Find A Way Podcast

Nida is a Canada-based entrepreneur and marketing strategist with a background in engineering and sales. She transitioned into marketing after moving from India, bringing a unique blend of technical expertise and business acumen to her roles. 

After working for a marketing agency and building strong client relationships, she founded her own marketing agency, which has been thriving for over a year. 

Nida is passionate about creating innovative, data-driven marketing strategies that help businesses grow. LinkedIn has been instrumental in her success, allowing her to connect with industry leaders and expand her professional network.

Ting is a dynamic entrepreneur whose journey has taken her from China to the USA, and now, lucky us… To Canada!

Ting has a bachelor in Interior Architecture, a Masters in Entrepreneurship with the University of Waterloo and is a cofounder of Rice Slurp Restaurant. 

Passionate about revolutionizing the Asian food scene in Toronto, Ting aims to elevate their culinary creations to global recognition, drawing inspiration from giants like Chipotle. 

With seven years of leadership experience, a strong foundation in design, and a commitment to using business as a force for social impact, Ting brings an unique, fun-spirited approach to everything she does. We are grateful to have her here today to share her inspiring story and ambitious vision with us. 

Edgar is a disruptive innovator, who believes in imagination rather than knowledge. 

Co-founder of XactSize and successful serial entrepreneur who has helped in the growth of multiple sectors including telecom, retail and seafood. XactSize is an AI/AR (Artificial Intelligence/Augmented Reality) enabled Body Measurement Solution that has the ability to provide precise body measurements.

Ritu is a tech-edupreneur on a mission! 

With over 12 years of experience in education across the globe, Ritu has worn many hats – from a humble teacher to a proud school principal, spanning across Canada, Singapore, Dubai, and India.

Her passion lies in STEM education, and she is driven to revolutionize how students interact with science, technology, engineering, and math. Currently, she’s the co-founder and CEO of Deschool Online Inc, where they are paving the way for top-notch STEM courses for K-12 students in Canadian schools.

Farhad Khan is the CEO and founder of Member Lounge, a leading technology platform that empowers associations to build robust membership websites. Based in Canada, Farhad brings a wealth of experience at the intersection of software and business. Under his leadership, Member Lounge has become a trusted partner for professional associations seeking to enhance member engagement and streamline their technology needs.

Farhad's expertise spans across sales, marketing, and leadership, making him a sought-after speaker in the tech and business community. His passion for helping associations leverage technology to drive growth and engagement is evident in his strategic approach and innovative solutions.

Having more than 8 years of experience study-abroad industry, Milan is a recent international student, entrepreneur, and a Master of Entrepreneurship degree holder from Carleton University. He is a founder and CEO of EdMission Inc. based in Ottawa. 

Milan is passionate about immigration and very much active within recent immigration challenges being faced by both governments and international students. 

As a highly driven and accomplished professional, Milan possesses a wealth of experience in strategic planning, market research, and business development; especially moving from 0 to 1. 

With a track record of success in building relationships with stakeholders, identifying new business opportunities, and developing effective marketing and sales strategies, Milan has consistently driven growth and success for the organizations he has worked with.

Pavla is a recently exited founder (WFHomie acquired by GoCo.io, HR Tech) and a mentor at the Neo accelerator. She began her startup career as a Product designer, moving on to lead Product at Nudge.ai (acquired by Affinity). She’s a triathlete who loves supporting ambitious people, abstract art, and debate.

Ravi is a 4X startup founder, a former Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Toronto, and a Social Capitalist. 

Currently he is the CEO and cofounder of BLUMEx, an experiential media startup.

BLUMEx automates the workflows of Podcasters, Streamers, and Creators. Its mission is to capture the stories of innovators advancing their ideas through startups, research, or intrapreneurship. Ravi believes business is more than profits; it is about creating impact in the world. 

Israel Gasperin is an Engineer and Entrepreneur known for his passion for creating innovative solutions to address global challenges. He began his academic journey in 2004 at the Institute of Technology of Xalapa, Mexico, where he pursued a degree in Software Engineering. After graduating, he sharpened his skills as a software engineer and IT project manager in various banking institutions for five years, gaining valuable industry experience.

Fast forward to 2016, after earning his Master’s degree from McMaster University, Israel founded Zentrela, Inc., a neurotech startup aimed at revolutionizing mental and cognitive state assessments outside clinical settings using AI and wearable EEG technology. 

Today, Zentrela stands as a pioneer in the industry, with its patent-pending AI-based EEG solution. Israel Gasperin's journey exemplifies a blend of technical expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, and a commitment to addressing global challenges through innovation.

Max is an Education Influencer with a community of 300,000 members across various social media platforms. He moved to Canada 5 years ago, and started sharing his problems and bringing solutions that simplified complicated Government websites. His mission is to empower new Canadians with information and the support systems they need to thrive.

Kingsley is the founder and CEO of Expedier – A global Digital money app for everyday banking for under-represented and underbanked communities. 

Kingsley is also a global digital nomad, speaker, and tech leader with over 15+ years of background as a Technology & Business Leader at Fortune 500 companies. Kingsley and his team at Expedier have won several awards including Platform Calgary top 12 fintech in Canada and BMO Black Entrepreneur Award Finalist. 

Believing in the power of possibilities, he challenges conventional thinking and seeks innovative solutions. Embracing a digital nomad lifestyle, Kingsley traverses the globe while working on his startups. Through captivating speaking engagements, he empowers individuals and organizations to reach their full potential. 

An accomplished structural engineer, that has dedicated 14 years to the design of high-rise and mid-rise structures. Recognizing the evolving needs of the industry, Fatemeh founded Strucwise, melding traditional engineering practices with AI. 

