As entrepreneurs, we often feel like we have to hide our mistakes and vulnerabilities. But Amanda Ovaici, Co-Founder of FuckUp Nights Calgary and Associate Lawyer at Osuji & Smith, believes this is detrimental to our success. She helps us all understand the power of vulnerability and failure, particularly when it comes to entrepreneurship. Find out more about the event series and how it can help you uncover shared obstacles and the path forward from those who have experienced it first hand.

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In this episode, you’ll hear from Julie Shipley-Strickland, one of Canada’s very few female investment and insurance advisors. She delivers insights on entrepreneurship, building wealth, and what modern retirement looks like with a dash of humour and plenty of expertise thanks to her family’s legacy in wealth management and her senior roles at Wellington-Altus and Bergh Tatomir & Associates.

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In this episode, learn from Alice and Jennifer, Co-Founders of Digital Magenta, a revenue consultancy. With their data and growth strategy backgrounds, they have developed ways to reduce funnel leaks, improve revenue and make wise data and technology investments. Listen to learn how you can align your organization to produce expert results.

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In this episode, Connor O’Shea will inspire you to take a chance on your next big idea. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Westgen Technologies, a remote power and methane-reduction technology company. While on paternity leave, he and his co-founder mortgaged their homes, took their entire savings, and invested it into their idea. Their great idea came to them as a result of looming regulatory changes that would dramatically change the energy industry, presenting them with a massive opportunity to bring their idea to life.

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In this episode, you’ll learn that education and hurling yourself down a mountainside are much more common than you might think. Steve Mesler, CEO of Classroom Champions and three-time American Olympian, joins us to share his experience with both fields and how they intersect. You’ll learn about goal-setting, social and emotional intelligence, and resilience from an athlete's perspective - as well as some valuable lessons that can be applied to the classroom.

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In this episode, discover how technology is revolutionizing healthcare so that patients can receive specialist advice within 24 hours rather than 24 months. Heiko Peters, Co-Founder, COO and CTO of Althea Medical, shares its inception story, purpose and journey of its artificial intelligence technology. This technology was created by another Collisions YYC guest, Dr. Devon Livingstone.

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In this episode, Patrick Doyle, CEO of SSRG, shares his journey as a business owner with a focus on mergers and acquisitions. He shares his experiences working in northern communities and the mutually beneficial approach to working with First Nations and Inuit people, which led to expansion across Canada. Patrick also lays out his business and funding models, focusing on a non-dilutive capital approach. Whether you are looking to start, grow, acquire or exit a business, this episode has the insights you need.

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In this episode, Jennie Gilbert is back for her fifth episode to share her insights on ‘quiet quitting’. While this is a relatively new term, quiet quitting has been called other things in the past. Jennie helps you understand what it really means from the perspective of leadership and employees. She breaks down how workplace culture, career changes, and the pandemic might have played a role in the reemergence of “pulling back” in the workplace.

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In this episode, discover the real implications that robotics and artificial intelligence will have on our world with Dennis Kambeitz, CEO of EZ-Robot. The World Economic Forum predicts that 1BN will need retraining by 2030 as technology continues to change how we work, play and live. We are on the cusp of the largest workforce transition in history, and it will affect all of us. Dennis shares what EZ-Robot does to train students and teachers about robotics and shares his journey of raising funds through crowdfunding and venture capital.

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In this episode, learn about the incredibly transformative powers of nanotechnology from Ghada Nafie, President and Co-Founder of Litus. Ghada brings decades of engineering experience optimizing and improving the oil and gas industry. Now, she has turned her focus to lithium production and mining. Litus is a patent-pending product that uses nanotechnology to selectively harvest lithium directly from aqueous sources, which not only improves the quality of lithium available for things like electric vehicles but also improves living standards by reducing environmental harm. Discover how science, technology and real-world problems are colliding with this episode.

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In this episode, learn about the realities of health & safety from Gus Minor, Chief Innovation Officer at Sofvie, a software company with a goal to build a culture of safety leading to zero harm at work. As a former underground worker himself, Gus knows first-hand the dangerous realities of many industries, particularly mining and construction. Discover how digitizing health & safety leads to more positive outcomes than zero harm and the mindset that leaders require to undertake a digital transformation journey.

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In this episode, you’ll learn why Plug and Play Tech Center has its name. With three core areas of support — corporate partners, start-up acceleration, and investment — this organization helps corporations plug into existing start-ups to solve their company challenges. Lindsay Smylie, Director of Alberta at Plug and Play Tech Center, shares the founding story of the organization as well as how the acceleration of investment in Alberta drew them into our ecosystem. She also talks about how collaboration in this space has a global ripple effect.

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In this episode, hear from the Executive Director of Start Alberta, Samanta Jovanovic. Samanta shares with us the organization's inception and how collaborative efforts between the A100, Alberta Enterprise Corporation, Venture Capital Association of Alberta and many community partners helped make it a reality. As our province continues to be shaped by start-ups and investments, Samanta is spearheading a depth of understanding of these arenas with Start Alberta. Under her guidance, we gain the ability to shed light on the total number of start-ups and scale-ups in our province as well as provide data on the tech industry that can inform and influence entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers alike.

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In this episode, you’ll learn about the story of 1616, a non-profit foundation created by NHL player Andrew Ladd and his wife, Brandy. They teamed up with Meredith Wolff, a lawyer and charitable consultant who helps athletes and entertainers do high-impact strategic philanthropy. Andrew shares his mental health journey and the ‘a-ha’ moment that helped him realize our youth, particularly in hockey, don’t have four core proficiencies that can aid them when things get tough: competence, confidence, connection, and character. The valuable lessons learned by Andrew and Brandy in founding 1616 are applicable no matter what industry you’re in.

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In this episode, Krista Rabidoux will help you get clarity on cross-border tax advisory. As a Partner at Andersen, a global provider of tax services for people, businesses and corporations, she has plenty of expertise to share. If you’ve been dreaming of heading down to the Bahamas to work this winter, Krista might burst your bubble with her insights on which tax laws apply to remote workers. After this episode, you’ll have clarity on the ins and outs of taxation, tax treaties, and the difficulties you may face if you try to get too creative.

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In this episode, you’ll hear from Brahm Klar, General Partner of Round13, a Toronto-based tech-focused venture capital fund. Brahm shares his insights into the evolution of venture capital in Canada from the early aughts until today - including some of the new challenges VC funds face to stay competitive and differentiate themselves. He shares his perspective on why Western Canada has been so successful when it comes to innovative businesses, as well as what Western Canadian businesses should keep in mind when trying to compete against Toronto or Silicon Valley.

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In this episode, Iggy is back on the show to talk about his passion for helping organizations with culture, brand and investing in leaders and employees. After a successful run as COO and CEO of Tundra Process Solutions, which was acquired by Wajax in 2021, the Wajax team knew he had the capabilities to grow into the CEO role. So they gave him the chance with vigour.

But what has the process been like? And what key leadership lessons has he learned along the way? Tune in to find out!

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In this episode, we’re returning to school with David Finch, Professor and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Community Prosperity, Mount Royal University. David shares some of the unique challenges faced in post-secondary education. From disparate goals at institution levels to lengthening life expectancies, the rewards promised by a degree no longer make sense in our increasingly evolving world.

David also shares what he’s learned through his research on tenure professors and their real-world experiences. What does that mean for our economic growth? And what could future learning ecosystems look like? Listen in to find out!

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