The Founder Mindset

In this live finale episode, Leah Sarich sits down with Brian Ford of ATB Financial, Ashley Gallant of Artemis Canada, and Brad Parry of Calgary Economic Development and the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund for a wide-ranging conversation about the support systems that help Founders build lasting companies. Together, they unpack how banking, executive hiring, ecosystem design, and strategic inv...

David de Graaf never intended to become a biotech Founder, but a confluence of circumstances led him from academia into the startup world. A geneticist by training, David shares how financial needs and a desire for more agility in scientific application prompted his shift into industry. He likens big pharma to freight trains (efficient but hard to steer) and highlights the appeal of startups as ni...

In this episode of The Founder Mindset , Leah Sarich sits down with Natasha Kostenuk, Co-Founder and CEO of Ayrton Energy, a climate tech company revolutionizing hydrogen storage and transportation. Natasha discusses her transition from mechanical engineering to entrepreneurship, her early career in oil and gas, and how identifying a gap in hydrogen storage sparked the founding of Ayrton. Together...

Founder and CEO of Nia Health, Sameer Dhar, is on a mission to radically change how Canadians manage their health. In this episode, Sameer talks about starting a successful charity in high school, building his first startup Sensassure in eldercare tech, and how the lessons from that venture shaped his newest company, Nia Health. Leah and Sameer explore how proactive diagnostics, affordable subscri...

Dietitian-turned-Founder Loreen Wales never planned to become an entrepreneur. But after years of watching patients struggle with preventable chronic diseases, she knew something had to change. That conviction led her to build My Viva, a clinical-grade lifestyle platform designed to transform the way people manage their health. In this episode, Loreen shares how she turned frustration into innovat...

Benjamin Kemp’s journey to Ambyint reflects his drive to be a change agent. From global tech firms like Oracle and Xerox to entrepreneurial companies, he’s now leading Ambyint in building the future of sustainable oil and gas. Inside Ambyint, he explains their claim to fame: autonomous control of 10,500+ wells with no human in the loop, combining physics models and machine learning to optimize pro...

In this episode of The Founder Mindset , we talk with Sabina Bruehlmann, Co-Founder and CEO of Nimble Science. Sabina takes us through her entrepreneurial journey—from an unexpected hallway collision during her PhD to launching companies in spine research, sleep technology, and now precision medicine. With candor and humor, she shares how stubbornness (or tenacity, as her supervisor put it) has be...

In this episode, we talk to Dan Balaban, Co-Founder and CEO of Greengate, about how bold vision and perseverance shaped one of Canada’s most impactful renewable energy companies. Dan shares how he and his team developed the largest wind and solar projects in Canadian history, often in the heart of oil country, and why going big from the start was the key to success. He reflects on pivotal moments,...

In this episode, Jana Tian opens up about what it takes to build a robotics startup from the ground up. As the Co-Founder of Upside Robotics, Jana is on a mission to make farming more sustainable and efficient using small, in-field robots that apply fertilizer with surgical precision. Think Roombas for cornfields. Her company is helping solve major agricultural challenges, from climate change to l...

What does it take to move from treating brain aneurysms in the operating room to founding a medtech company that could transform how these conditions are treated worldwide? In this episode of The Founder Mindset , Leah Sarich sits down with Dr. John Wong, neurosurgeon and CEO of Fluid Biomed, to explore this remarkable journey. John shares how his partnership with Co-Founder Dr. Alim Mitha led to...

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, host Leah Sarich speaks with Catalina Vasquez, Co-Founder and COO of Nanostics. Catalina opens up about her unexpected journey into entrepreneurship, from working in labs in Colombia to moving to Canada and building a biotech company that is reshaping prostate cancer diagnosis. She discusses the origin and evolution of Nanostics’ flagship product, ClarityDX...

In this candid and inspiring conversation, James Rockwood, the Founder and CEO of CapIntel, takes us on a journey from childhood career dreams to leading a fintech company that empowers over 20,000 financial advisors across North America. CapIntel helps wealth management professionals explain complex investment products with clarity and confidence, a mission rooted in James’ belief that trust and...