Strucwise stands out as an intelligent, automated AI-driven software, dedicated to addressing engineering challenges while prioritizing cost-efficiency and sustainability.

Gilson is a tech operator with extensive experience as a founder and executive. He is also a startup advisor, mentor and angel investor. With a 20-year career in technology companies, Gilson built and led teams in multiple functional areas. He has been a COO, CMO, CPO, Business Unit Leader, and a co-Founder, leading teams of hundreds of people in 7 countries.

Born and raised in Brazil, he has lived in the US twice, and migrated to Canada in 2018.

Join us as we dive into Roya’s mission to empower millennials and Gen Z’s to make better financial choices. 

Roya for many years was deeply engaged in sports, having to set aside her athletic dreams to focus on academic achievements, leading her to study computer engineering. This decision paved the way for her eventual move from Iran to Canada with plans for a master's degree, which shifted towards a thriving career in computer and software engineering due to financial constraints. 

Her journey through sports and technology culminated in the founding of her startup, blending her passion for sleek, revolutionary solutions with her vision for the future of finance with Walletifi.

Jay is a globally successful entrepreneur and the CEO of the Accelerator Centre. He brings 20+ years of executive leadership across venture capital, entrepreneurship, and product development. Having founded and guided three startups to acquisition, he has extensive firsthand experience in the startup lifecycle. Before entrepreneurship, he held key roles in product management and engineering at Cisco, Juniper, and Cantata-Dialogic/Intel. 

Kasia is an avid explorer of ideas & cultures. As a professional executive coach, author and founder of Mindquest Global Leadership Development, Kasia works with founders who are ready to scale globally, as well as busy leaders at global companies, including Amazon, Cisco, LinkedIn, Salesforce, Samsung, HSBC and Visa.  

She loves equipping leaders with modern leadership skills so they can expand their impact, escape the time trap & get their life back, without giving up on leadership.

Urooj Qureshi is the Founder and CEO at Design Centered Co. a leading design and digital transformation agency shaping the narrative around design and technology in Canada. He also leads the product division at the firm responsible for the creation and operation of Impactor App, an innovative solution that is enabling organizations to accelerate, inclusive decision-making and amplify project success. 

Julie Smolyansky, is a soviet immigrant that became the youngest female CEO of a publicly held firm when she took over Lifeway Foods at the age of 27 in 2002. Since then, Julie has continued the company’s growth trajectory with creative product development and marketing to bring kefir, the company’s flagship product, into the U.S. mainstream. Under Julie’s leadership, Lifeway’s annual revenues have grown from $12 million to more than $140 million in 2022, and distribution has expanded beyond the United States to Mexico, Ireland, France, Central and South America, and the Caribbean.

Nardin is a co-founder and CTO at Simmunome, where she combines her knowledge in engineering, machine learning, and neuroscience. 

After gaining experience as a regional electrical engineer at Proctor and Gamble, Nardin's passion for research drew her back to academia. This led her to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at McGill University, where she utilized machine learning and diverse modeling techniques to investigate the brain's information processing and learning capabilities. 

As CTO of Simmunome, Nardin leads the company's research and development efforts, focusing on innovative AI models that simulate disease pathways and predict drug efficacy outcomes.

Born and raised in Iran, Pouya migrated to Canada and got into sales at a young age, he has worked across 07 industries, outsourced sales for multi-billion dollar companies and celebrity entrepreneurs. After that experience, he ventured into business for himself.

Pouya does a lot of training and consulting work, helping business owners sell more and scale. 

Dinesh is a Relationship Builder and a Change Agent.  As a Human Resources Leader, with more than 25 years of global corporate experience, Dinesh has worked both in North America and India. 

One of Dinesh’s benchmarks of success is his community work. He believes in lifelong learning and sharing his knowledge with other professionals in the industry.  He has helped a number of skilled immigrants settle down in the country. 

The work Dinesh does in the community has earned him the recognition of an emerging community leader.  He has been awarded numerous awards for his work.

Christine is the founder of Kaima Designs, an African-inspired trendsetting clothing brand whose Corporate Social Responsibility prioritizes poverty reduction through girl-child education and women empowerment initiatives in West Africa. 

She co-founded United Colours of Fashion, a non-profit whose mission revolves around harnessing the talents of newcomers and persons of BIPOC heritage in the fashion industry by creating training opportunities that enable them to become active players towards the growth of the local economy while promoting multiculturalism. 

Christine also sits on the board of three non-profits and occasionally speaks at youth engagement sessions where she inspires young leaders to be the best version of themselves. She was recognized as one of the Most Inspiring Immigrants in Atlantic Canada and awarded the Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee medal in January 2023 for her contributions in the community. 

Amadeu Ferreira, CEO & Founder of Vambora, is a FinTech innovator championing financial inclusion who moved from Brazil to Canada with his wife in 2016.

With a unique background in legal, financial analysis, and product development, he's transforming the financial landscape for those underserved by traditional systems. As an immigrant, he’s passionate about helping newcomers to succeed in their new homes.

Ataman is the co-founder of Maple excellence. An innovative CO2-Energy auditor company that leverages technology for scalable, affordable, efficient, and effective auditing of carbon and energy. 

Ataman has over 12 years of experience in the field of industrial engineering and also has the lead auditor certificates from IRCA for multiple ISO certifications. He is also developing his own knowledge in the Decarbonizing field. 

Ataman believes that a better life depends on having a better environment and society. We need to save our wonderful planet and eliminate GHG.

