Power of Why with Naomi Haile

I'm curious: do your passions and hobbies — seemingly unconnected to your career — give you an unexpected professional edge? Growing up, Mona loved nothing more than donning her dad's old headphones and immersing herself in his record collection for hours. She had a deep affection for the arts, theatre, and the craft of writing. Nevertheless, she decided to pursue a career as a Certified P...

When you plant a seed, you wait to reap the benefits. In some cases, you don't see it for years. But does that mean you shouldn't plant that seed? ⁠Jennifer⁠ disagrees. From her teenage years juggling multiple part-time jobs to studying accounting— though not her passion—it provided the exposure and access to creativity she lived for. At 18, she worked at the Biological Sciences Institute,...

“Never give up on yourself” – These were the words Angela Ashawasegai repeated to herself for years. They became her mantra, helping her find and build her inner strength. Angela was removed from her mother at birth and was placed into the child welfare system. Throughout her tumultuous childhood, she had no safe place to call home. From surviving abuse and homelessness, Angela emerged as her hero...

In a landscape where barriers often overshadow opportunities… Mary Yazdani is curious about impactful results. Drawing insights from those who have successfully carved paths before her, she studied their strategies and implemented the advice that worked. At the age of 32, she started a new life in Canada with her family. Leveraging her expertise and resourcefulness in navigating unfamiliar terrain...

Relationships are key. Through experience, you've sharpened your problem-solving skills, infused love into your creative self, and deepened your leadership acumen. Yet, these strengths may not always be apparent on paper… It's about transforming your most vital skills to your next opportunity. Keira Torkko ⁠ has consistently demonstrated this throughout her 25-year career across various se...

Recognized as a “fixer” in the business world, ⁠Susan Odle⁠ has played a significant role in the lives of leaders grappling with complex problems through hands-on transformational change. How? By adopting the Successful Change Mindset. With a gift of discerning patterns in a business and amplifying what works, Susan’s latest entrepreneurial venture, ⁠8020CS⁠ , and book, ⁠Successful Change⁠ , are e...

Joanna Cooper began playing the cello in fourth grade, started reading at the age of two, perhaps her journey was destined to be great, as she curiously embraced intelligence of different forms. Today, Joanna is Daimler Truck North America's General Manager in Mount Holly. She leads an amazing team of over 1,700 staff to produce Freightliner M2 and SD Plus medium-duty trucks. As a transformati...

Daniel P. Calderon, Brooklyn native, holds the roles of President of Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow (EOT) and owner of #WFHStudio. As Daniel beautifully states, "When one is able to create space, whether virtual or in real life, they are, in fact, catalyzing creativity, which I believe leads to real solutions. That's what I want my life's work to be about." Through Daniel’s illustriou...

Adeola Adejobi moves mountains and touches hearts with her vision and efforts to create long-lasting economic impact. Her mission is clear: to connect Black individuals with information that has the power to reshape the trajectory of their economic mobility and that of their families. As a multi-faceted human being, Adeola is an attorney, entrepreneur, speaker. She is also the visionary founder an...

What ever happened to job security? From the Great Resignation to mass layoffs, workers are struggling to find their fit in this ever-changing market.  To succeed, shift gears. Focusing not on your next job but your career instead, you’ll gain the skills, network and experience to reach your most audacious goals — no matter where you work.  Certified Career Coach, Resume Strategist, Founder of WeA...

How will you be remembered? When her parents suddenly passed away, 11-year-old Thusha saw how their devotion to others kept them alive — an unquenchable force, multiplied in the hearts they touched. Today she carries their torch, seeking spaces where her impact can grow. Building engineering teams at BlackBerry and Magnet Forensics. Advocating for diverse representation in tech. Mentoring the next...

Building a business is a team sport. You’ve got the CEO’s vision, the product team’s execution, and marketing working with sales to attract and retain customers. But when an unstable market threatens the stakes? That’s where Michelle Scarborough comes in. Leading two of the world’s largest venture funds supporting women-led tech businesses — as Managing Partner of BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund...

Bullied, mixed-race, and living in poverty, many told a young Bree Jamieson-Holloway that hers was an uphill battle too formidable to overcome. So she turned inward. Heartened by her grandmother’s motto to “push on, regardless,” she crafted a vision that would anchor her life’s work: travelling the world, starting a family, and helping people. Now a published author, mother, equity champion, inter...

