Leaders Of Tomorrow Podcast

What if the number you are chasing is already closer than you think?

Every guest on Leaders of Tomorrow can tell you the exact number they were sold at on a given day. That is not an accident. In this best-of, host Chris Thomson pulls the moments where the number became real: the goal set before anyone believed it, the week sales went to zero, and the week everything turned around.

You will hear James Ward on believing a six-figure summer before he could prove it, Colby Wilson on breaking a $250K target into a weekly number, Ashley Ayles on refusing to stop at $200K, Andrew Woodruff on nearly doubling to $335K, and Aris Lloshi on the team behind a half-million-dollar year, with Brayden Willmott, John Morgan, and Mathieu Champagne on the mindset shifts that made the leap possible.

If you have ever needed proof that your number is possible, this is it. Listen now.

• 00:50 Chris Thomson on why every guest can name the exact number they were sold at, and why that is not an accident.
• 01:22 James Ward on the gap between saying you will run a million-dollar business and believing you can, starting from $40,000 sold.
• 03:02 Brayden Willmott on coming into the year chasing $600,000, and the one thing that changed from last year.
• 03:28 Colby Wilson on making a $250K target real by breaking it into a weekly number.
• 05:25 Ashley Ayles on hitting $200K by June and why she refused to stop there.
• 06:26 Andrew Woodruff on nearly doubling to $335K, and the shift from working hard to working smart.
• 07:28 Aris Lloshi on crossing half a million and why the team behind the scenes was the real engine.
• 08:27 John Morgan on going from a $72,000 first summer to betting he could one day do $750,000.
• 09:16 Mathieu Champagne on three straight weeks of zero sales, then one $30,000 week that shifted his mindset.

• James Ward, a Student Works operator who ran a window cleaning business, on believing the number before you hit it and proving it to everyone who doubted you. Episode 349 | From $40,000 to $110,000: Key Activities for Success
• Brayden Willmott, a Student Works operator, entered the year with a $600,000 goal and the momentum and alignment behind it. Episode 458 | Proven Ways Elite Student Leaders Crush $250K Goals
• Colby Wilson, a Student Works operator, on making a $250K revenue target tangible week to week. Episode 438 | How To Turn Failure into a $275K Comeback
• Ashley Ayles, a Student Works operator, on blowing past her $200K goal and refusing to set the bar too low. Episode 455 | How Grit and Planning Made $280K Possible
• Andrew Woodruff, a Student Works operator, on nearly doubling from $180K to $335K by shifting from working hard to working smart. Episode 436 | When You Bet on Yourself and Build a $370K Business
• Aris Lloshi, a Student Works operator, on crossing half a million and crediting the team and the weekly habits that got him there. Episode 434 | How to Build a $460K Business as a Student
• John Morgan, a Student Works franchisee, on going from a $72,000 first summer to planning for $750,000. Episode 148 | How I am Planning to Achieve My 2020 Sales Goal of $750,000
• Mathieu Champagne, a Student Works operator, on three weeks of zero sales, the $30,000 week that turned it around, and the leap that followed. Episode 450 | Unveiling the Secrets Behind an $800K Leap

1. Connect with Chris: Website | LinkedIn
2. Learn more about the Student Works Management Program
3. Apply to be an Owner / Operator in the Management Program
4. Looking for a fun job this summer? Summer Job Opportunities
5. Hear more Alumni Success Stories

The Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast is an original production by Chris Thomson. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What separates a leader who builds a winning team from one who just reports bad news?

In this episode, Chris Thomson hands the mic to College Works alumnus Jeff Gunhus, Co-Founder and CEO of Home Genius Exteriors, who scaled the company from $2.7 million in year one toward a $500 million target, all while chasing a billion-dollar goal.

Jeff lays out the framework his leaders live by, Teach, Track, and Inspire, and why fastest growing means nothing without most respected. He gets into leading from the front, the difference between leading and lagging indicators, and why world-class customer service is a desire, not a training issue.

If you want the mindset and the system behind teams that grow people and profit at the same time, this one is for you. Listen now.

