AQ's Blog & Grill

Uvaro: Helping professionals have more fulfilling careers In this episode, Donna talks about the ‘Why Not’ approach that has led her through much of her entrepreneurial career. Taking advantage of opportunities as they come and following your interests to see where they might lead. With Uvaro, Donna and her co-founders saw a hole within the tech industry and came up with a brilliant way to fill it. Learn all about Uvaro, their platform, what they do, and how they got to where they are today.

In this episode, Mallorie talks about the $24M CAD Series B funding that the company has just secured as well as the importance of maintaining the mindset of a start-up. To always be innovating and looking for opportunities within the industry is a crucial component to growing and scaling any business. More on Bridgit Solutions: || https://www.bridgitsolutions.com/ || https://twitter.com/bridgitsoftware || https://www.facebook.com/bridgitsolutions/ || https://www.linkedin.com/company/bridgit/ || https://www.instagram.com/bridgitsolutions/ About Our Guest Mallorie Brodie is the CEO and Co-founder of Bridgit. Along with Lauren Lake, Mallorie co-founded Bridgit in 2014 with a simple mission: to help the construction industry maximize profits and reduce risk by taking a people-first approach. Under her leadership, the team at Bridgit has established Bridgit Bench, the company’s flagship product, as the leading workforce intelligence solution built exclusively for the construction industry. Along with being named to the Top 40 Under 40 in Canadian Construction, Forbes Manufacturing & Industry 30 Under 30, and Best Of Canada Forbes Under 30 Innovators lists, Mallorie has been instrumental to Bridgit being recognized as one of Globe and Mail’s top growing companies in Canada for three consecutive years.

“We can honestly say that every assumption we made about how we thought it was going to work was wrong.” Iain Klugman has spent the last 16 years bringing together government organizations, businesses, and talent to make Communitech an integral part of the Waterloo Region ecosystem. In this episode, he joins AQ to reminisce on his career of building Communitech to the intentionally collaborative and ambitious environment it is today. Iain shares how his team worked to keep talent in the region when RIM went through a massive downfall, and how Communitech reviews their strategies yearly to adjust to this ever-changing community. They discuss the comparison of Waterloo Region to Silicon Valley, the Future of X Initiative, the experiment that became the Corporate Innovation Program, and how the Waterloo Region has the potential to become a healthcare innovation hub.   Time Stamps: 0:21 Background of Iain Klugman and his role at Communitech 3:08 Last 16 Years at Communitech - Focus on Ecosystem 4:13 Comparison – Waterloo Region is NOT Silicon Valley 6:22 Future of X initiative 7:45 Google’s Expansion and it’s effects within the community 9:05 The War on Tent – status 10:43 Where Communitech’s Corporate Innovation Program Started – bringing in organizations as partners and the evolution of those relationships 14:30 Iain’s Public Administration Degree – worked in Government 16:06 Reworking strategies to suit the ecosystem’s maturation 17:48 Top 3 Communitech highlights of Iain’s last 16 years 22:27 When RIM lost its way and the impacts it had on the community and entrepreneurial ecosystem 24:55 Rise of MedTech in Waterloo Region   More on Iain: ||  https://www.linkedin.com/in/iain-klugman-136410/ ||  https://twitter.com/iainklugman More on Communitech: ||  https://www.linkedin.com/company/communitech/ ||  https://www.facebook.com/communitechpage ||  https://www.instagram.com/communitech/ ||  https://twitter.com/Communitech

