Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas - the Rainforest podcast

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Mark Shields Working with entrepreneurs through Business Link, Mark gets to spend his days helping people solve their problems. This can take widely different forms from client to client which really keeps him nimble in strategy. Mark is able to offer some particular strategy around financials through his time studying accounting and methodically pursuing a CPA designation.

Sophia Tang ditched her comfy corporate executive career in pursuit of social entrepreneurship. Her goal is to reduce local food waste by food upcycling and help people like you to make conscious and compassionate purchases. Check out her delicious upcycled snacks at coRISE.ca and follow coRISEfoods on social media.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out.We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Summary

Sophia Tang is a Social Entrepreneur and Founder of coRISE. She chats with Mark about food waste and her decision to start a company with a mission to end food waste by upcycling food in Alberta.

Show Quote:

"In Alberta alone, over 70,000 Kilograms of grains per day are wasted just in the brewing process."

"One of the things that I really had to overcome was sustainable packaging "

"Only 9% of all recyclable products in Canada, are actually recycled. Most end up in the landfill because the city doesn't have the capacity to process all of it."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - PODMaster 2020

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Michael Chui Michael Chui enjoys learning about different perspectives and challenges assumptions through questions. He had a diverse career in finance and operations, technology (software), product management (product owner) and regulatory economics including times training as a locomotive engineer. His diverse experience allows him to look at complex ideas through multiple lenses and pinpoint its simplest core values. He is currently unlearning && re-learning how to build intuitive (web) applications and effective architecture solutions as a full stack developer. He is also volunteering with Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Alberta to help accountants better adapt to the latest in software and technology.

Aymie Rondeau Aymie Rondeau is a Chartered Professional Accountant, entrepreneur and founder of The Curvy Shop. The Curvy Shop is a curated collection of the best in women's plus-size fashion. Aymie founded the company in 2019 after becoming frustrated trying to find high quality and modern plus-size fashion to meet her needs as a professional. When Aymie isn't hunting down the latest fashion trends, she can be found taking her chocolate Lab, Bentley on adventures, in her vegetable garden, or travelling and eating her way around the world.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out.We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Summary

We are talking to different leaders and innovators in the Alberta technology and startup ecosystem with past experiences in traditional finance roles. They'll talk about their experience in finance and startup, ideas, and their thoughts on a diverse career. Aymie leveraged her personal frustration (with a lack of clothing options) into a sustainable business (the Curvy Shop) - ultimately winning the inaugural ATB Financial Build Her Business crowdfunding competition. She shares her thoughts around the future of clothing and personal lessons navigating her diverse career that included public accounting, logistics, and bootstrapping her startup.

The Curvy Shop (https://www.shopthecurvy.com/pages/about-us)

Brene Brown (https://www.ted.com/speakers/brene_brown)

Show Quote:

"Being more open-minded to possibilities. I don't think in a world today where people can think of a career so rigidly and it can zigzag all over the place. Being more comfortable with risk in your career."

"From a fashion industry standpoint, inclusion isn't something I can ignore. It all intertwines with my business model, so I am constantly reading to continue to educate myself the best I can."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - PODMaster 2020

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Al Del Degan I am a proven leader with over twenty-three years of diverse experience designing, delivering, and supporting software and technology projects. I believe in giving back to my community and I enjoy networking and helping to grow Alberta’s innovation ecosystem. Creatively you will find me pursuing my passions of podcasting, photography and wood working along with the occasional round of golf.

David Burtyn I am responsible for user growth and adoption of the Ruckify platform in western Canada. I have led the expansion team for Calgary through covid and now are looking to get more involved with the Calgary community to show how Ruckify can Help. Ruckify is the rent anything platform - Like airbnb but for stuff. We help people make money renting out items the already own to other members of the community to help them save money as well. We have a partnership with the United Way in Calgary to help get them laptops, cell phones and tablets to health professionals and their patients to help stay connected.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out.We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Summary

David found out at the young age of sixteen that he had the gift of gab, and getting paid to just chat with people was a great way to make a living. Later the psychology of sales kept his interest and has taken him through a great career so far in sales and business development. Learn how David was relentless in making sure that he got hired on at a company called Ruckify.  A company that he felt was a great fit for his skills, and as far as he was concerned, he was going to make sure it was very successful. Also get to learn where the creative name for the company came from.

