Success Leaves Clues with Robin Bailey and Al McDonald

Ed Ligonde, Vice President, Employee Benefits & Technology, Nielsen Benefits Group is known as an innovative and forward-thinking partner amongst his clients, colleagues and business partners. Ed believes that as a benefits adviser, he is in unique position to positively impact the employee and employer experience and enhance it in innovative ways. He has received numerous recognitions and awa...

Leah Carr, speaker, advisor, strategy & operations leader and CEO at tilr™ has extensive experience in bringing new products to market, as well as hiring and growing teams. Her passion for workforce development is the reason she chose to join tilr™, a platform that allows organizations to reliably hire and develop highly skilled talent. They believe that any hire can achieve in their role...

Robin & Al enjoy a conversation with Lauren Mina, Associate Director of Finance & Operations at Blueprint, a non-profit, mission driven research organization dedicated to improving the social and economic well-being of Canadians by helping their clients solve complex public policy challenges. Lauren works with a diverse team of professionals, with backgrounds that span the non-profit, publ...

Joining Robin & Al is Greg Van Slyke, Director of Business Development at Inkblot Therapy.  Greg has over 15 years’ experience in the mental health industry joining Inkblot in May 2020.  Inkblot is a digital mental health platform aiming to improve your mental health at home, work and beyond. He is both proud & passionate of the fact that Inkblot makes such a positive d...

Rich Appiah is a lawyer and the principal of Appiah Law | Employment + Labour Counsel. He provides expert strategic counsel and legal representation in the area of human resources law to small and enterprise-scale businesses, as well as to managers and senior executives. Rich has been practicing employment law for over 16 years and was a partner at a downtown firm for many years before he fou...

We are joined by guest John Mitropoulos, President of technology company Vocantas, providing interactive voice and communication solutions in order to help their clients improve scheduling. With expertise in product development, sales, marketing and customer service, John is a strategic, customer focused leader, who has been successful in increasing profitability through the development and delive...

A People Ops Leader with a passion for tech startups, Diandra Forde has a history of helping companies scale. Spending her career in high-growth companies combined with a CHRP designation has contributed to making her the well-rounded People person she is today. She is responsible for the entire employee lifecycle, with a focus on recruitment, learning & development, as well as contributing to...

Robin & Al welcome guest Nadia Ghani to the podcast. Nadia is a detail-oriented Human Resources Generalist who values commitment and exudes a passion for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), as well as accessibility strategies. She is committed towards learning and ensuring that everyone counts. Her Why? To give back in meaningful & impactful ways. Nadia believes that growing up in Ban...

Robin & Al welcome guest Cathy Minh, CHRL , a highly motivated HR professional with diverse and progressive HR experience. Cathy is currently the Manager of People Operations & Talent at Opencare.com , a web-based platform that helps patients find dentists in their area and helps dentists grow their practice by matching them with new patients. Known as an innovative problem-solver who has...

We welcome guest Cerys Cook, Chief People Officer at Swift Medical, a rapidly scaling medical technology company in Toronto. She shares her career journey from professional chef to the field of HR and her philosophy to always be the hardest working person in the room by being your best self every single day. She also expresses her passion for the vast and brilliant opportunities she & her team...

Robin & Al are joined by Registered Holistic Nutritionist (R.H.N.), Ciara Morin, who has a love of functional nutrition & a passion for helping clients make small changes that have the greatest impact to their health. She strives to inspire, teach & coach people to reach their health goals in a sustainable & enjoyable way, no matter the challenges may face. Ciara is also the Founde...

There is a concerning shortage of care workers across the United States and Canada, the impact of which is felt every day by care providers, care workers, and those in need of care. So there is one question that guides Christian Alaimo, Co-founder & COO at Caribou ...“How can we help care organizations find quality care workers and keep the good ones they have?” Caribou , a game-changing digit...

Robin & Al welcome guests Hannah Yardley, Chief People and Culture Officer and Kristy Jones, Senior Director, Employee Success from Achievers , two passionate Human Resources Leaders building high-performing teams through innovative HR solutions.  Hannah & Kristy discuss their own HR success stories as part of Achievers, a cloud-based employee engagement platform that enables compan...

