Beyond The Family Business

Derrick Hunter, the second-generation CEO of Calgary's Blue Sky Equities, shares insights on transforming a family business from oil and gas to diversified investments. He discusses lessons from his father about legacy and the shift to U.S. multifamily real estate, highlighting a strategic pivot to mitigate concentration risk. Derrick emphasizes the crucial role of entrepreneurs in family legacies and details his foundation's mission focused on supporting mental health and entrepreneurship. His reflections on family governance reveal the importance of transparency and succession planning.

KC Daya is the CEO and founder of Clifton Blake, a vertically integrated builder, lender, and operator of Multi-Family assets. We discuss the impact of his immigrant entrepreneurial parents and how this spills over into his parenting. We discuss how his first fund failed and the valuable lessons this taught him. As well, we discuss the transformational mergers that have made his business vertically integrated.

Jeffrey McCain is the 3rd generation of the McCain family and the President of Woodword Capital. In this episode, we discuss working outside the business on Wall Street and his motivations for returning to work with his family. Jeffrey shares his latest investment strategy and how family offices stand apart from traditional private equity. We discuss how his family onboards new family members and the role they are expected to play. Lastly, he shares salient advice from his grandfather, Wallace McCain, on charitable giving.

 Ian Wilson is the 8th-generation President and co-owner of Wilsons. They are an Atlantic Canadian family with investments in the fuel industry, home security, and quick-serve restaurants. Ian shares the incredible history of their family business and how his own journey wove into the family story. As well, we dive into the sales of their retail fuel business and the motivation behind it. Lastly, we discuss what is next for the Wilson family as they chart a new direction.

Adrian Rocca is the CEO and founder of Fitzrovia. In this interview, he shares how being fired from Tricon set him on a path to build Canada’s largest purpose built rental business. Adrian delves into the latest innovations of his portfolio and how to develop affordable housing in Canada.

Andrew Oland is the CEO and co-owner of Moosehead Brewery. He shares the incredible 6-generation family story of how the Oland family built a beer empire. He discusses how the family split into two branches and why his family did not sell their brewery. As well, he discusses how he and his brother work together every day as CEO and CFO without family dynamics becoming an issue.

Tony and Peter Nahas are the co-owners of Mezza Lebanese Kitchen. Their parents started the business shortly after immigrating from Lebanon. The brothers discuss how they streamlined their family business and unlocked huge growth through franchising. They also share their own struggles as leaders and what is next on their growth horizon. 

Artificial Intelligence is dramatically changing the threat landscape for cybercrime.  Generative AI is making hackers more efficient and giving them new capabilities that make their attacks harder to detect. In this episode, we discuss types of threats, why family business is at risk and tips to defend.

Matthew Cassidy is the President of Coach Atlantic, Maritime Bus and Ambassatours. Over the last 20 years, Matthew and his family have consolidated the bus industry in Atlantic Canada. We discuss his biggest challenges as a new leader. As well, Matthew tells all about their recent acquisition of Ambassatours.

Tony Falbo, an 81-year-old Italian immigrant, chronicles his entrepreneurial journey of building Mircom Technologies and successfully transitioning the business to his three sons. Through strategic focus and family collaboration, he transformed a small fire alarm systems company into an international enterprise. The interview offers a compelling blueprint for family business succession and entrepreneurial resilience.