Entrepreneur - Steve Foran

Current or Primary Business(s) - Gratitude At Work

Topics of Conversation

• Turning your work and personal experience into a business
• The power of purpose... and the need to find yours
• The complications of describing what one does
• Peer Group support model
• You have to Genuinely care about your people to improve your culture
• Habitual rituals - ask how each thing you do in the morning is serving you
• People are rooting for you
• How has Covid-19 changed business
• Who are the gamechangers in different aspects of your life - these should be your inspiration
• Needing to have all the answers is a myth
• 'Liking' your work (vs. loving or really being rewarded) can be dangerous

Recommendations and Links

•  How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegi
• The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
• Abundance by Peter Diamandis 

Entrepreneur: Tammy Ward

Current or Primary Business(s): TLW Yoga and Wellness

Topics of Conversation

• Using entrepreneurship to help others after personal trauma and experience
• Overcoming harassment, perseverance and grit
• Investing in yourself 
• The importance of self-care
• The wording is important when marketing - Lessons Learned
• Don't be afraid to ask for help - build your support network
• Know your value and charge people what you're worth
• Have the difficult conversations
• Trust yourself
• Transferable lessons from leading in a male-dominated world
• The power of proving yourself when others doubt - origin story of the decision to become RCMP

Quotes 

• Invest in yourself
• Fight for what you know is right
• There is no much you can do for someone who doesn’t want something for themselves
• Always have plan B
• Take a leap of faith and trust yourself and just do it

Recommendations and Links

• Ladies stop apologizing book by Rachel Hollis Click here

Entrepreneur: Johan Arcos 

Current or Primary Business(s):  Inverte

Special Note: Most of our conversations are with entrepreneurs in various stages of their journey but this special edition examines a young entrepreneur in the very early stages.  As all entrepreneurs started somewhere it is very interesting to explore a conversation with someone who is still validating, learning and exploring their first start up.  We hope you enjoy.

Topics of Conversation

●     Navigating a startup as a student, as youth, and as a newcomer to Canada - advantages and challenges.

●     Working with future clients to improve the product

●     Biggest fears in growing the business

●     Building your team and partners early on

Recommendations and Links

● Mom test (Click Here)

Entrepreneur: Terri-Ann Richards 

Current or Primary Business(s) - Balance Equation Coaching and Consulting

Topics of Conversation: 

• Female leaders and entrepreneurs "owning" what they have already "earned"
• Learnings from a serial entrepreneur with 8+ businesses
• Failing forward
• Power of mentorship - 3 "rule" - Someone pulling you up, a peer and mentoring someone who's growing
• Real-world burnout
• You need a WHY big enough to overcome and WHAT
• 7 levels of Why - Exercise
• "Be a Lighthouse, not a Tugboat"
• Putting your own mask on first
• Real GDP impact if Female leaders were unleashed in Canada
• Grit = Where Passion, Purpose and Perserverance meet
• Focus = Follow One Course Until Successful

Recommendations and Links

• Wallace McCain Insititute Click Here
• Seven Levels deep Click Here
• Choice Theory Click Here

Entrepreneur - Ben Parsons

Current or Primary Business(s) - KKP , SignCraft

Topics of Conversation

• Buying vs. Building businesses (both businesses acquired)
• Merging company cultures 
• Financial background helps you take better risk
• Value aligned, complementary skills = business partner success
• Working with creatives - trust and limiting ego
• trusting the team, but staying in the mix
• Mail and print are new disrupters in a digital age
• Early financing - if you wouldn't borrow from grandma consider reexamining
• Buying a business without enough equity... because few do
• 24 hour rule - take time to react

Recommendations and Links

• The psychology of money
• Unicorn in the woods 
• Codfather

Entrepreneur - Maureen Hanley

Current or Primary Business(s) - Navigate Food Safety Solutions

Topics of Conversation

• Early mom-preneur
• Rebound from failure
• thinking big
• power of negotiation
• Being "bat-sh** Crazy" as a good thing
• Being patient with your past selves
• Power of your Top Circle of  5
• New Levels, New Devils
• Valuing your time
• Give your ideas breath, talk them out
• Use your superpowers for good

Entrepreneur - Brendan Wood

Current or Primary Business(s) - Passiv

Topics of Conversation

• Bootstrapping Software company (SAAS)
• Co-Founding and Business Partnership
• Timing the "leap" into full time and the fears surrounding
• Starting with an audience of one
• Alternative paths to scaling a software company

Entrepreneur - Andrew Button

Current or Primary Business(s) - Mashup Lab and WorkEvolved

Topics of Conversation

• Taking the leap from full time professional
• Champion for Rural Entrepreneurship
• Uninformed Optimism - Understanding the Roller Coaster
• Growing Digital post-Covid
• Wasting time getting started

Entrepreneur - Sarah Benetto O'Brien

Current or Primary Business - The Handpie Company

Topics of Conversation

• Origin Story from Chef to Cafe to Product
• Mom-preneur
• Team culture and motivation
• Crowdfunding and bootstrapping
• Pivoting from food service to food product 
• Challenges / realities of being a female entrepreneur
• Benefits and challenges of building a rural company