For Episode 231 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Alexei Beltyukov, the founder of Universal Fuel Technologies. Universal Fuel Technology is a chemical technology platform that develops technologies to make renewable fuels and petrochemicals, such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel, gasoline, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, and BTX.   Born in the former Soviet Union, Alexei started his first entrepreneurial venture in Russia in 2007. He then took a chance on a venture that moved him out to California, and though that business didn’t work out, he decided to stay. Eventually, with partnerships still in place in Russia, Universal Fuel Technologies was established, and though they’ve had some hardships, including buying out a partner due to the Ukraine-Russia War and making the decision to abandon their lab in Russia in the hopes of rebuilding it in the US, the company has come out the other side prosperous and ready to make the next bold moves in renewable energy. To learn more, visit the Universal Fuel Technologies website at https://unifuel.tech/ or connect with Alexei on LinkedIn.   00:00 - Intro 01:36 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know? 04:51 - What problems are you trying to solve with Universal Fuel Technologies? 10:37 - Can you tell us a bit about the difference in entrepreneurial ecosystems between Russia and the US? What are the similarities and differences? 18:37 - Is the entrepreneurial spirit the same in Russia as it is in North America? 21:35 - How did factors such as geography, culture, and the Ukraine-Russia war impact your company's story? 24:02 - Given everything that you’ve got going on with Universal Fuel Technologies right now and your plans for the future, is there anything you would have done differently in order to see success quicker? 26:03 - If someone were to give Universal Fuel Technologies a large sum investment - say $1M or $10M - what would you do with that money? 27:34 - If you could send a letter back in time to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what advice would you give? 30:13 - If our audience wanted to reach out and connect with you, what’s the best way to do that?

For Episode 230 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Rohit Tyagi, the Managing Partner at Sagax Team. Sagax Team was born out of the idea of wanting to present IT consulting in a different way than we usually see it. They take a true partnership approach in order to put their customers first. As a whole, they provide managed solutions designed exclusively for emerging pharma and biotech. With strategic consulting backed by a global team of experts, they can streamline the most complex IT projects so that they can focus on their missions of producing life-saving therapies.   Sagax Team offers specialized services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the areas of lab informatics and quality and compliance. Their lab informatics services involve collecting data from various instruments and using it to generate intelligent reports and make informed decisions. Their quality and compliance services help life sciences companies follow strict guidelines for drug manufacturing. To learn more, visit https://sagaxteam.com/ or connect with Rohit on LinkedIn.   00:00 - Intro 01:07 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know? 05:04 - Have you always had such a positive outlook, or is this something you’ve had to learn along the way? 08:53 - What does Sagax Team do? What problems are you solving? 13:05 - Can you share with us what made you decide to pivot from a service-based company to developing a product that you will eventually be bringing to market? 19:05 - What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in pivoting your offerings and building this product while still managing your service-based business? 23:21 - Where do you get your inspiration from? What or who inspires you? 27:02 - What are the most difficult aspects of being an entrepreneur? 33:15 - If you could write a letter to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what advice would you give yourself? 36:19 - If our audience wanted to reach out to you, how could they do that?

For Episode 229 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Rita Kim, the CEO of Partners for Growth Advisory Services Inc. Partners for Growth is a financial services company that specializes in providing structured financial solutions for growing companies. They work with entrepreneurs who are looking to establish a healthy and sustainable financial foundation, especially during the critical growth phase of their business. With over 20 years of lending experience, Partners for Growth has helped numerous companies from start-ups to succession, by addressing their key concerns centered around finance. Their expertise in strategic partnering for finance has been instrumental in helping entrepreneurs achieve success by providing customized financial solutions tailored to their specific needs. To learn more, visit https://www.partnersforgrowth.ca/ or check out Rita’s podcast Serenity Now for Entrepreneurs.   00:00 - Intro 01:04 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know?  03:55 - What does Partners for Growth do? How do you serve other businesses and what is your role within that? 08:05 - Of the people that are coming to you for help, what do you find they’re struggling with the most? 18:05 - What is an example of a risk that you took on and it backfired, and you ended up learning from it? 24:20 - If people in our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?

For this special episode of Amplify Your Business, we’re filming at the Telus CSW Pitch Party, where we were fortunate enough to interview three amazing up-and-coming businesses in the Telus Community Safety and Wellness Accelerator who are doing amazing things in Edmonton and globally to bring safety and wellness to the workplace.   Lance’s first interview was with Christy Canida, the Senior Director of Product at AlchemistX, and one of the coaches of the Telus Community Safety and Wellness Accelerator. From San Francisco, this is Christy’s third year as a coach for the Telus CSW Accelerator.    Next up was an interview with Antonio Visconti, the CEO and Founder of Sobereye, an organization looking to increase workplace safety through real-time impairment detection, which uses a pupillometer to detect potential impairment due to fatigue, illness, alcohol, and legal, illegal, and prescription drugs. Sobereye is a subscription-based proactive safety solution that includes testing devices, cloud-based enterprise software, and training and support. To learn more, visit www.sobereye.com   Lance’s third interview of the evening was with Akanksha Shelat, the co-founder and CTO of Mind-Easy. Mind-Easy is a digital mental health benefits platform that provides culturally sensitive mental health resources to organizations and their workforces. 90% of Canada’s therapists are caucasian, leaving a gap for many people of other races, cultures, and ethnicities who may not fit into the eurocentric, one-size-fits-all solution that a caucasian therapist may provide. To learn more, visit https://www.mind-easy.com/    Next in the hot seat was Ghalia Aamer, the founder, and CEO of TalkMaze. TalkMaze is working to instill confidence in children between the ages of five and 17 through public speaking and debate training. They do this through their platform that connects students with real-time instruction and coaches, along with asynchronous and gamified activities that help them build confidence. To learn more, visit https://talkmaze.com/  Lastly, Lance got to catch up with Ling Huang, the president, and CEO of Technology North, Digital Services. Ling was a member of cohort number two of the Telus Community Safety and Wellness Accelerator.   00:00 - Intro 01:12 - Christy Canida - Senior Director of Product, AlchemistX - Christy, can you tell me a bit about the Telus CSW Pitch Party and what you’re trying to accomplish with this accelerator? 01:39 - Out of the 20  businesses taking part in the accelerator, how many of them are not in Alberta? 02:19 - Why is it important to support businesses that have aspects relating to community, safety, or wellness? 04:18 - Were you involved in the first two cohorts of the Telus CSW Accelerator? 05:11 - Antonio Visconti, CEO & Founder, Sobereye - Where are you from and what’s the name of your business? 09:45 - Is your product in the market already? 10:39 - How can people connect with you who may be interested in deploying your product at their workplace? 11:36 - Akanksha Shelat, Co-founder & CTO, Mind-Easy - Where are you from and can you tell me a bit about your business? 12:26 - How does Mind-Eye offer culturally sensitive mental health resources? 13:10 - What role does technology play in Mind-Easy? 14:24 - What stage is your business at currently? 14:51 - What are you trying to receive out of the Telus CSW Accelerator? 19:18 - If someone wanted to connect with you, how can they do that? 20:25 - Ghalia Aamer, Founder & CEO, TalkMaze - Where are you from and can you tell me a bit about your business? 20:58 - What stage of your business are you in right now? 21:19 - What challenges do you think you’ll face with TalkMaze? 22:26 - Is there a lot of gamification involved in TalkMaze? 23:45 - If someone wanted to learn more about TalkMaze, how could they connect with you? 25:25 - Ling Huang, President & CEO, Technology North Digital Services -  Tell us a little bit about your business. 25:49 - Can you tell us about your experience being a part of cohort #2 of the Telus CWS Accelerator? What did you get by being a member of it? 27:11 - When you came into cohort #2, was your business already up and running? 31:27 - What are the biggest challenges in growing your business? 32:55 - If I gifted you a million dollars today, what would you do with it?

