Roshni Wijayasinha is a Trusted Marketing Leader with 15 Years of Progressive Experience Helping Companies Bring Brands and Products to Market

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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: This podcast is sponsored by eBay Canada. eBay Canada is here to help. They've been supporting
[00:05] SPEAKER_01: Canadian small business retailers for 25 years and have recently launched their up-and-running
[00:11] SPEAKER_01: program to meet an urgent need to get businesses online today. New business sellers can get a free
[00:17] SPEAKER_01: e-commerce store for 90 days when they visit ebay.ca slash up and running. Offer open until August
[00:25] SPEAKER_01: to 22nd. Welcome to Canada's podcast, the number one podcast for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs.
[00:33] SPEAKER_01: So, Rochney, welcome to Canada's podcast. And you know the question I always start with is
[00:40] SPEAKER_01: you know give us three to five minutes, a little bit about yourself and what you do and then we'll
[00:46] SPEAKER_00: kind of move on from there. Excellent, thanks so much for having us first of all. So I'm the founder
[00:53] SPEAKER_00: pro-sh marketing. I'm marketing consulting practice that works with small businesses and startups.
[00:58] SPEAKER_00: I've been running the practice for around three years. Prior to that I was working in the tech
[01:03] SPEAKER_00: field, a Fintech company and then a health tech company. And I've really been in the tech world
[01:10] SPEAKER_00: for quite a bit and I decided that I was ready to take some of the lessons that I learned from
[01:15] SPEAKER_00: these big companies and take them over and try to help more small businesses and startups.
[01:20] SPEAKER_00: My parents were actually entrepreneurs. They had their own business and I always looked at
[01:25] SPEAKER_00: them and looked at their lifestyle and saw how dedicated they worked to their business. And I
[01:29] SPEAKER_00: thought that this was something that I wanted to do. But I was trying to find a time where I had
[01:34] SPEAKER_00: enough experience and I could really just branch out on my own. So I've been doing that for
[01:38] SPEAKER_00: last three years as I mentioned. I've been working with all sorts of clients from technology clients
[01:44] SPEAKER_00: to video studios to service-based companies and at the same time I'm also an artist. So I've
[01:51] SPEAKER_00: been pursuing my dream of being an artist in Jameson Street Art in Toronto, Canada
[01:56] SPEAKER_00: and showing a gallery and being able to try to help.
[02:01] SPEAKER_01: Okay, so you're in Toronto and are there any particular benefits of being in Toronto? You think
[02:10] SPEAKER_01: you mean versus anywhere else kind of thing? Or is it just that you happen to be here?
[02:16] SPEAKER_00: Well, it happened to be in Toronto. I grew up in the city but I think like my benefit to being here
[02:22] SPEAKER_00: is I really know the network of people here. So from a marketing perspective, I've really built a
[02:28] SPEAKER_00: lot of connections and that we're able to draw in a lot of different people for different projects.
[02:33] SPEAKER_00: So for example, if we have a tech client who's looking for someone with a health tech background,
[02:39] SPEAKER_00: we have a nurse tech that I've worked with previously that I can bring in to consult on different
[02:44] SPEAKER_00: projects. But apart from that, Toronto has a really strong startup ecosystem and I think that's
[02:49] SPEAKER_00: really interesting because the community is really strong here. From virtual meetups to Facebook
[02:56] SPEAKER_00: groups, there's so many little things that the community gets together around here.
[03:02] SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, you said you kind of grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. So you had role
[03:08] SPEAKER_01: models but what's the best thing or best things about being an entrepreneur? At least you
[03:15] SPEAKER_01: know, you did work for some people. I mean, if you had to choose to copy two or three things,
[03:21] SPEAKER_01: what's the difference? What's the good difference anyway?
[03:25] SPEAKER_00: I think the best difference is really having control over your destiny. So as hard as you work,
[03:31] SPEAKER_00: all of your hard work in labor goes towards your bottom line. I think like that's the most
[03:36] SPEAKER_00: rewarding part because as hard as you put that work and effort in, as much effort as you put in,
[03:41] SPEAKER_00: you can get out as a person. And so I think it motivates you and that's really exciting to have
[03:47] SPEAKER_00: that like, locus of control in your hands. I think another thing is like flexibility. So having
[03:53] SPEAKER_00: that flexibility to plan around your life. So for example, if you have kids, you can maybe plan to
[04:00] SPEAKER_00: have a certain time off between meetings to like, pick them up from school or maybe spend time
[04:06] SPEAKER_00: with them and really arrange your life around your work or your work around your life.
