SPEAKER_02: 0:00

It's the isolation. If you if you don't have community, you're isolated and things start to fall apart and then you don't feel hopeful and you have all these patterns. So the more you're invested in community, and it's not even um about your own problems, it's about supporting others.

SPEAKER_00: 0:15

And when you do good things for other people, you get energy back to Welcome to another episode of Sell Me This Podcast. This week we're fortunate to host Denise Beryl of the Grant Sherpa, and we dive into a ton of different stuff. In this episode, we talk about the value of community, the importance of struggle, and the necessity of connection. Give it a listen. Welcome to another episode of Sell Me This Podcast. Today we are incredibly excited to have with us Denise Beryl from the Grant Sherpa. Um, Denise, welcome to the show, and it's so nice to have you.

SPEAKER_02: 0:51

Thanks so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_00: 0:54

I feel like this is a new season for us, so you're episode, I think, three of the new season, but I have been so excited to have you. Um, I feel like since we met, and I'm trying to think where we met. Gosh, long time ago. It feels like a long time ago, and I I just always remember how supportive and how nice, and you kind of became a Sherpa to me a tiny bit in terms of the ecosystem. And um, if I would to make a list of people that I feel like have always been in my corner, even like since we met, and I didn't necessarily even deserve it, um, I I feel like you would be on that list.

SPEAKER_01: 1:24

Why do you feel you don't deserve it? You're so awesome.

SPEAKER_00: 1:27

This is gonna turn into a therapy session over here on this way. It's like and when I was five years old, this happened. Um Denise, as we jump right into things, I would love for you to introduce yourself, tell our listeners a tiny bit about who you are, the work you do, um, and we'll just dive right into things.

SPEAKER_01: 1:43

So, yeah, so when I was five.

SPEAKER_02: 1:46

No, I um but I do want to just share, I grew up my my parents, I uh you've been an entrepreneur in different jobs and different companies in my life. Um, and my parents were entrepreneurs. They started one of the first home wine and beer making supply stores in Canada. And so I grew up at six going to work. It's like slave labor at six. But it inspired me to kind of be an entrepreneur. And so when I created the grant Sherpa in 2015, it was because I saw a gap in the ecosystem and a problem that people weren't able to find the right resources, and I stumbled into that place uh because the government was coming out with a new grant and they didn't have an ecosystem to get in front of. I had a business community, and so we did an event together, and then I went, hey, there's money for that. And so it just kind of led me down to explore um what is the pain point for companies in this space? And and I discovered people hate grants and people hate the process and don't understand it. And so that's kind of the the first beginnings of how the Grant SHIP has started.

SPEAKER_00: 2:44

Aaron Ross Powell I feel like you're speaking directly to me. Um and I know you've received a couple of panicked phone calls from me being like, how do I understand X, Y, and Z? Um what is it about grants? And this is a big question we're just gonna dive right into it. What is it about grants that people find so intimidating?

SPEAKER_02: 2:59

I think um they seem straightforward when you look at them, but there's a lot more to the architecture of what needs to go into grant for them to be successful and get closed. So you can fill in a form, no problem. But what are the funders looking for? And those metrics change over time. So it becomes frustrating for companies when you don't understand what they're looking for or what's the mechanism behind this grant, and that's what the challenge is, right? There's there's and I call it a dance. Each grant has a different dance, and you have to learn that dance in order to be successful at it.

SPEAKER_00: 3:32

And so like if I'm just a regular business owner, and maybe I I probably am just a regular business owner, but if I'm going to get some of these grants, like the the normal process that I understand is I I scour some sort of website on the government, download form, fill it out, um, cross my fingers, and hold my breath, how do I even understand like already you're talking about things that I have zero insight into? How do I even start to understand some of that?

SPEAKER_02: 3:58

So bit of a process involved in that. But I think is education about where is the funding and why is it designed to support the ecosystem. And I always say to people, always if there's an advisor that you can reach out to to understand that grant, do that. Like get involved, find out, and or ask people in the ecosystem, have you applied for this? What did you do? What did you find out? And you'll find out that there's lots of tips and tricks in this process, and then you don't have to do it alone.

SPEAKER_00: 4:26

And and it seems like in Alberta as well, and then maybe even federally, there's there's more and more grant funding that's becoming available. Um how does someone figure out, I mean, outside of calling yourself, um what they're eligible for, what's worth pursuing, what's not pursuing, what what rocks to turn over, what ones to throw away?

SPEAKER_02: 4:45

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah. So a little bit of a I'd say the the the one thing that I find is there's there's lots of grants out there. There's there's an organization, uh, the federal government created the business benefits finder, which is an actual tool that you can use to search grants. The challenge is um I call it a rabbit hole because each grant that you look at, you read for 20 minutes to find out, oh, at the end of it, you don't qualify. So um finding out, like getting help sometimes to just figure out what the right list is for you helps because it advances you to move forward faster. Um but this is the challenge in the grant space. When I started 10 years ago, even to this point today, the the gap still exists. So it's a little bit of a you have to invest the time. And for startups, um they might have the time as they start, but as you grow, what typically happens is you get so many, you're wearing so many hats in a business. How can you juggle them all and do the full-time work and the grants? Like it becomes overwhelming for people. And so, you know, you can get help, you can get support. There's lots of advisors, lots of s support in the ecosystem if you have time to spend it there. But then when your life gets too busy and or you're missing out on funding, or you're not closing funding, then you want to tap into resources that can actually support you in being more effective.