Anferny is a serial entrepreneur with experience in FinTech, EdTech, and consulting work in data analytics. He is currently leading the business and data science team at Dataraction. He and his talented team is working on the implementation of hyperledger fabric (in other words, blockchain), building customized analytics dashboards, and developing an "AI Coach" recommendation system. 

The team at Dataraction is specializing in advanced AI/ML tools from IBM, GCP, and AWS. 

Anferny is a recognized Distinguished Research Fellow at Tsinghua University and is an Ambassador of the Harvard Business Analytics Program. He holds an MBA from The Schulich School of Business and an MMA from Queen's University.

Today we have with us Juliana Montoya and Fernando Vega, who are two young people that are passionate about entrepreneurship. Their company is called Colamakers, and it focuses on teaching robotics and programming to children aged 6 to 12 years old. They strive to bridge the gap in STEM education, specifically in coding, in response to the rapidly evolving technology that challenges traditional teaching methodologies.

Their vision is a future in which all children, regardless of their background, are prepared for the rapidly advancing world of technology. They envision creating a generation of children who are not only consumers of technology but also creators and innovators.

Co-founders of Colmakers, an educational platform that empowers children, parents, and educators to learn, code, and create through robotics.

Nishant has studied law and arts at the Institute of Law, Kurukshetra University in India. He has also completed a Master's degree in law from the same institution, focusing on international business, trade, and tax laws. Additionally, he has a diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) from a Deemed University in India. Nishant has obtained certifications in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) from WIPO Geneva and the Internet of Things (IoT) from Stanford University.

With fifteen years of experience in the legal field, Nishant runs his own law firm called Nishant Ahlawat Law Offices. He has dealt extensively with legal matters concerning Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Cyber Law, Data Retention Policies, Data Privacy Agreements, and other complex issues related to data and privacy. His experiences have made him aware of the challenges companies face in complying with data and privacy laws.

To address these challenges, Nishant has launched Ayottaz, a company that automates the compliance process and provides a straightforward solution for companies to stay updated with the constantly changing regulations.

Ambitious, result-drive and creative professional with 5+ years of comprehensive experience developing marketing strategies, sales funnels, and lead generation to provide a rapid increase in sales and online traffic. Superb client management abilities and time management skills with strong experience in contract negotiation, B2B sales and establishing partnerships. Recognized for deploying and managing eCommerce solutions that generated a 30% increase in online sales, reduced administrative costs by 15%, and improved client retention rate by 20%. A creative and energetic professional with the drive and skill-set to excel in a fast-paced leadership role enhancing a company’s vision and achieving set target goals.

Lloyed Lobo, an entrepreneur, podcast host and community builder, experienced the Gulf War as a young refugee in Kuwait, witnessing the strength of community in evacuating the population to safety. As the co-founder of fintech platform Boast.Al, he leveraged the Community-Led Growth model to bootstrap the company to $10 million in annual recurring revenue while also co-founding Traction, a community empowering more than 100k innovators through connections, content, and capital.

Lloyed is also the author of ‘From Grassroots To Greatness: 13 Rules to Build Iconic Brands with Community Led Growth’ (foreword by Jason Lemkin), which covers tactical advice from community-led businesses both big and small, such as Apple, Harley Davidson, Nike, Crossfit, HubSpot, and many more to help readers attract passionate and devoted fans of their own. The book topped Amazon’s new release charts in various categories, including Startups and Business Technology, within mere hours of its pre-sale launch.

Lloyed has been covered in Fox Business, Techcrunch, SF Business Journals, Forbes, and several other publications. He has also been a speaker at more than 100 conferences and podcasts including SaaStr, Entrepreneurs on Fire, Marketing School, Mixergy, and more.

Links

• Get Lloyed’s new book, 'From Grassroots To Greatness: 13 Rules to Build Iconic Brands with Community Led Growth' (Top New Release on Amazon) at FromGrassrootstoGreatness.com
• TractionConf.io
• Boast.AI
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyedlobo

Abhinav is a soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces and social entrepreneur who has carved out a reputation for challenging the status quo. He strives to build on the wealth of international experience and cultural learnings that he has accumulated from travel to over 50 countries. 

As an avid photographer, he is used to seeing things in different perspectives from most people with a very keen eye for detail. With AP Performance Consulting, his latest venture, he is determined to make meaningful contributions in society and to the overall development of individuals in the community. 

Recent work experience has been with several of the top organizations around the world including those in the NHL, NBA, MLS as well as NBA India, Canada Basketball, and more. Abhinav is also a passionate advocate for women and minorities in sports and leadership. 

Doina Oncel is a changemaker, founder, innovator, social entrepreneur, and a licensed financial broker, building communities and helping families with access to financial literacy. 
She was named the 2021 WXN Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winner. Additionally, Doina has been nominated for the 2021 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards and the 2020 WomenTech’s Global Awards in The Women & Diversity in Tech Ally of the Year. Furthermore, Doina was nominated for the 2018 Premier’s Award by George Brown College. 

Doina is named a Role Model for Canadians by Barbie’s “You can be anything campaign” to help celebrate today’s career woman and to inspire young women everywhere to pursue careers of their choice. She is also named a Trailblazer by Women in IP of the Institute of Canada for the work done so far to create opportunities for the next generation to enter STEM fields. 

Because of her leadership, hEr VOLUTION is known as an award-winning organization recognized for the Achievement of Young Women in STEM by ImpactAI. 

Doina is currently working on helping women and families build a legacy through financial literacy. 

Siamak is the founder and CEO of Riahi Patents, Inc. 

He has over 18 years of experience in research, development, and intellectual property. 

