today, as a BCorp certified business, she wants to rewrite some key success factors of tomorrow's businesses. In her mind, only ethical and responsible governance will prevail.

Anie Rouleau founded Baléco in 2012 with one goal in mind, to help businesses and individuals reduce their environmental impact. The solution? A responsibly sourced catalog of eco-friendly alternatives to conventional home and office cleaning products and accessories. Quickly, Baléco became renowned for their OH line of fragrance free, concentrated, bulk products destined for the B2B market. In 2016, she launched The Unscented Company across North America. A complete line of unscented, refillable, home and body care destined to the retail market.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How her parents helped launch her entrepreneurial journey
• Her travels to 18 countries in 18 months
• The reason for helping the environment
• Going through the dark years in her business
• The values and principles she lives by

Anie is an impressive entrepreneur with a truly global vision. I hope that you enjoy the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher | Breaker

On this week’s show, we spoke with Alex Nemeroff, Co-Founder @ Dynamo

Since co-founding Dynamo in 2000, Alex Nemeroff has been responsible for guiding some of its biggest clients to success. Alex has funneled his vast bank of knowledge into specializations in digital product design and user experience. His user-centric approach to design and his keen eye for detail has proven to be a winning combination for growth. He’s also host and moderator at Dynamic/MTL, a series of speaking events for Montréal's creative community. Every three months, Dynamic/MTL invites top guest speakers from across various creative industries to talk about their work and share their experiences.

On the show, we spoke about:

• The relevance of going to school today
• How he launched Dynamo and grew the business
• The evolutions of the company throughout its history
• Blending expertise and visual design
• The bittersweet aspect of selling his agency
• What the agency of the future looks like

Alex is extremely humble and intelligent. I enjoyed his candor and transparency during this interview. I hope that you enjoy the conversation!

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher | Breaker

On this week’s show, we spoke with Ian Jeffrey, Co-Founder and CEO @ BreatheLife

Ian is the Co-Founder and CEO of Breathe Life, an InsurTech Software as a Service that brings financial security to people, whoever and wherever they are. Breathe Life’s mission is to power the insurance world with innovative technology that delivers seamless experiences to consumers and industry experts alike.

Ian is an entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in Montreal and Silicon Valley and an Advisor and Angel Investor to many early-stage startups.

On the show, we spoke about:

• How he left Montreal to launch a startup in San Francisco
• What he was looking for when he came back
• The founding story of BreatheLife
• The impact life insurance can have on people’s lives

Ian is a friend and a remarkable entrepreneur. I’m happy that he took the time on this special episode.

Let us know what you think. What types of guests would like to see on the show? What topics interest you the most? Send me your thoughts at [email protected]

Subscribe | iTunes | Google Play |Spotify | YouTube | Stitcher | Breaker