Being an entrepreneur can be one of the most rewarding and liberating things you can do as a career. Equally valid, being an entrepreneur can be one of the most frustrating and emotional roles you can choose to make a living. Schools are great at teaching you how to succeed when starting a new business, but do these schools properly … Read More
Does the Entrepreneur’s Journey to Greatness Need to be so Damn Lonely?
Do you ever wish you could have an honest conversation with a fellow business owner without judgement? I’m talking a completely candid; no holes barred, these are my deepest and darkest fears kind of conversations. I’ve been doing this entrepreneur thing for 30 years, and over the duration, I’ve experienced many emotions: joy, frustration, pride, anxiety, depression, optimism, sadness, fear. … Read More
My Accidental 10-Year Journey to Discovering Emotional Intelligence
There’s something ironic about me writing about Emotional Intelligence. Those who knew me 15-20 years ago would probably accuse me of not even knowing the definition of Emotional Intelligence. They wouldn’t be far off the mark. Since then, a lot has happened, including several devastating life events that have impacted the person I am and how I look at the … Read More
How Do You Know if You are CRA’s Favourite Target?
No one wants to be in CRA’s cross-hairs. You may be an unsuspecting victim even if you’ve done nothing wrong. We’re not talking about people who are guilty of tax evasion or tax avoidance. Your only criteria may be your marital status. If you are single, divorced or widowed, then you may be CRA’s favourite and unsuspecting victim. If you … Read More
5 Reasons Why I Wouldn’t Want to be a Teenager Today
This isn’t one of those nostalgic posts about “I remember when”, but my kids will probably accuse me of it. Obviously, there have always been challenges in raising teenagers but throw in social media, access to technology and our kids surpassing our knowledge base for certain things, and so our job as parents just got exponentially more difficult. Life was … Read More
9 Powerful Ways That Philanthropy Can Help to Build Your Brand?
Being altruistic usually means putting the needs of others ahead of your own needs. So discussing how philanthropy can help to build your brand almost comes across as being hypocritical. But being generous and charitable doesn’t mean that you can’t beat your chest a little, especially when it comes to being good corporate citizens and leaders in your community. Here … Read More
8 Tragic Things People Don’t Understand About Losing a Child
Earlier this month was Suicide Prevention Day. It’s been more than 6 years since we endured the tragic loss of our beautiful daughter Madeline. Since this tragic event devastated our family’s lives, I have felt a multitude of different emotions ranging from anger, gratitude, helplessness and, of course, inconsolable sadness.I read a blog post by Paula Stephens, “What I Wish … Read More
No One Wakes Up and Suddenly Decides to Become Charitable One Day
In the past, I would never describe myself as being particularly charitable. It’s not that I wasn’t compassionate or I was completely selfish, but to be honest, I didn’t think that anything I contributed towards charity would make a meaningful difference. I wasn’t able to write a significant cheque. The other reason, there wasn’t a particular cause that I was … Read More
What are the 4 Services You Must Get Rid of from your Employee Benefits Plan?
Some benefits on plans should be eliminated or enhanced to give more value to employees and stakeholders. By having them on your plan, they are subject to abuse. It is not necessarily your employees’ fault, and the practitioners are all too willing to take your benefit dollar as far as it can go. Since benefit renewals are all based on … Read More
The Most Ironic Thing That Being a Hockey Parent has Taught Me About Business
As the pandemic starts to relinquish its clutches on our day-to-day lives and life as we know it starts to resume again, the resumption of sports is on the not too distant horizon for many parents. This pandemic has significantly impacted our lives and the lives of our children. That meant cancelling our late-summer to often late spring preoccupation with … Read More