Collisions YYC

Join me as I chat with Shannon Pestun, Director of Women’s Entrepreneurship at ATB Financial, Business and Agriculture.Shannon brings the notion of gender intelligence to the conversation of economic transformation, specifically on the entrepreneurial potential of women in Calgary. Having noticed the imbalance in opportunities given to male and female entrepreneurs, Shannon became a champion for women to reach their full economic potential, never shying away from asking tough questions in the company of male business leaders. Shannon also shines a light on areas outside of technology that she calls “the main street”, and the importance of shaping a clear way forward for new entrepreneurs and small businesses so they can be a part of Calgary’s economic transformation.

Join me as I chat with Danielle Torrie of Startup Calgary.Danielle sheds light on Startup Calgary, an organization that holds regular events that bring like-minded entrepreneurs together to guide, support and point them in the right direction in reshaping Calgary’s economy. Seeing this as a great time for different industries to collide, Danielle stresses the need for more entrepreneurs to exchange and validate each other's ideas, no matter how big and small, while also looking outside of Calgary for investors and programs that will keep the momentum of our transformation moving forward.

Join me as I chat with Colin Szopa, Co-Founder and CEO of Plankk, the world’s largest fitness influencer company.Colin takes us into Plankk, an international fitness influencer company that has thrived right here in Calgary, while also discussing the trials and tribulations of running a tech start-up and the importance of building upon the right skill sets to fuel business growth. Seeing Alberta as an entrepreneurial province, Colin stresses the importance for investors to re-invest into new ideas so that entrepreneurs can reach the next level, a trickle effect he sees as one that will speed up to the economic transformation in Calgary.

Join me as I chat with Judy Fairburn, Co-Founder of The 51 Ventures and Board Director for MEG Energy, Tundra Oil & Gas, VEERUM, PureWeb and the Business Council of Alberta.You may recognize Judy from this month’s cover of Business in Calgary magazine, and now she’s bringing her trailblazing attitude for innovation to the conversation on economic transformation, emphasizing the importance for business leaders to constantly be curious about emerging opportunities in both the energy and technology sectors in Calgary. Proudly calling herself a “serial co-founder”, Judy’s true passions lie in empowering female entrepreneurs - what she calls an untapped segment - and by mixing things up between established leaders and new thinkers to further the momentum of change in Calgary.

Join me as I chat with Kirstie Boyle, Director of Market Development at Interface Fluidics, a Calgary-based oil and gas technology start-up.Kirstie brings perspective to our economic transformation from the consultant angle, highlighting a well of groups and resources for entrepreneurs in Calgary and their innovative business ideas, while also stressing the importance of customer discovery and market validation. With more technologies being used in one industry that have potential to benefit multiple, Kirstie acts as a translator – taking complicated concepts and ideas and turning them into tangible business outcomes, resulting in more cross-industry collaboration towards a better Calgary.

Join me as I chat with Graeme Edge, co-founder of McLaren Dion Edge & Energy Disruptors. Graeme shares the inspiration behind ‘Energy Disruptors’, an event where the very best of the oil and gas industry come together to find pragmatic and profitable solutions for major energy challenges, both in Alberta and on a global scale. By looking at our current state as an opportunity to thrive and build resiliency, Graeme identifies what he feels is the next bold step needed in Calgary as we get through the economic downturn and kick-start the transformation of our city.

Join me as I chat with Erik Allan, ACE Program Director at Tundra Process Solutions.Erik takes us inside ACE, a program that fosters and supports the innovation ecosystem in the oil and gas sector and shares his thoughts on how we can transform Calgary’s economy by overcoming the challenge of disconnectedness. In what he likes to call “pockets of awesomeness”, Erik shares his insight on the opportunities that currently exist in our city and where there’s potential for cross-industry collaboration that can push the innovation process forward.

Ray shares his insights into what we can learn from other cities who have been through similar transitions and that our ability to adapt to frequent and rapid changes is our new reality.

Alex takes us inside Brightside, an innovative start-up that is developing inside of ATB Financial, and shares her views on what is needed to push change forward and what other companies in Calgary can learn from it.

In our first episode, Jim sets the tone for Collisions YYC, delving into where the transformation in Calgary needs to start, the key performance indicators that we can begin measuring and how we’ll know that we’re moving in the right direction.