• 03:51 – The secret behind the company name, and why everyone secretly works for his wife
• 04:44 – The Jim Collins principle that turned a departing leader into a business partner
• 07:42 – Fastest growing or most respected? Why he refuses to pick one
• 09:10 – The billion-dollar goal that started as a someday dream
• 11:59 – Why you should chase adversity instead of running from it
• 14:17 – Teach, track, and inspire: the entire framework on one pie chart
• 14:48 – The three leadership traps: the professor, the tracker, and the cheerleader
• 19:20 – The Jocko Willink rule that Home Genius leans on hard
• 24:26 – Why “what gets measured gets measured” is a trap for new leaders
• 34:04 – The truth about customer service that no training can fix
• 38:19 – The Jim Rohn line he closes meetings with

Jeff Gunhus is the Co-Founder and CEO of Home Genius Exteriors, one of the fastest growing home improvement companies in America, and Co-Founder of its parent company, National Services Group. A College Works Painting alumnus who started as a first-year operator before becoming a coach and then a partner, Jeff has grown Home Genius from $2.7 million in its first year toward a $500 million target, while holding the company to being both the fastest growing and most respected in its industry. He is known for his Teach, Track, and Inspire leadership framework, his focus on culture, and giving back through the Home Genius Cares program, all under a standard he calls happy but not satisfied.

🔗 LinkedIn | Website

• Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink (book)
• The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink (book)
• Jim Collins (author)
• College Works
• Owens Corning (roofing provider)
• Ronald McDonald House
• Fortune
• Tony Robbins

• Connect with Chris: Website | LinkedIn
• Learn more about the Student Works Management Program
• Apply to be an Owner / Operator in the Management Program
• Looking for a fun job this summer? Summer Job Opportunities
• Hear more Alumni Success Stories

The Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast is an original production by Chris Thomson. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What if the trait you thought made you strong is the very thing holding your growth back?

Chris Thomson welcomes back Phil Lombardo, a Student Works veteran who went from a $125,000 rookie business to coaching a $4.4 million team, and who is now stepping into a role helping run a $50 million company.

Phil opens up about the ego that once held him back, why your minimum acceptable standard matters more than your goals, and the daily discipline of negotiating with yourself less.

If you have ever wondered what actually separates the people who keep leveling up from the ones who stall, this conversation is your blueprint. Listen now.

• 02:52 – Who Phil was before the program: YMCA shifts and a gap year of 60-hour minimum-wage weeks
• 04:27 – The referral that got him in, and the info-session moment that lit up the phone
• 05:59 – The biggest surprise of a first-year run during COVID
• 06:41 – The ego realization that changed how he ran his business
• 11:05 – Why your minimum acceptable standard matters more than the goals you set
• 13:53 – The one thing top performers negotiate away far less than everyone else
• 16:09 – The call where Luke first saw Phil as a future coach
• 19:28 – Going from a $125K business to a $4.4 million coaching team
• 20:33 – "Everyone can always see you": the accountability truth most people miss
• 30:11 – Inside the new role and the push to double a $50 million company
• 35:29 – The light-side, dark-side exercise behind Most Accountable Coach
• 44:53 – What a real leader of tomorrow actually is, in Phil’s words

Phil Lombardo is a Student Works Management Program veteran stepping into his eighth year, a four-time Mexico-level operator who built roughly $800,000 in the field before moving into coaching. As a coach, he was named top mini coach, top rookie coach, and Most Accountable Coach, leading a team to $4.4 million this year and reaching about $9 million in all-time coaching revenue. He is now stepping into a company-wide role focused on operations, training, and curriculum, AI initiatives, safety, and field support as Student Works pushes to double its business.

🔗 LinkedIn

• The Founders Club (Luke Fenn and Joe Kim)
• Luke Fenn on LinkedIn

• Connect with Chris: Website | LinkedIn
• Learn more about the Student Works Management Program
• Apply to be an Owner / Operator in the Management Program
• Looking for a fun job this summer? Summer Job Opportunities
• Hear more Alumni Success Stories

The Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast is an original production by Chris Thomson. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What if the leaders who rise fastest are the ones who insist they are not that important?

