Chatter that Matters

What if the greatest threat to your business isn't what's broken but what's working beautifully?  To launch my five-part Small Business Matters series, I sit down with Sid Paquette, Head of RBCx for a powerful conversation about building enduring businesses and Canada's new economy. Sid explains why entrepreneurs must disrupt themselves before someone else does, how unexpected value turns customers into advocates, and why passion, resilience and execution are essential to attracting exceptional talent. He also explores the importance of embracing failure, hiring people who complement your weaknesses and creating a culture where bold ideas can thrive. The conversation then turns to Canada's defining economic opportunity: helping homegrown technology companies secure the capital, expertise and connections they need to scale here—and compete everywhere. I close with an essential lesson for everyone: Attention is the oxygen of every endeavour. In an age of relentless noise, earning attention begins by listening generously and becoming part of your customers' stories, not simply telling your own.  Whether you're growing a business, building a team or reinventing your career, this episode will challenge you to disrupt what's working, create value no one expects and turn attention into meaningful engagement. Chatter That Matters is presented by RBC. To learn more about why RBC Small Business banking works as hard as you do: https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/business/index.html To learn more about RBCX Ventures: https://www.rbcx.com/portfolio/ RBCx $1.4 billion growth fund: https://www.rbcx.com/investments/rbcx-growth-fund/    

Our Loves - Avi Nesher Can a film change how we see the world and ourselves? At the Toronto International Film Festival, I sat down with celebrated Israeli filmmaker Avi Nesher to discuss Our Loves, his moving new film about seven strangers whose personal struggles are overtaken by the events of October 7, 2023. Nesher reflects on five decades of filmmaking, the balance between structure and creativity, and why actors and audiences are partners in the storytelling process. In a deeply personal conversation, he also explores grief, artistic freedom, second chances, and cinema's power to build empathy, bring people together, and help us heal. And our world needs healing. 

In the summer of 1972, a group of young, largely unknown performers gathered in Toronto to stage Godspell. The cast included Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Andrea Martin, Victor Garber, Dave Thomas and Jayne Eastwood, with Paul Shaffer at the piano. What happened in that rehearsal room would help shape comedy for generations. I sit down with director Nick Davis and writer Jane Mendelsohn about their documentary, *You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way). We explore how an ensemble built on friendship, trust and joyful experimentation became an incubator for extraordinary talent and how Martin Short's hidden audio recordings helped preserve a production for which no film footage exists. The conversation also honours Gilda Radner's enduring spirit, reflects on Avril Chown's more painful experience in show business, and asks whether such an unguarded creative community could emerge in today's era of personal brands and constant cameras. It's a moving story about collaboration, risk, memory and the rare moments that change culture before anyone realizes history is being made. CHATTER THAT MATTERS is live at TIFF with ODIENCE, an exciting and immersive content platform created by Montreal-based Summit Tech.   To learn more about: The documentary: https://tiff.net/films/you-had-to-be-there RBC and TIFF: https://www.rbctiff.com Odience360:  https://www.odience.com    

What if the moment that broke you was also the moment you began to wake up? Aymie Daniels, author of An American Awakening, shares her raw and deeply personal journey through depression, addiction, psychosis, misdiagnosis, and spiritual awakening. Together, we explore the fragile line between revelation and delusion—and ask whether a mental health crisis can also be a profound search for meaning. Aymie's story exposes the cracks in a mental healthcare system that can leave people feeling controlled, overmedicated, dismissed, and misunderstood. It also reveals what may become possible when compassionate guidance, personal agency, and hope replace fear and judgment. Blending lived experience with reflection and practical mental health awareness, this episode challenges what we think we know about sanity, consciousness, healing, and transformation. This is more than one woman's story. It's a powerful conversation for anyone who has ever felt unheard—and a wake-up call for a system that claims to care.      

In Finding Grace, Rocco Rossi's brilliant new debut novel follows a ruthless executive who survives a fatal plane crash, only to discover a stranger walking the Camino de Santiago under his abandoned birth name.  What inspired this book was the sudden death of his mentor, which forced Rocco off the corporate ladder and onto a 1,000-kilometre walk across Spain . Rocco shares his transformation from an executive chasing wealth to validate his immigrant parents' sacrifices to a man who has dedicated 24 Camino walks to those who couldn't finish their own journeys . Tune in to discover how intentional stillness can chip away at the inauthentic parts of your life and reveal the true path you are meant to walk .       To purchase Finding Grace:  https://www.amazon.ca/Finding-Grace-Camino-Santiago-Story-ebook/dp/B0H37XH472