For this special episode of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Ashif Mawji, the managing director of ScaleGood Fund LP. From his humble beginnings in Kenya, Ashif caught the entrepreneurial bug early on, watching his parents work their way up in their respective jobs. His dad was working on the shop floor at a Honda and moved up the ladder to become the managing director at Honda Africa, and his mother, who started out as a teacher, ended up running her own Montessori school. But having money doesn’t always make things easier, and after a tragedy showed his parents just how unsafe their living situation was, they decided it was time to leave Kenya – and everything they owned – behind and move to Canada to start over.   For his part, Ashif’s entrepreneurial journey started at the young age of 11 or 12, when he would travel to Nairobi to buy watches on consignment, where he would then sell at a local farmer’s markets on the weekend, making a percentage from each sale. That sales bug didn’t leave him on his move to Canada, though, and his first venture here was reselling Nintendos and Nintendo games. From there, he got into programming and would do consulting work on the side. Today, Ashif is the managing director at ScaleGood Fund, where he uses everything he’s learned over the years to help other entrepreneurs get a leg up in their respective businesses, through both investments as well as being a trusted advisor. To learn more, visit https://scalegood.ca/ or connect with Ashif on his LinkedIn.   00:00 - Into 00:49 - Can we talk a little bit about your background? I’d love to hear the story about how you arrived in Edmonton. 06:15 - What was your first entrepreneurial venture after moving to Canada? 07:04 - What were some of the biggest challenges you faced here in Canada? 08:40 - With ScaleGood Fund, what kind of companies do you find yourself drawn to invest in? 11:28 - Share a little bit about the Telus Community Safety and Wellness Accelerator that you chair. 15:13 - In all the companies you’ve funded or been a trusted advisor for, have you seen any commonalities in the challenges they face? 18:13 - Do you feel that the accelerator that you have created is a kind of ideal mix of all of the accelerator programs out there right now? 23:25 - What do you think is one of the most important challenges to tackle right now in terms of safety in Edmonton? 27:58 - What impact do you think AI is going to have on our society in general? 34:48 - What does success look like to you? 36:24 - If you could send your younger entrepreneurial self a letter, what advice you would give? 37:48 - If our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?

For Episode 226 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Damon Pistulka, the co-founder and managing director of Exit Your Way. Exit Your Way is a consulting and brokerage firm that helps business owners sell or succeed their businesses.  On the consulting side, Damon and his team help businesses to grow in preparation for an eventual sale. On the brokerage side of Exit Your Way, the team helps business owners looking to sell in front of qualified buyers who are in the market to purchase a business. Their services for brokering sales include pre-market planning, finding buyers and getting the LOI, negotiation, and due diligence. To learn more, visit https://exityourway.us/    00:00 - Intro 02:30 - What are three things every entrepreneur needs to know? 10:07 - What is it that Exit Your Way does? What services are you providing? 15:22 - Can you walk us through the buyer’s perspective? 21:41 - Talk to me a bit about what happens when a business owner wants to sell, but they’ve been underpaying themselves and then need to recalculate fair market value for what they do. 24:13 - What are some common mistakes you’ve seen when it comes to owners selling their businesses? 29:52 - Are there any books that you would recommend for our audience? 32:32 - How can our audience connect with you?

For Episode 225 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Steven Martens, the founder of Grid 749 Innovations. But today, we’re not here to talk about Steven’s company. We’re here to talk about his work with Mount Royal University’s Hydrogen Innovation Accelerator and what it means for Edmonton and Canadian businesses. In partnership with Edmonton Global, The Hydrogen Innovation Accelerator will train teams on a repeatable and scalable innovation process to capture new value and revenue streams from the emerging Hydrogen economy in Western Canada. Each company will develop and test a new product and/or service concept by the end of their 4-day 4-step program, held over a 90 day window. To learn more, visit https://www.growthcompass.org/innovationaccelerator    00:00 - Intro 01:32 - Can you talk about the work you’re doing with Mount Royal University in Calgary with their Hydrogen Innovation Accelerator and Growth Catalyst Program? 02:52 - Can you tell us a little bit about your entrepreneurial background and how you’ve gotten here? 10:40 - Could you explain why we’re seeing this hotbed of activity in the hydrogen space in the Edmonton Region? 20:24 - What are the goals of this accelerator? What is it trying to accomplish? 22:54 - These business that will opt to take part in the Hydrogen Innovation Accelerator, what will they learn? And how do you overcome the challenges of, essentially, teaching old dogs new tricks when it comes to established companies? 32:59 - How can our audience connect with you?

For Episode 224 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Jess McCarter, co-founder and Sales & Strategy of Base86. Base86 started before the pandemic as a restaurant supply chain optimization company. They launched their first product in February 2020, and by June 2020, they lost half of their paying customers due to the decimation of the restaurant industry because of the pandemic. After meeting with their investors to brainstorm some new ideas for a company that could weather the storm of the pandemic, two investors emphatically suggested the healthcare industry. And so Base86 pivoted its area of operations to dental health care supply chain optimization instead. Jess is a serial entrepreneur, who’s had his hands in everything from the restaurant industry to dental supply chain optimization, real estate development, technology development, and even a rideshare company called RideBid, which was a competitor of Uber and was acquired by the Bay Area Taxi Company. To learn more, visit https://www.base86.com/ or follow Jess on LinkedIn. 00:00 - Intro 02:36 - What are three things that every entrepreneur needs to know? 13:35 - What are some of the advantages of your approach to entrepreneurship?  20:35 - How does one not allow failure to impact their psyche and instead leverage the learning that comes from that failure? 31:01 - You seem to have a tremendous amount of interests, passions, and curiosity. Is that a curse or a benefit? 40:01 - If someone wanted to connect with you, what would be the best way to do that?

For Episode 223 of Amplify Your Business, we’re celebrating International Women’s Day with Heather Roberts, the founder of Extraordinary Women, and host of the podcast Boundaries, Business, and Boobs. Heather works with highly successful female entrepreneurs who also have families and children, and help them create a business and life that works for them. Many women are brought up in a society where they’re taught that they need to please, and do everything for everyone, and meet everybody’s expectations, which just leads to burn out. Heather then comes in and helps these women become the directors of their own life; to help them set boundaries in their lives and their businesses. To learn more, check out Extraordinary Women, and the Boundaries, Business, and Boobs podcast.   00:00 - Intro 01:30 - What are three things every entrepreneur should know? 03:09 - What is Extraordinary Women? What do you do? What are you trying to accomplish? 12:16 - Can you tell me more about your entrepreneurial background? 23:37 - Was it difficult for you to overcome the thought processes typically imposed on women in regards to traditional gender norms? 29:02 - How do you define success now as opposed to at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey? 31:01 - If you could go back in time and write a letter to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what would it say? 34:35 - If anyone in our audience, specifically women, wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?

For Episode 222 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Amy Blankson, the CEO and Co-Founder of the Digital Wellness Institute. Amy is also a best-selling author, with her work, The Future of Happiness. She is a member of the UN Global Happiness Council, and a graduate of Harvard University and the Yale School of Management.   Amy created the Digital Wellness Institute to help organizations develop a roadmap for finding the sweet spot between productivity and well-being in the digital era. These days, the vast majority of people spend most of their days on their phones, tablets, or laptops, staring at their screens for most of their waking hours. Amy believes that that sense of hyperconnectivity creates a mental strain not only on us personally but also on our productivity at work and our abilities to communicate effectively. This is where the Digital Wellness Institute comes in. They’ll go into an organization, help business leaders identify their current digital culture, determine ways to measure it and find ways to improve it. To learn more, visit the Digital Wellness Institute’s website at https://www.digitalwellnessinstitute.com/    00:00 - Intro 01:18 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know? 02:10 - What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made on your entrepreneurial journey? 04:13 - What is the Digital Wellness Insitute, and what problems are you trying to solve? 08:01 - Has the pandemic influenced digital culture at all? And if so, how? 10:42 - What trends have you seen in terms of individuals who have a better grasp on digital wellness than others? 13:12 - What is your personal approach to digital wellness? 16:21 - Tell me about the journey of transitioning from your last entrepreneurial venture to the Digital Wellness Institute. 20:11 - Can you tell me a little bit about how you navigate through your own self-doubt? 23:39 - Are there any secrets, tips, or advice that you could give to other entrepreneurs just starting out on their journey? 27:11 - Walk me through your thought processes as you were trying to figure out funding for the Digital Wellness Institute. 31:36 - If you could go back in time and write your younger entrepreneurial self a letter, what would it say? 33:31 - If our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?

For Episode 221 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Rebecca Kirstein Resch, the founder and CEO of Inqli. If Quora and Tinder got married, had a baby, and that baby grew up to become an entrepreneur, it would be Inqli. Inqli is a platform that matches people who have the desire to learn with people who have knowledge to share. If a new entrepreneur or a student has a question, they would ask it in the Inqli platform, and they would instantaneously get matched with the right people who would be able to answer that question. The matching is made via an AI-based system that matches question askers to question answerers based on the knowledge-sharer’s skills, interests, purpose, and values. In short, Inqli is an inclusive knowledge-sharing platform that enables the connection of individuals who wouldn’t otherwise connect. To learn more, visit https://www.inqli.com/    00:00 - Intro 00:46 - What are three things every entrepreneur needs to know? 07:10 - What does Inqli do? What problems are you solving? 14:18 - What kind of impact did COVID have on your business? 17:33 - How did you overcome the challenges you faced during the pandemic? 21:08 - What is the business model from Inqli going forward? 24:37 - What do you think will be the key to your success in the next three years? 30:05 - What makes the entrepreneurial lifestyle difficult for entrepreneurs? 32:04 - If you could write your younger entrepreneurial self a letter, what advice would you give? 34:13 - If our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?

