Latest Episodes
All Episode Summaries
Episode 38: Life Lessons from the TV Show Succession with Dan Scott
Episode 38. This episode is a special one, digging into the takeaways and lessons from the HBO hit Succession.
To reflect on the show through 4 seasons, Greg Martin interviews Dan Scott, who runs the firm Spotlight Advisory Group. He helps wealthy individuals and families find creative outlets, discover their purpose, and deal with succession (the real life kind).
The episode is all about purpose, greed, money, power and the good, bad and the ugly of what the show can teach us as Dan draws parallels—and plenty of contrast—between his clients and the wealthy family portrayed in the “Succession” TV show.
Episode 37: Franchising, Between Corporate Employee and Business Owner with Anna Brambilla
Episode 37. The route of franchising is a path we don’t consider, certainly not as often as the thought around owning your own business. But when you begin to realize, there are many franchises out there (beyond just restaurants) that are available to us. Starting up requries some capital and paying an ongoing royalty, but also comes with lots of support and a proven model.
In this episode Greg interviews Anna Brambilla, a career transition coach who helps her clients find fulfillment through exploring the option of business ownership as a franchisee. Anna herself explains the struggles she had in the corporate world and never finding her place or feeling like she could achieve.
Episode 36: We All Risk Becoming Obsolete with Julie Noonan
Episode 36. We’re all getting older, technology is replacing jobs, employers want to hire younger people and layoffs are happening everywhere. What does that mean for the rest of us?
In this episode Greg interviews Julie Noonan. Her expertise is all about managing big changes within organizations - she’s helped with dozens of M&A transactions, reorganizations, restructuring, new systems and just about everything else. Big change is hard. On top of all this, she’s been laid off more than once and had to re-invent how she approaches her work.
Episode 35: Taking the Leap to Start Your Own Business with William Buist
Episode 35. It’s an incredibly challenging step to leave a career or a well paying job to start your own business. The leap is huge. It’s risky. But many of us do it. Why start your own business? How do you get the most out of the experience? How do you be really good?
In this episode host Greg Martin joins William Buist to share stories about taking the leap and starting a business. Both Greg and William have done it themselves and work everyday with entrepreneurs who have times where they love and hate their choice.
Episode 34: The Insurance Business as a Gateway to Earning and Learning Fast with Stanislav Kojokin
Episode 34. What do you know about the insurance industry? Diving in quickly you learn that it can be a tremendous place to learn about the world of business and make money as someone new, young or old. The role of brokers is perhaps the most fun.
With guest Stanislav Kojokin, co-founder and CEO of KASE Insurance, he tells us all about his journey through the industry and co-founding the company and the great culture they have today. At over 2,000 clients on their roster, his team works alongside companies as they navigate what can be the complicated world of insurance, while offering his employees an invaluable opportunity to learn about insurance and the business world.
Episode 33: We Overachieve and We Burnout to Make Our Parents Proud with Hamza Khan
Episode 33. There are many reasons we work hard at our jobs. Sometimes we work too hard and sometimes we work without really thinking why. Hamza Khan is an international keynote speaker, author and business owner who has been through the trenches working the long hours he needed to prove himself. Unfortunately when you do that, you can burnout, without even recognizing what happened.
In this episode we speak with Hamza about his book The Burnout Gamble, along with his theories around work, millennials and how we are sometimes motivated by fear and other times trying to prove something to ourselves and our parents.
Episode 32: The End of Work From Home with Adam Pekarsky
Episode 32. Our working habits have changed, but not everyone thinks that should stay. Many employers out there feel like everyone working from home right now should head back to the office. Others thing embracing the work from home or the hybird lifestyle is here to stay.
Adam Pekarsky works in the recruitment industry and has witnessed employers grappling with this issue. Is work from home dead, dying, or here to stay? Adam emphasizes that a career is a contact sport. He believes those who return to the workplace will have advantages over those who don’t. That said, working from home has not led to decreased performance, and it’s important to lead your people with as much flexibility as you can. The debate rages on…is the work from home dying, or here to stay?
Episode 31: Strategies to Find Your Happiness with Katie Jefcoat
Episode 31. Katie Jefcoat is an expert on happiness. She has read all the books, reviewed all the studies and has been on the hunt to help people bring more happiness to their lives. It starts with understanding what makes us happy.
A former lawyer, Katie is the host of the Everyday Happiness Podcast, she is also a best-selling author, public speaker, and entrepreneur. When the pandemic hit and she saw the way it impacted the world, Katie found herself researching everything she could about happiness. Sometimes its not about changing something to become happier, sometimes it’s about mindset, and all the happiness we need is right there today.
Episode 30: Feeling Like You Don’t Belong in Your Workplace with Tricia Montalvo Timm
Episode 30. Tricia Timm hid who she was for years as she climbed the corporate ladder as a lawyer, aspiring to be better and better eat each step. But, what did better mean and what was the top? Throughout much of her career she hid that she was Latina and in other cases hid that she was a mother.
With host Greg Martin, this interview covers her story and how many of us feel in the workplace, not totally comfortable with revealing who we are, but also not comfortable sharing our true selves. It wasn’t something she even knew, but once it dawned on her that she was hiding, she decided to reclaim her identity and began advocating for inclusivity and diversity in the workplace.
Episode 29: What We Want Out of Workplace Culture with Steven L. Blue
Episode 29. Company culture is the focus of managers, owners and employees alike, but the question around what we’re all looking for isn’t always easy. Speaker, author, and business transformation expert Steven L. Blue discusses his background and why he’s an expert on company culture. Through experiences at different levels of an organization and his roles working to improve and fix the internal workings of different businesses.