SPEAKER_00: 6:05

I guess that makes sense. 100% of zero is still zero if you're if you're not getting any of that funding. And I know that the it's there to to propel our ecosystem to propel some of the incredible organizations that are here. Um, you know, you've mentioned ecosystem already a few times. Um and I I I believe, and like I I'll continue to to pump you up during during our conversation, but I I I believe that you're a key part and pillar of our ecosystem here in in um Calgary. I'm gonna start off with kind of maybe the loaded question, but what makes Calgary so special? Because I feel like there's something different. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02: 6:40

Yeah. And I just I you actually I just posted something on LinkedIn this morning because yesterday I had these magic moments with some of my clients and some of the supports of the ecosystem, like Alberta Innovates and the advisors that are there, the IRAP advisors, the federal funders in innovation, you know, platform Calgary, um, people like Geor, you know, George Damien, who's doing this incredible cap raise thing. These nuggets are all there to help our companies. And we have so many resources. I I work with uh an organization called Startup Canada. They're fabulous. They're doing, they came and did a conference here last year. And they do conferences across Canada. Um they attracted, I think, over 3,000 people to the conference, and they were wowed by the turnout. They had all these volunteers in our ecosystem from you know, the peer guidance, like Jade Alberts of the crew, and the software developers, and the Niraj Guptas, uh Gupta's who are doing IP. They had all these experts who were willing to share hours and time to support people that were attending. And when they ended up that conference, they said this was one of the best conferences we ever had, but they said it's because you've got established resources and experts who are willing to show up, share their knowledge for free, to give somebody a hand up. And I think if you agree, I don't I don't know, it's maybe it's the cowboy spirit that we have in Calgary or something, but we have such a supportive, collaborative ecosystem that everyone's willing to lend everybody a hand. Um, and even people like during the Stampede, there's people that I met from Toronto that were visiting and looking at, do we set up office here? And they said, I can't believe like I talked to one person and they say, Oh, come with me, I'll introduce you to three other people that you need to meet while you're here. And then someone else takes my arm and says, You need to meet these three people. And I think it's that spirit of collaborative uh support that that creates this environment. And I think it's something, a secret sauce that we have here. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00: 8:38

I I agree a hundred percent. And I I'm you know, I'm not born and raised Calgarian, but I feel like I've I've probably been long enough here that I can wear that badge somewhat.

SPEAKER_02: 8:46

Well, I'm wearing the Calgary Flames jersey now.

SPEAKER_00: 8:49

Yeah. There you go. Well, I won't ask what we had before.

SPEAKER_02: 8:51

The Winnipeg Jets.

SPEAKER_00: 8:52

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01: 8:53

So I'm blue on the inside and red on the outside.

SPEAKER_00: 8:56

Okay. I feel like there's a I don't know what the the analogy is for that, but it's um welcome, welcome to the right side of the fence there. But I think that there's something, even if you look back to the original kind of like we'll say the original oil boom, where it was kind of to some degree Calgary against the world.

SPEAKER_03: 9:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 9:11

And you had this really gritty, really resourceful group and and kind of fabric that that defined our city. And I don't think that it's I don't think that's gone away.

SPEAKER_02: 9:20

No.

SPEAKER_00: 9:20

And I I love exactly the scenario that you're saying. You know, you you share what you're doing, you share what you're building, and there is a bunch of people not with hands out saying, Hey, how can you help me? But saying, Hey, let me introduce you to this person, let me help you accelerate, let me connect you.

SPEAKER_02: 9:36

Well, and isn't that exactly what you're doing in your business? Like, do you want to talk a little bit about how you're using that collaborative spirit to kind of help companies in the tech space?

SPEAKER_00: 9:46

Yeah, like I I think that um in the same token around the the work that you're doing on the ecosystem side, I think we're helping on the private company side where there's just so much noise, so many options, so much um opportunity out there, but trying to find your way through it is near impossible. And so, you know, to put it simply, our narrative is we help um primarily non-technical business leaders make better technology decisions. And that starts with connecting them with the right people. It starts then with connecting them with them, you know, I I say with an adult in the room that can really help them navigate that world.

SPEAKER_02: 10:20

And and that's it's like a different language. It is. Like so we have and this is this is just on the funding side, I'll just talk about the differences. So when I have non-technical founders who approach grants, they have a harder time closing funding because they don't know how to talk the narrative. When they go to pitch to raise capital, they can spin circles around everybody else. And the reverse is true for the founders who are technical, they can close the RD dollars faster, but they have a heck of a time raising capital. And so that's where you come into that play to help navigate. It's it like its own language.

SPEAKER_00: 10:56

It is, and I think that the ability to be able to kind of see both sides of the fence, the ability to translate becomes really important, but also the ability to navigate and just know the know the right people. Um because there is no playbook right now. No that's the terrifying thing and the exciting thing all at the same time, is that there is no path that says, okay, first A, then B, then C, then D. And with some of the new technology technologies that are coming out, with some of the security requirements, with some of the geopolitical pressures in the world, there's no correct path forward. So context becomes king.

SPEAKER_02: 11:33

Yeah. And I also think that, well, and and you know, and we can probably have a debate about this one.

SPEAKER_00: 11:38

I love it.

SPEAKER_02: 11:39

Because like everyone thinks like AI's my solution, and it just give me AI tools, and then I'm good to go. Is that is that like what is your voice on that? Because I think like we're going at this wrong. Like everyone thinks, well, I'm just gonna use AI for this, and then everything's gonna solve my problems and I'm gonna be competitive. But there's more to it than that, like than than just jumping in and getting a tool.