For Episode 220 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Brice Ulrey, the Managing Partner at Opkalla. Opkalla is an IT trusted advisory firm. Opkalla lives in the IT reseller space, but does things a little differently than your typical IT reseller. What they’re trying to do is solve the problem of biased agendas in their space. They consider themselves “vendor neutral.” Where most IT resellers have 20 to 30 vendors in their portfolio, Opkalla boasts over 300 different providers. Instead of singing the same old song that each solution that solves a business problem has only one provider to solve it, Opkalla brings two to three providers to the table and allows their customers to evaluate each one before deciding which one to go with. To learn more about Opkalla, visit their website at https://opkalla.com/.    00:00 - Intro 01:18 - What are three things every entrepreneur should know? 09:15 - Let’s talk about what Opkalla is all about. What problem are you solving? 18:27 - What are the secrets to your rapid growth over the last four years? 21:56 - What was easier for the growth of your business through COVID, and what was more difficult? 26:23 - How has that impacted you post-COVID? 30:46 - From your perspective, what do you think is the most difficult thing to deal with in the entrepreneurial lifestyle? 35:05 - What’s easier now at this stage of your business that wasn’t as easy at the beginning? 39:36 - If you could send your pre-entrepreneurial self a letter, what advice would you give a younger Brice? 42:23 - If someone wanted to connect with you, how could they do that?

For Episode 219 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Deidra Ciolko, the owner of Gorditos Fresh Mex. Deidra is an expat from the US who moved to the Dominican Republic 13 years ago. She and her partner decided to open up Gorditos Fresh Mex after noticing a gap in the market for fresh Mexican food in the Dominican. Employing locals has helped Deidra and her partner fully grasp not only the language but the local culture, which has helped their restaurant see great success since its opening. Bringing in fresh ingredients from local farmers and fishermen has allowed Deidra to realize her restaurant’s mission: creating a difference by putting more into the beautiful country she calls home than she takes out of it. To learn more, visit their website at https://gorditosfreshmex.com/    00:00 - Intro 00:46 - Where are you originally from? 02:14 - Tell me about your experience working here in the Dominican Republic as an expat. 04:32 - 13 years into this venture, tell me about the ride so far. What has happened that’s surprised you? 06:30 - Can you tell us about the regulations around starting a business in the DR vs North America? 09:05 - What advice would you give to other expat entrepreneurs who want to set up a business here in the DR? 14:55 - Is this the place where you’re going to retire or will you go back to the US eventually? 16:17 - How do we find Gorditos? 17:59 - Outro

For Episode 218 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Emma Givera, the owner of Bushnel Construction S. R. L. Bushnel Construction was founded by Emma’s partner, and when she moved to the Dominican Republic from Toronto, the two realized that her outgoing personality, expertise, and connections to other expats could really ramp up their business. From a small development company, Emma and her partner have grown Bushnel into a business that’s poised to take over! As of March, they’ll begin construction on 47 brand new, custom-made villas across the Dominican Republic.   00:00 -Intro 02:15 - Can you give us a little backstory of your experience being an expat entrepreneur in the Dominican Republic? 05:33 - Why are so many people investing in the Dominican? 07:20 - What was it like having to learn a brand new industry in a foreign country? 10:19 - What advice would you give to other expats looking to move to the Dominican Republic? 11:52 - What would be the best way for our audience members to connect with you? 12:47 - Outro

For Episode 217 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Julie Hewell of Homecore Realty.  Julie is the owner of Homecore Realty in the Dominican Republic. Originally a real estate agent from the United States, Julie moved to the Dominican Republic with her family, with dreams of retiring and living the good life, spending time with her kids. However, as her kids entered their teens, Julie found herself looking for a new challenge. That’s when she founded Homecore Realty, a real estate agency that focuses on providing personalized and honest service to clients, both Dominican locals and fellow expats alike To learn more, visit the website at https://www.homecorerealtydr.com/    00:00 - Intro 01:03 - Was it your intention to move here to the Dominican Republic and start a business? 01:26 - Can you tell us a little bit about your work before you became an ex-pat and moved to the Dominican Republic? 03:21 - Are the realtors you work with local or ex-pats like yourself? 03:54 - What have been the biggest surprises you’ve had as an ex-pat starting a business here in the D.R? 06:03 - Did you find getting your business up and running to be slow-moving based on having to deal with the slow-moving trades out here? 06:39 - Who is your typical target market? 09:57 - Have you had any experience with corruption since opening a business in the DR? 11:40 - Do you have any advice for other ex-pats who may want to start a business here in the DR? 16:09 - Outro

For Episode 216 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Kit Lisle, the founder and moderator of the Operators.pe. Acting through their Strategic Growth Council, the Operators.pe is a peer community of private equity-backed C-level executives that are ready to act as a board of advisors for SMBs that need that network to help solve strategic growth dilemmas that will allow them to grow and thrive. They match clients with the best peer group for their industry and provide a safe, confidential, trustworthy environment, as well as experienced moderating using a format proven to drive results.   In addition, the Operators.pe, in itself, is an online community where executives can go to bounce questions off of one another. They also hold annual events that allow private equity backed executives to get together and network with one another.   00:00 - Intro 01:11 - What are the three most important things that every entrepreneur needs to know? 05:30 - Tell me a little bit about the Operators.pe. 15:10 - Did the idea of the Operators.pe come out of a need that you had? 19:00 - What did you find the most challenging with this startup versus your previous experience as an entrepreneur? 23:02 - Has it been a struggle to build both sides of the market at the same time? 27:11 - How do you determine what success looks like? 31:32 - What do you feel is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to achieving growth? 35:39 - How can our audience members connect with you?

For Episode 215 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Ryan Brown, Partner and former Sales Manager at Integrity Waste Solutions. Integrity is a waste solutions and management company that serves local Edmonton residential areas as well as commercial properties in the Edmonton Region. They chose the name Integrity because it is their mission to bring honesty and integrity back to the waste management solutions industry and the customers they serve, which they do mainly through upfront pricing, which the larger companies don’t offer. To learn more, visit their website at https://www.integritysolutions.ca/.    00:00 - Intro 01:16 - What are three things that every entrepreneur should know? 05:34 - The backstory of Integrity Waste Solutions 09:30 - Can you tell us a bit about Integrity Waste Solutions? 14:13 - How do you cultivate the innovative culture within your business? 17:25 - How challenging was the decision to walk away from Integrity? 21:02 - What are the criteria when trying to determine your next venture? 22:11 - What would success look like for you in your next venture? 23:06 - What do you think is going to be easier this next go-round? 23:56 - Do you have any advice for anyone else at this point in their journey? 25:50 - How can our audience members connect with you?

For Episode 214 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Ryan Malloy, Managing Director at Liquid. Liquid Software Corporation exists to provide business owners with state-of-the-art digital tools so they can extract more money from their businesses. They do this by enabling the flexibility of legacy software platforms that many businesses cling to, despite the ever-changing tech and software industry.   Their EDGE-QL solution is a platform designed to help business owners better manage the complexity of their day-to-day operations. It provides the users and their teams with the advantages of modern technology to enhance sales, reduce errors, and optimize productivity, enabling them to concentrate on expanding their business. To learn more, visit their website at https://www.thinkliquid.ca/.    00:00 - Intro 01:14 - What are three things every entrepreneur should know? 05:21 - Tell me a little bit about Liquid Software Corporation.  15:15 - How do you manage to juggle so many different ventures simultaneously? 21:37 - What’s gotten easier through each business venture you’ve become involved with over the years? 24:23 - What does success look like to you? 26:06 - If you could write your younger self a letter, what would it say? 28:07 - What books have you been reading that have really resonated with you? 30:32 - How can our audience members connect with you?

For Episode 213 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Julieta Miranda, the CEO of Kid-Drop in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Kid-Drop is a transportation solution for busy families. In a world where kids are constantly on the move, school, sports practices and games, extracurricular activities, and everything else, it can be a challenge to get them to and from all of those things in a safe and timely manner–especially if you’re a parent of more than one child!   Kid-Drop was designed to support parents in those movements in a safe manner, with in-vehicle cameras, carefully vetted drivers in uniform, and backed by transparency and consistency. They’ll get your children from Point A to Point B, whenever you need them to, and you have the peace of mind of knowing that they’re in good hands. To learn more, visit the Kid-Drop Inc. website.   00:00 - Intro 01:05 - What are three things every entrepreneur should know? 02:39 - Can you tell us a little bit about what Kid-Drop is? 06:36 - Do you have plans to expand through franchising, or do you have another strategy there? 09:27 - Can you explain your business model? 11:14 - What are some of the challenges you faced in the early days of Kid-Drop? 16:53 - What were some of the biggest surprises that you’ve had along the way? 18:48 - Can you take us back to the beginning of the business and talk about the struggles you experienced? 23:54 - You seem to have a lot of strength and mental fortitude. Where do you think that comes from? 26:28 - What’s easier this second go-round of entrepreneurship than it was the first time? 30:41 - If you could write your pre-entrepreneurial self a letter, what would it say? 34:59 - How can our listeners connect with you?

