Coffee With Convery

Students, New Grads, and Career Seekers, Welcome to #CoffeeWithConvery. This podcast is an intimate, upfront and personal coffee chat approach with some of the amazing and inspiring talent I have met over the years. On today’s Careering Talk, my guest today is Nitai Ben-Shach. Nitai received his law degree from the University of Toronto with a BA (Double Major History and Political Science) from McGill. After completing his articles at a Bay Street firm, with a primary focus in corporate commercial and real estate law, he began his practice at a boutique entertainment firm in downtown Toronto. Nitai has practiced in the areas of entertainment, media, intellectual property and corporate commercial law, with an emphasis on film and television production and financing. He has advised actors, producers, writers and artists on matters including rights acquisition, licensing and distribution. A wide variety of employment experiences ranging from business and legal development for a major film company to consular security has given Nitai a strong work ethic and a wide skill set. Using his well honed interpersonal skills and ability to communicate in four languages, Nitai has worked in public oriented jobs in Canada and France. A lover of all things fermented and left to age in oak, Nitai is also an avid reader and commenter on anything related to business, technology, law, entertainment, sports and politics. Nitai and I met over coffee literally as he and I partnered on the RBC Ten Thousand Coffees Student Networking Platform at RBC in 2016. We have worked on a number of impactful projects together and I am excited to have him on the show. I had the chance to sit down with Nitai to talk Law, rugby and technology/ strategy with Nitai Ben-Shach and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

On today’s Careering Talk, I have invited a very special guest Deidre Convery-Bernard. Deidre is not only my younger sister but she is also an accomplished role model, authentic trailblazer, a loving wife, a loyal friend and a mom to her 3 cats Winston, George, Gracie and her dog, Brooke. Deidre's career story is an interesting and inspiring one which started out with a high school experience of classes in typing and focus on clerical skills and development. Her High School guidance counselor advised Deidre in her senior year to not pursue college or university and to take her skills and abilities and seek a career in office clerical work. Deidre went on to pursue an education with the Krissler Business Institute in our hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York and started her career working as clerical support for a law firm. Later in her late 20s, Deidre thought although her career in clerical support was interesting it was not as rewarding as she had originally hoped and she was going to go back to school to pursue a career change. While working, Deidre earned her Associates of Arts in Liberal Arts and Humanities from Dutchess Community College, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Speech and Hearing and a Masters in Communication Disorders from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Deidre's other credentials and certifications include being a Licensed New York State Speech Language Pathologist, a Certificate of Clinical Competence - CCC-SLP and a New York State Permanent Certification – Speech and Hearing Handicapped. In 2019, Deidre was the recipient of the New York Capital Area Speech Language and Hearing Association Service Award. This award is presented to a Speech-Language Pathologist or Audiologist or individual who has made outstanding contributions to the fields of Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology, to the communicatively impaired, or to professional organizations that serve these groups. Today, Deidre works for the Johnsburg Central School in North Creek, New York where she designs and provide intervention services for classified students with mild to severe speech/language delays associated with speech/language impairments, learning disabilities, autism, other health impairments, hearing impairments, multiple disabilities, and emotional disabilities. Deidre has aided, helped, touched and changed hundreds of children and families lives over the years through her love and dedication to her work. I had the chance to sit down with Deidre to talk Thanksgiving, Speech Pathology and Determination and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy!  #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students, New Grads, and Career Seekers, Welcome to #CoffeeWithConvery. This podcast is an intimate, upfront and personal coffee chat approach with some of the amazing and inspiring talent I have met over the years. My guest today is Stephanie Leonardelli. Stephanie has a number of educational experiences to her credit including an International Bachelor of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University— where she completed part of her degree in Barcelona at Esade – and a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University. This fall, she returned to Schulich and is currently pursuing her MBA with a specialization in marketing. Stephanie has a number of work experiences as well to her credit dating back to being a