18 year-old Rod Paolucci (and his co-founder) set out to ‘conquer the world’ and bring joy to others through products. Fast forward 12 years later, his companies raised over U$8MM in investments and released products that became market leaders, reaching over 52 million unique users per month. Rod shares his journey back to B-school and his internship where he joined Setter Home Services (poised to be a Canadian startup that could be a billion-dollar breakout according to Macleans)  following his desire to work in a B2C startup. He shares the key elements of courage, passion, mission, and joy and the importance of a global mindset when following your dream to build something massive.

Failing beautifully towards success – Dan Gerharts uses his own journey to share how he moved from exploring options to finding a dream role working with one of Canada’s top ranked entrepreneurs, Michael Hyatt, providing consulting services to early to mid-stage ventures. Dan shares his distaste for the traditional coffee chat and how he changed it to make it work for him. And make it work he did! Super motivating story as we cover courage, passion, and a willingness to ‘hold on tight and see where it goes’!

This guy isn’t playing around. Mark Bluvshtein became the youngest Canadian International Chess Grandmaster at 16. He took that passion and curiosity and transitioned from professional chess to IB, completed an MBA, and is now the Director, Business Operations for Wave Financial, a hot Canadian fintech start up. Mark shares, among other things, how to take that coffee chat and turn it into a troubleshooting session where you can demonstrate how you think real time and get hiring managers excited on the spot!

Meet the unstoppable Melita Cyril. Hailing from corporate giants such as Citi, Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, and A.T. Kearney Melita completely switches gears and writes a children’s book and launches an apparel company . In true consultant form, the problem she solves is mismatched socks for both her and her kids. At www.qforquinn.com  you’ll find certified organic cotton socks that are designed to be worn mismatched ; every collection comes with 3 pairs of socks for 9 possible pairings. Hear Melita’s advice on going all in or testing the side hustle. Either way you’ll be inspired to at least to take a deep breath and consider your next step.

Two time transitioner, Alison Hyodo moves from school teaching to advertising to landing at Bain post MBA. Listen to what it’s like to work within the private equity practice at Bain and what makes a successful consultant in this organization. Learn how coffee-chatting has been instrumental in how she learns about what roles are really like, and how to frame a ‘clear ask’ for someone’s time.

What to do when opportunity knocks? No one knows how to answer this better than Alex Yeo. Follow his impressive career from Singapore to McKinsey in Toronto to now President Canadian Retail of The North West Company in Winnipeg, one of the longest continuous retail enterprises in the world. Listen to Alex’s take on key drivers to be successful in management consulting, when to leave the Mothership, and how to avoid canned coffee chat questions… plus a little Canadian history along the way.

Who am I as a person? This is the very question that Kyle (@kylekoch61) asked himself before determining his next move from pro sports to finance .Join us this week as he shares his insights on making a major career switch, what skills are most needed for an investment analyst, and how to score a coffee chat!

Follow Nika Stelman from Parsons to Rotman to Bridgeable as she unpacks her windy road from Winnipeg. Nika teaches us it’s not just about the BBQ per se, but BBQ-ing which is paving the way for such a significant uptick in all-things Design related. So much so that she applies Design Thinking to the Coffee Chat! Design Thinking is a mindset, a process, and a set of tools. Nika shares this and more including her favourite resources such as https://www.thisishcd.com and books by Roger Martin!

Data, data, data is so hot and so is this role. What is data science anyway? Listen to Noopur as she unpacks the different pillars of what a Data Scientist could be doing: smart counting, machine learning, causal inference and more. Her personal journey of resilience and how to bounce back after a rejection will also encourage you to skill up and try again. And finally, be inspired how Shopify is democratizing commerce!

What do you get when you mix Consulting + Finance? A leader who is passionate about driving strategic change through business transformation in capital markets. Follow Rachel through her journey from law school dreams, to her recent promotion to Managing Director and Head, Business Transformation Canada | Strategy and Transformation, RBC Capital Markets. She’s not only been open to new opportunities personally but drives them for others by developing unique programming for young women to help them figure out their dreams of their own.