Chatter that Matters

Jon Love is one of the world's most successful and respected builders and leaders. Jon offers several 'drop the mic' insights and ideas in this podcast. (Bring pen and paper) Jon chooses the word OFFENSE, as his word that matters and shares how we can all apply this mindset to counter the relentless storm of negativity. Jon shares early memories of his father and why relationships breathe life int...

RELENTLESS matters to Sulemaan Ahmed In WORDS MATTERS, I interview people I admire and then ask them for the word that matters most and why. We then look at how this word influences their choices, their life and their career to discover life lessons we can all apply to help us get to where we need and deserve to go. In this episode, I chat with Sulemaan Ahmed, a gifted entrepreneur, a loving Fathe...

In my new series, I ask people that I admire, what word matters most to them.   It's a simple question but not one that's easy to answer.   In this episode, I chat with Anthony Longo, the CEO of Longo's, one of the most exciting food retailers on the planet.  Longos is a family business that treats everyone - their customers, employees, and vendors, like family.   Anthony talks about the Italian w...

Chat Bites are bite-sized podcasts.  In each one, I focus on a word and why I feel it matters to your life and livelihood. In this episode, I take you back to when I spent a qualifying year at Carlton University. I took an English Literature Course, and we studied Utopia and Dystopia. My end of term assignment was to write a short story on one world or the other. I had an idea that I wanted to exp...

What if what happens to you changes your life for the worse, twice, and forever? At age 27, Mitchell , a former US Marine, has a great job in San Francisco, achieved his first solo flight as part of his pilot training and is heading back home on his brand new motorcycle. Tragedy strikes when a truck sideswipes Mitchell, turning into a horrific accident where his gas tank explodes. Mitchell describ...

We didn't have a lot of money growing up or a family car, so sports was always pickup. It didn't shut down my imagination. Even under a streetlight in ball hockey, I was Guy Lafleur scoring the overtime goal or on a field, Joe Theismann throwing the winning pass. We played golf at the back of our high school with a course that included four holes and hours spent looking for balls the victim of err...

Lest we Forget, how can I forget what I can't imagine?  I watch war movies and documentaries, read books, but I have never seen, felt or experienced being in the military.  I can't imagine being in a combat situation, where you share a collective goal with your enemy, to kill or be killed.  Or your home is a trench of cold, wet mud, and your vista, a web of barbed wire with the same intention a sp...

How many of you have dreamed about making a significant life change. You might be holding a freshly printed lottery ticket, or on vacation immersing yourself in a new culture. Some might not have a choice as an unforeseen circumstance has impacted your or your families life. I know the Pandemic has motivated me to rethink and reprioritize what matters most. Today I meet up with the extraordinary B...

Is Destiny a matter of choice or chance?  Mark Henick has his first mental health crisis in Grade 6 and by Grade 8 he tried suicide for the first time. By age 15 Mark's life was like a Yo-Yo bouncing out of psychiatric wards, with treatment often involving a cocktail of drugs.  At Age 15 Mark's mental state was at a point where he felt he had only one choice and that was his Life or Death.  He cho...

In LIFE MATTERS , Tony Chapman counters the firehose of negativity that is impacting our lives and careers, with positive stories of ordinary people, who despite their circumstances do extraordinary things. In doing so we learn life lessons that we can apply. What would you do if you were Orlando Bowen ?  Orlando was a professional CFL football player whose career, and almost life ended by being i...

Entrepreneurs are optimists by nature. They find opportunities everywhere and want to do it all. But even the most driven entrepreneurs need to have the discipline to prioritize and focus on what will drive their business forward. Fatima Zaidi has always been one to watch. She was born in Oman, with all the cultural norms and expectations of a Middle Eastern woman. Yet, regardless of circumstance,...

Paul Rivett-Carnac's parents met on a herbalist walk on Vancouver Island in the late 1970s. That walk led them to pursue a lifetime passion for healing rooted in nature.  Together they moved to Ontario and St Francis Herb Farm was born. What began as a business selling herbs and tinctures to Naturopaths and Health Food Stores has grown into a family-owned business that is truly a farm, to having i...