For Episode 212 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Jason Byrne, the founder and CEO of Icon-IQ. Icon-IQ is a recruiting company that focuses on sourcing senior technical talent – such as developers, engineers, product managers, data scientists, etc. – from Latin America for Alberta-based businesses. They work exclusively with companies who are having difficulties acquiring and recruiting this senior tech talent. To learn more, visit https://icon-iq.ca/ or hit up Jason on his LinkedIn.   00:00 - Intro 00:58 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know? 04:04 - What are you doing over at Icon-IQ, and where did it all begin? 12:12 - Would you say that where you are today with Icon-IQ is a better business model than where you were pre-pandemic? 17:11 - Walk me through the decision-making process of your rebrand. 25:41 - What do you feel was the most critical element to your future success? 28:39 - As an entrepreneur, how do you make it through the lean years? 38:01 - What do you think is going to be easier now for you to achieve growth? 39:58 - If you could go back in time and write a letter to your younger entrepreneurial self, what would it say? 41:45 - How can our audience members connect with you?

For Episode 211 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Jonathan Fishbeck, the founder and CEO of EstateSpace. At a high level, EstateSpace is solving the problem of difficult estate management by simplifying it. In particular, EstateSpace deals with the non-financial asset management side of estate management, both from an operational perspective, as well as a portfolio perspective, by helping their clients to improve their economic outcomes. To learn more, visit https://estatespace.com/.    00:00 - Intro 00:58 - What are three things every entrepreneur should know? 02:57 - When you suggest that entrepreneurs get a good advisor, are you talking about paid advisors or unpaid advisors and mentors? 05:09 - Was retaining a good advisor something that you learned through your first venture? 06:23 - Can we talk a little bit about your business, EstateSpace? 08:43 - Where did you see the opportunities to pivot from a service-based model to a SaaS model? 11:05 - Are your clients the actual owners of the non-liquid assets you deal with, or are they service providers? 12:03 - When it comes to your experience, how do you navigate going from the construction world to the tech world? 15:34 - What’s easier this time around with the founding of this particular business than with your previous entrepreneurial ventures? 17:15 - What are the most difficult aspects of being an entrepreneur? 19:27 - Are you bootstrapping EstateSpace, or do you have outside investments? 21:38 - If you could write your younger entrepreneurial self a letter, what would it say? 25:13 - If our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they do that? 25:56 - Outro

For Episode 210 of Amplify Your Business, we’re spending Blue Monday with two women who are working to make every day brighter for all people. We’re joined by Danielle Bragge and Leanne Brownoff, co-founders of VR Pathways. The idea behind VR Pathways is leveraging Virtual Reality to change the brain and give people the relief they need to take them out of stressful situations and get them back to a place of fully functioning cognitive behaviour and cognitive thinking. VR Pathways offers personal, on-demand mental health support for cognitive behavioural therapy and phobia therapy through two distinct apps within the world of virtual reality. Their mission is to help reduce negative thoughts and feelings through creating new, positive pathways within the brain that deliver long-term results. To learn more, visit https://www.vrpathways.com/.    00:00 - Intro 01:01 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know? 02:18 - Can you tell us a bit about your entrepreneurial history? 04:13 - What is VR Pathways, and what are you trying to solve? 08:26 - What is VR Pathways’ target market? 10:55 - Have you noticed an uptick in entrepreneurs using your service? 12:36 - How do two people, neither of which have a tech background, develop a solution planted in technology? 13:52 - How did you decide on VR being the solution? 15:58 - What do you feel are the advantages of not being in the tech space and starting a tech-centric company? 19:03 - For the next 12, 24 months of growth, what do you think are going to be your biggest challenges, and how do you think you’ll overcome them? 20:30 - How do you plan to finance the growth? 22:35 - What or who inspires you as entrepreneurs? 25:55 - If you could write a letter to your younger entrepreneurial self, what would it say?  29:28 - If someone wanted to connect with you and learn more about VR Pathways, how could they do that? 31:20 - Outro

For Episode 209 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Luke Butterworth, the co-founder and COO of JustCook Kitchens. JustCook is a Canadian proptech company that uses cutting-edge technology to construct and oversee restaurant spaces for restaurateurs and property owners. The first collective that JustCook opened was the 5th Street Food Hall, where chefs and entrepreneurs come together to create an amalgamation of restaurants to choose from in a single place. The 5th Street Food Hall is a one-stop-shop for all your cravings, offering a diverse range of cuisines such as South East Asian street food, vegan options, Mexican-Asian fusion, brunch choices, and the top burgers in the city.   Coming in the summer of 2023 is JustCook’s second location at Station Park, where they will be filling up two floors of mouthwatering meals for Edmonton foodies.   To learn more, visit https://www.justcookkitchens.com/    00:00 - Intro 00:44 - What are three things every entrepreneur should know? 10:08 - Can you tell us a little bit about Just Cook Kitchens? 15:52 - Is this a model that you saw somewhere else and replicated? 20:10 - Do you rotate different chefs through your space? 22:00 - How does your business model work? Where are your revenue streams coming from? 23:42 - Is the marketing done under the Just Cook Kitchen brand or under the individual brands of the entrepreneurs? 25:25 - If I was to order something from one of the restaurants, do I search for Just Cook Kitchens or order directly from the restaurant’s brand? 26:52 - How does your business model play out where we might be heading into a recession? 31:44 - When you first started Just Cook Kitchens to where it is now, what are some iterations you’ve done that you didn’t anticipate? 39:45 - Where do you get your inspiration? 47:12 - How can our audience connect with you? 47:33 - Outro

For Episode 208 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Meg Tucker, the owner of Cook With Meg. Cook With Meg was created at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 with the mission to create kitchen confidence in families. In this digital age, everyone always seems to have their noses buried in their phones, tablets, or laptops, and the idea of traditional family dinners, where everyone got together, sat at the table, and ate as a family, has fallen by the wayside. Meg wanted to fix that.   Even though Meg had made it to the Top 25 in Master Chef Canada, she had never cooked professionally–it was just a passion. When the pandemic turned the world upside, she knew she would have to figure out something else to bring in income, and that’s when her creative side met her passion, and Cook With Meg was born. On March 23rd, 2020, she taught her first virtual family cooking class via Zoom. Today, Meg cooks with families in six different countries, running three cooking classes a week and six weeks of cooking summer camp for kids each July and August. Cook with Meg is more than just cooking classes, it’s bringing families together. To learn more, visit https://cookwithmeg.com/ or check her out on Instagram at CookWithMegToday.   00:00 - Intro 01:08 - What are three things that every entrepreneur should know? 04:12 - What do you do that helps you maintain a sustainable pace? 07:08 - Can you tell us a little bit about Cook With Meg?  14:34 - Was there a drop off in subscriptions after the pandemic due to “Zoom fatigue”? 17:58 - How has your revenue model evolved from your early days? 23:15 - What is easier now than what it was when you first started? 28:05 - If there’s one thing that you could have done differently since you started Cook With Meg, what would it be? 32:09 - If you could write your younger self a letter, what would it say? 37:24 - If our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they do that? 38:20 - Outro

For Episode 207 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Paul Shufelt, the founder and Head Chef at the Robert Spencer Hospitality Group. The Robert Spencer Hospitality Group runs six restaurants throughout Edmonton: Workshop Eatery, Hayloft, Woodshed Burgers, The Greenhouse Restaurants at Victoria, Riverside, and Rundle.   During his interview, Paul discusses what success has looked like for him, how he’s managed to open and operate six full-service restaurants and a catering business, and the things that he learned about hospitality through the Pandemic. Unlike many businesses, Paul was able to keep roughly 90% of his employees on staff during the pandemic, through a combination of ingenuity and pivoting the way his restaurants sold food. To learn more, visit https://robertspencerhosp.com/.    00:00 - Intro 01:25 - What are three things every entrepreneur should know? 06:32 - What’s been the secret to your success and growth? 09:40 - What was going through your mind with each restaurant you opened? 14:11 - What did you learn from COVID? 20:16 - What would you say is going to be the key to your success? 22:31 - Do you have some strategies that you’re planning on rolling out to address those concerns? 23:56 - If you had the ability to write your younger entrepreneurial self a letter, what would it say? 25:13 - If any of our audience wanted to connect with you, what’s the best way to do so? 26:20 - Outro

