The People Playbook with Jason Taylor

In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast , Jason Taylor sits down with Matt Bell, CEO of Shelmerdine Garden Centre and founder of Geller's Design, to discuss what it takes to scale multiple businesses while keeping culture, leadership, and people at the heart of it all. Matt shares his journey from growing Gellers into Winnipeg’s largest residential landscape company to acquiring Shelme...

In this episode of The People’s Playbook Podcast , Jason Taylor sits down with Kellie Lefaive, CEO of Go Direct Solutions, to explore what it takes to lead effectively in fast-paced and ever-changing industries. Kellie shares her insights on staying calm amid chaos, aligning teams across multiple departments, and nurturing future leaders. She also opens up about her personal leadership journey, th...

In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast , Jason Taylor sits down with Lindsay Wilson, GM of Sales Ontario at Molson Coors, to dive into authentic leadership, building culture through momentum, and nurturing high-performing teams. Lindsay shares her journey through significant organizational change, how she fosters inclusion and cross-functional collaboration, and her framework for spotting...

How do you scale culture, lead through chaos, and keep people at the center? Tim Banick , President of Entegra Procurement Services Canada , joins Jason to share the leadership principles behind his 30+ year career across PepsiCo, Entegra, and beyond. We dig into self-awareness, creating psychological safety (“tops & flops”), leading large teams without silos, staying available to your people,...

On this episode of The People Playbook Podcast , host Jason Taylor sits down with Jason Wentzell - a Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist, past president of CAPhO, and founder of Extend Pharmacy - to explore how oncology expertise can be brought closer to home. Jason shares why community-based cancer care matters, how the Extend Cancer Pharmacy Network (ECPN) trains and supports independent pharmac...

What makes a culture durable - and a team unstoppable? Jason sits down with Jeff Clark (ex-President, Kitchen Partners; now President & CEO, Jeff Clark Consulting ) to unpack four decades of building high-performing teams in food manufacturing and multi-unit restaurant supply. Jeff shares the “get the best people” play, how to coach A-players and strugglers, leading through COVID, and why purp...

Maple Ridge Living’s president, Tim Sieders , joins Jason to unpack 20+ years of building a client-first construction company across landscaping, hardscape, and renovations in Southern Ontario. Tim shares the leadership plays behind scaling from a one-man operation to a 21-person team: hiring for character, creating real career paths, giving people ownership, open financials, and building trust th...

In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast , Jason Taylor sits down with Todd Belliveau , President of Primexecutive Inc. and former CEO of 214 Carson Company, to unpack over 40 years of leadership experience across the beverage, retail, and manufacturing sectors. Todd shares his 3P Leadership Model – Purpose, Passion, and Persistence , and explains how leaders can inspire belief, fuel intrins...

In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast , Jason Taylor sits down with Tony Gareri , CEO of Roma Moulding and self-proclaimed “Chief of WOW.” Tony shares how he built a culture where workplace happiness is a right, not a privilege - and why the true differentiator in today’s commoditized world is how you make people feel. From his lessons at Zappos to creating global all-hands meetings and m...

In this episode of The People Playbook , Jason Taylor sits down with veteran entrepreneur, leadership coach, and President of Landscape Ontario, Ed Hansen . From humble beginnings cutting neighbors’ lawns to leading a multimillion-dollar business and coaching CEOs across the country, Ed shares hard-earned lessons on leadership, resilience, and empowering people. You’ll hear stories about breaking...

In this episode of The People Playbook , host Jason Taylor sits down with Neil Nicholson, CEO of Powerhouse Controls, to talk about leading through trust, building teams that thrive under pressure, and creating a culture that scales with growth. With nearly three decades at Powerhouse and a career that took him from employee #5 to CEO of a global automation leader, Neil shares hard-earned lessons...

What does it take to invent not just a product, but an entirely new category? In this episode of The People’s Playbook , Jason sits down with Carmelo Marsala, Founder and CEO of Spray-Net - a home-improvement franchise that’s flipping the script on traditional painting. From student painter to quadruple patent holder, Carmelo shares how a scratched front door sparked a revolutionary idea, how he s...

What does it really take to build a company from scratch in a new country during a global crisis? In this episode of The People’s Playbook, host Jason Taylor sits down with Moatassem Moatez - TEDx speaker, Entrepreneur of the Year, and Founder & CEO of MyCourier Inc. - to unpack a story of hustle, empathy, and execution. Moatassem shares how he: Went from Uber-canceling job pitches to building...

In this episode of The People Playbook , host Jason Taylor sits down with Joe Salemi , Executive Director of Landscape Ontario, to explore what it really takes to lead with empathy, build high-performing teams, and create a culture that thrives -even when you're not in the room. Joe shares his personal journey from software to association leadership, what it means to step into the shoes of a...

In this powerful and candid conversation, George Croft- Senior Advisor at First Key Consulting and Non-Executive Board Member at BrewDog - joins Jason Taylor to reflect on a leadership journey that spans decades in the beverage industry. From his humble beginnings at Labatt to transforming Waterloo Brewing into a national player, George shares how persistence, people-first leadership, and radical...

In this episode of The People Playbook , I sit down with Steven Wright, President and CEO of Focus, to unpack one of the most common - and costly - misconceptions in sales: the belief that success comes from hiring the elusive sales “rockstar.” Steven shares how his team helps growth-minded business owners scale by installing systems, structure, and leadership that empower average performers to be...

In this episode of The People Playbook , host Jason Taylor sits down with John Evans - award-winning entrepreneur, proud millennial franchisor, and founder of EverLine Coatings. What started as a small pavement marking business in Calgary is now a $51M franchise network spanning North America. John shares how he scaled EverLine by mastering people leadership, building systems, and disrupting an ov...

What holds most leaders back isn’t strategy - it’s trust. In this episode of The People Playbook , Jason Taylor sits down with Jeremy Harvey - strategist, leadership coach, and former Unilever exec - to talk about how leaders can unlock momentum through better people decisions. From Oxford to the Middle East, from billion-dollar brands to peer groups in Canada, Jeremy’s leadership lens has been sh...

In this deeply insightful episode of The People Playbook , host Jason Taylor sits down with franchise veteran and culture-first leader, Brian Bazely. As the former CEO and co-founder of Driverseat, Brian shares the honest, behind-the-scenes story of leaving a high-paying executive role to chase the bold dream of building one of Canada’s most respected franchise brands. Together, they unpack: The e...