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. May 4th — May 10th this year marked the 69th annual Canada Mental Health Association Mental Health Week. Approximately 1 in 5 children and youth in Ontario has a mental health challenge and according to CAMH By age 40, about 50% of the population will have or have had a mental illness. Yet according to the Mental Health Commission, In Canada, only 1 out of 5 children receive appropriate mental health services. Cleary this is a topic that is top of mind and one that needs discussion. My guests today are Avina Patel and Madeleine Poutissou. Avina and Madeleine are the co-chairs of Queen’s Commerce Mental Health Association a student mental health group established to promote mental health and wellness throughout the Commerce community and to give those who are struggling a sense of hope. I first got introduced to QCMHA when I was at RBC and established a partnership with the Association for the first Mental Health Case Competition in 2021. It was a huge hit in that it raised awareness and innovative actionable ideas around mental health from an intergenerational perspective. So, let’s meet Avina and Madeleine. Avina is currently enrolled at the Smith School of Business and due to graduate in 2023 with her BComm Degree. Avina has worked as Financial Analyst Intern with the Ford Motor Company, been a consultant for Smith Business Consulting and most recently will be joining the Boston Consulting Group this summer to work as a Summer Intern. In her spare time, Avina likes to workout outdoors, take photos and make food. Madeleine is also currently enrolled at the Smith School of Business and due to graduate in 2023 with her BComm Degree. Madeleine has worked as summer intern for Daemar, Inc., been a Counsellor at the Glen Bernard Camp and most recently is a Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Scotia Bank. In her spare time, Maddie likes to spend time with friends, attend dance and spinning classes and watch reality tv. I had the chance to sit down with Avina and Madeleine to talk Mental health, curiosity and resilience 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 his 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 Kristen Cocoman, a graduate of the State University of New York Fashion Institute of Technology and the current President and CEO at The ALS Association Greater New York Chapter. The ALS Association Greater New York Chapter serves patients and families throughout the New York City, Long Island, Northern & Central New Jersey, and Westchester & the Hudson Valley. The Chapter plays a major role in promoting the mission to lead the fight to treat and cure ALS through global research and nationwide advocacy while also empowering people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease and their families to live fuller lives by providing them with compassionate care and support. The ALS Association is the only national non-profit organization fighting Lou Gehrig’s Disease on every front. I had the opportunity to meet Kristen and the Hudson Valley Walk to Defeat ALS Team in 2012 when I started the Walk for Christie. My friend Christie was 41 years old, with a one year old daughter, when she was diagnosed with ALS. Christie passed from ALS in November 2019. With May being #ALSAwarenessMonth, I had the chance to sit down with Kristen Cocoman to talk Careering Talk: ALS advocacy, nonprofits and volunteerism and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #CareeringTalk #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students, New Grads, and Career Seekers, Welcome to #CoffeeWithConvery. For those tuning in for the first time, 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. “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 Luke Girard to the podcast to share his incredible journey from hockey player to graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University to banking with TD to firefighting with Toronto Firefighting Services. Talk about an off-roading and winding career path and journey. Luke started his hockey career playing for the Vaughan Vipers of the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League and went on to join the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks Hockey Squad where he played for 4 seasons scoring 41 goals and 41 assists in 97 games. Luke also spent time in Belgium where he played for the Herentals HYC of the Royal Belgian Ice Hockey Federation. Luke and I met when he was at TD Bank helping us with our banking affairs and our relationship grew into a wonderful friendship with him and his lovely wife and partner Ashley. During the lockdown of the pandemic, Ashley and Luke welcomed their son Oliver and now are new parents as well. I had the chance to sit down with Luke to talk Careering Talk: Hockey, finance and firefighting and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #CareeringTalk #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students and young professionals are facing barriers, uncertainty, biases, and changing priorities as they navigate the school to work transition. Their collective stories have inspired me and now I want to share these stories with you. So let’s meet Denys Linkov. Denys is a graduate of The University of Toronto where he received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. Denys currently works as a Machine Learning Architect at Voiceflow where he is responsible for designing and building Voiceflow’s data science and machine learning platform. Denys’ goal is to make creating voice apps easy, intuitive and collaborative. Denys is also a community builder. He has a keen interest and is focused on youth and the future of work. He has engaged with a number of youth groups as a mentor, speaker and leader and has engineered many discussions on career development and technology. He helped to scale Tech Under 20 a leading youth tech group in Halton and he is successful at a competitive level in Debate and Taekwondo. I got the pleasure of meeting Denys back at RBC when he was first a student and have continued to see Deny thrive with his impact and passion for tech, students and the future of work. I had the chance to talk Creativity, technology and internships with Denys Linkov and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

