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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_00: Hello, I'm Mario Toniguchi with Calgary's podcast on Calgary on Canada's podcast network joining me today is Jessica Theroux who is a
[00:15] SPEAKER_00: associated advisor for the Coolard group in Calgary. She's also founder of a nonprofit called Souls for Sisters. Thanks for joining us today.
[00:25] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me, Mario.
[00:26] SPEAKER_00: Let me just start by asking you as associate advisor for the Coolard group what you do there and what what the group does.
[00:36] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thanks for it. Yeah, thanks. So we are a boutique family run advisory firm that's been operating out of Calgary for over 25 years now.
[00:45] SPEAKER_01: And I'm partnered in this business with my father, Hal Coulard.
[00:48] SPEAKER_01: And he's been in this business for, yeah, over 45 years in the industry.
[00:53] SPEAKER_01: So we primarily work with business owners, professionals and executives in two main areas.
[00:59] SPEAKER_01: The first area would be employee and benefit advisory. So working with businesses to design and implement and play benefit plan for their team.
[01:08] SPEAKER_01: And the second area would be more around business succession and personal estate planning. And so at a high level, this is really kind of helping people to define how they want to be remember and helping to preserve their life's work through tools like life insurance.
[01:24] SPEAKER_00: So was it just a natural for you to fall into into this business into this career?
[01:32] SPEAKER_01: You know, interestingly, it wasn't, you know, when I was younger and growing up with my father in the business, it actually wasn't something that really occurred to me to kind of jump in and join.
[01:41] SPEAKER_01: I started my career in the commercial real estate business, which was, you know, a fantastic place to be. And I learned a lot and really enjoyed my time.
[01:49] SPEAKER_01: But I was really looking for kind of that passion connection in what I was doing. And so I decided to come and take a look at this business with my father.
[01:57] SPEAKER_01: And really quickly discovered that it was kind of what I was supposed to be doing him and I really have a shared core value of being of service to people.
[02:07] SPEAKER_01: And so we kind of resonated in a partnership really quickly.
[02:11] SPEAKER_00: You know, I want to talk to you about a couple of trends out there and.
[02:16] SPEAKER_00: So it's on this. The first one is that you talk about benefits, right? And how important, you know, obviously benefits in the workplace have always been important, but how more important are they today for people and especially for companies to have have this in place?
[02:36] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, these are really interesting question and such a prominent topic right now in the industry and when we're talking with business owners.
[02:44] SPEAKER_01: And you I think historically a benefit plan was just something that, you know, business owners maybe had to have at a really basic level because that's just what you did.
[02:53] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[02:53] SPEAKER_01: But more and more we're seeing benefit plans morph into a way to really support your employees overall well being and their families well being.
[03:03] SPEAKER_01: And you know, throughout COVID and even a little bit before and certainly now this whole concept of overall wellness and mental health is such a big topic and it's so important.
[03:15] SPEAKER_01: And business owners have a really unique ability to support people in a way that they couldn't be without that plan.
[03:22] SPEAKER_01: And so I think it's a really neat opportunity for business owners to look at all the different ways that they can support their team to have a really happy, healthy workplace at the end of the day.
[03:36] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[03:36] SPEAKER_00: And how important is it for those businesses in a attracting people to their companies and be retaining them there?
[03:46] SPEAKER_01: Yeah. Well, I mean in Calgary right now, despite what's kind of going on in the world, it's a pretty competitive marketplace for employers to retain and keep employees.
[03:57] SPEAKER_01: And so what we're seeing is that especially in younger demographics, they're really looking for an employer that, you know, might be progressive in thinking with their plan offer a lot of flexibility.
[04:07] SPEAKER_01: And again, be focused on that wellness component, you know, that kind of proactive approach rather than a reactive approach.
[04:14] SPEAKER_01: And so I think it's really important for business owners to pay attention to that.
[04:19] SPEAKER_00: So, you know, when you look at, you know, the industry out there and I'm curious, you know, one of the things that you said you did is succession planning and stuff.
[04:31] SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you saw recently the Canadian Federation of Independent Business had a report out saying 75% 76% I think of small business owners in Canada were thinking of exiting their businesses and within the next decade.
