GrowthStory

Livia is the founder of Funky Feet, a dance program where the main goal is to help empower children and build their confidence through dance. Livia started her company in 2001, on her own, after seizing the opportunity to teach a dance class as a last-minute replacement. Flash forward almost two decades later, Funky Feet is now a wildly successful dance program in Montreal and counts two locations as The Studio by Funky Feet. In this episode, we talk about the importance of taking calculated risks, figuring things out along the way, and pursuing things we're really interested in.

Dr. Joe Flanders is the founder and director of Mindspace as well as the host of the Mindspace Podcast. Joe discovered mindfulness through one of his professors while studying to become a psychologist. Seeing lots of potential in meditation and how mindfulness could help people, Joe stepped away from the traditional full-time clinical psychology career and opened up Mindspace, a Centre for Well-being, where they offer Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to individuals, groups, and organizations.

Owner of Bak'd by Mona, a very successful gourmet cookies business, Mona Segal is a true force of nature. She's unstoppable: on top of running her own business, Mona volunteers at school and works part-time as a marketing specialist. Her growth story is truly inspiring and touching. Having always loved to bake and cook, Mona decided to take the plunge and turn her passion into a business after being faced with a life-threatening health issue. That challenge made her realized she wanted to change her life, work less, volunteer more, do more of what she likes, and most importantly, give back.

Don White is on a mission to help people lead a healthier lifestyle. Many years ago, Don left his desk job and decided to invest himself 100% in what he found to be most important in life: health. After being a successful trainer for many years, Don took the plunge into entrepreneurship and co-founded his own training facility: CoreXcellence, a peak performance center. In this episode we talk about the importance of mental health in fitness, the Ketogenic diet and why most crazy diets never work, and taking professional risks when you're in a comfortable situation.

On this week's episode, we are interviewing Mtre Richard P. Salis, B.A., LL.B., D.D.N., about his path to becoming a Notary specializing in wills, trust and estate settlement. After starting his legal career as a lawyer, he discovered a passion for helping individuals with their estate planning needs and took up studies to become a notary to better serve his clients. After years of developing a successful legal practice as a notary, he took his practice to the next level when he co-founded Levy Salis LLP, a multi-disciplinary boutique tax and estate planning law firm with his long-time friend and colleague, Mtre Shlomi Steve Levy.

Sherri Rabinovitch is a passionate HR & career specialist who founded her own consulting business called The People Guru. Sherri's story is so interesting: she found so much success she is now a regular contributor on TV, but she also had to overcome great challenges such as psychological harassment and hostile work environment, as well as, more on the personal side, being diagnosed with breast cancer. In this episode, we are also going to talk about what people can do to better market themselves when looking for a job and what companies can do to hire better.

For this last episode of 2018, our host David is pleased to introduce Simon St-Amand, his successor as president of Proforce Personnel. While David is opening up his horizons with a newly acquired business in the health industry, Simon, prior director of recruitment for Proforce's food division, is stepping up and taking the lead on the company's day to day. When Simon first applied to work at Proforce, he wasn't even called back for an interview. Now he's the president of the company. Listen to this very special episode to know all about Simon's amazing journey and learn more about David's new business.

Barry Solomon is what we could call a later-stage entrepreneur, as he bought his first business while in his fifties. After working for the family business his father started for many (quite difficult) years, Barry moved on to work in advertising, and then again in a few other fields before actually moving to California, where he bought his business. In parallel, Barry's story is also just as interesting on the personal side, as he is a survivor of a kidney and heart transplant. Tune in to see how Barry's values and evolving takes on faith got him through this journey.

Formerly corporate talent acquisition manager, Norma Kraft recently launch her own consulting business as a career coach and strategist. Through her work and her engagement on LinkedIn, Norma helps job seekers improve their resume, strategize their job search and increase their visibility on LinkedIn. With her tremendous experience on the market, her undeniable skills for the recruiting process and her true love of people, Norma really is a top class recruiter! Listen to know more about how she got in the recruiting business and get some useful insights on how to be a great recruiter. What you'll learn: Norma went to see a recruiter who advised her to become a recruiter herself, which she did and found instant success in that profession. Notable quotes: "It goes down to your ethics and your credibility and your way of operating." – Norma on the basis of being a good recruiter. "I went in there and in the first month I tripled my income." – Norma about her first job in a recruiting agency. Show notes: 02:30 – Her business is Norma Kraft Consulting. 03:40 – Norma was born in Ohio and grew up in San Diego. 06:30 – During her college studies, Norma got married and moved to England for 4 years where she travelled through Europe. 08:00 – Norma studied journalism and English literature. 08:40 – Norma remarried and moved to Japan for a year. 13:40 – Norma has 2 children. 29:02 – Norma got her first corporate job as a senior corporate recruiter at the Washington Mutual Bank. 36:40 – Norma moved to Billings, Montana to join her daughter with her grandkids. 60:00 – Norma invites you to connect with her on LinkedIn.

Author, keynote speaker and endurance racer, Tofe helps people build their resilience as a way to reach their goals and live a happier life. After reaching rock bottom as a young adult who had lost himself to partying and suffering from mental health issues, Tofe found his way back through his research and experiments with adversity and endurance. Tofe's book, "Everyone has a plan until shit hits the fan. How to not be the bitch of your own brain." teaches how to make adversity your greatest strength. What you'll learn: Tofe studied engineering, but only half-liked it as he enjoyed the creativity and designing. Tofe had a fear of public speaking before doing it for a living. Notable quotes: "To be great, you need to have adversity. It's a foundation of your success." - Tofe reassuring that feeling pain is part of the process. "That's the difference between working out and training: training is going towards something" - Tofe on applying reverse engineering to his goals. Shownotes: 02:45 - Tofe's book is called "Everyone has a plan until shit hits the fan. How to not be the bitch of your own brain". 04:20 - Tofe is from Australia. 10:20 - In 2014, Tofe decided to go travelling on an indefinite trip. He partied a lot and ended up in Toronto. 28:20 - After picking up running, Tofe needed an objective to train so he registered to to a marathon. 35:00 - Tofe mentions the book "No Hero" by Mark Owen. 37:20 - Tofe mentions the principle of Ikigai a tool featuring the questions to ask yourself in order to find your purpose. 55:40 - Tofe invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn and check out his website at www.tofe-evans.com