This Commerce Life

The Knuckleheads talk to each other. Two retail veterans with a combined 50+ years of experience sit down for honest conversations about Canadian business, brands, and the challenges facing small and medium-sized companies.  We talk to each other about where we come from and how we got here. Kenny, it turns out, was always pretty linear. Phil, has nothing linear about his career at all.    Thank y...

When Nana Daniels returned from a trip to Ghana in 2016, she experienced a severe lupus flare-up that left her skin severely burned. What happened next changed her life forever. After seven hours in the emergency room with no real solution, Nana turned to her Ghanaian roots and created her own remedy using raw shea butter, vitamin E, and essential oils. The results were so remarkable that friends...

From Auto Mechanic to Artisan Sausage Maker: D-Original Sausage Haus Story Join us as we sit down with Clint from D-Original Sausage Haus in Steveston, BC, who shares his unconventional journey from automotive mechanic to box manufacturing to crafting premium German-style cured meats. Clint discusses the challenges of running a brick-and-mortar deli in a post-COVID world, the art of making authent...

From Cologne to Canada: What We Learned Walking 10 Football Fields at Anuga Phil and Kenny take the podcast on the road to Anuga, one of the world's largest food trade shows in Cologne, Germany. Recording their raw observations while navigating German parking lots and autobahns, they share what surprised them most: Bulgaria's emerging food innovation, the surprising absence of crowds at the Chines...

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Shauna Fidler, founder of Design Farm and producer of the Basin Food Summit, as she takes us deep into British Columbia's Kootenay region—a place where local food culture thrives and producers connect directly with buyers who care. Shauna shares her journey from running a cookie shop in Calgary to pioneering gluten-free baking before it was mainstream, an...

From Ice Cream Cart to National Brand - The Hazel's Ice Cream Story In this episode, hosts Kenny and Phil sit down with Sam Vermeulen, co-founder of Hazel's Ice Cream, to discuss the remarkable journey from a COVID-era ice cream cart idea to a growing national frozen novelty brand. Sam shares how what started as a father-son dream of running an ice cream shop evolved into handcrafted premium ice c...

Scaling CPG Brands with Roadmap CPG's Michelle Prychidny and Koreann Webster In this episode of This Commerce Life, hosts Phil and Kenny welcome the dynamic duo behind Roadmap CPG - Michelle Prychidny and Koreann Webster. Together, these industry veterans share their combined decades of experience helping emerging CPG brands navigate the treacherous waters of retail scaling. From their early days...

We sit down with Sanaz Bahrami, founder of Melts Infusions, who shares her remarkable journey from aspiring surgeon to herbal wellness entrepreneur. After nerve damage derailed her medical career dreams, Sanaz discovered the power of adaptogenic herbs during a challenging period in graduate school studying biomedical engineering. What started as brewing "peace tea" in her apartment to manage anxie...

From Stadium Cleaner to Craft Brewer - The Latina Beer Story Phil and Kenny sit down with Carlos Castro, the Venezuelan-Canadian founder of Latina Beer, for an inspiring conversation about entrepreneurship, immigration, and following your passion. Carlos shares his remarkable journey from cleaning Rogers Stadium as an entry-level job to building his own craft brewery in St. Catharines, Ontario. Wh...

The Kristina Farrell Episode: Fighting for Canada's Food System from the Inside In this episode, hosts Phil and Kenny sit down with Kristina Farrell, CEO of Food & Beverage Canada, to explore the complex world of Canadian food manufacturing policy. Christina, who represents domestic food and beverage manufacturers across the country, breaks down the critical distinction between companies that actu...

CHFA Now Toronto 2025 Preview with Aaron Skelton & Lynsey Walker Join Phil and Kenny as they chat with Aaron Skelton (CEO) and Lynsey Walker (Chief Marketing Officer) from the Canadian Health Food Association for an exciting preview of CHFA Now Toronto 2025, happening September 19 - 21, 2025 What's New This Year: BDC & Be Local Thursday Night Event - Special networking event at BDC Square (37th fl...

From Bartending Tips to 24 Locations: The Foxy Box Story In this episode of This Commerce Life, we sit down with Kyla, the bold founder and CEO of Foxy Box Laser & Wax Bars, who turned bar tips and brazilian waxes in her dining room into a 24-location franchise empire across Canada. Starting 12 years ago in her dining room (yes, you read that right), Kyla used her bartending tips to fund her ventu...

