Screw The Naysayers Podcast

For five years in my twenties I was living a lie. From the outside looking in I had everything. The problem was my job was killing me. The stress was relentless, I was an absent father, a poor husband, and was abusing my body with too much alcohol and bad food choices.  In this episode of I talk about my thought process at the time, especially why I chose to stay in the job for so long. I also share with you lessons learned through time and from my interviews and discussions with so many others that have been in similar situations. 

Mary Henderson is a personal branding specialist who helps coaches, consultants and corporate executives define and commercialize their personal brand using B2B selling strategies on LinkedIn. She is widely regarded as an expert in this area. Mary believes that 90% of the “so called influencers” on LinkedIn are basing all their measurements on vanity stats. For Mary this is a problem because she also believes that vanity stats don’t put food on the table. In this episode Mary talks about: The strategies she has developed to build a B2B business on LinkedIn. The limitations and obstacles she faced growing up in a family with traditional mediteranean values. When and why she decided she was tired of being defined by labels. Her experiences as an entrepreneur prior to the start of her current business and how that helps her advise her clients. And so much more This episode is all about learning and is jammed pack with great advice from one of the worlds best personal branding experts. Enjoy You can rea

Sehmat Suri has spoken on stages in Dubai, London (U.K.), Halifax, Toronto, and Vancouver. She helped launch and scale Square Roots, an innovative social enterprise that is taking on the challenge of food waste and food insecurity. She took on the challenge of finding a partner to turn carrots destined for the landfill into a craft beer and even a beer for dogs. People laughed. The beer sold out in record time. You can also find Sehmat working part-time as a model where she combines her passion for fashion with her very long and beautiful hair (her instagram handle is semiwiththegoodhair so I guess I can get away with that comment). What makes this even more impressive is Sehamt achieved all this while completing a Double Major in Marketing and Psychology at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. She even managed to survive a co-op work term working remotely for me. Yes folks, Sehamt was employee number one for Screw the Naysayers. Sehmat’s journey to Canada is inspiring. Originally from Calcutta India, Seh

In this Tim Talks episode I get reflect back on my decisions to walk away from one of the highest paying sales jobs in Canada. I was 31 at the time, married, with two children under the age of five. I was also the sole breadwinner. It wasn't an easy decision but it was absolutely the best decision I made in my life (with the obvious exception of marrying the love of my live). 

Lucy Schalkwijk is a Women's Empowerment Champion and Founder and Chair of the Career Women's Network Kigali, in the African country of Rwanda. She also holds a senior management position for a German subsidiary where she is responsible for all Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) activities in Rwanda. Born in the Netherlands Lucy has always been a person that attempts to break out of patterns. She moved to Belgium to do her studies and then began a career in finance. Then the financial crisis hit. After the birth of her first child she decided it was time to return to her original dream, which was to travel. So she moved to Burundi and started working in international development. Four years later, and pregnant with her third child, she moved to Rwanda. She loved her work but a series of events made it obvious to Lucy that the workplace was not set up to work for women as it works for men. Instead of complaining about it Lucy founded the Career Women’s Network Kigali. What began as an informa

Anna Sabino is a personal branding/business building strategist, a career coach, an author, and host of Anna Talks, a daily video show. Those of us that know Anna on LinkedIn have grown accustomed to seeing her smiling face on video each and every day. When I noticed that Anna Talks was coming up on its one year anniversary, I thought it would be cool to honour her work on Screw the Naysayers. That’s the cool thing about being a podcast host. I get to do things like that. Anna’s story is fascinating on so many levels. Born in Poland, Anna set her sights on the Big Apple with dreams of working on Wall Street. Her lofty goal attracted many naysayers, but that didn’t phase Anna. Her first stop was France where she went to University, and then she made the leap across the pond. Anna didn’t know any better and started applying for jobs online. Much to her surprise her approach worked. Then came the big let down. Her dream life didn’t live up to her big expectations. A restlessness started to stir in Anna, in m

In this episode of Tim Talks I bring attention to one of the most common mistakes new business owners make. They find the courage to start their own business, but then in an effort to avoid further risk, refuse to pay for advice. The truth is most small businesses will spend a minimum of $50-$75k in the first 2-3 years. Most of this money is spent on tactical short term activities, often with poor results. There is an alternative. 