After spending about a decade in academia, he needed more challenges and decided to use his technical expertise in the Intellectual property world. He started working for an IP search firm in the U.S. and started his own patent research business after a few years. 

After moving to Canada in 2018, he started working with startups, SMEs, and investors on IP strategy needs. Currently, the Riahi Patents team is working with startups that have secured government funding through the IRAP program to strategize their IP assets.

Today our guest is Vitaly.
 He is currently leading operations, marketing, product teams at StackAdapt, a venture-backed technology company (currently 900+ people strong). Vitaly Pecherskiy is a passionate entrepreneur with two core values: BIG MISSION and DOING GOOD.
 
learn more about him here: https://vitalypecherskiy.com/archives/2021/8/14/all-business-ideas-that-ive-had-part-1

Sandra Veledar is a seasoned business transformation architect and technology leader with 20+ years of experience who is deeply motivated making a positive impact on people’s lives.

Sandra built her career delivering business impact with technology-enabled solutions and people-first approaches. Sandra has worked on large scale business transformations in the Ottawa PwC Advisory Services, followed by an IT executive role at a fresh food retailer where she supported the organization through aggressive growth, leading the technology strategy and team, scaling IT operations and services. 

Most recently, she is the Founder and CEO of I.Liv. – A Performance Training Program for Women with an integrated mobile app. Inspired by her personal journey, Sandra applies her professional expertise to help women live life by their own design, not by default.

For as long as he can remember, James has been fascinated by human development and been on a quest to answer two key questions: “What makes for a successful life?” and “What makes people change?”

‍He thought he had all the answers as he spent two decades of his life traveling the world and rapidly gained “success” and recognition across various business, creative and spiritual spaces. Little did he know that he was slowly breaking apart inside and losing himself to unhealthy coping mechanisms and addictions. When he was finally able to confront the signs of unhealth in his life, he discovered that his view of success had been severely narrow and a new approach to living was required.

He would embark on his own personal transformation journey and after years of “road-testing” his new way of living, James started LiveHolystic Coaching — to help people redefine what a truly successful life looks like and show them an alternate, more holistic approach to life.

Through his deep experiences as coach, consultant and advisor to individuals, teams and organizations across multiple spheres and contexts, James now helps people step off the “treadmill of life” they have been accustomed to and step towards a new life vision of flourishing, adventure and impact.

Born in Tehran, 1994, Arshia is an entrepreneur with a deep interest in establishing companies that prioritize team members' freedom over adhering to rigid 9-5 jobs. He has already founded successful ventures like Gardeniya, 9876 Studio, and Lil in Iran and Canada. Currently, he is passionately working on his latest startup, Solenery in Toronto, which operates in the renewable energy industry. With an unwavering commitment to sustainability, Arshia aspires to make a positive impact on the planet through this innovative venture.

Mandip is a serial tech entrepreneur from India, that has made a name for himself in the startup world. With two successful startups under his belt, he is now focused on his latest venture - an AI-ML powered English language platform called IELTS Analyst.

Mandip's entrepreneurial journey began with his first startup, I Can Infotech. The company provided IT solutions to businesses and helped them streamline their operations. After a successful exit, Mandip moved on to his next venture, Vite HR. This startup focused on employee well-being and provided tools and resources to help employees lead healthier and happier lives.

Mandip's passion for technology and entrepreneurship led him to work with Hey Flyer, an Airbus Bizlab startup, where he gained valuable experience working with cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions. 

Paola wears many hats but there has been one consistent theme throughout her career, to unlock value by creating strategic partnerships and interpersonal networks. In her role as the founder of Mandala Group, BankingBook Analytics and In Vino Frances Veritas she helped her clients scale up and occupy white spaces, enter niche markets and develop synergies. Some of her volunteer positions include: Executive Director and Past President of Brazil Canada Chamber of Commerce, President of Grupo Brazil and Chair of the Program Advisory Committee (PAC), Centennial College. True to her corporate calling, she delivered on promised targets and helped accelerate growth. 

Paola is also a recipient of "Brazilian Woman in Power," a joint award from the Canadian Federal Government & Ontario Provincial Government in 2012, as well as 2018 award from the CONCID, the Citizenship Council for contributions to the Brazilian Community in Toronto.  

With a degree in Business Administration and a passion for innovation, his career has traversed the realms of software development, network infrastructure, and the transformative power of converting software into tailored services. 

Presently, as the CTO of Neojets, Emerson is at the helm of an innovative SaaS platform designed to revolutionize the operations of Jet Operators. Through his expertise and visionary approach, he drives technological advancements, optimizing the aviation industry and delivering unmatched value to their clients.

Yuri's background in investments dates back to when he graduated from school and got a job at a bank. Since then, Yuri's path has been anything but straightforward, having held senior roles in Government (economic development and clean tech), helped to launch an incubator (Centre for Urban Energy), run startups (Avante Smartboxx) and leading a non-profit (NACO) to support tech investors. 

In 2018, Yuri made his first foray into VC when he left NACO to help launch Panache Ventures, but by 2020 Yuri decided to again follow his passion and decided to launch Kanata Ventures to help other immigrant founders trying to land in North America.

Just 11 years ago, Garima was an immigrant woman of color in a country with no connections. In the last 6 years, through grit and dedication, she has worked towards building a company that does well for all associated with it. 

Even as a small, fully remote firm, Artha provides full health benefits, competitive wages and a flexible work schedule to all its employees. They believe in the power of education to transform – and as such, Artha sponsors full operational costs of ten primary schools in remote parts of India.

Coming from India with background in software, education, writing and training, Garima worked in corporate Canada for a few years before launching Artha in May 2017. 

