Maverick Wisdom Podcast

Tim Wilson is a Creative Action Man. Amongst his roles right now, he works as a regional coordinator for Code Club, a network of coding clubs for kids aged 9-11. The role is the marriage of many things he loves - as a community manager communicator, facilitator and project manager.

He is passionate for working on things that stimulate creativity and helping folks of all ages to unleash their super powers on the universe.

He is also a musician with a passion for drumming, singing and composing with my bands Under A Banner and Progoctopus.

He wants to pack in as much joy into life as possible and to drink lots of fantastic coffee. Forget work/life balance! How about fun/fun and for working for the things that you truly believe in.

Victoria Sopik, CEO and Co-founder of Kids & Company, (and mother of 8), understands this delicate balancing act. Victoria’s experiences as a working mother and devoted parent have had a profound impact upon her, and they have made her determined to make a difference by helping working parents and concerned employers with work-life challenges.

As CEO, Victoria oversees the company’s strategic direction and provides leadership to the company’s management team to deliver industry leading child care services. Victoria has a long and distinguished career in the child care industry. Kids & Company is the culmination of over 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur and child care and parenting expert. Kids & Company has served over 30,000 children and created thousands of jobs across Canada.

Victoria lends her time, skill and leadership to benefit the child care industry and community by presenting at a variety of events, workshops and conferences across Canada.

Victoria’s professional accomplishments have been recognized with several honours and rewards, some of these include; 2013/14 Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies by Deloitte, 2013 RBC Women Entrepreneur Of The Year Award – Momentum Category, 2012 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year in the Business-to-Business Category, WXN Top100 Most Powerful Women, Passion Capitalist Award for Work Culture and Philosophy - 2012, 2008-2014 Profit Magazine’s – One of Canada’s fastest growing companies, Canadian Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs for the past 7 years, Member of the Young Presidents Organization, and the International Women’s Forum.

Stephen Greene is the CEO and a co-founder of RockCorps, a pro-social production company and global youth movement. RockCorps introduces people to a lifelong relationship with civic engagement by using the power of music to inspire volunteering. RockCorps produces large-scale pop, rock and hip-hop concerts, distributing tickets exclusively to volunteers, who commit four hours of their time at a RockCorps community project in their area. Through music, RockCorps is ‘Moving a Generation to Change the World’. With RockCorps, Stephen has delivered social engagement platforms in 10 countries around the world; including 50 volunteer-exclusive concerts, featuring music artists such as Pharrell, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, Rihanna and over 100 more. His unique experience combined with a deep understanding of and passion for social action and youth engagement also enables him to provide strategic counsel to a wide range of organisations across the public, not-for-profit and private sectors.

In November 2012, Stephen was appointed by UK Prime Minister, David Cameron to be the founding chair of the NCS Trust. NCS Trust is responsible for the management and delivery of National Citizen Service (to date over 130,000 graduates). Cameron said “I am delighted that Stephen Greene will be supporting this endeavour, as the founding Chairman of a new organisation to help deliver NCS. As the CEO of RockCorps, Stephen brings a wealth of experience in unlocking the power of young people and connecting them to opportunities to do good in their communities.”

Stephen Greene is also a trustee of the Do-it Trust, Good Gym, The Fowler Center and has been an advisor to War Child UK.

Lee Feldman is founder and partner of the THNK School of Creative Leadership in Vancouver. Prior to this, he founded CycleSpace; co-founded and served as Chief Experience Officer of the digital agency Blast Radius (which went multinational 10 years after its beginnings in his apartment); mentored with Rockstart; was CMO of FITMO; and was a design sales consultant for IKEA Business.

The ideas that give Lee the biggest charge are atypical—not solely about communication, but about the power of corporations to drive and benefit from positive social change: “I really do believe that brands, society, individuals, and the environment can all win. It’s possible. But to see and act on that possibility, you’ve got to do some unlearning, orchestrate a blank slate, and start from the beginning again. That’s the purpose of THNK.”

Lee has been recognized with gold and silver Clios and mentions in Communication Arts Design Annuals and Marketing Magazine’s Top 100, and has contributed to numerous global design and awards panels.

His mission: Think and do things different and better

Kirsten Dickerson is Founder and CEO of Raven and Lily.com a socially conscious lifestyle brand dedicated to empowering women through design. They currently work to empower at-risk women in Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Cambodia, and the US, creating exclusive, fair trade collections include up-cycled, handmade apparel and accessories that utilize materials such as melted bullet casings and textile remnants.

In addition to providing employment for over a thousand women through fair trade standards, the company strives to empower consumers to make a difference in the world through their purchasing power.

Prior to this Kirsten spent 15 years doing both styling work in the film industry and working alongside global non-profits. Kirsten has traveled extensively to over 30 countries, starting with her studies in Africa and then living in Estonia shortly after the Soviet Union dissolved. The day after graduating from Baylor University, she headed to India to volunteer with Mother Teresa and Compassion International. Creating this brand has allowed her to unify her passions and capitalize her experience in both the humanitarian and fashion worlds. Motivated by a belief that each person is valuable and uniquely created, Kirsten is dedicated to empowering women to discover their full potential. She is passionate about promoting social business models as a means of providing a dignified way to alleviate poverty, especially among at-risk women.

Kayli Levitan is Co Founder of The Street Store, the world’s first rent-free, premises free, free ‘pop up clothing store’ for the homeless, found entirely on the street and stocked by donations www.thestreetstore.org

She is also Creative Group Head/Copywriter at M&C Saatchi Abel http://www.mcsaatchiabel.co.za and Co-owner and writer for The Food Blog Group.

Mark Brand is CEO of MB Inc a company that pushes the envelope and challenges perspectives by constantly striving to improve the lives of others while providing opportunities for growth and social change. Mark is also a member of the council at NationSwell www.nationswell.com Executive Board Member The Presidents Group Province of B.C. http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/about-the-bc-government/accessibility/accessibility-2024-leadership/presidents-group Member of the Board of Directors Ted X and the Board Chair for A Better Life Foundation & Charity http://abetterlifefoundation.ca

Pamela Grossman is Director of Visual Trends at Getty Image www.gettyimages.com She is also an independent curator, writer, and teacher of magical practice and history www.pamgrossman.come. She is the creator of Phantasmaphile, a blog that specializes in art with an esoteric or fantastical bent www.Phantasmaphile.com

Matt Friesen is Co-Founder and CEO of Wantering a better way to search, discover and shop online. www.wantering.com Matt is a part time entrepreneur. Full time dreamer. A Self taught engineer turned entrepreneur. 3 startups. 3 exits. Ready for the next adventure. Previously he was Board Member of the Enspire Foundation Compassionate Community Builders! We are a boutique charity focused on creating endless ENSPIRING moments for individuals to help those less fortunate locally and internationally. Our volunteers, supporters and partners know us personally and experience for themselves the immediate impact and results of their contributions. www.enspireme.org , Co-Founder of Just the bill the easiest way to manage your expenses www.justthebill.com and Founder of Thirdi Software and Volunteer Advisor to Junior Achievement of British Columbia is the world’s largest NGO dedicated to educating young people about business. We strive to inspire and prepare youth to succeed in a global economy www.jabc.ca

Natalia Talkowska is Founder, Director and Chief Visual Storyteller at Natalka Design Ltd, a creative production house where they draw your ideas and bring projects and events to life. Part of which is Doodledo, a movement to inspire everyone to draw. www.doodleledo.com