For Episode 207 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Ronak Sheth, the CEO and Founder of LIT Videobooks. Videobooks are a new consumable category that makes reading as easy, accessible, engaging, and fun as watching a movie. In a world where over 100 million Americans haven’t bought or read a non-fiction book in the last year, LIT Videobooks’ goal is to make reading non-fiction books as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.   With LIT Videobooks, consuming something from the world of non-fiction is as easy as watching a video on your smartphone. They partner directly with authors to create these hour-long videobooks that include animation, interviews, data presentations, archives, etc. It’s like you’re watching a Netflix documentary, but it’s actually a book. The all-access subscription at LIT Videobooks gives you access to 28 videobooks running the gamut from potty training to business leadership and everything in between. To learn more and to receive an exclusive discount provided to our audience by Ronak, visit https://litvideobooks.com/all-access and enter the promo code AMPLIFY to get 50% off your first year-long subscription. And don’t forget to check out Ronak at the BX Networking Event later this month to get your hands on a free copy of Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. Register for the event here: https://link.amplomedia.com/s/TJ8FRy6yWgFiOUjeregu  00:00 - Intro 00:50 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know? 01:29 - Give me an example of one of these three things that you’ve had to face in the last three years. 02:49 - Can you tell me a little bit about LIT Videobooks? 06:23 - Where did the idea for LIT Videobooks come from? 12:30 - What is your business model? 15:32 - In the early days of LIT Videobooks, was the idea of this platform cannibalizing other sales a worry for potential authors or their agents? 17:52 - How do you, as a startup, grow both the supply but also the demand when you don’t yet have the supply? 24:50 - Have you looked into the ad tier subscription model? 28:06 - How do you pick the books you’ll focus on creating into video books? 32:30 - What are the biggest challenges that you think you’ll face in the next year? 35:28 - What’s easier today for your business than in the early days of LIT Videobooks? 38:20 - What videobooks would you recommend to our listeners? 41:01 - Of all the interviews you’ve conducted for your videobooks, who were the ones you were most excited about? 42:37 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what would it say? 46:19 - If someone wanted to reach out to you, how could they do that? 46:45 - GIVEAWAY!! Watch for a special discount code! 47:35 - Special Announcement and a second giveaway! 48:36 - Outro

For Episode 205 of Amplify Your Business, we’re presenting an ENCORE episode of the Amplify Your Business Podcast, and it’s truly outrageous! For this encore presentation, we’re joined by Sandeep Todi, the Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Truly Financial. Truly Financial is an online digital bank, built exclusively for smaller businesses that helps them grow globally. In a world where many businesses - and especially startups - are using business practices that allow them to hire employees anywhere in the world, these organizations are seeking out new and cost-effective ways to pay their employees and handle international transactions. Truly Financial is the solution. To learn more, visit Truly Financial’s website.   00:00 - Intro 02:10 - What should every entrepreneur know as they embark on their entrepreneurial journey? 05:37 - What problem is Truly Financial solving? 12:34 - How long has Truly Financial been in operation? 14:13 - Is your business model similar to other financial institutions? 18:25 - Where does Truly Financial fit in the fintech landscape? 22:16 - How do you navigate the challenges of security? 24:44 - What are the next steps for Truly Financial? Do you plan to explore cryptocurrency? 29:05 - What advice would you give your younger self at the start of his entrepreneurial journey? 34:18 - How can anyone watching connect with you? 34:56 - Outro

For Episode 204 of Amplify Your Business, we’re presenting an ENCORE episode of Amplify Your Business Podcast, and it’s going to be a shocking one. For this encore episode, we’re joined by Lindsay White, the founder of High Voltage Leadership. High Voltage Leadership got its start in 2017 when Lindsay found herself working for a toxic leader at a financial institution. She decided that she couldn’t handle it any longer and ultimately left that job. Lindsay went from her corporate job into coaching certification training for a year, and from there, dove in with both feet and started her own coaching practice. To learn more, visit their website at https://highvoltageleadership.ca/    00:00 - Intro 01:40 - Tell me a little bit about High Voltage Leadership. 04:40 - You call yourself a People Operations Expert. What does that mean? 06:39 - What are some of the secrets to becoming a high-voltage leader? 07:59 - How do you merge the coaching and leadership training to help businesses navigate through leadership development and HR processes to have a successful business? 12:02 - How do you help business owners navigate through that? 14:18 - What is “positive intelligence”? 16:44 - Are your programs something that you see business owners taking on themselves, or are they incorporating team training as well? 19:40 - How can our audience connect with you? 20:33 - Outro

For Episode 203 of Amplify Your Business, we’re presenting an ENCORE episode of Amplify Your Business, and it’s just as sweet the second time around. For this encore episode, we’re joined by Trisha Bower, the Chief Baking Officer at Eat My Shortbread.   A discovery of a long-held family recipe one Christmas led to Trisha filling her pockets with delicious shortbread treats and squirreling away to an empty room to devour them. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Trisha had always known that one day, she would want to start her own business too, but it wasn’t until that Christmas that inspiration struck and she knew that she could turn her family recipe into something incredible for the world to enjoy. To learn more, visit www.eatmyshortbread.com    00:00 - Intro 02:00 - Can you dive a little into the backstory of Eat My Shortbread? 03:33 - What inspired you to do so many things with the shortbread, rather than just the typical shortbread cookie? 05:28 - Is the salted caramel a signature flavour? 08:27 - How did you come up with the name Eat My Shortbread? 10:00 - Was it a concern that although the word “Shortbread” is in your name, you do create multiple other products? 11:17 - What was holding you back from jumping in with both feet with Eat My Shortbread? 17:20 - What is the secret to your success thus far? 18:26 - What pieces of advice have you picked up along your journey that have had an impact on what you’re doing today? 22:06 - What mistakes have you made along the way that you’ve learned from? 28:00 - If you had the ability to go back in time and visit your younger self from a previous time, what time would you go back to, and what advice would you give yourself? 31:51 - How do people find Eat My Shortbread? 34:54 - Outro

For Episode 202 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Morgan McCollum, the managing partner at Shift.Support Inc. Shift.Support has spent the last 12 years trying to change the IT game, trying to change the mentality of their clients and the industry as a whole. They take a proactive approach to managed IT services, rather than a reactive one, to help their clients drive efficiencies in their businesses and get their IT back on track. To learn more, visit their website at https://shift.support/.    00:00 - Intro 00:48 - What are three things every entrepreneur needs to know? 03:14 - When do you usually do your planning? 05:52 - What problems are Shift.Support trying to solve? 08:11 - Have you taken this approach since the beginning? 11:32 - Has the move to more remote workplaces changed anything for you or your clients? 13:06 - What made you decide to bring in a partner externally as opposed to someone from within? 15:53 - Working with your best friend, have there been some challenges? And how did you navigate through them? 18:10 - What will be the biggest obstacle to achieving your Big Hairy Audacious Goal, and how will you overcome it? 22:19 - What do you do to market yourselves? 26:23 - What is easier to do now than it was when you first started Shift.Support? 29:08 - Where do you find inspiration? 31:50 - From a personal standpoint, as an entrepreneur, what does success look like for you? 33:34 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what advice would you give yourself? 35:48 - If someone watching this wanted to connect with you, how could they do that? 36:21 - Outro

For Episode 201 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by… Lance Johnson! Yes, the Interviewer Extraordinaire himself is front and center for this very special episode of Amplify Your Business, as he looks back at some of his favourite interviews over the last 200 episodes. To learn more or be a guest on the Amplify Your Business podcast, visit www.amplifyyourbusiness.ca    00:00 - Intro 02:06 - Maxim Atanassov – Founder, Vinterre 03:55 - Nicole Janssen – Co-Founder & Co-CEO, ALTAML 06:04 - Barry Ehlert – CEO, Windmill Golf Group 09:53 - Ted Kouri – Founder & President, Incite Strategy 13:06 - Sarah Goodman – CEO, Chiwis 18:17 - Ally Stone – Founder & CEO, The Inspired Leader 22:21 - Outro: Keep an eye out for our eBook in the New Year!