[04:11] SPEAKER_01: What are you most, I mean, it's a strange time. So it's my sound like a strange question.
[04:17] SPEAKER_01: So I think because it's such a strange time, it's an important question. What are you most excited
[04:22] SPEAKER_00: about in your business these days? I think helping small businesses and startups grow is what's
[04:30] SPEAKER_00: really exciting right now. Out of this time, you've seen so much innovation and so many people out
[04:35] SPEAKER_00: of necessity have built businesses and built innovations that are really shaking up the market.
[04:41] SPEAKER_00: And so what I'm really excited about is seeing some of these really cool technologies and
[04:46] SPEAKER_00: these really innovative services and companies and how they're changing their businesses and
[04:51] SPEAKER_00: how they're adapting to, I guess what they say is the new normal, but maybe it's the normal for now.
[04:58] SPEAKER_00: But it's really, that's what it's really exciting to see the innovation and then how
[05:02] SPEAKER_00: us as marketers can also adapt to the new landscape of people are now different devices, people are
[05:11] SPEAKER_01: just screaming. Yeah, I mean, what you see about the future, we're both marketers, what do you say
[05:15] SPEAKER_01: about the future of our industry? I mean, you know, we were pretty digital anyway. What do you,
[05:23] SPEAKER_01: is there something sort of exciting new kind of perimeter, if you like, that we're heading to on
[05:30] SPEAKER_00: the market inside? I think people are looking at different channels to reach people and I think
[05:36] SPEAKER_00: now more than ever, people are looking at corporate social responsibility as something that's
[05:42] SPEAKER_00: really integral to the brand. So what I'm seeing more and more of, that's pretty interesting and
[05:47] SPEAKER_00: exciting for the world is companies aligning themselves with social causes and actually trying to
[05:52] SPEAKER_00: do good with what they're doing and not just looking at the bottom line and profit but looking
[05:58] SPEAKER_00: at how they're impacting people and how they're really changing the world with what they're doing
[06:02] SPEAKER_00: as well. And for example, you might just be a toilet paper roll company, but what can you do with
[06:08] SPEAKER_00: that and how can you impact people and that's pretty exciting? Yeah, it is, it's about time.
[06:14] SPEAKER_01: So we're moving on to what I tell you are a challenge, just thing, which actually, you know,
[06:18] SPEAKER_01: I find the really the most interesting in terms of responses. So when you're faced with unexpected
[06:26] SPEAKER_01: challenges, how do you typically handle them? Is there a process you have in the place or is it just
[06:33] SPEAKER_01: made it, made it as it comes kind of thing? I think I've built the business around a certain
[06:39] SPEAKER_00: plan, but as you know, different things can happen like COVID and it can derail the plan entirely.
[06:46] SPEAKER_00: So I think you have to just build in a bit of flexibility in your planning just to be able to
[06:52] SPEAKER_00: deal with things that come your way. You can plan out for certain risks, for example, like the risk
[06:58] SPEAKER_00: of a key employee leaving and you could maybe potentially have a backup or have like reserve cash
[07:04] SPEAKER_00: flow, for example, which can carry you through harder times, but sometimes you just like, I don't
[07:10] SPEAKER_00: think anyone could have imagined something like this happening. You just have to be quick on your
[07:15] SPEAKER_00: be flexible and be looking to move and find new opportunities. What's the greatest challenge you've
[07:23] SPEAKER_01: faced today? Is it COVID or was there a big challenge before that? I think COVID's been interesting.
[07:30] SPEAKER_00: It at first presented a challenge because of the way that businesses reacted. At first,
[07:34] SPEAKER_00: everyone was afraid to spend, so everyone was cutting everything as opposed to looking at the
[07:40] SPEAKER_00: long-term. And once the pandemic kind of went on for more than a month and two months now and five
[07:46] SPEAKER_00: people were realizing that this is a long-term thing and if they didn't adapt and if they kept
[07:51] SPEAKER_00: on holding their marketing dollars and holding what they were doing, they weren't going to move
[07:55] SPEAKER_00: ahead at all. And they were still burning cash. And so I think the challenge has kind of evolved to
[08:01] SPEAKER_00: being, how can we optimize really small budgets and lean budgets and how can we make the most out of
[08:08] SPEAKER_00: the least? And how do we reach customers in this new spot where, for example, they're consuming
[08:13] SPEAKER_00: more podcasts and more online video but less outdoor and out of home marketing?
