The 2nd Floor

Introducing the man behind the food, the drinks and the venue for our upcoming event: Antonio Bilotto - Founder of Al Centro and Da Capo in Edmonton, AB

By tuning in this weeks episode you will learn more about the man behind the 2 most successfully built Italian Cafes in operation here in Edmonton. This is someone who has dedicated their entire life to the restaurant and coffee industry.

We talk about coffee culture, what kind of mentality it takes to run a restaurant and where the trends are heading for restaurants in general in our new age of culinary arts and café cuisines.

Edmonton Journal put Al Centro on the spotlight mentioning it is "both a cafeteria-style restaurant and a sit-down dining space, depending on the time of day. Featuring two espresso machines for speedy service and five different display cases with a variety of foods from salads to pastries, Al Centro is inspired by Italy's devotion to coffee and food."

From being brought up in the Italian culture, Antonio whole heartedly believes in offerings that are "true in flavour, style, and presentation. Italy minus the flight is evident in everything offered from design to product and service" at Al Centro.

The design of the bar allows for the seamless transformation from daytime caffé to an intimate wine and tapas bar in the evenings.

Founder of The 2nd Floor Podcast, Omid Qaderi also known as Qashus is a Rapper and Creative Director from Edmonton, Alberta. During his undergraduate biology program, Omid needed a creative outlet.

Starting on YouTube in 2014, he has created over 100 videos ranging from comedic skits, music videos and vlogs, some totaling in the 100's of thousands of views on Facebook. During his time he started Q Filmz, a video production company and has shot & edited over 500 videos for clients.

Omid has created 2 rap mixtapes and is currently working on a third musical project.

In 2018, he started at Magnolias Consulting Group as a Creative Director. In under 7 months, he has help brands such as The Canadian Brewhouse, Bavaria BMW, Cancom Development in building their online presence. During this time he founded "The 2nd Floor Podcast" with Kenny Bhullar dropping weekly content on both video and audio streaming platforms.

In 2019, he directed, shot and edited 2 Superbowl Commercials for The Canadian Brewhouse which aired on CTV.

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Kenny Bhullar @Kenny_Bhullar

Omid Qaderi @Qashus

#AttackYourFears #Qashus #2ndFloor

We're changing it up with this special episode!

We take a dive into the story of your host of the show, Kenny Bhullar where he speaks on the career he's had working as a marketing manager for Telus, the jaw clenching story as a figher training and coaching in the art of Jijitsu!

Tune in!

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Kenny Bhullar @Kenny_Bhullar Omid Qaderi @Qashus

1:03 - how I got into acting 3:10 - Shakespeare Festival in England 5:05 - the theater process (in Alberta) 7:17 - the creative arts career path became far more appealing rather than law school 10:44 - acting requires a huge element of tapping into your personal journey 16:20 - "All you need" - a conspiracy show about the Beatles - among juggling multiple projects 18:24 - how to choose projects 20:06 - the destination and potential goal on becoming a successful actor 25:05 - the importance of who knows you in acting 27:29 - the potential Edmonton has for creators, artists and more

Owen is a writer, producer, and actor based in Edmonton. He's performed internationally and toured his own written work across Western Canada.

He's performed extensively in film, TV, and theatre in Alberta, written and produced a number of new works, and is a member of the cast and writing team of the show Chew on This which tapes is first episode of their new season this Wednesday.

Accomplishments:

-Performed internationally

-Wrote, mounted, and performed two of his own productions

-Joined a writing team for a TV show

-Participated in multiple new works that have gone on to have further life in the Canadian professional theatre scene

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Kenny Bhullar @Kenny_Bhullar Omid Qaderi @Qashus

0:37 - Hard of hearing background story 1:57 - I did not want to be known as a "special ed kid" 6:32 - It doesn't matter what people say - it doesn't stop me from getting the job done 8:35 - Does hard of hearing make you psychologically play better? 10:35 - Non verbal cues 13:06 - From wildfire, having a child and coming back to basketball 15:30 - Enter Deaf and Hard of Hearing League 22:02 - Not enough credit towards deaf community 24:55 - From playing for myself to getting the W with the team behind my back 26:40 - Being tired is just an excuse 32:49 - Being treated like a normal human being - everyone deserves that

Troy Meier is a basketball athlete currently playing for Team Canada Deaf Men's Basketball. Troy was born in St Albert. Grew up all over Canada, due to a military family. Troy was diagnosed with hearing loss - hard of hearing - in 1995. Then in elementary developed a learning disability.

He was labeled disable among his peers. He started to play basketball in 2002, and went on to play for Old's College in Alberta. He went on to pursue a career in forestry. At this point basketball was put on hold. The itch to be around the game was unbearable, so he decided to help out with basketball players at the school of the deaf.

