The Generation Hustle Podcast

Rishawn is an MD & MBA candidate at Tulane University. He is also the Founder & CEO of Memoryz, a company committed to redefining family-focused dementia care. They are developing an AI-powered chat bot that serves as almost a virtual person support worker that can keep tabs on patients in the absence of family or friends. The aim is to foster greater independence and reduce isolation for those living with dementia, while improving caregiver bandwidth. The Canadian government estimates that by 2030, seniors aged 65 and older will make up 25% of the population while almost a quarter of the population aged 15 or older already serve as caregivers. Rishawn recognized the need for additional support as a caregiver for his grandfather, a senior living with dementia. He realized that the caregiver experience can be facilitated with technology and this sparked the idea for Memoryz. We talk to Rishawn about the AI technology behind Memoryz, the future capabilities of his company, and how he manages a medical degree and MBA while working on his venture. We also explore the capabilities of the healthcare systems in North America as it pertains to this demographic. We hope you enjoy this insightful conversation!

Swish is the CEO and Co-Founder of Trufan, a UN Youth Ambassador, 3x TEDx Speaker, LinkedIn Youth Editor, consultant to Fortune 500 brands and venture capitalists, and the list goes on. A true jack of all trades, he has built a multi-hyphenate career across the board with many roles with an emphasis on social capital.  Trufan serves as a social intelligence platform that helps brands activate grassroots communities made up of super fans and micro-influencers. Their mission is to convert consumers from people who just buy to advocates who buy in.  We talk to Swish about how he built his personal brand from the ground up, the power of networking and how it led him to meeting his idol (and many of ours) in Gary Vee. We also lean in on his experience as a serial entrepreneur to understand how brands can leverage social audience to grow and scale.   We hope you enjoy this conversation! Get ready to get motivated!

Tobi is the CEO of The3Skills, a company founded on the mission to develop the most marketable people in the world by equipping them with the skills they need to understand and communicate their true value. He also works as Merchant Success Manager at Shopify. At 15 years old, Tobi came to Canada to attend an international high school and quickly realized how big of a minefield unemployment is for this demographic of graduates. Driven by the struggles of his sister and friends to land jobs, he posted a simple message on LinkedIn: “I want to help 5 people get jobs this year." He received 50 messages. The idea for 3Skills was born. In one year, they helped 36 people land full time roles with a combined income of over $1.7M. Today, the company has expanded to offer various courses, group coaching, and a referral program from a vast network of partners. We talk to Tobi about his journey to Canada, building this company, how he landed his dream job in just 12 days, and becoming the best version of yourself. Check the first comment below for links to this episode and we hope you enjoy his truly unique story!

Jimmy is the founder and CEO at Propel, Inc., a Brooklyn based company dedicated to helping low income Americans improve their financial health with technology. Their Fresh EBT app helps over 3 million households manage and budget food stamp benefits by providing an integrated platform to check their balance, view transaction history, and receive local deals. The app also provides savings tips and goals in order to improve the financial literacy of their users. The company is backed by the likes of Serena Williams, Kevin Durant, and Andreessen Horowitz.  Poverty is not a particularly new issue; it is estimated that approximately 38 million people live under the poverty line in the USA as of 2019. The intersection of tech and poverty aims to foster technological innovation that will allow people and nations to lift themselves out of poverty. However, many companies do not invest into helping those less fortunate due to monetary motivations and the fact that most founders are not in a position to understand the fundamental drivers of poverty.   We talk to Jimmy about how innovation in tech can continue to help those in need and how his own financial hardships led him to building Propel. Jimmy also explores the capitalist system today and how it can be leveraged to support companies that are aligned with your own personal values.   We hope this conversation inspires you and teaches you more about a topic that tends to get overlooked.

