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Investing in a franchise does reduce entrepreneurial risk but it does not guarantee success

August 18, 2025 Coaching & Consulting, Investment 0:35:29

Stephan and Kimberley Lafreniere are growth-oriented and insight driven senior executive with a track record of success in developing and implementing strategies and tactics to drive profits in the retail sectors.

Stephan has held progressively senior roles within the planning, merchandising, and branding disciplines at iconic Canadian retailers including Canadian Tire Corporation, Hudson’s Bay Company, Loblaw Companies Ltd., and Sears Canada Inc. Kimberley has an equally impressive retail career after working for iconic brands like Sears, HBC, and Sobeys, loving what I do every day. Building that new program and watching the guests fall in love with it is a thrill.

In 2021 Stephan and Kimberley invested in a Schooley Mitchell franchise. Schooley Mitchell is the largest independent cost reduction consulting firm in North America, with offices from coast-to-coast in the United States and Canada. On average, they reduce essential business service expenses by 28% and have delivered over $540 million in documented savings to our clients to date.

Stephan and Kim are passionate about saving money for their clients and helping them grow their business. Schooley Mitchell delivers expertise to companies of all sizes from all industries, offering a broad range of services aimed at reducing costs and

All Schooley Mitchell fees are self-funded from the savings generated. If savings aren’t found, our clients don’t pay – a truly risk-free and mutually beneficial model.

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Helping Veterans Succeed in Business and Beyond

August 15, 2025 Coaching & Consulting 0:31:47

Joe Blanchard is a results-oriented Senior Executive. He runs VeCATS to assist Soldiers and Veterans transition into Corporate Canada with the right skills to be successful. VeCATS provides a 4 Step Process for veterans 1. Soft-Skills, 2. Hard Skills, 3. Internship, 4. Job Placement. And his primary focus today is to help Veterans move into the entrepreneurial sector successfully. Joe is a former veteran and has travelled the military, corporate and entrepreneurial roads. A proven performer Joe moves easily from vision and strategy to implementation and follows through. He is an innovative and strategic thinker, with sound business judgement and proven analytical, troubleshooting, and critical thinking abilities.

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From Colleagues to Co-Founders: The Bridge Medical Communications Story

August 6, 2025 Business, Communications, Health and Wellness, Medical, Tech 0:32:57

Lorie Spence and Carolyn Pritchard founded Bridge Medical Communications, which was built to fill the patient and healthcare provider gap in the healthcare system.

With a combined 40 years in Business and Healthcare Comms, Lorie and Carolyn witnessed the challenges facing the industry. This ignited their passion to bridge the gap between the industry and patients. Bridge’s vision is to empower healthcare professionals to optimize patient outcomes through innovative communication tools, creative solutions, and strategic collaboration. With their unique expertise.

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Cut Costs & Grow Fast: Shaun Stratton’s Strategy

July 15, 2025 Coaching & Consulting 0:25:00

Shaun Stratton has spent his career as an expedition leader, international leadership consultant, professional speaker, and bestselling author. He is the founder of the International Vegan Film Festival and World Tour. In 2022, he joined the Planted Expo as an account manager, overseeing vendor and sponsor relations for Planted’s Toronto Expo, helping to maximize service quality while minimizing spend. This is what led him to his current entrepreneurial role as a Business Optimization Specialist at Schooley Mitchell. Shaun combines his prior entrepreneurship, leadership development, strategic sales knowledge, and consulting experience into a role where he is able to directly impact businesses’ bottom lines. Shaun believes every business should pay the right rates, receive the right services, and have the peace of mind from knowing your business is running as efficiently as possible.

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Cut Costs, Boost Profits: Top Tips for Entrepreneurs

July 4, 2025 Coaching & Consulting, Finance 0:23:23

The newscast for entrepreneurs is all about savings. With all the talk about tariffs and the like, it seems that margins will take a hit. So for entrepreneurs the news is, how can we increase savings to offset lower margins. Today, we’re going to meet Mike Deboer, who is Franchise Development Advisor for Schooley Mitchell, a partner of Canada’s Entrepreneur and the leading cost reduction experts for entrepreneurs to use in Canada. Then we can go into the Top 10 reasons to manage your overheads and the proven benefits of doing this.

Stay Connected with #CanadasEntrepreneur!

Join our growing community of entrepreneurs across Canada! Don’t miss out on inspiring interviews, expert insights, and the latest business trends from the people shaping the future of our economy.

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Musicians are entrepreneurs

July 2, 2025 Events & Entertainment, Marketing & Advertising, Media 0:34:32

Being a musician and and looking for gigs is is an ongoing process. You’re always selling yourself. They’re always looking for work. But so many of them have other jobs, because that’s what pays the bills.