SPEAKER_00: 12:00

Well, I feel like any time we've ever led with the technology, we've gone down the wrong path.

SPEAKER_03: 12:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 12:05

I think that most AI is an incredibly powerful tool, but it's a tool.

SPEAKER_03: 12:09

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 12:09

And if we have ever started, if you ever you know go to build a house and you say, you know what, I'm gonna make sure I bring my screwdriver with me, the first time you come across a nail, you're gonna be in a lot of trouble.

SPEAKER_03: 12:20

So true.

SPEAKER_00: 12:20

And I think AI is exactly like that. Yeah. It's a powerful tool that is becoming more and more and more powerful. But if you don't have a functional understanding of the what you're trying to deliver, if you don't have a functional understanding of the problem you're trying to solve or what you're trying to amplify, you can actually make things even worse by throwing AI on top of it.

SPEAKER_02: 12:39

Um and then the other piece is also you can jump into something, but I also find, and especially in larger companies, getting people you can use a tool, but getting the engagement of your team to buy in is usually the bigger problem, right? Because they push back when they say, Well, what is this for? Why are we using this? We liked our old way. Why are you making us use this? And so it's that process you have to kind of think through.

SPEAKER_00: 13:05

100%. And so um, first of all, I'm gonna give you an award. Um, Ian Ian McDonald, and I'll give him a shout-out, we'll challenge him before we recorded our episode uh at the end of last season where he's like, I'm gonna interview the whole you the whole time. He's like, You're gonna be on your heels. And I think feel like you're the first person to successfully start making me feel like I'm the guest on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02: 13:22

Yeah, but it but it's great because there's and I think it's just so there's so much synergy between you and I in terms of what we do and how we serve this market, right? Of innovators.

SPEAKER_00: 13:32

But to answer your question in terms of that change management, you know, I I love to tell the story there's an organization that we work with that um needed a new CRM. So not an AI solution. Um there's an AI um component, obviously, that we're starting to unfold in now. But I got a call from their president one night saying, hey, we have we've bought three entities, we're we're looking to buy a new CRM. We have you know presentations from here's the three, the three big guys that are pitching. Which one do we pick? And you know, my answer was none of them because uh we we haven't done any of this legwork yet.

SPEAKER_03: 14:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 14:05

And so so we actually ended up pausing the whole project, doing a ton of discovery and consultation from the end user up. Interesting, understanding how they work, understanding their current state, and it wasn't necessarily to to maintain all of those processes, but it was to effectively communicate their starting point, where they were going, and the gap in between. And I feel like everyone always forgets about the starting point.

SPEAKER_02: 14:31

Yeah, and you know, I did a interesting related to this is I often when I'm when I'm meeting founders to talk about what do you need, what are you trying to do, and what do you want to go now, and how do you want to fund that next development of technology. And they usually some of them in the especially the non-technical ones will say, Hey Denise, I'm I'm so upset. I spent$40,000 on this technology to get my business moving. And I found out after the fact that it's not gonna do the things that I need to do. So now I have to hire a different contractor. So it it you know, for me, I I did uh actually a uh webinar once with a software developer because I was so frustrated with non-technical founders not getting in front of the right people or knowing how to vet them. And so that's a that's a gap.

SPEAKER_00: 15:19

It's a huge challenge. And you know, especially as you get higher up in the stakes, the salespeople get really good. Um, you know. Totally. If I'm trying to buy a Salesforce or a Microsoft or Google, it's not some kid out of school that's figuring out what they're doing. This is the cream of the crop. And so if you're investing in these enterprise solutions, you you have the A team that is trying to pull you into their corner of the world. And yeah, you know, whether it's a a small SaaS application, or I guess 40 grand isn't a small SaaS application, but it's um depending on kind of what that use case scenario is, it's really important that you actually understand what you need before you go shopping.

SPEAKER_02: 15:58

Yeah. And the other thing, just it it also makes me think about having the right funding system, right? Because everyone thinks like just in the when people come to me for grants, they're thinking, oh, I just want free money, and the government should give me money just to kind of try my idea. And it's not like that because grants come from taxpayer dollars, and so they have to be really good ideas and really structured. But I I find that um people are underfunded.

SPEAKER_03: 16:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 16:27

And so, much like that foundation you talked about, is if they're not properly funded, the minute something goes wrong, the crack in that foundation shows up, and then they have to stop what they're doing. Or you know, and it causes all kinds of stress for founders. I actually I um a couple years ago, and I went through the stress myself, we all have stress, so this is another topic of how to handle handle manage stress, but we spiral, we start to spiral when the money starts to leak, leak out of our company, and people start to change. It affects their their families, it affects their business partners, it affects their investors. And so um I I had an episode where I started to stress out, and and Christmas is actually a really good time for people to get stressed because there's so much going on. Um and I I learned the hard way, you know, I had to process my own issues uh because I thought I was fine. I've got it under control, and I wasn't.

SPEAKER_00: 17:21

So how do you do that? And I know it's different for everyone, but I think that this is a you know, I've talked to a lot of founders as well, and you know, even myself being a founder, there there is a roller coaster of emotions um as you're growing and building a business. And so if you were giving advice to yourself in that exact um phase of your life, what would you say?