Michael is Chief Legal Officer at YUM! Brands, the conglomerate that owns and operates the KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut banners. With almost ten years of industry experience and an executive position at one of the world's most recognized CPG-brands, it can be easily assumed that he made the right career decisions. However, this is not exactly the case.  Back in 2006, Michael completed a Bachelor of Life Sciences, expecting to enter the medical industry and suddenly realized that he did not want to go through medical school. So he consulted with family and friends on what he should do and shifted to business. He entered an MBA program and graduated in 2008... just as the market crashed. Instead of getting down, he pivoted again and applied for law school and graduated from the Osgoode School of Law. Third time seemed to be the charm! Fast forward ten years and multiple stints at various positions and he now serves as the chief legal officer at KFC Global and as legal counsel for Pizza Hut International. Michael’s story is one of true determination and will that led to him being a Swiss Army knife of sorts in education. Instead of succumbing to social norms and accepting an unfulfilling position, or allowing external factors to decide his fate, he was able to adjust, pivot, and re-learn in order to succeed. So we talked to him about how he managed all the changes in his career direction, the stress that came with all these changes, and his insights on chasing passion for success.   This conversation was insightful and eye-opening and will definitely resonate with any age group!

Since the tech boom, the use of smartphones and other gadgets have skyrocketed while the valuations of these companies have reached record highs. Technology has created some of our most valuable inventions and, arguably the most wealthiest individuals history has ever seen. However, many of us still do not understand how these companies operate. Shruti is a seasoned journalist who has covered a wide range of topics from political culture, lobbying, telecom and technology, to the diplomatic community. Her roles have spanned from segment production for CTV News, reporter/editor at The Hill Times, to senior reporter at MobileSyrup. Currently, she spends her time in the tech and telecom sphere as a reporter for Yahoo Finance. We talk to Shruti about the future of journalism, being a woman in the industry, and how millennials are shifting the use and distribution of content. With her unique perspective in tech and politics, Shruti explains how these two worlds collide and its diplomatic implications as we explore the controversy around 5G and China. This was a truly riveting conversation that had us on the edge of our seats! We hope you enjoy!

Brendan Herjavec is an experienced business strategy and development professional with a background that spans seed funded startups to multinational corporations. Brendan has been a part of some of Canada’s fastest growing companies with a deep love for entrepreneurship. He had the opportunity to take his creativity around the globe ranging from working in a traditional Japanese Bonsai Nursery, to helping create business plans in England through the EY Young Entrepreneurship program, to assessing blockchain viability in Hong Kong for GeoSwift. He is currently involved in the intersection of the tech and mental health space, all while completing his MBA at UBC. Brendan is a Client Manager for Inkblot Therapy, a company that helps match mental health practitioners to clients through multiple channels. He also serves as an Advisor for Memoryz, an AI based company that developed a chatbot to help dementia patients and their caregivers stay organized, connected and engaged. We talk to Brandon about his experience growing up in an entrepreneurial family, the cross-cultural lessons he has learned from around the world, and what steps we can take to hack growth in B2B and B2C companies to help with scaling up. We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Brendan Rogers is the co-founder of Wag, the mobile dog walking app that disrupted the global pet service space, matching dog-walkers and dog-parents with a simple swipe. Wag raised over $360 million in venture capital, most recently $300 million from Softbank's Vision Fund. He is currently the founder and managing partner of 2AM Talent and Ventures - a pre-seed, industry agnostic, micro fund investing in ambitious founders. Brendan is an active advisor and mentors many companies, accelerators and universities in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and South Korea. Being a true people person, Brendan looks beyond the formalities and focusses on the individuals that he is investing into.  We talk to Brendan about his entrepreneurial journey and how he successfully scaled his businesses, his experience as a mentor and angel investor, and what makes individuals great leaders. He also expands on the importance of personal branding as it pertains to the digital era that we are in today. We hope you enjoy this truly insightful conversation!

Anthony Zhang is a serial entrepreneur, fellow at the prestigious Thiel foundation, and an active angel investor. He built his first business as a freshman at USC which he successfully pitched to the likes of Mark Cuban.