Tabitha Cavanagh a.k.a. Tab The Recruiter is a Sales & Marketing recruiter, public speaker, a colon cancer survivor and a kickass mom. Tabitha is determined to live life on her terms and to set the best possible example she can for her daughter. At age 31 Tabitha was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer. She had only been married for 4 months and her daughter was not even two years old. It’s the kind of news that can bring a lot of people to their knees. Not Tabitha. I could just feel the fierceness in her voice when she explained that there was no way anyone was going to take her away from her family. In this conversation we went deep into the impact cancer had on her mindset. I’ll give you a hint. Tabitha makes it clear that cancer changes what we see as a problem. She also makes it clear that her focus is on enjoying every minute that she has, and not stressing over getting more time. As a parent Tabitha knows that the best way she can teach her daughter is to live be example. You won’t find a disc

Andrew Haley is a Paralympic Gold Medalist and two time World Champion in swimming. As a child, Andrew had cancer twice and each time was given a 35% chance to pull through. It was a battle to survive but survive he did. Andrew ultimately lost part of his right leg and part of his left lung. His life changed at the age of 15 when he joined the local swim team. To use Andrew’s words, that’s when he found his happy place. That’s not to say that it was easy. In this raw and open conversation Andrew speaks about the many challenges he’s faced, including being afraid to show his body to the world and being disqualified at the paralympics. While still competitively swimming, Andrew began his business career in sales. He worked in sales for one of Canada’s highest profile sports team, never once missing his sales goal over a 13+ year stay. With that level of success Andrew thought he was insulated. He wasn’t. With a change at the top of management came a decision to eliminate Andrew’s department. At the time of th

Sean Douglas is a prolific public speaker, TedX speaker, International Radio Show Host, Author, and a Resilience Coach. He is also active in the United States Air Force. It’s fair to say that Sean has a lot on the go. This episode is going to resonate with Veterans, members of the military, as well as their family and friends. When Sean speaks you can feel his intensity and I believe his underlying anger. He has a strong emotional connection with his message, which is based upon his own experiences and friendships. Sean makes no attempt to “sanitize” his story. He openly speaks about his love hate relationship with the military, the impact that alcohol had on him, and how he used to put people down to build himself up. He also talks about a specific Christmas Eve when he put a gun in his mouth and came ever so close to ending his life. He shares how his becoming a drill instructor changed his life, and chilled me when he provided statistics about the average life expectancy of a veteran that retires after

Alison Fischer is Senior Vice President, Business Operations & Strategic Planning for a leading B2B boutique design and publishing agency, a founding member and sitting President of the New Milfrod Education Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides annual teacher grants and student scholarships through fundraising efforts, President of the Board of Directors of the Atran Foundation, which is a philanthropic foundation formed in 1945, committed to supporting and providing substantial $1M+ annual grants to organizations that focus on the advancement of higher education, biomedical research and ethics, social justice/activism and human rights causes, and Jewish cultural life and the preservation of Yiddish language She is also a prolific content developer on LinkedIn, a victim of domestic abuse, and I think she would say most importantly, a single mom of two amazing daughters. In this episode Alison explains: Why being supportive to other people needs to be a 2-way street Why she decided to sha

History will not be kind to the baby boomer generation, especially those that live in developed economies. Under our watch the world’s population has done irreparable damage to planet earth, we’ve seen a massive consolidation of wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer people, and politics has become a blood sport fueled by hatred and self-interest. Everywhere you look you can find evidence of boomers saying one thing and doing another. This is especially true when it comes to parenting. Sadly my generation has passed this legacy on to their children and grandchildren. In my opinion this is our biggest failure. In this episode of Tim Talks I present to you my mock Academy Award Categories for Hypocritical Parents.

At 31 years of age 2 time American League All-Star Shea Hillenbrand walked away from baseball. Why did Shea decide to quit at the prime of his career leaving behind the potential of  $50 million on the table? Shea goes deep on this in this interview but here’s a teaser. After he quit Shea bought a horse farm and opened a zoo. A few years later Shea found himself divorced, broke, and living in a van. He shares that he made a serious attempt to end his life. Feeling shame the whole time, but still not able to stock. Shea woke the next morning amazed to find that he felt no side effects. In his words, “with the concoction of pills and alcohol I put in my system there should only have been two options. I should be in the hospital or dead.” Shea shares his amazing story of recovery which began with his search to find the horse he had purchased when he made the big leagues. “Coors Light” had moved on when Shea lost his ranch. Remarkably this search led Shea to a woman who became his second wife. Today Shea is o

Vanessa Lane is an international LIVESTREAM Video Expert, President of #ViewItDoIt®, and #KitchenAmbush™, a Managing Partner in a real estate holding company, and Host of #viditips With Vanessa. She’s also a self described bad-ass woman working in a man’s world. What’s not to like about Vanessa! Vanessa has faced some challenges in life. At the age of 12 she was a victim of a sexual assault. In a small community word soon got around. Her family didn’t want to talk about it and she was teased and picked on in school. Food became her coping mechanism and she ballooned to over 200 pounds. Then she fell victim to an eating disorder and by her senior year was 80 pounds. To use her words she wanted nothing to do with men and never intended to get married. In her senior year at College Vanessa was held up at gunpoint and dragged to a car. And recently she was diagnosed with early stage MS. You’d think she’d be down, but get ready for a high energy discussion that focuses on the lessons she’s learned along the way.