SPEAKER_02: 17:42

Well, my my process, and it everyone's different. My process was my partner said to me, You need to put your phone down and take time out and do things for you. And I said, I already do things for me. And he said, No, you do not. And so put your phone down, don't do business, and figure out what that is. And so I went on this journey and I started to actually connect to things that I enjoyed. Like I go to Starbucks and pick a few books and a notepad and read books and figure out which one I wanted to buy. And all of a sudden my energy started changing. And then I started meditating, and it, you know, everyone does different things, but I started to listen to podcasts like you know, Deepak Chopra as we were talking about earlier, and and um um and and just listening to what's another way of seeing the world than the world that's in my head right now? Because it's like a uh, I don't know about yours, but my there's like this wheel that's constantly going in my head, and meditation is the way to slow it down and start to listen to the voices above uh that are that help me think bigger. And all of a sudden, for me, that process started to unfold all these ideas and energy about what I could do or where I could go. And my my health started improving just by doing those things.

SPEAKER_00: 18:50

And so if you were talking talking to a founder, because I think that the you know, the gut reaction to that is saying, okay, I I really like that I idealistically, but I have this list of 40,000 things to do. Yeah. Um, how do I prioritize that? And I I think, you know, the math maths, right? Because I think that you're able to to output way more if you're in the right headspace. Yeah. But how do you take those, how do you prioritize that? Or do you just do it?

SPEAKER_02: 19:14

Well, I think we I think we push ourselves some time, and and again, this is human nature, but we sometimes get to a point where we're so stressed that we have to figure out what we can do that's gonna get us out of this dark space. Um and in it, you know, different names, different names, overwhelmed, uh, stressed, mental health, whatever we want to call it. Um, but for me, it was about um I figured out a system and I I created a a course um uh on abundance, and I invited a bunch of women, and I just thought, I'm not gonna do this together like on my own. And so I asked a bunch of women, do you want to do this together? And we came together as a group and and discovered what is abundance, what's stress, what's things in our life, and it created this amazing energy where we learn together. Um, and that was really cool.

SPEAKER_00: 20:00

That is super neat. And is that group uh do you still keep in contact with a lot of those folks?

SPEAKER_02: 20:04

Oh, yeah. So we did the first group, and I brought in this is interesting, one of one of my nine lives, and you know, people you meet on in your journey. Um, my friend Mary, uh, she's like a sleep therapist and whatnot. And sleep is tied to some of the things that as entrepreneurs, we're not sleeping, we're not eating, we're not like we're doing these things. So my friend Mary, I called her and I said, Hey Mary, I have an idea. And I've done this to her before, where she's like, You're calling me out of the blue for some idea. What's the catch? Uh but she jumped in 100% and said, you know what, this is really cool. So the two of us came up with this idea and brought these women together, and and it it was over the charts great. And these were, I'm gonna tell you, these were super successful women. But we all carry things in our life, and we need a safe space. And entrepreneurs, as a general rule, we're leading a company, we're leading a team, we're leading in the ecosystem, we're leading here and there. We don't have a safe space to just be us and be, you know, ourselves and who we are outside of all those roles or hats that we wear. So it was it was fabulous. And we did it, we did that, and then they said we want a second group. So we created a second level uh living abundance to kind of help people set goals and and uh and then get support along the journey.

SPEAKER_00: 21:13

That's incredible. And so um what is it about community that's so special? Because I we we've and we've talked about Calgary, but I I I know this is one of you, like I don't want to say like core philosophies or values, but this is something that I I know you just believe so strongly in. But what is it about community that that is important?

SPEAKER_02: 21:30

Oh it's just um it's it's everything. I grew up, I'm I'm the youngest of nine, so I grew up in a community, right? So I live community from the time I was born, but for me, it's just there's energy, right? And it's it's the isolation. If you if you don't have community, you're isolated and things start to fall apart, and then you don't feel hopeful, and you have all these patterns. So the more you're invested in community, and it's not even um about your own problems, it's about supporting others. And when you do good things for other people, you get energy back too. So you're serving like this year, and I and I know this is gonna sound crazy, but there's so much going on for people, and this year has been super stressful for so many people in so many areas of my life. And I I do I make chicken soup for people when they're they're having a tough time or something traumatic happens or they lose someone or whatever. I've made more chicken soup this year than I've made in my lifetime. But you know what? The gift of doing that has built this incredible energy to let people know they're not alone and that we're there to support them in whatever way we can, right? And I think you know, everything begins and ends with community, and if you're not connected, if you're not uh supporting others, and it's not just about taking for yourself, but it's like much like you said, it's about giving these resources and helping people in whatever way we can, it has a ripple effect. And we just don't don't know when that ripple effect will end or where it's gonna start or come back to us, but it does.

SPEAKER_00: 23:02

Do you think people are craving community right now?

SPEAKER_02: 23:05

Hugely. Where do you see it?

SPEAKER_00: 23:08

Everywhere. I I think, and this is like I think people are lonely as a general, you know. I think you have, and this is you know, obviously getting a a little bit theoretical, but you know, um, from a social standpoint, um everyone's living in their phones, and you know, even some of the relationships that are now starting to be forged with AI um that are replacing a lot of the important human connections, right? I think that there's there's power in being a little bit uncomfortable sometimes. And I think community can do create that in a supportive way. And if I can start to find outlets for anything that I want without friction, that's actually a bad thing in my opinion, not a good thing. Um I believe that work from home has been a good thing b um from a flexibility standpoint and an equity standpoint, but also um I think it leaves people craving for wanting to be part of something. And I think that, you know, I'm not a scientist, but I I've you know d done enough reading to be dangerous that that people are built to be together and not separated and isolated, and so I I think people are lonely.