Mass layoffs. The climate crisis. Springing, starry-eyed, from a global pandemic only to find a recession stalking our shadow. Are we lurching towards The End? Or, as impact entrepreneur and angel investor Victoria Xu sees it, are we gearing up for The Next Leap? Decarbonizing heavy industry with deep tech prodigy CleanInnoGen , investing in future-focused startups, and empowering everyone to join...

Under the careful heat of calculated risk, Shea Cole — growth marketer, brand builder, mentor, mom and VP of one of Canada’s fastest growing companies, Field Effect — has forged her own path. Leaving her beloved small town to explore the world. Pursuing an MBA despite being “bad at math.” Scaling health tech darling Fullscript’s less than 30-person team to over 1,000 employees. Choosing to grow he...

Sherrell Dorsey is the founder and CEO of The Plug —a digital news and insights platform covering the Black innovation economy. Her work has been featured in VICE , The Washington Post , Seattle Times , The Information , and more. Sherrell has been a contributing writer for notable publications like Columbia Journalism Review , Fast Company , Black Enterprise , and others. In 2018, she was named a...

Dimple Thomas wants you to embrace the opportunity in uncertainty. As an Engineering Manager in Ericsson’s Cloud RAN Systems-DevOps, she does just that—with an eye to creating a high-speed, -bandwidth and low latency future where Zoom calls might be replaced by life-sized holograms of your loved ones. Committed to building systems that truly serve everyone, Dimple has also dedicated herself to emp...

Data, machine learning and AI augments impact across sectors, creating life changing technologies that transform how we live, work and play. But to drive meaningful change, we need equitable representation among the leaders driving its evolution. That's why Solmaz Shahalizadeh , Shopify's former Head of Data Science and Engineering, became a Founding Partner of Backbone Angels: investing in women...

Repeat after me: Anti-colonial models are not radical. With her diverse team of experts, Co-founder and CEO of Archipel Research and Consulting Inc. Sabre Pictou Lee is harnessing them to help organizations change for the better. A highly acclaimed Indigenous speaker, trainer, liaison and researcher, Sabre’s company has supported the Canada Council for the Arts, Assembly of First Nations and Globa...

Touching the most complex organ in the human body, concussion treatment continues to evolve as experts learn more about the workings of our brain—to mitigate the debilitating, long-term consequences of mistreatment. That’s why Dr. Ashleigh Kennedy co-founded health-tech startup Neurovine AI: combining deep tech, machine learning and the art of neuroscience to empower concussion patients and optimi...

She started her career on Broadway before founding fashion startup Kania Couture Inc., whose designs were showcased at New York Fashion Week, World Mastercard fashion week, and project Las Vegas. Today, Stacey Martin is the founder of Canadian luxe loungewear company Stacey Martin Lifestyle, at the intersection of sustainability, comfort and style. Stacey joined us to share the greatest lessons sh...

Sergio Ezama is Netflix’s Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). He recently joined the team in September 2021. Previously, Sergio served in several HR leadership roles at PepsiCo, and spent 20 years exploring many learning opportunities. In this episode, Sergio delves into some of his HR, life, and work. He also speaks to the culture of freedom and accountability at Netflix. And one of my favourit...

African American buying power in the United States well exceeds $1.2 trillion annually, as reported by Nielson in 2018 . A demographic often overlooked by businesses and brands, Anthony’s company, ABF Creative is storytelling for this audience and has seen incredible growth doing so. Not only that, Anthony expresses that the gap his company fills in the marketplace, creating multicultural content,...

Mutiat Bello is a real estate wealth strategist and soon-to-be private lender, and developer. Mutiat is doing this work with the purpose of understanding what longevity in the real estate space looks like , having choice and ownership over your time, passing down wealth to your children, and her family members. Mutiat is a mother, she loves to travel and is on a mission to helping you understand a...

Trishala Pillai is an Indian-Canadian, born & raised in the Middle East, and she currently lives in the US. Over the past 5+ years, she has contributed to building some of North America's avant-garde, leading social technology start-ups/scale-ups with her skills in new product development, research, business strategy & development. Currently, she is a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon Un...