Artha Learning is an eLearning company - that creates eLearning courses and modules for organizations. Artha Learning Inc. is an award-winning, full-service learning design firm that specializes at the intersection of technology, instructional design, and learner experience.

Originally from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. Rodrigo came to Canada in 2015 as a MBA student and few years later started his own business in the immigration sector. He is the CEO and Co-founder of Lakehouse Immigration Consulting, where he helps entrepreneurs with innovative business to take it to the next level by immigrating to Canada via the Startup Visa program.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Tobi not only is an entrepreneur, but he is also a Sales Leader & Coach with experience building high-capacity teams and profitable online businesses. He is passionate about helping unfulfilled and underpaid employees earn more and live happier with the company he co-founded and is CEO 3Skills & also with The Career Transition Academy.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Today our guest is an Indian immigrant who moved to Nova Scotia with a diploma in public relations in 2011 to be with her partner. Shivani’s Kitchen was established in 2014 when Shivani Dhamija recognized an opportunity to fill a gap in supplying Indian style home cooked food in their area. Fast forward to 2023, her products now can be found in The Real Canadian Superstore, Sobeys, online at Walmart, and on their website.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Thyagi is the CEO and Cofounder of OOt, the human connectivity platform designed to help people build personal and professional connections in real life. Over one-third of the population suffers from loneliness, impacting attrition and productivity, costing employers $154 billion per year.

Thyagi has 20 years of experience in sales, specializing in ICT and SaaS strategies. She has helped hundreds of executives with business-critical projects, resulting in $55M in revenue and multiple awards recognizing her contributions. She offers consulting services that use cutting-edge automation tactics to accelerate top-of-funnel development and deliver exceptional results.

Thyagi holds a degree from UofT's cloud computing program and has completed programs like the PowerMBA, Founder Institute, and MergeLane Accelerator.

You can download OOt here: https://oot.live/

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Ayo is a management consultant who brings over 10 years of experience in coaching, training and strategic direction to enterprise level clients looking to achieve big-picture goals while also focusing on diversity and inclusion. His approach combines expertise, personal stories and humor-all intended to break barriers and facilitate communication. 

As a result, Ayo's client list includes renowned companies such as Spotify, Canada Life, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, CIBC, TMX Group and Hydro One, to name a few. 

Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, Ayo also shares his immigrant experience and helpful advice through radio segments on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and CityNews Kitchener. 

Ayo holds an MBA in entrepreneurship & Technology. Has a Life Coaching certification. He serves on several organization boards, including immigrantnetworks.com, Leadership Waterloo Region, expedier.co, and Emergency Response Africa. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Shahed is originally from Iran and moved to Canada in 1997 with his family.

He started his first business in 1999 as a college dropout and was acquired in 2000. The company that acquired them then became a victim of the dot-com bubble burst leading him to  take a second stab at entrepreneurship in 2011.By end of 2012, he decided to put that aside and commit full-time to a Vancouver based company called ACL that was going through a transition with a newly hired CEO. 

From 2012 to 2020 we went through the journey of building a unicorn by converting the existing revenue from perpetual to recurring, expanding their total addressable market and its revenue from well under $10M to $100M. Based on that experience he’s created a framework to help technology companies nail their product positioning and create alignment between revenue teams and product development. He helps startups to put that in place to scale their go-to-market initiatives. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Seun Richards is a Canadian-Nigerian social entrepreneur, researcher, and community volunteer, passionate about providing sustainable solutions to local community problems and teaching social entrepreneurship. 
As an entrepreneur, he has successfully established small businesses in 3 nations across 3 continents, namely Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, and Canada. He is currently pursuing a doctorate degree focused on Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurship on Economic Development and Population Growth at the University of New Brunswick. He is a recipient of many awards and as an Ambassador to the Global Entrepreneurship Network, and he is using the platform to help entrepreneurs remove barriers to starting and scaling their businesses, while embracing inclusion and diversity.Seun is the founder of Door2Door Pickup Couriers, a social enterprise committed to sustainability initiatives in the transport & logistics industry. Seun’s vision is to inspire the younger generation of entrepreneurs across the globe.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

CEO of EZOK, a company that automates the sale of insurance to insurance brokers and also vice-president of internationalization at ACATE - Technological Association of the State of Santa Catarina, which brings together more than 1,600 members.

Graduated in computer science from FURB, postgraduate in data science engineering from UNISUL and postgraduate in Global Business Management in Conestoga, Ontario. 10 years of experience developing custom systems, with 15 Apple/FileMaker and 4 IBM certifications.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Originally from Iran, Hamid Noori, did B.Sc. in Electrical Eng. in Iran, did M.Sc. in Europe, and came to Canada. He started his Ph.D. in University of Waterloo, quit, and then went to Vancouver, finalizing his PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering. 

Hamed currently runs two companies and is on the board of directors of several others.  He has filed 9 US patents, has over 30 publications and also a book. 

He has work and research experience in Autonomous driving and Robotic, Connected Vehicles, 5G, AI, Machine Learning, and helped launch a satellite into space to calibrate one of the most advanced radio telescope in the world (CHIME radio telescope) to map the universe, and other cutting edge research.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Enrique is a forward thinker originally from Mexico, with a strong passion for building a better future through cutting-edge ideas, actionable methodologies and new technologies, unlocking businesses for exponential growth. 

Co-Founder of Mountx and Director of Sales and Business Development of City Wide, Enrique is a PropTech passionate and focuses not only on scaling his businesses but also empowering other entrepreneurs with self-development techniques. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Finding an appropriate rental is a tedious process and it’s twice as hard for International students and newcomers in Canada, with no existing rental accommodation system supporting them due to the lack of history in the country.