SPEAKER_02: 24:11

Yeah, and I think and and just back to entrepreneurs, we're very kind of work, work, work, work, work, and I'm like that too. And so we have to find ways beyond work to have fun.

SPEAKER_03: 24:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 24:23

Right? And and so that's how you start to build community. It's not about like, well, how am I gonna do that? Like, do I just show up? Do I have a hey buddy show up at my party? Whatever, but you've got to find ways to to jump into community in different ways of your life.

SPEAKER_00: 24:39

100%. And I think that that's where even kind of balance and partnerships and everything become really important. And I'll, you know, I'll use my my wife as an example, who I think is an incredible partner to me, where she pushes like her and I are very similar in a lot of ways, but very different. And so I'm probably wired the same way as you, where I think that I would, you know, barely come up for air. Um and I just work all the time. And I think that the balance that we have, I think, pushes each other in a really positive way, but it kind of creates that connection to other people too. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_02: 25:08

Oh, totally, totally. Yeah. And I think opposites attract, right? Same with my partner. He's really good at kind of setting boundaries for me, helping me pull away. And he he's not in business, I say he's retired and he's doing his own gig, but we we kind of separate and kind of are our beings as individuals and and separate that work thing so that we have that space to just chill and and be ourselves. And it's nourishing, right?

SPEAKER_00: 25:35

100%. And then and then as part of the larger community as well, right? Like I do agree where it's you know, you hear so many stories, and not to always bring it back to kind of moving the needle forward, but even of inspiration, of recharging, of um, you know, finding different connections, not in the people sense, but in terms of ideas and everything, when you're not living in that um one bubble all of the time. So true, yeah. And so finding an opportunity to be connected with different groups actually can nourish some of the other groups as well.

SPEAKER_02: 26:05

Yeah, yeah. And I I I got into hiking a few years back, and so I have different hiking groups that are. That's where we met.

SPEAKER_00: 26:11

Okay, that now we're just gonna be a little bit more. Oh, that's right, that's where we met.

SPEAKER_02: 26:14

That was Tarmigan Sark.

SPEAKER_00: 26:16

Yeah. Yeah, we met on a on an IT hike.

SPEAKER_02: 26:18

Where some people, I'm not gonna mention their names in the ecosystem, got uh ran into bears.

SPEAKER_00: 26:22

There was there was definitely a bear scare.

SPEAKER_02: 26:25

A bear scare on that one. Anyways, yeah, that was totally fun. But yeah, I think doing that, or you know what, the other thing that really inspires me is my kids. Like, I don't know. You do you have kids?

SPEAKER_00: 26:35

I we have a daughter and she's uh just under three.

SPEAKER_02: 26:38

Oh, okay. Yeah, so mine are older. Um, and I got them out hiking. And oh my gosh, they're so inspirational. So, you know what, there's so many people like, and you you know, often people think that you know, inspiration is someone you look up to or someone who's successful in business. And I I often now turn to my kids and listen to what they're doing, what they're learning, and and I'm inspired by them. Like, I know I know my kids, like my youngest son built his own computer and he he saved the money, built the parts. It's the second computer he's built. An incredible job. So I was so proud of him. And the same week, my other son said, Mom, guess what? I'm on a bucket list item off. I've done a bucket list item. I'm like, what is it? I'm jumping out of a plane with some other guys and doing parachuting. I'm like, how cool is that? And so, you know, uh, there's so much inspiration around us in in the different people in our life. And it just doesn't have to be about work or business. And I think being open to that allows us to kind of absorb so much more than than we would if we're just you know uh reading an author or looking at you know who's the latest successful business owner in the ecosystem.

SPEAKER_00: 27:46

Yeah, one and I think you know, before the show we were talking about um reading, right? And I uh you know this is I'm gonna be embarrassed to admit this on the on the show here, but uh, you know, I I have I read a ton, probably way more than I should, but I I guess you probably there's no maximum level of reading you should do. But um most of it is very intentional reading. So I want to learn about uh a theory. It's very scientific. It's usually to kind of grow or improve business uh myself, and occasionally I'll I'll throw in a book like the one I was talking about, where the new Dan Brown book of that's super cool. But it's fun because then you you can make different connections and also get to unplug a little bit in different ways.

SPEAKER_02: 28:21

Okay, I have a really crazy story, and you're gonna say, Oh, did you? I'm ready for it. But this is that deep thinking, like when you get to that meditative space. So I was I was doing that assignment where I was kind of going to uh chapters and I picked out uh a David Brooks book. I don't know, it's about connections and relationships. And I love his, he's a US um um he's a US guy that does interviews and whatever, and he's a public figure, uh fabulous uh perspective on things. Anyways, I I'm sitting there reading this David Brooke book, and and there's a quote in the book that I thought, oh, this is really interesting. And I wrote it down in a journal. So three months later, I'm having a business meeting. One of the guys called me from Toronto, said, Hey Denise, I want to inter and want to meet with you to see if we can help you with grants, blah, blah, blah. But I'm gonna invite my Calgary business partner to join. I'm like, so cool, right? So I I meet them, and and this guy that I meet is like really smart and an engineer and doing really cool things. Anyways, so we have a few meetings, we meet in person, off the charts, brilliant. His mind is is uh just amazing ideas and innovation, blah, blah, blah. He sends me an email um a week later, and he says, you know, I just picked up this David Brooks book, and he says, our connection has allowed me to see the world like this. And the exact same quote that I had written in my notebook three months before, he recited to me. And I'm like, isn't that the coolest thing ever? It's okay. But I think it's when you're open and you start to put out to the world what is it that you want? To attract, what are the things that are important? I think you start to pull that out into people around you.