learning and development associate with Investment Planning Counsel over the course of her undergrad. When she entered her masters of journalism, she took on a research assistant role with Toronto Metropolitan University during the school year as well as Corporate Relations Associate for TedxRyerson. Starting in May 2021, Stephanie began as a segment producer with Bell Media at CTV. She continues to freelance there, producing meaningful and engaging segments for Canada's national morning show, Your Morning. When she’s not producing television segments, she works part-time as a client care associate as a financial advising office. My collision with Stephanie happened in the fall of 2021 with TedXRyerson. This encounter changed my life forever as I lived out one of my bucket list moments which was my first Ted Talk. Stephanie was my coach and her support was just amazing. In her spare time, Stephanie likes cooking, to be active, to work-out and to spend time with family. I had the chance to sit down with Stephanie to talk Journalism, empathy and guacamole and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students, New Grads, and Career Seekers, Welcome to #CoffeeWithConvery. This podcast is an intimate, upfront and personal coffee chat approach with some of the amazing and inspiring talent I have met over the years. Today we are continuing “Careering Talk” which is an open mic series to empower job and career seekers with knowledge, insights, career pathing and coaching to find that dream job and develop a career with purpose and impact. On today’s Careering Talk, I have invited Jahanzaib Ansari to join me. Jahanzaib is a keynote speaker, a life-long learner, and the Co-Founder & CEO of Knockri; an AI-powered behavioral assessment tool, and a leader in HR technology.  He co-founded Knockri because of the discrimination he faced in the hiring process, he is now on a mission to defeat unconscious bias and increase diversity in the workforce. Knockri works with Fortune 500’s such as IBM and has been featured in numerous media outlets including Forbes, Bloomberg, The Daily Mail, Huffington Post, Tech Crunch, Venture Beat, CBC’s National, The Globe and Mail, MaRs & Many other Notable Publications. Jahanzaib is often invited to share his thoughts on A.I., The Future of Work, Unconscious Bias, and Diversity at major events internationally.  In 2018, he was named to the Forbes Technology Council, recognized as Innovator of the year by Ascend, and named among 22 of Canada’s most promising young HR professionals by HRD Magazine. I had the chance to sit down with Jahanzaib Ansari to talk Resiliency, challenges and finding happiness and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Today we are continuing “Careering Talk” which is an open mic series to empower job and career seekers with knowledge, insights, career pathing and coaching to find that dream job and develop a career with purpose and impact. On today’s Careering Talk, I have invited James Hornick to join me. James is a Penn State University graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. James is a Partner at 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 and he hosts Hirewell's 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 podcast. James is the #3 sarcastic commenter on LinkedIn and he actively talks about topics such as hiring, content, sarcasm, and recruiting from his home in Chicago, Illinois. Since 2001, HireWell has been a staple in the Chicago business community where he and his talented team of recruiters help their clients grow by recruiting top-tier talent from technology, human resources, digital experience and marketing, sales finance and accounting, real estate services and more. In his spare time, James likes to trade financial derivates, lift weights and troll the internet. I had the chance to sit down with James to talk Sarcasm, recruiting and emotional quotient (EQ) and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students, New Grads, and Career Seekers, Welcome to #CoffeeWithConvery. This podcast is an intimate, upfront and personal coffee chat approach with some of the amazing and inspiring talent I have met over the years. On today’s #CoffeeWithConvery podcast we are continuing the series “Throwback Thursday” where I bring onto the show students and young talent that I met years ago and to see where they are now. My guest today is Ben Horgan, a graduate from the Ivey School of Business at Western University with an Honors in Business Administration and is also a graduate of the University of Oregon with a Master of Science in Sports Product Management. As an avid certified CrossFitter and Ironman athlete, Ben has a passion for the fitness industry and making wellness accessible to all people. He is currently working in Boston, Mass. for Reebok as a Senior Manager of Product Storytelling and Marketing responsible for Training and Running Footwear categories. Prior to Reebok, Ben also worked for Nike, was a Co-Founder for North Strong Collective, did an internship with Under Amour and worked at IBM where we first met back in 2012. I had the chance to sit down with Ben to talk Crossfit, sports marketing and raspberry pie and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students, New Grads, and Career Seekers, Welcome