Kerris Hougardy, Head of People at Automated Brand Interaction company Ada, is coach, mentor and manager to a high performing team of human resources professionals and oversees all aspects of people strategy with a focus on strategic business partnerships, talent acquisition, talent management, employee experience, employment brand championship, diversity & inclusion and continuous process imp...

Laura Alfano Victoria, MHRM, Vice President, Global Talent Acquisitions, Vena Solutions, has more than 20 years of talent acquisition (TA) experience from Fortune 500 companies. She is a strategic, results-driven Human Resources professional who is passionate about investing in younger generations in order to overcome the challenges when it comes to supply and demand for labour. In todays cur...

The face of transportation continues to change with an influx of new carriers, improvements in technology, new regulations and cross border restrictions, making it imperative that both shippers and receivers educate themselves on the liabilities and responsibilities of choosing a reputable carrier. Richard Lande, Ph. D., LL.L., Attorney at Lande Langford, has during the past forty years of profess...

Jim Koutroubis, Associate Owner at Crozier Consulting Engineers is a professional engineer with over 31 years of experience in consulting engineering, municipal engineering, public works, and environmental services. He emphasizes the importance of effective communication and collaboration while providing an entrepreneurial business style and results oriented leadership. Jim is also the proud recip...

Al & Robin welcome guests David Love & Michael Westover, Partners at boutique firm Nacora Insurance Group, a global leader in insurance and risk management services, offering the expertise and reliability to provide clients with innovative solutions. Dave and Mike discuss the key products, unique offerings and most importantly the personal touch they bring to the table that separate Nacora...

We welcome Lorena Scott, People & Culture Leader and Scale Up Advisor with a no nonsense “get stuff done mentality” who shares her passion for start ups and mentoring teams in growth stage companies. Lorena's drive to learn and push outside her comfort zone has helped shape an endless professional curiosity in a world that never stops evolving. Brought to you by Aria Benefits and Life & Le...

We welcome guest Shea Balish, CEO & Co-founder at Curv Health, one of Canada's leading virtual healthcare platforms that connects employers and insurance carriers to a range of healthcare providers while empowering health professionals to treat more people than they otherwise could through a traditional clinic. Shea is a noted speaker on topics related to human nature, sports, and health...

We welcome returning guest Paul Gaudette, Co-Founder & CEO at Dig Insights, helping businesses turn consumer, category & brand insights into growth strategies. DIG continues to be one of the fastest growing consumer insights companies in Canada, and has been recognized as one of the most innovative research companies globally. Paul discusses the core elements of their organizatio...

With a passion for both marketing and technology, Marie Chevrier is a young entrepreneur who is Founder & CEO at Sampler, an end-to-end digital sampling SaaS, that has transformed the way consumer packaged goods companies distribute their promotional offers. The platform was developed with the goal of helping consumer brands create loyal customers through a targeted sampling strategy. Sampler...

Robin & Al welcome guest Cameron Howieson, Co-founder and CEO at Opencare.com, a web-based platform that provides a curated network of top-rated dentists across North America who are committed to delivering world class oral wellness. Opencare is on a mission to untangle healthcare! They are passionate believers that preventive care is the best path to optimal health, and ensure getti...

At just 25 years of age, Swish Goswami, CEO at data intelligence company Surf, has taken the business world by storm having been named Plan Canada’s Top 20 under 20 and Bay Street Bull’s 30 under 30, recognized as Startup Canada’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year and awarded the United Nation’s Outstanding Youth Leadership award. He is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and investor as well...

Robin & Al welcome special guest Howard Chang, serial entrepreneur & Co-founder at start-up marketing innovator theturnlab. After 25 years leading Top Drawer Creative Inc., Howard pivoted to become the co-founder of what he believes is a new model of agency at the nexus of marketing, culture and technology. He shares his entrepreneurial journey and relates how he has built a stro...