SPEAKER_00: 30:04

A hundred percent. And I think that uh I like I like the the woo-hoo, and um this it's a safe place. We can talk about whatever we want in here. It's uh but but I I do I do agree that there's uh you know a lot of intent like serendipity around how some of these things happen. Um you know, there's some things that I there's a podcast on Trimbert Podcast Um that I it is How We Built This with Guy Rasin, if you remember that one. Yeah, um it was an old I think they it's still going on, it's an NPR podcast, and so they all interview different um you know business owners um around their journey in building these different businesses, and he always ends with, you know, um, how much of your success would you attribute to skill or how much would you attribute to like luck or serendipity? Interesting. And uh a very I'd say almost a disproportionate amount say, you know what, like if these 43 things didn't line up, um, you know, I I think we'd be in a very different space.

SPEAKER_02: 30:57

Yeah, and then from an intuitive perspective, I look at it like this. I and and and this is kind of an analogy. I say God comes to me sometimes, and God is different forms for different people, but I say God usually comes to me, it hits me on the head with a two by four to see if I'll listen. And I typically don't listen the first time, hits me again. And it it it's different things that happen in your business. And it's oftentimes when I need to do a pivot or something, and then the third time I listen, right? But it's like you're on the edge of you've got to make a decision or else, right? You have some some head injuries from the two by four. There's there's um there's there's messages out there that we need signs that we need to pay attention to. And um it's just being able to slow ourselves down enough to listen.

SPEAKER_00: 31:36

Yeah. Well, and I think that goes back to what you were saying at the beginning, which is you know, how do you create that space to be able to be able to slow down enough, right? And I think that um, you know, you you work with a ton of founders, and I I'm sure that you see the um you know, I don't want to call it a pandemic because I'm sure that word probably brings on different connotations now, but there is a a challenge with people just running themselves into the ground.

SPEAKER_02: 32:00

Yeah, totally. And this is so uh and back to you know, I talked about those series, that those events that groups that I started um gathering in terms of people to talk about abundance. I created a um a course called Your Secret Abundance Code. And it was designed because I see people for money. Everyone's wanting money and they come to me for money and need more money, right? But I see that that the people are um it's not just about money. Right? And the crisis that they're having is not just about money, it's about what's going on in my life. And there that that abundance and and funding. And sometimes there's inhibit like there's they're inhibited because they have a value about what money means when they're a child, or they have some sort of um difficult relationship with money, or they push money away. And I see this a lot in funders. And so for me, it's trying to help them figure out like how do you build this in your life and what are you doing, and that you'll get there. It's just what's that balance that you need and what what is abundance? Like it's not just about the money, and when they start to reframe that, all of a sudden the doors and energy opens to them when they stop fixating on it being the money.

SPEAKER_00: 33:12

Well, and and so even myself, like I I received some coaching around the idea of kind of the abundance mindset versus the scarcity mindset, and it's very easy as you're building a business to to look at the constraints that are very real and and kind of um start to change the way that you're playing the game because you're afraid of um either running out of money, you're afraid of ruining um, you know, shortening your runway, et cetera, et cetera. And and I think, you know, and I haven't taken your abundance course, but having that abundance mindset I I imagine probably opens you up to unlock to actually take the bets you need to take in order to succeed.

SPEAKER_02: 33:50

Yeah. And I just question to you, and when you're talking about that, what was that moment for you when you said, Hey, I needed to to check in with someone else to kind of help me see things differently?

SPEAKER_00: 34:00

So I'm very for so I have a a a mentor slash kind of good friend that has been been with me the the whole way through as I've been kind of building out the business here and um you know, he's been really good about checking in with me probably more than uh I reach out for help.

SPEAKER_03: 34:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 34:14

And so so we'll go out for uh you know, for beers, um you know, probably once a every couple of weeks kind of thing, and kind of check in. And um, you know, it it also it's a it's a positive challenging where it's okay. I need you like um in a way, you know, from someone that is trusted, someone that um I you know is in a position to give that feedback, but also has been through it himself before.

SPEAKER_02: 34:36

Yeah, isn't that cool? Like, wouldn't it be a good challenge if we had people go out and find three people who you could go for for lunch with or a coffee with or a catch up with a drink and just tap into their mindset, right? And I I I think that would really help people see the world a little different and and get the energy that they need to get um through the ups and downs in in life.

SPEAKER_00: 34:59

Well, I think so. And there's there's so much like in the value of different perspectives is key. There's a concept called the um the what is it, the boardroom table or the kitchen boardroom. Um I can't probably butchering the actual um verbiage here, but the idea of you know, as a person, and even if you don't have an official board, how do you create yourself uh a small group of people that are trusted that may not have a specific vested interest that can guide you through some of those challenging times because it's sometimes it is hard to separate yourself from the day-to-day.

SPEAKER_02: 35:29

Yeah. I have one of my clients, Prab Paul, I don't know if you know him, Trace Rent, Trace cost or whatever. Um he's so wonderful. And but we get together for you know just a random lunch and just have incredible conversations. It's not about his business, it's not about my business. And we just have these like other level conversations and ask questions. And it's so wonderful. I can hardly wait. Like I look forward to those meetings, and tomorrow I'm meeting Jade Alberts. You know, Jade. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're having a we get together at Matador Pizza.