[08:20] SPEAKER_01: This podcast is sponsored by eBay Canada. eBay Canada is powering Canadian small businesses.
[08:26] SPEAKER_01: Go to ebay.ca slash up and running to open your online shop.
[08:32] SPEAKER_01: So we've gone to the lesson side. It's a good one. If you do what you know now,
[08:39] SPEAKER_01: what would you have told yourself when you started in the business?
[08:44] SPEAKER_00: I think take on the right clients would be one of the lessons I would have told myself,
[08:50] SPEAKER_00: you have to really find clients that you have a good fit for. At first, I would take on any business
[08:55] SPEAKER_00: and all business because I was growing and so we thought, you know, you can't turn down business.
[09:02] SPEAKER_00: And so that works up to a certain point, but I think building the right clientele, spending your time
[09:08] SPEAKER_00: on the right clients and customers and really focusing on a target market and growing that,
[09:16] SPEAKER_00: as opposed to doing everything, is something that I would have told myself in the past. And it can
[09:20] SPEAKER_00: be really easy, I think, for entrepreneurs to just take what's there because like a burden,
[09:25] SPEAKER_00: the hand is better than something in the bush. But I do think that really being strategic about
[09:30] SPEAKER_00: who you take on and those clients and especially the initial PU can help you grow and help you
[09:36] SPEAKER_00: really find your niche and as well kind of be able to communicate a value proposition specifically.
[09:44] SPEAKER_01: Same kind of idea if you go back in time, what advice would you give your 20 year old self?
[09:51] SPEAKER_00: I think start early as an entrepreneur. I think there's a lot of opportunity to start a business
[09:58] SPEAKER_00: in Canada at an early age. If you have an idea, just go for it. And I think a lot of the times,
[10:04] SPEAKER_00: I was always tied to the paycheck and I was happy with the stability. I'm pretty, I'm not really
[10:10] SPEAKER_00: a risk taker in a lot of ways. And so the stable paycheck is really attractive, but at the same time
[10:16] SPEAKER_00: where there's no risk, there's no opportunity. And when you're younger, you could probably
[10:21] SPEAKER_00: afford to take a couple of lessons and fail a couple of times and learn these things. When you're older,
[10:29] SPEAKER_00: sometimes you have a mortgage to pay your family to support and I think it becomes more challenging
[10:33] SPEAKER_01: to take those risks. And probably my favorite question I ask is, what's the best piece of advice
[10:40] SPEAKER_00: you've ever received? Yeah. So our general manager at Sony, she came from Austria for a year and
[10:48] SPEAKER_00: she always told us, do the best you can with what you have. And so we would always compare
[10:54] SPEAKER_00: ourselves to Samsung. And Samsung got this giant marketing budget and we're getting this.
[10:59] SPEAKER_00: And so she would always say, do the best you can with what you have. And I still remember that
[11:05] SPEAKER_00: because no matter what you have, if you can do the best, sometimes the smallest people can make
[11:10] SPEAKER_00: the biggest like screams and the biggest noise. I used to have Samsung as my client.
[11:19] SPEAKER_01: He had a big budget. So you know, some some quick questions, not only to spend too much time,
[11:26] SPEAKER_01: that we've gone through the thoughtful questions. If you were doing what you would do for a
[11:30] SPEAKER_00: now, what would you be doing instead? I would probably be a full-time street artist or a muralist.
[11:37] SPEAKER_00: I really love art, but I've never had a chance to kind of bring that back.
[11:41] SPEAKER_01: Well, okay. That's really interesting. You have to show me where your sweetheart is so I can take a look
[11:47] SPEAKER_01: at it. I also have an Instagram, Rochene's art. Okay, I shall do that. What book are you currently
[11:53] SPEAKER_01: reading or listening to? You know, doesn't really, you know. I'm reading the innovators' dilemma right
[11:59] SPEAKER_00: now. Clay is in the Christian's and I did his course through the Harvard Business School online
[12:04] SPEAKER_00: program, the disrupting strategies. And so I'm reading that one right now. Okay, is there any other
[12:11] SPEAKER_01: thing you really think people should pick up and read through that sort of affected you?