In this week’s episode, Alan sits down with Dani Bazely, Director of Marketing for Driverseat, as they discuss the innovative, award-winning business. Driverseat’s franchise-based business model focuses on chauffeur and shuttle assistance, with opportunities for specialized services from accessible transport to tours across wine regions. With low start-up costs, franchise owners range from young professionals and entrepreneurs to business owners looking to diversify their profile and add another income stream. The entrepreneurial opportunities that come from being a Driverseat franchisee are vast, as the business is scalable and has the potential to grow and expand in an ever-changing industry. Dani discusses some of the marketing strategies coming into play for Driverseat in 2020. She also discusses the hurdles Driverseat has faced with their expansion from Kitchener, Ontario, to across Canada and the United States.   Time Stamps: 0:45 What is Driverseat? 2:43 Who might be interested in this type of franchise? 3:53 How important is company culture at Driverseat? 5:15 Chamber of Commerce Award: Being awarded the 2020 Young Professional of the Year 6:50 Lifelong Learning: What’s in the learning pipeline for Dani 8:00 Spectrum Board: Goals for the Spectrum brand in 2020 9:25 University History: From Economics to Communications 11:50 What marketing tactics is Driverseat going to employ in 2020? 13:28 Overcoming the challenges of expanding in the US 15:01 Who are Driverseat’s competitors? 15:51 Launching Driverseat in the Niagara wine region   More on Driverseat and Dani: ||  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani-bazely-709ba750/ ||  https://www.linkedin.com/company/driverseat-franchise/ ||  https://www.facebook.com/DriverseatInc ||  https://www.instagram.com/driverseatinc/ ||  https://twitter.com/DriverseatFirst ||  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqRjeY8Bfbfisyevj_WhyVw

What does successfully breaking into an untapped market actually look like? How do you do it? How do you bring a product to market that the market is ready to adopt right away? You ask the market. What sets Bridgit apart from so many other companies, and what has made them so successful, is that they went to their customers first. Before they ever had a business plan or a product - before they ever wrote a single line of code - they hit the pavement. Lauren Lake (Bridgit COO) and Mallorie Brodie (Bridgit CEO) would pop by construction sites early in the morning all over the city, with coffee and donuts and they talked to the people that would be consumers of their product. They spent their first 6 months in business “understanding the needs, building simple prototypes and validating those with people before actually investing and building the real product“. And that became Bridgit’s methodology - step by step, one piece at a time, following the research and the needs of those they were serving.   In this episode, Lauren goes into detail about the steps that Bridgit took in order to find a gap and identify the challenges within that gap, and how they turned their research into an incredible product used by over 150 customers across North America.  Bridgit strives to revolutionize the way the construction industry functions, and that’s exactly what they’re doing.   Time stamps of key takeaways from this episode: 0:33 What is Bridgit 1:18 How the founders, Mallorie Brodie and Lauren Lake, met and got started 3:52 Understanding the needs of their customers during the research process 5:45 The harder you work, the luckier you get 10:00 About the Bridgit products 15:15 What does success look like for Bridgit? 18:03 Finding support through incubators and accelerators  20:54 What's next for Bridgit 23:50 How Lauren went from the Stratford arts community to being a Civil Engineering graduate   More on Bridgit Solutions: || https://www.bridgitsolutions.com/ || https://twitter.com/bridgitsoftware || https://www.facebook.com/bridgitsolutions/ || https://www.linkedin.com/company/bridgit/ || https://www.instagram.com/bridgitsolutions/ || https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgXxXcVliK6pdOuQZMIkfLQ Lauren is a civil engineer and the Chief Operating Officer of Bridgit Solutions based out of Kitchener, Ontario. Bridgit is on a mission to revolutionize the way the construction industry functions, and they are doing just that. With over 150 customers across North America, they're uncomplicating the way that construction projects run. 

"Innovation Factory Accelerates Success" - who doesn't want that!? Incubators and accelerators, like Hamilton's Innovation Factory, are the not so hidden gem that entrepreneurs need to know. In this week's episode, David Carter and Alan Quarry discuss the difference between an accelerator and an incubator, why Canada isn't producing enough "mythical unicorns," and how regional innovation centers need to work together to increase the success rates of startups. The City of Hamilton, often known for its Life Sciences presence, has a significant amount of innovation coming through that stream. But often, when academics and entrepreneurs come up with a brilliant new business idea, they end up thinking one of two ways: "I have this amazing product, so I'll post about it and everyone will buy it. #success"; OR "I have this amazing product, but there are about 85 overwhelming steps between this point and having a viable go to market strategy. I don't know where to start." Whether it's help with marketing strategies, boosting sales, finding investors or raising capital, the Innovation Factory fills in those gaps with workshops, programming and 1-on-1 mentoring. https://innovationfactory.ca/