SPEAKER_00: 35:59

It's just a wonderful place where I feel like every time I meet Jade, and I don't I don't I don't I don't know him anywhere as well as no, but uh he he's he's given me, I think, the best burger recommendation. Like my to this day, and this is about the food. My my most successful LinkedIn post, and this is an unfortunate thing to admit um um on the internet, has been about burgers. So we put out a bunch of content around business, um, which is the best burger in Calgary has performed the best.

SPEAKER_02: 36:24

Yeah, um and it's about having those you know, those those conversations with people who make you think bigger, or you can have random conversations just about nothing.

SPEAKER_00: 36:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 36:35

And it's so engaging and and motivating.

SPEAKER_00: 36:37

Aaron Powell 100%. And and I also feel incredibly fortunate, like I said, I don't know Jade that well, but I like in my interactions with him, he's a phenomenal person. But having the people in the ecosystem that are willing to um respond to the email, that are the LinkedIn message, the phone call, and say, hey, you know what? I'd love to meet for a coffee.

SPEAKER_02: 36:54

Well, I just got to tell you, so I'm a big fan, as I mentioned, with the Calgary Flames. No, now you are.

SPEAKER_00: 36:59

Now I am.

SPEAKER_02: 37:00

And so um we went to um I used to be part of a golf tournament, and uh I used to have Jade on my team, and then we'd he was he was so good. I was so bad, and he was so good. So you need to arm your team when you're doing these. Yeah, so we bounced each other out. But one year um he won the golf um a golf bag with the flames logo all over it, right? And he didn't tell me he won it, and he invited me for lunch and said, I've got a secret in the car for you. And I said, Did you get a new dog? Like, what did you get? And he opened up his trunk and said, I won this. I'm like, oh my god, are you ever lucky? And he said, It's for you. And I'm like, What? He said, You're such a fan, here you go. And so that was like one of those moments when like I was off the charts a fan of Jay, just because just that kind spirit, right? Of of being conscious of, and and and I just love that bag, you know, and and I always meet the Oilers fans on the golf course when I use it. But uh, but uh it's just those some some of those things that you they're genuine, authentic, kind things that people do that just creates a spark in your life.

SPEAKER_00: 38:05

Yeah, well, and I think the idea of generosity, not necessarily on the idea of giving golf bags, but in giving in giving time and giving um opinions, and you know, but I think that there's such a spirit of generosity in our community here.

SPEAKER_02: 38:18

Yeah, and I think these little nuggets create trust.

SPEAKER_00: 38:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 38:23

Right? So you build trust in those relationships over time, and it's the trust that allows you to do amazing things. Right? And and carve out those long-term relationships. So people always say, Oh, Denise, how did you get here? How did you do this? Can I copy it? Whatever. And I'm like, Well, it started 20 years ago when I did this, and then I did this. And and do you get that? Like what people think, like, you're an overnight success. You're doing this incredible podcast, you're doing all these things. Was that an overnight success?

SPEAKER_00: 38:50

Well, I'll let you know when I arrive at being a success. But um, no, and it's been uh years of ups and downs and sideways and forwards, and um I I don't I I still think I'm in pursuit of being a success. I I'm incredibly fortunate with what we've built so far, but I think we still have a long runway. But to your point, lots of lots of questions, and um it's really easy to be an armchair quarterback. And so I, you know, I was watching a football game last night, and um and you know, you you see these like and uh these NFL folks, and I don't want to give away the date, but there was a Kansas City Chiefs game, and I'm not a fan, but I was uh had a very big fantasy game on the line. Okay. And you know, there's literally a throw at the end that make or break would I would win the week.

SPEAKER_03: 39:33

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 39:34

And it's like a 60-yard throw down the field. I can't believe you couldn't make that. It's I can't even throw the ball that far. And here I am just giving all this critique off to the sidelines. And I think that's kind of like business attempts where you get to see the highlight reel. Yeah. Um, you don't see the you know, the six practices, the 15 years of um, you know, two days before that.

SPEAKER_03: 39:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 39:55

And and no one kind of sees how it's made. And I think it's really important that we continue to open up that dialogue and share those conversations.

SPEAKER_02: 40:02

And I think it's important to let the startups, especially in our ecosystem, know that it's a journey. Yeah. And even though they're always it's always a race to kind of get to the next level, get to the next thing, get to the next thing, but they need to know that it takes time and it's okay.

SPEAKER_00: 40:16

Well, and I think that the startup ecosystem like has been so glorified as well, right? I think that's it's a really good thing because you know you've you've seen the stats around entrepreneurship, how it's uh how it's plummeted over the last 30 years. Um it's great to see a renewed interest in some of the entrepreneur um ism, some of the kind of more resourcefulness, the the founding of these organizations and bringing these ideas to life. But it it isn't like it is hard. And it's not it's not easy. It can be um, you know, I I still say this is the best job I've ever had. I was a bad employee to start off with, but um but it it doesn't happen in 36 minutes. No, yeah. And it's fun to kind of it's fun to build it, but it definitely is a build, not an arrival. It's a long game. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 41:00

And the other thing, and just back to community, is that we have to, along with building our business, have a community of fans around us who get the good and the bad of who we are, right? That they're there for us regardless. Like when you're driving down the deer foot and your car breaks down the middle of the night, who do you call? You need your five friends, right? And who are they? And we and even if you don't have them today, you just need to start building those relationships to build up that five.

SPEAKER_00: 41:25

So if you were talking to like if I was a brand new founder and I'm um I'm coming to you for advice, and uh not necessarily on grants or um but more so in terms of how to participate in this community, um, what words of wisdom would you have?

