The Generation Hustle Podcast

Episode 49 is with Davina Kaonohi, Co-Founder & CEO of Element Apothec! Element Apothec is an innovative and purpose-driven consumer brand focused on CBD wellness & body care products. It was established with one goal in mind: to create a line of natural and organic, CBD-infused skincare and wellness products which combine the healing powers of nature with the ingenuity of innovation. The journey began a decade ago, when one co-founder — afflicted with eight auto-immune disorders — started creating custom body care blends that eased her pain, nourished her skin and helped her feel better. Today, Element has expanded to more than 40 products, including lotions, body butters, roll-ons, tinctures and supplements. We speak with Davina about her journey in the Cannabis and CPG space, how CBD has changed her life and that of her customers’, and how she successfully built her brand and online presence. We hope you enjoy! Timestamps  3:00 - Which is better - Retail or D2C?  5:25 - How to pitch your business to retail partners  8:10 - Challenges of Retail vs. D2C 11:24 - The Founding story of Element Apothec 17:14 - The Benefits of CBD 20:26 - The CBD Industry Is Just Starting 27:42 - What Makes a Great Brand Strategy? 35:18 - Importance of Feedback and Networking 39:37 - Lightning Round

Episode 48 is with Brennan McEachran! Brennan is the Co-Founder & CEO of Soapbox, the app built for managers. Managers are the most unsupported and under resourced individuals in corporate organizations and the consequences of this are dire. Bad leadership trickles down into teams, company culture, and eventually the overall performance. Soapbox is the first software platform designed to help managers prioritize their people and performance while coaching good management habits. It manages meetings, tasks, and goals, all while providing constructive feedback and relevant engagement tools to give employees a voice.  We sit down with Brennan to discuss his founding journey, the traits and habits of a good manager, and how you can become a better leader in any situation, not just work. This was a really insightful conversation that we hope you enjoy! Timestamps  2:23 - What is Soapbox? 12:47 - How Soapbox helps managers & teams 21:44 - How to Share Your Vision With and Lead a Team 28:05 - The Lettuce Pact 32:11 - What Makes a Good Leader 40:16 - Giving/Receiving Feedback as a Manager 50:35 - The Future of Work & Soapbox 58:25 - Lightning Round

Episode 47 is all about pre-nuptial agreements and marriage! Numbers don't lie - almost half of all marriages end in divorce. But what about the numbers that come up during the divorce?  Aman and Sheriston break down some strong, controversial opinions on divorce laws and pre-nups using some famous examples of the past and present. Given the topic, this conversation is wild from start to finish, so consider yourself warned!  We hope you enjoy! Timestamps 0:46 - Intro from "Flagrant 2 Podcast" 3:03 - Britney Spears 5:00 - Benefits of a Pre-Nup 8:30 - Dr. Dre

Episode 46 focuses on the hottest thing in the economy right now - real estate. The housing market has been on fire this past year, with supply shortages and pandemic activity driving prices to record levels, month after month with no signs of slowing down. Aman and Sheriston break down how we found ourselves in this situation, what you should do with your finances in the interim, and what to expect in the post-pandemic housing market. For an added bonus, the video version on YouTube will include a segment where we show examples of houses for sale across the country, so make sure to check that out as well! Timestamps  1:46 - Factors driving the housing market  7:21 - What to expect after the pandemic  8:32 - New Canadian Mortgage Rules 13:30 - Should you invest in real estate right now?

Episode 45 is with Dan Park.  Dan Park is the CEO of Clutch Inc., a tech company reinventing the way people buy cars through e-commerce. With a completely virtual showroom, you can browse, get prequalified for and order a vehicle that will be delivered right to your home, which you can return within 10 days. Before Clutch, Dan was the General Manager of UberEats Canada where he helped launch the food delivery platform in Canada. He also has an extensive background in venture capital as both a VC and entrepreneur. We talk to Dan about he helped make UberEats the staple of fast food delivery in Canada and now how he’s reshaping consumer mindsets in car buying. He also details the experience of being on both sides of the VC table. We had a blast with this one, so we hope you enjoy! Timestamps  2:11 - UberEats Canada’s First General Manager  4:00 - How UberEats Works  9:05 - Creating Successful Business Partnerships 12:15 - How to Develop Out a Marketplace 14:25 - How Clutch is Solving the Traditional Car Buying Process 21:50 - Test driving is unnecessary, here’s why 25:45 - Inspiration from Tesla 27:35 - Being a VC vs. Pitching to a VC 34:55 - Most Common Mistake during VC Fundraising 38:20 - Success Factors of a Founding Team 47:00 - Lightning Round

Episode 44 is with Erica Rankin aka The Cookie Dough Girl. Erica is the Founder and CEO of Bro Dough, Canada’s first 100% plant-based, protein-infused, edible cookie dough. Having launched her business in late 2019, Erica is the epitome of an entrepreneur, working out of a commercial kitchen rented by the hour, storing inventory in her living room, and even packing orders at her dining room table as they come in. We sit down to chat with Erica about her story launching the brand, how she uses LinkedIn and TikTok to blow up her online presence practically for free, and the ins and outs of running a business. We hope you enjoy! Timestamps  2:00 - What is Bro Dough?  4:00 - The Production Cycle  7:46 - Menu Creation - the weirdest flavour requests! 10:50 - Importance of Networking & Mentorship 13:36 - A Typical Day @ Bro Dough 15:25 - Managing Mental Health as an Entrepreneur 19:10 - Brand Strategy & Social Media Marketing 24:20 - Motivation for Entrepreneurship 28:25 - Lightning Round