[12:17] SPEAKER_00: I really love every Malcolm Gladwell book. The tipping point is a really great book to inspire you.
[12:24] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I agree. Are you a morning or a night person? I would say I'm a night person. I love to work
[12:32] SPEAKER_01: till the day I go. Oh, you're the 20% because it's really, everyone says they're a morning person.
[12:37] SPEAKER_01: It's really interesting. So what's keeping you up at night these days then?
[12:43] SPEAKER_00: I'm a work working with people working with different time zones, trying to take time. I find
[12:50] SPEAKER_00: with COVID, we've been kind of inundated with a lot of video meetings and trying to keep in touch
[12:55] SPEAKER_00: virtually. So a lot of my days through video meetings. And so if I need to do actual work,
[13:00] SPEAKER_01: that happens that night when it's quiet. I know exactly what you mean. I think I was averaging,
[13:07] SPEAKER_01: I think it takes about four times longer online to get to a decision point. It's quite quite
[13:13] SPEAKER_01: interesting. What's it mean? I'm asking this and we haven't traveled for most of us for three or
[13:19] SPEAKER_01: four months outside of Ontario. Anyway, what's your favorite place in the world? I would say the
[13:25] SPEAKER_00: Galapagos Islands when I went in the early 2000s. It was just so pristine. You could see the craziest
[13:33] SPEAKER_01: animals and the nature was amazing there. I've never been there. So and I always ask, if you didn't
[13:42] SPEAKER_01: get to an end of a podcast, then I ask everyone this. There's a small tropical island in the middle of
[13:49] SPEAKER_01: the ocean. There's only a phone booth. Yes, there's no cell, there's no power, just a phone booth.
[13:59] SPEAKER_01: Okay. But anytime you can use the phone to call, call us and come and get you. How long do you last
[14:05] SPEAKER_00: and what do you do? I don't know how long I would last. I think I would maybe last 30 days. I think
[14:13] SPEAKER_00: I could occupy myself with making some art, relaxing, exercising, putting myself on the extreme
[14:20] SPEAKER_00: boot camp. But if I had to help with all of the COVID eating, but I don't think I would last
[14:29] SPEAKER_00: too long because I think I would miss my family the most. Okay. Well, thanks very much for coming
[14:36] SPEAKER_01: out on the Canada's podcast. It's really been kind of interesting. But people listen to these things
[14:42] SPEAKER_01: and they often want to get a hold. No, never of me of you because there's something that you've said
[14:47] SPEAKER_01: that sparks something. How can people connect with you? They can connect with me through LinkedIn,
[14:54] SPEAKER_00: Rochney, Wajai, Center, or through our website www.proshmarketing.com or through any of our social media
[15:01] SPEAKER_01: channels as well. Well, thanks Rochney. It's been a really great meeting you. Great meeting you
[15:07] SPEAKER_01: to. Thank you for having us. Thanks everyone for taking the time today to listen to Toronto's
[15:12] SPEAKER_01: podcast on the Canada's podcast network. I hope you enjoyed the podcast today. Make sure you
[15:18] SPEAKER_01: sign up for a newsletter or write a review for us on iTunes. You can connect with us on Twitter,
[15:24] SPEAKER_01: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or at CanadaSpodcast.com where you can listen, discover, and engage. You can
[15:32] SPEAKER_01: also check out what other entrepreneurs are doing across the country. I'll see you next time.
[15:37] SPEAKER_01: This podcast is sponsored by eBay Canada. eBay Canada is here to help. They've been supporting
[15:42] SPEAKER_01: Canadian small business retailers for 25 years and have recently launched their up-and-running program
[15:49] SPEAKER_01: to meet an urgent need to get business online today. New business sellers can get a free
[16:04] SPEAKER_01: plus million buyers around the world. With eBay Canada, you can stay local, sell global, and power
[16:12] SPEAKER_01: up. That's eBay.ca, slash up and running. Offer resultant until August 22nd.