SPEAKER_02: 41:39

Just show up.

SPEAKER_00: 41:40

I like it.

SPEAKER_02: 41:41

You gotta so I think the part is being part of the community, uh tapping into the ecosystem players, the events, you know, platform Calgary has incredible events. Startup TNT, like get to know the people in the ecosystem and ask to be connected to different resources or different things that are and show up, right? There's there's so much out there for us, but it's just being part of something or volunteering. That's the other way to get involved. So if you're not connected and you don't know people, ask to volunteer at events, and that way you get to meet people all the time. And even I was at uh a TNT event uh last week, and I sat beside a guy who was more of an introvert, a really smart, smart um engineer, and he's afraid of networking. Like he he just talked about some of the challenges of he's an introvert and whatever. But we had this incredible conversation and took it to the next level. And you know, he get send me his resume because I might know someone who could hire him. Like it was these incredible, but you have to take that step to show up and um find a way to get involved in community.

SPEAKER_00: 42:43

I love it. And are there like you know you mentioned a couple things, and we'll try to put some of those in the show notes too. So you mentioned like the startup TNTs. Um I know Platform hosts a lot of events. Um are there great places that people should be looking to participate differently?

SPEAKER_02: 42:57

Yeah, well, it just and again it depends on where you're at. But I work a lot in the tech and tech and and innovation ecosystem. So Alberta Innovates is uh has wonderful resources and events. Um Innovate Calgary has events at the university. They're they're free to attend, and you get access to different ideas, different stages of activities in your business. Like there's all kinds of things. Calgary Economic Development, I think, had a list of some of these things that are going on. Um they're a great resource, right? So um you just gotta jump in, find your starting place, and then start asking, where can I show up, where can I get connected?

SPEAKER_00: 43:33

And and I think that the to build on what you said as well, not what's the you know, not walking into an event and be like, who can give me a job, who can do this? You know, what can I get? But what can I what can I offer? What can I learn? What just talk to people. Yeah, get to know people.

SPEAKER_02: 43:47

I thought the the funniest exercise, I'll have to we we're gonna try this. But uh uh I remember going to um to an event and someone said, Denise, there's all these people sitting around the table, they're high-fallutin people, and and they said, You need to bring them together. They're they're all you know showing up for this one cause, they don't know each other, blah, blah, blah. What can you do? So I started I did an icebreaker where I said, Okay, I want you to, you know, tell me your name, tell me what your company is, and then I want to tell tell me what your cartoon character is. If you could be one cartoon character, who would it be and why? And so it instantly changed the room. So question to you, Keith.

SPEAKER_00: 44:25

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02: 44:25

If you were to be a cartoon character, who would you be and why?

SPEAKER_00: 44:29

Cartoon character, who would I be and why on the spot? I would be I would be Snoopy.

SPEAKER_02: 44:37

Oh, that's a good one. I love Snoopy. Tell me why.

SPEAKER_00: 44:40

I don't know. He feels he feels like a friendly guy, you know. I think that uh yeah, I it it's what popped into my head. I don't have too too much justification, but I feel like Snoopy seems like a guy that I would be. Oh, that's so awesome. What about you?

SPEAKER_02: 44:55

Bugs Bunny.

SPEAKER_00: 44:56

Bugs Bunny?

SPEAKER_02: 44:57

Yeah, he's been my standby for a long time. I like him because he's playful.

SPEAKER_00: 45:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 45:00

Um, but he always gets the his way in the end.

SPEAKER_00: 45:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 45:03

He's pretty confident that he'll land it and he enjoys life.

SPEAKER_00: 45:07

I love it. Okay, you've done this before.

SPEAKER_02: 45:09

Oh yeah, I've totally done it before.

SPEAKER_00: 45:10

Um before we wrap up today, I feel like we're gonna we're gonna tease something exciting that's coming up, and so I don't know how much I can tease or not. So I I'll let you do all the teasing. Um I hear you're working on something exciting.

SPEAKER_02: 45:23

Yeah, so you know, I've been doing this for about 10 years and sitting back um looking at how do we, you know, so I I have this demand in in helping people and I want to help more people. Um but the model that we are using currently is more for the hands-on fractional. And so we're looking at a system that will be a subscription-based model that will allow us to help the whole funnel from startups to scale-ups. And so we're building out a uh a tool that can support companies and uh can work with the ecosystem to magnify how things get done for companies.

SPEAKER_00: 46:01

That that sounds amazing. Uh if people want to uh learn more about uh what we've talked about, they want to get on a wait list so they can sign up as soon as uh you release your big news. Um, what's the best way to get in touch with you? What's the best way to get connected?

SPEAKER_02: 46:15

Yeah, uh LinkedIn. Yeah, yeah. Connect with me on LinkedIn. Connect on LinkedIn, and that's probably the best way.

SPEAKER_00: 46:22

Amazing. Well, I I feel like we could go back and forth and talk for another 12 hours here. This has been an absolute pleasure, Denise. Yeah, thank you so much for coming on the show. Um, and and I hope you uh come on again soon. I feel like we'll we'll have to do a big launch event with you.

SPEAKER_02: 46:37

Yeah, thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00: 46:38

Cool, thanks so much.

SPEAKER_02: 46:40

Take care.

SPEAKER_00: 46:41

You too. If you've made it this far, like and subscribe on YouTube or follow and leave a review on your favorite podcasting platform so you don't miss any future episodes.