BUSINESS Episodes

GZERO Media Publisher Evan Solomon talks about packing up & moving to The Big Apple/NYC, leaving his comfort zone to seek out ‘pleasurable discomfort,’ asking his holiness the Dalai Lama the most sensitive of life’s questions, how he tried with a combative interviewee to “Tai Chi-it but ended up getting rolled,” GZERO trying to see around the political corner to build non-partisan bridges between politics & people, why Canada is ‘the largest small village in the world,’ following the simple fash...

Won For All President Joe Jackman talks about being invited to Toronto Maple Leafs training camp and running into someone named 'The King' Borje Salming, great years at St Michael’s College playing TWO sports for the Buzzers, transitioning from an ‘NCAA D-1 athlete’ into a ‘corporate athlete,’ pro-actively working with CURRENT athletes on their transition plans rather than waiting until they retire, the successful post-career transition of ‘The Grim Reaper’ Stu Grimson, and the overall importanc...

Offside: The Harold Ballard Story executive producer Michael Geddes talks about working with Vancouverite/90210’s Jason Priestley, the ‘Ballard Curse’ being responsible for 56 seasons [and counting] without a Stanley Cup [and 19 seasons without winning a playoff round!], uncovering both urban legends [threatening to turn the womens’ McGill Club into a Playboy Club] and realities [direct fan access via the ‘Muppets Bunker’], Ballard operating not with a sharp pencil but rather with NO pencil, how...

LyricVids.com co-founder Anthony Craparotta explains the WHAT and the WHY about Lyric Videos, talks about the inspiration for his rap moniker ILLVIBE [from A Tribe Called Quest], opening for Kehlani and Chris Brown in Croatia, turning an audio artpiece into a visual digitally animated asset, the utility of lyric videos for both current and legacy artists, the challenges of interpreting lyrics when the artist is currently in jail, the necessity of resuming cold calls & emails as he pursues his go...

World-renowned concussion/brain/spinal injury Neurosurgeon Dr Charles Tator talks about being a lifelong ‘local yokel,’ his mother being the original ‘helicopter mother,’ the era when the Maple Leafs won Stanley Cups ALL the time, why the BRAIN [not the heart] is your soul, why we need to focus on the front end of the concussion problem [PREVENTION], the good that came from the Steve Montador tragedy [“you can have my brain”], why Gary Bettman and the NHL need to recognize that CTE is actually a...

Big brother Tom Farley talks about the ‘Farley Magnetism’ and shares stories about Dana Carvey & David Spade’s 5hr tribute podcast, Chris NOT auditioning for Saturday Night Live, his ‘ogre with a heart’ being the basis for Mike Myers’ Shrek character [which was the 3RD recording of that part!], why he did NOT end up being The Cable Guy [Jim Carrey did], confirms there is an ACTUAL Matt Foley [although NOT a motivational speaker but rather a Catholic priest in Chicago], the parallels with other a...

White Ash Group Managing Partner Graydon Welbourn talks about building his cannabis industry recruitment/staffing agency, why he moved from Calgary to Toronto, how he recalibrated his North Star, always carrying business cards [even without an actual business], transferring his networking/people skills to recruitment, why Canada has an opportunity to be a global leader in cannabis ahead of the US, the ongoing challenges of competing with the illicit/black market, combining his day job with his l...

Veteran Professional Sports Executive Bob Nicholson shares stories from TWO Toronto Blue Jays championships, THREE Toronto Argonauts championships, transitioning the Montreal Expos to the Washington Nationals, bringing Doug Flutie & Ricky Ray over to the Argos, setting unprecedented pro sports attendance records, the challenge of selling baseball seats at Exhibition Stadium [some grandstand seats were miles beyond the field!], transitioning to SkyDome, bringing the MLB All Star Game festivities ...

Strategic Performance Optimizer/Strength & Conditioning Coach Matt Nichol talks about working with Mats Sundin in Stockholm & Toronto, his first boss Pat Quinn [somewhat surprisingly] being a health & fitness innovator, Gary Roberts making it easy to get the other Maple Leafs on board, the humility of Wayne Simmonds/Andre De Grasse/Joel Anthony/Jordan Binnington, doing the simple things SAVAGELY well, the ‘not awesome’ science behind 'bag skates,' working with Charlie Francis, co-founding BioSte...

Driftscape Co-Founder/COO Dan Pronovost talks about the single app platform being a combination encyclopedia + Pokemon Go for both residents & tourists, developing a discovery app that does NOT monetize eyeballs, why coding by itself is worth nothing, why you can’t afford ‘elegant coding,’ the entire company working remotely even pre-pandemic, measuring employees NOT by hours but by performance, the risks of using offshore labour for coding [no skin in the game], starting his love of computers b...

Hockey Pro/CBD recovery entrepreneur Kevin Tansey talks about playing for the Herning Blue Fox in Denmark [handball over hockey!], eating all the fresh fish he can handle, changing the stigma around CBD use, educating about the topical application of CBD [no, your leg won’t get ‘high’!], turning a horrible incident into a business opportunity to use CBD as the substitute for painkillers in the locker room, and the ‘special rules’ that apply when playing against a 50 year old Jaromir Jagr in his ...

Toronto Argonauts Former Co-Owner/K2 Pure Solutions Co-Founder David Cynamon talks about gaining the entrepreneurial spirit selling 50 cent foot longs [fully loaded!] at Edmonton Eskimos games, the business mentorship of his father [sweat the details] and his father-in-law [balancing Happiness=Reality/Expectations], why the 2004 Argos Grey Cup championship is etched in his memory, posits that Ricky Williams was misunderstood and ahead of his time regarding benefits of cannabis, shares the [not s...