If you believe that Canada can't compete in the design and creation of wonderful garments, then I encourage you to listen to this episode. And if you ever question the value of immigration, then I suggest you listen to it twice. For everyone else, get ready for some goosebumps, and some incredible advice from one of the worlds thought leaders on fashion, Jeanne Beker , as well as David Kincaid , a...

Electrify your day by listening to the story of Connie Stacey  who calls herself a Mad Scientist and for a good reason. Connie is an inventor with a brain, burning to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. In this episode, we look at her Grengine , a solar-powered generator that addresses energy poverty. One-seventh of the world lives without power, and cooks and heats with biomass fuel...

Patrice Mousseau , First Nations, single Mom, watching her eight-month-old daughter scratch her arms and legs until they were bloody. The only prescription the Doctor offered to help with her daughter's eczema was a steroid cream, something Patrice didn't want to do. So Patrice researched and identified five natural and organic ingredients that could help. Her research proved right and within two...

Joe Parenteau is one of the co-founders of Vancouver based startup Fable. They want to become a world-renowned direct to the consumer brand, that sells dinner plates and cutlery, and eventually other accessories for your home. Finding and acquiring customers is crucial, but it is both challenging and expensive in a crowded marketplace. Our three thought leaders have different opinions about Fable'...

Wonderkind brings unique & tailored gifts right to your door. They represent over one-hundred and twenty Made in Canada businesses, support communities, empower female entrepreneurs & spread kindness. One gift at a time.   Now that's some kind of wonderful. Or is it? Is it possible that all of this good is complicating Wonderkind's offering and making it harder for the consumer to buy? Are the fou...

As a mother, Sheri Allain wondered why there wasn't more focus on STEM for children, especially girls and why her children's school had nights devoted to drama, music, arts and crafts, but not one on technology. So Sheri created CODEZILLA to provide hands-on coding classes, camps and parties, and lunch and after school programs for kids ages 4 - 14. And Sheri's business takes off as she isn't the...

Thirty thought leaders step up with profound insights, compelling ideas, and much-needed and deserved inspiration to help small business owners get to where they need and deserve to go. In Series One, Small Business Matters personalized the stories of 10 small business owners so that we take their dreams and challenges personally.   Why? Small business is the heart of our economy, and it is in our...

Meet the Heroes of Small Business Matters Series One. Each week, during the darkest days of COVID-19, we produced a podcast featuring a small business owner, and three thought leaders who help them get to where they need and deserve to go. All made possible through the incredible support of RBC. We went remotely across Canada to explore many sectors of our economy. We talked to startups, establish...

Sheena Russell is the co-founder of Made with Local, and her story will inspire anyone who wants to be their own boss, and act on their beliefs and values.
 Made with Local sources local ingredients and then works with social enterprises to employ people who have barriers to the mainstream workforce. When COVID hits, the government orders this 'high risk' segment of the population into isolation,...

Jeanne Beker , one of the world's leading fashion authorities, Sabrina Geremia , Head of Google Canada, and Lolita Guerrera , VP of RBC Retail, are the experts in this episode.  They offer powerful advice to co-founder Francois Theriault on how to reposition Surmesur , an innovative, personality led tech-enabled made-to-measure men's wear retail chain, to compete in a post COVID economy. Two of th...

If you want to be swept away in a story about resilience, reinvention and catching dreams, this episode is for you. Then combine it with compelling advice from three experts, Robert Carter ,  Chris Barrett and Duke McKenzi e on how to engage the head, heart and wallets of customers. It is appointment listening for anyone wanting a post-COVID comeback. Ernesto Gomez is a first-generation Canadian w...

Jennifer Menard's life has been about reinvention, regardless of her circumstance. She openly shares her life story growing up in a broken home but perseveres to become a successful entrepreneur. She found her path through a mentor who employed her and then subsequently encouraged her to buy the business she helped build.  She rebrands, brings in a partner and Staff Shop  is now staffing events ac...

After a five-year stint with Sesame Streets Labs in New York, and getting her Masters in Education at Harvard , Carly Shuler returns to Canada. She creates Hootreading.com . Why? Carly knows that kids who love to read will spend a lifetime loving to learn. Hootreading.com matches students with real teachers, and with Carly's proprietary technology and teaching methods, her business takes off. Her...