Chris Thomson sits down with Nick Eaves, Chief Operating Officer at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and former President and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment, in the conversation that started it all: the very first Leaders of Tomorrow interview. A Student Works alum, Nick built his career on a counterintuitive idea: none of us are that important.

They get into humility as a competitive edge, the patience of the long game, why there is no job too small, and how Nick kept saying yes to the next opportunity until he reached the C-suite. He also opens up about the setbacks that shook his confidence and what pulled him through.

If you are waiting for permission or a perfect plan, this conversation will change how you think about getting started. Listen now.

● 05:40 – The one thing Nick still leans on from his summer business years

● 07:06 – Why “there is no job too small” became the rule that built a 21-year run

● 10:29 – “None of us are that important”: the humility test behind every team he leads

● 12:33 – The risky call to put racing on TV, and why shrinking your own crowd can grow the business

● 15:59 – What a government-run business taught Nick about irrational stakeholders

● 18:17 – Why the best fans behave like owners, and how great venues earn that trust

● 24:35 – The setbacks Nick regrets most, and the confidence gap behind them

● 28:44 – How to tell when your natural style stops working, and switch gears

● 29:36 – The long game: patience, network, and never doing it alone

● 38:17 – The real path into a world-class organization like MLSE, and why rushing backfires

Nick Eaves is the Chief Operating Officer at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, where he oversees operations, revenue, and the LIVE events division across MLSE’s venues. He previously spent 21 years at Woodbine Entertainment, including five as President and CEO, where he led the transformation of the company’s business model. A Student Works Management Program alumnus and Western University graduate, Nick is known for a leadership style rooted in humility, patience, and the long game.

🔗 LinkedIn

• Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE)
• Scotiabank Arena
• Woodbine Entertainment (formerly the Ontario Jockey Club)
• Western University

• Connect with Chris: Website | LinkedIn
• Learn more about the Student Works Management Program
• Apply to be an Owner / Operator in the Management Program
• Looking for a fun job this summer? Summer Job Opportunities
• Hear more Alumni Success Stories

The Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast is an original production by Chris Thomson. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

Most young entrepreneurs hit the same ceiling. The business can only grow as far as they can personally reach. The ones who break through stop trying to do it all and start building something bigger than themselves.

In this collage episode, host Chris Thomson pulls together the operators who did exactly that. You will hear how they planned the number before chasing it, recruited the right people instead of the available ones, learned to delegate and actually train, and made the shift from doing the work to leading it. Five operators, five different paths, one through-line: you cannot scale alone.

If you are ready to run a bigger business, start here, then come build one with us.

Alex Irvine is a Student Works operator and President's Club performer who ran a $275,000 painting business. | Episode 388 | Unlocking Growth: The Power of Delegation, Systems, and Coaching

Colby Wilson is a fourth-year Student Works operator and an incoming mini coach. | Episode 438 | How To Turn Failure into a $275K Comeback

Kaleb O'Very is a Student Works operator who grew his business 300% and stepped into a coaching role. | Episode 444 | How to Grow 300% and Love Every Challenge

Jamie Lee Bongard is a five-year Student Works alum and a Keller Williams operating principal in real estate. | Episode 350 | Path to Personal Growth and Business Success

Chris O'Rourke is a Student Works alum and the Chief Revenue Officer at Zeus Fire and Security. | Episode 397 | From Student Works to Building a Legacy of Success

1. Connect with Chris: Website | LinkedIn
2. Learn more about the Student Works Management Program
3. Apply to be an Owner / Operator in the Management Program
4. Looking for a fun job this summer? Summer Job Opportunities
5. Hear more Alumni Success Stories

The Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast is an original production by Chris Thomson. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What happens when a self-described average kid walks into a room full of high performers and refuses to get left behind?

Chris Thomson sits down with Matt Celeste, a fourth-year University of New Brunswick student who joined Student Works knowing no one and got two leads in his first three hours of marketing.

They dig into the mindset shift Matt calls an ego death, the leverage move that let him focus almost entirely on sales, and the Facebook ad system that booked nearly $300,000. In two seasons he went from roughly $196,000 to $433,000, all while in full-time school.