Episode 43 is with Mohsen Omrani and Sarah Rennick. Mohsen is the CEO & President of OPTT, a digital health start-up that provides behavioural health providers the tools to build an affordable, online mental health clinic powered with AI. Sarah is the Co-Founder and CEO of Alli Therapy, an online therapy portal for parents when they need it, in the way they need it. The need for mental health professionals has been on the rise for decades, but has now skyrocketed due to the ongoing global pandemic. Credible, reliable online resources help tackle this issue while navigating the tech landscape to extend their reach. So, how did they do it? We speak with Mohsen and Sarah about their respective journeys in the field of mental health. They detail what lead them to studying the brain, how their companies are solving the next crisis we’re currently faced with, and what you can do every day to address your mental health. We hope you find this conversation insightful, informative, and most of all, helpful. Timestamps  3:05 - The Culture Shift around Mental Health stigma  6:34 - Why Employers should invest more into mental health support 10:35 - Mohsin’s journey into the mental health field 13:19 - Sarah’s journey into the mental health field 16:05 - Relationships, Parenthood, & Mental Health 21:50 - Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health care 31:24 - Mental Health during the Global Pandemic 33:30 - The “Fourth Wave” of COVID-19 to come 36:50 - Baby Boomers, Millennials, & Gen Z 42:03 - Lessons from Ryerson University’s DMZ incubator 49:45 - Lightning Round

Episode 42 is with Ruben Harris, Co-Founder & CEO of Career Karma! Career Karma is the easiest way to find a job training program online, matching people with the right coding bootcamp and supporting them throughout their careers. With over 150,000 members, 9,000 bootcamps and trade schools, Career Karma is on a mission to help 1 billion people. Ruben is a Bay Area transplant from Atlanta, Georgia who switched from investment banking to tech after writing a viral blog post called Breaking Into Startups about how he moved to San Francisco without a job and landed a position 3 weeks later. Due to popular demand, he then co-founded the Breaking Into Startups Podcast to demystify the process and went on to build Career Karma with Artur and Timur Meyster. We talk to Ruben about his journey through professional and personal development. He details the Y Combinator experience, how to build a community, and explains the importance of mastering your own psychology. This was an insight-packed conversation that we hope you enjoy! Timestamps  2:20 - Life-long learning & the future of education  7:50 - Limiting mindsets in minority/oppressed communities 11:05 - Importance of Mentorship 15:13 - Ruben’s career journey from school, to investment banking, to tech 21:00 - How to build a community: Blue zones, “Moai”, and positivity 28:17 - Parties in Atlanta & Celebrity Marketing 31:35 - The future of Career Karma 34:00 - The Y Combinator Experience 40:51 - Lessons from Y Combinator 46:38 - How to build a strategic vision 51:30 - Self-Confidence & Imposter Syndrome 57:10 - Lightning Round

Episode 41 is with Eliot 'The Fire' Marshall! Eliot is a former UFC Light Heavy Weight, member of The Ultimate Fighter season 8, Head Coach at Elevation Fight Team, owner of multiple Easton Training Centre facilities, a motivational speaker, a TEDx Speaker, and an all-around good guy. He has successfully transitioned his career from professional fighter to business owner, but if you ask him he says he’s just a product of luck and hard work. So we sit down with Eliot to discuss his journey. He details his bouts with anxiety in a dangerous career, the importance of knowing yourself, and how he was able to pivot away and succeed despite the odds.  This was an incredibly inspiring conversation, so let’s get right into it! Timestamps  3:00 - How Eliot got into Martial Arts  6:19 - How much of his career he attributes to luck  8:30 - The Egg Lottery  9:40 - There is no such thing as a self-made man 11:05 - Seeking acceptance 16:30 - Transitioning away from fighting 19:10 - Burt Watson, the Babysitter to the Stars 29:06 - Fear, Emotions, & Masculinity 35:08 - Never tie your dollars to your hours - make your money work 44:24 - Speak to one person at a time in everything you do 48:40 - What do you want to be remembered for? 50:30 - Lightning Round

Episode 40 is with Colin Chartier, Co-Founder and CEO of LayerCI! LayerCI is the DevOps platform for distributed software teams. Their web application enables the highest performing software developers to preview full stack environments for every commit and have a centralized CI/CD stack. Going against the typical path of graduates heading to big tech firms, Colin decided to build a business of his own with co-founder Lyn Chen in Toronto to help developers ship code faster. Last year, LayerCI raised a pre-seed round from Y Combinator, followed by over a million dollars in investment from multiple Silicon Valley firms. We sit down with Colin to learn how LayerCI is helping businesses, in simple terms, no engineering knowledge needed. He breaks down how you can accelerate your capacity to learn, the process of being chosen by Y Combinator, and the skills that students and young entrepreneurs in this field should focus on. This was a really insightful conversation that we hope you enjoy! Timestamps 2:00 - How to prioritize key tasks amongst a team 4:04 - Attracting talent & hiring strategies for start-ups 9:45 - How gaming taught Colin to program 14:24 - How to accelerate your learning 16:17 - Skills that students/young entrepreneurs should focus on today 19:52 - How LayerCI helps developers and businesses (simplified) 26:38 - Getting into Y Combinator and working with accelerators 35:21 - Lightning Round