Growthstory

Brittany Krystle is a personal brand and growth consultant helping people grow their industry influence online. Before going on her own and launching her podcast “Beyond Influential”, Brittany worked with some of the most influential people of the web including the wildly popular Gary Vaynerchuk, for whose company she worked both in L.A. and NYC. In this episode, she tells us about her personal journey, from being pushed to law school while wanting to start a career in entertainment, to making her way to TV networks and then finding her true calling in influence, personal branding, and social media. Brittany also shares some great tactics about content management as well as some strategies to become more influential online.

How DO companies grow? This question is the main focus of this special episode featuring not one, but TWO guests! Josh Miller and Mike Newton are respectively partner and managing partner at FL Fuller Landau, a full-service accounting firm downtown Montreal. Because that’s what they do both for their clients and for their own firm, they discuss all sorts of way companies can grow: acquisition, business development, hiring people, marketing… And of course, all the challenges that come with!

Joseph is president and co-owner of the smart home company Homesync. With his very diverse and particular background; from graduating engineering school at 21 years-old to joining the military forces years after his parents moved his family to Canada to avoid war, it’s no surprise that Joseph ended up choosing the road less travelled of entrepreneurship. Hear all about the challenges of doing business in an emerging/technological field and the indispensable things you need to succeed (refer to this episode’s title for a clue!)  

Karim Abouzeid is the president and owner of Magnor, a manufacturer and designer of water treatment equipment company. With the plan in mind to eventually own a business, Karim studied accounting and started his career as a CPA. Luckily enough, he got to work in the mergers and acquisitions department at one of the big fours, which taught him everything about the path he would then chose to take to achieve his dream: buying a business. But buying a business ain’t no easy task! This is the story of how Karim made it happen.

Certified Real Estate Broker and co-founder of Witt Realty Inc, Heidi is a dedicated businesswoman and mother of three. Even if she only found her true vocation in real estate later in her professional journey, her hard work and passion for people propelled her to tremendous success. The realtor profession being already very entrepreneurial, Heidi really took the leap when she started operating under her own name only a few years in the industry. Learn all about the challenges, decisive moments, wins, and amazing lessons from her growth story as a broker, a mom, a businesswoman, and an entrepreneur.

Natalie is the CEO of her own communications agency, Commetta. What she started alone while still in business school has now grown to an international digital agency whose mission is to help companies shine online. With diversity at the core of both her personal and professional background, Natalie got to see just how much creative artists and small business owners needed help to get the word out about all the good they’re doing. She is now educating entrepreneurs from across the globe about inbound marketing and helping them spread their message.

Adam is what we call a true born-entrepreneur, with all its natural qualities: he’s optimistic, self-driven, always looking for the next opportunity. As his story confirms, Adam strongly believes that behind every challenge hides a business opportunity. Equipped with this positive winning attitude and a strong purpose to bring to the market products that would truly help people, Adam launched the brand Lil Tracker last year. But let’s go back to beginnings! Find out what mistakes he made, what dreading challenges he faced, and how he turned them into - literally - more revenues.

At 35 years old, Frank Silla was co-owner of the family business in the telecom industry which he was passionate about. Raised in an entrepreneurial family, Frank never doubted he would follow his parents’ steps, but when he got there, he quickly realized that the way things were done didn’t reflect his own vision of success and his aspirations. This is the story of how Frank gave himself the right to walk away from this predestined situation and seemingly ideal situation to build a company his own way and achieve success on his terms.

Jon Selig, comedian, founder of Comedy Abroad, and more recently sales trainer, found in entrepreneurship a way to live of his passion for comedy writing. Being a natural with people and words, Jon was a successful salesman in I.T., but quickly realized he had no passion or interest for these corporate worlds. See how he first recycled his sales abilities in stand-up comedy, to later bring his comedy writing skills to create a sales training program that teaches sales team a more human and natural approach to cold calling, public speaking, networking. You’ll see that, as Jon says, being able to connect with others by making them laugh can go a long way!