A celebration of success. Re-sharing Caitlyn Vanderhaeghe's episode from 2022 on the evolution of Kidstar. In light of her announcement last week of getting National distribution, we thought it'd be a good time to re-share Caitlin's journey with Kidstar.  A small Canadian company, that put in a lot of work to get here! Congrats Caitlyn and the Kidstar team!!   Check out Kidstar here: https://kidst...

Mid-Summer Update - Road Trips, Trade Shows, and What's Next Phil and Kenny reconnect for a candid mid-summer update on what's been keeping them busy and what's coming up for This Commerce Life. After spending five hours together booking travel (and learning they should have let Keelin handle it), the duo shares their exciting plans for the fall. In This Episode: Anuga 2025 : The hosts are headed...

Amy Rempel - From Third-Generation Grocery to Pioneering Kids' Skincare In this episode, we sit down with Amy Rempel, owner of Elevation Brands and founder of Fresh Faces Skincare, Canada's first skincare line specifically designed for kids. Amy brings a unique perspective to the natural products industry as a third-generation grocery professional whose great-grandfather helped bring Metro stores...

Trading Cards to Facebook Fame: How One Collector Built a Digital Empire Join Phil and Kenny as they dive deep into the fascinating world of modern card collecting with special guest Anthony from Red Light Sports. What started as a COVID hobby digging through childhood collections has evolved into a thriving Facebook Live business that's redefining how collectors buy and sell. Anthony takes us beh...

Burgoo Restaurant's Justin Joyce on 24 Years of Comfort Food & Vancouver's Evolving Food Scene We had an amazing conversation with Justin, owner of the four Burgoo restaurant locations in Vancouver, who joined us despite dealing with a power outage and a sick dog. What started as a discussion about his restaurants quickly evolved into a deep dive about the challenges facing independent operators i...

Food Fraud and Authenticity Testing with Deleo De Leonardis, CEO of Purity IQ In this eye-opening conversation, Kenny and Phil sit down with Deleo De Leonardis, CEO and co-founder of Purity IQ, to discuss a critical issue that affects every consumer: food fraud and adulteration. Deleo shares her unexpected journey from 20 years in retail (including VP of Private Label at Sobeys) to becoming an ent...

Automating Food Safety with Normex In this episode, we sit down with Tanguy Etoga, founder and CEO of Normex, to dive into the often overlooked but critically important world of food safety management. Tanguy shares his fascinating journey from a childhood in Cameroon—where a conversation with his father about preserving mangoes year-round sparked his passion—to becoming a food safety consultant a...

Hot Sauce Without the Heat - Viggy from Toca Foods What happens when an aerospace engineer meets a sommelier and decides to revolutionize the condiment aisle? In this episode, we sit down with Viggy, co-founder of Tocha Foods, who's created something that sounds impossible: "hot sauce without the heat." From his journey as a would-be rocket scientist to discovering a gap in the sauce market that l...

Ashlyn Newlove, Founder of SmartSip Ashlyn Newlove, Founder of SmartSip. We had an absolute blast talking with Ashlyn Newlove, the competitive and charismatic founder behind SmartSip - a calorie-friendly, fiber-rich powdered coconut oil creamer that's taking the health and wellness world by storm.   Ashlyn proves that with the right product, solid margins, authentic social media presence, and enou...

Getting Graded: Inside the Wild World of Card Authentication with TGA's Tyler Ever wondered how a piece of cardboard can be worth millions of dollars? This week, we dive deep into the fascinating (and slightly insane) world of sports card grading with Tyler, founder of TGA(True Grade Authentication), a new Canadian authentication company that's shaking up an industry dominated by American giants....

Kyle Schumacher, founder and owner of Caliente Hot Sauce Company, joins the podcast to discuss his entrepreneurial journey from trades worker to successful hot sauce manufacturer. Based in British Columbia, Kyle has built a unique fresh hot sauce business that operates exclusively in refrigerated retail sections.   find Kyle here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-schumacher-1a345190/ Check out Cal...

In this special episode of "This Commerce Life," host Phil travels to St. John's, Newfoundland, where he tours the Newfoundland Chocolate Company with founder Christina Dove. Christina shares her remarkable journey from neuroscientist to chocolatier and gelato expert, detailing how she built her thriving business from her basement to a factory producing 40,000 chocolates daily. The conversation ex...

Sarah Harper and the Fiery World of Stoke The Fire Hot Sauce Join hosts Phil and Kenny for an engaging conversation with Sarah Harper, the self-proclaimed "Sauceress" and CEO of Stoke The Fire Hot Sauce. This episode takes you on a journey from Sarah's fascinating background as a performance artist and Arctic chef to her current life as a passionate pepper farmer and hot sauce creator in British C...