That’s where Anash Parayil comes in with his company, Haletale. 

Haletale​ is a co-living platform creating affordable and flexible housing solutions to facilitate an easy transition for International students and newcomers​ ​to the country. They provide all-inclusive, budget-friendly​ ​and move-in-ready units.​

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Vitor is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is currently a Permanent Resident in Canada, living in Vancouver, BC. And the co-founder and CEO of Napice Tech Inc in Canada, a School and Community for Software Engineering Leaders.

Vitor is a tech entrepreneur with a strong focus on mobile, desktop, and web development with 17 years of experience. Through Napice, Vitor builds, manages, and mentors software engineering teams, and collaborates with key stakeholders to shape the software strategy and architecture to ensure high availability, performance, reliability, and security.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Hamidreza Etebarian is the Co-founder and CEO of Offerland, a vancouver-based technology company. He has become the top 30 under 30 in British Columbia, Canada in 2022. Before starting his journey as an entrepreneur, Hamid was a structural engineer at Glotman Simpson, where he was involved in more than a dozen residential and commercial tower projects in North America. Hamid earned his MASc. in Structural Engineering from UBC and his BASc. in Civil Engineering from Sharif University, Iran. 

Founded in 2019, Offerland is a real estate technology company on a mission to drive digital transformation in the real estate industry. Offerland has created multiple valuation products for the real estate industry including its automated market rent estimation tool that is leveraging advanced machine learning technology and the most extensive rental databases in Canada.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Emilio is an Argentinian, that despite moving to the US with only $5k in the bank, managed, after some months, to raise a pre seed round to start Aument, a platform that helps small ecomm brands to get new sales easily, through email and sms.

Throughout his career he has:

• Builted companies, from a marketplace for bands to a corporate gifts company.

• Leaded brands, including WeWork, Corona, Stella Artois, and SAP and

• Promoted great companies, such as a beer he launched called Paceña 710 and a Covid-tackling supply network for workspaces.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Daniel Brener is originally from Brazil but has also lived in over 7 countries, including Canada 🙂 . Daniel studied Finance and Marketing in the US. and worked in finance until he founded AleFi with a good friend he met in Chicago. 

AleFi is a FinTech based in Miami with already 13 people on the team. They are building a mobile app to help retail investors make better decisions. 

Both founders are immigrants as well as several people on their team. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

 Ehsan is the founder and CEO of LaunchPath, a startup studio and business immigration hub that specializes in providing commercialization services for entrepreneurs and startups. His background is a rare combination of product leadership at major tech firms, startup advisory and management consulting. Ehsan has taken numerous products to the market, raised investment, and also has experience in successfully leading startups to acquisition.

In addition, Ehsan has served as a former member and advisor for the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) and Regional Innovation Centres, where he worked with tech startups and founders of various backgrounds. He has a Master's in business entrepreneurship and technology from the University of Waterloo as well as Bachelor's in Mechanical engineering from Iran.  

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Ali Avci is a skilled computer engineer who specializes in the development of enterprise HR technology and healthcare software. With eight years of experience in various high-paced engineering environments, Ali has a proven track record of creating SOC 2, HIPAA, and ISO 27001 compliant software. Ali is passionate about utilizing best practices to creatively solve critical operational challenges.

After working in various high-paced engineering environments within the HR tech space, Ali launched Ariglad; an HR ticketing and analytics tool that helps consolidate communication. They work closely with our customers to deliver real-time employee sentiment based on their everyday questions to HR about benefits, PTO, employee relations, etc. This allows HR to proactively reduce time spent on communication, while providing data that helps them elevate HR priorities.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Carlos is a Peruvian entrepreneur with a background in industrial engineering and business administration. He earned his MBA from The University of North Carolina and has since worked in several Latin American countries as a consultant at Accenture, as well as in leadership positions at Citibank and Marsh McLennan.

In 2015, Carlos founded Zagitas in Peru, a company that specializes in providing digital robots that utilize Robotic Process Automation and AI to help businesses and individuals streamline high volume repetitive work, typically performed in office settings. By freeing up human talent for higher value activities and providing accurate and timely information for decision making and business operations, Zagitas helps solve problems of high operating costs and employee turnover.

With a proven track record of success, Zagitas serves prominent clients such as Santander Bank and Kimberly Clark. Since its inception in Peru, the company has expanded operations to Canada in 2022, to deliver innovative business automation solutions to the North American market.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Matias Maciel is the CoFounder & CFO of Rextie with over 20 years of international experience in Finance & Business Administration. He has dedicated a lot of his professional journey to top multinational companies in different countries. 

His journey has been mostly focused on improving results, cost efficiency, management of financial resources, process improvement, as well as on financial planning that enhances companies' profitability. 

Matias is a natural leader always aiming to motivate and develop high-performance multifunctional teams. He has very strong interpersonal skills and always manages to bring smiles to those he comes in contact with.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Today, our guest is a passionate entrepreneur with a mission of providing tools for mental health support based on language and cultural backgrounds.

Since 2014, Fred Neumann has focused his career on sustainability, by founding ‘Movimento Lixo Zero’, an institute that promotes zero waste and diverting waste from landfills in Rio de Janeiro. In Toronto, he was part of ‘The Roots Collaborative’, a diverse group of social entrepreneurs working collaboratively to share expertise in governance, social and environmental impact, and personal well-being.

And today, Fred is the Founder & CEO of PsyMood. Psymood was founded in November 2019 along with his long-time friend Rodrigo Bergel with the assumption that it's not easy to talk about your mental health issues in your first language, let alone in a second language?

