Founders Journey Podcast

Reid Robinson’s story connects recovery, invention, consulting, and entrepreneurial resilience through several major changes in his life. He grew up in Nova Scotia before moving west to Calgary for work. Although his parents taught at universities, Reid initially chose labor jobs instead of higher education. However, a serious head injury eventually changed his direction. He returned home, earned...

Steve Mack on AI and Better Decisions We start with Steve’s path from enterprise technology into AI-focused entrepreneurship. He outlines Blue Sky AI’s work across products, placements, projects, and AI-enabled systems. He also explains PHIT, which combines wearable data with coaching for health and human performance. However, the conversation quickly moves beyond tools and into how people should...

When Angus Nelson Says Growth Changes the Founder As companies grow, founders often face more decisions, people, uncertainty, and responsibility. However, the real strain can come from how they respond internally. Angus explains why founder resilience becomes essential when the company changes faster than the person leading it. He argues that strategy alone won't solve a leadership problem roo...

Zech Thomas Finds Direction Through HockeyHis path started with hockey, not business. He began at ten, which he describes as extremely late for the sport. Still, he climbed through competitive levels and eventually played junior, professional, and national team hockey. Along the way, hockey taught him repetition, competition, and daily accountability. That foundation shaped the entrepreneurial res...

Confidence Starts With Action We open with David Wagstaff, who explains how a childhood lemonade stand changed his confidence. First, the lesson isn't that entrepreneurship starts with perfect skill. Instead, action creates experience, and experience can reshape how you see yourself. That founder mindset begins with doing the work before you feel fully ready. He also shows how luck can create...

Delegation Beyond the Task List We start with a practical question many founders face. What should you keep, and what should you hand off? He argues that nearly every role can become delegable without making the founder irrelevant. Instead, leaders should build systems that keep moving when they step away. That idea frames his view of entrepreneurial resilience and sustainable leadership. Cory Blu...

Why Haren Looks at Who Owns the Company We open with a simple investing question. Who actually owns the companies that investors trust with their money? Haren explains why founder ownership shapes how he evaluates public companies. Specifically, he looks for leaders with meaningful personal stakes in the businesses they run. As a result, those leaders feel both the upside and downside of their dec...

Boris Wexler grew up in Paris with a strong academic focus and a clear path toward science. However, his interests stretched far beyond engineering. He loved movies, art, and creative work, but he didn’t initially see them as realistic careers. That tension shaped his view of entrepreneurship and personal choice. Eventually, Boris left France’s rigid preparatory school system after challenging how...

Greg Roe explains how freestyle trampoline grew from his frustration with traditional sport systems. He saw young athletes seeking creativity, freedom, and personal style. Therefore, he chose to build an alternative instead of waiting for established leaders. Freestyle trampoline became his answer to rigid rules and limited expression. However, that decision brought immediate resistance. Roe faced...

Derik Krauss explains how early experiences shaped his interest in business ownership. His father’s career changes showed him persistence during uncertainty. Later, a business framework helped him separate personal effort from scalable value. That idea sparked his commitment to entrepreneurship. However, his path still required patience, experimentation, and entrepreneurial resilience. How Krauss...

We explore how an entrepreneurial mindset began with ownership, preparation, and a clear view of future choices. In high school, he worked backward from ambitious goals and identified the building blocks he needed. Therefore, math, physics, and engineering became practical steps rather than abstract subjects. He didn’t know the final destination, but he understood how early decisions could stack....

Brian McLean didn’t enter the jewelry industry through a detailed career plan. Instead, an early job introduced him to sales and customer relationships. He soon discovered that he could understand what people wanted and connect them with meaningful pieces. However, his personal life remained unsettled during those early years. Eventually, he changed direction and committed himself to a healthier p...

Starting where the friction lives Alex Jekowsky joins us to talk about the kind of founder mindset that starts with real friction. He didn’t chase startup status. Instead, he paid attention to broken systems and asked better questions. First, that showed up on college campuses. Later, it led him into laundry, where he saw how hard operators worked without strong software. He explains why he droppe...