Show Quote:

"For the first time in a while I had defined that is what I want, I could see the potential, I could see what I could do with it"

"There is no such thing as a bad conversation about Ruckify, the more people we can educate, the more people we can help"

"A chicken plucker is on the platform... I have seen an inflatable unicorn suit... it's literally everything [on the Ruckify platform]"

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - PODMaster 2020

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Michael Chui Michael Chui enjoys learning about different perspectives and challenges assumptions through questions. He had a diverse career in finance and operations, technology (software), product management (product owner) and regulatory economics including times training as a locomotive engineer. His diverse experience allows him to look at complex ideas through multiple lenses and pinpoint its simplest core values. He is currently unlearning && re-learning how to build intuitive (web) applications and effective architecture solutions as a full stack developer. He is also volunteering with Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Alberta to help accountants better adapt to the latest in software and technology.

Dr. Byron Chu Byron has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Calgary. His studies focused on intrinsic properties of proteins, and today he applies the same scientific principles to data science projects. As a data scientist, Byron is interested in the intersection of data analysis and storytelling, and how numbers can inform and impact on every level of society: from education and the environment to the health issues we may potentially face.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out.We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Summary

In an online article, the business publication Forbes recently discussed the importance of teaching K-12 students “computational thinking”. Computational thinking is a way to solve complex problems by breaking them down into steps and finding trends and patterns. In this episode, Rainforest Alberta host Michael Chui chats with Dr. Byron Chu, project manager and data scientist for the Callysto program. Byron talks about why it’s important to teach students computational thinking and what Callysto is doing to bring computational thinking into Grades 5-12 classrooms across Canada.

About Callysto, Callysto is a free, online learning tool that helps Grades 5-12 students and teachers across Canada learn and apply in-demand data science skills, including data analysis, visualization, coding, and computational thinking. The online tool’s interactive learning modules are available in a variety of subjects – from math to history – and are aligned with existing curriculums. The Callysto is federally-funded and is led by the non-profit organizations Cybera and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences.

Callysto: https://callysto.ca/

Callysto Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPdq1SYKA42EZBvUlNQUAng Cybera: https://www.cybera.ca/

Jupyter notebook: https://jupyter.org/

Forbes article: "Stop Calculating And Start Teaching Computational Thinking" by Tom Vander Ark. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanderark/2020/06/29/stop-calculating-and-start-teaching-computational-thinking/#3f1856d83786

Show Quote:

"Computational thinking in combination with data science and open data is a very powerful phenomenon...where industries can share a lot of the knowledge to come up with solutions to apply to teach and educate. "

"In the student's first hackathons, we had challenges on Pokemon, Spotify, and Alice in Wonderland. Books can be turned into data. Words can be turned into data. We had a whole exploration of what you can do with natural language processing, even though (the students) don't recognize they are doing natural language processing."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - PODMaster 2020

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Adam Ludgate Adam is a technical leader who is involved in the startup/tech community and is enticed by new and innovative ways of solving problems with technology. He has worked previously with the likes of IBM Canada, AOL UK, tech startups in London's 'Silicon Roundabout' as well as with a variety of oil & gas software firms in various software development and leadership capacities.

Nicolas Beique Nic is a tech entrepreneur who founded and built Helcim from the ground up. Helcim is Nic's passion. He spends his days working with his incredible team, as they build amazing payment experiences for their merchants. https://www.helcim.com

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out.We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Summary

Learn about Nicolas and his ability to keep his eye out for problems and then implement creative solutions to help businesses with their ecommerce and financial technology requirements through his company Helcim. The fintech industry is complicated and filled with dinosaurs who are slow to change and implement new technologies.

Show Quote:

"When you start out as an entrepreneur at a very young age, you don't have resources, you don't have experience, you don't have money, but you do have time."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - PODMaster 2020

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Michael Chui Michael Chui enjoys learning about different perspectives and challenges assumptions through questions. He had a diverse career in finance and operations, technology (software), product management (product owner) and regulatory economics including times training as a locomotive engineer. His diverse experience allows him to look at complex ideas through multiple lenses and pinpoint its simplest core values. He is currently unlearning && re-learning how to build intuitive (web) applications and effective architecture solutions as a full stack developer. He is also volunteering with Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Alberta to help accountants better adapt to the latest in software and technology.

Matt Lee Matt’s experience coalesces at the intersection of business, finance and technology. With a career spanning 18 years, Matt has worked with venture capital firms, multinational financial institutions, and technology startups from Alberta to Silicon Valley. He has extensive experience in assisting management teams with capital raising and operational assessments and has a keen sense of what’s needed to succeed in business. Currently, Matt is a product manager at Certent, Inc., focusing on software solutions for private company CFOs.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out.We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Summary

I am talking to different leaders and innovators in the Alberta technology and startup ecosystem with past experiences in traditional finance roles. Matt Lee shares his thoughts around finance (as an operation specialist who is very specialized in finance) and product management (is a founder who has access to a capital pool) in both traditional and startup space. Book liked by Matt: Alchemist By Paulo Coelho https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18144590-the-alchemist

Show Quote:

"Success is all about doing. You are going to fail, it will be painful at times. If you don't do it, you'll just sit there and wonder for the rest of your life. "

"Investors care about the metrics around how this is going to work. You got to have something to prove the market is willing to pay for. Having something cool is good. Having something someone will pay for is best."