If you have ever wondered whether you can figure entrepreneurship out with no head start, this one is your proof. Listen now.

• 02:38 – The “normal average kid” from a town of 8,000 who was sure he had life figured out
• 03:54 – The med-school path Matt was headed down before Student Works
• 04:39 – Two leads in three hours: the shaky first session that nearly shook his confidence
• 05:12 – The moment watching Caleb close deals made the business feel real
• 11:11 – The “ego death” that reset how Matt saw his own ceiling
• 12:07 – How Matt doubled his business to $433K by changing where he spent his time
• 13:19 – The ad-spend jump from $3K to $30K that booked nearly $300K
• 22:48 – Why Matt's eyeing a house down payment while most peers sit in $50K of debt
• 24:29 – The one piece of advice Matt gives anyone thinking about entrepreneurship

Matt Celeste is a fourth-year student at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton and a two-year operator with the Student Works Management Program, running window cleaning and interlock restoration. Discovered on campus with no prior ties to the business, he was named the program’s top rookie and went on to double his business from roughly $196,000 to $433,000 in his second season, finishing as the fifth-highest returning operator in the program. Known for his level head, dependability, and competitive edge, Matt is now focused on developing leaders on his team as he targets $600,000 next year.

🔗 LinkedIn | Website

• Contractor Marketing Mastermind (John Cameron)
• University of New Brunswick
• Facebook Ads (Meta)

• Connect with Chris: Website | LinkedIn
• Learn more about the Student Works Management Program
• Apply to be an Owner / Operator in the Management Program
• Looking for a fun job this summer? Summer Job Opportunities
• Hear more Alumni Success Stories

The Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast is an original production by Chris Thomson. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What if the fastest way to level up isn’t adding more, but removing what’s quietly holding you back?

Chris Thomson hands the room to Amer Abu Shakra, StudentWorks record-breaker and co-founder of Contracting.com, for a rare orientation-style talk built entirely from his own story. From a childhood in Jordan to a $500,000 sales year, Amer traces how three lessons rebuilt him.

He gets honest about the year he wasted almost 40% of his time on his phone, the mentor who told him he wasn’t reliable, and the dopamine trap that quietly steals ambition. Then he shows the loop that turns it around: remove, keep your word, put others first.

If your team feels unreliable or your goals keep slipping, the problem might be what you refuse to remove. Listen now.

• 05:02 – The gap Amer spotted that turned a summer job into Contracting.com
• 05:27 – The “300 lifetimes” math that explains why a franchise is worth it
• 08:05 – A highway stop in Jordan that rewired how Amer sees fairness
• 09:26 – Lesson one: why improving your life is about what you remove
• 11:43 – From busboy to bank vault, and the income ceiling that made him leave
• 14:20 – “Successful people are reliable, and you are not”: the heart-to-heart that changed everything
• 19:04 – The rooftop meeting with Grant Cardone he got on 30 minutes’ notice
• 21:04 – The 40% of his time that was quietly killing his business
• 22:02 – The rat, the button, and what dopamine is really doing to you
• 29:33 – The accountability call that made keeping his word automatic
• 33:48 – The loop: remove, stay reliable, attract better people
• 43:39 – Eat last: the closing challenge on who you’re becoming

Amer Abu Shakra is the co-founder and CEO of Contracting.com, where he and co-founder Patrick help remodeling and home-service contractors build self-managing businesses, now serving around 700 members. A StudentWorks alumnus based in Toronto, Amer broke the program’s all-time sales record and profited over $200,000 in a single summer before finishing university at the University of Toronto. He now speaks, hosts a podcast, and coaches contractors on the systems and mindset behind durable growth.

🔗 LinkedIn | Website

• Contracting.com (Amer’s company, formerly Tradark Consulting)
• Grant Cardone
• Alex Hormozi
• David Goggins
• Google Calendar
• TD Bank

• Connect with Chris: Website | LinkedIn
• Learn more about the Student Works Management Program
• Apply to be an Owner / Operator in the Management Program
• Looking for a fun job this summer? Summer Job Opportunities
• Hear more Alumni Success Stories

The Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast is an original production by Chris Thomson. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What if the difference between quitting and a record-breaking season is just one more no?