Sugira Rubasha traces his story from Nairobi to Sydney, and he explains how that move shaped his early world. He grew up around many cultures, yet he kept searching for a clearer sense of self. Because of that, identity and legacy becomes one of the strongest threads in this episode. He talks about names, family roots, and why pride in where you come from can shape how you move through life. Growi...

Peter Shankman on building around a different brain We sat down with Peter Shankman to explore how he built his life around an ADHD brain, not against it. Early on, he shares what it felt like to grow up in New York City without language for neurodiversity. Because of that, school often felt hard, confusing, and limiting. Still, he found creative outlets, leaned into writing, and kept moving towar...

We sit down with John Hsu to trace the pressure, discipline, and responsibility that shaped his early life. He grew up in California in a Taiwanese immigrant family that pushed hard for grades, stability, and work. At the same time, sports helped him find belonging and build confidence. That mix of pressure and teamwork stayed with him. It also shaped how he thinks about success, duty, and risk. H...

We sit down with Maddy Niebauer to trace the experiences that shaped her early mindset. She reflects on growing up in the Bay Area, moving often, and changing schools year after year. As a result, she learned to adapt fast, make friends quickly, and keep going through disruption. She also explains how high academic expectations at home pushed her to take school seriously, even when the pressure fe...

We talk with Randy Johnston about the kind of childhood that builds real problem solvers. He grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas, and learned by asking questions. He learned from mechanics, carpenters, electricians, and architects in his own neighborhood. As a result, he built a practical mindset early. That mindset shaped his approach to technology leadership long before he entered business. A curious...

Kobi grew up in Sydney around national parks, beaches, boats, and building sites. So, work never sat in a separate box from life. His father ran an architecture and construction business, and the family often joined site visits on weekends and holidays. That early exposure shaped how he saw business, responsibility, and momentum. He didn’t describe entrepreneurship as glamorous. Instead, he saw it...

We sat down with Jonathan Aberman to trace the roots of his entrepreneurial mindset. He shares how an unstructured childhood in Philadelphia shaped the way he thinks, creates, and adapts. That early freedom became the foundation for entrepreneurial resilience. He also reflects on growing up in a multicultural city, around artists, small business owners, and family instability. Because of that mix,...

We sat down with Allen Kopelman to trace a path shaped by family business, restaurant kitchens, and long-term entrepreneurship. Early on, he grew up around clothing stores, factory work, and old-school retail. As a result, he learned cash handling, customer service, and negotiation before adulthood. That background still shapes how he sees transparent pricing today. He explains how his parents inf...

We sit down with Darren Tompkins to trace the path from Salem, Virginia, to military service, college, and business ownership. He talks about growing up with financial strain, a painful divorce, and the pressure that shaped his early years. Yet he also explains how sports, movies, comics, and music gave him structure and relief. That context matters, because it laid the groundwork for his entrepre...

We sat down with Shuvam Bhaumik to trace the early forces that shaped his career path. He grew up in Brooklyn between Borough Park and Bay Ridge. So, he learned to adapt early. At first, he lived inside a largely Hasidic Jewish neighborhood. Later, he moved into a more mixed part of Brooklyn. Because of that shift, he saw how culture, community, and identity can shape a person. He also shared how...

Howard Lim takes us back to Santa Barbara, where he grew up with eight siblings after being born in Manitoba. He describes a loud, active home, yet he also explains how shy he felt as a kid. School often bored him. However, art gave him focus early. At five, finger painting showed him a path. Soon, teachers noticed his unusual sense of perspective and pushed his work forward. That early gift shape...

We sit down with Michelle Marks to trace the path from Los Angeles to New York. She shares a childhood shaped by freedom, creativity, and strong working parents. That early independence mattered. It taught her to solve problems, trust herself, and keep moving. You’ll hear how art school gave her direction, but also demanded real discipline. That foundation shaped her entrepreneur mindset. It also...