Building Blocks With Brendan Herjavec

Today I speak with Tariq Fancy, the former Chief Investment Officer for "Sustainable" Investing at BlackRock (2017-2019). BlackRock is a financial services firm with over $9 trillion in investments. After trying to improve Wall Street’s "green" initiatives from the inside, Tariq realized the idea of “green” was exploited for marketing and there was little social impact happening. Now Tariq is read...

Our skin is happiest when we are happy, so let’s start there! Caralyn is a Registered Holistic Nutrition Practitioner RHNP™ and Acne Expert. As a holistic skin coach, she empowers her clients to listen to their bodies and make tweaks to their lifestyle, skincare routine, mindset, and nutrition to clear their skin naturally. In this episode we talk about how Caralyn was able to make this business h...

Today I speak with Amer from TTT Studios. With the help of his team at TTT Studios, Amer launched Shop Studio Live. This Shopify App empowers brands to foster meaningful relationships with their customers while supercharging conversion rates through engaging live videos. Amer and I discuss how he developed a repeatable process to create new startups for his organization and how he brought Shop Stu...

In this episode I had the opportunity to speak with Max Lieberman to learn more about his story and his mission “We believe that education and empathy create a better workplace for all” . When entered the workforce he quickly realized that many companies lacked the knowledge on how to accommodate people with disabilities. Just like many entrepreneurs he saw a challenge he wanted to solve. Many com...

Math and beauty may not always go hand and hand, but Art AI has made this happen by training AI to develop art as if a human created it. Art AI that creates “Art made by Artificial Intelligence that Captures the Eye & the Mind” has allowed people, like me, to add one-of-a-kind artwork to their collections. In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ben, one of the three founders of A...

A picture can be worth a thousand words... or dollars. In this episode, we speak with Josh Carn-Saferstein from Birdhill Studio. Josh explains how he transformed a camera and hobby into a brand-focused business that works with some of the most exciting CPG companies. We speak about the differences between a professional shoot and an iPhone shoot and when to use each. The creative process may seem...

You may be wondering what Building Blocks is or curious about why I started it. On this special long weekend episode, I share a bit about me, how I got to where I am today, and what the future holds for the podcast. If you have been enjoying the podcast and have a guest recommendation feel free to send drop a message or leave a comment below.

This is a special episode as we speak with Adolphus Bassey, one of my best friends, one of the most hard-working people I know who not only promotes happiness but also elevates everyone around him. Growing up in Odukpani, Cross River State, Nigeria Adolphus found cybersecurity when trying to look for a niche to focus in as a software engineer he found consulting where he became the youngest manage...

The rumor is you can't have your cake and eat it too, but Susgrainable has figured out a way to drink your beer and eat it too. Susgrainable transforms beer "waste" into premium baked goods, including cookies, waffles, and banana bread. This beer “waste” should not be called waste at all as it’s the healthiest part of the grain; it is high in fiber, protein, and minerals. In this episode with Marc...

Kenny has started a variety of companies and organizations that include Kicksaw and SalesTO. Our conversation covers a variety of topics including unpaid internships, how to get the most out of a job, how to grow in a career, and how to better prepare to start a business. Most importantly we speak about how he was able to progress and build the skill needed to run a successful company. Our discuss...

This is a tasty episode! I spoke with Jake Karls from Mid-Day Squares to hear his story; his business has the potential to disrupt a billion dollar industry by making the First FUNCTIONAL Chocolate Bar. Running a business has become much more about branding along with the fantastic product. Jake goes over how he was able to build a viral brand that not only has helped the Mid-Day team grow, but ha...

It’s a bird, it's a plane, it's actually a reptile. During COVID many people were looking for companionship due to social isolation. From what I witnessed, COVID led to growth in the pet hobby industry, including exotic animal husbandry. I, myself, purchased a reptile during the lockdown. I learned quickly that one of the best YouTube channels to learn about reptiles is Wickens Wicked Reptiles; Ad...

Creating a healthy lifestyle can take money, time, and skill. At first thought, healthy eating and growing your own food sounds like a simple and easy idea, until you try it. From experience, I’ve tried buying the 5 dollar herb plants to make fresh sauces, but end up throwing the plants out after one use, as I was unable to keep them alive. Ava Byte, the smart garden, allows users to grow plants o...

In this episode we take a trip across the world to connect with Ben down in Australia. Ben started a company called Gecko, this company allows individuals to rent items for events, photo shoots and parties from people who have event items on hand (umbrellas, tents, speakers, etc). Therefore, people with event items or photo props on hand can make some extra cash. Ben and I spoke about how he was a...

Music transcends time and culture, as well as connects communities of people. By developing a self brand, you can turn any passion into a career and a living. When you think of networking, you may think of a suit and tie event with small appetizers and people shoulder bumping their way towards a VP of a company to engage in a brief conversation that may lead to an interview, if you say the right t...

Over the past few years, the mechanical keyboard hobby has exploded in popularity, due to platforms such as Twitch, Discord, and Reddit. Today I had the chance to speak with one of the leaders in the Canadian Mechanical Keyboard market, Vince, the founder of Apex Keyboards. Vince has made this hobby more assessable to people in Canada by taking his passion and developing not only a keyboard compan...

Plant based food is one of the fastest growing business in North America. If you were to have asked me 5 years ago what industries I thought would bring some of the biggest technological innovations, I would be hard pressed to predict it would be food related. With some of the most exciting IPOs coming out from plant-based companies, this podcast was a unique conversation of not only how Jeffery g...

Financial independence before 30, sounds like magic? What started off as one unit became over 60 units, a construction company, real-estate investments, as well as many other companies. Tyler opened my eyes to the benefits of running everything like a business despite the potential risks, as there are ways to mitigate risks. If you are someone looking to invest in real-estate (not only to live), b...

Biohacking has been on fire in recent years with the growth of tech billionaires and influencers looking for ways to optimize their lives and health.  In my chat with Brittany, we discussed many topics ranging from starting a brand, optimizing one’s health, as well as how she has used her following to develop a product to protect women from the harms of radiation.  While becoming a thoug...

In This episode we speak about how seaweed can help the world, or as I have labeled it “kelping the world”. Since I have known Matthias he has been looking at ways to better utilized the ocean and its resources to help the environment. In this episode we go over how he started from a single Idea and pivoted to another through his work getting closer to the problem. By utilizing the literal weed of...

A dynamic conversation about art the future and the benefits of the new hype of NFT’s. Jon is a unique artist who has worked with chainsaws, fire, reclaimed wood as well as canvas and digital. Being dynamic allowed him to explore all means of expression when he came across NFT’s. With all this hype around NFTs this conversation was eye-opening to see what the future brings from the artist's view....

This episode was a smashing good time speaking with Mira about how she took a small craft for a friend’s birthday and has transomed it into Smash Bash Cakes. In little less than a year with a mold and a tiny hammer, she has been able to sell over 100 cakes to very excited and happy customers all across the GTA. This goes to show that Mira is not only breaking cakes but breaking the bank by turning...