Are boomers still relevant? How about GenX? Has time passed them by? Is it time folks like me stepped aside to make room for all those tech superstars that are ready to conquer the world? Hell no! Look I’m a huge fan and supporter of young entrepreneurs. I wish them nothing but the best. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to sit back in my rocking chair lost in memories of days gone by. In this episode we talk about The Maturity Advantage™ and look at 7 advantages the grey haired crowd can use to create independence, income, and legacy. 

Kyle Burt is the Founder of Catch Cloud Solutions. In layman’s terms that means that Kyle helps organizations make better buying decisions for a wide range of technology and services. This includes things like Cybersecurity, Compliance, & Audits, Cloud Computing, Contact Centers, Phone Systems and even Internet Access. Kyle started Catch Cloud Solutions in 2016 after spending 10+ years in Corporate America. The year before he was recognized as a member of AT&T’s Diamond Club indicative of his being among the top 2% of AT&T executives ranked globally. With that background, starting his new business should have been easy, right? In this episode Kyle: Explains why he hates and loves his former employer Gives us a peak into his personality when he compares Corporate America to the Death Star and Entrepreneurs to the World Federation Tells us the moment he knew he had to quit Gets real about why he knew that he had to quit Explains how he handled the transition from Corporate Sales Star to Busin

Tima Elhaji is an entrepreneur, coach and mentor, public speaker, and host of Tima the Podcast. After graduating with a degree in Business Tima embarked on a 15 year career in Financial Planning, including a four year stint running her own practice where she specialized in succession planning. Her first entrepreneurial venture, combined her love for fashion and business. Tima Designs fashion label, which operated for 4+ years focused on sophisticated, chic and elegant fashion pieces for the corporate and glamorous woman. In May of 2018 Tima left the world of financial planning and launched her coaching practice.   In this episode shares: That as a child she had little self-confidence Why she chose a career in Financial Planning How she came to be disconnected with her job The impact multiple miscarriages had on her mindset for the future The moment she knew that there had to be more to life Why we should stop chasing our purpose and create one Four words that still give her goosebumps Her views o

For almost every entrepreneur the first sustained period of no growth is a time filled with frustration and anxiety. It kind of goes with the territory. It’s also the second most important time in the growth of any business (after the start-up). The entrepreneurial journey is never ending, but few things are more important than finding a way to continue growth. In this episode Tim talks about 5 common mistakes that kill business growth, and tells you how to avoid or correct those mistakes.   

Why would anybody in his right mind want to jump on a sled and hurl himself down an icy mountain at over 80 miles per hour? At the age of 21, Ruben Gonzalez took up the sport of luge and started training for the Olympics. Four years….. and a few broken bones later, Ruben made his Olympic dream come true! But he didn’t stop there… Ruben kept training, and at the age of 47, he was competing against 20-year-olds at the Vancouver Winter Olympics! Ruben's the first only person to ever to compete in four Winter Olympics EACH in a different DECADE! He’s still competing at the age of 55 and intent on trying to qualify for the 2022 Olympics! His bestselling books have sold over 100,000 copies and have been translated to over 10 languages. In this episode Ruben: Shares a big lesson he learned at the age of 12 that changed his life Explains how a 21 year old bench warmer on his soccer team became an Olympic athlete in less than 4 years What if felt like to compete at his first Olympic games Why he quit the sport

Izzy Lugo is the Co-Founder and COO at Urban Misfit Ventures, Brand & Content Strategist, Public Speaker and co-host of the Strange on Purpose Podcast. Urban Misfit Ventures is a holding company that owns one of Milwaukee's fastest growing startups. IEEG, a Content Marketing firm as well as an events company called the mkemisfits. Izzy is also a huge foodie, sneakerhead and sports fan. In this episode Izzy explains: What the term misfits means to him Why we should not shame people for being employees Why showing only the highlights on our entrepreneurial journey is a disservice to potential entrepreneurs Why the Misfits continue to invest in giving out high quality free content The importance of aligning yourselves with the right people That at times the four Misfit founders couldn’t pay themselves Why he feels they were damn lucky (note: they weren't) Why you have to play the long game How they select new employees Why persistence wears down resistance And the one thing the misfits are