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, host Leah Sarich sits down with Nivatha Balendra, Founder and CEO of Dispersa. What started as a high school science fair project exploring ways to clean oil spills grew into a clean tech company transforming food waste into sustainable biosurfactants. Today, Dispersa is pioneering alternatives to petroleum and palm-derived ingredients found in everyday prod...

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Leah speaks with Remi Schmaltz, serial Founder and CEO of Brilliant Harvest, an AI-powered help desk for farm equipment dealers. From a childhood of deal-brokering snowmobile trades at 13, to selling his last company to TELUS, Remi’s journey is a study in entrepreneurial instinct, deep industry knowledge, and building lasting relationships. He shares how his...

In this episode of The Founder Mindset , host Leah Sarich speaks with Erin Bury, Co-founder and CEO of Willful, an online estate planning platform. Erin shares her journey from journalism school to entrepreneurship, explaining how her husband Kevin's family tragedy became the spark for launching Willful. Erin opens up about the mindset shift that helped her believe she could found a company, even...

In this conversation, Leah Sarich welcomes Hanif Joshaghani, Co-Founder and CEO of Symend, a Calgary-based FinTech using behavioral science and AI to improve customer engagement. Hanif shares how his entrepreneurial roots trace back to hustling in high school, his time in investment banking, and the vision that led him to launch Symend. Hanif discusses the challenges of scaling, including mistakes...

In this episode, Joella Almeida of MedEssist reveals how a simple realization that patient questions are a sign of trust, sparked her journey to radically shift the role of pharmacies. What began with late nights coding Shopify sites evolved into a tech platform that now supports over 650 pharmacies across North America. MedEssist is not just digitizing healthcare, it’s changing how and where peop...

In this episode, we talk with Benjamin Alarie, Co-Founder and CEO of Blue J, about his unusual journey from academia into entrepreneurship. Ben shares how a curriculum reform project at the University of Toronto Law School sparked his vision for a tool that could massively accelerate tax research. That idea became Blue J, an AI platform now used by thousands of firms across North America and the U...

These are honest, revealing conversations about what it truly takes to create something meaningful. If you want to understand the Founder experience from the inside out, listen now. The Founder Mindset is Sponsored By: ATB API Artemis OCIF — Contact Thin Air Labs:  Website: ThinAirLabs.ca LinkedIn: Thin Air Labs X: Thin Air Labs YouTube: Thin Air Labs Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See...

In this bonus episode, Leah sits down with Dr. Christy Lane, Co-Founder of Flora, an InsurTech company revolutionizing fertility insurance and women’s health discussions. Dr. Lane shares her entrepreneurial journey, from her early research in wearable technology at the University of Michigan to founding Vivametrica, a health data analytics company later acquired by TELUS.  Inspired by her own expe...

In this bonus episode of The Founder Mindset, Leah sits down with Dr. Amreesh Khanna, Founder of OraQ, a groundbreaking dental AI company. Dr. Khanna shares his journey and past struggles as an entrepreneur building not one but two thriving dental clinics despite having to persevere and rebuild the first after a devastating Calgary flood.  His experience creating these businesses, solving problems...

In this season two finale, recorded for a live audience, host Leah Sarich dives into the critical role of ecosystem support in driving the success of tech startups, featuring insights from a panel of dynamic leaders. Terry Rock, CEO of Platform Calgary, starts the discussion by highlighting their efforts in connecting innovators with capital and resources, supporting over 600 tech companies throug...

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Amaan Banwait, Co-Founder and Chief Commercialization Officer at PurposeMed, takes us through his journey from a management consultant to a healthcare-focused leader with the Clinton Foundation to Co-Founder of PurposeMed. He explains how each of PurposeMed’s brands serve different underserved communities, including Freddie—which supports HIV prevention, Fri...

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Jeff Adamson discusses his passion for putting Canada’s prairies on the map by building Neo Financial. From humble beginnings in Saskatoon to scaling SkipTheDishes, Jeff dives into his motivation to establish Neo as a transformative digital bank by building an ambitious team of mission-driven talent. He offers advice on navigating entrepreneurial challenges,...

Imagine the challenge of discovering your authentic self while launching a business at just 19. Chantelle Little, Founder and CEO of Tiller, takes us through her journey of discovering her passion for marketing at a young age and the early days of building her company from her parents' loft. Chantelle discusses the struggles she faced as a young entrepreneur, including the pressure to overcompensa...