The world is currently going through the strangest thing that any of us will likely face in our lives. And there's a ton of fear and anxiety and doom and gloom that comes along with a worldwide pandemic, of course. But in this episode, happiness expert and author Jennifer Moss gives us incredible, tangible advice on how to navigate through this uncertainty with less guilt. But also to accept the many stages of grief that we may be moving through right now, no matter what form the emotion may be taking.  It's ok to not be thriving right now, but we don't have to completely sink either.  *This episode was adapted from a Facebook LIVE that was recorded on March 26th, 2020 (if you want to see the video, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6uLz2hRdqo) List of Resource Suggestions from this episode: HERO GEN – https://hero-generation.com/covid19/ Global Happiness Council Access here: http://www.happinesscouncil.org/ The Global Happiness Council (GHC) produces the Global Happiness and Well-Being Policy Report with the goal of informing policy around Positive Education initiatives, Happy Cities, Societal Well-being Interventions, and more. The site also includes videos and past reports, which are presented at World Governance Summits in a bid to shape legal and governmental frameworks through science-based findings. The GHC also carries out research into personal happiness and Positive Organizations. About Positive Psychology: Blogs and News Greater Good Magazine Access here: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/ This is UC Berkeley’s digital magazine of science-based insights on well-being, gratitude, happiness, and more. Here you’ll find podcasts, videos, exercises, resources, and quizzes, along with articles that cover positive psychology themes in current affairs. Positive Psychology News Access here: https://positivepsychologynews.com/ This is written and curated by MAPP graduates and coaches, this site is a wealth of information on courses and resources. It’s regularly updated with book reviews, webinars, conference information, and is also a good place to find more background on PP through articles and a few nice frameworks. The Psychology of Wellbeing (A positive psychology blog by MAPP graduate and author Jeremy McCarthy) Access here: http://psychologyofwellbeing.com/ Jeremy McCarthy’s blog is actually an endearing mix of personal reflections on and news about positive psychology news. Here, the author applies positive psychology to wellbeing—holistic wellbeing, with a focus on spas and the hospitality industry. It includes transcripts from talks and relevant research on wellness. The Happiness Institute Blog Access here: http://www.thehappinessinstitute.com/blog/ Dr. Tim Sharp is an Adjunct Professor in Positive Psychology at the University of Technology, Sydney. On the Happiness Institute Blog, he curates and writes articles on positive psychology topics like stress, self-care, happiness, and mental health. There are plenty of links to academic articles with more information. The How of Happiness (A positive psychology blog by Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky) Access here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/how-happiness Author Sonja Lyubomirski’s blog covers the science behind what is potentially the most popular positive psychology topic—happiness—from a scientific perspective. She is a Templeton Positive Psychology Prize winner and Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. The Good Life (A positive psychology blog by Dr. Christopher Peterson) Access here:https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-good-life Christopher Peterson is frequently cited as the author of A Primer in Positive Psychology and has been an editor at The Journal of Positive Psychology. His Good Life Blog is not frequently updated but is full of opinions and insights on topics like happiness, life satisfaction, and books that are worth reading. Deeper Learning/Research: Upenn Positive Psychology Center Access here: https://www.positivepsychology.org (also available at https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/) This is the University of Pennsylvania’s official Positive Psychology Center webpage. Dr. Martin Seligman, one of the founding fathers of Positive Psychology, is the director of this Center. On this site, you’ll find the latest of the University’s programs, an overview of UPenn’s research in various PP fields, and a wealth of resources such as questionnaires and further links to external bodies for therapists. VIA Institute on Character Access here: https://www.viacharacter.org/www/ This is the official site for the VIA Character Strengths Survey. The non-profit VIA Institute also provides a character strengths list and information about how to interpret the results of their assessment. There are resources for professional practitioners and quite a wealth of research findings, including survey data, full-text articles, fact sheets, and a blog that is updated weekly. The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues Access here: https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/ The University of Birmingham’s Jubilee Centre is involved in research projects aimed at understanding how character, values, and virtues contribute to human flourishing. At the link above, you’ll find more pages for learning about these projects, and multimedia resources for learning, as well as a nice blog on virtues. In the Library section, there is a further database of articles with numerous open access options. Science of Generosity Access here: https://generosityresearch.nd.edu/ This website from the University of Notre Dame has a Research Resources section which includes links to survey data and even the related questionnaire items that have been used in studies on generosity. Users who are hoping not to dig into hard data will also find reports, literature, and working papers in the same section. The Science of Generosity site also includes background on the Science of Generosity initiative and an overview of its current projects. Compassion: Stanford Medicine Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education Access here: https://ccare.stanford.edu/ Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) is committed to researching how ‘positive qualities of the human mind‘ benefit society and individuals. These include techniques and approaches for fostering compassion and its promotion in schools and institutions. On this page, CCARE features some of its own research, a database of other curated academic articles, and resources such as articles and overviews from past events. CompassionLab Access here: https://www.compassionlab.com/ CompassionLab is run by organizational researchers, with a goal of encouraging the use of compassion in professional contexts such as leadership and employee engagement. This site includes presentations, journal articles, book chapters, and links to other theory- and practice-related sites on Positive Organizations. Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence Access here:http://ei.yale.edu The Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence is a well-known source of academic information, research, and tools. It is behind the development of the RULER approach, a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) framework with potential and demonstrated applications in professional development and education. The Center site thus provides background information on EI for educators, coaches, and therapists alike—here, you can access research on the Center’s science-based RULER approach. It also offers ample RULER documentation and emotional intelligence case studies. Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations Access here:http://www.eiconsortium.org The EI Consortium seeks to progress research into, and practical applications of, emotional intelligence. This website contains a good collection of the publications and news about EI in business settings and leadership, as well as information on dissertations, book chapters, and emotional intelligence questionnaires. It’s a comprehensive source for anyone looking to research EI closely.  Gratitude: Emmons Lab Access here:https://emmons.faculty.ucdavis.edu/ Here is Dr. Emmons’ own research website, which provides some background into his work on the Youth Gratitude Project (YGP) with Giacomo Bono and Jeffrey Foh. It includes a list of relevant positive psychology publications on gratitude and links back to other webpages related to the YGP.  Flourishing: Authentic Happiness Access here: https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu Another UPenn resource that links the user to books, questionnaires, projects and initiatives, academic research, blog posts, and news on happiness as a positive psychology topic. It is full of useful resources for teachers, therapists, and researchers, including videos, study opportunities, and training. Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing Access here: https://www.ou.edu/flourish This University of Oklahoma Institute was created to advance the study of human flourishing, further the scientific study of virtue, and engage with the community to promote flourishing. Here, you can easily find online and downloadable resources, including courses and relevant links for parents.  Global Happiness: International Research Associates for Happy Societies Access here: http://www.happysociety.org/ International Research Associates for Happy Societies is a non-profit, independent organization; IRAH started in 1995 as a network for individuals and organizations interested in happiness and promoting well-being in society. The site itself is in English, though it also includes links to publications in Thai and English. Here, you’ll find news on IRAH’s past activities and links to related sites. It is very much related to happiness in society and features some background on IRAH projects in developing communities. International Society for Quality of Life Studies Access here:http://www.isqols.org/ Founded in 1995, the ISQOLS goal is to advance

