Vancouver

Andrew Gordon Discusses the Cannabis Industry and His Retail Cannabis Chain Kiaro

Andrew Gordon is a shareholder of Kiaro, which is a cannabis retail brand, and derives from the Italian “Chiaroscuro”, meaning to emerge from darkness into the light. He currently serves as Senior Vice President of Retail Operations and Community. He specializes in organizational development, public affairs, community partnerships and industry performance. Andrew has a degree in Political Science from UVIC, and is a graduate of BCIT’s Non-Profit Management Program. Andrew has successfully led the community integration efforts for a number of private retailers across Canada, and has worked with a diverse array of patients, consumers and regulators to build accountable, community-responsive and financially sustainable cannabis retail models. Galvanized by the prospects of cannabis legalization in Canada, Andrew is passionate about working with community stakeholders across the country to help reduce social stigma, and abate pharmaceutical drug dependence within communities.

Jordan Lewis

Jordan Lewis is the co-founder and CEO of Stable.work, an online marketplace for Sales Professionals. Prior to Stable.work, Jordan was the co-founder and CEO at Biddwell, an end-to-end property rental platform. Prior to Biddwell Jordan was the interim CEO at Spacelist, Canada’s leading Commercial Real Estate platform, where he oversaw the redevelopment of the company’s short and long-term strategy. Jordan holds a Bachelor of Technology Degree in Network and Security Application Development and Administration, as well as a Computer Systems Technology Diploma in Data Communication and Internet working from The British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Brian Kingston Discusses the Issues Businesses are Dealing with as a Result of COVID-19

Brian Kingston, Vice President of Business Council Canada speaks to Canada’s Podcast about the issues business are dealing with as a result of COVID-19, government’s response to the crisis and BCC’s position & recommendations.

Canada’s Podcast and Perceptible Discuss the COVID-19 Crisis and Breaking Through the Isolation

COVID-19 is challenging and impacting entrepreneurs across Canada. Many of us are wondering how our businesses will make it through the weeks and months ahead. Canada’s Podcast will be introducing new items and opinions from some of Canada’s leading entrepreneurs, past guests and our own team. We can learn from each other by sharing our experiences and learning from each other. As a community, we are in this together. Today, Calgary host Bonnie Elgie chats with Leandro Dumlao and Philip Bliss, the two gentlemen behind Canada’s Podcast and its parent company, Perceptible Group.

Grant Lawrence

Grant Lawrence has participated in an IPO, experienced a buyout and the integration challenges that go with this; he is an active Angel investor is a Founder of Valhalla Private Capital and as President of Valhalla Angels Kelowna and Co-President of Valhalla Angels Vancouver Grant contributes to building the tech community. He also mentors and guides startups through business operations and sales.

Grant has over 22+ successful years in the software industry both in startups and establish companies; holding a number of different senior positions in sales and marketing and proven track record in building and managing teams in the areas of strategic alliances, indirect and direct sales channels in complex B2B environments domestically and internationally throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

Dan Kelly

Dan Kelly, President of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) talks about the impact the coronavirus (COVID-19) is having on Canadian entrepreneurs, the government response and what still needs to be done.

Mike Schwarz

Born and raised in Squamish BC, Mike Schwarz went on to graduate from UBC Sauder School of Business with his Bachelor of Commerce degree (Marketing) in 1999. Since then, Mike has been self-employed, working on internet start-ups for over 18 years. Mike now has a rich history of successful dot-com exits including Clubvibes.com, Techvibes.com, The Massive Tech conference, DiscoverVancouver and clubZone.com. Mike’s current focus is building out myZone Media, who’s mission is to help event promoters operate more efficiently. Subsidiary businesses of myZone including myZone Printing, myZone Marketing, myZone Web Development, myZone Ticketing (aka ticketZone.com) and myZone Merch. Mike loves to travel and spends several months per year on the road working remotely. His latest start-up is his growing family including a wife & son. Recognized in 2005 as a BIV top 30 under 30, Schwarz has also spoken at numerous conferences and is passionate about building creative work environments that enable both work-life balance.

In this episode, Mike discusses “why it’s essential to find out what part of your business is virus proof”, and stresses the importance of pivoting your business offerings online during this tumultuous time. Mark also talks about how his businesses thrives within a remote work-from-home culture, and offers insights and tools he uses to connect with his domestic and international team members.

Mark sheds light on the impact COVID-19 is having on the event industry specifically. With the current outlook, which is changing daily, Mark anticipates events should be postponed until at least the Fall, if not the Spring.

Dan Pontefract

Dan Pontefract is the Chief Envisioner of the TELUS Transformation Office, where he helps organizations and leaders improve all facets of the ‘future of work’ including employee engagement, leadership development, collaborative behaviours and organizational purpose. He is an international keynote speaker, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business and the author of three books, including his latest, Open to Think: Slow Down, Think Creatively, and Make Better Decisions.

Annee Ngo

Annee Ngo is the co-founder and CEO of Startup League, an educational gaming platform for students to learn creative problem-solving through competition and play. She is a serial entrepreneur whom scaled global ed-tech company into more than 30 cities across 12 countries in under 3 years with clients like Adobe and Stanford. She exited her first startup in 2016, returning 3x to her investors. Annee is also the proud recipient of Women Tech Founders’ Award for Gaming/AR/VR and BC Business’ 30 Under 30.

Cam Armitage

Cam Armitage is a professional firefighter and side-hustle CEO of CamArmitage.com. Author, speaker, entertainer, motivator. Cam’s “work” is sharing the message that you can be a “bad-ass” while doing good work, with primary audience of 13-18 year olds who are at a critical pivot point of life choices.