What CEOs Talk About

Tanya Janca, also known as SheHacksPurple, is the best-selling author of ‘Alice and Bob Learn Application Security’. She is also the founder of We Hack Purple, an online learning academy, community and podcast that revolves around teaching everyone to create secure software.

Tanya has been coding and working in IT for over twenty years, won countless awards, and has been everywhere from startups to public service to tech giants (Microsoft, Adobe, & Nokia). She has worn many hats; startup founder, pentester, CISO, AppSec Engineer, and software developer. She is an award-winning public speaker, active blogger & streamer and has delivered hundreds of talks and trainings on 6 continents. She values diversity, inclusion and kindness, which shines through in her countless initiatives.

In this episode….

Tanya Janca comes from a family of mathematically-minded and computer-literate people. Her father was a technologist, her mother a mathematician chemist, and two aunts and three uncles were computer scientists. In many ways she was born into what she does.

We Hack Purple is Tanya’s company where she lives her passion for cyber security, teaching, and bringing developers together. Tanya is also an accomplished musician, she plays guitar, drums, and sings, and has been part of several bands. She hosts two podcasts, one of which features extensive exploration of every chapter in her book ‘Alice and Bob Learn Application Security’. She is an engaging, brilliant, and very personable teacher.

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter and Tanya Janca discuss how she got into cyber security and founded We Hack Purple. They discuss Tanya’s journey through being a software developer, working for Microsoft, and failing at the very first company she founded. They also explore sexism in the industry, how best to teach security to developers, and Tanya’s plans for Alice and Bob.

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Eric Wu is the co-founder and COO of Gainful. He started the company as an undergrad at Georgetown University, partnering with long-time friend Jahaan Ansari who studied at Berkeley. They participated in Y Combinator and have seen the company grow to an 8-figure annual revenue. 

The son of immigrant parents who worked in the healthcare industry, Eric was born in Toronto, Ontario but raised in Southern California and grew up always outdoors and very interested in soccer. It’s that passion for soccer that led him to friendship with Jahaan and ultimately drove the need in his own life for the personalized sports nutrition that would lead to Gainful.

In this episode….

Eric Wu was raised in Southern California by entrepreneurial-minded immigrant parents who worked in healthcare. As a child, his passion for soccer led him both into the world of sports nutrition and to his lifelong friend and the future co-founder of Gainful, Jahaan Ansari. Eric and Jahaan were co-captains of their high school soccer team.

With Gainful, Eric aims to make sports nutrition accessible to everyone, not just elite athletes. His goal is getting people to care more about what they’re putting in their bodies: thinking about where the product comes from, the environmental impact, and being critical in terms of their own health and wellness. Gainful’s personalization and customization are key components of making it fit everyone’s lifestyle.

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter discusses the genesis of Gainful with Eric Wu, from the start where Eric was simply mixing the raw ingredients of protein powder for his own nutritional needs while in Georgetown, through the Y Combinator program, and into the realization of the current successful business model. Martin and Eric explore key components of being a successful start up, where inspiration comes from, and lessons learned along the way.

This podcast is brought to you by URGEO, Operational excellence in action through the Are you Ready Program!

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Lino Miani has over two decades of special operations, interagency, and international disaster response experience in Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and NATO.

He is a member of the board of advisors for numerous corporations including GAC Global and The Hague Policy Group. He is a veteran of the Program for Emerging Leaders (PEL) at the Center for the Study of WMD at National Defense University in Washington, DC, an Olmsted Foundation Scholar, and a sought after expert. His 2011 book, The Sulu Arms Market is the world’s authoritative look inside the shadowy world of illicit trafficking of firearms in Southeast Asia. Lino is also the President of the Combat Diver Foundation and is currently writing his second book.

In this episode….

Lino Miani grew up a world traveller immersed in other cultures through his military-service father. He holds a B.S. in Regional Geography from West Point, an M.A. in Strategic and Defense Studies from the University of Malaya, and an M.A. in Interagency Studies from Kansas University.