With host Greg Martin, the interview covers topics including the divide between blue collar and white collar culture, rooting out problems within a company, trusting and respecting employees and interacting with subordinates.
Episode 28: The 100 Hour Work Week to Start an Investment Banking Career with Linda Wan
Episode 28. Investment Banking is one of the most intense place to start your career, but every year thousands of new recruits join the junior ranks of banks from Goldman Sachs to Merrill Lynch to Greenhill to a tiny boutique nobody has heard of. They work all night on powerpoint and excel, pitches and models, selling companies and raising money. The experience is amazing, but everyday is intense.
In this interview we dive deep into the true life as an investment banking analyst. Throughout the episode host Greg Martin shares what it was like in the mergers & acquisitions group of a major Canadian boutique, while Linda Wan shares her experience with a large global bank.
Episode 27: How 80s Movies Can Make You Better at Work with Chris Clews
Episode 27. Keynote speaker and author Chris Clews is the guest. Chris grew up in the 80’s and has gained over 20 years of experience in corporate marketing. His book series "What 80’s Pop Culture Teaches Us About Today's Workplace" merges together these two worlds he knows very well.
We’ll hear from Chris about the highlights and struggles of workplace culture through the lens of 80’s culture. He also shares important (80’s-related) lessons that can help you no matter what industry or organization you work in.
Episode 26: Building the Best Legal Career with M&A Lawyer Bill Ainley
Our guest this episode is Bill Ainley. Bill worked for decades in the world of law, mostly in corporate M&A. Right out of university, he joined a firm called Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg and became the head of M&A. After 40 years, Bill retired. He now sits on the Origin Merchant Partners advisory board.
In this episode, Bill dives into his career and shares the aspects he loved about working in M&A at Davies and the key reasons he found working in corporate law fun, exciting, and empowering.
Episode 25: Don’t Dream About Retirement with David Rosell
After a short hiatus from the podcast, we’re back with David Rosell for episode 25. David’s entrepreneurial journey began when he was 15, and he’s now the Founder & Chief Prosperity Officer at Rosell Wealth Management. He and his team help clients learn how to manage their money in the most beneficial way possible.
Today, David shares more about the businesses he’s created in his life and the lessons he learned along the way. He also discusses why he chose a less traditional career path and decided to follow what he was passionate about—and why you should too.
Episode 24: The Modern Engineering Career Strategy with Adrien Beyk
Adrien Beyk is an engineer and entrepreneur on a mission. Instead of a down payment on a home, he started a business and never looked back.
The company he created is working hard to revolutionize socks and gloves, with an app that controls their temperature. But, his goals are beyond that. He thinks you don’t learn enough with a typical degree at university and the true way to get ahead in the world is starting something and learning by doing. The world is moving too fast and all the knowledge is right there, but how you learn it makes all the difference.
Technology and engineering should be about being different, thinking in new ways and changing the way we do things. This episode is all about that.
Episode 23: When You Can’t Be in the Corporate World Any More with Sandra Francisco
Right out of business undergrad Sandra fell in love with the corporate world. She was good at her job and moved up quick, though the business world consumed her - until one day she had to quit.
Overwhelmed by the anxiety she left to find a “cure” and that was in the world of consulting and coaching. Today, she works with entrepreneurs to help them balance work and life while launching new businesses - often while still working a full time job.
Episode 22: The Rock Star Singing Mortgage Agent with Tyler Schwende
Did you ever dream ridiculous careers when you were young? Hockey player, famous actor, or a rock star? Tyler Schwende had that dream too, and lived it. He worked hard as a musician and songwriter and has toured across North America as a music artist. He lived that dream. Now he’s a mortgage agent and loves that dream too.
Today he balances a part time career as a musician under the name BRANT and a career as a mortgage agent in the Greater Toronto Area. He creates music when he has the time and helps people buy houses during the day.
In this episode with host Greg Martin, Tyler discusses his journey through the music industry and creating a business for himself in the mortgage industry.
Episode 21: The Best Learning is on the Job and Starting a Business with Brianna Coon
When you want to learn, school isn’t always the best option. An alternative is to start a business that doesn’t require a lot of capital investment and see what happens.
Brianna Coon lost her job in the fall of 2019 which was hard. She tried to get a new job but quickly decided a better next step was to start a company of her own. Her business today is all virtual, and she helps small businesses with being online through digital marketing, administration, sales and other remote work.
In this episode, host Greg Martin discusses how Brianna started her business along with the current and future world of virtual work and finding the job that’s right for you.
Episode 20: How to Become the One Guy People Trust with Their Waste with Shane Harker
What do we want to leave our children? Definitely things like good lessons, inspiration, knowledge and maybe something to remember you by. We also want to leave them a world that isn’t overly polluted or full of garbage.
Shane Harker is the go-to guy when it comes to recycling your waste and keeping it out of landfill. In this episode, host Greg Martin discusses what Shane had to give up to make the impact he wants and needs in the waste industry and the challenges he faces trying to do things differently.
Episode 19: The Careers We Love and the Careers We Give Up with EB Sanders
What happens when you have to give up a career you always wanted? How do you find a new career and the fulfillment you need when it’s time to start something new?
In this episode, host Greg Martin discusses everything careers with EB Sanders. They discuss the experience of finding a job, leaving a job and trying to find your way in life. Part of it is confidence, part of it is understanding where you want to go. In the end we learn sometimes the dream of your career don’t match up with the reality of life.