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

With over 18 years’ experience in information technology, including the last 15 years in professional services and consulting, Naren helps companies access Government funding programs and helps companies in a variety of industries to file maximized and substantiated tax credit claims. His clients represent a number of industries including Telecommunications, Software/IT, Electronics, Financial Services Institutions, Aerospace and Defence, Health-IT and Bio-Technology. 

He assists clients in a number of areas including: determination of eligible expenditures, preparation of technical reports, review of documentation, incorporating best practices to maximize claim size and handling potential CRA matters including audit defense. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Our guest today is Gaurav Chauhan. Gaurav is a computer science graduate from 2008 who has a wealth of experience in software development. After working as a software engineer in India for 3 years, he co-founded Jellyfish Technologies in 2011, which has grown into a thriving software development company with over 100 team members serving clients globally. 

In addition to his expertise in software, he has also ventured into the hardware industry, gaining valuable insights through his second business venture. Most recently, he utilized his experience to solve a problem that arose during the pandemic, leading to the creation of Konark Pro. This product helps companies track their billable hours and improve team productivity.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Beatriz Zanatelli has over 14 years of experience investing in and leading companies across diverse industry sectors. She has acquired knowledge in both entrepreneurship and franchise networks throughout her work in different countries. Her experience with team leadership and project management has led Beatriz to pursue a career revolving around her two utmost favorite subjects: internationalization of companies and education.

Beatriz is an enthusiast towards dealing with people from different backgrounds and cultures. She is also able to unite her international experience - from living in four different countries - with her holistic approach to business & life. Co-founding an Edtech and becoming its CEO is what brought Beatriz to Canada.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Natalia Pavanelli, our guest of today, is an artist born in Brazil, but not the prime example of a Brazilian you'll ever meet. 

When she was five years old, her family moved to the South of Germany, on the borders of the Black Forest, transforming her life and her view of the world forever.

Natalia grew up in the midst of castles and fairy tales resulting in a very fueled creative mind. The years to come were filled with more international moves like Spain and France.

As an adult, she pursued a career in Design, passing through Game Design and landing in Fashion. Graduated from PUC-Rio, in Brazil, in Industrial Design, she has worked with many amazing brands, but as much as she loved that job, her adventurous spirit was calling for another international move, so she decided to go to Vancouver, Canada and left Brazil for good.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Sunandita has worked two decades in luxury hotel management across the globe, 3 continents, 72 different nationalities, from service capacity of 100 to 60.000 people, world class Michelin star restaurant management, hotels acquisitions, mergers and project developments.

From operations, to Finance to marketing, to project development and also business management expertise. An entrepreneur by chance, Sunandita went through a tough period before deciding to make her own opportunities in the industry. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Assel is the co-founder and CEO at Paperstack. Her company provides working capital for e-commerce sellers who sell on platforms like Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, and others. Originally she arrived in Canada from Kazakhstan by herself in 2012 with one suitcase and a lot of ambitions. Since then, she worked in finance and banking, where she helped thousands of customers get access to capital. 

During her time at banking, Assel realized that banks did not adapt to the online economy, and how much e-commerce founders struggled to get access to working capital. So she saw a massive opportunity and decided to solve this problem at Paperstack.

On our episode #017 for the Find A Way podcast, we had the pleasure to interview the two @aceit co-founders.

Jai Mansukhani is a 3rd-year computational cognition undergraduate student studying at the University of Toronto. He has always shown an interest in technology and its ability to function, showing particular interest in the way systems are built, designed, and developed. Jai is the Co-CEO and COO of Ace It, heading over full operational capacity.

Pashan Sidhwa is a honours mechanical engineering undergraduate studying at the University of Waterloo, who has been involved as a co-creator of Ace It since its start. His obsession with helping other students, like himself, who struggle to find the right tools is why Pashan takes extra effort to research and explore the latest challenges that students face. Pashan is involved in overall app-related executive decision-making for design, app functionality, and feature implementation. Pashan is the Co-CEO and CFO of Ace It.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Anna Lachykhina is a co-founder and president of a public affairs company Good Politics Corp. with headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine and recently launched operations in Canada. Anna has also worked as an advisor to the Minister of Finance of Ukraine and Strategic Communications Director at the International Renaissance Foundation – George Soros’s foundation in Ukraine.

She holds an MA in Political Science from Friedrich Schiller University (Germany) and Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Ukraine) AND is currently working on her PhD from Dragomanov National University in her home country. Anna is a regular guest speaker at Ukrainian TV on Canada’s wartime aid and a columnist on international politics.

Anna came to Canada in April this year because of Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine and currently works in the House of Commons in Ottawa as a Senior Communications Advisor in one of the MPs’ offices. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Esther Hephzibah is the Founder of Shine Transformation Solutions (STS), a leadership and personal development consulting firm specializing in transforming lives, careers and businesses through Coaching, Speaking and Training.

Esther has over 12 years of multicultural experience having worked across three continents and has built a strong reputation with a diverse network.

Esther creates connection platforms which offer female professionals and business leaders transformational experiences that repeatedly set them for success. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

And today we are doing something different: interviewing our co-host Ingrid Polini.

Ingrid holds a Business Administration Bachelors, and a Masters in intercultural and international communications and has more than 9 years of experience in tech, from large corporations to startups. Ingrid has developed intercultural and international projects throughout the world.

She is a successful entrepreneur in Latin America and North America, and mentors other startups in programs such as the Accelerator Center, in Canada.

At SafetyDocs global, she focuses on managing the development of client-centered solutions, focusing on optimizing efficiency and lowering costs of operations globally.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Kiran is the CTO at HUEX Labs. Prior to co-founding HUEX Labs, he worked at Bank of America for over 17 years and the last 5 years of those as Vice President of Architecture leading the Conversational AI group. 