"We don't have a lot of Series C and Series D (ventures) yet. We're starting to grow out. In five years, we're going to see more companies in Series C and Series D funds. (Alberta) has the advantage as there is government money chasing ideas here. We just need to increase that velocity at the startup side."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - PODMaster 2020

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Trevor Prentice Trevor Prentice has nearly a decade of experience managing and advising on intellectual property (patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, commercial agreements), and is the founder and lead Intellectual Property Strategist with IP Link. Trevor has a BSc in Physics, a Masters in Aerospace Engineering, and a Certificate of Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Trevor is refreshingly not a lawyer and as such, he will help you understand and optimize your intellectual property protection strategy from a business perspective.

Allie Knull Allie Knull, RPR CPHR Candidate - Bio Allie’s passion for talent management has spanned her eighteen-year career. Although her career started with nation-wide companies, Allie’s recent focus is helping small business owners master their talent management. She has experience in all things human resources related for companies from one to 80,000 employees. Allie is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) Candidate with CPHR Alberta and a Registered Professional Recruiter (RPR) with the Institute of Professional Management. She is a Top Recruiter™ in Canada 2019 Award winner placing 10th overall and currently sits on the NPO Collective board in Edmonton.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out.We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Summary

In this episode, Trevor and Allie discuss how Allie “accidentally” got into human resources, how she became an entrepreneur and her opinion of typical resume based hiring processes. We also discussed improved techniques for hiring and getting hired, including some intriguing stats.

Show Quote:

"Typically speaking, the job postings are only representative of 11% of available jobs. 11."

"Dare I say, I think 40 hour work weeks might be done."

"Even though I'm still a very outgoing individual, I still get nervous going to networking meetings and I think that's the one thing that people need to understand."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - PODMaster 2020

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Mark Shields Working with entrepreneurs through Business Link, Mark gets to spend his days helping people solve their problems. This can take widely different forms from client to client which really keeps him nimble in strategy. Mark is able to offer some particular strategy around financials through his time studying accounting and methodically pursuing a CPA designation.

Brett Colvin Brett is a lifelong entrepreneur and leader. Before becoming a lawyer, Brett owned a successful painting business and lead the University of Alberta varsity soccer team to countless victories. After law school, he worked at Canada’s largest law firm as a corporate lawyer for 4 years. He saw first hand every day that most people need legal help but can’t afford it. They don’t qualify for Legal Aid, but the typical firm rates are simply out of reach. Determined to find a way to fix the crisis, Brett left the world of corporate law and started building a team with the shared goal of changing the world. Today, he's the CEO and Co-founder of Goodlawyer, an online marketplace dedicated to helping people find the legal help they need.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out.We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Summary:

Show Quote:

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Audio Editing: Kate Day - KD Sound Design

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - PODMaster 2020

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Graham Sucha Graham Sucha has worked within the Calgary business community for nearly 15 years. He has spent the past year working for a tech not-for-profit following a four year stint where he served as the MLA for the constituency of Calgary Shaw.

Lori Farley Lori’s business and voluntary commitments curate and facilitate: connections, relationships, and opportunities for social change through entrepreneurship, partnerships, and alliances between various sectors around the globe including Community development, Arts, Disability, Education, and Technology. Lori is involved in numerous ventures related to social innovation and socio-economic development including Intonovus Canada and Impact Calgary.

Lori is involved in supporting cross-sector social and economic development with a mission of sharing and mobilizing time, money, resources, energy, talents, and best practices that align to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), B Corp standards (B Corp) and IRIS metrics (IRIS), all designed to measure the social, environmental and financial performance of companies and investments.

INTONOVUS Canada is a not for profit designed to partner with those advancing social impact, social enterprise, and impact investing.

IMPACT CALGARY is a social business venture launching coworking, ‘impact first’ business development, and access to funding for social entrepreneurs and benefit businesses. These ventures include foci on social impact technologies (such as Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR/AR), Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)), parentpreneurship (child and family-friendly professional work spaces), and crowdfunding.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out.We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Summary

Lori Farley discusses her experience in the not-for-profit innovation scene, where she has worked to create an inclusive ecosystem, with a focus on social justice and driving local businesses to be successful.