[04:50] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[04:50] SPEAKER_00: What presented what two trillion dollars in assets?
[04:54] SPEAKER_00: In part of the company's unprepared. Do you think when they, when they're, they think, you know, I'm ready to sell Mario's widgets and definitely I think a lot of this is are unprepared.
[05:08] SPEAKER_01: And I think it really comes back to, you know, I kind of mentioned the beginning kind of trying to preserve your life's work and so many business owners have dedicated their entire life to building this business.
[05:19] SPEAKER_01: But then as they're approaching this age where they think they'd like to slow down, they realize they really don't have a plan for, you know, what happens in an intentional transition where they want to sell the business because they want to slow down or an unintentional transition.
[05:34] SPEAKER_01: Where there's a premature death or perhaps, you know, an illness that prevents them from running their business. So there's really quite a bit of planning that needs to go into kind of planning for all those scenarios. And I think certainly a lot of businesses are not prepared.
[05:49] SPEAKER_01: And don't know where to start.
[05:51] SPEAKER_00: Sorry about that.
[05:53] SPEAKER_01: That's okay. Yeah, that's okay.
[05:55] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, difficult to know where to start sometimes.
[05:57] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and do you think there's a lot more businesses today that are are looking at exiting because of the pandemic?
[06:10] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, interesting question.
[06:12] SPEAKER_01: I'm sure that there are, you know, happen businesses, you know, in our clientele, we haven't necessarily seen businesses that are, you know, owners that are ready to leave because of pandemic related things.
[06:22] SPEAKER_01: But I'm sure that that's out there just various challenges that have hit them that they're just, you know, not willing to kind of pivot from.
[06:28] SPEAKER_01: I'm sure that that has happened for sure.
[06:30] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[06:31] SPEAKER_00: Okay, then.
[06:32] SPEAKER_00: Now let's talk a little bit about your other, not business, but your other passion, I guess is a founder of souls for sisters, tell me what, what that organization is and what it does.
[06:47] SPEAKER_00: Sure.
[06:48] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's been a little bit quieter the last few years.
[06:51] SPEAKER_01: I've been having, you know, yeah, I have a young family.
[06:53] SPEAKER_01: And so it's been a little bit quiet the last few years.
[06:56] SPEAKER_01: But I started it in 2011.
[06:59] SPEAKER_01: I had traveled to Africa to work with a kind of a grassroots women's organization in Ghana.
[07:06] SPEAKER_01: And I was really inspired in my trip to see that there are probably so many of these really small organizations around the world that are doing incredible work.
[07:16] SPEAKER_01: But aren't necessarily things that we might hear about here in Canada.
[07:20] SPEAKER_01: And so I was kind of inspired to create souls for sisters to be able to help raise awareness and some fundraising for some of these really small organizations.
[07:31] SPEAKER_01: And so there's a few that we worked with over the years just to help to provide little bits of support.
[07:39] SPEAKER_01: And it's not a huge foundation yet.
[07:41] SPEAKER_01: Hopefully one day it will be.
[07:43] SPEAKER_01: But I always kind of took the approach that even if we helped just one woman or impacted one family's life, then it is well worth it.
[07:52] SPEAKER_00: Okay, then now, you know, you know, speaking of women, I'm just curious about yourself in the industry that you're in.
[08:02] SPEAKER_00: And what was that like like we know when we talk about benefits and all that stuff.
[08:06] SPEAKER_00: If it's from an HR perspective, you know, it's a very heavily female oriented that that career, right?
[08:16] SPEAKER_00: And the insurance part of it and all that, there seems to be the opposite, right?
[08:22] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
[08:23] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely historically has been predominantly a male driven business and the advisory side for sure.
[08:32] SPEAKER_01: It's changing like all industries.
[08:35] SPEAKER_01: You know, my experience in this industry, although male dominated has been really positive, I have a lot of incredible mentors, aside from my father in this industry that are men that, you know, are very encouraging of, you know, young women getting into this business.
[08:49] SPEAKER_01: So I for sure think there's a great place.
[08:51] SPEAKER_01: We have our own set of challenges, especially if we have young families and things like that.
[08:55] SPEAKER_01: But, you know, we adapt and I think that there's a lot of definitely a lot of opportunity for women in this industry.
[09:03] SPEAKER_00: What's the for the company itself? What's the future look like?
[09:08] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, right now, I think for me, you know, kind of coming into an established practice with my father, I'm really looking at how can we, you know, stay current and pivot with the changing landscape in Calgary.
[09:19] SPEAKER_01: There's so much exciting stuff happening in our city.
[09:22] SPEAKER_01: As you know, so many great industries and businesses.
[09:26] SPEAKER_01: And so it's really about kind of trying to stay current in that landscape and work with the changing demographics and just really be here to support those businesses.
[09:37] SPEAKER_00: And what are you seeing in terms of the different industries out there that you deal with?
[09:44] SPEAKER_00: You know, are you seeing?
[09:47] SPEAKER_00: I don't know in terms of the mood about the economy and the future of Calgary and Alberta. What's your sense there?
[09:55] SPEAKER_01: You know, I think overall it feels really positive.
[09:58] SPEAKER_01: You know, some of our new clients are in the kind of the renewable sector and there's so much energy in that world.
[10:06] SPEAKER_01: And I just find it really energizing to get to work with those businesses and learn about it because there's so much great work to be done there.
[10:12] SPEAKER_01: And the tech sector also in Calgary has just been an exciting kind of place to see evolved and grow.
[10:21] SPEAKER_01: So I think there's a lot of positive.
[10:24] SPEAKER_01: You see a lot of immigration happening in Alberta.
[10:27] SPEAKER_01: A lot of people wanting to be here. And so I think that's all really positive.
[10:30] SPEAKER_01: And it's a nice change for Calgary. We've had some difficult times over the last number of years.
[10:34] SPEAKER_00: So true, true. And now do you find it, you know, when you look at benefits in the industry, is it easier?
[10:46] SPEAKER_00: I guess for a bigger, the bigger the company, you are the easier it is to provide benefits for employees.
[10:54] SPEAKER_00: Maybe you can talk a little bit about that. How small can you be as a company that you should be, you know, have some sort of benefits program.
[11:04] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I definitely don't think you have to be big. I always say you don't need to be big to have great benefits.
[11:09] SPEAKER_01: You know, you can have two or three employees and offer a really incredible benefits package.
[11:15] SPEAKER_01: You know, our firm, we work with a lot of small to medium-sized business owners that don't have massive HR teams that have dedicated benefits people.
[11:23] SPEAKER_01: And we're kind of here to act as an extension of the company so that we can be there to support that benefit side, help build a really competitive package and help manage and maintain it.
[11:35] SPEAKER_01: So you can be really small and have a really fantastic offering. And I think a lot of businesses that are smaller stay away from it, thinking over not big enough. Right. And so that's definitely not true.
[11:45] SPEAKER_00: So on your journey in this career, Jessica, just curious, you mentioned, obviously your father is a mentor.
[11:55] SPEAKER_00: Where else did you find inspiration about this career, like whether it's in books or whether it was in other, I don't know, other like business people out there.
[12:08] SPEAKER_01: Can you talk a little bit about that? Sure. Well, certainly I have gotten a lot of inspiration from people kind of across Canada in and around this industry.
[12:20] SPEAKER_01: I've just had the opportunity to meet some incredible people. And what I find to be a common thread for people who've stuck around in this industry for a long time is that they really, really want to help clients build a better life, not just put in tools and strategies and products.
[12:36] SPEAKER_01: But really to help them live a life with more purpose and plan for a really great legacy. And so I got a lot of mentorship and inspiration from that for sure.
[12:48] SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, then. And when obviously it sounds like you're quite busy, obviously with a family and business here, like what do you do? You know, everybody talks about buzz word about work like balance, right?
[13:03] SPEAKER_00: Yeah. Yeah.
[13:04] SPEAKER_00: Well, let me ask you first of all, do you think you have a work like balance?
[13:08] SPEAKER_01: Maybe some days, some days to your balance. You know, for me, being a mom is definitely a priority in my life. And I love this business and I love what I do. But having kids, I really want to be a present mom and spend that time with my kids while they're young.
[13:24] SPEAKER_01: So I think that work like balance concept is really about setting your own priorities in your life. And that obviously looks so different for everybody.
[13:34] SPEAKER_01: But for me, setting those boundaries and priorities to spend a lot of time with my kids when they're little is really important. And that's kind of balance for me.
[13:43] SPEAKER_00: What about your own like personal interests? What what things are do you have any hobbies or any passions and things you pursue?
[13:51] SPEAKER_01: Yeah. Well, you guys for sure are a big passion in my life. I've been practicing yoga for 15 years. And it's kind of always been a through line for me. And so that is always something I prioritize in my life is keeping up with yoga studios.
[14:06] SPEAKER_01: We have so many great places in our city. So that's a big thing. And my husband and I love to eat out. Calgary has such great always new restaurants and such a great restaurant culture. So we really enjoy doing that too.
[14:19] SPEAKER_00: Oh, right. And so when you talk about succession. Yeah. So is the plan for you to take over the business once your father retires?
[14:32] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure. Yes. Yeah, it's kind of, you know, when we work with business owners on their planning, we really understand it because we're living it right now. And we're making those plans for ourselves and working through how those transitions look.
[14:45] SPEAKER_01: So we kind of understand that it's complicated and it's not black and white. And there's a lot of factors that go into succession for a business. But yes, for us, that is the plan that one day my father will retire and and I'll step in fully for him.
[15:00] SPEAKER_00: How long before that, do you think?
[15:04] SPEAKER_01: Well, it kind of changes every day. You know, my father, he loves this business. And I think he would love to stay as long as he can. But probably over the next, you know, three to five years.
[15:16] SPEAKER_01: You know, it's probably the horizon.
[15:18] SPEAKER_00: How did your dad get involved in this and why?
[15:22] SPEAKER_01: Well, my father was a UFC business graduate and there was, I believe, like one of those trade shows where kind of different industries and companies come to recruit and London life at the time had a really incredible training and recruiting program.
[15:39] SPEAKER_01: And so they recruited him in and he worked with London life as an advisor and in management for about 20 years and then decided about 25 years ago to branch off and start his own practice.
[15:52] SPEAKER_01: Oh, OK, then.
[15:53] SPEAKER_01: But been in his whole life. Yeah.
[15:55] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no doubt.
[15:56] SPEAKER_00: And you know, when, when you look at this industry, if you had said, my advice for young people who were considering a career in the city, what would you tell them?
[16:12] SPEAKER_01: Well, I think for sure, mentorship is critical. And you know, you talked about kind of this big mass of business transition that's happening and that's happening in our industry.
[16:23] SPEAKER_01: And so there's an incredible opportunity to team up with experienced advisors and practices to get that mentorship and be involved at the team.
[16:33] SPEAKER_01: I think it's really difficult to go it alone.
[16:36] SPEAKER_01: And so I really recommend finding a practice and a mentor that are a nice fit. And I think that goes a long way.
[16:42] SPEAKER_00: And when you look at this industry, you know, we think about, you know, the big companies, you know, whether it's kind of like, I don't know, the Canada life or the manual of the world.
[16:56] SPEAKER_00: How do you differentiate yourself in that big market?
[17:00] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, we work with all those carriers as, you know, love the word brokers, but you know, we're able to kind of work with all of those large carriers.
[17:09] SPEAKER_01: There are advisory firms that are becoming these large conglomerates.
[17:14] SPEAKER_01: But I think the way we differentiate is just by being what we are, which is small and boutique and local.
[17:19] SPEAKER_01: And so we are boots on the ground in Calgary, and we serve Calgarians.
[17:24] SPEAKER_01: And I think that's our differentiator.
[17:27] SPEAKER_01: And I think that there is a shift coming back to kind of working with local practitioners, local businesses and supporting each other.
[17:35] SPEAKER_01: And so that's kind of how we differentiate.
[17:38] SPEAKER_00: All right, wonderful. Thanks a lot, Jessica, for joining us today.
[17:41] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thanks a lot. We're going to have fun.
[17:43] SPEAKER_00: All right, that was Jessica Theroux, who is the associate advisor of the Colard group in Calgary.
[17:49] SPEAKER_00: I'm Mario Toniguszi with Calgary's podcast on Canada's podcast network. Thanks for joining us today.
