The Business B-Side

Disclaimer: This episode includes a sensitive conversation about mental health and suicidal thoughts, shared with the intention of hope and healing. Listener discretion is advised. This episode reflects personal experience, not medical advice. In this conversation, Kim Westlund interviews Quan Ly, an entrepreneur and mindset coach, who shares his journey from corporate life to founding McRally, a...

In this conversation, Kim Westlund interviews Glenn Street, the founder of Street Characters, who shares his journey of building a successful mascot company and his new venture in the coffee industry. Glenn discusses the importance of vision, mission, and organizational culture in driving success, as well as the impact of his new coffee brand, Change is Good, which aims to support communities in n...

We are diving into the subject of financial health; it's more than having a great retirement plan and the right budget or insurance (which we all know are important). Financial health is just one component to success and Dustin Serviss shares how having the right mindset and perspective around money are critical, and even how having too much focus on money can affect important relationships. I app...

Our businesses are online and digital — why aren't our business cards? George El-Hage, Founder at Wave , has created a digital business card, something probably long overdue for most of us when you really stop and think about it. Our conversation goes way beyond the awesome products he has available, to the importance of betting on yourself. George shares his story and humble beginnings of sleepin...

Have you ever felt misaligned with your purpose? Trying to make things happen in your business that should feel right but doesn't? Chances are your purpose has been left behind, ignored or side-tracked. Join us for this in-depth discussion on the importance of aligning purpose with your big life goals. Kyle Craik is the passionate owner of The Wellness Dojo where he and his team of wellness expert...

"I'm not done creating. I'm not done exploring. Terminator isn't the finish line." - Vanisha Vanisha Breault founded Terminator Foundation with the hopes of helping those struggling with addictions, trauma and mental health issues. And that's exactly what she's done. Because she has built such a successful company doing such important work, she thought that was what she'd be doing forever. After a...

Ren Crawshaw is the owner and founder of Palehorse , a sustainable western fashion brand that believes in quality over quantity. Ren is also living the western lifestyle on a farm, a longtime dream of hers, which is now very much a reality. But this dream didn't come without challenges along the way. Like many entrepreneurs, Ren found herself taking a long detour to get to where she is, and even s...

Stephen & Melissa Ramkissoon are a dynamic couple raising 3 incredible girls and also the founders of Marketing Guardians , a successful marketing agency in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  We take a deep dive into this couple's leadership as a whole and how the values they landed on as a family has been an integral part of how they run their business day to day. Their approach to servant leadership...

Ron Bettin , President of Aducco Inc. and Co-Founder of ResourceYYC Coworking joins me to share his story of his career transition when an unexpected accident happened on a trip with his son. The last thing Ron could have ever dreamt of was breaking his neck on an ATV in the sand dunes, and from there started a journey of recovery and an entrepreneurial adventure he had no script for. Ron talks ca...

On this episode, Frank Lonardelli, Founder, President & CEO of Arlington Street Investments joins me for a candid discussion about leadership, his success as an investment entrepreneur and the wisdom he gleaned from a family of strong Italian women.  Frank has SO many quotable statements in this conversation. He shares what his biggest struggle has been as an entrepreneur, some thoughts and in...

"I still have coats in my closet from when I was in high school.... [laughing ensues]. I'm not someone who chases fashion that often." — Amish It was such a pleasure sitting down with my friend Amish, who takes us on his personal journey of starting a brand new apparel company, Pluto Apparel . It's an inspiring and unique lifestyle brand that celebrates everyone's journey, but he also describes hi...

Jesus Vargas, Founder & CEO of LowCode Agency based in Miami, FL, gives us the rundown on building low cost and time-saving apps for entrepreneurs and small business owners. At one time, this option was only available for large corporations, but thanks to some low and no code innovation, even the smallest of companies can take advantage of automating their business offerings through an app! Th...

In this 2nd episode of The Deep Cuts Series, we hear the B-Side story of Jayda Smith, who at only 21 years of age founded The Daughter Creative Co. Jayda is the daughter of Kim Westlund, the Founder of The Business B-Side podcast (featured in the 1st episode) and this story is personal and one you won't want to miss. Jayda spent 6 years (again, she's only 21) training and getting her red seal desi...

Who thought documentation and productivity could be a sexy topic? I certainly didn't until I sat down with Adrienne Bellehumeur, Founder of Risk Oversight to discuss how her research and years of personal experience on the subject changed how she approached mundane tasks in the most effective way. In Adrienne's words, "I used 'The 24 Hour Rule' to turn my own career around". I wanted to hear more!...

We don't always draw an obvious line between creativity and networking, but when I met Jan Eden, I was taken aback at her ability to connect with her clients. In a time where so many business owners are desperately trying to grab hold of new ideas for how to authentically reach their audience, Jan stands out in the crowd with proven, time-tested strategies she implemented early on and still uses t...

In this first episode in the Deep Cuts series, Kim Westlund, Founder of The Business B-Side podcast shares her own real and raw B-Side story.  Kim spent many years navigating the challenges of single-parenting, building a successful career and trying to understand her own identity in the middle of it all. There were many rock-bottom moments to climb out of, from being divorced twice at a young age...

Lisa Gareau , Founder at Candy Event Consulting and The Connection Architect , joins me for an impactful discussion on how she is trail-blazing a brand new program focused on next-level connections. This is for anyone looking to up-their-game and create more meaningful events! Lisa starts by sharing how her journey into entrepreneurship began despite some challenging circumstances in her personal...

Nic Beique is the Founder of Helcim , a fast-growth payments processing company in Calgary, Canada and is on a mission to be the world's most loved payments company.  Now, imagine you were joining a traveling circus and you needed some kind of manual to tell you how to succeed...this is how Nic describes his desire to create an operating guide for his company to thrive. Recently, Nic publicly rele...

Jason Bacon , Founder of Sunstone Strategic shares his personal and unlikely story of entrepreneurship and how he overcame his unknown struggle with ADHD. Describing his thought patterns, "It's like controlling a Ferrari engine with bicycle brakes." Jason describes his early attempt at business in the 5th grade selling tadpoles (yes, you read that right) to his 8 year old friends until the governm...

Paul Boucher is a bilingual voice actor and the Founder of The Right Voice Communications Inc .   In this episode of The Business B-Side, Paul shares his backstory on growing up in Eastern Canada as a French-speaking Canadian, eventually finding more opportunities using his voice in English. A move to Western Canada landed Paul in radio and the start of a career which would lead him back to his ro...

Joel & Alisha Olandesca are the co-founders of SOS Charging Solutions and SOS Web AR . Alisha also recently launched her new business during COVID, Creekside Fractional CFO . In this episode of The Business B-Side,  Joel & Alisha discuss their personal challenges of running multiple businesses together while balancing family life and the pivots they had to make just to survive the financia...