The People Playbook with Jason Taylor

What does it take to lead a company through crisis, reinvent the business, and come out stronger on the other side? On this episode of The People Playbook , Jason Taylor sits down with Andrew Lockhead, CEO & Co-Founder of Stay22 , for a candid conversation about entrepreneurship, leadership, trust, and building a company that can adapt when everything changes. Andrew shares how Stay22 responde...

What does it take to lead hundreds of entrepreneurs while protecting the culture, standards, and relationships that make a franchise successful? On this episode of The People Playbook, Jason Taylor sits down with David Druker, President-CEO of The UPS Store Canada, for a conversation about leadership, franchising, accountability, and the power of relationships. David shares lessons from more than...

AI is changing how we work, but great leadership is still about people. In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast, Jason Taylor sits down with Jon Cheney, CEO and Chief AI Officer at GenAIPI, to explore what leaders need to understand about AI, culture, and building high-performing teams. Jon shares why embracing AI has to start at the top, how leaders can move their teams from fear to curios...

What does it take to lead effectively when the environment around you is constantly changing? In this episode of The People Playbook, Jason Taylor sits down with Vladlen Xavier Stark, CFO at Remuda Building and Founder and Chairman of Luxara, to explore the leadership principles behind building high-performing teams, scaling organizations, and making better decisions. Drawing on more than 15 years...

What does it take to lead a family business for more than 30 years while continuing to grow, innovate, and build a thriving culture? In this episode of The People Playbook , Jason Taylor sits down with Stephen Emmerson , President & CEO of Emmerson Packaging, to explore the leadership principles that have guided one of Canada's longstanding family businesses. Stephen shares why great lead...

Great leadership isn't about doing more. It's about doing what matters most. In this episode of The People Playbook , Jason Taylor sits down with Matt Rolfe to explore why so many leaders overcommit, how burnout starts long before people notice it, and why trust, self-awareness, and human connection are the foundation of high-performing teams. They discuss the difference between managing...

What if your biggest leadership problem isn't a lack of time, but how you're using it? In this episode of The People Playbook, Jason Taylor sits down with Michael Cupps, Vice President of Data Intelligence Practice at Rulesware, author of The Time Bandit , and host of The Habit Architect Podcast . Together they unpack why most organizations don't have a data problem — they have an i...

What does it take to build high-performing teams, create cultures that thrive, and lead organizations through change? In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast , Jason Taylor sits down with Ron Cecillon, President & CEO of Denny's Canada, Bar One, and the Northland UK & Ireland Restaurant Group at Northland Properties. With more than 30 years of leadership experience, Ron shares...

What if one of the biggest costs in your business doesn't appear anywhere on your P&L? In this episode of The People Playbook, Jason Taylor sits down with Bob Borcherdt, Founder & CEO of IN2GREAT, to explore the hidden impact of unused human capacity and why most organizations are leaving performance, productivity, and profitability on the table. Bob shares lessons from decades of lea...

What separates leaders who succeed from those who quit too soon? In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast, Jason Taylor sits down with Adrian Capobianco, Co-Founder & CEO of Because I Love It (BILI), to discuss entrepreneurship, resilience, leadership, and the realities of building businesses in fast-moving industries. Adrian shares why vision without execution is just an idea, how great...

What separates great leaders from average ones? In this episode of The People Playbook, Jason Taylor sits down with Geoffrey Toffetti, CEO of Frontline Performance Group, to discuss the leadership principles that drive high-performing teams and thriving cultures. Geoffrey shares lessons from leading major business transformations, scaling a company from services to SaaS, and building an organizati...

What does it take to build a brand that lasts more than 60 years without losing its culture along the way? In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast, Domenic Primucci sits down with Jason Taylor to talk about leadership, culture, franchise growth, and the people-first mindset that helped turn Pizza Nova into one of Canada’s most recognized restaurant brands. Domenic shares why listening is on...