Kiran has built enterprise software that is in the hands of millions of end users, he has a deep understanding of Customer Experience Design technology and he is very enthusiastic about Conversational AI. He is a Voice AI enthusiast and volunteers with Open Voice Network which is a Linux Foundation standards body for building Voice Interoperability initiative to make Voice more accessible services across the ecosystem. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Damilare is A Human-Centered-Designer and founder of All Farmers Online Inc since 2018, promoting digital technology adoption, offering him and his team an opportunity to join millions of Canadians and its industries, displaying resilience in these unique times.

His educational and professional experience includes analyzing, designing, building, integrating and managing end to end Data Platforms, where he apply business intelligence tools i.e. Tableau, Microsoft Power BI to help decision-makers visualize actionable data. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Nino is a serial immigrant, polyglot, and tech entrepreneur passionate about building products that positively impact people's lives. 

Her background lies in Software Project Management and Product Ownership. She additionally has experience stepping in as the operations lead for startups and helping them build out and scale up their processes to support their growing needs. Nino is a freelancer and works primarily with tech startup projects and through the Toptal freelance talent network.

Nino's personal startup is VisaWire - a service marketplace for skilled immigrants relocating to Canada. Her goal with this company is to help immigrants find the relevant support that they need at various stages of their immigration journey. She's passionate about telling immigrant stories and helping them succeed in their country and profession of choosing! 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Dan is a life-long serial entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Chocolate Soup. 

Dan and his partner Pj Lowe have founded three previous startups, selling TinyHippos to RIM (BlackBerry) in 2011. 

Their experiences in building culture at all of their past startups led them to the idea for Chocolate Soup and its mission to help companies with employee recognition, engagement, and retention through beautifully curated, locally sourced gifts to help their employees celebrate their special milestones. In addition to running Chocolate Soup, Dan also serves on the board of several startups and mentors early-stage founders with their businesses.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Aashani is a multinational citizen of the world and on a mission to build a better tomorrow. She has previously worked as a Software Engineer at companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Square, and is currently the founder of two tech-based startups; MIDO Technologies and HypeDocs. In her free time, Aashni works to get more girls and women into STEM, and how to safely use tech to help developing countries like Kenya. Aashni has been recognized with awards such as the Top 50 Inspiring Women in STEM in Canada.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Luka Lamaj is not only a 22 years old Biochemistry Student at Brock University, but also the Co-Founder & CEO of Docere Health. 

Luka is from Albania, and arrived in Canada 3 years ago. He has won the award as Student Champion Entrepreneur of Canada 2022 by DMZ Toronto and also our startup is considered as Top 10 Most Promising Startups in Canada by RBC. 

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Solon is one of the most active investor and entrepreneur in accounting and finance tech. He has an obsession for exponential growth and solving big problems. His goal as a father and founder is to leave the world a better place than he found it. His passion is building compelling visions and products with people that have an appetite for adventure. Before founding MindBridge Ai, Solon worked in F500s as well as start-ups in San Francisco, UK, and France. On his part time, Solon is the Managing Partner of FreshFounders, a group of founders that invest, support and create elite entrepreneurs fuelling the 4th industrial revolution.

This was our episode  #6 A dose of incentive, a chat between the two co-hosts on entrepreneurship struggles and the day to day.

Once again we had some connection issues but where able to record it and share our thoughts in things such as dealing with stress, impostor syndrome and turning points for us.

This is Episode #5 of Find a Way podcast w/ Mario Escoto

Mario is a Global Business Strategist and Entrepreneur from Honduras based in Canada. 
He leads the international expansion of their second generation family operated company group that participates in manufacturing, IT and real estate industries across several countries. 

We apologize for the audio issues as Mario unfortunately had an unstable connection, but we really wanted to share his insights with all of you!

We post one episode a week, have any questions of feedback? Send us a message!

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

Eduardo is a Mexican born entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience in the healthcare industry.  He started his journey with a ground ambulance company and then shifted to helping companies cover law compliance requirements. To this date he has created and grown 5 companies with one exit last year. Taking a company from 6 employees to 900 in the span of 15 years covering 18 states of Mexico.  Since 2 year ago he is the CEO of Cardiotrack, a MedTech company focusing on medical data gathering offering programs to battle chronic diseases making healthcare delivery for blue collar workers accessible, convenient and simple.

This is the Find a Way Podcast - Where we talk to immigrant founders about their journey starting a business in Canada and the US.

On Episode #003 our guest is Victor Salinas, the CEO and Founder of SmartCouncil.
A software engineer with over 20 years of experience working in the financial industry, Victor’s pursuit is to improve the financial world, finding better ways to automatize back-end processes through new and disruptive technologies.

Our interviewee of the week is Miryam Lazarte.

Miryam Lazarte is the founder of LatAm Startups, a Toronto-based accelerator that brings startups from emerging markets to Canada and scales them globally.  Under her leadership, LatAm Startups has become a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa program and recently received over $3M dollars from the Federal Government in funding to support technology companies relocating in Canada.

Since 2017, LatAm Startups has worked alongside over 150 tech companies from around the world to obtain validation in North America and launch their businesses in the Canadian market. 

Miryam tell us in this episode about how she started, the challenges for immigrant entrepreneurs and her advice for people starting up.

In this episode we introduce our podcast and talk a bit of our background, as well as our goals for this podcast. 

If you are an immigrant that started a business in Canada/US, you can apply to be interviewed here: https://forms.gle/yujK2fea3o3X1kgC9