Most people think sales is about confidence and the perfect pitch. The operators who last know it is really about stamina, consistency, and staying in the game long after everyone else walks away.

In this collage episode, Chris Thomson gathers the sharpest sales lessons from Amer Abu Shakra, Chris Caruso, Mark Cox, Esfar Sarker, Nikos Violetis, and Dave Hanley. You will hear how a $500,000 season comes down to counting nos, why hard work beats natural talent, and why no product sells itself.

Skip this one and you keep treating rejection as a stop sign instead of the input that compounds into results. Listen now.

• 00:00 – Mark Cox on why recruiters chase anyone with Student Works on their resume
• 02:14 – Amer Abu Shakra reveals the rule he enjoyed most: trust the power of input and breaks down the door-knocking math behind every booking
• 04:52 – The staggering number of nos Amer needed to build a $500K business
• 05:21 – Chris Caruso on the blunt reason he outsold everyone around him and why he threw away his balance and burned out chasing the record
• 06:22 – Mark Cox on the sales process IBM used that most companies still lack and on the one thing every company wants, because revenue fixes everything
• 08:52 – Esfar Sarker on the only real way to triple your business in a year
• 10:04 – Nikos Violetis on the hard truth that everyone lies, clients and workers alike
• 11:02 – Dave Hanley on the missing link that nearly sank a growing business and on why you can never learn sales from a book

Amer Abu Shakra – Co-founder and CEO of Contracting.com and the Student Works operator who broke the all-time sales record with a $500,000 season. | Episode 309: The Six Rules of Success that Helped me Break the All-Time Sales Record at Student Works

Chris Caruso – Owner, operations lead, and business coach at Student Works who broke the all-time window cleaning sales record with over $210,000 in a single season. | Episode 390: How to Break Records and Push Your Limits

Mark Cox – Founder of In the Funnel Sales Coaching and a Student Works alumnus who turned early door-to-door training into a career mastering professional sales. | Episode 394: How to Master Sales for Career Advancement

Esfar Sarker – Student Works operator who was rejected from the program, came back, and booked over $100,000 by March while learning to beat rejection. | Episode 412: How to Overcome Rejection and Succeed in Business

Nikos Violetis – Western University student, Student Works operator, and owner of NVWC Home Maintenance, known for building high-trust client relationships and handling rejection like a pro. | Episode 414: How To Overcome Self-Doubt As A Student Leader

Dave Hanley – Serial entrepreneur and Student Works alumnus who co-founded Risk Control Technologies and AdvertiseCast (acquired by Libsyn for $30 million), was founding VP of business development at Insurance Systems, and wrote The Delusional Founder. | Episode 433: How to Leverage Sales Skills for Entrepreneurial Success

• Connect with Chris: Website | LinkedIn
• Learn more about the Student Works Management Program
• Apply to be an Owner / Operator in the Management Program
• Looking for a fun job this summer? Summer Job Opportunities
• Hear more Alumni Success Stories

The Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast is an original production by Chris Thomson. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What if the business problem you keep hitting is really a personal one?

Chris Thomson sits down with Laura Tamburro, a Western University student and top Student Works operator stepping into a coaching role, for one of the most honest conversations on the show.

Laura opens up about the year she nearly walked away, the 100 percent team turnover that forced a mid-summer reset, and how facing her anxiety and depression changed everything. They get into why authenticity outsells any script, how she rebuilt and still finished in President's Club, and the daily practices that keep her steady.

If you have ever stayed busy to avoid the hard stuff or waited to feel ready, this one will hit home. Listen now.

