Calgary Business Podcast

In the first ever “Olive Cast”, Angela shared how her work with an Edmonton olive distributor lead her to “branch” out on her own and “pit” her self against other food entrepreneurs in Calgary. Nearly 10 years later, Angela stuffs 6000+ olives a week for her customers and has earned the nickname “Olive Lady”  §§§  To learn more about Angela and her Calgary olive business, click on the links below:  Angela’s Olives website | https://www.angelasartisanolives.com/  Angela’s Olives on Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/AngelasOlives/?ref=settings  Angela’s Olives on Instagram | @OliveLady_yyc --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

When I think of jam, I think of the little packets of various flavours available at most restaurants when you have toast with your breakfast. That is just not the case with Ashlee and her company, Worthy Jams. She has migrated from making 5 litre batches in her home kitchen to 300 litre batches in a commercial kitchen. Imagine how many jam jars can be filled with 300 litres of home-cooked Artisan Jam? Ashlee does not reveal this mystery during our chat but she does spread a lot of ideas around during the podcast!  §§§  To learn more about Ashlee and how she has managed to “solo-scale” her jam making production, click on the links below:  Worthy Jams website | https://www.enjoyworthy.com/  Worthy Jams on Instagram | @enjoyworthy --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

Student entrepreneurs are becoming a theme on this podcast and 16-year old Owen Poffenroth has been at this for a couple of years!  From creating Go Pro hockey videos like kids everywhere, Owen decided to take it to the “next level” and is now the videographer of choice for a local wedding business. Imagine the positive influence Owen will have on fellow students and teacher over the next couple of years before he finishes high school?  §§§  To learn more about Owen and his work, click on the links below:  Website where you can see the past and current works of Owen Poffenroth | https://owenpoffenroth.com/  Owen Poffenroth on Instagram | @Owen.poffenroth --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

When “food” is not the only activity of a Food Bank, you know there is something unique going on in this bustling community located just north of Calgary. Lori McRitchie provides insight on the importance of community and technology and volunteers and local businesses and global network and Olympic athletes have helped to change the narrative on how people view food banks in their area.  §§§ To learn more about the work of Lori and her team at Airdrie Food Bank, click on the links below:   Airdrie Food Bank website | https://www.airdriefoodbank.com/  Airdrie Food Bank on Instagram | @airdriefoodbank  Airdrie Food Bank on Twitter | @airdriefoodbank  Lori McRitchie on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-mcritchie-a392b21a/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

Some incredible innovation happening by the JAMH team up at the University of Calgary campus. You really need to listen to the podcast to understand how these talented young founders are using machine learning to aid in the battle against “Fake News” and provide valuable information to consultants in the ESG realm (Environment, Sustainability and Governance).  To learn more about JAMH.AI, click on the links below:  §§§  JAMH.AI website | https://jamh.ai/  JAMH on Instagram | @JAMH.AI  Jackson Cooper on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackjcoop/  Alec Lamb on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-lamb-224636152/  Maggie Thai on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggiethai/  Huda Abbas on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/huda-abbas/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

In the world of small business, often times digital and banking and e-commerce and marketing and data do not necessarily come into the conversation, especially with traditional “bricks and mortar” merchants. Jeff Adamson and his fellow co-founders, Andrew Chau and Kris Read and the team at Neo Financial are seeking to change that.  As Jeff said “…we are seeking to keep local businesses modern…by connecting them to their local customers…”  To learn more about the origin story of Neo Financial and how they are seeking to disrupt the banking experience for its customers and merchants, click on the links below:  §§§  Neo Financial website | https://www.neofinancial.com/  Neo Financial on Instagram | @neo_financial  Neo Financial on Twitter | @neo_financial  Neo Financial on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/neo-financial/  Jeff Adamson on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffadamson/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

There is a lot to unpack from this podcast, not least being the closet full of “laundry” that Connor and his fellow co-founder, Dustin Paisley, seek to change for Canadian consumers by creating a community of locally made clothing made by local manufacturers and locally-sourced materials. Connor credits his parents for instilling a solid work ethic, creativity and community spirit when they first came to Canada and worked in the restaurant industry To learn more about the origin story of Local Laundry, click on the links below: §§§ Local Laundry website | https://locallaundry.ca/ Local Laundry on Instagram | @locallaundry Local Laundry on Twitter | @locallaundry Local Laundry on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/local-laundry/ Connor Curran on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-curran/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

These two-time entrepreneurs are truly set to “democratize investing” for a community of students and young investors across Canada. Rather than re-creating the wheel and waiting until 2050 to release their platform, Taran and Gio are seeking to benefit from existing SaaS tools available on the market and already have a BETA version of their platform ready for users to test. Click on the links below to learn more: §§§ Flahmingo Investments website | https://flahmingo.com/ Flahmingo Investments on Instagram | @askflahmingo Flahmingo Investments on Twitter | @askflahmingo Flahmingo Investments on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/flahmingo/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

This podcast is packed with all things tech — for small businesses, for non-profit entities, for hot-tub owners for pretty much anybody. Greg has taken his years of knowledge around working with large companies with big tech solutions and seeks to find the “low hanging fruit” to help his clients. Click on the links below to learn more: §§§ Deltaform Technology website | https://www.deltaformtech.com/ Deltaform Technology on Instagram | @deltaformtech Deltaform Technology on Twitter | @deltaformtech Greg McKiernan on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorymckiernan/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