For Episode 199 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Sean Collins, the CEO of Varme Energy. Varme Energy develops waste energy facilities built with integrated carbon capture and storage. Essentially, large industrial process facilities that use two-stage combustion technology to combust municipal solid waste that would otherwise be going to a landfill. These facilities burn the waste, extract all of the energy out of it, and with carbon capture and storage, they capture all of the post-combustion CO2 and sequester it underground. This sustainable, environmental solution eliminates landfills long-term, recovers the energy in the waste, and puts all of the carbon underground. To learn more, visit their website at https://www.varme.ca/    00:00 - Intro 01:04 - Did people in the audience at Edmonton Unlimited’s Launch Party show any interest in your pitch? 01:49 - What are three things every entrepreneur needs to know? 04:35 - Any suggestions that you have for other entrepreneurs for turning off the entrepreneur when they get home? 06:39 - Can you tell us a little about Varme Energy? 07:44 - Why is this something that is new tech being introduced to Western Canada?  09:11 - Why is now the right time for this kind of tech in Canada? 12:57 - How do you face the complexities that come with bringing this kind of technology into Canada as an entrepreneur? 15:49 - How did the partnership with the Norwegian company you’re working with come about? 18:09 - Could you explain what you meant by the term “venture studio” that you used during our conversation prior to recording? 20:06 - How long ago did you start your first entrepreneurial venture? 20:25 - What do you find easier now that you’ve been at this for 14 years than you did at the beginning? 23:47 - In the future, do you think the greatest opportunities for sustainability and environmental protection will be with First Nations populations? 25:35 - If you could write your younger self a letter, what would it say? 28:01 - What do you consider to be success? 30:04 - If someone in our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they do that? 30:56 - Outro

For Episode 198 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Jason Reposa, the founder and CEO of Good Feels. Good Feels is a licensed cannabis operator in Massachusetts. They produce and sell cannabis beverages and beverage enhancers. Currently, they have five ready-to-drive cannabis-infused seltzers in stock. Their drinks come in a 12-ounce bottle and are made in a variety of flavours, depending on the season. Their Fall Seasonal lineup is a hit with consumers and includes flavours like Blood Orange, Grapefruit, Autumn Harvest, Black Cherry, and Raspberry Apple. To learn more, visit the Good Feels website.   00:00 - Intro 01:01 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know? 03:33 - What is Good Feels, and what are you trying to accomplish? 04:22 - Did you get your start with ready-to-drink beverages?  06:46 - Tell me about the journey to getting Good Feels off the ground. 10:05 - The loneliness of entrepreneurship. 11:59 - From your tech and programming background, what advantages have you been able to apply to your current role as CEO of Good Feels? 14:46 - Was it a strategic decision or a regulatory issue to remain strictly wholesale? 15:44 - Do you find that helpful in regards to pushing you to only focus on one channel? 17:18 - Is it difficult for you to wholesale into other states? 18:49 - Do you plan to expand your product line? 19:49 - Was there anything about the Pandemic that made the business easier or more difficult? 22:00 - Where do you find your inspiration, or who or what inspires you?  24:54 - If you could write your pre-entrepreneurial self a letter, what would it say? 27:16 - What does success look like to you? 29:58 - How do you manage all of these growth ideas you have? 33:55 - If somebody wanted to connect with you, what’s the best way to do so? 34:40 - Outro

For Episode 197 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Nicole Matos, the founder of Oonnie and CEO of Rivet Construction. Oonnie is, essentially, an online farmer’s market. Small and medium sized local food producers can join Oonnie and easily set up their own shops to get their food products online and available for customers to buy quickly, and easily. Customers can then go to a single website, Oonnie, to find all of the local food products they want to buy. The Oonnie difference is that all products can be put into one basket, even from different vendors, and checked out all at the same time. As well, unlike farmer’s markets, Oonnie is available 24/7. To learn more, visit Oonnie’s website at https://oonnie.com/.    00:00 - Intro 00:52 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know? 03:04 - Tell me a little bit about Oonnie. 10:18 - Can you tell me about Rivet Construction? 11:52 - What motivated you to create something completely different in Oonie than what you previously did with Rivet Construction? 14:29 - How do you balance the things that pull on your attention between the two businesses? 17:12 - The way you delegate your workload, where did you learn to do that? 18:34 - As an Indigenous woman entrepreneur, what would be more challenging, and what are some advantages that you have? 22:18 - Who or what inspires you? 25:31 - Can you share some of the things you learned with Rivet that helped shape the way you run Oonnie? 30:52 - If you were able to send a letter back in time to the pre-entrepreneurial Nicole, what would it say? 32:18 - What is the difference between personal vs. business credit? 35:05 - If any of our listeners wanted to connect with you, how could they do that? 36:34 - Outro

For Episode 196 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by our signature guest, Matthew Pollard. Matthew is the author of the Introvert’s Edge book series and public speaker who travels the world teaching introverted people how to be successful salespeople. Matthew is also the National Brand Ambassador for BX Networking, an organization that educates small business owners on how to develop and grow their business so that they can live the life they’ve always wanted. Matthew is often called the Rapid Growth Guy because he challenges business owners to think differently and transform their businesses to be more successful.   A learning disability left Matthew with a sixth-grade reading level by the time he had graduated highschool. This learning disability caused Matthew to become incredibly introverted in his teen years and had caused him to lose jobs and miss out on opportunities. However, it also pushed him to do better. To overcome not only his learning disability, but also his introvertedness. This push would eventually see him become the renowned author, public speaker, and small business guru that he is today. Today, Matthew has helped transform over 3500 struggling businesses and run five multi-million dollar successful businesses of his own. To learn more, visit www.matthewpollard.com, sign up to become a BX Networking member, or register for the BX Networking Reimagined event.   00:00 - Intro 01:16 - Tell us a bit about BX Networking and the speaking event you’ll be doing here in Edmonton in January. 05:51 - It’s interesting to see that small business owners who’ve faced the greatest challenges often become the most resilient and successful. 08:47 - The magic ingredient. 17:24 - How do you challenge entrepreneurs or business owners to approach their businesses differently? 24:37 - Is storytelling something that you have worked at or have you always had this gift? 30:48 - The power of story. 33:41 - If you could send a letter back in time to your younger self, what would it say? 36:35 - As the ambassador of BX, can you give us a bit of a snapshot to how BX is different from other networking organizations? 41:15 - Register for BX’s Networking Reimagined event on January 24th. 42:44 - Outro

For Episode 195 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Andrew Ambrocichuk, the CEO of Hydrasurvey. Hydrasurvey provides hydrographic sludge surveys, wastewater project monitoring, and thermal tank surveys to companies undertaking wastewater projects that include lagoons and ponds to help their clients prepare for remediation. Wastewater ponds and lagoons are designed to hold a certain amount of sludge and sediment, but eventually, these ponds and lagoons need to be remediated. When that time comes, Hydrasense surveys the sludge to tell their clients how much sludge they have and what it’s made of. This allows their clients to know where the sludge can go in terms of landfills or land applications. They also act as quality control throughout the remediation project. To learn more, visit their website at https://www.hydrasurvey.ca/    00:00 - Intro 01:08 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know? 04:47 - As someone with an engineering background coming into a sales position, did you struggle with learning how to sell the product as a whole rather than just the features? 08:21 - What is Hydrasurvey? What problems are you trying to solve? 09:50 - What does your client base look like? Who are your clients? 11:03 - How did you decide that there was a business opportunity in sludge surveying? 13:45 - What are some of the biggest surprises that you had when you were transitioning from working for someone else to entrepreneurship? 15:12 - How do you stay resilient through those challenges, the naysaying, and self-doubt? 18:02 - Where do you find your inspiration? 19:41 - What is your definition of freedom? 21:27 - Can you talk a little bit about Hydrasurvey’s future growth and why the US is a target market for you? What are some of the unique challenges you’re facing in doing so? 24:51 - Does your professional insurance cover you for working in the US as well as it does for work you do in Canada? 26:57 - What have you identified as being some of the biggest risks to achieving your business vision and how to you plan to overcome those risks? 31:05 - How are you keeping an eye on the cashflow aspect while still enabling the growth you want to have? 33:07 - If you could write your pre-entrepreneurial self a letter, what would it say? 35:43 - [Andrew asking Lance] What do you do to not feel overwhelmed as an entrepreneur? Is there something specific that you do? 38:13 - Outro

For Episode 194 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Virginia Wornstaff, the CEO of OSP Microcheck. OSP Microcheck is a company that specializes in microbial identification, surveillance, and mitigation in the oil and gas sector. OSP Microcheck works with the global oil and gas industry to develop solutions for the effects of water and its use, and through data-driven analysis, they help companies in the oil and gas sector decide which biocides are the right ones for their particular application. To learn more, visit the OSP Microcheck website at https://ospmicrocheck.com/    00:00 - Intro 01:06 - What do you think are three things every entrepreneur needs to know? 03:08 - What is OSP Microcheck all about? 05:22 - Do you operate globally? 08:07 - What role does your background in entrepreneurship play in regard to your work with OSP? 10:47 -Do you find your entrepreneurial mind and scientific mind are at odds at times throughout your work with OSP?  14:59 - Are there unique challenges to coming in as an employee, then an investor, and now leading the company versus starting your own company? 20:56 - What is easier at this stage of the company’s journey to be able to allow you the opportunity to evolve and change the business? 24:52 - If you could bring another entrepreneur along on this part of your journey right now, whether someone famous or someone you know personally, who would that be and why? 26:45 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what would it say? 28:12 - If someone in our audience wanted to contact you, how could they do that? 28:44 - Outro