• 00:17 – Every student job, varsity figure skating, and still not feeling fulfilled
• 02:25 – The hardest year ever: 10-hour weekend commutes, 5 AM practices, six classes
• 05:03 – The unexpected lesson that finally grew her business, and it wasn't selling
• 07:31 – “There's no such thing as business problems, just personal problems that show up in your business”
• 10:20 – Naming the anxiety and depression she had been outrunning
• 11:18 – 100% turnover and the call with her coach that forced real accountability
• 11:54 – Sold $200K, half the season left, and unsure she wanted to keep going
• 15:31 – “Never talk to yourself the way you would never talk to anybody else”
• 16:59 – The daily practices keeping her grounded: runs, sleep, journaling, and a Brick
• 20:15 – Muskoka to London: opposite market, opposite challenges
• 30:19 – Her one piece of advice: start before you feel ready
• 36:03 – What a real leader of tomorrow actually looks like, in her words

Laura Tamburro is a Western University student entering her fourth year and a top operator in the Student Works Management Program who is stepping into a coaching role. A varsity figure skater and self-described non-business student, she ran her first business in the Muskoka area, finished in President's Club, and grew her second-year business in London by more than 50 percent. Known for authentic leadership and for developing the people around her, Laura is now focused on creating more leaders as a coach in the program.

🔗 LinkedIn

• Western University
• Brick (phone-locking focus device)

• Connect with Chris: Website | LinkedIn
• Learn more about the Student Works Management Program
• Apply to be an Owner / Operator in the Management Program
• Looking for a fun job this summer? Summer Job Opportunities
• Hear more Alumni Success Stories

The Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast is an original production by Chris Thomson. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.

What if finishing what you start is the one edge that survives the AI era?

Chris Thomson sits down with Brett Patrontasch, a Student Works top rookie who founded the painting franchisor Scholars at Your Service, scaled the workforce app Shyft past 2 million users, and recently summited Mount Everest. He is now building Servo, an autonomous lawn care startup.

They get into the honest middle of a founder's career: the wins, the ventures that did not hit the home run, and why mistakes are the price of admission. Brett makes his case for why judgment now beats raw execution, and the two principles he has lived by for 20 years.

If you have wondered how founders keep going through the ups and downs, or what a 33-hour Everest push shares with building a company, this one is for you. Listen now.

• 02:56 – The clipboard at McGill that turned an 18-year-old into an entrepreneur
• 04:27 – The one Student Works principle Brett still repeats to himself 20 years later
• 06:25 – From top operator to founding a competitor: the leap into Scholars at Your Service
• 08:32 – How Brett scaled a multi-city painting company to $2.5 million
• 10:40 – What Shyft actually does, and the RAZR-era gap it was built for
• 11:05 – Inside the Gap Inc. deal: one app across 2,500 stores
• 14:05 – It works and it makes money, so why it still was not the home run he wanted
• 17:33 – Meet Servo: a fleet of robotic mowers you order from your phone
• 20:11 – Why judgment now beats execution in the age of AI
• 24:17 – Just back from Nepal: standing on the tallest point on Earth
• 29:02 – The 33-hour summit push with no sleep and almost no food
• 34:10 – Brett on failure: if you are not making mistakes, you are doing it wrong
• 40:51 – The leader of tomorrow, in Brett's words: technology plus humanity

• McGill University
• Home Depot
• New Image Painting (painting company Brett worked with)
• Predictive Index (recruiting assessment)
• Yammer
• Techstars
• Gap Inc.
• Starbucks
• Shyft
• Servo
• Amazon: Jeff Bezos on Type 1 and Type 2 (reversible vs irreversible) decisions
• ChatGPT

Brett Patrontasch is the co-founder and CEO of Shyft, a mobile app that helps hourly retail and service workers swap shifts and message each other, adopted by enterprises including Gap Inc. and used by more than 2 million workers. A Student Works Management Program alum and former top rookie operator, he later founded the painting franchisor Scholars at Your Service, scaling it to roughly $2.5 million in annual revenue, and won an Ottawa Chamber of Commerce 40 Under 40 award at 25. He is now building Servo, an autonomous lawn care startup, and recently summited Mount Everest.

🔗 LinkedIn | Website

• Connect with Chris: Website | LinkedIn
• Learn more about the Student Works Management Program
• Apply to be an Owner / Operator in the Management Program
• Looking for a fun job this summer? Summer Job Opportunities
• Hear more Alumni Success Stories

The Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast is an original production by Chris Thomson. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.