Innovators

In this episode, Mike Starkey, Associate Dean at BCIT's Computing Program, discusses the future of higher education and online learning. He recommends all students to upskill in the digital era, to ensure they have a competitive advantage over other candidates. With BCIT's computing programs, students are placed into real-life projects with real companies throughout their degree. Listen to hear about some of the innovative projects students were involved with in 2020.

Link to BCIT: https://www.bcit.ca/

In this episode, Martin Van Den Hemel, Director of Communications at Kabu Ride, discusses the rewards of working at a growing startup. He talks about the company's early struggles with law-making authorities and having to shut down for 6 months before receiving certification as a ride-hailing service. To date, their app completed over 1.3 million rides for more than 70,000 customers. In 2020, Kabu was nominated for the BC Tech Innovation Awards.

Link to Kabu Ride: https://www.kabu.ca/kaburide/

In this episode, Martina Valkovicova, Assistant Dean of UBC Business Career Services, discusses the importance of learning. According to UBC studies, by 2024, it will take 101 days to learn, unlearn and relearn for a new job. Therefore, she urges people to be prepared to constantly learn to progress within their careers. We also talk about her predictions for the future of work, and where students should focus in order to make an impact.

Link to UBC Sauder School of Business: https://www.sauder.ubc.ca

In this episode, Radwa Saad (Director of Talent Programs) and Jamil Karim (Marketing Manager) of Innovate BC, discusses the importance of hiring youth workers. Not only is youth hiring funded by Innovate BC's government-funded programs, young workers often offer fresh and creative perspectives, allowing your company to see things that are sometimes overlooked. Since 2018, over 1,400 companies has received funding and benefited from Innovate BC's talent programs.

Link to Innovate BC: innovatebc.ca

In this episode, Karm Sumal, Co-founder and CEO of Daily Hive, discusses the importance of hard work during tough times. He talks about his goals for the Daily Hive and his philosophy of hard work. Karm built the Daily Hive from the ground up and today receives +16 million views per month. He did this through grit and determination. Today, he encourages his team to not be complacent, and to strive for more rather than less during a recessionary period. 

Link to Daily Hive: https://dailyhive.com

In this episode, Tara Ataya, VP of People at Hootsuite, discusses the importance of taking care of your employees. During COVID, Hootsuite focused on taking care of their people first. Offering support in the form of additional sick leave, family caregiver leave, and work-from-home allowances. The leadership team strongly believes that taking care of employees is priority #1. And, in turn, employees will take care of the customers. Not the other way around. 

Link to Hootsuite: https://hootsuite.com

In this episode, Dana Ramnarine, Vice President of Rhum.hr, discusses the importance of practicing self-care and seeking support. She took us back 1 year to when she started Rhum.hr and the stress she felt balancing her work and responsibilities as a single-mother. Dana was able to overcome this difficult period with the support of her friends and loved ones, as well as through a free childcare community she created called “Vancouver BC Childcare Givers & Seekers”.

Link to Rhum.hr: https://www.rhum.hr

In this episode, Darren Dahl, Associate Dean at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, discusses the future of higher education and online learning. As one of the top universities in Canada, he believes the learnings from COVID will ultimately help shape the future of higher education across Canada and the world. He foresees a future where students have the choice between in-person, virtual, or hybrid classes. Recognizing our current technological limitations, Darren talks about the steps that UBC is taking towards making this future a reality.

Link to UBC Sauder School of Business: https://www.sauder.ubc.ca

In this episode, Sarah Main, Director of Product at WeatherBug, discusses the importance of failing. As a leader of the company, she acknowledges that failure is part of the process and is necessary for the company to move forward. However, failure needs to be looked at critically and recorded so that it can be avoided in the future. Having conversations about failure and embracing failure is part of what makes startups like WeatherBug grow so rapidly.

Link to WeatherBug: https://www.weatherbug.com

In this episode, Natania Mathany, VP of People at A Thinking Ape (ATA), discusses the importance of having a growth mindset. She talks about one of the company's core value, which is “keep growing”. Leaders are constantly pushing themselves and team members to look for new, creative ideas and new ways of doing things. Creativity and innovation is fundamental to ATA as a games company, and they strive to add other creative members who also have a growth mindset.

Link to ATA: https://athinkingape.com/