90% of B2B purchases are influenced by word of mouth. Fewer than 1% of companies have an actual “word of mouth” strategy. Jay Baer knows that one of the best ways to grow a business is for your customers to do it for you. In this episode of AQ’s Blog & Grill, Jay shares where to start when building your “word of mouth” strategy. We all know word of mouth is important, but we don’t realize how important or how to accomplish this. Jay gives us direct examples businesses are using today to get the word out, and explains the five types of Talk Triggers: Talkable Generosity, Talkable Speed, Talkable Usefulness, Talkable Empathy and Talkable Attitude. Jay dives into why he allows event organizers to pick the suits he wears for keynotes - and the funny story of when this has backfired. They discuss the difference between Influencer Marketing and Talk Triggers, as Jay suggests that it's wise to not do one without the other. “The idea here ultimately is for your current customers to recruit the next generation of customers on your behalf.” Pick up Jay’s latest book, Talk Triggers, and if you don’t love it he swears to buy you any other book of your choosing! Talk about a talk trigger! More on Jay Baer: || https://www.jaybaer.com/ || https://twitter.com/jaybaer || https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaybaer/ ||  https://www.instagram.com/jaybaer/ Jay is an inspirational, plaid suit-wearing, hall of fame marketing and customer experience keynote speaker, emcee, and trusted advisor to the world's most iconic brands. Jay is a NY Times best-selling author of six books and the Founder of consultancy Convince and Convert, a strategy consulting firm that helps prominent companies gain and keep customers through intersecting technology, social media, and customer service.