Through his time as an Olmstead Foundation Scholar and stationed at NATO, he developed a lot of contacts, people all over the world he took care to remember and stay in touch with. Those relationships eventually helped pave the way for Navisio Global’s foundation and success. Communication and networking provide the heart of Lino bringing together the right people in the right situations to solve problems.

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter talks with Lino Miani about his time in the Special Forces, how he launched his for-profit company Navisio Global and his not-for-profit organization Combat Diver Foundation, and how communication and trust form the groundwork for both. They explore information management, work ethic, and being prepared for opportunities. Along the way they touch on some of Lino’s many stories from his work in countries around the world.

This podcast is brought to you by URGEO, Operational excellence in action through the Are you Ready Program!

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Are you READY to free up your time?

Optimize your Organization?

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Translating strategy into frontline operations, URGEO helps leaders and the people within their organization excel at safe, on-time, on-budget and on-spec delivery. Let’s touch base so we can learn how we can level up your business. Contact us today: https://www.urgeo.com/contact

Matthew McCormick Studio is a multi-disciplinary design house based in Vancouver, Canada that produces distinctive lighting and artistic installations. Founded in 2013 by Matthew McCormick, the studio designs, manufactures and globally distributes McCormick’s distinctive collections.

In addition to creating a selection of bespoke, sculptural lighting pieces, Matthew’s product line is designed in Vancouver and created by a talented network of manufacturers and craftspeople both locally and across the globe—committed to bring the best in international craftsmanship to every hand-touched piece.

In this episode…. Matthew McCormick was born in Scarborough, Ontario and raised in the small town of Pickering just outside Toronto. After high school he took a year off to go to Whistler, British Columbia where he fell in love with snowboarding before returning home to attend Ryerson University to study what he calls “the business end of design”. He was always a creative kid - he had two art works in the Robert McLaughlin Gallery at age 12 - but he developed his learning and skills working in art director, marketing, and even maintenance positions before launching his business.

Now known for his innovative and modernist minimal lighting designs through Matthew McCormick Studio, Matthew works hard at developing and continually refining both the design and business side of his work. His approach to success includes checking ego at the door so he can collaborate openly with the best in every discipline and in loving what he does.

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter dives into the origin story of Matthew McCormick’s lighting design business, how and why he made the leap out into his own studio, and the valuable lessons he learned following the slower path he took. Martin and Matthew discuss the art of collaboration, the necessity of creative time, and how to work with the best in any business.

This podcast is brought to you by URGEO, Operational excellence in action through the Are you Ready Program!

https://www.urgeo.com/

Are you READY to free up your time?

Optimize your Organization?

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Partnering with organizations like yours, we work with you to implement our proven methodology designed to transform your operations, while providing accurate advice and support for real success.

Translating strategy into frontline operations, URGEO helps leaders and the people within their organization excel at safe, on-time, on-budget and on-spec delivery. Let’s touch base so we can learn how we can level up your business. Contact us today: https://www.urgeo.com/contact

In 1992, Nigel Bennett co-founded Aqua-Guard Spill Response Inc. The business’s mission: protect water, the world’s most precious resource. For over twenty years, the company has designed, fabricated and supplied marine oil spill response equipment and provided related services to 3,000+ clients worldwide. Aqua-Guard’s patented oil skimming technology has been used to clean up spills from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico and from Egypt to China. Nigel and Aqua-Guard have received multiple awards for their innovation, business excellence and entrepreneurialism.

Whether he’s talking with business leaders, not-for-profit groups or a student audience, Nigel is committed to positive change. An active philanthropist, Nigel donates all profit from his book sales and speaking engagements to organizations that support poverty alleviation, human rights, social services and the environment.

In this episode…. Nigel Bennett has been an active member of MIT’s Gathering of Titans for over 10 years and of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization for 15. He values travel, learning and the privilege of having a platform to leverage to do good in the world. He has dedicated much of his life to philanthropy and positive impact. As such he also has learned how to have balance, or what he calls “life rhythm” and freedom.

Nigel and his wife Rieko have travelled the world with their daughter and two sons to develop themselves as global citizens. The entire Bennett family supports the efforts of the Pachamama Alliance to inspire people to bring forth a “thriving, just, and sustainable world.”