For Episode 193 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Derek Spruill, co-founder and director of sales for Cherry Blossom Hemp. This is the second iteration of the Cherry Blossom brand. Originally called Cherry Blossom Confections, they dealt in the edibles and marijuana candy market. The second iteration then became Cherry Blossom Hemp, and finally, after meeting with a CBD manufacturer out in Oakland, they became Cherry Blossom CBD.   Today, Cherry Blossom CBD delivers high-quality full-spectrum vape-able and dab-able CBD products, such as live resin, extracts, and concentrates. To learn more, visit their website https://www.cherryblossomhemp.com/    00:00 - Intro 01:07 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur needs to know? 04:21 - Can you tell us a little bit about Cherry Blossom CBD? 10:52 - When it comes to the legalization of Cannabis across the US, has that fuelled a bigger understanding of CBD or does it distract away from it? 13:16 - What have been some of the challenges that you’ve had to overcome? 14:59 - Do you have a physical location? 15:40 - What things are easier for you now than when you started? 18:19 - At this stage, what are you doing right that’s really helping you find success? 20:42 - It sounds like you do a lot of education as part of your sales process. Is that correct? 21:48 - If an angel investor dropped $1M into your lap, what would you be doing to maximize your growth with that? 23:01 - What inspires you, as an entrepreneur? 25:33 -  How do you define success as an entrepreneur? 27:57 - If you could write your past self a letter, what would it say? 32:57 - If someone wanted to get in contact with you, how could they do that? 34:34 - Outro

For Episode 192 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Colin Tran, the founder, and president of NXT-GEN at the University of Alberta. At a high level, NXT-GEN was originally founded to bring entrepreneurship to the high school level. It has since evolved into an organization that connects those students - that next generation of Edmonton entrepreneurs - with our city’s rapidly developing entrepreneurial ecosystem. This program was developed with the dream of helping to launch the next generation of young entrepreneurs into that ecosystem and get them started on their entrepreneurial journeys. To learn more, visit the NXT-GEN website at https://www.nxt-gen.biz/    00:00 - Intro 00:58 - Can you give us a rundown as to what you’re trying to do with NXT-GEN? 02:22 - Did NXT-GEN start with high schoolers because you were once a high schooler wishing for this kind of program to help you get into the entrepreneurial ecosystem? 05:06 - What are some of the gaps you’re trying to fill in terms of university courses for entrepreneurship? 07:00 - What are you finding in terms of the background of the students who are interested in NXT-GEN? 09:01 - Is NXT-GEN also focused on bridging the gap between students and industry as well? 10:58 - Are most of these students coming into NXT-GEN with a business idea or a business already started? 13:14 - Do you come from a family of entrepreneurs? Where does this passion for entrepreneurship come from? 16:57 - With the students you’re working with, do you find that there’s this extra excitement because they can take those risks right now when they’re young? 22:22 - How can our audience support NXT-GEN? 24:06 - Outro

For Episode 191 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Ken Bautista, the co-founder of the Public Food Hub, and founder and co-partner of Makespace. The Public combines the community of farmer’s markets with the innovation of drop-shipping to bring delicious food makers and mixologists into industrial kitchens where they can make their wares and food lovers can come to get their favourite dishes or brands. It’s a small food hub for those who want their favourites but don’t want to have to trek all the way downtown to a restaurant.    In short, The Public is a Facebook marketplace or Etsy for makers. Through a combination of physical retail spaces, neighbourhood pickups, and popup markets, The Public is helping more than 400 brands reach a growing community of customers. To learn more, visit https://publicfoodhub.com/ or https://www.makespacegroup.com/    00:00 - Intro  01:18 - What are three things that every entrepreneur needs to know? 05:20 - Do you have any advice for new entrepreneurs about how they can balance having hope but also understanding the math of entrepreneurship? 07:21 - Can you tell us a bit about the problem that the Public Food Hub is trying to solve? 10:22 - What is the makeup of these food hubs? 13:31 - Is all of this done through a centralized ordering application? 16:25 - This seems like a way for these makers to move into new locations and consumer demographics without having to physically open new locations. 20:42 - How does the Public Food Hub fit into the broader Makespace initiative that you have? 24:23 - Where do you find this limitless energy to constantly be boosting the entrepreneurial community, and where do you get your inspiration? 28:34 - With all of the experience you have, what’s easier for you now than it would have been in the earlier days of your entrepreneurial journey? 31:27 - Do you get bored easily? Or is it just that you have this curiosity and desire to learn? 34:04 - What does success look like to you? 36:59 - If your wife were to describe you as an entrepreneur, how would her description of you be different than that of one of your co-founders or collaborators? 40:59 - If you had the ability to send a letter back in time to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what would it say? 44:41 - If any of our audience wanted to connect with you, how could they go about doing that? 45:27 - Outro

For Episode 190 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Derek Nolt, the founder, and CEO of Bladeflex. Bladeflex is an upper-body rehabilitation device. Muscles can adapt to the direction in which the force is applied, which is why the resistance on the Bladeflex divide is built right in. Bladeflex helps the shoulders, back, and neck area adapts to better form. The beauty of Bladeflex comes from its ability to be used wherever and whenever you need it, whether that’s at home, in the office, or anywhere you might need that extra support. To learn more, visit Bladeflex’s website at https://bladeflex.com/    00:00 - Intro 00:50 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know? 03:37 - Tell me a little bit about Bladeflex. What are you guys doing over there? 04:33 - Did the development of this device come from problems that you, yourself, were having with your shoulders and neck? 06:24 - Who is your target audience? 08:56 - How long have you been in development and commercializing the product? 09:50 - What is your go-to-market strategy? 11:09 - What are some of the challenges you see going forward with the growth of Bladeflex? 12:26 - From a manufacturing standpoint, is this product manufactured offshore and then imported, or is it manufactured here? 13:20 - How have you been handling the supply chain management issues that many companies have been facing recently? 14:27 - What percentage of your sales would be direct to consumers vs through retail from physiotherapists, massage therapists, or other distributors? 15:21 - When you were making the decision of selling through retail outlets vs direct to consumer, why did you choose to go more into direct to consumer vs traditional distribution channels? 16:35 - Have you been in any of the accelerators within the startup community? What kind of support have you received through the community? 18:20 - If you could write a letter to your past self, from before you started Bladeflex, what would that letter say? 19:46 - How do you know when to add another product to the SKU? 22:01 - What inspired you to take the leap of faith and create this product and business? 23:45 - Outro

For Episode 189 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Mike Toffan, the founder and executive director of Project Forest. Project Forest is a non-profit organization that helps other companies solve their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance), CSR (Corporate Social Responsiblity), and carbon reduction challenges. To do this, they identify non-productive agricultural land that’s found within Indigenous community land or with conservation groups. Once the land has been identified, Project Forest’s financial partners then fund the rewilding work to restore and protect the natural processes and wilderness areas of that land.   Project Forest has developed a platform where companies small and large, whose core values include the importance of sustainability, can partner with them to help provide meaningful, tangible, on-the-ground impact. To learn more, visit Project Forest’s website.   00:00 - Intro 01:03 - In your opinion, what are three things every entrepreneur should know? 02:39 - Is Project Forest a non-profit or a for-profit organization? 02:48 - Can you tell us a little bit about what you do at Project Forest? 06:49 - What’s your background? How did you get into doing this? 08:44 - Why did you start Project Forest in the midst of a pandemic? 10:09 - What are some of the challenges that you’ve had to overcome since starting Project Forest? 11:51 - You work with both huge corporations as well as solopreneurs. Do you find that you’re chasing after the big ones because they’re easier to land? Tell us about the mix of your customer base. 16:28 - When you were setting up the company and making the decision to be a not-for-profit vs a for-profit, can you walk me through that decision? 18:05 - Is there anything unique or different about managing a non-profit vs a for-profit? 20:30 - What are some of the things that you think are going to be most challenging going forward? 23:39 - If you could write your younger self a letter, what would it say? 25:57 - What keeps you up at night right now? 27:46 - If people wanted to reach out to you, what’s the best way to do that? 30:26 - Outro