to #CoffeeWithConvery. This podcast is an intimate, upfront and personal coffee chat approach with some of the amazing and inspiring talent I have met over the years. My guest today is Marc Ang. Marc is a graduate of Centennial College with an International Business Diploma. Marc started his career as a Sun Life Financial Advisor moved to Enterprise Rent-A-Car as a manager and has spent the past 13+ years in recruitment at various organizations including being an independent North American and Global consultant for talent acquisition, IT and sourcing for his clients. In his spare time Marc likes to watch a good ol’ Kung-Fu movie with his baby daughter. I had the chance to sit down to talk Sales, recruitment and perfecting your craft with Marc and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students, New Grads, and Career Seekers, Welcome to #CoffeeWithConvery. This podcast is an intimate, upfront and personal coffee chat approach with some of the amazing and inspiring talent I have met over the years. On today’s Careering Talk, I have invited Susanne Frame to join me. Susanne is a graduate from Western University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and she is also a graduate from the University of Waterloo and holds a Master of Arts in Language and Professional Writing. Susanne started her career as an Assistant Editor with the Professional Engineers Ontario and spent the majority of her career at IBM in employee communications, instructional design, and content strategy with IBM’s Interactive Experience Group. In her latest venture, Susanne is a Content Director for the digital team at Scotiabank. In her spare time, Susanne likes to make good use of the 7 TV streaming services she has somehow accumulated and be a great mom to Lipstick, her senior cat. I had the chance to sit down with Susanne to talk Professional writing, branding and user experience and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students, New Grads, and Career Seekers, Welcome to #CoffeeWithConvery. This podcast is an intimate, upfront and personal coffee chat approach with some of the amazing and inspiring talent I have met over the years. If you are tuning in for the first time, “Careering Talk” is an open mic series to empower job and career seekers with knowledge, insights, career pathing and coaching to find that dream job and develop a career with purpose and impact. On today’s Careering Talk, I have invited Katie Tyler to join me. Katie is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University and has held a number of leadership positions throughout her impressive career. She has worked for IBM for over 15 years and has spent the last 8+ years with Deloitte. Katie collectively brings over two decades of success in leading large-scale business and technology transformation initiatives. Combining a mastery of technology and passion for transforming organizations, Katie knows the best practices her clients need to optimize service delivery, vendor selection, talent management, service delivery and the employee experience. Her contribution has translated into improved operational efficiency and increased shareholder value throughout organizations in a variety of industries.  Katie is also a Certified Human Resources Professional and certified SAP consultant, Katie’s particular areas of expertise include large scale SAP S/4 Transformations, Human Capital and Business Process Transformation, HR Cloud Solutions, as well as SAP Human Resources, Time Management and Payroll. I had the chance to sit down with Katie to talk Aptitude, attitude and empathy and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students, New Grads, and Career Seekers, Welcome to #CoffeeWithConvery. This podcast is an intimate, upfront and personal coffee chat approach with some of the amazing and inspiring talent I have met over the years. Today we are continuing “Careering Talk” which is an open mic series to empower job and career seekers with knowledge, insights, career pathing and coaching to find that dream job and develop a career with purpose and impact. On today’s Careering Talk, I have invited Cara Krezek to join me. Cara is a Western University graduate with a BA in History and is currently completing a Master of Arts in Leadership from the Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph, where she is researching the impact of strengths-based teams. Cara is currently the Director, Co-op, Career & Experiential Education at Brock University, where she has been involved in higher education for over 16 years. Cara also has held the position of CEWIL (Co-op Education & Work Integrated Learning) Canada President and CEO, where she successfully secured a multi-million dollar grant for CEWIL through Federal Government funding and led the national association through the global pandemic by bringing the community together to share, learn and support each other. Cara is also a certified CliftonStrengths Coach. She has been an entrepreneur with her own consulting business for a number of years and has worked as a recruiting manager at Brock and at Enterprise Rent-A-Car for Southwestern Ontario. I had the chance to sit down with Cara to talk Passion, intentionality and thought and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired