Kane Willmott

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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: It's Toronto's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[00:04] Speaker UNKNOWN: [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪
[00:19] SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone, I'm Phil Bliss, a business visionary,
[00:22] SPEAKER_00: and welcome to Toronto's Podcasts.
[00:24] SPEAKER_00: Part of the Canada's podcast network,
[00:26] SPEAKER_00: your source of the great insights
[00:28] SPEAKER_00: from entrepreneurs across Canada.
[00:31] SPEAKER_00: Today, I'd like to introduce you to Kane Wilmot.
[00:36] SPEAKER_00: Kane is co-founder and CEO of IQ Office Suites,
[00:39] SPEAKER_00: a luxury co-working company
[00:41] SPEAKER_00: with locations across Canada,
[00:43] SPEAKER_00: in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, and Montreal.
[00:46] SPEAKER_00: Kane is over 20 years of sales at entrepreneurial experience
[00:50] SPEAKER_00: and startups, basically, you know, real estate,
[00:54] SPEAKER_00: real entrepreneurial guy.
[00:56] SPEAKER_00: In addition to running IQ Office Suites,
[00:58] SPEAKER_00: he oversees the operation of real estate brokerage
[01:01] SPEAKER_00: called Spire Commercial Realty
[01:03] SPEAKER_00: and real estate investment company,
[01:05] SPEAKER_00: Spire Capital Investments.
[01:07] SPEAKER_00: Kane holds a diploma in property management
[01:09] SPEAKER_00: from George Brown College,
[01:11] SPEAKER_00: and a degree from Wilford, Laurier.
[01:13] SPEAKER_00: As you can imagine, he's registered real estate broker
[01:16] SPEAKER_00: and a really keen skier.
[01:19] SPEAKER_00: So Kane, nice to see you.
[01:22] SPEAKER_00: I will admit, we do know each other,
[01:25] SPEAKER_00: but we haven't done this sort of
[01:27] SPEAKER_00: who is Kane as an entrepreneur thing.
[01:29] SPEAKER_00: Tell everyone a little bit about yourself
[01:31] SPEAKER_00: and what you do today.
[01:34] SPEAKER_00: Who is Kane Wilmot today?
[01:36] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
[01:37] SPEAKER_01: My name is Kane Wilmot.
[01:38] SPEAKER_01: I'm the CEO and co-founder of IQ offices.
[01:42] SPEAKER_01: We run a co-working business,
[01:44] SPEAKER_01: which we started in 2012.
[01:46] SPEAKER_01: We have locations nine right now,
[01:48] SPEAKER_01: locations, four in Toronto, two in Vancouver,
[01:51] SPEAKER_01: one in Calgary, one Ottawa, one Montreal.
[01:54] SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
[01:55] SPEAKER_00: How long have you been an entrepreneur, Kane?
[01:59] SPEAKER_01: Well, I guess it would have started back in 1999
[02:05] SPEAKER_01: where I was working,
[02:07] SPEAKER_01: I started at a brokerage company
[02:09] SPEAKER_01: and less than a year after me starting
[02:12] SPEAKER_01: at that small brokerage company,
[02:14] SPEAKER_01: the principal that I was working for
[02:15] SPEAKER_01: broke off to start a zone company
[02:17] SPEAKER_01: and he took me with him.
[02:18] SPEAKER_01: And so that was the early roots.
[02:22] SPEAKER_00: Well, versus pulling the salary and all that kind of thing,
[02:26] SPEAKER_00: what made you decide to jump into
[02:30] SPEAKER_00: where's the next penny coming from, kind of thing?
[02:33] SPEAKER_01: Right.
[02:34] SPEAKER_01: Well, I've got a bit of an interesting story on that side.
[02:38] SPEAKER_01: So when I went to university,
[02:40] SPEAKER_01: I did an undergrad, came out in 1996
[02:44] SPEAKER_01: and at the time there was a job fair that I went to
[02:48] SPEAKER_01: and basically came out and didn't have a job.
[02:51] SPEAKER_01: So at the time, there was a couple of opportunities,
[02:54] SPEAKER_01: it was all kind of commission based,
[02:55] SPEAKER_01: looking back at it, I really should have jumped on those.
[02:57] SPEAKER_01: But I decided that I was going to find something
[03:00] SPEAKER_01: with more stability at the time.
[03:02] SPEAKER_01: What I decided to do was accounting.
[03:05] SPEAKER_01: That was my idea.
[03:06] SPEAKER_01: So I thought, here's a stable career,
[03:08] SPEAKER_01: here's a job that I can, you know, I can rely on.
[03:11] SPEAKER_01: I always liked math and I was like analyzing
[03:13] SPEAKER_01: and doing that sort of stuff.
[03:14] SPEAKER_01: I was very good writing essays, but good at math.
[03:17] SPEAKER_01: So went through an accounting program.
[03:20] SPEAKER_01: So after my undergrad, I did post-grad in accounting
[03:23] SPEAKER_01: and did well in terms of marks.
[03:26] SPEAKER_01: And I got courted by a couple of the big accounting firms.
[03:29] SPEAKER_01: And I ended up getting a job with one of them.
[03:32] SPEAKER_01: And I thought at the time, this is 1997,
[03:36] SPEAKER_01: when I got that job, I thought, this is it.
[03:39] SPEAKER_01: Like my path for the rest of my life is set, you know?
[03:42] SPEAKER_01: I'm going to be in account and then I'm going to be a CFO.
[03:47] SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to go through the whole thing.
[03:49] SPEAKER_01: And you know, I got all the opportunities
[03:50] SPEAKER_01: in the world opened up to me.
[03:51] SPEAKER_01: So I had my first day, my very first day,
[03:55] SPEAKER_01: I was working in an audit for a card dealership.
[03:57] SPEAKER_01: And woke up very first thing in the morning, drove down.
[04:01] SPEAKER_01: And the day started with me going into the basement
[04:05] SPEAKER_01: in this room, cement block walls, no windows.
[04:08] SPEAKER_01: And sitting with the computer in front of me
[04:10] SPEAKER_01: and spreadsheets and paper.
[04:13] SPEAKER_01: And back in 1990, you know, late 90s,
[04:15] SPEAKER_01: that's what we had, a lot of paper.
[04:17] SPEAKER_01: And I realized about three hours into this work
[04:21] SPEAKER_01: that I had made a huge mistake.
[04:24] SPEAKER_01: And I realized that first of all,
[04:27] SPEAKER_01: it wasn't very social.
[04:29] SPEAKER_01: And I didn't really have a lot of opportunity
[04:31] SPEAKER_01: to exercise much in the way of creativity.
[04:34] SPEAKER_01: And I was sitting in that room and I was really thinking
[04:37] SPEAKER_01: to myself, like, what have I done?
[04:40] SPEAKER_01: And I struggled in that job for the better part of eight months,
[04:44] SPEAKER_01: and then I finally just decided
[04:46] SPEAKER_01: that I wasn't going to do it anymore.
[04:48] SPEAKER_01: It was amazing.
[04:49] SPEAKER_01: I quit, but it's amazing they didn't fire me
[04:51] SPEAKER_01: because I was literally the world's worst accountant.
[04:53] SPEAKER_01: But that taught me a lot that job, a ton.
[04:57] SPEAKER_01: And I'm so thankful that I had that experience
[04:59] SPEAKER_01: because it taught me that you really need
[05:01] SPEAKER_01: to love what you do every single day.
[05:03] SPEAKER_01: And I remember there were times on Fridays
[05:04] SPEAKER_01: where you'd be thinking, oh, how many hours
[05:06] SPEAKER_01: until Monday starts again.
[05:07] SPEAKER_01: And I realized how important it was very early on in my career
[05:11] SPEAKER_01: that you got to be passionate about what you do.
[05:13] SPEAKER_01: And you really got to enjoy it.
[05:15] SPEAKER_01: There's just no better feeling of waking up in the morning
[05:17] SPEAKER_01: and being excited about going out and creating your life's work.
[05:21] SPEAKER_01: So I took some time.
[05:22] SPEAKER_01: I quit the job at the accounting firm.
[05:25] SPEAKER_01: I went and worked as a waiter.
[05:26] SPEAKER_01: My friends had thought I had literally gotten nuts.
[05:29] SPEAKER_01: And then I started up into financial real estate.
[05:31] SPEAKER_01: I moved to Toronto, started at a small real estate
[05:34] SPEAKER_01: brokerage business.
[05:35] SPEAKER_01: And that was there for just under a year.
[05:39] SPEAKER_01: And then the principal who I worked for,
[05:40] SPEAKER_01: who was my mentor at the time,
[05:42] SPEAKER_01: had said he was going to leave and start his own company.
[05:44] SPEAKER_01: And he took me with him.
[05:45] SPEAKER_01: So that was really my first foray into entrepreneurship.
[05:50] SPEAKER_01: And to really see kind of what it was all about,
[05:52] SPEAKER_01: building everything up, doing it all.
[05:55] SPEAKER_00: So you're on in co-working spaces.
[05:58] SPEAKER_00: You see lots of entrepreneurs.
[06:01] SPEAKER_00: I think why are differently,
[06:03] SPEAKER_00: is there something different about them?
[06:06] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't know.
[06:08] SPEAKER_01: I mean, everybody's got different priorities
[06:11] SPEAKER_01: and everybody's got different tolerances for the different areas
[06:14] SPEAKER_01: of their lives.
[06:15] SPEAKER_01: And some people really want to have stability within their lives.
[06:19] SPEAKER_01: I seem to thrive off change.
[06:21] SPEAKER_01: I don't know why.
[06:22] SPEAKER_01: It's just kind of one of those things that seems to be built in.
[06:24] SPEAKER_01: And I find that most of the entrepreneurs that I meet
[06:26] SPEAKER_01: are always that way.
[06:28] SPEAKER_01: They're always thinking about how can I change this?
[06:31] SPEAKER_01: How can I make it better?
[06:32] SPEAKER_01: Not how can I keep this the same?
[06:34] SPEAKER_01: And so I think that's one of the things
[06:36] SPEAKER_01: that seems like entrepreneurs seem to be a constant.
[06:38] SPEAKER_00: OK, so let's move on to the location thing.
[06:43] SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's Canada's podcast.
[06:44] SPEAKER_00: It's a national show, but we have regional hosts.
[06:48] SPEAKER_00: And you're kind of an interesting one
[06:49] SPEAKER_00: because you know, you're pretty much your locations
[06:53] SPEAKER_00: for IQ office pretty much where our hosts are.
[06:57] SPEAKER_00: I was going to say, what are the benefits
[06:59] SPEAKER_00: of doing business in Toronto?
[07:01] SPEAKER_00: But can I want to ask you,
[07:03] SPEAKER_00: what are the differences of doing business in Toronto
[07:06] SPEAKER_00: or Ottawa or Vancouver or Montreal, you know that?
[07:11] SPEAKER_00: You get to see it.
[07:12] SPEAKER_00: You get to see these sort of entrepreneurial kind of hives
[07:17] SPEAKER_00: in each city.
[07:19] SPEAKER_00: You may not have an answer to this,
[07:20] SPEAKER_00: but there's something you can see as early.
[07:23] SPEAKER_00: Is it different as you move from region to region?
[07:28] SPEAKER_01: 100%.
[07:29] SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think that I'm blessed that we're in a business
[07:32] SPEAKER_01: where we have locations in all these major markets
[07:35] SPEAKER_01: within Canada.
[07:37] SPEAKER_01: Our next markets are going to be Edmonton and Halifax.
[07:39] SPEAKER_01: They follow those well.
[07:40] SPEAKER_01: And in terms of finding those opportunities,
[07:43] SPEAKER_01: every market you go to is a little different, right?
[07:44] SPEAKER_01: I mean, I grew up in Toronto.
[07:46] SPEAKER_01: That's, you know, and I grew up kind of outside of Toronto.
[07:48] SPEAKER_01: And I've always been around Toronto.
[07:50] SPEAKER_01: In my early 20s, I had moved out to BC.
[07:52] SPEAKER_01: So I have some familiarity with Vancouver,
[07:54] SPEAKER_01: which was our next market.
[07:56] SPEAKER_01: But, you know, all the markets are different.
[07:59] SPEAKER_01: Very, very different.
[08:00] SPEAKER_01: The way that people approach business is very different.
[08:03] SPEAKER_01: The way the entrepreneurial spirit in the different markets
[08:06] SPEAKER_01: is very different.
[08:07] SPEAKER_01: And that's something I love about what I do.
[08:10] SPEAKER_01: Is that, you know, I get to go to these different markets.
[08:12] SPEAKER_01: I mean, Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal,
[08:15] SPEAKER_01: you know, they are such great markets, you know.
[08:17] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, being from Toronto, you know,
[08:19] SPEAKER_01: we had the opportunity to really kind of grow in this market
[08:22] SPEAKER_01: that just had really a lot of demands and a lot of supply.
[08:26] SPEAKER_01: And it was a great place for us to start the business.
[08:29] SPEAKER_01: But also, like spreading out across Canada,
[08:31] SPEAKER_01: you know, I think there's such an opportunity for us
[08:34] SPEAKER_01: to look at these markets and learn from these markets.
[08:37] SPEAKER_00: I mean, just, just, for instance, you know,
[08:39] SPEAKER_00: we were both at the elevate show in Toronto,
[08:41] SPEAKER_00: which is a big thriving kind of Canadian business show.
[08:45] SPEAKER_00: Is that in Toronto?
[08:47] SPEAKER_00: Is there anything like that in the other cities
[08:48] SPEAKER_00: or, I mean, just curious?
[08:51] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there is.
[08:52] SPEAKER_01: I mean, that is, that's something interesting as well,
[08:54] SPEAKER_01: because we're going into these markets, you know,
[08:57] SPEAKER_01: with brand new locations.
[08:58] SPEAKER_01: So one of the things we do when we go into new markets
[09:00] SPEAKER_01: is we look at what are the different events
[09:02] SPEAKER_01: that are going on on the technology side?
[09:03] SPEAKER_01: We have a lot of members that are in the technology business.
[09:07] SPEAKER_01: And so we look at like, what are the technology events
[09:10] SPEAKER_01: that are happening?
[09:11] SPEAKER_01: What are the real estate events that are happening?
[09:13] SPEAKER_01: Were you looking at startup events as well
[09:15] SPEAKER_01: and kind of what's happening on those sides?
[09:17] SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's really important to understand
[09:19] SPEAKER_01: and entrench within the communities
[09:21] SPEAKER_01: in the different areas where we do business.
[09:23] SPEAKER_01: So those opportunities like elevate
[09:25] SPEAKER_01: are such a great opportunity to go in,
[09:27] SPEAKER_01: meet everyone within those markets, you know,
[09:29] SPEAKER_01: understand what their unique needs are.
[09:31] SPEAKER_01: And socializing really getting well done
[09:33] SPEAKER_01: in those different areas.
[09:35] SPEAKER_00: You know, some of the best ideas come
[09:37] SPEAKER_00: when we kind of least expect them.
[09:40] SPEAKER_00: Where do you break off and find your best ideas?
[09:44] SPEAKER_01: If you ask my team at IQ, they will tell you
[09:47] SPEAKER_01: that I think I would loud.
[09:50] SPEAKER_01: So I think, and I think it drives a lot of them nuts.
[09:57] SPEAKER_01: But I mean, I think through conversation, you know,
[09:59] SPEAKER_01: so I always find that if we start having a conversation
[10:02] SPEAKER_01: as we're discussing and as we're talking
[10:04] SPEAKER_01: and as we're feeding off each other's energy,
[10:05] SPEAKER_01: I find that that's where you find answers.
[10:07] SPEAKER_00: So you're not one of those guys that kind of hermitizes out
[10:11] SPEAKER_00: to get you to come to walk back with the great ideas?
[10:14] SPEAKER_01: No, I haven't really, yeah, no,
[10:15] SPEAKER_01: I've not had any really, you know,
[10:17] SPEAKER_01: earth shattering ideas in quiet and contemplation, you know?
[10:20] SPEAKER_00: What are you most excited about
[10:22] SPEAKER_00: in your business these days?
[10:24] SPEAKER_01: What I'm most excited about in our business
[10:26] SPEAKER_01: is that I mean, the business that we're in
[10:27] SPEAKER_01: is just exploding.
[10:30] SPEAKER_01: You know, co-working is really disrupting
[10:32] SPEAKER_01: the obviously seeing market, which is just a massive market.
[10:35] SPEAKER_01: And when we started in 2012, you know,
[10:37] SPEAKER_01: it wasn't, have any, like there was no sight lines
[10:40] SPEAKER_01: into the trajectory of growth within our industry at the time.
[10:43] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, they say timing is everything.
[10:45] SPEAKER_01: I am a firm believer in that, you know,
[10:47] SPEAKER_01: rather you might have also heard the one
[10:49] SPEAKER_01: rather be lucky than good, you know?
[10:51] SPEAKER_01: We were certainly lucky in terms of finding this business
[10:54] SPEAKER_01: at the time when, you know,
[10:57] SPEAKER_01: it was just the precipice of that massive growth
[10:59] SPEAKER_01: that was happening.
[11:00] SPEAKER_01: So, what I'm excited about is the growth.
[11:02] SPEAKER_01: I mean, I just, I love growing this company
[11:04] SPEAKER_01: and all of the interesting challenges
[11:06] SPEAKER_01: that come through growing the company
[11:08] SPEAKER_01: and building the teams.
[11:10] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, and now, you know,
[11:11] SPEAKER_01: reaching out to different markets,
[11:12] SPEAKER_01: there's so many challenges with it
[11:14] SPEAKER_01: and so many learnings and it's, you know,
[11:16] SPEAKER_01: it's really exciting, exciting time.
[11:17] SPEAKER_00: So, where are you gonna be with this business
[11:20] SPEAKER_00: in the next five years or with business?
[11:22] SPEAKER_00: Not just IQ, you've got other things as well.
[11:25] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, with IQ, we really want to focus on,
[11:28] SPEAKER_01: on really densifying within the markets
[11:30] SPEAKER_01: that we're in within Canada.
[11:32] SPEAKER_01: So, we want to offer more locations,
[11:33] SPEAKER_01: we want to look at aligning with landlords
[11:35] SPEAKER_01: and providing even more solutions
[11:37] SPEAKER_01: to the tenants, Canadian tenants.
[11:40] SPEAKER_01: So, I see that we're gonna have more
[11:41] SPEAKER_01: and more locations throughout Canada.
[11:43] SPEAKER_00: What are the top three things on your bucket list,
[11:45] SPEAKER_00: vision board, whatever the heck you call it, at the moment?
[11:48] SPEAKER_01: Vision board, okay.
[11:50] SPEAKER_01: So, are we talking from a business perspective?
[11:52] SPEAKER_00: Bit of both, you know, I don't know
[11:54] SPEAKER_00: whether entrepreneurs separate business from other things.
[11:58] SPEAKER_00: I mean, it all boils into one based on my personal side
[12:02] SPEAKER_00: of it interviewing a heck of a lot of similar people.
[12:05] SPEAKER_01: So, I would say vision board is really like,
[12:07] SPEAKER_01: what we're gonna grow this company to be.
[12:09] SPEAKER_01: I mean, we just have such an amazing team.
[12:12] SPEAKER_01: We've been so blessed with having
[12:13] SPEAKER_01: so much great talent around the table at IQ.
[12:16] SPEAKER_01: And so, like growing this business out, you know,
[12:18] SPEAKER_01: being in all those major markets,
[12:19] SPEAKER_01: being a real kind of, you know, a force in terms of everyone
[12:22] SPEAKER_01: knowing who we are as being, you know,
[12:24] SPEAKER_01: a predominant Canadian player in the co-working space
[12:26] SPEAKER_01: is definitely one of those things.
[12:28] SPEAKER_01: You know, I'd like to do some mentoring, you know,
[12:31] SPEAKER_01: as time goes on, I mean, as a, you know,
[12:33] SPEAKER_01: being an entrepreneur's top, it really is.
[12:35] SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of learning
[12:37] SPEAKER_01: and you're always learning which is what I love about it.
[12:39] SPEAKER_01: But, you know, there's a lot of people
[12:40] SPEAKER_01: that are in the different stages as they go along.
[12:42] SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, in time, I would love to connect
[12:45] SPEAKER_01: with, you know, younger entrepreneurs
[12:47] SPEAKER_01: and talk with them and help them.
[12:49] SPEAKER_01: And, you know, of course, them helping me as well,
[12:51] SPEAKER_01: just learning always.
[12:52] SPEAKER_00: Sure, but it's always, it's always a two-way channel.
[12:56] SPEAKER_00: Certainly, yeah.
[12:57] SPEAKER_00: Well, let's just sort of look at some of the challenges
[12:59] SPEAKER_00: because I think when I ask people about their challenges,
[13:01] SPEAKER_00: I think the list is, it's a great kind of learning experience.
[13:06] SPEAKER_00: What's the greatest challenge you've faced
[13:08] SPEAKER_00: on your way to where you are today?
[13:11] SPEAKER_01: So on the way, I would say early days was capital,
[13:15] SPEAKER_01: like personal capital.
[13:17] SPEAKER_01: I mean, when we started our, Alex and I,
[13:21] SPEAKER_01: who's my co-founder at IQ,
[13:22] SPEAKER_01: we started a real estate brokerage in 2009,
[13:24] SPEAKER_01: just after the crash of 2008,
[13:27] SPEAKER_01: we had taken a company public at the time
[13:29] SPEAKER_01: and the funds had dried up.
[13:32] SPEAKER_01: So we were kind of a standing start at that point.
[13:34] Speaker UNKNOWN: You know, I know, yeah, I know, I know,
[13:36] Speaker UNKNOWN: I know, I know, I know, I know.
[13:36] SPEAKER_01: Right.
[13:38] SPEAKER_01: I'm certainly not alone, you know?
[13:40] SPEAKER_01: But, you know, back in 2009, when we started the business,
[13:44] SPEAKER_01: I had to make some really hard decisions
[13:45] SPEAKER_01: in terms of freeing up capital to get runway
[13:49] SPEAKER_01: so that I would have like a clear shot
[13:51] SPEAKER_01: and a real opportunity at making
[13:53] SPEAKER_01: inspired commercial realty grow, you know?
[13:55] SPEAKER_01: And I think that that was the biggest challenge early on
[13:57] SPEAKER_01: because I mean, when you have a bunch of money
[13:58] SPEAKER_01: in the bank and a great idea, you know,
[14:00] SPEAKER_01: I think everything you've really, you know,
[14:02] SPEAKER_01: they gone, but seems like it would be so much easier.
[14:03] SPEAKER_01: I don't know, I haven't experienced that yet.
[14:05] SPEAKER_01: So, but, you know, like at that time,
[14:07] SPEAKER_01: that was a real hurdle.
[14:09] SPEAKER_01: And I think it was an emotional hurdle, right?
[14:11] SPEAKER_01: And an intellectual hurdle,
[14:12] SPEAKER_01: and, you know, you had to get comfortable with,
[14:15] SPEAKER_01: okay, well, there is a certain time,
[14:17] SPEAKER_01: and this is go back 2009, it was a certain time
[14:19] SPEAKER_01: where you're gonna run out of money.
[14:21] SPEAKER_01: I can say as an entrepreneur, it's not,
[14:24] SPEAKER_01: certainly at those days, it was never a focus.
[14:27] SPEAKER_01: I focused on it in terms of I put that structure in place,
[14:29] SPEAKER_01: I created a buffer so that I could finance,
[14:31] SPEAKER_01: you know, the operations.
[14:33] SPEAKER_01: But after that day, I'd never thought about it again.
[14:35] SPEAKER_01: I just ran hard, you know, and just doing what we need to do.
[14:38] SPEAKER_00: I'm just interested when you face challenges,
[14:42] SPEAKER_00: which we all, we do constantly.
[14:44] SPEAKER_00: You know, is there a process you can think of
[14:46] SPEAKER_00: that helps you get around the wall or whatever?
[14:50] SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
[14:51] SPEAKER_00: It makes you sort of overcome it.
[14:54] SPEAKER_00: Is it something there,
[14:56] SPEAKER_00: something in DNA that says,
[14:58] SPEAKER_00: this is how you do it, kind of thing?
[15:01] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I think I approach it from two ways
[15:04] SPEAKER_01: that when I come up against a problem,
[15:05] SPEAKER_01: especially a big challenge,
[15:07] SPEAKER_01: and I like to call them a challenge instead of a problem.
[15:10] SPEAKER_01: You know, there's two things.
[15:11] SPEAKER_01: Number one, I heard a great saying,
[15:13] SPEAKER_01: which was, you know, is this gonna matter
[15:14] SPEAKER_01: in a year from now?
[15:16] SPEAKER_01: Is this gonna matter in five years from now?
[15:17] SPEAKER_01: Right?
[15:18] SPEAKER_01: Like the results.
[15:19] SPEAKER_01: Have you really kind of screwed up, you know,
[15:20] SPEAKER_01: is it really gonna matter, right?
[15:21] SPEAKER_01: And sometimes that helps to put things in perspective.
[15:23] SPEAKER_01: Number one, and number two, I think, you know,
[15:26] SPEAKER_01: as an entrepreneur, our value is our ability
[15:29] SPEAKER_01: to solve problems.
[15:30] SPEAKER_01: It really is, right?
[15:31] SPEAKER_01: And to solve problems and get around them,
[15:33] SPEAKER_01: that's kind of, that is what entrepreneurs bring to the table.
[15:36] SPEAKER_01: So when I see those problems and I see those challenges,
[15:38] SPEAKER_01: I try to always frame it from the perspective of,
[15:40] SPEAKER_01: this is what I'm here to do, right?
[15:42] SPEAKER_01: This is what, this is why I'm here.
[15:44] SPEAKER_01: This is my purpose is to solve these problems.
[15:46] SPEAKER_01: So when I look at it from that perspective,
[15:48] SPEAKER_01: I try not to focus on it being a problem.
[15:49] SPEAKER_01: I focus on it's like, I need to really bring my best self
[15:52] SPEAKER_01: in order to, you know, in order to overcome the challenge.
[15:55] SPEAKER_00: What's the best piece of advice you've been given
[16:00] SPEAKER_00: that you could pass on to people?
[16:03] SPEAKER_01: The best advice, I would say two things.
[16:07] SPEAKER_01: Number one, never give up.
[16:09] SPEAKER_01: Just always push, push push, push.
[16:12] SPEAKER_01: Number one, and number two, it's about like every day,
[16:16] SPEAKER_01: really bringing the best of yourself,
[16:18] SPEAKER_01: doing what you can to really figure out
[16:20] SPEAKER_01: how you can get yourself into the best state
[16:22] SPEAKER_01: every single day so that you can show up
[16:24] SPEAKER_01: and be the best you every single day.
[16:26] SPEAKER_01: And by doing so, you just, you offer the most amount
[16:28] SPEAKER_01: of contribution.
[16:29] SPEAKER_00: Just going to go in some rapid-fire questions, you know,
[16:32] SPEAKER_00: don't think about them too much.
[16:34] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[16:35] SPEAKER_00: So if you weren't doing what you were,
[16:37] SPEAKER_00: I know you wouldn't be an accountant,
[16:38] SPEAKER_00: but if you weren't doing what you could work now,
[16:40] SPEAKER_00: what would you be doing instead?
[16:43] SPEAKER_01: Ha, I mean, I can say that through growing IQ,
[16:48] SPEAKER_01: one of the great things that I love about it
[16:50] SPEAKER_01: is building teams and having, you know,
[16:52] SPEAKER_01: and just, you know, creating livelihoods
[16:55] SPEAKER_01: and, you know, I'm building talent
[16:57] SPEAKER_01: and bringing everyone together.
[16:58] SPEAKER_01: So I love that.
[16:59] SPEAKER_01: So if I wasn't doing IQ, I would be doing something
[17:01] SPEAKER_01: where it would be building teams,
[17:03] SPEAKER_01: and we would be putting teams together
[17:04] SPEAKER_01: and you'd be creating and building something.
[17:05] SPEAKER_00: What book are you currently reading, listening to,
[17:09] SPEAKER_00: and is there a particular book
[17:10] SPEAKER_00: that you would recommend people on the business front?
[17:13] SPEAKER_00: Not on any front.
[17:15] SPEAKER_01: On any front?
[17:15] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I read a lot of books.
[17:19] SPEAKER_01: And when I say read books, I mean, I listen to audio books.
[17:21] SPEAKER_01: I just, I do not have the patience
[17:22] SPEAKER_01: to sit down and read a book.
[17:24] SPEAKER_00: Nor do I see that the time.
[17:25] SPEAKER_00: I'm more and more common.
[17:26] SPEAKER_00: We've stopped to fit in.
[17:28] SPEAKER_00: I love reading, but I do listen.
[17:30] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[17:30] SPEAKER_01: So like, I mean, I was popping my headphones
[17:32] SPEAKER_01: that go for a run or a bike ride, whatever it is,
[17:34] SPEAKER_01: and listen to audio books, which is amazing
[17:35] SPEAKER_01: or what I'm driving.
[17:36] SPEAKER_01: So a couple of them, from a business perspective,
[17:38] SPEAKER_01: there's a book called Traction by Gino Wickman,
[17:41] SPEAKER_01: is an amazing book on teaching the structure
[17:43] SPEAKER_01: of taking a small business to a larger business,
[17:46] SPEAKER_01: talking about how you set up communication
[17:47] SPEAKER_01: and measurement and all those sort of things, accountability.
[17:50] SPEAKER_01: That's an amazing book.
[17:51] SPEAKER_01: Another one that's very specific to our industry
[17:53] SPEAKER_01: is the new gold standard from Ritz, the Ritz Carlton.
[17:57] SPEAKER_01: That's an excellent one as well.
[17:58] SPEAKER_01: And then like from a personal perspective,
[18:00] SPEAKER_01: Shudug, Phil Knight's story is amazing.
[18:03] SPEAKER_01: He has one quote in there that I absolutely love.
[18:05] SPEAKER_01: He talks about, he went to some really hard times
[18:07] SPEAKER_01: at the beginning of that business,
[18:09] SPEAKER_01: and now he's a billionaire, and he says,
[18:11] SPEAKER_01: he'd give it all up to go back to those early days,
[18:13] SPEAKER_01: when he was almost going bankrupt.
[18:15] SPEAKER_01: And it's just so interesting, because it shows,
[18:18] SPEAKER_01: you really gotta, you really gotta always
[18:19] SPEAKER_01: go to enjoy where you're at.
[18:21] SPEAKER_00: If you had to pick one word, well, maybe two,
[18:23] SPEAKER_00: who is Kane Wilma, what is Kane Wilma?
[18:28] SPEAKER_01: Well, I would say tenacity.
[18:31] SPEAKER_01: I mean, it kind of sounds cliche,
[18:32] SPEAKER_01: but I mean, I just think that's a common trait
[18:35] SPEAKER_01: of all entrepreneurs.
[18:36] SPEAKER_01: It's like, you just gotta keep on pushing
[18:38] SPEAKER_01: and going forward always, always trying to find new ways,
[18:41] SPEAKER_01: not giving up.
[18:42] SPEAKER_01: I can say that in terms of shortcomings and weaknesses,
[18:45] SPEAKER_01: I've got a list as long as my arm.
[18:47] SPEAKER_01: But I don't give up.
[18:49] SPEAKER_01: So for an entrepreneur, surrounding yourself,
[18:51] SPEAKER_01: I those right people, and then always pushing forward,
[18:53] SPEAKER_01: the opportunity creates some great things.
[18:55] SPEAKER_00: Anything keeping you up at night these days?
[18:59] SPEAKER_01: Everything, I'm a bit of a warrior.
[19:01] SPEAKER_01: I'm always thinking about, well, what is the next thing?
[19:03] SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm making sure that, I guess the big thing is,
[19:06] SPEAKER_01: I always wanna make sure that we're innovating,
[19:07] SPEAKER_01: and I wanna make sure that as we get big,
[19:09] SPEAKER_01: as the company grows, that we're always fast,
[19:12] SPEAKER_01: and we're always creating a better product
[19:14] SPEAKER_01: all the time for our consumer, right?
[19:16] SPEAKER_01: And for our members.
[19:17] SPEAKER_01: So it's always just thinking about,
[19:18] SPEAKER_01: what are those next things?
[19:19] SPEAKER_01: I wanna make sure we're always thinking about it.
[19:21] SPEAKER_00: What's your favorite place in the world?
[19:24] SPEAKER_01: Favorite place in the world.
[19:26] SPEAKER_01: Huh, well, one of the places I love is Coco Beach, Florida.
[19:30] SPEAKER_01: I go there most years with the family,
[19:32] SPEAKER_01: and the kids and I go down there,
[19:34] SPEAKER_01: and we surf for a week, so it's pretty amazing.
[19:37] SPEAKER_00: What are the three non-negotiables that have to happen
[19:39] SPEAKER_00: in your morning or evening in your day, if you like,
[19:43] SPEAKER_00: to keep you settled, focused?
[19:46] SPEAKER_01: And well, I try to, one of my rules,
[19:48] SPEAKER_01: I try to sweat every morning in some manner, in some manner, right?
[19:52] SPEAKER_00: Interesting, that's a new one, that's good.
[19:54] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's either running or it's lifting weights
[19:57] SPEAKER_01: or doing something, right?
[19:59] SPEAKER_01: So I try to sweat every morning, that's a non-negotiable.
[20:02] SPEAKER_01: I also try to take a minute and really kind of give thanks
[20:06] SPEAKER_01: for everything that's going on within my life,
[20:09] SPEAKER_01: and all the experiences I have, and all the people that I'm so blessed
[20:11] SPEAKER_01: to be around.
[20:13] SPEAKER_01: So I try to give thanks on that and really kind of get into state.
[20:16] SPEAKER_01: So a non-negotiable for me is just getting up and running,
[20:19] SPEAKER_01: and I really try to hit that routine all the time,
[20:22] SPEAKER_01: so that when I start the day, I really in that state
[20:25] SPEAKER_01: to maximum performance as the idea.
[20:28] SPEAKER_00: So you heard this because only you've been listening
[20:30] SPEAKER_00: to a few of the podcasts, let's move to the Dead at Island.
[20:33] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for the tropical island I should say,
[20:36] SPEAKER_00: in the middle of the ocean, there's a phone booth,
[20:38] SPEAKER_00: no internet, we drop you off,
[20:41] SPEAKER_00: you can make one phone call, how long do you last, Kane?
[20:45] SPEAKER_00: What would you do?
[20:48] SPEAKER_01: All right, so I'd have a few other questions,
[20:52] SPEAKER_01: but let's assume that there's nothing else on the island.
[20:54] SPEAKER_00: There's nothing else on the island.
[20:55] SPEAKER_00: You're right, you're right.
[20:56] SPEAKER_01: Nothing else?
[20:57] SPEAKER_01: Just me, just me and that's it.
[20:59] SPEAKER_01: So I would probably say about four hours, that's what I do.
[21:03] SPEAKER_01: So I go for a swim, which I would love that'd be amazing.
[21:06] SPEAKER_01: I go for a run off the beach, that'd be amazing.
[21:08] SPEAKER_01: Then I get pretty bored, and then I'd be calling and saying,
[21:11] SPEAKER_01: like, please get me off this island.
[21:13] SPEAKER_00: So you get off the island well.
[21:15] SPEAKER_01: I'm off the island.
[21:16] SPEAKER_01: I never would have laughed at you in any way.
[21:18] SPEAKER_01: It's funny.
[21:20] SPEAKER_00: I must do a listen, because I think most of the people,
[21:24] SPEAKER_00: mostly entrepreneurs we interview don't last long.
[21:27] SPEAKER_00: They're all right.
[21:28] SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you say, I'm here, I can stay, but this is amazing.
[21:33] SPEAKER_00: So you know, Kane, thank you for spending time with us.
[21:36] SPEAKER_00: It's been really interesting.
[21:38] SPEAKER_00: Is there anything else that you want to add that I might have missed out?
[21:42] SPEAKER_01: I mean, I just think from an entrepreneur,
[21:44] SPEAKER_01: first of all, I love this podcast.
[21:46] SPEAKER_01: I think it's absolutely amazing.
[21:48] SPEAKER_01: I'm very grateful that you asked me to speak on it.
[21:51] SPEAKER_01: It's awesome.
[21:51] SPEAKER_01: It's already like, it's good fun.
[21:53] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's so much fun.
[21:55] SPEAKER_01: And I think that these podcasts and listening to what other
[21:58] SPEAKER_01: entrepreneurs do, I listen to the biographies for Jeff Bezos
[22:04] SPEAKER_01: and Elon Musk and Richard Branson, and really listening
[22:08] SPEAKER_01: to other people's stories really helps put things in perspective.
[22:11] SPEAKER_01: And I think for entrepreneurs, it's one of the things that you
[22:15] SPEAKER_01: really got to start with is listen to how other people are doing it
[22:17] SPEAKER_01: and kind of their frame of mind and how they're thinking.
[22:20] SPEAKER_01: And it's such a great opportunity being an entrepreneur.
[22:22] SPEAKER_01: It's always be learning.
[22:23] SPEAKER_00: Thinking about that, lots of people listening to this online
[22:26] SPEAKER_00: these days, how can if someone sort of listens to this particular one,
[22:31] SPEAKER_00: is there any way they can get a hold of you, Kane?
[22:34] SPEAKER_00: Is there a question, that kind of thing?
[22:37] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, of course.
[22:37] SPEAKER_01: I'm on LinkedIn.
[22:38] SPEAKER_01: So anybody wants to message you, we just go on to LinkedIn,
[22:40] SPEAKER_01: drop a message in there.
[22:42] SPEAKER_00: OK.
[22:43] SPEAKER_00: Well, Kane, thanks for coming on Canvas Podcast.
[22:45] SPEAKER_00: Been really interesting.
[22:47] SPEAKER_00: You know, appreciate your visit.
[22:50] SPEAKER_01: My pleasure, Phil.
[22:50] SPEAKER_01: Great speaking with you.
[22:52] SPEAKER_00: Thanks, everyone, for taking the time today
[22:54] SPEAKER_00: to listen to Toronto's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[22:58] SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed the podcast today.
[23:01] SPEAKER_00: Make sure you sign up for a newsletters or write a review for us
[23:04] SPEAKER_00: on iTunes.
[23:05] SPEAKER_00: You can connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,
[23:08] SPEAKER_00: LinkedIn, or at canvassbarkcast.com, where you can listen, discover,
[23:13] SPEAKER_00: and engage.
[23:14] SPEAKER_00: You can also check out what other entrepreneurs
[23:16] SPEAKER_00: are doing across the country.
[23:18] SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next time.