This podcast is a little different, more of a book review with an entrepreneurial focus. David Eisenstadt, who’s a founder and longtime owner of CPGR a well know communications company is also a very well-known author of a number of books that cover Jewish performers that run under the name Musicians Under The Radar. you know, it’s really interesting to find out what jazz trumpeter, Freddie Stone, Anvil’s heavy metal guitarist, Steve Lips Kudlow, Lorne Green, Robbie Robertson, even singer-songwriter Mendelssohn, Joe have in common. They are all talented Jewish Musicians who appear in David’s latest book. This interview is a little different, because, of course, all these musicians have an entrepreneurial flair as they’re creating their own their own content and selling it. And, of course David is a long time entrepreneur which makes this even more interesting.

Find out more and check at David’s latest book MUSICIANS UNDER THE RADAR – 46 Notable Canadian Jewish Performers on Amazon or go to www.undertheradarbook.com.

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Be patient, it is a journey

June 25, 2025 Communications, Events & Entertainment, Marketing & Advertising, TV & Film 0:29:07

Adam Hislop creates videos and movies that help people communicate clearly and effectively. Along with the rest of his team at Atomic Spark, he produces commercials, brand films, promotional videos, website videos, and training materials.

And he’s been doing it successfully for the past twenty five years – so he has some great stories to tell us.

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Reducing the amount of money spent on services

June 12, 2025 Business, Economics, Finance, Investment, Marketing & Advertising, Media 0:27:09

Now with Schooley Mitchell I’m helping entrepreneurs save money, which means effectively make money by reducing the amount of money they spend on services.

Stan has over twenty five years experience in management and business consulting. He currently helps business clients of all sizes realize greater profitability and improved cashflow by optimizing their expenses in a range of basic business services such as telecommunications, electronic payments, software licenses, small package shipping, waste management, uniforms and facility supplies. He latest venture being a Strategic Partner of Schooley Mitchell, North America’s largest independent cost reduction consulting organization. For many years Stan’s been a global business unit leader, advanced technology marketer and an innovation advisor to startups, SMEs and innovative entrepreneurs. He’s also an active investor, avid reader and public policy wonk.

#expenseoptimization #costreductionanalysis #expensemanagement #expensereduction #businessconsulting

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How Purpose-Driven Brands Win With Great PR

June 11, 2025 Communications, Marketing & Advertising 0:19:18

Cathy Cowan is an entrepreneurial success in marketing communications. With more than two decades of agency leadership, she collaborates with nonprofits, agencies, and socially conscious businesses to create communications that drive meaningful change.

She began her career actually working for me and then moved to non profits and PR agencies including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, Weber Shandwick and GCI Group, honing my expertise in strategy, management and gold-standard communications. She founded Cowan & Company Communications, a full-service marketing communications agency, where for nearly 20 years led award-winning campaigns and social impact communications for top-tier brands including L’Oréal Paris, Kraft, Jamieson Vitamins and Food Banks Canada. Her work earned more than 15 industry awards, and Cowan & Company was named IABC Toronto’s “Boutique PR Agency of the Year” four times between 2007 and 2017.

Cathy currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Center for Women’s Empowerment, Board of Advisors for Women’s Nonprofit Network and volunteer as a mentor and Ovation Awards judge for IABC Toronto.

She now focuses all skills and passion for “doing good” at C&C Consulting where she leads integrated marketing communications for nonprofits and corporate social impact programs. Her continual goal is to help purpose-driven organizations transform their communications and maximize their social impact.

Stay Connected with #CanadasEntrepreneur!

Join our growing community of entrepreneurs across Canada! Don’t miss out on inspiring interviews, expert insights, and the latest business trends from the people shaping the future of our economy.

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Why Feedback Beats Big Ideas Every Time

June 3, 2025 Education, Tech 0:31:38

Toronto-based KnowMeQ Founder and CEO Matt Foran knows how AI can address two emerging and linked issues in Higher Education. KnowMeQ is the leading AI enabled, web-based workforce diagnostic & up-skilling assessment tool that identifies real skill gaps to make predictive decisions to improve your company’s workforce skill, performance and agility. KnowMeQ is an Adaptability Quotient (AQ) indicator tool. AQ is regarded as the most important measure for success in today and tomorrow’s world of work. It provides the ability for employees and companies to adapt and thrive in rapidly changing environments. Matt holds a Masters of Education from the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in Adult Education with a specialization in Workplace Learning and Social Change. He is a published researcher and in 2010, founded the world’s first fully online adult literacy program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing adults.

Stay Connected with #CanadasEntrepreneur!

Join our growing community of entrepreneurs across Canada! Don’t miss out on inspiring interviews, expert insights, and the latest business trends from the people shaping the future of our economy.

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