He discovered his love for coaching including the Team Canada Tryouts for Men's Basketball Deaf. In this episode Troy talks about the struggles of being a deaf athlete and how he wants to change the sport on the Olympic and development level.

Kaylee Haynes : " I am the Development Manager for a full cycle land development company in Edmonton called TAG Developments and I love the variety and challenges my job present me daily. I manage our existing residential and commercial developments and assist in the planning and construction of new developments among a variety of other marketing, analysis, and portfolio maintenance functions. I love singing, dancing, and spoken word poetry. I workout everyday and love boxing, snowboarding, and mountain biking. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by an amazing support network who make it possible for me to pursue my professional and personal passions even as a single mother. I feel more empowered every day that I am on the right path, but things didn't always feel like they were going to come together. I had my son when I was 21 years old and went back to school at 22 to get my Bachelor of Communications, Professional Communications Major at Macewan University. My little sidekick came with me to my job as a sales manager for a start up company, and occasionally attended class with me when other options fell through. Thanks to an understanding and flexible employer and faculty at Macewan I was able to grind through 6 years of university and working a full time job and graduated in 2017. As a teenager I struggled with an eating disorder, anxiety, depression, and in my last year of university was finally diagnosed with ADD. The strains of being a young mother on top of my personal battles with mood disorders made life feel insurmountable at times. I hope that my story makes someone feel seen, heard, and believed in. You are capable of great things! Life is always a balancing act but these days I'm feeling stronger than ever. In January I travelled to Ethiopia with 3 other Edmonton professionals and hiked 50km up a mountain to raise money for a water system there that saves lives by reducing the illness and death caused by contaminated water sources. This infrastructure also empowers locals to create women's groups and micro loan programs for self directed, sustainable growth for their entire community. You can find out more at @we_walkforwater and buy a T-shirt from @edmonton_is_pretty_ok to support the ongoing project! Find us on all streaming platforms : Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Stitcher Instagram @2ndfloorpodcast Facebook @2ndfloorpodcast Your Hosts on Instagram Kenny Bhullar @Kenny_Bhullar Omid Qaderi @Qashus

Shawn Kanungo is a disruption strategist. He has been recognized nationally and globally for his work in the innovation space after 12 years working at Deloitte.

Shawn's mandate at the firm was to help corporate executives to better understand and plan for the opportunities and threats associated with disruptive innovation.

Shawn is a practitioner who has worked hand-to-hand with hundreds of organizations on their journey to digital transformation.

He has adopted the concepts of voice technology, behavioural economics, user-centered design, crowdsourcing, artificial intelligence, drones and film to help create world class client experiences.

Shawn is a Partner with Queen & Rook, helping organizations adopt exponential technologies and move to the digital age. He is also the Founder & CEO of Silver, a technology company focused on creating the next-generation of voice products and services for businesses.

His work and interviews have been featured in Forbes, The Globe & Mail, The Guardian, CBC and CTV. In 2016, he was recognized as Avenue Magazine's Top 40 Under 40. In 2018, he was named to Inc's 100 Most Innovative Leadership Speakers.

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Kenny Bhullar @Kenny_Bhullar Omid Qaderi @Qashus

#ShawnKanungo #Disruption #YEG

Bean Gill is the co founder of the non profit organization ReYu Paralysis Recovery Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.

After losing the ability to use her legs in 2012, Bean and her Partner Nancy have dedicated their lives to helping those with neurologic conditions to reconnect their brain to their bodies and retrain the nervous system.

We dive deep and get to know Bean's story as a paralzyed entrenprenur and straight badass when it comes to taking on the challenges of life.

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Kenny Bhullar @Kenny_Bhullar Omid Qaderi @Qashus

#BeanGill #ReYu #YEG

Michael is the co-founder and president of Resonate Music School & Studio and also co-founder of The Resonate Music Foundation. Resonate has received multiple awards including the publicly voted Top Choice Award 5 years in a row and Michael has been named to Edmontonions top 20 under 30 as well as one of 20 recipients of the Business in Edmonton's Leaders Award for 2018. He's also the Alberta Representative for a breakthrough graded curriculum for popular music called Rockschool. Michael's been invited to be a speaker at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) convention, which is held in Anaheim California and sees over 130,000 attendees to give some insight in to how Resonate has rocketed to one of the largest operations in it's industry in just 6 years.

Find us on all streaming platforms : Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Stitcher

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Your Hosts on Instagram

Kenny Bhullar @Kenny_Bhullar Omid Qaderi @Qashus

www.2ndfloorpodcast.com

#MicCathrea #Resonate #YEG