From her demanding and successful career in sports marketing as the VP of Business Development for the KW Titans to balancing being a single mom to three busy children, Melissa Melnychuk has mastered the art of balancing it all. And it’s not all spreadsheets and Pinterest and spreading yourself so thin that you can barely function, like you may think. Instead Melissa takes the approach that “sometimes it’s ok to float” A certified life coach, Joga instructor, personal trainer, holistic nutritionist as well as a social media influencer, accomplished sales manager at RIM (when BlackBerry was known as such) and “endless buckets of passion” for her community, Melissa knows a thing or two about juggling many balls and wearing many hats. And her advice, to herself and to her clients, who often struggle with the elusive ‘balance’ that everyone seems to be striving for has always been “It’s ok if you float. You don’t need to sink, you can just float. Sometimes it’s about surviving and being ok in the moment of where you are and accepting that. And being kind to yourself. And being gentle. And loving yourself a little harder.” From the moment Melissa came on board with the KW Titans, her goal, and the goal of her team, has been to create an incredible game day experience for the Titans fans and to impact the community in the biggest ways possible. The minute someone decides to go to a game and they leave their home and lock their door until the moment they walk back through the door when they get home from the game, Melissa wants that person to have an incredible and memorable experience. An experience that will keep them coming back. Getting the community to love and buy into the team is how they’re able to impact and do so much good in Waterloo Region. As a single mom, who has struggled through difficult months herself, several of the charities that the KW Titans choose to support are near and dear to her heart. Through the community’s support of the Titans, already this year, they’ve been able to impact 14 local charities in the first 7 games of the season. So what’s next for Melissa? Honestly, probably lots! As Alan mentions at the start of this interview, Melissa is a going concern and always has her hand in many things. She has a passion for this work with the Titan’s and puts her heart and soul into everything she does. And in the future, who knows! Because, as she so eloquently says “Tomorrow’s never promised. And we’re foolish if we try to plan our future. We can play a part in it and we can try and direct it and be working towards a certain future. But I think there is such beauty in the unknown” If you’ve not been out to a Titan’s game yet – or if you have been debating whether it’s worth it – it is. Website: https://www.kwtitans.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kw_titans Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kwtitans/ Melissa’s Personal Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/its.me.melis/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KWTitans/ Link to YouTube: https://www.facebook.com/KWTitans/   ABOUT: The KW Titans are a professional basketball team, competing in the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC) based in Waterloo Region. The franchise, which has only been around for 3 years, has already made a huge impact within the community. The Titan’s main goal is to positively engage and impact the KW community by providing a professional basketball experience and support of many local charities and events.

“I wanted to do something global and make an impact” - Peter Whitby What started as a leisurely trip in China has become a global product and a growing team. With intensive research, O2 Canada has truly innovated the face mask - creating a product with top notch functionality and unprecedented aesthetic ability.  From airline travel and city pollution, to natural disasters and global epidemics - O2 Canada’s mandate is to help people breathe clean air. As CEO of the company, Peter Whitby makes sure this mandate is at the forefront of everything they do - including giving away their very first stock during the Alberta/BC wildfires. In this interview, Peter discusses the O2 line of products, what sets their premium face masks apart, and how they’ve grown with the help of the Accelerator Centre and Ontario Government. He shares how they are keeping up with demand as the COVID-19 Virus continues to spread, and how this global epidemic has both helped and challenged their business.    Get to know more about O2 Canada:   website: https://www.o2canada.com/ twitter: https://twitter.com/O2Canada linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/o2-canada instagram: https://www.instagram.com/o2canada/