For Episode 188 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Hillary Sweet, the co-founder, and CEO of Kidney-Chek. Anyone who’s ever owned a pet knows that they are very good at hiding when they’re not feeling well. As pets age, vets start to offer regular bloodwork and wellness checks and tests to ensure that everything is still functioning normally. The problem is, many pet owners find these tests too expensive or unnecessary, as their pet has shown no sign of illness, so they opt not to have them done. Kidney disease is one of the most undiagnosed health problems animals face. One in three cats and 1 in 10 dogs will have kidney disease that goes undiagnosed or undetected.   Kidney-Chek wanted to come up with a solution to combat this often deadly health issue, so they invented a quick, affordable screening tool that uses your pet’s saliva to test for kidney disease. To learn more, visit their website and check out their products at https://kidneychek.com/    00:00 - Intro 00:47 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know? 03:51 - What is it that Kidney-Chek does? 04:59 - Why did you decide to focus on pets versus humans? 06:14 - Is kidney disease in animals a problem that you discovered first and then built on it from there, or were you searching for a problem that needed to be solved first? 07:26 - What made you decide that you wanted to be an entrepreneur? 09:26 - Despite having a Ph.D., you had no intention of staying within academia? 10:41 - What have been some of the biggest challenges that you’ve had to overcome as you transitioned from academia into starting, running, and growing a business? 12:33 - Can you tell me a bit about the last three and a half years? 15:45 - Can you walk us through the competitive landscape that you’re facing right now? 16:19 - With no direct competitors, how do you address pricing? What methodology did you use? 19:28 - Is your long-term plan to continue to sell online and in retail stores or do you plan to skew towards one or the other? 22:48 - When you talked earlier about wishing you had done more customer validation earlier on, was that beyond the pricing? Was it in the messaging? Can you expand upon that a bit? 28:29 - What’s easier now for your business at this stage than it was before? 30:09 - What are the biggest hurdles or challenges that you’re going to have to overcome to get Kidney-Chek to its next level? 33:00 - If you were to write a letter to your pre-entrepreneurial self, what would that letter say? 36:50 - If our listeners wanted to reach out to you, how could they do that? 37:27 - Outro

For Episode 187 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Jim Parsons, the founder, and owner of Equinox Sound & Entertainment. Through Equinox, Jim not only writes, produces, hosts, and entertains through a variety of avenues, but he has also created online courses to teach others to do the same. As well, he helps his clients with all of their video, editing, and content needs.    Through his other entrepreneurial venture, Sports Side Hustle, he runs digital courses that teach students how to use their passion for sports to get off the sidelines and into the game through courses on writing blogs, producing podcasts, and more. To learn more, visit the Equinox Sound & Entertainment website.   00:00 - Intro 01:42 - What are three things every entrepreneur needs to know? 05:11 - Can you tell us a bit about Equinox? 10:08 - As an entrepreneur, how do you manage the emotional side of the ups and downs we face, like what happened to the entertainment industry during the pandemic? 13:01 - A lot of entrepreneurs get bored easily and have the tendency to switch from one challenge to the next. Do you find yourself doing something similar? 15:44 - What is the Sports Side Hustle? 21:12 - Would what you’re doing with Sports Side Hustle have been possible 10, or 15 years ago? 23:01 - What are some of the challenges that you think you’re going to face between now and the next couple of years in order to continue to scale your business? 25:46 - How do you differentiate yourself from the competition? And how did you work through that process of being different? 27:50 - Are there any podcasts, books, other entrepreneurs, or famous people that you follow that you’re leveraging for inspiration? Where do you get your inspiration? 30:40 - If you could write a letter to your younger entrepreneurial self, what would it say? 32:24 - Do you have a goal that you’re trying to strive for, or do you just approach it day by day? 33:54 - Who is the best hockey player in the history of the Edmonton Oilers franchise? 34:45 - Who is your favourite player to watch on the ice? 35:49 - What’s your prediction on who’s going to win the Stanley Cup this year? 36:12 - If anyone wants to connect with you or learn how to get involved, what’s the best way to connect with you? 36:54 - Outro

For Episode 186 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by PJ Barclay, the President and CEO of Impirica. Impirica develops risk assessment tools for companies to accurately measure impairment risk as it relates to driving and operating in other safety-sensitive environments. Impirica gives organizations and individuals the peace of mind that employees and individuals can operate safely in a given environment. They provide easy-to-use and cost-effective in-depth risk assessment solutions to ensure that commercial drivers are healthy, productive, and able to continue to work for years to come. To learn more, visit the Impirica website.   00:00 - Intro 00:55 - What do you think are three things every entrepreneur needs to know? 03:25 - What are some of the superpowers that you think you bring to the table? 05:19 - Can you tell us a little bit about Impirica? What are you doing? What problems are you trying to solve? 06:57 - What motivated you to become a partner in this company? 09:26 - Is there anything that you can share about things that you were looking at when making the decision to join this company? 12:01 - Your gust instinct, was that something that was borne out of a history of entrepreneurship? 17:46 - How do you stay focused in a particular kind of space when you have so many opportunities out there? 23:19 - What is easier for you or your company, now at this stage in its business life? 25:39 - What keeps you up at night right now? 28:56 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what would it say? 31:05 - What inspires you, who inspires you, or where do you get your inspiration from? 34:42 - What would be the best way for our listeners to reach out to you? 36:38 - Outro

For Episode 185 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Evan Wain, the co-founder of Ordr. Ordr is a company that is changing the way we enjoy sporting and local events by affording the public the option for premium service, even in the “cheap seats”.   Following Edmonton Unlimited’s Launch Party 13, we delved into the ups and downs of starting a service-oriented startup in the middle of a pandemic. To learn more, you can visit Ordr’s website or check out their Instagram.   00:00 - Intro 00:55 - Tell me about the experience of pitching your company at Launch Party 13, held by Edmonton Unlimited. 01:52 - How unnerving was it to get up in front of everyone at Launch Party 13 to pitch your business, Ordr? 02:49 - What are three things that every entrepreneur needs to know? 06:43 - Can you tell us a little bit about Ordr? What problem are you solving? 08:46 - What was it like starting a business like Ordr in the middle of COVID when there were no large venues open? 11:32 - Where are you now in terms of the business? Walk me through the last year. 14:45 - How did you manage to land such major investors? 19:27 - What is the best advice you have received from your mentor? 23:05 - What keeps you up at night? 24:15 - What challenges have you had to overcome? 25:59 - With the threat of big names like Uber Eats or Doordash possibly moving into this space, how are you mitigating this? 28:30 - What advice would you give your younger self? 30:36 - How can our viewers get in contact with you? 31:14 - Outro

For Episode 184 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Dr. Tom Ingegno, the owner of Charm City Integrative Health. Charm City Integrative Health is a health and wellness center in Baltimore, Maryland, that offers health services that combine both Eastern and Western medical practices to help their clients achieve their greatest level of wellness.    Some of their services include whole-body cryotherapy, acupuncture, salt therapy, red light therapy, therapeutic massage, clinical counseling, and more. To learn more, visit the Charm City Integrative Health website.   00:00 - Intro 01:22 - What are three things that you think every entrepreneur should know? 5:50 - Can you tell us a little bit about Charm City Integrative Health? 10:24 - Is it unique to be as integrated as Charm City is? 13:37 - Do you have multiple clinics? Are you franchising? 18:02 - In terms of COVID, how were you able to, as a business owner, accommodate that all within one physical space? 20:01 - What do you think are some of the biggest challenges you’re going to have in terms of the growth plans you have? 22:07 - How are you overcoming the challenges that come with rapid growth? 24:37 - Where do you find the inspiration to help people with their health? 27:14 - Do you have other mentors as well? 28:36 - What are the secrets to creating the kind of amazing culture you’ve curated at Charm City? 30:10 - If you could go back in time and write your past self a letter, what would it say? 32:23 - What is it that you are currently losing sleep over? What stresses you out right now about your business? 34:54 - How do you manage the desire to tinker with and change your business? 37:07 - What do you see that is a common thing that you advise entrepreneurs to do that maybe is a little different than what you advise other people? 38:30 - How can people contact you? 39:49 - Outro

For Episode 183 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Jeff Waldman, the founder, and principal of ScaleHR. ScaleHR helps small to mid-size businesses scale their HR and People Operations through strategy and operations advice and resources, tech stack support and help, identifying value props, and growing leadership skills. They also help recruitment tech and HR startups build better solutions and software for their own businesses. To learn more, visit the ScaleHR website.   00:00 - Intro 01:09 - In your experience, what are three things every entrepreneur needs to know? 03:11 - Where did you get your strong business acumen from? 04:27 - Can you tell us a little about ScaleHR? 09:48 - Can you explain what you offer in terms of tech stacks to your clients? 12:27 - With the more widespread acceptance of hybrid and remote workplaces, what changes from an HR standpoint? 16:19 - Do you think that, regardless of technology, the days of having that work-life separation are over now?  19:47 - How do you support your team to navigate through working with so many different people with different personalities and beliefs surrounding work-life balance? 25:22 - If you could have had $1 million at the start of ScaleHR, what would you have done differently? 28:04 - What is your take on the entrepreneurial lifestyle? What do you love about it? What do you find most difficult? 30:12 - How do you manage the emotional roller coaster that comes with being an entrepreneur? 33:54 - If people wanted to reach out to you, how could they do that? 34:35 - Outro