Another fantastic story of an entrepreneur that has pivoted from his core profession. In this case, Corey not only pivoted from a career as a civil engineer but he also travelled to New Zealand and Frqnce to further his talents in the art of pie making! Listen to our "pie-cast" to learn how Corey managed to pivot once more during Covid to sell pies on-line. Click on the links below to learn more: §§§ Ma Pies website | https://www.mapies.ca Ma Pies on Instagram | @ma_pies Ma Pies on Twitter | @ma_pies Corey Ma on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-ma-67101391/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

Forward Level Marketing originated from a desire to bring access to a full scale marketing department to small businesses in Calgary. After nearly 9 years in business, the focus on team, customers and community appears to be a strong indicator of success Click on the links below to learn more: §§§ Forward Level Marketing website | https://www.forwardlevel.com/ Forward Level Marketing on Instagram | @ForwardLevel Forward Level Marketing on Twitter | @ForwardLevel Amish Morjaria on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/amishmorjaria/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

Truly a pleasure to get introduced to Neil Gruninger and Kidoodle TV, the company he co-founded, with Michael Lowe, a little over 9 years ago Click on the links below to learn more: §§§ Kidoodle TV website | https://www.kidoodle.tv/ Kidoodle TV on Twitter | @kidoodletv Kidoodle TV on Instagram | @kidoodletv --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

Humdinner is a concept that allows for contact-less drive-thru for restaurants and retailers with seemingly unlimited possibilities to expand into other areas of day to day life.  Listen to the podcast to hear Kevin and Brett share a “Hum-Dinger” of a story behind Humdinner!  Click on the links below to learn more:  §§§  HumDinner website | https://www.humdinner.com/ HumDinner on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/humdinner/ Kevin Bessy on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-bessy-ph-d-23b67b14/ Brett Gould on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-gould/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

There is more to Margo and her team at InceptionU; as I peeled the onion layers back during the podcast, the conversation “evolved” to “open up the possibilities” on the other businesses that have a link / connection to InceptionU and more importantly, helping businesses and individuals to learn with meaning! Click on the links below to learn more: §§§ InceptionU website | https://www.inceptionu.com/ InceptionU on Twitter | @_InceptionU InceptionU on Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/inceptionu/ InceptionU on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/inceptionu/ Margo Purcell on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/margopurcell/ EvolveU website | https://www.evolveu.ca/ EvolveU on Instragram and Twitter | @evolveuYYC --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

Rather than try to make Ukrainian vodka (or Horilka) in Alberta, Daniel, Serhiy and Ivan decided it would be better to “bring” the vodka from the source — a factory located in Ukraine!! To learn the origin story of Kozak Vodka Alberta, grab a shot glass and click on the links! §§§ Kozak Vodka on Instagram | @kozak.vodka.ab Kozak Vodka can be found on the LIquor Connect website | https://www.liquorconnect.com/Products/Item/822906 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

Scott brings nearly 26 years of experience as a Fountain Tire veteran into this podcast. His Northland location in the northwest part of Calgary is just one of 160+ location across Canada.  §§§  To find Scott and his team, check out the following links:  Address: 4911 Northland Drive NW Calgary  Phone: (403) 286-3386  Email: F090@fountaintire.com  Fountain Tire website | https://www.fountaintire.com  §§§ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

Rob and Johan embarked on being their own bosses back during their days at Mount Royal University in 2003 and have not looked back. Oplii was founded in 2014 after they saw an opportunity to help oil and gas companies while busy with their first business, Urban Lighthouse.  While Urban Lighthouse provides tech services and solutions for many sectors, Oplii focuses solely on the oil and gas sector.  Oplii helps connect oil and gas operators in the field — while they are in the field.  To learn more about how Oplli is set to “disrupt” the oil and gas sector, click on the links below:  §§§  Oplii website | https://www.oplii.com/  Oplii on Twitter | @opliiapp  Urban Lighthouse website | http://urbanlighthouse.com/  Urban Lighthouse on Twitter | @UrbanLighthouse  LinkedIn profile of Johan Rothzen | https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanrothzen/  LinkedIn profile of Rob Pittman | https://www.linkedin.com/in/robpittman/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/al

To learn more about how Dennis and his team are seeking to creatively connect people in Calgary, click on the links below:  §§§  Konnect Marketing website | https://www.konnectmarketing.ca/  Konnect Marketing on Instagram | @konnectyyc  Konnect Marketing on Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/konnectyyc/  LinkedIn profile of Dennis King | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ife-king-184428148/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

This is a wonderful origin story of a local Calgary business that stretches across 4 generations of a family-owned soap making business that commenced approximately 125 years ago in Syria. To learn more, click on the links below: §§§ Aleppo Savon website | https://alepposavon.ca/ Aleppo Savon on Instagram | @alepposavon Aleppo Savon on Twitter | @alepposavon Link to Red Cross Covid-19 campaign | https://alepposavon.ca/products/redcross Afif Tabish on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/afif-tabish-287512b/ Afif Tabish and his company link | https://www.creativecycle.ca/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message

Aleks is another podcast guest that managed to successfully pivot from a career in oil and gas (including a degree in Chemical Engineering) to owning and operating his own small business. To “dig” into this a little further, click on the links below: §§§ Rainfall Landscapes website | http://rflandscapes.ca/ Rainfall Landscapes on Instagram | @rainfallandscapes --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/allen-wazny/message