A “survive at all costs” approach to business

Professional and Corporate
Written By Stuart McNish

Guest: Ernest Lang (founder of an investment and financial firm)

What happens when a bunch of side gigs become a career? For Ernest Lang, he points to himself as the answer. As head of Promerita, he invests and advises on financial matters around corporate assets, wealth planning, real estate, and more. His interest in money was rooted in necessity – coming from a family with one parent and with limited means, he had to figure out how money worked and that has led him to a “survive at all costs” approach to business.

Watch more episodes
Using empathy to succeed in the nonprofit and business world
Using empathy to succeed in the nonprofit and business world

Can “encourager” be a job? For Joe Roberts, that is how he sees himself in a world full of change and uncertainty. In his Push For Change Foundation, he seeks to better protect kids so they don’t fall through the cracks. And he isn’t just all talk – he draws on his own struggles with being a homelessness youth in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. On top of his foundation, he also does public speaking at conferences, where he uses his empathy to understand how to speak to each audience.

Read More →
Entrepreneurship and politics: it’s about the people
Entrepreneurship and politics: it’s about the people

Being a politician isn’t easy. According to Yuri Fulmer, it means a lot of travelling and talking to people face-to-face. As a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of British Columbia, it is vital for him to get to know the people he seeks to represent – no matter where in BC they live. While this is a tall task for anyone, this was not something Yuri thought he’d do, while growing up in Australia. What started as a 3-week journey in Canada ended up being 34 years – starting with a humble job at A&W, he learned how to lead through franchising a location in New Westminster and developed the entrepreneurship skills that shaped who he is today.

Read More →
Helping Canada’s dentists deal with challenges and trends
Helping Canada’s dentists deal with challenges and trends

What is the current and future state of dentistry in Canada? To Bruce Ward, this might be the biggest issue in his industry today. Does the dentistry field have enough dentists? What about assistants? After all, dentists need them to function. Do we have enough qualified workers domestically, or do we need to reach out internationally? As the president of the Canadian Dental Association, Bruce’s job is a mixture of making sure dentists in Canada can deal with industry realities, economics, and even immigration.

Read More →
Providing advocacy, assistance, and resources to restaurants
Providing advocacy, assistance, and resources to restaurants

How do you deal with over 15,000 restaurants and their issues? That is Ian Tostenson’s job at the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association. Most of British Columbia’s restaurants are small businesses, which might not have the resources and connections to solve their many issues – Ian and his team help that. As he puts it: “When I hear the industry’s not doing well, I take it personally.”

Read More →
Stuart McNish
Previous

An Inventor and entrepreneur who finds the fun in start-ups
Next

Finding out what makes the economy tick