What does it really take to build a business that lasts - and a culture that people actually believe in? In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast , Jason Taylor sits down with Chris Fisher, Founder and Brand President of Shine Window Care and Holiday Lighting, to unpack over 25 years of leadership, growth, and lessons learned in franchising. Chris shares why “making a difference” is more tha...

What does it actually take to build a people-first culture that performs? In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast , Jason Taylor sits down with Chris Caldwell, President & CEO of Community National Bank, to break down the leadership principles that don’t change, even as industries evolve. Chris shares why no one is “above the work,” how understanding your team’s “why” drives real perfor...

What separates average teams from high-performing ones? In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast, Jason Taylor sits down with Nevil Corbeth, Vice President of Sales at NFI Canada, to unpack what it really takes to build winning cultures, lead top performers, and grow teams that stay motivated under pressure. Nevil shares lessons from leading across Canada and the U.S., why friendly competiti...

What happens when a police officer and military veteran builds a fast-growing coffee company rooted in purpose, culture, and community? In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast, Jason Taylor sits down with Shawn Black, Founder of Sheepdog Brew Company, to unpack how frontline leadership lessons from policing and the military shaped the way he builds teams, earns trust, and scales a values-dr...

Most leaders think they need better ideas. They don’t. They need clarity. In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast , Jason Taylor sits down with German Sanchez De La Cruz, Founder & CEO of Aslanova Group, to break down what actually holds leaders back as they scale - and why growth often creates more confusion, not less. German shares what he sees behind the scenes with founders and CEOs...

What does it really take to build and scale multiple successful companies - and more importantly, the people behind them? In this episode of The People Playbook, Jason Taylor sits down with Frank Cianciulli, Chairman & CEO of The Wish Group, to unpack the leadership mindset behind building high-growth businesses across industries. Frank shares how his journey started almost by accident - and e...

What comes first in leadership: people or performance? In this episode of The People Playbook , Jason Taylor sits down with Peter Kenyon , Vice President, Client Services at Entegra Canada , to unpack what it really takes to build strong teams, protect culture, and drive results that last. Peter brings decades of cross-functional leadership experience across sales, operations, supply chain, and ex...

In this episode of The People Playbook Podcast, host Jason Taylor sits down with Drew Gillett, VP of Retail Marketing at Guild Mortgage. Drew leads a high-performance marketing team supporting thousands of loan officers in the highly regulated mortgage industry, where he focuses on building trust, driving culture, developing leaders at scale, and helping people show up with clarity and confidence....

In this episode of The People’s Playbook , Jason Taylor sits down with Sherry McNeil, CFE, President & CEO of the Canadian Franchise Association (CFA), to explore leadership, franchising, and the art of building resilient organizations. From her early days working at the store level to leading one of Canada’s largest franchise networks, Sherry shares the lessons, stories, and strategies that h...

In this episode of The People Playbook , Jason Taylor sits down with Chloe McKenzie, SVP of People and Culture at SaltXC and founder of ChloLeads, a leadership platform supporting ambitious women and women of color. Chloe shares her journey building the People function from the ground up at SaltXC, creating one of Canada’s top workplaces, and leading with authenticity, identity, and emotional inte...

How do you lead a fertility clinic while keeping patient care, staff culture, and innovation at the forefront? In this episode of The People Playbook , Jason Taylor sits down with Mark Evans, CEO of Markham Fertility Centre, to explore his journey from young MBA to healthcare leader, the emotional challenges of fertility care, and how he’s transforming access to reproductive health across Canada....

In this powerful episode of The People Playbook, Jason Taylor sits down with Ryan Dymond, President & COO of FIKA Company – one of Canada’s fastest-growing cannabis retail organizations with over 237 locations. Ryan brings 25+ years of hospitality experience into the cannabis space and reveals how he’s flipped the traditional retail script: leading with genuine human connection instead of tran...

What does it really take to scale a company from $20M to $300M+ while actually putting people first? In this powerful episode, scale-up expert and former EVP Brad Furtney pulls back the curtain on the leadership playbook that transformed founder-led software businesses into high-performing, culture-driven powerhouses at Evercommerce. Brad shares the exact moves he makes on day one when stepping in...