Michael is the president of Interaction Restaurants Group a restaurant management and holding company that deals with the world's biggest brands and chains such as Starbucks and Pizza Hut. This is the story of Michael Aaronovici, whose parents pushed towards a career in accounting but who quickly switched to the road less traveled and became an entrepreneur. In this episode, see how his love for people and building successful business propelled him to where he is today.

Frédéric Noël is owner and president of the industrial equipment company CON-V-AIR. Qualified engineer, Fred had always been interested in entrepreneurship even though it's not the clearest path in this field. See how he made his way up to his goal from his first job as an employee in an engineering firm to buying his company at only 30 years old.

Founder of Productions L’Éloi, science student Eloi Beauchamp had no idea he would end up in the production world, where art and fashion advertising meet. Between his summers planting trees in the forest and his biology studies in university, Eloi was well on his way to a career as a scientist when he realized this path wasn’t going to bring him enough challenge. While still working on his master’s degree, Eloi jumped in with determination, a desire to learn and a will to always improve. Almost two decades later, here is the story behind Eloi's amazing success, including inspiring debuts, challenges, and growth strategies.

Founder and president of , Jeffrey Berkowitz became an entrepreneur without really trying... Like many before him, Jeff’s business started in his parent’s basement. What he first perceived as enthusiasm for commercial real estate was really the foundation of a career he would be passionate about, and of a company that would one day serve the biggest retail chains in the World. Positive that passion is really the number one guarantee for success, Jeff tells us how he found his and made a living out of it.

Alan Serour took the Montreal kosher catering community by storm by buying out his boss and finally managing to merge with a long-time rival. Both who at first said no, but Alan doesn’t believe in closing doors. Get inspired by the amazing journey of this young chef who never gave up on his goals, but simply waited for the right moment.

Stephanie couldn’t find on the market a product that would meet her son’s needs, so she built her own. Little did she know that she had just created the first sample of the Senseez pillows and entered an emerging multi-billion dollar industry: the sensory toys. Years of hustle and a feature on the Dragons’ Den later, her products are now sold in over 300 stores worldwide. Here’s the amazing story of the mom who built the vibrating cushions for children with special needs company Senseez from scratch.

Director of Rouge Marketing in Mont-Tremblant, Dominique Laverdure was always a rebel at heart. See how she changed her life completely by moving to the country and building a career worthy of her love for life. Dominique started her career on a much different path: ready to dedicate herself to her successful corporate job at L’Oréal, everything changed when she realized she had to compromise too much to fit in the corporate box.

Co-founder of the first self-serve online medical appointment making software and former CEO of the Tiny Tots children’s clinics, Ben Burko is the true definition of a “Doctrepreneur”. His entrepreneurial journey started at age 13 and was definitely challenged at the beginning of his medical career. In this episode, see how he used lateral thinking and innovation to combine his abilities for seizing business opportunities to his profession as a pediatrician.

Get inspired by the story of this born and raised Montrealer who became a successful entrepreneur by being proactive and strategic. Sanjay Bakshani always wanted to build a business, so he made it happen with a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck. See how he overcame the lowest points and scored the biggest wins during his never-boring entrepreneurial journey in the ever-evolving technology industry.

Well aware of what he wanted out life, Olivier made sure to get it. See how he archived his goal of managing his own consulting firm by believing, visualizing, and defining a clear roadmap to get there. Listen to his story where a combination of life experiences and seized opportunities helped shape his goals, towards which he worked with confidence. 

Mike Dahan was never afraid to work hard. See how he hustled his way from Montreal’s poor neighborhood Côtes-des-Neiges up to American business school and Wall Street money. Back in Montreal, Mike was ready to pursue his own entrepreneurial journey, a path he knew he would get on since his childhood. Devoted to his principles of honor and loyalty, Mike is now the president of Sunforce Products Inc. This is his story.