Show Quote:

"We need to work as locally as possible to create global businesses so those resources leak into the community not out of the community. "

“We have the idea that arts is part of the innovation ecosystem, so artists are part of our ecosystem. So the way artists think about innovations and creativity need to be brought into the tech industry.”

"Each of the co-founders have a very strong social justice-social impact vein. So we are doing the business development piece like most other people do... but we are coming at it from an impact first perspective."

"I thought that I had to be the normal, and turns out that my normal is what other people need"

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - PODMaster 2020

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Lori Farley Lori Farley Lori’s business and voluntary commitments curate and facilitate: connections, relationships, and opportunities for social change through entrepreneurship, partnerships, and alliances between various sectors around the globe including Community development, Arts, Disability, Education, and Technology. Lori is involved in numerous ventures related to social innovation and socio-economic development including Intonovus Canada and Impact Calgary. Lori is involved in supporting cross-sector social and economic development with a mission of sharing and mobilizing time, money, resources, energy, talents, and best practices that align to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), B Corp standards (B Corp) and IRIS metrics (IRIS), all designed to measure the social, environmental and financial performance of companies and investments. INTONOVUS Canada is a not for profit designed to partner with those advancing social impact, social enterprise, and impact investing: IMPACT CALGARY is a social business venture launching coworking, ‘impact first’ business development, and access to funding for social entrepreneurs and benefit businesses. These ventures include foci on social impact technologies (such as Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR/AR), Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)), parentpreneurship (child and family-friendly professional work spaces), and crowdfunding. As part of her passion for rural-urban economic corridor development, she is working to replicate economic diversity in Alberta through rural tech hubs. She is also a partner in business that supports producers, processors, and manufacturers of Alberta agri-food s to access markets in China and Southeast Asia.

Toni Guffei After getting an Economics degree from the University of Alberta, Toni began her career in B.C. as a Statistical Analyst at Vancouver Airport where she tracked aircraft stats used to justify the need for a third runway. After the project was approved, she took on the role of managing the marketing for 13 airports within the province by promoting their leased and licensed air terminal space. After 8 years in the transportation industry, she went back to school at the University of Victoria where she completed a master’s degree in business majoring in Marketing. She relocated to Calgary in 2002 and worked within the tech sector for several years while running own consulting practice: Ratio Marketing Inc. Her practice has successfully evolved its marketing research, strategy, and planning services for businesses in Canada and the U.S., and has expanded from the technology sector, into construction, education, hospitality and B2B industries. In 2013 she launched Ratio Reports - a Do It Yourself Strategic Marketing program for small businesses who want to learn how to build their own measurable, marketing plan of action. She hosts training workshops on a range of marketing topics from How to Get Customer Feedback to Digital Marketing Advertising – always with a focus on strategic methods. Working with young entrepreneurs is one of her passions. Toni is a Professor at Mount Royal University and teaches Digital Marketing online for the University of Calgary.

Please be sure to share this episode with everyone you know. If you are interested in being either a host, a guest, or a sponsor of the show, please reach out.We are published in Google Podcasts and the iTunes store for Apple Podcasts We would be grateful if you could give us a rating as it helps spread the word about the show.

Show Summary

Toni Guffei sees a pattern of three things going on with entrepreneurs, business owners, and decision makers related to marketing: Protecting: businesses are pulling back on spending, shutting down, and retreating. Need:Some marketing, to have a presence, otherwise there may be a perception that they are going under. Promoting: businesses increasing promotion because there is a necessary need for what they have to offer e.g. health and wellness. Need: Promotion of what they're doing, or how they are adapting. Pivoting: businesses changing their product and their service offering completely; like the brewery that has pivoted into temporarily, of course, making hand sanitizers. Some are doing a hard pivot to totally different products and services. Need: Re-messaging for temporary pivots, and rebranding for new offerings. Resources: The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber “I think it's a must read for entrepreneurs because he talks about the basics of what you need to know, and one of the concepts that he speaks of is, how every business owner should know about every aspect of their business. They should know about how to run the finances, they should know how to do the operations and the development of the products and services, they should know how to do their marketing.”

Show Quote:

"As a professor I teach the foundations of marketing, and it's really about the target market. What is the market wants, and how do we tie in the product, price, place, and promotion aspect of marketing into the business goals."

"Marketing, in many cases, you know, is half science, half art, part psychology, that's my made up Yogi Berra, quote :)"

"I think was 84% of respondents said that if [a brand] came across as trying to salvage something, and not being community oriented, that [respondents] would not use that brand, again, forever” [what you do during this time is going to have a long term enduring impact on your brand]"

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Audio Editing: Kate Day - KD Sound Design

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - PODMaster 2020