You may just have the best content in the world, but if your user experience isn’t top notch, the content may as well have been written by a seahorse. In this episode of AQ’s Blog & Grill, Randy Frisch describes the key difference between content marketing and content experience. He explains how we can get stuck in this loop of pumping out amazing content – content that is actually attracting our ideal customer and demographic – and yet we’re not seeing the sales and conversions one would expect. The assumption then, pump out more great content, right?! Wrong. The content isn’t the issue. The content was likely never the issue. Listen in to hear how your user experience may be the key to getting those customer relationships, increasing demand and bringing in the revenue that you’ve been fumbling for. There’s so much more that went down in this episode, and some awesome examples and tangible takeaways. You don’t want to miss it.   Randy Frisch is the CMO and cofounder of UberFlip as well as an author of a phenomenal business book titled F#CK Content Marketing. Uberflip is a content experience platform that empowers marketers and creators to create content experiences for their users at every stage of their journey. Website: https://b-rand.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/randyfrisch Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uberfliphq/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frischrandy/ UberFlip website: https://www.uberflip.com/ Book link: https://www.uberflip.com/content-experience-book/ Book link (amazon): https://www.amazon.ca/Content-Marketing-Experience-Revenue-Relationships-ebook/dp/B07NPDQR4F

Jennifer Moss has many accolades – she’s an author, an international speaker, a columnist for the CBC, a contributor to Harvard Business Review and a member of the UN Global Happiness Council committee, just to name a few. When the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that ‘Burnout’ was a workplace issue, and that it was our own problem to ‘treat’ and solve, they didn’t quite get it right. Sure, doing more yoga, making time for self care, implementing breathing techniques and generally ‘finding your zen’ are all great tools to deal with your burnout – the idea that WE, as employees, need to manage this at all is pretty backwards. Hearing Jennifer and Alan talk about Happiness, and what that word really means might surprise you. Spoiler alert: Happiness isn’t about being happy all the time, or putting on a fake smile until we eventually ‘feel happy’. So what does it mean? Listen in as Jennifer explains what Happiness actually means, and how it’s translated into the workplace. And as a leader, how important it is to limit and help manage stress, in order to foster innovation and remain competitive. And the shifts might be really simple, you just don’t know what questions to ask! Personal Website: https://www.jennifer-moss.com/ Business Website (Plasticity Labs): https://plasticitylabs.com/ CBC Articles: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/jennifer-moss-1.5326673 Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenLeighMoss Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jleighmoss/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenleighmoss/ Book link (amazon): https://www.amazon.ca/Unlocking-Happiness-Work-Data-driven-Performance/dp/0749478071 Link to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGW43a_jDAA4txctjAyaStg UN Global Happiness Council: http://www.happinesscouncil.org/

Entrepreneur and professional artist, Jennifer Gough, speaks with Alan about finding her purpose in her art and how she completely changed her career to follow her passion. Jennifer's mission is to inspire people to follow their dreams and make their passions happen. She talks about growing her art business by saying yes to opportunities, taking chances, finding the right balance when she first launched Minds Eye Studio Art, and how she uses social media to keep her business thriving. http://mindseyestudioart.com/ https://twitter.com/Mindseyestudio https://www.facebook.com/MY.M.E.S.A/ https://www.instagram.com/thegallery.yoga/ https://www.instagram.com/mindseyestudioart/ About our Guest Jennifer Gough is a self-taught, multidisciplinary, visual and conceptual artist and entrepreneur. In 2010, Jennifer was named one of Waterloo Regional Record’s 40 Under 40, as well as being nominated for Woman of the Year, Arts & Culture at Kitchener Oktoberfest. Jennifer inspires many with her story of success, going from a 9-5 career to following her passion by running a successful art business.

He didn’t get lucky. He isn’t an investment psychic. And he doesn’t possess any fancy or magical ability to predict which businesses are going to take off, and which won’t. He tries things. He jumps at opportunities and he FAILS. Over and over, he’s failed. He fails, and he’s learned how to fall in loves with failing. And with each missed opportunity though, he’s perfected his formula for failure – fail often, fail fast, fail cheap. Jim Estill has had his hand in the business world, crushing it as an entrepreneur, for as long as most people in the business world can remember. Jim is an engineer, a philanthropist, the president and CEO of not one but TWO companies currently, a humanitarian, an author, a creator, an innovator and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, this new idea of the ‘mature entrepreneur’ is something that Jim and Alan touch on in the second half of this episode. Alan and Jim cover so much ground in this informative episode. From working dinners with Steve Jobs, sitting on the RIM/BlackBerry board and helping them go public, to tangible and helpful business tips that will hit home for any business owner, no matter what stage of the journey you’re in, this episode is sure to leave you inspired and satisfied. Jim shares insights into how he’s always been able to niche, no matter what industry he’s working in. He explains exactly where ShipperBee came from - ‘The Power of While’ – what can you do WHILE you’re doing something else. And his tried and true recipe on how to fail – Fail often, fail fast, and fail cheap. Danby website: https://www.danby.com/ (Jim specifically https://www.danby.com/jim-estill/) ShipperBee website: https://www.shipperbee.com/ ShipperBee IG: https://www.instagram.com/shipperbee/ ShipperBee FB https://www.facebook.com/shipperbee/ ShipperBee Twitter https://twitter.com/ShipperBee Danby IG https://www.instagram.com/danbyappliances/ Danby FB https://www.facebook.com/DanbyAppliances Danby Twitter https://twitter.com/DanbyAppliance Jim’s personal sites: Website: http://www.jimestill.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimestill/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimestill BBC article explaining Jim’s sponsoring of 300 Syrian refugees: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49918049