Dragons’ Den Entrepreneur & Nuba Tisane Co-Founder [with her mom Amal!] Gina El Kattan talks about moving from Egypt to Oakville, jumping right into Business studies at University of Toronto, the lockdown power of the Clubhouse social networking app, FINALLY listening to her Dad’s plea to audition for Dragons’ Den, what REALLY happens during DD taping [no do-overs!], working on her MBA at Duke University, sneaking into Coach K’s final basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the challenge of s...

Toronto Life’s Editor-in-Chief Malcolm Johnston talks about managing the Toronto Life ‘brand,' coming up with the annual list of the 50 most influential Torontonians, serving as ‘an anchor for Toronto residents,’ digging deeply into Canada’s most famous cold case, his concern about the ‘war on journalists & journalism,’ being in awe of Andre De Grasse & Josh Donaldson, his respect for The New Yorker, being a reporter & investigative journalist at heart, and his thoughts on the Blue Jays trading ...

Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae talks about his incredible career as a diplomat, lawyer and politician, Canada’s role as the 7th largest donor to the United Nations, shares an actual ‘day in the life’ of our Ambassador, the funny/not so funny shaving cream incident caused by Frank Zappa at U of T’s Convocation Hall, the emotional joy of taking the same job for PM Justin Trudeau as his father Saul Rae did for PM Pierre Trudeau, being inspired by Stephen Lewis, meeting Bill Clint...

Lynx Equity Limited Co-founder and President Brad Nathan talks about ranking #478 of Canada’s largest 500 companies, hitting $650mm in revenue while shooting for $1B, his entrepreneurial start drilling peepholes [legally!], an absolutely horrible interaction with a cantankerous Tommy Lasorda, attempting to outsource his paper route to his father, transitioning his leisure time from combat sports to piano [!!!], his brief career at Bagel World [one hour], his brief career as a practicing Chartere...

Filmmaker & Marketing Executive Barry Avrich talks about RENT-A-FAN CLUB, getting stuck in an altercation between Jackie Mason & Jerry Stiller, why you need to treat ‘yelling’ as performance art, why his Bob Saget anecdote was far too filthy to share, whether we can expect an update to Unauthorized: The Harvey Weinstein Project, how Hollywood is the “only place you can die of encouragement,” his father’s best advice [“look at the audience, not the movie” and “DON’T blend in”], working on docs ab...

Publicist and Music Industry Expert Eric Alper talks about music entering his bloodstream via his Grandfather Al’s Grossman’s Tavern, the influence of American Hot Wax & Music World at Promenade Mall, why Snoop Dogg travels with his own personal joint roller, launching Nickelback’s 1st EP, The Wiggles’ roots in punk rock [!!!!], why Bill Wyman hitting on his wife was cool, recollections of Ringo Starr/Ray Charles/Duran Duran/Chickenfoot/The English Beat/Matt Dusk/DJ Khaled/Maestro Fresh Wes/Sine...

Multiple-time Manager of the Year Jake Gold talks about his first concert [Beatles at Maple Leaf Gardens 1964!], 17 years of managing The Hip/a 17 year break/starting anew in 2020, music’s most important North American cities [NYC, LA, Toronto], getting creative backstage with Robert Plant, earning bona fides from the Rolling Stones by playing through a cross-storm hurricane, Dan Aykroyd’s advocacy to appear on Saturday Night Live, the impact of the Another Roadside Attraction music festival, wh...

Little Canada’s founder & visionary Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer introduces us to ‘Our Home & Miniature Land,’ learns about Wayne Gretzky [“who is this The Great One?”], explains why the process is as important as the product, shares the trials & tribulations of moving the exhibition into it's display space [spoiler alert: cut a hole and lower it through the floor!], enjoys NHLer Sam Gagner dropping by his backyard rink with buddy John Tavares, and explains how YOU can visit and get immortalized to...

Entrepreneur & Business Executive Mark Cohon shares his journey from cheeseburgers to basketball to baseball to pigskin to music to the Gin Smash, tales of the ‘Big Mac Bus’ & ‘George the Amphibious Car,’ how the Royal Family has the same problems as any family business, having TWO Members of the Order of Ontario in the same family, going from Forest Hill to Siberia to NYC to Sumatra, memories of Mikhail Gorbachev, how his father got a private golf club’s ‘blackball rule’ changed, and patiently ...

Ahead of the 47th Toronto International Film Festival, CEO Cameron Bailey talks about growing up in the countryside of Barbados, his time at NOW during the heyday of alternative weekly newspapers, writing his first movie review [DIE HARD!], why he initially said ‘NO’ to Piers Handling, TIFF’s focus on being a ‘walkable audience-centric festival,’ being a voting member for the OSCARS, the craziness of BORAT and Sean Penn, social media engagement lessons learned from Harry Styles, and his admirati...

The King of Bay Street Wes Hall talks about his humble beginnings in rural Jamaica, lessons learned from his Grandmother, coming of age in Malvern, his past life as the Chicken Catching Grim Reaper, the importance of construction NOT demolition, taking the BlackNorth Pledge, using ‘skin in the game’ to break through barriers, the difference between deals closing on Dragons’ Den vs In Real Life [you’ll be surprised!], and why being a Dragon is not as easy as it looks on tv!

TORONTO LEGENDS is ho...

Emergency Room Physician/Author/Radio Host Dr Brian Goldman talks about his long-suffering Maple Leafs fandom, being a ‘browner’ who would study for a blood test, extending his storytelling from the ER to bookwriting to his CBC Radio show, how ‘Medical B.S.’ became ‘White Coat, Black Art,’ avoiding the ‘sunk cost fallacy’, the benefits of teamwork & unburdening, and his best advice for both physicians AND patients!

TORONTO LEGENDS is hosted by Andrew Applebaum.

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