On today’s episode we are going to continue the journey with #ThrowbackThursday. If you are tuning in for the first time and as a reminder for our listeners, “Throwback Thursday” is 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 Sibi Anand. Sibi is a Carleton University BComm Finance graduate. Before we met, Sibi had worked at the Public Works and Government Services Canada in Ottawa as a Supply Officer and he was a contract SAP functional consultant for MMLS Consulting Inc. Sibi and I met back in the day at IBM when I was leading talent and onboarding for IBM Consulting Services and we were just standing up our client services centre in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Sibi went on to work at IBM as an SAP BI Consultant in Halifax and has performed various roles of responsibility with much success at Halogen Software, Saba Software and he now is the Senior Manager, Business Consulting at Cornerstone on Demand in Ottawa. In his spare time, Sibi enjoys eating shawarmas, deal-hunting at Costco, and travelling with his wife. He hosts a podcast called ‘Brown and Lovely’ that focuses on conversations around mental health in the South Asian community in addition to showcasing the journeys of up-and-coming artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs. He is a passionate advocate for all things mental health, personal development, leadership development, and financial literacy. I had the chance to talk Throwback Thursday: All things Costco, mental health and leading with yes with Sibi Anand and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #ThrowbackThursday #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students and young professionals are facing barriers, uncertainty, biases, and changing priorities as they navigate the school to work transition. Their collective stories have inspired me and now I want to share these stories with you. So let’s meet Vanessa Elefteriadis. Vanessa is a student at The University of Toronto studying for her Bachelor of Applied Science in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Business Engineering. Vanessa is due to graduate in 2024 and her activities at school include: Orientation Leader, Industrial Engineering Club Vice-Chair, Student Mentor, and Class Representative. I got the pleasure of meeting Vanessa at the University of Toronto UAutomate Challenge which brought together 32 students over 6 weeks to accelerate their careers in robotic process automation. The challenge was a first of a kind for University of Toronto and the challenge included partnerships with Wrk and Blue prism along with a number of guest speakers, learning plans, workshops and mentorship for the students. In her spare time, Vanessa likes to play tennis and ping pong, read, and try out new recipes. I had the chance to talk Fresh flowers, robotics and finding balance with Vanessa Elefteriadis and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students and young professionals are facing barriers, uncertainty, biases, and changing priorities as they navigate the school to work transition. Their collective stories have inspired me and now I want to share these stories with you. My guest today is Brett Beattie a 2017 Odette School of Business - University of Windsor grad with a Bachelor Degree, Business/Commerce Co-op and a concentration in finance with a minor in economics. Brett received a number of honors and awards while attending the University of Windsor including the “Made a Difference Award” an award received for commitment to the business school in making a difference in the student experience. This award is hand selected by the Dean of the Odette School of Business and is provided to one deserving student who has gone above and beyond to enhance the education and experience at Odette. Since graduation, Brett has had a interesting career in the banking and finance industry focusing on capital markets and trades with TD and most recently with Kairon Labs BV as a Quantitate Trader which included Brett leaving Ontario and uprooting his life to British Columbia out west. In his spare time, Brett enjoys skate boarding, biking and spending time in the outdoors. I had the chance to talk I had the chance to talk Co-ops, cryptocurrency and following your dreams with Brett Beattie, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students and young professionals are facing barriers, uncertainty, biases, and changing priorities as they navigate the school to work transition. Their collective stories have inspired me and now I want to share these stories with you. My guest today is Grant McNaughton. Grant is a 2019 Ivey Scholar & Dean’s list graduate from the Ivey Business School at Western University. Grant is a strategic, pragmatic thinker with strong analytical skills. Grant’s experience spans across many private and public sectors, including start-ups and Fortune 100s. Grant got his start as Co-Founder & CMO of RollUP Solutions Inc. a social enterprise that collects and upcycles gently used mobility devices and then sells them at a more affordable rate to those in financial need, Worked at Bain and Company as a consultant for 3 years, and recently started working for himself as an independent management consultant. He is scheduled to begin his MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in September. Grant loves all things social enterprise, LGBTQ2S+ advocacy, politics, as well as chocolate chip cookies. In his spare time, Grant enjoys traveling, enjoying a drink with friends, and skiing or running. #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students and young professionals are facing barriers, uncertainty, biases, and changing priorities as they navigate the school to work transition. Their collective stories have inspired me and now I want to share these stories with you. On today’s episode we are going to continue the journey with Sports Talk where my invited guests will share how being an athlete has helped them to propel their skill building, their mindsets and their futures. “Sports Talk” also helps us understand the hurdles and barriers some athlete’s face while being in school, participating in sports and trying to balance the transition into the workplace. Now let’s meet Stephen Taylor. Stephen is a current student at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at University of Guelph due to graduate this year with a Bachelor of Commerce in Organizational Leadership and a minor in Marketing. Stephen also studied Management Sports and Recreation Management briefly while at James Madison University in the United States. Stephen has a vast number of years of experience working in client facing/ retail roles at McDonalds, Footlocker, and UPS and most recently landed his student job this coming summer with Adidas. With his school and work comes the balancing of his sports passion as he is currently a student-athlete on the varsity football team. In his spare time Stephen likes to workout, cook, and go fishing. I had the chance to talk Sports Talk: Thanksgiving, football and networking with Stephen Taylor and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #SportsTalk #Listen #Learn #BeInspired

Students and young professionals are facing barriers, uncertainty, biases and changing priorities as they navigate the school to work transition. Their collective stories have inspired me and now I want to share these stories with you. My guest today is Vinayak Mahajan. Vinayak is a graduate of Georgian College with a Co-op Diploma, Computer Programmer, achieving Dean’s list in all of his semesters. Vinayak is a TedX Speaker (more to come on that in the show), #1 Global Bestselling Author, Founder & CEO of GiftAFeeling Inc., and a highly recognized thought leader in the gifting industry around the world. He has been published in Exceptional People Magazine, Business Digest Magazine, has been seen on CNBC, Wall Street Select, USA Today, LA Business Podcast, and has made live TV appearances on Ticker News. He leads a team of psychologists doing research in gifting psychology and has reinvented the word, Giftophobia, in the modern era. In his spare time Vinayak likes to detach digitally and go into nature camping, hiking, trekking, or just spending time in solitude away from the screens and out of the internet’s reach. I had the chance to talk Uncertainty, gifting and being an entrepreneur with Vinayak Mahajan and I am happy to share our conversation with you, Enjoy! #CoffeeWithConvery #Listen #Learn #BeInspired