“What kind of human do you feel like being in the future?” So often, in life, we think of success a certain way. What career we end up in, what home we own, what cars we drive all seem rather important when someone asks you to think about your future. But Lindsay took us down a very different road in this episode. Join us as Lindsay and Alan sit down and discuss…well…everything, basically! From owning a Yoga business in university to struggling to find a co-op placement as a geographer. Learning how to work her network and trusting herself enough to head down an entirely new career path. Lindsay tells us how she found herself in photography (somewhere she never thought she’d be), some of the most inspiring people in her life, and even Roger (the bulldog!) gets a bit of spotlight. Lindsay is an Entrepreneur Extraordinaire, as Alan so eloquently deems her, and her life experience in fascinating. She is a person who takes things as they come, runs with the things she loves and that work, and let’s the failures be a stepping stone to the next ‘thing’. Always moving forward, always learning, and never losing sight of who you want to be. And we even get a sneak into what’s next for Lindsay Coulter! Listen in and you’re sure to leave feeling completely inspired! (And possibly wanting to buy Hawaiian shirts for your dog. Or…wanting to buy a dog to then buy Hawaiian shirts for.) Website: https://lindsaycoulterphoto.com/ CNN and BBC articles with photo of Syrian Refugee helping with wedding crisis: https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/28/world/syrian-tailor-fixes-wedding-dress-trnd/index.html https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37504163 Twitter: https://twitter.com/lcoulterphoto Photography IG: https://www.instagram.com/lcoulterphoto/ Studio IG: https://www.instagram.com/studioonking/ Shop IG: https://www.instagram.com/georgianbae.co/ Shop FB: https://www.facebook.com/georgianbae.co/ Shop website: https://georgianbae.co/ Podcast IG: https://www.instagram.com/drinkthecoffeedothework/ Podcast website: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/drink-the-coffee-do-the-work/id1477469064

Changing the world through traffic innovations. Kurtis McBride sits down with Alan and discusses how the innovation of Miovision in traffic stops, can globally impact fuel emissions and climate change as a whole. From a university engineering degree to a well respected and internationally respected entrepreneur, McBride is changing the landscape for startup companies in Waterloo Region. 

Positioning. And cake pops! 😉 What is positioning? Is it actually still important in this day and age? The simple answer - Absolutely. But why? Find out as April Dunford highlights many of the key points found in her new book #ObviouslyAwesome and imparts her many years of positioning wisdom on to us in this episode. Be sure to check April out at https://aprildunford.com/

Listen in as Michael Brenner and Alan Quarry chat about everything from Champion Leadership to the LEGO brand, the kindness rule to the Pelaton scandal before the holidays.  And the underlying theme that ties all of these things together - empathy. If you can think and feel like the customer, you win.

Charlene will always tell you to “begin with the end in mind” but what does that mean? In her new book, The Disruption Mindset: Why Some Organizations Transform While Others Fail, explains just that.  In this week's episode, Charlene and Alan discuss company culture and the movement of creating DISRUPTIVE LEADERS within organizations, so they will go out and create exponential change.

In today’s episode, Alan chat’s with Lee Odden on the emerging concept of Influence Marketing in the B2B sector. Lee is a B2B marketing strategist, author, internationally known keynote speaker, and CEO of a digital marketing organization called TopRank Marketing.