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter dives into what Getting Our Lives Back really means when you’re the CEO or Founder of a business. Nigel and Martin discuss how to grow your business healthfully, bring talent from within your business to the forefront, build in time away devoted to your own innovation and creativity, and the importance of family. They discuss the morning routines that ground them and motivate their days. This episode will inspire you to seek balance and flow in your business and life.

This podcast is brought to you by URGEO, Operational excellence in action through the Are you Ready Program!

https://www.urgeo.com/

Are you READY to free up your time?

Optimize your Organization?

Grow revenue and reduce costs?

Build your leadership team?

Partnering with organizations like yours, we work with you to implement our proven methodology designed to transform your operations, while providing accurate advice and support for real success.

Translating strategy into frontline operations, URGEO helps leaders and the people within their organization excel at safe, on-time, on-budget and on-spec delivery. Let’s touch base so we can learn how we can level up your business. Contact us today: https://www.urgeo.com/contact

David Ash is a full-time investor, career entrepreneur, and author of Simple Wealth: Six Proven Principles For Financial Freedom. Along his career path he was responsible for starting one of the first payday loan companies which he sold after ten years. He has been a member of the Entrepreneur’s Organization since 1994.

David has learned the simple principles of wealth management through his own journey into and out of bankruptcy and subsequent successes in investment and risk management. He has vital information applicable to all entrepreneurs and, in fact, every person that he shares in Simple Wealth.

In this episode…. David Ash is the author of Simple Wealth: Six Proven Principles For Financial Freedom which he wrote for two reasons: first, he wanted to make a record of his very best thinking on all things financial for his adult children to refer to in the future, and second, to share the lessons learned from navigating his personal low point of needing to file for bankruptcy at age 28.

The son of blue collar working class parents, David himself has no high school diploma or university degree but found a way to change his mindset around money and capitalize on his core competency of salesmanship. He has very simple principles to share that actually work and has sage advice for any entrepreneur on how to take care of the two main endeavors in your life: your business and your family.

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter explores the principles that provide the foundation of Simple Wealth with David Ash. They discuss why 10% of everything you earn should be set aside as yours to keep, how to invest in having a financially healthy life, the book that changed David’s financial life for the better, and how to recognize and change your inherited psychological “money script”.

This podcast is brought to you by URGEO, Operational excellence in action through the Are you Ready Program!

https://www.urgeo.com/

Are you READY to free up your time?

Optimize your Organization?

Grow revenue and reduce costs?

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Partnering with organizations like yours, we work with you to implement our proven methodology designed to transform your operations, while providing accurate advice and support for real success.

Translating strategy into frontline operations, URGEO helps leaders and the people within their organization excel at safe, on-time, on-budget and on-spec delivery. Let’s touch base so we can learn how we can level up your business. Contact us today: https://www.urgeo.com/contact

Lisa Will is the CEO and Founder of Stonz, a Vancouver apparel and footwear brand helping parents spend more time with their kids, outside. Stonz makes the highest quality kid's outerwear and was built from scratch by Lisa. It was during a weekend in Whistler with her first child, when she couldn’t find appropriate winter footwear for the baby that was warm and stayed on, that the inspiration for Stonz took hold. She is an entrepreneur who follows her passion with hard work, focus and perseverance and has grown Stonz from its 2004 humble beginnings in her Vancouver basement and garage into the company it is today.

Stonz is now selling internationally in over 16 countries. Lisa has been a 2010 RBC Women Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist and Stonz has earned the accolades of 2012 Earnshaw's Best Shoe Company Finalist and the 2013 Best Kids' Shoes Award Winner from Red Tricycle Awards.

In this episode….

Lisa Will is the CEO and Founder of Stonz kid-focused outerwear/footwear company. Her mission for Stonz is “making outside easy” and she works to make Stonz a brand that is synonymous with quality and also ease in terms of getting both parents and children outside to enjoy life. Prior to founding Stonz in 2004, Lisa worked as an energy trader and marketer and in her own words, loved every minute of it. She has always had an entrepreneurial spirit.

In listening to her own creative drive and body, she found the right time to both have children and start her own company, finding ways to balance both without sacrificing quality. She understands intuitively that not everything can be done at once but that achieving balance and striving for quality in both time and work is a large part of her success.

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter discusses the idea of balance - balancing family, career, entrepreneurship, children, personal fulfillment - with Lisa Will. Lisa reveals how she works at things she loves, where she draws inspiration from, and how having a very supportive partner has been vital to her growth. They explore what books Lisa values and how she views being an entrepreneur.

This podcast is brought to you by URGEO, Operational excellence in action through the Are you Ready Program!

https://www.urgeo.com/

Are you READY to free up your time?

Optimize your Organization?

Grow revenue and reduce costs?

Build your leadership team?

Partnering with organizations like yours, we work with you to implement our proven methodology designed to transform your operations, while providing accurate advice and support for real success.

Translating strategy into frontline operations, URGEO helps leaders and the people within their organization excel at safe, on-time, on-budget and on-spec delivery. Let’s touch base so we can learn how we can level up your business. Contact us today: https://www.urgeo.com/contact

Nishal Kumar is the CEO and Founder at No Days Wasted®. He grew up on Vancouver’s North Shore and graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in geocommerce. Having always enjoyed science, he also studied the life sciences: biology, chemistry, and geophysics.

Between 2014 and 2016 Nishal worked at Tesla but he had been an entrepreneur all his life, starting young by reselling Live Strong bracelets on the playground in school. He soon founded EVitems® in 2016 and No Days Wasted® in 2017.

He loves “connecting with smart, innovative people that are here to make a difference and make cool things.”

In this episode….

Nishal Kumar is the CEO and Founder of No Days Wasted®, “scientifically-backed, functional supplements that help you maximize life’s moments”. He is passionate about basketball, entrepreneurship, and living life in balance fully aware of the present moment.

No Days Wasted® was born out of his desire to enjoy the social interaction of drinks at night with friends without sacrificing early morning productivity - the morning workouts he so enjoys - the following morning. It follows his belief in living a life in balance: not sacrificing in order to enjoy each moment. An entrepreneur at heart, Nishal believes in solving a problem for someone as the motivation behind his business and avoids the trap of believing the title of CEO is the goal.

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter discusses time management and how “timing is everything” with Nishal Kumar. They discuss the origins of No Days Wasted®, Nishal’s recent appearance on Dragon’s Den, and how Nishal developed his business from idea to fruition with some key steps in place.

This podcast is brought to you by URGEO, Operational excellence in action through the Are you Ready Program!

https://www.urgeo.com/

Are you READY to free up your time?

Optimize your Organization?

Grow revenue and reduce costs?

Build your leadership team?

Partnering with organizations like yours, we work with you to implement our proven methodology designed to transform your operations, while providing accurate advice and support for real success.

Translating strategy into frontline operations, URGEO helps leaders and the people within their organization excel at safe, on-time, on-budget and on-spec delivery. Let’s touch base so we can learn how we can level up your business. Contact us today: https://www.urgeo.com/contact

Ryan Hindmarsh is the CEO of Sleep Therapeutics, a Canadian company that helps people sleep at night, so they can restore their days. He joined the company in 2018, after more than 20 years of leadership in the health and wellness industry. His experience ranges from being a fitness coach for NHL hockey players to co-founding and managing some of Toronto’s top sports clinics and fitness facilities. It was during his time in gyms and clinics that Ryan realized how important sleep is to productivity and performance. And it’s why sleep is a passion, not just a job.

In addition to high-pressure sports environments, Ryan developed his skills through his tenure as an executive leadership coach. Using unique LMI processes, he learned how to build a winning attitude and team, and achieve success through goal setting.

He’s passionate about developing the people around him, and he embraces the responsibility of leading the company culture. In life and in business, he practises what he preaches, and his mission is to awaken the lives of as many Canadians as possible.

In this episode….

Ryan Hindmarsh is the CEO of Sleep Therapeutics, a Canadian company that assists people with sleep issues and finding sleep wellness. Ryan himself uses a CPAP machine and understands how good sleep can radically change your whole life. He is passionate about helping people sleep and in implementing Rest and Recreation into not only his life but the lives of his employees.

Ryan was born, raised, and went to school in Saskatchewan. After graduating from the University of Saskatchewan, Ryan did the opposite of friends who were moving west and moved east instead. In Toronto he made a career for himself as a personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach. In time, wanting more, he discovered LMI and wound up with his own LMI franchise out of Toronto before ultimately arriving at Sleep Therapeutics.

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter discusses “putting your mask on first” with Ryan Hindmarsh and how that saying really breaks down into taking care of yourself so you can then take care of others. Ryan explains his passion for sleep health and helping other people find rest. They explore LMI and the Wheel of Life, how the different spokes inform different aspects of life but also what forges good leaders. Ryan breaks down how he leads and coaches his own organization in putting their masks on first.

This podcast is brought to you by URGEO, Operational excellence in action through the Are you Ready Program!

https://www.urgeo.com/

Are you READY to free up your time?

Optimize your Organization?

Grow revenue and reduce costs?

Build your leadership team?

Partnering with organizations like yours, we work with you to implement our proven methodology designed to transform your operations, while providing accurate advice and support for real success.

Translating strategy into frontline operations, URGEO helps leaders and the people within their organization excel at safe, on-time, on-budget and on-spec delivery. Let’s touch base so we can learn how we can level up your business. Contact us today: https://www.urgeo.com/contact

As VP People Services for North America for Colliers, Kerris Hougardy provides senior HR leadership to support all business units across the US and Canada, approximately 7000+ professionals. She is responsible for leading the North American People Services team of more than 80 professionals, overseeing all aspects of talent management. Prior to this, Kerris was the Director of Talent Acquisition for North America leading all Talent Acquisition activity for the region. She coached, mentored and managed a high performing team of 18 Talent Acquisition specialists with a focus on strategic business partnerships, candidate experience excellence, employment brand championship, diversity & inclusion and continuous process improvement.

Before joining Colliers in 2017, Kerris worked at Catalyst Paper and was HR business partner to all corporate staff and the executive leadership team in Canada and the USA. Kerris' career has spanned two continents. Prior to relocating to Canada from the UK 9 years ago, she had a successful career in recruitment, working for a range of small boutique, large international, and self-owned search firms specializing in senior level executive search.

In this episode….

Kerris Hougardy is Vice President of People Services for North America for Colliers, just this past month completed an MBA from Simon Fraser University, spearheads diversity and inclusion action for Colliers, and is a wife and mother. Her superpower, or one of them, is being able to achieve things, get things done, move roadblocks, and #GetShitDone is her hashtag. Nonetheless she believes talent recruitment and people management involves a part of resilience not usually discussed: empathy and understanding.

In the wake of reaching her current position at the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic and working on diversity and inclusion in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Kerris worked at opening up the right conversations with her team and shares that “It’s not an HR thing, it’s everybody’s responsibility”. She speaks to the qualities of resilience and inclusivity that guide her to implement policies and a shift in perception that focus on doing better and taking personal responsibility for action.

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter explores why compassion is such a key element of resilience with Kerris Hougardy. They discuss how knowing your own limits and where your burnout starts is key to resilience. Kerris shares thoughts on diverse hiring practices and privilege that incorporate understanding and a drive to work harder at being intentional. And they explore the possibilities of Agile in streamlining the workplace.

This podcast is brought to you by URGEO, Operational excellence in action through the Are you Ready Program!

https://www.urgeo.com/

Are you READY to free up your time?

Optimize your Organization?

Grow revenue and reduce costs?

Build your leadership team?

Partnering with organizations like yours, we work with you to implement our proven methodology designed to transform your operations, while providing accurate advice and support for real success.

Translating strategy into frontline operations, URGEO helps leaders and the people within their organization excel at safe, on-time, on-budget and on-spec delivery. Let’s touch base so we can learn how we can level up your business. Contact us today: https://www.urgeo.com/contact