Guest: Greg Barnsdale (author)
Greg Barnsdale is no ordinary author – his topic deals with death, based on his experiences in the funeral and financial planning industries. This has posed a challenge in reaching a target market, which he learned to tackle through writing courses. After that, it was just a matter of learning how to put a book together – literally.
How do you build a business online? As the founder of Refoundry and Forge and Smith, Shawn Johnston’s job is to help you find out. Whether it is building an online store or simply building your web presence, he helps others simply do great work. Running this small business comes with risks and terrifying moments, but is something Shawn has grown over the years – gradually and steadily, until it turned into his full-time role.
How do you combine technology with business? This is an angle that Don Stickney wanted to explore with Playbook, his consultancy that advises on how to use technology as leverage for business. To him, his clients don’t simply want advice on how to succeed, but rather advice on how to be a thought leader. This is far cry from his beginnings as a hot tub salesperson but his ability to talk to others and fix their problems made him realize that he was in for a communications- and relations-related career.
For Chyanne Trenholm, meeting people from all over the world is an everyday occurrence at Homalco Wildlife & Cultural Tours. Fittingly, her love for tourism started with the outdoors. Combined with her educational background in physical education, it has well-positioned her to connect visitors with nature and introduce them to Canada’s indigenous culture in a way that never would have been possible in their home countries or cities.
Problem solving – that is how lawyer Bruce McIvor describes his job. To him, that is why people come to lawyers. It is about identifying the problem, the solution, and barriers to the solution. “It’s often not about the law,” he claims. “It’s about relationships” and how legal issues tend to come up when a relationship has failed in some way. That is also something he teaches his students at the University of British Columbia, helping shape the next generation of lawyers.
